The former sect master, Mo Yuan, had perished, and for now, the Great Elder held the position of acting sect master.
However, the throne itself had remained vacant.
"The rank of this object is high enough, its materials are unique, and it is a legacy of our Founding Ancestor. Its symbolic significance is extraordinary!"
The more the Great Elder spoke, the more appropriate he felt the idea was. "Gifting it to that lord shows our sincerity and perfectly matches his status as a deity of the Underworld. It couldn't be more fitting!"
The others chimed in with their agreement, all feeling that the elder who proposed this was quite the clever fellow.
Thus, the audience gift was decided.
With the resolution made, the elders wasted no time and immediately sprang into action.
They organized all the paper-man disciples into an orderly queue.
The Great Elder personally summoned his natal malevolent ghost to carry the throne.
A grand procession descended Burial Soul Mountain, winding its way toward Shikan Village.
Outside Shikan Village, Jian Huaishuang, Piao, and the Ugly Hag were already waiting.
Though the Ugly Hag's appearance was unsightly, she had tidied herself up properly. The little old lady looked quite spirited, showing none of her previous sickly demeanor.
Seeing the members of the Corpse Soul Sect arriving with a conspicuous throne, Jian Huaishuang gave a slight nod as a greeting.
His gaze turned to Piao. He saw that the beautiful half of her human face had recovered, but the corpse poison permeating the secret realm might still affect a unique existence like her.
Without a word, white paper fluttered around him, quickly wrapping Piao in layers until she was encased in an airtight paper cocoon.
"The aura inside the secret realm is foul. Endure it for a while," Jian Huaishuang explained to Piao inside the cocoon.
Then, without further delay, he activated the mark within him connected to the City of the Wrongfully Dead and infused it with death energy.
The space in front of him distorted, and a rift shimmering with a grayish-white light slowly pulled open.
"Everyone, please follow me."
The Great Elder of the paper-men did not dare to be slow and signaled the others to follow.
He felt the scenery before his eyes blur violently, as if stepping over an invisible threshold. When his vision cleared, the scene before him had completely changed.
'Sss—'
The Great Elder sucked in a breath of cold air.
'What kind of divine ability is this?'
'There were no fluctuations from an array, yet he transported us all here in an instant?'
'To traverse realms with such ease... as expected of a god's method!'
While he was stunned, the ordinary paper-man disciples behind him were in even more of an uproar, filled with wonder.
"Is this the realm governed by that god of the Underworld?"
"These buildings are so strange. I've never seen such designs. They look better than our sect's main hall, but why do they look so old?"
"The sky is so gloomy too; you can't even see the sun, moon, or stars."
"Could this be the legendary Infinite Hell?"
"Look over there! There are figures!"
A sharp-eyed paper-man disciple pointed at several ragged, staggering figures in the distance and shouted excitedly.
Several curious paper-men immediately broke formation and cautiously approached them.
However, as they drew closer, they realized the figures had ashen faces, vacant pupils, and moved with stiff, bizarre motions.
"Oh, they aren't living people."
"How could there be living people in a divine domain, you idiot?"
"I have to say, I think they're actually quite cute."
"These must be the corpse guards refined by that lord, right?"
The paper-man disciples were not afraid; instead, they grew more excited, calling over more of their peers to watch.
In an instant, a group of pale paper-men surrounded several zombies, pointing and gossiping as if they had discovered some rare treasure.
"Heavens, look! These corpse guards don't have a single trace of spiritual energy!"
"There are no talisman engravings either, nor any signs of secret refinement techniques. So strange!"
"How do they move? What drives them?"
"A god's techniques are truly unfathomable! They are completely different from our Corpse Soul Sect's methods of refining corpses. Truly marvelous!"
Though the elders refrained from crowding around due to their status, they couldn't help but glance over frequently, whispering to each other in low voices filled with wonder and confusion.
"Unheard of, unseen."
"Driving a corpse without spiritual energy or talismans... such a method has already surpassed our understanding."
"Indeed. We have studied the path of the corpse for hundreds of years and thought we were experts. Only today do we realize we were just frogs at the bottom of a well."
"As expected, how can we mortals presume to understand the techniques of a god?"
The Great Elder also stroked his beard in admiration, pointing at the zombies who were wandering aimlessly, ignoring the outsiders.
"Look further. These corpse guards are merely patrolling and show no hostility toward us. Their intelligence is clearly extraordinary, able to distinguish friend from foe.
"In contrast, the corpse guards we refine are nothing but dead objects without precise commands.
"That lord's power truly reaches the heavens."
His tone even carried a hint of yearning. "If we could be fortunate enough to receive even a bit of guidance on corpse refining from that lord, even just the basics would be enough to benefit the Corpse Soul Sect immensely."
As the group marveled at the god's supernatural methods, they closely followed Jian Huaishuang deeper into the secret realm.
As they reached a certain point, once again without warning, their vision blurred as the scenery changed a second time.
When they focused their eyes, they were already in the center of a city with a completely different style.
Beneath their feet were solid bone floor tiles. Around them were uniquely designed buildings that blended bone and stone.
Netherflames drifted through the air, carrying wood and stone. In the distance, they could see hard-working citizens and... paper-men in uniform paper armor patrolling?
Lin Feng, who was currently explaining prisoner containment procedures to Hong Ling, immediately spotted the sudden appearance of Jian Huaishuang.
Lin Feng's face lit up with joy, and he shouted cheerfully, "Senior Brother, you're back!"
Jian Huaishuang gave a calm nod in response and began unwrapping the paper cocoon around Piao.
Seeing this, Lin Feng immediately handed his work over to the other Patrol Team paper-men nearby and trotted over to Jian Huaishuang's side, his tone full of admiration. "Senior Brother, what are you doing? Is it a task given by the lord? Do you need your junior brother's help?"
"No," Jian Huaishuang said succinctly.
It was then that Lin Feng's peripheral vision finally caught the massive crowd of unfamiliar, pale paper-men behind Jian Huaishuang!
He was startled at first, instinctively gripping the paper sword at his waist.
Then, as he saw the sheer number of paper-men and felt the fluctuations of death energy from them—which were from the same source as Jian Huaishuang's but slightly different—he felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
His eyes widened, and his finger trembled as he pointed at the group from the Corpse Soul Sect.
His voice even took on an unbelievable pitch as he whipped his head toward Jian Huaishuang, his tone filled with shock and a sense of betrayal.
"Se... Senior Brother?! You... you have this many other... junior brothers on the outside?!!!"
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