Chapter 172 Unforeseen Circumstances

Never would I have thought that in this remote Far Eastern tributary state, I would actually see the Jingling Temple, which has major connections to the Song court. Ji Xiang, in his guise as the Shadow God, arrived in front of the main hall, when the sound of a door opening came from behind.

Ji Xiang did not hide, maintaining his appearance as the Shadow God. In this state, ordinary people would never be able to detect him.

If he were discovered... that would only mean that the person was extraordinary, and it would be a good opportunity to interrogate them thoroughly.

Creak.

The door opened, and it turned out to be the Korean king who appeared.

The Korean king, Li Yan.

A crimson *gunlong* robe, symbolizing a rank lower than the Ming Dynasty's imperial yellow *gunlong* robe, yet higher than those of the ministers. The monarchs of tributary states under the Ming Dynasty were treated with the etiquette of princes.

However, the vibrant red dimmed the moment he stepped before the Jingling Temple, and the dragon patterns on it seemed to come alive, but became somewhat eerie. Even his face was gaunt and sallow, and his eyes were staring intently at the gate of the Jingling Temple.

Ji Xiang pondered.

Was this king always this emaciated?

The war had been going on for seven years, and for this king, there was no part of his country that was not embroiled in war. It was normal for him to be somewhat fatigued, but this complexion was like that of someone with a serious illness.

Could it be that he came to the temple to pray to his ancestors, to recount the story of restoration? But surely he would have done that long ago.

Or...

Ji Xiang couldn't help but raise his eyelids.

What exactly was the name of the hall he was seeing now?

When the Japanese army came here, in order to seize the nation's fortune, all the superfluous temples in the ancestral shrine were demolished, leaving only this ancient temple established by the Korean Emperor Taejo, but the name of this temple should be Bongseon Hall.

Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes, and now he also recalled this matter. Although he had not stayed in Wangjing for too long before, having passed through almost in a flash, the surrounding mages, or those rough martial generals, inevitably mentioned the situation of the attack on Wangjing when talking to each other. Naturally, they had also been to this ancestral shrine, and some had seen the situation.

"Speaking of which, something like this seems to have happened before."

Ji Xiang began to recall briefly.

When the Song court first appeared, it invaded several divine positions of the main gods in the seventy-two offices of the Yin realm, forcibly controlling their divine positions with Yin spirits, sealing their souls, and imprisoning them within the divine positions, in order to control them like mindless puppets.

After that incident, it was said that the name Jingling also appeared on the plaques of certain Yin realm yamens and the Dongyue Temple.

And the last time Jingling Palace appeared.

It was in the mountains near Xiangyang, in the illusions formed by those giant tombs!

That time, the Heavenly Net King appeared!

The Korean king did not notice Ji Xiang. In fact, with his state and level, his physical body was still a thorough mortal, and it was impossible for him to detect the existence of the Shadow God. He walked straight to the gate of the Jingling Temple and pushed it open, giving a clear view of the ancestral tablets placed inside.

Thump—

The Korean king entered the Jingling Temple and actually knelt down directly, kowtowing seven times in a row.

And at the instant when these seven kowtows were completed.

The Korean king took out an earthenware jar from his sleeve and placed it before the ancestral shrine.

The earthenware jar began to shake the moment it was placed in front of the shrine, and as the lid of the jar opened automatically, a pure force of soul emerged from it!

[Hun: The weather is the soul. More than ten thousand souls gather and do not disperse, being controlled by inexplicable spells within a certain vessel. Ten thousand souls gather in the altar, and wandering souls change, eventually giving birth to a kind of essence of ten thousand souls, which is a symbol of the return of acquired souls to the innate essence body.]

[If a ghost immortal consumes it, it can increase five hundred and fifty years of cultivation.]

[Can be used to refine "Soul-Shocking Pills".]

"Yin and Yang transform, two scenes give birth to truth, Jade Spirit reverses the soul, confines the spirit and calms the mind, three and five mix, never leave my body, gain protection of the sun and moon, three scenes dawn together."

"Please, true spirit, descend and appear."

At the same time, something corresponding to it, echoing it, happened.

From the row of shrines in front, wisps of incense smoke floated out, and after the Korean king inhaled those fumes, he revealed an extremely joyous expression.

And his extremely emaciated, sallow face, as if suffering from a serious illness, instantly regained its ruddy color, and even his whole person seemed somewhat plump.

Ji Xiang was observing this strange situation.

Even for himself, who fed on incense, not eating incense would not cause him to become like this, including those incense spirits as well. They would become weak, but would not produce such changes. Rather than saying that this transformation in demeanor was a conversion between hunger and gluttony, it was more like the Korean king was smoking opium.

Incense entered his body, and in the next moment, a burst of black air actually permeated from that row of shrines!

Ji Xiang's gaze suddenly congealed!

These black airs, like the incense smoke, were inhaled by the Korean monarch, and this time his expression was even more joyous, his whole person completely in an excited state, even raising his fists with both hands in the ancestral shrine, and then jumping and cheering like a macaque.

Completely insane!

Exchanging national fortune for poisonous incense and black air, can a country's monarch easily become an addict?

Because the two attempts to seize it by the Ming court had failed, did the Song court want to use Korean territory this time to reverse Yin and Yang once again?

Killing the Yin Mountain Sect and seizing the power of the Yin Mountain Dharma-teaching was to have a free hand in Korea?

There are still changes.

After this strange inhalation ritual stopped, a central divine tablet suddenly shook, followed by a distorted phantom drilling out from within, like a large amount of smoke gushing out from a tiny hole!

"How is it, has the black air I have given you during this time been of use?"

"The last time you first saw me, I told you that you would definitely come looking for me again."

The phantom made a terrifying sound, and while speaking, it seemed as if three voices were speaking simultaneously from three directions to the center, and the overlapping of the voices caused the ears to continuously vibrate, affecting the mind.

This was no ordinary conversation, but the use of Yin spirit magic.

"Monarch Father, this son thanks Monarch Father for the grace!"

The Korean king's state was not normal. His eyes were pitch black, his mouth was grinning foolishly, and he knelt down to the phantom again, kowtowing constantly, while continuously expressing his gratitude to the other party.

"When this son was at the end of his rope, it was Monarch Father who reached out to help. This son was first destroyed by the Japanese pirates, then humiliated by the Ming Dynasty. Now, it is time for them to pay it back."

"Good, it seems that you have finally made up your mind. This is the correct choice, but you have no other choice at this time."

"The Inner Mountain-River Realm disdains you; the Ming Dynasty looks down on you; the Japanese pirates are mortal enemies; as for the Western missionaries, they admire China and cross the sea to Japan, but none have been seen crossing the East Sea to come to your country to preach. In the end, they also look down on you."

"As for the people of the Nanyang, they are uncivilized, separated by thousands of miles of water, and have nothing to do with you. As for the Jianzhou, Tatars, and the like, they are always thinking about gnawing on your flesh and drinking your bone marrow. To talk to them is no different from dancing with wolves and seeking skin from tigers."

"Only we are still somewhat trustworthy."

The phantom seemed very satisfied with the Korean king's statement: "In that case, your country can still continue to please the Ming Dynasty in the state of 'serving two lords as one fiefdom'."

However, upon hearing these words, the Korean king was greatly shocked and hurriedly defended himself: "The Ming Dynasty does not treat Korea as a son, and Korea does not treat the Ming Dynasty as a father. Korea is also not the Goryeo of the previous dynasty. How can there be a reason for one fiefdom to serve two lords!"

"Goryeo was arrogant, abandoning the monarch father and joining a foreign race, taking the foreign lord as father and not the Chinese lord as father, which is like an evil wolf. Korea was originally unwilling to abandon the Ming Dynasty, but the monarch did not treat the subject as a subject, and the father did not treat the son as a son. That is why Korea abandoned its former father and joined its present father. Why should it be ranked with Goryeo?"

"The Japanese pirates are fierce and ruthless, brazenly killing their father. Korea is weak, but it is as inseparable from the Ming Dynasty as blood is from water. However, the father does not love his own son, but thirsts for the blood of his own son. In order to protect itself, the son had no choice but to abandon him!"

The Korean king tried his best to defend himself, saying that pledging allegiance to one side meant being the son of that side, and there was absolutely no reason for one son to have two fathers, but the phantom comforted him kindly, saying that he could accept such an attitude from him, but that he must now pretend to be a filial son and virtuous grandson of the Ming Dynasty and must not betray them easily.

"It occupies your land, gathers your people, and although it is nominally your country's autonomy, in fact everything is decided by it. This method of stationing troops abroad can maximize the borrowing of your country's power and completely control your national fortune and prestige."

"Although it is still independent, in fact it is no longer up to you to decide. A tributary is ultimately a subject, and a suzerain is ultimately a lord. If the lord wants the subject to die, can the subject not die?"

"But since ancient times, if the subject is unwilling to die, then there will be a mutiny."

"In my Great Song Dynasty, the Chenqiao Mutiny saw Emperor Taizu putting on the yellow robe. This act of reversing the natural order and betraying the lord is not something that can be easily achieved."

The phantom sighed a few times, then followed up:

"If you want to obtain power, you must pay the corresponding price. Selling out the country's luck, connecting with my Song court, unifying Yin and Yang, and doing such a major event of blurring life and death, is only to avoid repeating this disaster of national destruction. Of course I understand your feelings."

"So, of course we will help you."

"From now on, there will be no more life and death on this land. Release our power into the entire country, including the land occupied by the Ming Dynasty. Replace their incense, replace their temples, mix the dead among the living, and replace the living ghosts in the Yang world with the Yin spirits of the Yin realm."

"The Ming Dynasty wants to spread its national prestige on your land. This will inevitably cause their national fortune to cover your land. In this way, the national fortunes of the two countries are intertwined, with the Ming Dynasty as the leader and your Korea as the vassal. If the Ming Dynasty falls into danger, it will draw blood from your country's national fortune to revive. It will not only do this in your country. Next, the Tatars, the Western Regions, the Nanyang, the Nanyue... they will all do the same."

"You spread my Yin realm's fortune, and my Song court's fortune can be united with the Ming Dynasty's fortune. In this way, the three kingdoms will be unified. Not only will the strength of my Yin realm greatly increase, but also not only will the creatures of your country lose the concept of life and death, but even the creatures of the Ming Dynasty will lose the concept of life and death."

"I am not only saving you, but also saving the Ming Dynasty. They should be grateful to me. If there is no such undead army, how can they fight against the immortals of the Inner Mountain-River Realm with their flesh and blood?"

As the phantom spoke, it suddenly looked around.

"There seems to be someone?"

Ji Xiang's eyebrows twitched at this moment, and several sword blades had already emerged from the shadows.

"Perhaps it's just an illusion."

The phantom stared at the location where Ji Xiang existed, not knowing whether it really saw him or not. Its expression was not unusual, but then it used magic to control the entire Jingling Temple, isolating all prying eyes.

Afterwards, an unusual force seemed to distort the space where the Jingling Temple existed, causing it to enter a illusory world.

Ji Xiang recognized that this was the method used by the Heavenly Net King in the past, but this phantom was not the Heavenly Net King.

Who is he?

After a while, Ji Xiang almost walked to the door of the distorted space, and that force suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Only the Korean king was left, slumped on the ground.

The Korean monarch's voice was not loud, and his eyes were full of anger, and the focus was that there was no longer any white in those eyes, all of them were invaded by black.

He was muttering to himself:

"The suzerain state wants to invade the land of the vassal state, take my country's national fortune, and even deprive my country of its autonomy. My country's national fortune has only just recovered, and it is not even enough to show filial piety to Monarch Father. How can it still be coveted by this Ming Dynasty?"

"I am indeed incompetent and cannot defeat the Japanese pirates, which has led the country into this situation. Is it not precisely because I cannot protect the country that I am now bowing my head and becoming a running dog of the former Song court?"

He was talking to himself in the Jingling Temple, sometimes crying loudly, sometimes roaring, and finally returning to calm. As the blackness in his eyes faded, he also returned to his previous useless and exhausted appearance.

However, he began to mutter that he needed that energy...

"As long as I have this energy, which can allow me to constantly maintain a strong spirit and power, I can become a great monarch and work hard to govern. No matter what kind of factions or foreign Japanese thieves, or even the so-called Celestial Dynasty, can sway my decisions."

"I am the king of Korea, and no one can sway my will. I would rather sell my soul to ghosts and gods... If someone wants to control this land. Then I will kill everyone on this land. As long as the mountains and rivers are still there, I am still the monarch here!"

"People are gone... Will people be gone? The Yin realm will send me a large number of souls, let them reincarnate and be reborn here."

"They don't even need men and women to combine, they can directly send living people made of ready-made flesh and blood to my presence."

"It's like growing vegetables..."

Ji Xiang silently watched all of this.

The Korean king had gone mad. He would never have said such things before, but now that fearful, timid face had disappeared completely, replaced by the madness of addiction and absolute demonization.

But Ji Xiang could not say that his thoughts were wrong.

It was really difficult for a small country to seize its own interests from the battles of great powers. Everyone wanted to become the master of the world, and people were driven by desire, but this desire was not without its merits.

However, the price after this failure had to be borne by the creatures of the entire country, which was enough to show that his mentality had been distorted.

The common people did not care about these things. They only needed to live a good life. If it was at the cost of sacrificing the lives of everyone in the entire country to achieve the supreme great cause of one person... then this, was it not precisely a tyrant.

Ji Xiang watched the Korean king leave the temple in a mad state, and this guy did not return to his residence, but turned into an old farmer as he walked. This was also one of the powers given to him by that phantom.

The Song court had been studying the art of embryonic transformation, but it did not have the most crucial Red Rainbow Jade, which was a heaven-sent treasure that could only be elicited by those with a righteous spirit, and it was an absolutely miraculous object that had been passed down since the Spring and Autumn Period.

"It's not a blindfold, it's changing one's form and spirit, is it the ability of a Su Yuan Ghost or a Refining Form Ghost?"

Ji Xiang followed the Korean king, his speed was not fast, but every step seemed to cross several different scenes, so after he walked a thousand steps, he had already arrived in a deep mountain.

A long hoe appeared in his hand, and there was a vegetable garden here.

"It will definitely appear."

The Korean king said, muttering to himself, and this sentence entrusted all of his aspirations, and with this hoe, the soil under the vegetable leaves was dug open, and a bloody hand stretched out from it.

A fetus whose whole body was covered in blood and seemed to be not fully developed climbed out of the soil.