Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 83: The Bronze Oil Lamp

The sword-light was peerless, unstoppable!

The tomb gate inscribed with the meaning of "Suppress Immortals" was blasted open in an instant.

And within the dark clouds—

Blood-tears streamed from the giant eye, staining the drizzling autumn rain scarlet.

The sword-light's power was too terrifying.

The eye appeared to have unleashed it, but the truth was the moment the sword-light emerged, it was beyond its control.

And so the eye itself was wounded by it as well.

The fleshy growths inside the eye writhed frantically, attempting to shroud the sword's shadow once more. But the instant they touched it — without the shadow so much as twitching — they were ground into pulp.

Because the sword's shadow had no scabbard.

Its edge was perpetually bared!The giant eye, however, seemed long accustomed to this. It closed at once and vanished into the dark clouds.

But Chen Huangpi saw clearly.

This Calamity Eye hadn't truly disappeared — it had merely concealed its existence, just as Mang Shan Jun had done before.

Blood rain poured like a waterfall, drenching the God-Burying Mound's summit in the blink of an eye.

And the tomb gate now lay exposed before all the evil spirits.

At the sight, Yellow Peril cackled wildly. "Ladies and gentlemen, the God-Burying Mound contains countless divine corpses and great fortunes! Today, this god keeps its word — every one of you shall have a chance to evolve into a Disaster!"

"Follow me into the tomb!"

With that, Yellow Peril steered its floating temple and charged headlong into the God-Burying Mound.

The Mutant Divine Statue and the Disasters followed close behind.

Moments ago, the mound had been a chaotic carnival of demons.

In the blink of an eye, only Chen Huangpi, the Slender Evil Spirit's band of friendly evil spirits, and the unhurried Mang Shan Jun — herding its divine captives like sheep — remained.

Even the Calamity Eye had already slipped silently into the tomb.

"Keep moving!"

Mang Shan Jun produced a whip from seemingly nowhere and cracked it against the gods.

The deities screamed in anguish, filing helplessly into the God-Burying Mound.

"Great King Yellow Skin, don't miss this opportunity. You'll only have yourself to blame if you do."

Mang Shan Jun flashed a savage grin at Chen Huangpi, then hopped through the tomb gate carrying Song Jiu and the Qing'an County City God, who dangled from its grip like corpses at a funeral.

On the empty ground—

Chen Huangpi still hadn't moved.

Because at that moment, he was deep in silent discussion with the Brass Oil Lamp and the Life-reaping Ghost.

"The Temple Master's sword is truly that terrifying. If you hadn't closed your eyes, Contractor, my soul would have been cleaved in two by now."

The Life-reaping Ghost was still shaking. That sword-light was, without exception, the most terrifying thing it had encountered since arriving in the mortal world — second only to the Temple Master himself.

If it came to a direct confrontation—

It feared even the Soul-Hooking Manual couldn't protect it.

The Brass Oil Lamp scoffed. "Obviously — that's the Temple Master's blade. Nothing it cannot cut, all things it can sever! The Evil Buddha rivaled an immortal, and after taking a single stroke, its head was hung above the temple gate! If the Buddha himself came, his golden body would still be split by that sword."

But the Life-reaping Ghost countered, "Something doesn't add up. This sword-light is fearsome, yes, but the sensation it gives me doesn't reach the level needed to slay the Evil Buddha. Could there be a problem with the sword? Or is the Calamity Eye unable to fully harness its power?"

At those words, the Brass Oil Lamp realized something was off.

It had seen the Temple Master's sword before.

The weapon was already terrifying on its own.

And unlike itself, the Nine Separation Bell, or Huang Yi—

Even without the Temple Master wielding it, its power barely diminished.

More importantly, that sword was proud.

How could it possibly reside inside a mere Calamity Eye?

That was when Chen Huangpi spoke up. "That isn't Master's sword!"

"Impossible — it clearly is!"

The Brass Oil Lamp shouted internally. "I've seen it. I remember its aura. This is exactly how it is — edge eternally bared, impossible to even glance at."

"That was a shadow. The shadow of that sword."

"A shadow?"

The Life-reaping Ghost mused, "A passing goose leaves its cry; a passing sword leaves its shadow. Could it be that the Calamity Eye once glimpsed the Temple Master's sword, and the image was seared into its eye forever?"

"That must be it!"

Now the Brass Oil Lamp caught on too. "Chen Huangpi — what does the sword's shadow look like? Does it have a scabbard?"

"No scabbard!"

"This is bad! This is very bad!"

Chen Huangpi frowned. "Why is no scabbard bad?"

The Brass Oil Lamp said urgently, "That sword carries killing intent so dense it could easily go berserk. Without a scabbard, after all these years, it has almost certainly gone mad — and it won't stop until every living thing in this world is dead."

"We need to get into the God-Burying Mound now!"

"Once we find the passage to the Yellow Springs, we grab that Soul-Returning Jade as fast as we can. This is far beyond what you can handle. We need to wait for the Temple Master to wake up and recall the sword himself."

Having said this, the Brass Oil Lamp fell silent.

No matter how much Chen Huangpi pressed about the sword, its only reply was: 'Once the Temple Master recalls the sword, you can play with it all you want.'

Chen Huangpi genuinely wanted to wield that sword.

A mere shadow left in passing was already this devastating.

If he actually held the blade, wouldn't he be able to stride through the Hundred Thousand Mountains — through the entire world, even — without a single thing to fear?

With that thought—

Chen Huangpi hesitated no longer. He plunged into the God-Burying Mound.

...

At that same moment.

Within Xuzhou City, inside the Song family estate.

Just as in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, rain was falling here too.

Though it was barely a drizzle — not even worth calling mist.

Song Tiangang sat expressionless on a stone bench in a small pavilion at the center of a lake. Across from him sat the man he held in open contempt: Grand Tutor Wang Taiyu, the imperial lapdog.

Between them lay a go board.

Black and white stones chased and clashed across its surface. The game had been running for hours.

It had started that morning and still wasn't finished. And yet—

Song Tiangang's mind was elsewhere.

His dream of immortality was on the verge of being realized.

Song Jiu had located the Geomantic Divine Compass and even relayed what had transpired at the God-Burying Mound.

The Mutant Divine Statue!

The Da Kang Emperor had paid an enormous price to acquire that deity statue, and hidden within it was the secret to immortality.

The Mutant Divine Statue looked identical to the one in the imperial palace.

Song Tiangang was burning with impatience.

He wanted nothing more than to fly there himself this very instant.

But Wang Taiyu had shown up at the crack of dawn, insisting on this game of go.

Was it really just a game?

Song Tiangang doubted it. In the eyes of men like him, there were no coincidences — only calculated moves made against the unsuspecting.

He just couldn't determine what Wang Taiyu was after.

And so he endured.

Just then, Wang Taiyu glanced at the board and said with an easy smile, "Lord Song, it's your move."

"There's no rush, Grand Tutor. Allow me a moment more to think."

Song Tiangang wore a troubled expression, seemingly absorbed in the game. Inside, he wanted nothing more than to smash the board over Wang Taiyu's skull.

But he couldn't.

Wang Taiyu's visit today had been announced with great fanfare. Every notable in Xuzhou City knew about it.

If anything happened to the Grand Tutor—

It would be a slap across the face of the imperial court. A slap across His Majesty's face.

The Song family would never permit that.

Moreover, Song Tiangang hadn't yet funneled all of Xuzhou City's human qi through his golden seal. It wasn't time to show his hand.

Wang Taiyu studied Song Tiangang across the board, picked up a black stone, and tapped it idly against the wood with a knowing half-smile.

His son had followed Song Jiu into the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

That was precisely why he was here — to pin Song Tiangang in place.

Just moments ago, his son had sent word: they had reached a place called the God-Burying Mound.

And had followed Song Jiu inside.

Whatever medicine Song Tiangang was brewing in that gourd of his — it wouldn't stay secret much longer.

...

Cold. Pitch-black.

Nothing visible at all.

After entering the God-Burying Mound, Chen Huangpi immediately felt wrong.

His chest was tight and stuffy.

His head swam with dizziness.

Then, suddenly, flickering firelight appeared.

Only then could Chen Huangpi see where he was: a colossal corridor — perfectly square, ruler-straight, stretching endlessly ahead.

The passage was enormous, wide enough to accommodate even the Mutant Divine Statue's towering frame.

Every other evil spirit and Disaster standing inside looked no bigger than ants by comparison.

But what truly stunned him—

Lining both walls of the corridor, spaced evenly every hundred zhang, hung bronze oil lamps — stretching so far into the distance he couldn't see the end.

"Huang Er, do you see those?"

"I see them. Why do they look exactly like me?"

The Brass Oil Lamp's voice was thick with disbelief. "Did the Temple Master fire up the forge while I was asleep and make a Huang San?"

Those bronze oil lamps were identical to the Brass Oil Lamp in every way — save for the bite marks. Even the shape was a perfect match.

If not for the difference in color and material—

The Brass Oil Lamp would have thought it was looking at its own clones.

"No — the Temple Master definitely didn't make these."

The Brass Oil Lamp tried reaching out to the bronze lamps but found they were merely inanimate objects — identical in appearance but utterly devoid of consciousness.

"Look — an evil spirit is reaching for one of the bronze lamps."

As Chen Huangpi spoke, he watched a humanoid evil spirit near the front approach one of the bronze oil lamps and reach out to grab it.

But before it could make contact—

An enraged roar split the air.

The Mutant Divine Statue flung both arms wide and brought a palm crashing down on the offending evil spirit.

Its strength was beyond immense. The evil spirit didn't even have time to react before it was splattered to pieces.

Yet the corridor itself didn't budge.

Not even the floor cracked.

Every evil spirit present shuddered.

The maw on the Mutant Divine Statue's chest yawned open and the Big-Head Evil Spirit crawled out. "The Great Calamitous Evil God says I'm to tell you: until we leave this God-Burying Mound, nobody touches the bronze oil lamps. If you do, what they're suppressing will awaken."

"And then none of us gets out alive."

With that, the Mutant Divine Statue turned and strode toward the far end of the corridor.

The other evil spirits exchanged uneasy glances and, one by one, abandoned any idea of touching the bronze lamps.

Inside its temple, Yellow Peril's expression darkened.

The Mutant Divine Statue hadn't told it about the bronze lamps. If not for its singular focus on reaching the deepest chamber of the God-Burying Mound, it would have — like any other evil spirit — snatched a few lamps to decorate its own temple.

'That oversized fool actually held something back from me.'

A flicker of unease crossed Yellow Peril's mind. Its gaze drifted toward Chen Huangpi at the very rear of the procession, and its tone turned eager. "Great King Yellow Skin, your power rivals mine — you should be at the front with me! Everyone, clear a path!"

The evil spirits immediately parted to form a corridor within the corridor.

They called out in unison, "After you, Great King Yellow Skin!"