Chapter 1453: Invoking the Deity

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Chapter 1451: Invoking the Deity

Smiling Face stared at Elder Tian, who seemed neither fully alive nor dead, his pupils dilating slightly before he let out a sinister chuckle: “You really aren’t dead?”

Elder Tian’s expression remained indifferent.

Shaking his head, Smiling Face said, “Never mind. Whether you’re alive or dead makes no difference.”

“I’m only following orders. According to the higher-ups, if you aren’t completely dead, we’ll make sure you die thoroughly.”

“When you were alive, you were an obstacle. But once you’re dead, everything will be fine.”

“After you’re thoroughly dead, we’ll take your corpse back. Your brain might still be of use.”

Elder Tian’s pupils trembled violently. “You…”

Smiling Face chuckled. “Surprised?”

Elder Tian fell silent.

Smiling Face examined Elder Tian once more, sighed, and said with a hint of pity: “Tell me, if you knew it would come to this, why did you resist in the first place?”

“If you had just nodded and cooperated back then, none of this would have happened.”

“You could have continued living peacefully as an elder. Seizing this once-in-a-millennium opportunity, you could have worked hard to achieve great merit and even been promoted to Grand Elder in the future.”

“The Tian family hasn’t produced a Grand Elder for several hundred years.”

“Such a promising future, and you threw it all away… ending up in this state, neither alive nor dead, neither human nor ghost.”

“Don’t you feel any regret at all?”

Smiling Face’s gaze was mocking.

But Elder Tian had already calmed his emotions and replied calmly: “The ancestral teachings of the Tian family dictate that some things must be done, while others must never be done. There are lines that must never be crossed.”

Smiling Face’s expression darkened. “Just stubborn foolishness.”

Then he sneered, his eyes gleaming with killing intent. “But at this point, such words are meaningless.”

“I still need to take your corpse back to complete my mission.”

Before his words had fully faded, Smiling Face took a step forward, closing in on Elder Tian. His grotesque fingers sprouted sharp claws, aiming to tear off Elder Tian’s head.

But before Smiling Face’s Corpse Claw could reach Elder Tian, an aged figure suddenly flashed out, throwing a punch toward the side of Smiling Face’s head.

The force of this punch was surprisingly powerful.

Frowning, Smiling Face had no choice but to change his move mid-action, barely managing to block the strike. However, the impact still sent him stumbling back several steps.

His face twisted with anger, Smiling Face looked up at the person who had intervened and couldn’t help but show surprise:

The one who had stopped him was Uncle Ping, who was already at the end of his strength.

Yet at this moment, although Uncle Ping was covered in blood, with traces of ghostly corrosion on his chest, his gaze was firm and cold, and his aura had surged dramatically.

Not only his aura, but even his aged body seemed to have regained some youth, his muscles hardening like iron.

“Ghost Possession?”

Smiling Face sneered. “In this state, you still dare to use Ghost Possession to fight me? Aren’t you afraid that after you die, the ghost will devour you whole, leaving you to suffer for eternity?”

Uncle Ping remained silent and cold.

Shaking his head, Smiling Face laughed. “You reckless old fool. What did Tián Mùshēng promise you to earn such loyalty?”

Uncle Ping only shouted coldly, “Evil creature, die!”

With that, his figure erupted like a sudden gale, stepping directly in front of Smiling Face and throwing another punch at his head.

Though swift, the punch appeared unremarkable at first glance.

Smiling Face initially paid it little mind, casually raising a hand to block. But the moment their fists connected, his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly tried to withdraw his strength and retreat, but it was already too late.

Uncle Ping’s fist struck, and Smiling Face’s two forearms were brutally broken, the bones protruding from the joints.

With his forearms shattered and staring at his own stark white bones, Smiling Face drew a sharp breath before exclaiming in shock: “Not ghosts?”

He looked up at Uncle Ping, whose aura was overwhelmingly fierce, and said in disbelief, “You… invoked a deity?”

Uncle Ping’s eyes turned pale, a faint golden light flickering deep within his pupils. Without answering, he seized every second to attack Smiling Face, each strike aimed to kill.

For a moment, Smiling Face was relentlessly beaten back by Uncle Ping.

His flesh was deformed all over, and his bones began to crack inch by inch.

Suppressing his fear, Smiling Face angrily demanded: “Where did you learn the Deity Invocation Mystic Art? How could someone like you, a practitioner of unorthodox methods, tainted with filth, possibly invoke a deity?”

Uncle Ping offered no reply, his eyes filled only with killing intent.

After being suppressed for a long time, Smiling Face gradually adapted to Uncle Ping’s moves. As the fight continued, he suddenly remembered something and exclaimed in shock: “Fāngcùn Mountain! You actually managed to enter the gates of Fāngcùn Mountain?”

Seeing that his secret had been exposed, Uncle Ping gritted his teeth, holding back nothing. Summoning his last ounce of strength, a faint golden light enveloped his fist.

This golden light made Smiling Face’s pupils contract sharply.

But with his bones shattered and his movements hindered by Uncle Ping’s attacks, he couldn’t dodge. He could only watch helplessly as the golden fist struck his forehead.

Smiling Face’s head was completely deformed by the blow.

His breath gradually faded, and his body, like a snake stripped of its bones, collapsed limply to the ground.

Uncle Ping gasped heavily, his expression grave as he stared at Smiling Face’s deformed head, not a hint of joy in his eyes.

He knew it couldn’t be that simple.

Sure enough, moments later, Smiling Face, who had lost all signs of life, stood up again like an inflating “corpse,” swelling as he rose.

Most of his outer skin was deformed and torn.

Smiling Face simply tore off his own skin, revealing a body of dark, bronze-colored flesh and blood.

This body had no skin, only a corpse-like form as hard as iron.

Uncle Ping’s gaze trembled. “Corpse Transformation…”

Elder Tian, witnessing this, could hardly contain his anger, his tone icy as he said, “Has your Shadow Division forgotten the ancestral teachings? How dare you…”

Overwhelmed by rage, Elder Tian coughed violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“Smiling Face” grinned again, but this smile no longer resembled a human’s—it was more like the grin of a smiling corpse monster: “Elder Tian, not being from the Shadow Division, cannot understand our difficulties.”

“As members of the Shadow Division, we often Enter the Earth and frequently encounter Corpse Transformation. Corpse Transformation is extremely dangerous—Corpse Qi can invade the mind, Corpse Poison can seep into the blood, and Jiangshi will devour people.”

“Countless brothers in our Shadow Division have died from Corpse Qi, Corpse Poison, or in the jaws of Jiangshi.”

“Even with Magical Treasures, Talisman Seals, and Spiritual Artifacts for protection, it’s never enough. After all, Corpse Transformation is as fierce as a tiger.”

“Since that’s the case, since we fear being bitten by Jiangshi, fear dying in their mouths…”

“Then why not simply let the members of our Shadow Division become Jiangshi themselves?”

Smiling Face said with a smile, his reasoning momentarily flawless.

Elder Tian’s face turned pale, unable to speak.

But Uncle Ping angrily retorted, “Monster, that’s utter nonsense!”

Knowing his time was limited, he wasted no more words. Immediately, he channeled Divine Power, stirred his blood and energy, and charged at Smiling Face.

Smiling Face revealed his true form, his entire body having undergone corpse transformation, impervious to blades and spears.

Moreover, his “corpse transformation” seemed different from the usual Corpse Dao techniques, carrying a subtle and eerie strangeness.

However, those present at the scene had no time to spare, nor the mind to carefully study the differences and similarities between these corpse dao variations.

After all, not everyone was like Mo Hua, curious about everything.

Nor was everyone like Mo Hua, possessing their own unique research into corpse refinement.

Within the tomb chamber, the battle continued.

Uncle Ping’s Deity Invocation Method was indeed incredibly exquisite. Even though Smiling Face had displayed his fully corpse-transformed body, he could only be suppressed and beaten by Uncle Ping.

But this time, Uncle Ping’s “divine power” fists could no longer break through Smiling Face’s defense.

He could only smash Smiling Face’s flesh until it deformed, but he could not penetrate the iron-like corpse skin and flesh to shatter Smiling Face’s internal organs and heart meridian, inflicting a fatal wound.

And before long, Uncle Ping himself was the first to falter.

He was already at the end of his strength, with new injuries and old ailments flaring up simultaneously, and even his Deity Invocation Method could no longer be maintained.

His gaze began to grow unfocused, the punches he threw gradually lost their force, and the divine descent aura around him melted away like ice and snow.

Sensing Uncle Ping’s change keenly, Smiling Face gave a sinister smile, turned his hand, and punched Uncle Ping squarely in the chest.

Uncle Ping, his mouth full of blood, was sent flying by the blow.

Smiling Face couldn’t help but laugh heartily: “I truly can’t defeat you, but you’ve grown old.”

“I don’t even need to win; you’ll exhaust yourself to death.”

Smiling Face took a step forward, walked up to Uncle Ping, and with a sudden stomp, crushed both of Uncle Ping’s legs, then twisted and broke both his arms.

Recalling how he had been beaten down by this old fool throughout the entire fight earlier, and now that the situation had reversed, with the old fool lying like a mangy dog, Smiling Face felt immense satisfaction and sneered coldly: “To be honest, you really are the most first-rate Golden Core Cultivator I’ve ever seen.”

“Those three Ghost Gates, the Pear Blossom Silver Thread Magical Artifact, and this Fangcun Mountain Divine Art… they truly opened my eyes and left me feeling inadequate.”

“Especially those three Ghost Gates… if I hadn’t found a few scapegoats for this trip, and if not for a stroke of luck, I might not even have been able to break through those three Ghost Gates, let alone enter this tomb, much less find the esteemed Elder Tian.”

“Those three Ghost Gates must have cost you a great deal of effort, I imagine.”

With each word Smiling Face spoke, Uncle Ping’s face grew paler. Thinking of all his painstaking efforts coming to nothing, exhausting his lifelong techniques yet powerless to turn the tide, unable to use ghosts or invoke deities, and failing to rescue his own benefactor, his heart filled with guilt and his face bore despair.

Elder Tian, watching from the side as Uncle Ping suffered this fate, looked weathered, and the death qi around him grew even thicker.

Smiling Face reached out, intending to finish off Uncle Ping first.

This old fool was simply too strong.

But just as he prepared to deliver the killing blow, a sudden chill gripped his heart, giving rise to caution:

“This old fool practices unorthodox ghost-controlling methods, his techniques are sinister and bizarre. There’s no guarantee he wouldn’t use his own life as a medium to perform some ‘death-defying art.'”

“If I kill him, it might trigger a ‘death art,’ summoning a malevolent ghost backlash. That would be troublesome.”

“This old madman is a loyal old dog who doesn’t cherish his own life. He might very well do something like that.”

“At this moment, I must not invite unnecessary complications.”

“That old fool will die on his own.”

Smiling Face had considered all this in an instant. Without further hesitation, he turned and walked toward Elder Tian.

Uncle Ping still wanted to reach out and grab Smiling Face, but with all his limbs broken, he couldn’t even lift a hand. He could only watch with bloodshot eyes as Smiling Face approached Elder Tian’s coffin.

Elder Tian seemed to have given up resistance, remaining silent.

Smiling Face was in no hurry to attack Elder Tian. Instead, he first reached out to touch the Soul Lamp in front of the coffin.

He intended to extinguish Elder Tian’s Soul Lamp first.

Once the Soul Lamp went out, Elder Tian would be completely dead, with no chance left to cling to life.

Deep down, Smiling Face still harbored a trace of wariness toward this Elder Tian of the Earth Sect, who held real power.

But just as Smiling Face was about to touch the Soul Lamp, a dim yellow light suddenly glowed on the ground.

An Earth Element Cage abruptly rose, trapping Smiling Face within.

Flames in the shape of blades also slashed toward him from all sides.

Smiling Face’s expression changed drastically, but moments later, his demeanor turned cold again. Looking at the earth cage and the Fire Blade Formation before him, he felt deeply disappointed.

“I almost forgot, you’ve spent your entire life studying Spiritual Plant Formations. Even if you cram at the last minute, how much of the essence of Trap Formations and Killing Formations could you possibly grasp?”

Smiling Face allowed the Fire Blade Formation to slice into his flesh without fear. Then, with his bare hands, he tore forcefully, and within a few rounds, he ripped the earth cage apart. He sneered coldly: “Don’t forget, I’m also a Formation Master, with some understanding of formations. Did you really think you could deal with me with such poorly learned Killing Formations? You underestimate me too much.”

Tián Mùshēng sighed deeply.

Smiling Face was right. He had indeed devoted his life to studying Spiritual Plant Formations, usually looking down on Trap Formations and Killing Formations. It was only when disaster loomed that he hastily learned a few.

But formations were vast and profound. Trap and Killing Formations were not something one could master through last-minute cramming.

And the Spiritual Plant Formations he had studied his entire life couldn’t protect him at all.

How ironic it truly was.

Elder Tian’s face turned ashen.

Smiling Face knew this Elder Tian had truly reached a dead end. He sneered coldly: “Elder Tian, I will extinguish your Soul Flame now. I will also take your body back. The Earth Sect will remember your contributions.”

Elder Tian closed his eyes, utterly disheartened.

Smiling Face sneered again and reached out to extinguish the Soul Lamp.

Just as his finger was about to touch the Soul Lamp, an ordinary-looking fireball somehow shot through the air and struck the back of his head.

Smiling Face was hit, nodding like a chicken pecking at rice, his movement interrupted.

Suppressing his anger, he decided to ignore everything else and extinguish the Soul Lamp first.

But then, a second fireball flew over, striking him with precision.

Smiling Face’s head was hit again, slightly singed, and his movement was once more interrupted.

Still, Smiling Face paid no heed, intending to extinguish the lamp first.

Yet at that moment, a third fireball flew over, hitting the back of Smiling Face’s head and making him “nod like a chicken” once more.

Smiling Face completely lost his patience.

These fireballs weren’t particularly powerful, but they were fast and accurate.

It was as if a ruffian kept throwing stones at his head, more provocative than harmful.

Smiling Face took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and looked at the person behind him, his voice icy enough to kill: “I almost forgot there’s someone like you.”

Mo Hua nodded and said, “Yes, your memory isn’t too good. I’ve actually been here all along.”

Smiling Face was taken aback, feeling inexplicably irritated inside.

Beside him, the disheartened Elder Tian and the severely injured, near-death Uncle Ping, upon hearing this hoarse and peculiar voice, also opened their eyes to look at Mo Hua, their expressions stunned.

Suppressing his anger, Smiling Face sneered, “I was too lazy to bother with you, letting you live a little longer, and yet you’re so… eager to die?”

Mo Hua didn’t hold back either, directly mocking, “You look so ugly, like a skinned frog…”

The sneer vanished from Smiling Face’s face, replaced by cold indifference. Without wasting words, he transformed Corpse Claws on both hands and lunged straight at Mo Hua, intending to peel off his face and skin him alive.