The Purification of the Corpse Sea

“Reptile? You call me a reptile?!” Babula was deeply stung. In ages past, as an Ancestral God, he had terrified all worlds, and now he was being so lightly dismissed.

Once the seals over the surface ruins were broken, Babula descended underground, with over a dozen Half-Ancestors providing him divine power to help extract the formation banners.

The group had gradually come to understand that no one else could remove the banners; only Babula knew the secrets of the great formation beneath the earth.

But this time, it took an unusually long time. Two days and two nights passed, and still the so-called formation banners had not been extracted.

“Why so slow?” A terrifying voice sounded from within the Corpse Sea.

“Our divine power is nearly spent, and we are barely able to continue. The sealing power here has not weakened much,” Babula replied.

One could imagine how ancient and unyielding the seal was. Even with over a dozen Half-Ancestors and Babula, who understood the seal, working together, they could barely manage it.

“Hmph!” An icy snort echoed from the Corpse Sea. Suddenly, the sea surged violently, rising high into the sky.

“Stand aside!”

At these two words, the dozen or so Half-Ancestors recoiled as if struck by lightning, unable to resist stepping back.

At that moment, a tiger’s roar shook the entire world, causing even the souls of the Half-Ancestors to tremble. Simultaneously, an enormous spotted tiger appeared on the sea surface, dozens of li long—like a majestic mountain range.

Babula flew up from the underground cavern. Seeing this, he muttered to himself, “Truly a giant from the primordial age—one of the Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors!”

Hearing this, everyone was astonished. The awakening powerhouse had such an incredible origin—truly shocking.

Among the Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors, aside from two or three who were Ancestral Gods, the rest were not, but they possessed battle power that could rival Ancestral Gods. Yes, in real combat, they were not weaker than Ancestral God-level powerhouses; the only thing they lacked was a comprehension of the universe and the world, but their strength truly matched that of Ancestral Gods.

“It is the Fierce Tiger Battle Ancestor. Even if not an Ancestral God, his strength warrants the title.”

“He is on our side. In the primordial age, the Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors were the main force in the war against the Otherworld Ancestral Gods…”

These Half-Ancestors were profoundly shaken.

Strictly speaking, the Asura Half-Ancestor and others regarded the Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors with more vigilance than the human Ancestral Gods. In a sense, these twelve Battle Ancestors were powerhouses born from the Hundred Races, comparable to Ancestral Gods.

Of course, the so-called Twelve Battle Ancestors could not exceed the number ten. In the past, after eight were born, a devastating war erupted, and the Otherworld Ancestral Gods would not allow the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds to have more than ten Ancestral God-level experts coexisting in one era.

Xiao Chen’s heart was also shaken. These Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors were truly formidable. He still clearly remembered that the sealing ground of Xing Tian was Changyang Mountain in the Nine Provinces, which was the transformation of another giant among the Twelve Zodiac Battle Ancestors.

“That is…”

At this moment, the dozen or so Half-Ancestors changed color again. The Corpse Sea churned, and a great serpent, immeasurable in length, emerged from the sea like an endless Great Wall, entwined with the fierce tiger.

“That is the Sacred Serpent Battle Ancestor!”

The crowd was horrified, but soon understood. The powerhouse in the Corpse Sea had said before that he was no longer his former self, having been tampered with by the Otherworld Ancestral Gods; he was now a composite.

The tiger, dozens of li long, and the snake of unknown length suddenly trembled, and a terrifying light descended in all directions, falling upon Babula.

“Quickly, pull out the formation banners. You are the Otherworld Ancestral God; only you are of great use…”

After absorbing that terrifying light, Babula jumped back into the underground cavern.

Everyone had already understood that the powerhouse in the Corpse Sea truly needed Babula. The underground cavern contained formations targeting the entity in the Corpse Sea—formations laid down by Ancestral Gods, of Otherworld origin, which only Babula understood best.

“You… continue to provide him with divine power.”

After the Corpse Sea powerhouse gave this order, the entangled giant tiger and serpent suddenly sank back into the sea, and the terrifying light attached to Babula also flew away instantly.

The dozen or so Half-Ancestors had no choice but to urgently replenish their divine power.

At first, the crowd was somewhat puzzled, but they quickly understood. The tiger and serpent from before seemed to be manifestations of divine thought, not their true bodies.

This meant… the powerhouse in the Corpse Sea was truly sealed, and could only briefly manifest his divine thoughts, unable to break out of the Corpse Sea for long.

The dozen or so Half-Ancestors gradually guessed the truth: the powerhouse in the Corpse Sea could not truly break free; only his powerful divine thoughts could temporarily emerge.

If so, could they resist him?

But soon, they dismissed this notion. That powerful divine thought, though fleeting, could shake their souls and was enough to annihilate any one of them.

“Boom!”

Heaven and earth quaked, as if a volcano had erupted. After several attempts, the formation banner on the third island was finally pulled out, revealing another sealed jade box covered in Otherworld runes.

“The Doomsday Heavenly Halberd!” Babula looked shocked and muttered to himself, “It is the jade box that stored the Doomsday Heavenly Halberd. I understand… they used the box as a formation banner here to summon the soul power of Ancestral God weapons like the Great Cataclysmic War Spear, the Immortal Heavenly Shield, and the Doomsday Heavenly Halberd.”

Ancestral God weapons were supreme treasures, impossible to leave here, so they had to settle for the next best thing.

“Two more islands. When all the formation banners are pulled out, I will let you leave.”

After two more days and nights of effort, with a brief application of divine power from the Corpse Sea powerhouse, the formation banner on the fourth island was also extracted.

Only the final island remained.

On the fifth island, the group saw a large stone covered in Otherworld script.

Babula approached and read aloud: “Fusing the Fierce Tiger and the Sacred Serpent, whose strength rivaled Ancestral Gods, into one, erasing his memory, leaving only a killing will, to become a powerful tool for slaughtering the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds after our departure…”

The crowd was horrified. The Otherworld Ancestral Gods were indeed insidious.

But fortunately, an accident had occurred. According to the stone record, the tool’s memories had not been completely erased.

Thus, he was sealed here, to be released only when his killing intent fully dominated his will.

Originally, several Otherworld Ancestral Gods wanted to make him more perfect, but the order to retreat had come, and they had to leave in advance.

After learning that his former lover’s body had been destroyed, Babula seemed filled with rage toward the Otherworld. Thus, he did not avoid those present and read aloud all the words on the stone.

The dozen or so Half-Ancestors were silent for a long time. Was the powerhouse in the Corpse Sea now good or evil? No one had any confidence.

“Dust returns to dust; I am no longer who I was. The Fierce Tiger and the Sacred Serpent have fallen—do not forget, or let it all be forgotten with a laugh?” A vast heavenly voice rolled like thunder over the Corpse Sea.

After a long silence, the thunderous voice spoke again: “Do not forget? Let it all be forgotten with a laugh? From today, I am called Mo Xiaowang!”

On the fifth island, after learning the truth, the dozen or so Half-Ancestors all fell silent. Except for the Otherworld Ancestral God Babula, everyone was unwilling to continue.

This so-called Mo Xiaowang, though his original memories had not been completely erased, now had a killing will implanted deep in his soul sea. If he were truly released and began a massacre across the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds, then those present would be eternal sinners.

“May I ask, Senior, are you still our Battle Ancestor?” a Half-Ancestor asked, knowing it would change nothing, seeking only peace of mind.

If released, he would likely turn on them first.

The dozens of people were deeply conflicted. Though the powerhouse in the Corpse Sea had not shown killing intent now, if released, he might change his mind at any moment and directly annihilate them.

“You have no choice. Either be destroyed, or extract the final formation banners.”

The Corpse Sea powerhouse’s voice was cold, and he offered no explanation of his state.

“We will not be eternal sinners. If you wish to destroy us, then do it!” Several Half-Ancestors spoke out first.

“Very well, I will destroy you one by one and see how hard your bones are!” The Corpse Sea churned with a thousand-fold waves.

A tiger dozens of li long and an enormous serpent of unknown length intertwined and surfaced, as corpse clouds gathered and billowed violently across the sky.

Mo Xiaowang was about to strike and annihilate them!

“Boom!”

At that moment, the sky above the Corpse Sea suddenly split open. The world was forcibly pierced by a great power!

The long-vanished Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge suddenly appeared, connecting the outside world to the Corpse Sea space.

“Who?!” The former War Ancestor, now Mo Xiaowang, roared in fury.

The Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge was ancient and natural, covered with sword scars and spear holes—all marks left by Ancestral God-level powerhouses. In an instant, it blazed with light, stretching for tens of thousands of li from the distant edge of the Soul Realm, straight into the depths of the Corpse Sea space.

A human figure, hazy and sacred, his entire body shrouded in radiance, moved with unimaginable speed along the bridge. From tens of thousands of li away, he was before them in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, the corpse clouds in the Corpse Sea all dispersed. With the arrival of this figure, they collapsed on their own, as if the entire world had been purified.

The Corpse Sea world instantly became sacred, no longer evil and gloomy. All corpse aura vanished without a trace.

No one could see his true form clearly. Though he stood silently on the Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge, only a dozen li away, they could not make out his body.

Or rather, they could see his body, but could not form any impression in their minds—this was a terrifying power of divine consciousness.

The Corpse Sea was silent, all corpse aura gone. A sacred atmosphere filled the air.

A single person’s presence suppressed the entire Corpse Sea world!

That person’s power inspired an inner reverence beyond words.

With a flash of brilliant light, the tens-of-thousands-of-li-long Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge receded from beneath their feet, like a surging river or a continuous primordial dragon, retreating toward the direction the Corpse Sea world had come from. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared completely.

But the Corpse Sea world had not yet fully closed. The many Half-Ancestors sensed a powerful aura suddenly erupt, causing their hearts and souls to tremble with fear. It seemed to be a clash of Ancestral God-level beings.

“Who are you, after all?” the former Battle Ancestor, now Mo Xiaowang, demanded.

“Beauty ages in a finger snap, a moment of bloom. In dreams, truth and illusion speak as one. With a shared laugh, all things end in emptiness…” Such words echoed from within the Corpse Sea world. A sacred aura filled the heavens and the earth, and the Corpse Sea was utterly purified.

Then, with a thunderous roar, the Corpse Sea world sealed shut.

This was the final scene the dozen or so Half-Ancestors witnessed: a figure so lofty that they had to look up to see, standing silently on the Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge, whose radiance purified the entire Corpse Sea!

What kind of power was this? It surpassed all imagination.