Chapter 536 – On Burial Mound Mountain (1/2)

Instead, they were short hills. There was no clear division from hill to hill. While they were called mountains, they were actually hills.

Spiritual veins rarely passed through such terrain, and spiritual qi was relatively scarce. Cultivators normally would not establish sects here.

However, there was an exception, which was the Burial Mound mountain of the three mountains from the past. As a sect that primarily focused on refining corpses, they did not emphasise on spiritual veins, but suitable “corpse-nurturing lands”.

The hills were like huge burial mounds, turning them into natural places for accumulating yin qi and corpse qi. Followed by modifications made by generations upon generations of cultivators from the Burial Mound mountain, it was enveloped in gloom all year round. Even the sunshine seemed feeble.

If any mortals accidentally entered this place, they would stiffen up and fall dead before long before climbing back up again soon.

Yu Shukuang stood at the base of the hills and frowned as he gazed at Burial Mound mountain. Through the information network of the Hawkwolf Guard, he had finally found out that Ma Chaoqun was currently in Burial Mound mountain. He had changed his allegiance and become a disciple of Burial Mound mountain.

Ever since the deaths of the Green Vine Elder and the Golden Pheasant Elder, the “holy land of the three mountains” had fragmented and fallen apart. However, a first elder who had been cultivating in seclusion then emerged for the Burial Mound mountain to manage the situation.

The rumor was that this first elder had crawled out of the coffin. As for the exact details, no one knew about them.

After several years of war, the other sects all sustained losses, but Burial Mound mountain instead prospered more than before. The gloominess that enveloped Burial Mound mountain was much heavier than when the Lone Grave Elder was still alive.

If the corpses of mortals who died in the war were left to rot, it would lead to disease outbreaks, but both incineration or burial was extremely troublesome.

Most of them had been gathered and transported to Burial Mound mountain before being converted into zombies and bound to commanding tablets under the corpse refinement of the secret techniques of Burial Mound mountain. They were transformed into a force to contend with the daemons.

Yu Shukuang knew about all of this. He worried inside, Surely Ma Chaoqun isn’t that crazy! He did love his wife deeply, but he did not wish to see her rise again as a corpse.

With his identity as a Hawkwolf guard, he entered Burial Mound mountain with great ease. The surroundings immediately grew dimmer. Figures flickered through the gloom, either standing in groups or moving around alone. There were an extremely great number of them, and they all produced various strange sounds, but it did not seem lively at all. Even Yu Shukuang was unable to tell which were corpses and which were people.

The disciple who guarded the entrance received him. After learning he had come to see Ma Chaoqun, his pale face became more enthusiastic. He immediately said, “I’ll go invite my first senior brother over right now.”

“First senior brother!”

Yu Shukuang was rather surprised, but the disciple was already long gone. He left behind a zombie to lead him along another path.

He was brought to a stone room that resembled a coffin chamber to wait, politely declining the tea on the table. Standing behind him was the corpse who held the tea jug and served as an attendant. He stared at the tea cup with his hollow eyes as if he was waiting for Yu Shukuang to drink it. It truly was unsettling.

After waiting a while, Yu Shukuang grew bored. He stood up and paced around. He felt rather worried inside, Don’t tell me that guy fled after knowing I came. However, he was a disciple of the Burial Mound mountain after all, so apart from paying a proper, formal visit, there was nothing else Yu Shukuang could do.

He turned around and his heart suddenly tightened, almost drawing the sword on his waist. Before he knew it, a figure had appeared at the door.

“Who is it?”

The person did not answer. The corner of his lips twitched stiffly as if he was sneering.

Yu Shukuang frowned and said in surprise, “Ma Chaoqun!”

It was not his fault for being so surprised. The Ma Chaoqun right now bore almost no resemblance to the Ma Chaoqun in his memory.

Ma Chaoqun’s nickname was the “Pitted Madman”. He had quite a mad aura about him, but the person before him was extremely sunken. Both his face and his figure was terrifyingly gaunt. His complexion was so horrible that he had almost even overlooked his pitted skin.

What brought Yu Shukuang even more surprise was Ma Chaoqun’s cultivation. He was actually a tenth layer Qi Practitioner.

Yu Shukuang was merely a sixth layer Qi Practitioner right now, and that was only because of his daughter, because Yu Zijian had received quite a lot of support from the Hua family. He could already be regarded as rather quick. As for Ma Chaoqun, he had never been a particularly talented person, or he would not have spent so many years on Pheasant’s Grace mountain.

It was no wonder the disciple earlier called him first senior brother!

However, Yu Shukuang did not fear his cultivation. He barked, “Ma Chaoqun, where did you take Zi’er’s corpse?”

He originally thought Ma Chaoqun would feign ignorance before viciously mocking his attempt at retribution. However, never did he think that Mao Chaoqun would be extremely frank. “Come with me!” Afterwards, he turned around and left.

All Yu Shukuang could do was follow behind him. Ma Chaoqun’s footsteps were rather stiff, but he moved as fast as the wind. Before long, they arrived before a stone door. From the quality of the stone door, it could already be regarded as rather luxurious on Burial Mound mountain. They stepped inside and a long passageway appeared.