Chapter 27

(Dragon Boat Festival is over, and regular updates have resumed. Brothers, have you all returned to work?)

More crimson blood thunderbolts rained down from the blood cloud, and the previous celestial anomalies seemed to be completely disrupted once again.

The Blood Cloud Wasteland was already bizarre enough, and the thought of a large group of extremely powerful Raksha ghosts about to invade made Chen Hai's heart pound.

Suddenly, a strange and loud sound echoed, extremely peculiar, as if seeping from the void in all directions of the Blood Cloud Wasteland. It was sharp and piercing, like a chant or drumbeat, filled with evil and mysterious power, strongly impacting the divine soul consciousness Chen Hai had left in the puppet's mind, as if trying to tear it apart.

Chen Hai covered the puppet's ears, but this strange sound was omnipresent. Perhaps it seeped from the first minute space in the Blood Cloud Wasteland, and Chen Hai could not block it out.

His left ear remained silent, seemingly not wanting to be detected by anything outside the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

The sound grew louder, like an invisible heavy hammer, fiercely impacting Chen Hai's divine soul consciousness, causing him unbearable pain.

Chen Hai tried to cut off the connection with the snake bracelet, to separate from the puppet and return to the Medicine Garden where he was meditating, but found his divine soul consciousness seemed to be restrained by this strange sound, forcing him to endure the indescribable pain.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound filled with evil and mysterious power gradually faded. Chen Hai, in his painful struggle, found himself in a mud pit dug by the puppet's curled limbs, with several Raksha ghost skeletons on top of him.

Chen Hai wanted to push the skeletons off, but when he looked up, he saw the blood cloud above him churning like lava.

The blood-colored lightning arcs did not strike down again but strangely coalesced into a massive blood wheel in the depths of the blood cloud, like a giant blood eye overlooking this desolate and bizarre land...

Soon, countless ghostly shadows, like phantoms, poured out from the blood eye formed by the lightning.

"The Raksha Realm actually has old ghosts who have mastered the Rebirth Array..." The long-silent left ear spoke again in a hoarse voice.

Chen Hai no longer cared if the left ear would pry into his thoughts, silently giving it the middle finger in protest.

The pain just now lasted for an unknown duration, and he thought he would rather dissipate into nothingness than endure it again.

"Your divine soul consciousness being able to withstand the purification of the Rebirth Secret Spell is a rare opportunity that many people can only dream of," the left ear's hoarse voice said. "The old ghosts of the Raksha Realm ultimately cannot directly open a passage into the Blood Cloud Wasteland, but I did not expect them to use the Blood Cloud Wasteland as a place for their wandering ghosts to be reborn!"

"Rebirth place?" Chen Hai wondered what a rebirth place was, but seeing the countless ghostly shadows rushing towards the scattered Raksha ghost skeletons on the ground, he was startled and asked, "Could these all be the souls of Raksha ghosts coming to the Blood Cloud Wasteland to be reborn?"

"Though not exactly the same, it's close enough," the left ear seemed to regret its oversight but also explained to Chen Hai. "The old ghosts of the Raksha Realm have not yet truly grasped the laws of heaven and earth, and their physical bodies cannot enter for a while. So, they let these wandering ghosts come in first, using the scattered Raksha ghost skeletons to resurrect..."

The scattered Raksha ghost skeletons were already bizarre enough, but it was even more bizarre to see these countless ghostly shadows rushing into the grotesque skeletons, making them "crack" and move as if they were alive, trying to sit up and stand, with their hollow eye sockets now filled with ghostly flames, looking around with a sinister gaze.

They were truly alive!

Chen Hai had previously thought that if thirty to fifty Raksha ghosts invaded, he might be able to handle it. Now, seeing tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of grotesque skeletons come to life, his legs turned to jelly, and he forgot to push the skeletons off his body.

A "crack" sound came...

If the puppet had a heart, Chen Hai thought it would have burst at this moment, as a Raksha ghost skeleton right in front of him came to life, sitting up on top of him.

However, this skeleton had been lying there for too long, like a rusty machine. The Raksha ghost soul had just entered and could not fully integrate, only managing to sit up and struggle to stand, swaying as if it would fall apart at any moment.

This Raksha ghost seemed to notice the abnormality beneath it, its eye sockets filled with ghostly flames, staring at Chen Hai, making him want to immediately cut off the connection between his consciousness and the snake bracelet.

"Ga ga..."

The grotesque Raksha ghost, its jaw moving, made meaningless sounds, as if trying to say something to Chen Hai.

Chen Hai thought he should leave this bizarre place as soon as possible; it was no place for a human.

"This Raksha ghost considers you a fellow and wants you to help it stand up," the left ear's hoarse voice said again.

"The old ghosts are ultimately afraid of the backlash from the laws of heaven and earth, so they did not dare to enter directly. They forcibly activated the Rebirth Array, letting in so many wandering ghosts, probably to exhaust the power of the temple, making it easier for them to enter later. Don't be afraid; these low-level Raksha ghosts have low intelligence and won't see through the ruse for a while..."

How could he not be afraid? Even if these low-level Raksha ghosts had low intelligence and wouldn't see through the ruse for a while, staying in this place would make anyone uneasy, Chen Hai thought.

"These low-level Raksha ghosts are bloodthirsty and murderous. The old ghosts can only instill simple wills in them. Once they don't find the temple, they will soon start fighting each other—this will also be a rare opportunity for you to cultivate the Blood Refinement Demon Body," the left ear said.

Chen Hai thought that even if these countless low-level Raksha ghosts started fighting each other immediately after resurrection, getting involved would mean certain death. What kind of cultivation was this?

What, Blood Refinement Demon Body?

Chen Hai suddenly caught the key information in the left ear's words.

Perhaps fearing that Chen Hai would completely cut off the connection with the snake bracelet, the left ear, who had not given any substantial benefits, finally relented: "The martial arts secret forms you have comprehended, though not complete, number nearly a hundred, which is just right for you to continue cultivating the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique..."

"Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique?"

"Don't ask too many questions. I need to hide the temple deeper and directly implant the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique and some simple Raksha language into the puppet's mind. I need to help your part of the divine soul consciousness merge with the puppet's mind, which consumes a lot of energy, so I don't have the time to explain more," the left ear said anxiously. "Remember, once you cultivate the Nirvana Blood Refinement Great Technique, a part of your divine soul consciousness will completely merge with the puppet. At that time, you can no longer easily abandon the puppet. Also, your true body should avoid easily cultivating the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique..."

Chen Hai thought that if his true body could not cultivate the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique, what was the point? But considering the left ear's serious tone, he realized that the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique was not simple, probably far surpassing the complete version of the Alchemical Cauldron Technique. Even a person like Zhou Jingyuan dared to place a heavy bet on him, so he had to take a big risk.

With this in mind, Chen Hai made up his mind and said, "Transmit the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique to me..."

As soon as Chen Hai finished speaking, a golden light surged from the depths of the puppet's mind, enveloping his divine soul consciousness.

In the next moment, his divine soul consciousness seemed to fully merge with the puppet's mind, no longer feeling the usual barrier. At this moment, the puppet's body felt like his own, and the puppet's limbs felt like his own...

It was as if his divine soul consciousness had truly split into two independent yet closely connected entities.

Chen Hai did not have time to savor the subtle sensations, as the strange sound filled with evil divine power echoed again, omnipresent.

This time, the strange sound did not last long. Soon, the giant blood eye formed by the lightning suddenly burst, transforming into a torrent of blood rain, sprinkling down onto the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

This was truly a ghostly encounter.

Chen Hai, who had followed the Dragon Emperor Cang Yu into a different world, thought he had seen everything, but the scene before him was still extremely bizarre and incomprehensible.

The Blood Cloud Wasteland, which had been dry and cracked for over half a year without a single raindrop, was now raining blood!

Most of the skeletons with Raksha ghost souls had not yet fully adapted to their new environment. When they saw the blood rain falling from the sky, they became excited, struggling to stand up and open their jaws to catch the blood rain...

Soon, blood rain fell on Chen Hai's puppet, causing a burning pain, as if it were sulfuric acid. However, he did not try to avoid it because he felt a mysterious power from each drop of blood rain, merging into the puppet's body amidst the burning pain.

Chen Hai guessed that the blood rain was created by the old ghosts of the Raksha Realm to strengthen the wandering ghosts entering the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

His guess was soon confirmed. The blood rain poured down, and the skeletons were covered in a layer of blood, quickly absorbing more of the mysterious power, growing flesh and becoming more flexible and powerful.

The skeletons, once like skeletons, turned into grotesque and terrifying Raksha blood corpses, becoming even more agile and powerful.

The Raksha blood corpses stood up in the Blood Cloud Wasteland, roaring to the sky. Soon, a mysterious and irresistible will began to awaken in their minds, controlling the countless Raksha blood corpses to slowly gather towards the location where the temple had sunk.

Most of the Raksha blood corpses were about the same height as Chen Hai's puppet, moving more slowly, but seeing the massive Raksha blood corpses, some as tall as eighteen meters, Chen Hai's heart trembled, thinking that fighting these giants would be suicidal.

"Roar!"

A deafening roar almost tore the blood cloud covering the land. A blood dragon, more terrifying than anything imaginable, flew out of a fissure, baring its fangs and claws, heading towards the direction where the temple had sunk.

Chen Hai had seen the skeleton of this blood dragon before. Unlike the grayish-white or bluish-black skeletons, the blood dragon's skeleton was golden, as if made of gold, giving a sense of terrifying power even when it lay like a giant tomb in the wasteland.

Chen Hai did not expect that a Raksha ghost soul had entered this golden dragon skeleton and come to life!

"Bang!" A bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from the blood cloud, transforming into a pillar of lightning that struck the blood dragon's head.

"Roar!" The blood dragon roared and turned to hide in the depths of the fissure, but in an instant, hundreds of lightning pillars gathered in the blood cloud, enveloping the fissure where the blood dragon had fallen.

"Is the law of heaven and earth in the Blood Cloud Wasteland still effective?" Chen Hai asked the left ear, trembling with fear, thinking that the left ear should not possess such overwhelming power, otherwise it would not have hidden the temple underground...

"Yes, the law of heaven and earth in the Blood Cloud Wasteland is still effective, which is why the old ghosts do not dare to enter directly. The scene just now was enough to teach them a lesson. I am too tired and may fall into eternal hibernation. Even if the temple is exposed, do not worry; they will first try to control the entire Blood Cloud Wasteland. Cultivating the Raksha Blood Refinement Secret Technique, you have the potential to become a Raksha demon body, but do not forget that your original intention is to be human, not a demon..."