White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 29 White Bone Temple

Watching You Junzi leave, Bai Wuxiang smiled as he looked at the Soul-Sealing Pearl in his hand.

This bead is sealed with extremely strong resentment and the aura of death; it must be the work of some master.

He returned to the cave, then spread his mind throughout the entire Skull Mountain. The yin energy from all directions dispersed and no longer converged on the Skull Mountain.

The rain lasted for three days, and then the sun came out.

The scorching sun beat down on the earth, but the mountains had been nourished by months of rain, and both the wells in the village and the streams and rivers were full of water.

Under the scorching sun, the rice in the fields where the villagers of Heishizhai had worked hard all year was now sprouting ears of grain, and each grain was gradually becoming plump as day and night alternated.

The old farmers who have been busy on the land for generations are illiterate, but through the teachings of their ancestors and the repeated cultivation of spring, summer, autumn and winter, they have become old farmers who can observe the sky, look at the land and find water.

The villagers' worries vanished like rain, and the bright sunshine entered the hearts of every villager. No one was indifferent to that patch of farmland; it was the key to Black Stone Village's survival deep in the mountains.

People who come to the temple pray for good weather and a good harvest this year.

Ah Liu, who guarded the temple, had been studying diligently ever since he was reprimanded by Lord Wuxiang. After more than a month of study, he had learned to recognize some characters and understand some books.

After reading books, Ah Liu realized how vast the world was, and his world was no longer just the small mountain village in Yunze Mountain.

So, one night, Ah Liu burned incense and prayed, kneeling devoutly beneath the statue of the god, his eyes filled with unease, but his heart burning with a burning ambition.

He respectfully bowed and said, "Lord Wuxiang, you are above me!"
Ah Liu is but a lowly commoner, yet thanks to your enlightenment, he has been given a new lease on life.

Ah Liu is willing to serve as Lord Wu Xiang's servant, to convey your divine will, and to enlighten the ignorant people.

"Now, I humbly request that you, Lord Wuxiang, grant me a title."

His ambitious words reached Bai Wuxiang's ears, and the demon spirit meditating in the cave heard his devout prayer.

Bai Wuxiang smiled. He spared the man's life not just for the simple purpose of guarding the temple, but because he saw that the man had extraordinary potential. If he could join the immortals, he might become a cultivator.

Although Bai Wuxiang did not understand how Xuanmen cultivation valued innate talent, he himself was a white bone spirit, so he naturally had a clearer perception of people's bones.

Ah Liu was only in his early twenties, full of youthful vigor. How could a man with such passion be willing to waste his youth in an empty temple?
As a demon, Bai Wuxiang knew very well that human desires were endless. When A-Liu was no longer satisfied with just having enough to eat and wear, and had no worries about food, clothing, or shelter, he would naturally want more.

For example... power

On either side of the statue in the hall, a dim firelight ignited, and Bai Wuxiang manifested, revealing a pair of eerie, fiery eyes on the face of the statue, which had no facial features.

"What title do you desire?"

The eerie, mixed voices of men and women emanated from the statue. This was because the statue of Bai Wuxiang had no face and could not be fixed in one form. The incense offerings were filled with the prayers of men, women, and children. Since the god of formlessness was truly formless, the voices naturally had no fixed tone.

A-Liu, kneeling on the ground below, trembled at the sound of the voice. Fear spread through his heart, but the fire of ambition burned even brighter.

He mustered all his strength to make a sound: "This humble one dares to beg the title of Priest from the Venerable Wuxiang!"

"Hahaha, priest?"

A series of eerie laughs emanated from the statue, "Very well, from this day forward you shall be the High Priest under the God of No Form!"

Upon hearing this, Ah Liu's body trembled uncontrollably, perhaps startled by the laughter, or perhaps overwhelmed with excitement.

In the courtyard outside the hall, a black crow cawed and flew down into the hall, dropping a piece of bone jade from its claws. This bone jade was different from the bone jade that had been bestowed upon the people of Black Stone Village. It was a milky white, round pearl, and its quality was much better than those.

"This pearl can draw upon the power of this deity, possessing the ability to heal injuries and illnesses, and to ward off evil spirits and demons. Therefore, I bestow it upon you for protection."

"Since you're now called the High Priest, and you were once a member of Wulong Village, you should know what kind of status the Witch Granny holds, right?"

Ah Liu's ambition swelled once more, and he replied respectfully, "I will certainly not disappoint you!"

The ghostly fire died down, and the chilling aura dissipated.

The crow flapped its wings and flew away, glancing back in bewilderment at the person still kneeling on the ground. What was this person doing? Wasn't it enough to just have food to fill their stomach? Humans are truly incomprehensible.

Inside the White Bone Cave, Bai Wuxiang, stripped of his human skin, sat cross-legged, his body filled with a chilling aura of death.

The seal on the Soul-Sealing Pearl has been pecked off by the greedy crow, Xuan Ya.

The method used to seal this pearl was not a powerful magical technique, but rather a complex character carved from a material of pure Yang energy, resembling Daoist seal script.

Even when Bai Wuxiang used his demonic power, he couldn't break it. Instead, Xuan Ya used the sharp teeth and beak of his flesh to grind away the seal.

He memorized this inscription. He never dared to underestimate humans, but when the ghost in the Soul Sealing Pearl was released, Bai Wuxiang realized that he had underestimated them.

Black mist filled the cave of bones, and a hideous face emerged.

"Hahaha, I have been imprisoned for a hundred years, and today I am finally free!"

How do you want to die, man...

The ghost's voice abruptly stopped halfway through its sentence, for before it sat only a skeleton, its eye sockets glowing with dark flames, staring at it like eyes.

"You...aren't human?"

The ghost leader was startled for a moment, looked him over, and chuckled strangely, "You're just a little ghost spirit. But since you've released me, I'll spare your life. From now on, you'll be a ghost general under my command. Hurry up and thank me!"

Bai Wuxiang asked curiously, "Little ghost spirit? What realm are you in?"

"Hmph, I am naturally the Ghost King! Back in the day, when I, the Evil Ghost King, roamed the Netherworld..." The ghost leader was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized, "How dare you! How dare you be disrespectful when speaking to me?"

Bai Wuxiang frowned subconsciously, but then remembered that he wasn't wearing human skin, so he could only shake his head and sigh, "You seem to be a little slow on the uptake. You were probably cut into pieces and sealed away by a human demon hunter."

"I am a ghost king comparable to the judge of the underworld! Who dares to cut off my body?" the ghost leader roared. "You little devil, you're courting death!"

As he said this, he opened his mouth and spat out a stream of black gas that rushed towards the white bones.

But the Jade Bell hanging in the cave suddenly rang, and the clear, tinkling sound made the ghost's face contort in agony.

Bai Wuxiang, too lazy to waste any more time with a delirious ghost, directly activated the Vengeful Spirit Pearl, devouring all the resentment on the ghost's head.

A wisp of pure death energy was gently inhaled by Bai Wuxiang into the skull.

This wisp of death energy was different from the death energy of ordinary mortals. As soon as it merged into the bones, it spontaneously began to circulate, frantically transforming into demonic power to fill the bones. Bai Wuxiang was also immersed in this state of surging demonic power, concentrating his mind entirely on circulating the demonic power, not daring to be distracted, otherwise he might accidentally burst his own skeletal body.

At the same time, the Vengeful Spirit Pearl absorbed this surging resentment and evolved into another great technique.

Psychic communication: Borrowing the power of heaven and earth to communicate with spirits. It allows one to traverse mountains and rivers, grafting one's own power onto the will of spirits. ...

After Bai Wuxiang finished comprehending this great technique, he was quite pleasantly surprised. This technique was most suitable for him to absorb the resentment from all sides; it was almost like a divine spell.

This technique requires not only the Vengeful Spirit Pearl as its spiritual source, but also the Vengeful Spirit Pearl's internal resentment as its pathway, and the caster to condense a spiritual inscription.

The holder of the spirit seal can use the resentful spirit pearl to descend across mountains and rivers with divine thoughts, landing at the location where the spirit seal is recited.

This technique greatly facilitated his collection of resentment from all over the world. Not only did he not have to collect the resentment himself and help resolve people's wishes, but he could also avoid being hunted down by demon hunters from the foot of the mountain.

However, this technique also has its drawbacks. The descending divine thought is very fragile and can easily be influenced by various emotions and desires, causing the divine thought to develop a different mind and no longer return to the original body.

Even so, Bai Wuxiang decided he had to cultivate this technique. He needed greater power to protect himself.

The night passed in the blink of an eye, and Bai Wuxiang awoke from his hazy sleep. His mind was filled with many things, fragmented memories from the one who called himself the Evil Ghost King.

This creature is indeed a ghost king in the underworld; I remember seeing scenes of ghosts bowing down to it.

There are also the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons, and the Black and White Impermanence from the underworld.

In his memory, he was extremely afraid of the Black and White Impermanence.

Despite having memories of easily defeating the Black and White Impermanence, this guy still harbors fear in his emotions.

Furthermore, in the underworld, any living being that has died and regains consciousness becomes a little ghost.

These kinds of little ghosts are mostly evil spirits with little ability to kill.

In addition, there are ghosts known as vengeful spirits. These kinds of ghosts are often capable of killing and are much stronger than lesser ghosts.

However, the difference between vengeful ghosts is also very large. Some vengeful ghosts can only kill one or two people, while others can kill hundreds or thousands of people.

A ghost capable of killing thousands of people is called a Ghost King in the underworld.

Even if a creature is not inherently strong, the death energy, resentment, and even malevolent energy it accumulates through constant killing will become part of its strength. Ghosts grow stronger the more they kill!
Whether it's killing people in the living world or killing ghosts in the underworld.

Bai Wuxiang estimated his own strength; if he didn't count the Vengeful Spirit Pearl, he was at most a vengeful ghost.

But if you include the Vengeful Spirit Pearl, then it's hard to estimate.

In this ghost king's memory, among the underworld deities, only Yama, the King of Hell, and the judge dared not provoke them.

The other ox-headed and horse-faced demons, each in charge of their own underworld duties, were all defeated by him.

As for how the Ghost King escaped to the mortal realm, he didn't recall seeing it in his memories. After all, Bai Wuxiang could only absorb partial memories, and given that the ghost's mind was already somewhat abnormal, he knew even less.

Bai Wuxiang stood up and slowly raised his hands. The Yin energy on the ground gathered and enveloped the white bones. Gradually, tender white skin appeared on his bones, and the withered five joints were gradually wrapped in flesh and transformed into slender fingers.

His feet also sprouted flesh and blood in the mist, and his writhing body transformed into a vivid human form amidst the trembling!

Bai Wuxiang arrived at the pool and looked at the human figure reflected in the water. The reflection was somewhat similar to the human skin, but not entirely the same.

This is a body he conjured up himself, a body sculpted by combining the yin energy of the earth with demonic power. Although this physical body fears things as yang as the sun, it is fine as long as he wears clothes and does not directly touch these things.

Compared to wearing human skin, the physical body he conjures is more convenient for casting spells and fighting, and he can exert 70-80% of his strength even during the day.

While wearing human skin may limit one's full strength due to the external physical form, it is more suitable for concealing demonic energy.

As long as he wears human skin and conceals his demonic aura, he cannot be detected by sight without special means! Even the legendary Yin-Yang Eyes, capable of seeing ghosts and gods, cannot detect him.

The reason Bai Wuxiang was able to conjure a physical body was because the death energy of this Ghost King was too pure and concentrated, causing his demonic power to surge overnight. Now it has filled forty-three of his body bones, and he can barely be considered to be close to the middle stage of the Spirit Building Realm.

He stood naked by the pool, gazing at the figure in the water. The figure was tall and slender, with smooth, jade-like skin, long, thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and slanted phoenix eyes. He had a broad back like a tiger and a slender waist like a snake. If he were dressed, he would be a captivating young master.

Bai Wuxiang laughed loudly, and the mist filled the air. The jade-like young man disappeared, but a woman appeared with a smile covering her face, her eyes full of charm. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders, and her figure was graceful. Every frown and smile was that of a bewitching enchantress!
The fog never stopped, and Bai Wuxiang's body and face kept changing, from a delicate young woman to a peerless beauty in a phoenix coronet and wedding robes, from a pale-faced young man to a mighty general who conquers all directions...

Men, women, young and old, all the faces of the world appeared on his body. Inside the White Bone Cave, cries, laughter, and roars echoed one after another, the voices changing without ceasing.

After an unknown amount of time, the laughter abruptly stopped.

Beside the pool, Bai Wuxiang, who had returned to his original appearance, reached out and gently stroked his face. His handsome eyebrows and eyes turned into a white skull, and his vibrant flesh and blood disappeared.

He reverted to his original form.

A skeleton.

Watching his reflection in the water transform into a skull, Bai Wuxiang remained silent for a long time before slowly reciting:

A fair-skinned woman, but with a fleshy skeleton attached.

The peony in its crimson hue is a deadly weapon.

Red-painted skulls are nothing but white bones and flesh.

Strip away the skin, and you're left with nothing but two hundred and six bones.

Once dressed, one can have a hundred and eight thousand different appearances!

After death, one observes the skeletons; while alive, one tries to understand the hearts of men.

Seeing a beautiful woman as white as bones makes me devoid of desire.

Seeing the skeletons as beautiful as a woman makes me fearless.

Only when I am free from desire and fear can my heart be at peace.

Faced with the sudden surge in his demonic power, Bai Wuxiang suppressed the many thoughts in his mind. He had the mindset and perspective of a human, but now that he was a demon, he could no longer use the human way of thinking.

However, the wisdom he possessed as a human being could help him rediscover himself amidst boundless demonic desires and evil thoughts, and remember that his name was Wuxiang.

Otherwise, he will become mired in his many obsessions, killing indiscriminately and changing his moods erratically. In that case, Bai Wuxiang will no longer be a demon, but a monster!
(End of this chapter)