Emerging from the white fog was a clean-faced youth, bald and barefoot, wearing only a robe formed from Yin energy. At first glance, he appeared like a young monk.
But upon closer inspection, one would realize that this youth’s body was blurry and unreal, as if it was all an illusion. All that was visible was the result of a misperception.
The youth got down on one knee in front of Tang Jie and called out, “Father!”
No longer was he using soul resonance, but using a real voice, which made Tang Jie feel a little emotional. “You’ve finally gained physical form.”
“Yes, Father. Your child finally has a physical form,” the youth excitedly said.
Hunter Ghosts found it difficult to advance, with the Emperor level being a major threshold. Now that he had finally broken through, he couldn’t but feel excited.
Tang Jie lightly stroked his bald head, which gave off ripples of light at his touch.
This True Illusion Ghost Body is really something else, Tang Jie inwardly praised.
Drawing back his hand, Tang Jie said, “Now that you are at the Emperor level, calling you ‘Little Three’ would be too demeaning. You should have a proper name.”
“‘Tang San’…” Tang Jie muttered, and then he shook his head. “It’s understandable that you would want to be called that, but the avatar just informed me that he sensed from the Dao of Fate that this number is associated with the wrath of the heavens, and having this name might invite disaster, so let’s choose something else.”
Little Three almost deflated at these words. “Then what should I be called?”
Though he was an Emperor, he still wasn’t very mature in mind.
Tang Jie smiled. “Since you like the word ‘San’ (三), let’s put it on its side. What do you think about ‘Tang Chuan’ (川)?”
“‘Tang Chuan’?” Little Three cocked his head and thought it over, and then he happily said, “This is a good name. Your child likes it!”
He kneeled before Tang Jie and said, “Tang Chuan pays respects to his father!”
Tang Jie chuckled. “Don’t bow to me. An Emperor bowing to a lowly person who just entered Celestial Heart is very inauspicious.”
The cultivation world had its rules, and while it valued seniority by age, it also valued seniority by strength.
If the child was an Emperor while the father was at Celestial Heart, then according to the rules, these people were on an equal level, so there was no need to prostrate. And at times, the Emperor child could be considered half a tier higher in seniority than the father, capability holding more sway than authority.
Tang Chuan shook his head and refused to rise. “It’s not the same.”
“Oh? How is it not the same?” Tang Jie asked.
Tang Chuan pondered the question but couldn’t give a good answer, so he just said, “Father is just different.”
Tang Jie helplessly chuckled. “You stubborn child, just like Posha. Ah, whatever, you can rise. Since you have advanced, there’s no need to stay here any longer. We just need to do one more thing, and then we can leave.”
“Yes, Father.” Tang Chuan rose and asked, “What are we going to do?”
“Pack this place up, of course,” Tang Jie replied.
The ghosts had come here in search of treasure, but it was clear that their treasure radars had been faulty. Other than the Putrid Soil, Sovereign Yunhai hadn’t left behind any amazing treasures. As for the art relics, they didn’t even count in Tang Jie’s eyes.
All of this had been a big misunderstanding. Sovereign Yunhai had isolated himself from the Nether Domain only to seal Flying Swallow.
But this didn’t mean that this journey was pointless. The mausoleum didn’t have many resources, but the ghosts themselves were resources. One hundred and fifty Ghost Kings had died here, making the place so thick with death energy that Little Three could reach Nether Emperor. This was the greatest harvest.
Even after Tang Chuan had absorbed part of it, the mausoleum was still thick with death energy, and thanks to the Putrid Soil, more could be accumulated. One could say that the mausoleum had been converted into a ghost paradise. In addition, Sovereign Yunhai had invested quite a lot of resources into the formations of the mausoleum, and there were still some that retained their value. Thus, Tang Jie planned to refine the entire mausoleum into a treasure and take it with him.
Refining an entire mausoleum naturally wasn’t easy, but thankfully, he had Tang Chuan and was now in the positive plane, so resources were no longer as hard to come by. Thus, the two began to lay down a formation around the mausoleum to refine it.
Flying Swallow had never seen a person be so thorough when it came to treasure hunting, so thorough that they would turn the target into a treasure if they couldn’t find any, and she was rather dumbfounded.
Regardless, father and son worked swiftly and soon completed a formation that surrounded the entire mausoleum. As the formation activated, flames shot into the air, and countless formation lines flashed.
The entire island became like a furnace meant to roast the mausoleum. The mausoleum shrank in the flames and began to emit black rays of energy.
This was the process of converting the mausoleum into a treasure.
Suddenly, a cry arose from the mausoleum, and a black skull emerged. As it howled at the sky, the flame refining the mausoleum began to weaken.
Tang Chuan was taken aback. “Father, what’s happening?”
Tang Jie let out a gasp of surprise and examined the skull closely, upon which he said in realization, “It seems that a spirit has formed within the mausoleum.”
This spirit must have come from someone who entered this mausoleum many years ago to rob it of its riches. But they had been lacking in ability and died within the tomb. Their spirit, unable to enter the Nether Domain, had lingered within the mausoleum until it eventually became one with it.
While Tang Jie didn’t know where the spirit had come from, its presence was a good thing. It meant that the mausoleum, once refined, would be a natural soul weapon, which made it much more valuable.
Tang Jie immediately began to use the Contraflame Mantra, drawing out fire from the energy veins to refine the mausoleum.
The Flame Yang Domain was called such because it had many underground fire veins, and one of them was right under this island. Tang Jie had only used some of it before because he was worried that the mausoleum couldn’t take too much, but since the mausoleum was protected by a spirit, there was no problem with having the fire veins rush over the mausoleum.
The spirit of the mausoleum howled and revealed its true form, turning the mausoleum into a stone giant that swung a fist at Tang Jie.
But it was imprisoned by the formation and couldn’t escape.
The flames glazed the stones of the mausoleum, turning them translucent like mirrors.
The spirit couldn’t endure the flames and began to wail.
But Tang Jie was stonehearted, spurring the formation to refine the mausoleum.
Refining it took forty-nine days.
After forty-nine days, the mausoleum had shrunk to the size of a palm, a piece of purple glass in the shape of a round arch. As for the spirit, it had given up resistance several days ago and had also been refined.
Tang Jie applied numerous seals to the mausoleum to complete the treasure.
With a wave of his hand, the treasure took off spinning into the air, and then it landed back in his hand, still spinning.
Tang Jie carefully examined it and then nodded in satisfaction. “It’s finally done. While it’s only a lower-grade divine treasure, it has limitless potential and room to grow. Tang Chuan, this treasure is your father’s gift to you.”
He placed the treasure in Tang Chuan’s hand.
Tang Chuan was ecstatic when he learned that the treasure was for him. But when he thought about it, he realized that since the treasure contained a Corpse Field, it was perfect for ghosts.
As he celebrated, Tang Jie indifferently said, “Give it a name.”
After some thought, Tang Chuan said, “I’ll call it ‘Yunhai Mausoleum’, in memory of that Sovereign Yunhai.”
Tang Jie nodded. “Acceptable.”
With Yunhai Mausoleum done, father and son departed. There were still numerous ghost ships anchored on the island, so Tang Jie took them all, sending them through the Void Stone into the infinite void. As for the ghosts on the ships, they had already sensed the deaths of their Ghost Kings and scattered.
The Nether Domain invasion had been going on for some time now, and the Flame Yang Domain was in full retreat, ghosts everywhere.
As the pair flew along, they experienced a world ruled by fiends and ghosts, a prosperous land turned into a living hell, which brought their moods low.
“Father, what are we going to do next?” Tang Chuan asked.
“Let me contact Saros first and see what’s going on.” Tang Jie made a hand sign to contact the ghost eagle.
As he possessed the ghost eagle’s Life Flame, Tang Jie was able to easily establish the connection. But the moment the connection was formed, Tang Jie sensed that Saros was in terrible condition, that even its soul was heavily damaged. The moment it sensed Tang Jie’s call, Saros issued a cry for help.
Tang Jie felt out its location and pointed. “Tang Chuan, hurry and take me there.”
Tang Chuan grabbed Tang Jie and Flying Swallow and disappeared. When it came to speed, he was currently much faster than Tang Jie.
Still, it took them more than a day to arrive.
The location was a vast mountainous region, where an army of human cultivators battled with ghosts of the Nether Domain.
The Ghost March Ship commanded by Saros was among the ghost army and locked in combat with a force of human cultivators. When Tang Jie arrived, the Ghost March Ship was damaged all over and on the verge of breaking.