Chapter 222: Holy Son

Originally, according to the Shadow Corps’ earlier intelligence, what Ziyun possessed was a Magical Artifact that could attract Ancient Beasts. However, after Zuo Zhicheng encountered Ziyun, he learned that her ability was far from just attracting Ancient Beasts. It was a power that could control them.

It was only after some questioning that Ziyun revealed how this worked, and Zuo Zhicheng gained some understanding of the Yama Holy Son.

Zuo Zhicheng sat on the Underworld King Snake and looked at a beast tooth in his palm. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and turned his head, but aside from a landscape of wind, snow, and trees, he saw nothing. Still, a trace of seriousness appeared in his eyes.

…

Several days later, in a small forest, He Zizai sat on a rock. Beside him were dozens of members of the Shadow Corps.

The entire team was quiet and serious, with no one chatting or talking. Although they had waited in the wind and snow for a long time, their faces showed no signs of impatience or tension, revealing excellent composure.

A moment later, He Zizai twitched his ear and suddenly stood up. “They’re here.”

The others immediately moved in unison, drawing their jians and large bows in perfect synchronization, ready to defend their surroundings, showing strict discipline and excellent coordination.

About ten seconds later, the Underworld King Snake crawled out of the forest with Zuo Zhicheng. This time, the snake moved carefully, not directly flattening the trees but winding through them quietly.

As soon as the Shadow Corps members saw that it was Zuo Zhicheng, they relaxed slightly.

He Zizai looked at Zuo Zhicheng and asked, “What exactly happened? Why did you ask us to come support you? Where is Ziyun? Why didn’t you head toward Southern Bay?”

It turned out that this team had come to support him based on the secret signals Zuo Zhicheng left behind.

But who would have thought that upon hearing this, Zuo Zhicheng’s expression changed. “I didn’t ask you to come support me. Didn’t you see the message I left?”

“What?” He Zizai was no fool. After hearing Zuo Zhicheng’s words, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

“Defensive formation!” With He Zizai’s low shout, the surrounding members quickly gathered the horses, closed ranks, and surrounded He Zizai and Zuo Zhicheng tightly, forming a defensive formation.

Zuo Zhicheng scanned the area. There were forty warriors in total, all with the strength of purple muscle bodies. Although their coverage was slightly lower, making them weaker than some martial arts school masters in one-on-one combat, as elites of the Shadow Corps, their killing intent and determination far surpassed ordinary people. Moreover, they coordinated seamlessly with each other.

Their threat level in team combat was at least five to six times greater than that of ordinary Martial Artists.

These were the Shadow Corps’ most elite warriors, the Shadow Death Warriors. Such carefully trained death warriors, cultivated from childhood, numbered only a little over a hundred under Zhu Yuwen’s command. Sending forty of them at once, led by He Zizai, showed how seriously he took the situation.

But even after all this, the surroundings remained quiet and deserted, with no sign of the expected ambush.

Zuo Zhicheng frowned and asked, “What message did you actually receive?”

He Zizai replied, “It was a message you left using secret signals, saying that you had discovered a secret of the Dìyù Gate and were being chased, asking us to support you here. What exactly happened on your end?”

Zuo Zhicheng nodded. “I did discover a plan of the Dìyù Gate, but I should have told you everything about it. It seems someone altered the signals and message I left. In fact, for the past few days, I’ve felt something following me, which is why I left a message early and tried to leave alone by taking a detour.”

“What exactly is the plan?” He Zizai asked.

Zuo Zhicheng opened his palm, revealing the beast tooth seized from Ziyun, and said slowly, “This beast tooth is the key to how Ziyun could control Ancient Beasts.”

He Zizai’s eyes were filled with shock. “You said control?”

“Correct.” Zuo Zhicheng slowly explained the information he knew.

That beast tooth was an antique discovered by the Dìyù Gate when they excavated ruins called the Beast King Tomb. It seemed the Dìyù Gate had quite a few similar beast teeth in their possession.

Originally, through the Dìyù Gate’s research, the beast tooth only had a deterrent effect on various beasts and Ancient Beasts. But when it fell into the hands of the Yama Holy Son, he used his supreme cultivation to infuse the Power of Mind and Spirit into the beast tooth. Leveraging the tooth’s inherent deterrent power, he enabled it to control Ancient Beasts.

Ziyun was one of the emissaries sent by the Yama Holy Son to collect Ancient Beasts. The Dìyù Gate’s goal was to use this set of beast teeth to create an Ancient Beast army capable of going to war.

“How is that possible?” He Zizai’s expression seemed unchanged, but his eyes still revealed a hint of shock. “To be able to infuse the Power of Mind and Spirit into an object and make it functional—such a method… such a method…”

“It has already broken through to the Dharma Aspect and is infinitely close to the Void Training level,” Zuo Zhicheng said calmly. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but the Dìyù Gate’s supreme skill, the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture, is said to possess the ability to control the Six Paths Reincarnation, revive the dead, reincarnate souls, and erase memories. If the Power of Mind and Spirit from the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture is infused into this beast tooth, it might indeed grant the ability to control Ancient Beasts.”

“But if that’s the case, why call us…” He Zizai’s words trailed off halfway, and without Zuo Zhicheng having to remind him, his expression calmed. “I understand.”

“Exactly,” Zuo Zhicheng said lightly. “It seems the other party thought I wasn’t important enough and wanted to take a bigger bite all at once.”

Zuo Zhicheng had been used as bait. This time, the Dìyù Gate wanted to eliminate two Human Phase Masters of the Shadow Corps in one go, ensuring that the Southern Bay side could no longer influence the situation in Xinlu.

Thinking of this, both Zuo Zhicheng and He Zizai’s eyes grew extremely solemn. The other side’s arrangements clearly showed they were determined to kill them.

A deadly battle was unavoidable.

Just after He Zizai and Zuo Zhicheng finished their quiet conversation, a series of extremely loud clapping sounds came from the distance. The clapping sounded like two enormous iron gates slamming against each other, producing one thunderous noise after another.

“Excellent, excellent. Worthy of the Heavenly Serpent King and the Divine Martial King. You did not waste my efforts. After dealing with you two and these forty Shadow Death Warriors, it will be like cutting off one of that old Zhu’s claws.”

The voice sounded a bit strange, like a baby who had just learned to speak. But after hearing the full speech, it was enough to make Zuo Zhicheng and He Zizai’s hearts race.

Because, with their cultivation levels, physical sensitivity, and battle-hardened instincts, they had not detected this person at all before he spoke.

As these words finished, a massive figure, nearly five meters tall, slowly emerged from the forest.

When they saw this figure, even the cold, emotionless, and highly trained Shadow Death Warriors showed expressions of shock.