Chapter 1043: Arrival

Shou Zheng, in a situation similar to the one he faced, had entered the Netherworld and transformed into a Ghost Deity after losing his physical body. Ghost Deities within the Yin Capital system possessed the techniques of the Dali Dynasty and the assistance of naturally born Ghost Deity bodies, enabling them to retain their previous memories and characteristics as much as possible.

However, Shou Zheng had obtained a unique treasure by chance before transforming into a Ghost Deity. As a result, he managed to retain much of his previous memories and personality after the transformation.

Due to this circumstance, during Taiyi Sect's heyday, efforts were made to support Shou Zheng's establishment in the Netherworld, hoping he could establish a foundation there. Like many other major sects at the peak of their power, Taiyi Sect harbored ambitious plans for the Netherworld.

Unfortunately, Taiyi Sect fell at the hands of the Viewing Heaven Pavilion, and Shou Zheng lost the support from the mortal world. Relying solely on his own strength made it difficult for him to flourish in the Netherworld.

However, before the sect's demise, the senior members of Taiyi Sect had anticipated and prepared for some situations. They entrusted certain matters to Shou Zheng and left behind contingencies in the Netherworld.

Over the next thousand years, Shou Zheng achieved some accomplishments in the Netherworld, and his cultivation base had nearly reached the limit of a postnatal Ghost Deity.

At this point, if he wished to make further progress and achieve a breakthrough in his cultivation base, he had two options.

The first option was to find a way to elevate his own postnatal Ghost Deity body, causing a qualitative transformation that would make it more akin to a naturally born Ghost Deity body. This was also the general direction and ultimate goal of almost all postnatal Ghost Deities in the Netherworld. Countless cultivators from the mortal world who had transformed into Ghost Deities in the Netherworld aimed for this path.

However, up to this point, no postnatal Ghost Deity had successfully achieved a breakthrough through this method.

The second option was to acquire an intact naturally born Ghost Deity body, use a body-possession technique to transfer his own Soul into it, and thus gain a new body. With a naturally born Ghost Deity body, it should be possible to break free from the limitations of being a postnatal Ghost Deity.

Of course, this approach also presented numerous challenges. Firstly, finding an intact naturally born Ghost Deity body was extremely rare. Secondly, naturally born Ghost Deities were often stubborn and resolute; when facing an invincible adversary, they tended to self-destruct their bodies, causing a final act of harm.

Furthermore, even if one managed to obtain a naturally born Ghost Deity body, a successful body-possession was not guaranteed. Afterward, the path of cultivation remained challenging, and breaking through limits was not guaranteed.

However, regardless of the difficulties, there were precedents of success along this path.

As such, after deducing Ouyang Jian's goal, Shou Zheng had forcefully requested Meng Zhang's participation, aiming for an opportunity to seize a potentially existing naturally born Ghost Deity body.

It seemed that Shou Zheng's judgment was correct; Ouyang Jian and his group were indeed targeting the naturally born Ghost Deity body.

Ghost Deity Shou Zheng's wisp of soul didn't rush to intervene for two reasons. Firstly, his strength alone was insufficient to defeat the enemies, even if he had collaborated with Duan Ci just now—the outcome would have been the same. Secondly, naturally born Ghost Deities, as divine beings naturally nurtured by the world, were valued by the Grand Dust World's celestial laws and treated as favored entities. Destroying their Souls forcibly would incur the displeasure of the celestial laws and could even damage one's own destiny.

Ouyang Jian, the cunning individual he was, made Ouyang Huajin the scapegoat. Even if his own destiny were damaged, it would be Ouyang Huajin's destiny that suffered first.

Furthermore, Mo Qing True Monarch was the mastermind behind almost the entire plan, and he was currently casting a spell to destroy the naturally born Ghost Deity's Soul. Since Mo Qing True Monarch was a practitioner of Demonic Cultivation, he was already forsaken by the celestial laws, so he didn't mind adding to his burden.

Ouyang Jian, hiding in the background, could accept a minor damage to his destiny if necessary.

The wisp of soul hidden in the shadows, Shou Zheng, similarly understood these principles. Naturally, he hoped that Ouyang Jian and his group would lead the way and bear the consequences of killing the naturally born Ghost Deity.As a Ghost Deity, even a postnatal Ghost Deity like Shou Zheng, attached great importance to concepts such as celestial laws and destiny. These factors had a profound influence on Ghost Deities.

Shou Zheng's wisp of soul remained hidden in the shadows, hoping that Meng Zhang and his true self would arrive in time.

Honestly, due to the numerous obstacles on the journey, Meng Zhang had fallen far behind, which was beyond Shou Zheng's wisp of soul's expectations.

Of course, Shou Zheng's wisp of soul had the ability to call upon his true self to descend.

However, he was currently concealed in the shadows and couldn't reveal himself because of it.

Summoning his true self required time and would create a significant commotion.

If he were to reveal himself prematurely, he wasn't confident that he could successfully summon his true self under Ouyang Jian and the others' attacks.

Currently, aside from continually urging his true self and Meng Zhang to hasten their pace, Shou Zheng's wisp of soul hoped that this naturally born Ghost Deity would be tenacious enough. Despite facing Demonic Cultivation's secret techniques, he wished the Ghost Deity would hold on a little longer, ideally until his true self and Meng Zhang arrived.

A life-and-death struggle unfolded between this Ghost Deity's Soul and Ouyang Huajin's invading Primordial Spirit.

Already injured and unhealed, the Soul suffered immense damage when confronted with Demonic Cultivation techniques and Ouyang Huajin's attacks, resulting in additional scars.

The immense pain caused the colossal body of this naturally born Ghost Deity to convulse involuntarily.

When he had first started his slumber many years ago, he had displayed his complete form. Just his head was the size of a small hill. As for his body buried underground, it was even larger, occupying a significant portion of the small valley.

Stimulated by pain, his colossal body writhed ceaselessly, and there was even a trend of it breaking through the ground.

The entire valley trembled more violently, as if undergoing a massive earthquake.

Mo Qing True Monarch cast his spell to stabilize the ground around the altar, continuing to maintain this Demonic Cultivation technique.

One after another, plumes of black smoke emerged from the altar and then burrowed into the divine body.

Each plume of black smoke inflicted irreparable harm upon the naturally born Ghost Deity's Soul.

Fortunately, this naturally born Ghost Deity was resilient enough. At this critical juncture of life and death, he had tapped into his final reserves of potential.

It's worth noting that in his prime, this naturally born Ghost Deity was an existence capable of contending against Yang God True Monarchs of the Human Clan Cultivators.

Even in his current state and after being ambushed, he still displayed formidable strength.

Ouyang Jian and his group aimed to destroy his Soul while preserving the integrity of his divine body as much as possible. As a result, they faced considerable limitations in many aspects.

Despite Ouyang Jian possessing a formidable combat strength, he wasn't of much help.

It all relied on Mo Qing True Monarch and Ouyang Huajin, who gradually wore down the opponent's Soul through meticulous efforts.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed, and even though the divine Ghost Deity was barely clinging to life, he continued to mount his final resistance.

Meanwhile, Meng Zhang and Shou Zheng's true self had arrived much faster than anticipated, not far from their destination.

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