Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather Chapter 1352 - 867: Aren’t You Jealous That I Have a Grotto Heaven? (Part 2)

"Can that grant you immortality and godhood?"

"Of course not."

"Can it let you live eternally?"

"No, it cannot!"

By fusing his divine soul with the Origin Core of the Spirit Source Land, it shares the land's destiny. His divine soul endures as long as the Spirit Source Land stands unruined.

Still, an undying divine soul isn't the same as eternal life. True eternity demands both divine soul and fleshly body intact, whereas soul immortality preserves just the soul. The gap between them is enormous.

"What exactly should I envy? Your endless spirit fields? Or the piles of spirit medicines and spiritual fruits?" Xuanzhen remarked.

Yang Zhenshan mulled it over and saw that Xuanzhen's stance rang true.

Countless gains have flowed from the Grotto Heaven, easing his resource hunts and granting a secure retreat for recovery.

Yet labeling the Grotto Heaven as heaven-defying falls short, since it bears no direct impact on cultivation itself.

That said, far from useless, the Grotto Heaven deserves praise—Yang Zhenshan credits his latest triumphs to its generous rewards.

"I feared you'd covet my Grotto Heaven!" Yang Zhenshan laughed lightly.

"Covet it? Nonsense! This poor Daoist yearns only to slay Mo Xuanyu right now. The rest? Hmph, this poor Daoist claims his own fortunes too!" Xuanzhen declared.

Curiosity sparked in Yang Zhenshan, "What fortunes are those?"

"And the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade?" Xuanzhen shot back without responding.

"Hey, I've bared my secrets to you—don't hide yours from me!" Yang Zhenshan complained.

Xuanzhen rolled his eyes, "This poor Daoist's fortune lies in the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade and this remnant scroll!"

"Ah~ Got it!" Yang Zhenshan glanced at the remnant scroll clutched in his hand.

Dark mist veiled the remnant scroll, giving off a eerie aura, though from Mo Xuanyu, such ominousness felt par for the course.

Truth be told, plenty of objects carry no evil essence by nature.

Consider the Devouring Spirit Blood Jade—a precious spirit material at heart. Yet under Yin Ghost Department control, it morphs into the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade. In an orthodox cultivator's hands, it could simply become a standard magical treasure.

In the same vein, this remnant scroll likely began as something upright, twisted awry only by Mo Xuanyu's tampering.

"The core of the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade is the Devouring Spirit Blood Jade. I aim to purge its Blood Evil Qi, reverting it to pure form!" Yang Zhenshan gestured toward the nearby Pill Furnace.

Alarm gripped Xuanzhen, who blurted, "Hold off on refining it—I require that Evil Qi within!"

"Uh!" Yang Zhenshan eyed him, "You're not thinking of practicing those nefarious arts, right?"

"What nonsense is that? This poor Daoist follows the true Taoist Palace lineage! Halt the flames now—don't wreck the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade!" Xuanzhen snapped with impatience.

Noting his sincerity, Yang Zhenshan had the Golden Crow retract the True Sun Fire, then extracted the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade from the Pill Furnace.

The moment the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade appeared, thick Blood Evil Qi billowed forth once more.

"Stay back from me!" Xuanzhen cautioned, bound still by the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade's divine soul restriction, barring close contact.

With Heart Hand, Yang Zhenshan shoved the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade over a hundred zhang distant, then queried, "What's our next step?"

"Refine it yourself, then release the divine soul restriction binding me!"

"I refuse!" Yang Zhenshan shook his head at once.

He'd always despised items marred by Evil or Blood Evil taint. Any such relic reaching him met total obliteration.

"Relax, no mishaps will occur—the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade is a treasure ripe for your full refinement. Once you free my divine soul restriction, purge the soul imprint from the blood jade, and I'll take charge of it!" Xuanzhen assured.

Yang Zhenshan studied the blood jade nearby and ultimately nodded, agreeing to Xuanzhen's scheme.

Mo Xuanyu's Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade carried his divine soul power within it. Yang Zhenshan had to first obliterate Mo Xuanyu's divine soul power to refine the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade.

Although Yang Zhenshan's divine soul was quite powerful, refining the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade would still demand some time.

Fortuitously, Yang Zhenshan and Xuanzhen chose to set up base right on this desolate mountain.

At the same time, while Yang Zhenshan refined the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade, a frantic Mo Xuanyu dashed toward the mountain under the Blood Pool cave.

The Blood Pool cave's collapse triggered a huge uproar, and the nearby Lotus Heart Valley had already spotted the strange occurrence long ago, dispatching plenty of people to probe it.

Mo Xuanyu lurked in the mountain woods, gazing at the crumbled hillside, his face darker than ever.

"What’s going on? What the hell is going on?"

His face drained of color, lips quivering faintly as he murmured under his breath.

Right then, he could no longer detect the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade, nor the remnant scroll, nor his deployed Evil Blood Killing Array; only the thick Evil Qi and Blood Evil Qi lingered vaguely in his senses.

Clearly, the hideout he had labored over for more than ten years was now totally cleared out.

This foe had not just emptied his lair but snatched his core magical treasures and mighty arrays, fully breaking his bonds to the items and the formation.

"Who is it? Who the hell is it?" He snarled, eyes bloodshot with boiling resentment and rage.

None of them—the Ten Thousand Ghost Blood Jade, the remnant scroll, or the three White Bone Pillars—were everyday magical treasures; they served as the cornerstone from the Yin Ghost Department for deploying the Evil Blood Killing Array and the blood pool.

Deprived of these three essentials, he could neither erect the Evil Blood Killing Array again nor restore the blood pool.