A murderous chill enveloped Chen Shi.

Chen Shi's face remained calm. His lips slowly parted from hers as he said, "If I told you that you ran over and kissed me on your own, fairy, would you believe me?"

Little Duan Immortal's eyes were cold and clear as she stared at him, as if trying to discern whether his words were true or false.

But Chen Shi's gaze was clear and sincere, and she could not tell whether he lied.

"But your Peng Qiao is stronger than before. How do you explain that?"

Little Duan Immortal's gaze grew distant, piercing through Chen Shi's body and entering his Primordial Palace, seeing the layout inside his Primordial Palace as clearly as day.

In the Immortal Capital, within Chen Shi's Primordial Palace, Peng Qiao rose like a demon god, bursting out of the Primordial Palace and heading toward the underworld, shouting, "These past two days I was about to do something fine, to let my lord feast, but someone blocked me. Today I'll go appeal to the King of Hell about my lord!"

Peng Ju and Peng Zhi, the two other corpse gods, trembled beside him, appearing weak and pitiable.

At this moment the Immortal Capital was in the throes of revelry. Because the heavens had drastically changed and the sun failed to rise as usual, many people gave themselves over to despair, indulging in gluttony and wanton celebrations, so the capital was exceedingly lively.

Chen Shi's Peng Qiao was overwhelmingly fierce, radiating a cruel aura that made all the Three Corpses Gods in the capital tremble. It drew the attention of numerous ghost gods, who remarked, "Whose Peng Qiao is that? Incredibly powerful!"

"Magnificent, truly magnificent!"

Peng Qiao swelled with pride when suddenly a slender jade finger descended from the sky and poked him. Chen Shi's Peng Qiao exploded with a bang, turning into a cloud of blood mist!

The gathered ghost gods, who had been praising his might, froze in shock. Suddenly, a little yaksha let out a shriek and bolted, running around like a headless fly, tumbling to the ground, then scrambling up and sprinting wildly while screaming, "Someone's dying! The finger killed someone!"

Other ghosts and monsters turned fearful and began shouting as they fled. Chaos swept the Immortal Capital, and the owners of those Peng Qiao also woke screaming from nightmares.

Chen Shi's Peng Ju and Peng Zhi quivered in terror, not daring to complain, and hurried back into the Primordial Palace.

They had barely entered when light flickered and Peng Qiao re-formed in the Primordial Palace.

Corpse gods are born from a person's yin energy. If one does not refine to pure yang, the corpse will be neither dead nor alive; even if cut down, it will be reborn.

Chen Shi's Peng Qiao snarled, "I know who struck—she's a ruthless little lady, I'll go complain to the King of Hell about her—"

At that moment the sky split open, and a slender jade finger descended, poking him until he burst.

Peng Ju and Peng Zhi froze, then let out a piercing scream.

In the Immortal Capital, many ghost gods looked toward Chen Shi's Primordial Palace in fearful astonishment. They saw the light flash there from time to time; the demonlike, mighty Peng Qiao would revive, but the next moment the sky would tear open and a delicate finger would press down from above, killing Peng Qiao.

Boom!

A series of dull thuds echoed, the Immortal Capital trembling under the might of an immortal. The assembled ghosts were unnerved, watching Chen Shi's Peng Qiao revive hundreds of times only to be crushed to death hundreds of times.

At Huangpo Village, Little Duan Immortal finally cooled her temper, and said in a cold tone, "Fellow Daoist, I warned you not to seek carnal pleasures. There must not be a next time, or what will be exploded will not be Peng Qiao."

Chen Shi felt her mind stir faintly, and he feared he would be poked to pieces like his Peng Qiao by her single finger.

This immortal's power was unfathomable; within her slightest movement lay the force of the Dao. Not to mention him, even someone in the Great Ascension Realm before her would likely be no match!

"What if another you came looking for me?" he probed.

Little Duan Immortal replied icily, "My heart follows the Dao alone. I have already severed the Three Corpses. It is impossible for me to develop feelings for you."

Chen Shi said, "Could it be that your mouth moved first?"

Little Duan Immortal's eyes turned cold. "I am already a pure yang true immortal, merely lacking a place to unify with the Dao. I would never initiate a kiss—"

She paused, frowning slightly, embarrassed to finish the sentence. With a sweep of her sleeve she slipped into the small temple behind Chen Shi's head.

Chen Shi exhaled in relief, then fretted inwardly.

"My Peng Qiao is so domineering. If Little Duan came to find me I definitely couldn't control myself. But if Little Duan awoke and discovered I had defiled her, she'd kill me... pshaw, it was obviously she who defiled me... pshaw, obviously we were both willingly affectionate!"

Chen Tang returned, windblown and weary, and sat dejectedly on the doorstep, silent.

Chen Shi walked up to him. "Father, there's something I want to ask you..."

Chen Tang lifted his head and suddenly said, "Little Ten, I couldn't find Gangzi Village."

Chen Shi stared at him. Chen Tang's face was bleak. "With Granny Sha and the others gone and the mortal world collapsing into the underworld, other villages may have been invaded by ghosts. The godmothers of those villages cannot protect their people. I wanted to find them and bring them to Huangpo Village. The changes in the underworld exceeded my expectation; even relying on Stone Ji Your Ladyship I could not secure Xinxiang County alone."

His original plan had been to build a shrine for Stone Ji Your Ladyship, making her the godmother for all Xinxiang County so that incense offerings would gather, her divine might would bloom, and she would protect the people. That way, even if the sun vanished, Xinxiang County could endure for a long time.

But he had not anticipated that after the sun's disappearance the two realms would fuse so quickly. Stone Ji's divine power was utterly insufficient to cover ten thousand great mountains!

Not to say Stone Ji Your Ladyship was inadequate; even if Little Duan Immortal were at her peak, her divine power could not cover ten thousand great mountains!

Ten thousand great mountains are too vast.

"But I searched and could not find them. I couldn't even find the village closest to Huangpo Village!"

Chen Tang slumped. "Just now I scoured thousands of miles and couldn't find any nearby villages! Not a single one! I don't even know if they're still alive!"

Chen Shi sat with him on the doorstep, watching the calm moonlight outside.

Yin Mountain, known as the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains, is boundless and its geography is extremely complex. Worse, there are two layers of the underworld here—one is the present underworld, the other a prehistoric underworld—and the two overlap. Some places even hold nodes that link different underworlds.

Not even Chen Tang, nor the ghosts and gods living here, could be sure of direction!

Finding other villages and towns was nearly impossible.

After a moment's silence Chen Tang said, "When dawn comes, we must contact the other villages and gather all the villagers. With Stone Ji Your Ladyship's power she can guarantee the safety of a thousand-li area. If all the people of Xinxiang County assemble together, a thousand-li area will be enough to survive. Tomorrow morning you and I will move all the villages of Xinxiang County to near Huangpo Village."

Chen Shi shook his head. "Dawn is still far off, and this night will last three days and nights; tomorrow will be the last sunrise. With so many villages and people, how can we relocate them in one day?"

"If we don't move them they'll die!"

Chen Tang's face showed fear and his voice was hoarse. "On my way searching for other villages I encountered terrifying ghost gods. They claim mountains as their own, their strength extremely mighty, not inferior to Great Ascension Realm beings! There were other horrible things, likely prehistoric relics, extremely perilous; many times my life was nearly taken! Also, there's magic nearby. You must not fly in the sky—the demons will find you and possess your body!"

Even with his resolute Dao heart, he could not help but be despairing.

After Qianyang Mountain fell into the underworld, ghosts and demons spread everywhere, and there are many forbidden zones. How can ordinary people survive?

Chen Shi patted his shoulder. "Father, have you forgotten who I am?"

Chen Tang was stunned and looked at him puzzled.

Chen Shi's gaze drifted to the distant mountain ranges. "Qianyang Mountain—I have already sealed the Mountain Lord. Guarding Qianyang Mountain is the Mountain Lord's duty now."

Following his gaze Chen Tang saw the earth tremble among the peaks. A majestic mountain rose up, growing ever higher; temples stood upon it, vast beyond measure, their gates flung open, and brilliant sunlight shot out from the temple, illuminating that peak!

Chen Tang's heart quaked. He rose, summoned his Primordial Spirit, and from afar beheld a towering deity standing behind the temple—a bull-horned, human-bodied god riding a colossal Yellow Tiger. The tiger roared through the forests, its momentum earth-shattering!

That deity was the Qianyang Mountain Lord. With a lift of his hand boundless thunderfire rolled, and riding the tiger he swept out to subdue the nearby ghosts and gods!

Boom! Boom!

The rumbling thunder echoed. Thunderfire rolled; it was the ghost gods entrenched on Qianyang Mountain fighting him. In mere moments the thousand-zhang godly guardian was blasted, bloodied, and the mountainside's ghosts were slaughtered in great numbers!

That thousand-zhang ghost god, crushed by him, trembled and had to submit.

Chen Tang watched in awed disbelief.

Chen Shi sat on the doorstep. "Besides the Qianyang Mountain Lord, there are the great serpent Xuan Shan and Madam Zhuang—these are the spirits and manifestations of Qianyang Mountain. They are also incomparably powerful, dominant in the underworld."

Farther off, azure clouds churned and a giant black serpent coiled among them, eyes like sun and moon, its gaze illuminating and intimidating the mountain ghosts.

An ancient tree loomed, its crown blotting sky and moon, and an old matron a thousand zhang tall sat motionless before incense offerings under the tree. A faint fragrance drifted toward her.

Behind her stretched even vaster roots, writhing like ten thousand dragons.

"There is also the Wuwang Prefect who controls Wuwang City. He inhabits Tongue-Pulling Hell; his magic is boundless and can rival the great judges of the underworld."

Chen Shi continued, "He too can shelter a region."

Chen Tang's Primordial Spirit climbed higher as he took in the scene, seeing places where yin energy was thick and ghost gods proliferated—a ghost city dominating a vast realm—surely the Tongue-Pulling Hell and Wuwang City!

"And Scholar Zhu, who taught you and me to read, is also a sacred protector," Chen Shi said.

Chen Tang looked toward Yellow Earth Slope and saw high mounds rising to the heavens, the old willow tree penetrating the skyline, a gigantic corpse descending from the sky and landing on a hilltop, lightning flashing from its eyes, radiating imposing might that suppressed the region.

"Most crucially, your son is a king in the underworld."

Chen Tang's heart trembled as he looked at Chen Shi sitting on the doorstep.

Chen Shi wore a bright red robe and the scholar's hat of a top-scoring candidate; still dressed as a bridegroom, he retained a hint of childishness, yet his gaze was deep and distant.

"Chen Tang, your son is the Skeleton King of the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains in the underworld. The domain I rule continues to expand."

His voice reached Chen Tang's ears. "When I realized the sun would no longer rise, I issued an order in my capacity as Heavenly Pool Ruler, sending the ghost gods of the Heavenly Pool to the villages and towns across Qianyang Mountain. Judging by travel times, they should have arrived by now."

Gangzi Village.

The earth quaked violently. The godmother of Gangzi Village, a woman, looked fearfully at the moonlight outside.

She was terrified. Powerful ghost gods roamed nearby, and cunning, elusive monsters watched the small village and its people.

Granny Sha was not in the village. She had long been disliked by the godmother—when Granny Sha was an old woman she hustled for money, helping people and stealing incense offerings. Later, becoming young and beautiful, she made other ghost gods jealous.

Now the godmother desperately wished Granny Sha had stayed to face the crisis.

But Granny Sha had been gone a long time and had not returned. Alone, the godmother could not protect the villagers!

The tremors grew stronger. Looking toward the mountains, she saw a thousand-zhang ghost god striding forward with no head, its face on its belly, ferocious and terrifying. It radiated boundless murderous qi, and gas pores along its back spewed scalding, foul vapor.

"It's over..." she thought, despairing.

"An edict is proclaimed!"

That ghost god arrived at the little mountain village, turned its back to the hamlet, and sat down. Its voice thundered through the peaks. "The Big-Bellied Clan guards Gangzi Village! Any ghost god who dares invade will have its nine clans exterminated!"

Its voice rolled like thunder through the mountains, frightening off nearby ghosts and monsters.

Elsewhere, the chubby godmother hid in her temple, watching in horror as a thousand-zhang ghost god arrived outside Huangyang Village like a white-furred rampaging ape, its roar echoing to the clouds.

"An edict is proclaimed! The Thunder Ape Tribe guards Huangyang Village! Any ghost god who dares attack will have its nine clans exterminated!"

Its voice thundered back and forth across the skies, deafening.

At the same time, before the human villages scattered across Yin Mountain, proud ghost gods arrived one after another, each voice detonating across the underworld.

"An edict is proclaimed! The Fire Qiao Tribe guards Shanyang Village! Any who attack will be beheaded without mercy!"

"An edict is proclaimed! The Dao Lao Tribe guards Fangdian Village!"

"An edict is proclaimed! The Ghost Mother Tribe guards Yandang Village!"

...

In Xinxiang County, a Land Register unfurled and shone, its light covering the county seat. The Myriad People Banner fluttered; from its fabric emerged ghost gods floating in the sky, heads turned outward but eyes full of terror.

Outside the county walls, sizes of ghosts and monsters gawked at the city, showing cruel smiles, ready to pounce at any moment. Although the Myriad People Banner and the Land Register were valuable magic items, they were hardly enough to stop the siege of these monsters!

At that moment three colossal ghost gods strode out of the mountains and stood towering outside the county, unmoving.

"An edict is proclaimed! The Water Qiao, Heavenly Dragon, and Asura tribes guard Xinxiang County!"

Huangpo Village, the Chen household.

Chen Shi lounged on the doorstep and said lazily, "Father, didn't I tell you before? My abilities have grown. Things you think are deadly are nothing to me."

Chen Tang eyed him and thought a moment before sitting down. "You just said you had something to ask me?"

Chen Shi hurriedly recounted everything about Little Duan and the Little Duan Immortal. "Lately I often get controlled by Peng Qiao, but I can't touch her, so it's vexing."

Chen Tang remained expressionless. "Repeat what you just said to admonish me."

Chen Shi blinked. "My abilities have grown. Things you think are deadly are nothing to me."

Chen Tang nodded slightly, rose, and walked off. "Your wings have stiffened. Since you think it's nothing, handle it yourself."