Chapter 691: Dead People, Living Ghosts

Chapter 691: The Living Dead and the Corpse Ghost. The lead clouds hung low, the black moon suspended in the void. On the surface of the dark sea, violent waves crashed, their momentum so fierce it nearly unbalanced those who stood upon it. A deafening cry rang out. A colossal wing, vast as a mountain, sliced through the starless night, tearing open a chasm over ten zhang long in the thick, oppressive clouds.

In the form of a Peng, the Black Riding Whale unfurled its wings, shattering the sky with a piercing shriek that echoed like clashing metal, yet carried a trace of desperation. A roar followed. Thick, monstrous tendrils, as wide as towering trees, descended from above with blinding speed, coiling around the whale's wings. The Black Riding Whale twisted and turned, its feathers bristling like spears tipped with frost, slicing through the air and spraying crimson blood and mangled flesh. Yet no matter how fiercely it struggled, it could not escape capture. Its massive Peng body was bound tightly by the tendrils, dragged screaming into the depths of the clouds.

A splash. Shen Kase slashed sideways, cleaving open the skull of a sea beast pressing against him. Its twisted features burst open, blood and brain matter spraying in all directions. The beast's mouth, lined with jagged teeth, gaped uselessly before crashing into the waves. A thick, bloody mist rose from the blade, the once-pristine edge now scarred with blackened wounds from the corrosive blood. Shen Kase's arms bulged with strain, veins pulsing as he cleaved open a turtle-like sea beast. Though the battle raged in a dreamlike haze, every strike drew blood, every wound real.

Within the 'Breaker of Cataclysms' summoned by the Dream Sovereign's rule, Shen Kase was the only true immortal to descend. This was not Zou Siqiu's request, but his own volition. Though the path of dream combat was a forsaken road, once Shen Kase chose it, he vowed to walk it to the end. Even if the final step led to a precipice, he would not hesitate.

Moreover, the one he sought to kill was the arch-villain behind the fall of Tianqiao.

"Damn it, what a filthy thing!" Shen Kase's hair stood on end, his aura wild and furious. He slashed again, splitting a leaping sea beast in two.

A thunderclap shook the sea. A monstrous creature with a lion's head and fish body, its belly bearing twin claws, erupted from the waves. Its claws alone were larger than Shen Kase's body, its tail lashing toward him.

"You look like a nightmare," Shen Kase jeered, leaping into the air. His hands met the beast's claws, blood splattering his face. He discarded his sword, fists clenched, and charged.

The beast roared, its claws raking its own skull. Scales and hair tore away, revealing gashes that bled freely. It thrashed, trying to drag Shen Kase into its body. The creature rolled in the dark sea, its self-destruction accelerating its decline.

In its final, anguished cry, the beast rose, nearly upright, before crashing into the icy sea. A fist burst from its left eye, striking Shen Kase, who stood atop the corpse, blood and filth clinging to him.

In the other eye, a world burned. Mountains crumbled, tsunamis roared, earthquakes shook the earth, meteors fell. Cities, villages, towers, and people—all consumed in an instant. The world shattered like broken glass, swallowed by the sea's raging waves.

To those in the dream, it was a disaster they could neither resist nor comprehend. To Shen Kase, it was a lifetime of torment.

He stood on the beast's corpse, wiping blood from his face, his gaze fierce as he surveyed the restless waves. Beneath the surface, countless bloodthirsty sea beasts stirred, ready to rise again.

"Damn it, it never ends?" Shen Kase muttered, his body tense, senses alert.

Unbeknownst to him, the sea beneath him deepened, its darkness swallowing him. From above, two crimson moons glowed around the beast, their light revealing the abyss below.

Suddenly, the sea boiled. Countless water bubbles, the size of basins, erupted. A shudder ran through Shen Kase. His pupils constricted, his back arched, knees bent, as the ground beneath him collapsed.

Just as he was about to rise, a vast, deep-blue barrier encircled him, swallowing him and the sea.

In the endless darkness, Shen Kase was tossed by the current, pressure crushing his lungs.

Before he could escape, his body dissolved.

He stood again, the ground soft and strange beneath him, the air thick with the stench of blood.

Before him lay a hellish ruin. Buildings lay in ruins, their remains strewn with flesh, hair, bones.

To others, it would be terror. To Shen Kase, only burning rage remained.

"Xin'an, the State." His throat rasped, a low growl. His bloodshot eyes reflected a colossal, blood-red cocoon.

A series of eerie, thunderous sounds echoed. The cocoon's surface rippled, as if alive.

Two muscular arms burst forth, gripping the cracks, tearing open the cocoon. A powerful, naked body emerged, its face a patchwork of stolen eyes.

"Shen Kase!"

A giant roared toward the heavens, its grotesquely stitched visage bristling with contempt and mockery.

Thud!

The giant's foot descended, the ruined expanse trembling; clouds of dust surged like a storm, crashing upon Shen Li's body.

Amid the tumultuous wind, Shen Li seemed to hear a voice achingly familiar—countless dying screams of despair. “You, Tian Que, shall die again today!”

“To hell with the Ao Hu!”

Shen Li curled his lip, spat disdainfully, and a flash of azure light erupted from his brow, soaring on the wind, enveloping his entire form.

The glow faded, revealing a towering suit of armor, eight feet tall!

The martial artist brandished his arm, a cold gleam flashing in his hand; the blade struck the ground, igniting a brilliant blaze of fire as he sprinted.

Clang!

Boom!

The devouring beast that had swallowed Shen Li fell back into the sea, raising towering waves, yet it did not sink further; instead it floated upon the water, motionless.

And like it, countless horrific creatures dwelled in this sea.

To the east of the sea, a colossal serpentine beast rose and fell with the waves.

Its eyes shifted to a battlefield beneath a blood‑red sunset.

Straight pillars of smoke pierced the barren plain, distant explosions still thundered, echoing through the acrid wind of war.

Clad in dark‑gold armor, Su Ce stood alone upon this desolate realm, surrounded by shattered limbs and broken bones, corpses pierced by weapons, heaped like mountains.

“Great Ming Jin Yiwei, meet the enemy!”

Su Ce's black hair whipped in the wind, yet no voice answered him; only a tattered flag fluttered in the breeze.

Thud… thud… thud…

Footsteps thundered, the enemy masses surged like a tide.

Amid cannon fire, earth and stone erupted, dust blanketed the field, the roar of battle surged, the world turned a deeper crimson.

Boom!

“Li Jun, to be chosen as my child’s furnace is your destiny—how can you refuse?”

Within a tower spewing flame and smoke, a figure crashed through a window ledge, descending into mid‑air.

At that instant, a piercing suona shrieked, and thunderous drums shattered the city’s neon glow!

Li Jun lifted his helm, brandished his arms aloft, black flame streams coiled behind him, forming a cloak that crackled and hissed in the air.

Far ahead, a Daoist stood with hands clasped, stepping upon a sword, while the heavens above rained brilliant stars.

Beneath his feet, the city teemed with devout worshippers, their faith refined to a flicker, drifting from their brows like fireflies.

The sole occupant here was a rotund, pig‑like man, his face twisted in a leering grin.

Upon a lacquered table, white porcelain plates held a cluster of skulls no larger than fists, their shrunken features unmistakably Li Jun’s.

A remnant thief plucked a chopstick from a boiling hot pot, extracting a white hair hardened in red oil—revealing the former helmsman Zhao Ding.

The head was tossed into his mouth, and he bit down fiercely.

Pop!

Zhou Si Jiu’s whip‑leg snatched the sword aimed at the divine physician, and before the foe could retreat, his elbow slammed into the woman's visage, producing a bone‑crunching thud!

The divine physician's spine nearly snapped, his head whipping, spewing a scarlet arc mingled with blood and teeth.

Though struck thus, the yellow‑steamed demon remained alive, its rule‑blade that severs dreams sweeping toward Zhou Si Jiu.

Crack!

After the brittle fracture came the woman's lament as her legs were severed.

Zhou Si Jiu tossed the seized sword aside, seized the demon's collar, and hurled her skyward; his form became a swift arrow, then surged upward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The divine physician trembled, enduring Zhou Si Jiu's tempest of fists.

Explosions and blows merged, crimson mist burst in great clouds, the ferocious force pulverized her body.

Fragments the size of a fingertip fell into the sea, the scarlet spreading from each unquiet skull.

'Zhu Jun' Lu He, 'Xuan Jun' Tian Yu, 'Si Ming' Zhao Yin.

The yellow‑steamed demon summoned by Zhan Shun was utterly annihilated, and the ‘Break Calamity Gods’ summoned by Zhou Si Jiu were devoured by the sea monsters within dreams.

This clash seemed to grant neither side advantage.

Yet as endless sea beasts gathered around Zhan Shun, Zhou Si Jiu's expression grew grave.

Dreams are not of this world; might cannot be measured by mere strength or speed.

At this moment, Zhou Si Jiu wielded a third of the authority borrowed from Ruo Xu and Mo Xu, inflicting considerable trouble upon Zhan Shun while minimizing his own yellow‑steamed influence.

But he had only barely balanced the disparity in their dream‑crafting skill.

This is because the yellow‑steamed ability springs from the Yin‑Yang sequence, not bestowed by it; otherwise Zhou Si Jiu might have been unable to resist.

Nevertheless, within mere decades the yellow‑steamed created and sustained more dreams than the entire Yin‑Yang sequence amassed over a millennium.

As the embodiment of the yellow‑steamed will, Zhan Shun retained an absolute advantage here.

The countless sea beasts served both as his endless troops and as unbreakable seals.

The only consolation is that Zhan Shun's assaults are brutally simple, cycling through a few dream‑master rules.

Even with Zhou Si Jiu's waning authority, these could not threaten him mortally.

The stalemate suits Zhou Si Jiu, for he never intended to slay Zhan Shun single‑handed.

Had it been that easy, the forebears of Yin‑Yang would not have been slain cleanly, nor would later generations be kept as livestock.

Yet Zhan Shun's serene demeanor unsettled Zhou Si Jiu.

“Could this child have decided to abandon Yin Wen and Hui Chong? Perhaps… yet does the old man even desire the authority upon me?”

While Zhou Si Jiu pondered in secret, the now silent Zhan Shun finally spoke.

“Zhou Si Jiu, your Yin‑Yang sequence speaks of ‘Heaven’s will is unpredictable.’ I have pondered it long, yet I cannot discern its meaning.”

Zhou Si Jiu continued slowly: “From birth to death, a person encounters perils, joys, sorrows—all pre‑ordained. Upheavals, rises, falls, dispersions, gatherings—all are scripted. Where then is there room for Heaven’s will?”

Zhou Si Jiu scoffed: “What you speak are but the idle chatter of yellow‑steamed ghosts you manipulate, insignificant as insects.”

“You are mortals, yet you walk a path laid by others; what distinguishes you?”

Zhou Si Jiu tilted his head inch by inch, nearly parallel to his shoulders, his gaze scattered, expression frozen, his body void of vigor, like a walking corpse or a puppeteered marionette.

“Why do you willingly dwell in another's control, yet refuse my aid in freeing yourselves?”

Zhou Si Jiu narrowed his brows, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

“You know it in your heart.”

Zhou Si Jiu's lips curled into an eerie arc.

He lifted his hand with a single flick, and a diminutive sea beast vaulted from the surf, shackled within his palm.

"If the spirit that inhabits this sea beast deems him a man, then why should a man such as you not also dwell as a ghost within its belly?"