Silver Overlord

“You are to share out this gold and silver and let your Lord of the Great Wei past as it is too early in his life. I am under orders from the ten kings to return his soul and tell him to hold a Great Mass when he is back in the world of light to enable all of you to be reborn, so don’t be making any more trouble.” When the ghosts heard what he had to say and were given the gold and silver they all withdrew, murmuring their obedient assent. The judge then told the marshal to wave his soul−leading flag, and the Emperor was taken out of the City of the Unjustly Slain and floated along the highway to the daylight.

Yan Liqiang was bent over his desk, scribbling away madly. Unknowingly, he had finished writing the tenth chapter of ‘Journey to the West’…

Since the background of ‘Journey to the West’ was somewhat inconsistent with this world, Yan Liqiang had to either make appropriate modifications to the text, or convey the lofty principles in simpler words. This was for the sake of improving the reading experience so the people of this world didn’t have to play the guessing game. With Yan Liqiang’s modifications, the story of ‘Journey of the West’ turned into an old tale of the previous dynasty, the Great Wei Empire. The story had bizarre twists and was a mixture of truth and make-believe, just like any old story told by the storytellers of the Imperial Capital — fascinating, and no one could identify any flaws with it.

Writing up to the tenth chapter, Yan Liqiang glanced at the candle that was about to burn out. It felt like it had only been about two hours. Since it was getting late, he stashed the manuscripts on his table in his drawer, cleaned his brush, hung it up, then covered the inkstone before returning to his bedroom.

It was impossible to finish writing the whole thing in one night. Since he only needed to submit his manuscripts in two days time, he wasn’t in a rush. If he made the most of it tomorrow and the following day, he’d be able to finish writing the hundred chapters of ‘Journey to the West’.

After practicing the eye technique and two rounds of Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing for two hours, the sky was extremely dark outside. Yan Liqiang sat on his bed and shut his eyes. In just the blink of an eye, his soul was whisked away into the Heavenly Shrine.

The magnificent and grand Heavenly Shrine’s interior was filled with black pillars towering several hundred meters. Within the darkness of those black pillars were specks of lights. Upon careful observation, every speck was a spinning galaxy. The floor of the shrine glowed with a holy luster. Countless runes flowed underneath the floor like streams of water. The mysteries and creations of the universe seemed to have been gathered here in this shrine.

Although this wasn’t Yan Liqiang’s first time stepping foot into the grand shrine, he was always overwhelmed by the feeling of ascending to the realm of gods every time he came here. It made him truly realize how small he was.

The gigantic Heavenly Stone floated in the middle of the Heavenly Shrine. Standing tall majestically, it shined with an iridescent glow. Countless ever-changing silhouettes of various animals could be seen fading in and out within its brilliance…

Yan Liqiang went in front of the Heavenly Stone, lifted his gaze to the stone, then placed his hand on it. The complex functions and user interface of the ‘toy capsule machine’ appeared in his sea of consciousness. According to Fu Guang’s explanation, this ‘toy capsule machine’ was a communication tool to the Heavenly Stone that worked like an operating system, specially prepared for people whose power was weak like him. Those who were powerful enough to condense their spiritual force would be able to communicate telepathically with the Heavenly Stone. Hence, they wouldn’t need any assistance from such a low-end tool like Yan Liqiang.

This toy capsule machine might be a low-end operating tool in Fu Guang’s eyes, but it was Yan Liqiang’s most preferred and acceptable means to communicate. What the heck was a spiritual force? Yan Liqiang had no idea and was too lazy to find out. Just by looking at this Heavenly Shrine, he knew that some things in this world were beyond his scope of wisdom and comprehension. Therefore, it was better to let nature take its course.

Yan Liqiang browsed the values of the ‘toy capsule machine’. The ‘Available number of souls’ inscribed on the golden wheel on the outermost ring was over two hundred. The Blackwind Bandits probably contributed the most to this value. Their glowing souls faded in and out inside the golden wheel. Among the light were the faces of the Shatu people…

On the red and blue ring in the golden wheel, the ‘Available vitality points’ and ‘Available intelligence points’ were both brimming at twenty thousand points each.

The gray wheel was still empty without any indication because Yan Liqiang hadn’t selected a living creature. Truth be told, this was Yan Liqiang’s first time truly using the toy capsule machine by himself and he had yet to completely understand what the gray wheel was for.

The crystal ball-looking object inside the gray wheel had a golden glow. The silhouettes of more than a hundred six-tusked small golden elephants were dancing inside it. Those small golden elephants were the energy Yan Liqiang infused into the Heavenly Stone when he ritually emptied out his dantian while using Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing to increase his potential.

With a normal cultivation tempo, Yan Liqiang had no idea how many years it’d take him to condense this many six-tusked small elephants with the tiny amount of energy he could channel into the Heavenly Stone from his dantian. Fortunately, he unexpectedly discovered a different approach. For the sake of maximizing the effects of Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, he spared no effort in pouring every bit of energy in his dantian into the Heavenly Stone, then quickly replenishing the energy through the strengthening effects of Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. This approach had enabled Yan Liqiang to infuse a lot of energy into the Heavenly Stone in a short amount of time.

‘I wonder if this amount of dantian energy can activate the seal of life and create a human…’

Just when that thought emerged in Yan Liqiang’s mind, Fu Guang’s face appeared in the brilliantly shining crystal ball.

“If you choose to activate the seal of life of a human, the amount of energy you have infused into the Heavenly Stone can activate fifteen of them in total!”

“Ah, Fu Guang, it that you?”

“Of course it’s me. Long time no see!”

“Are… you back…? How come you can read my thoughts?”

“I will not appear in the Heavenly Shrine for the time being. This not my physical body, it is merely a projection of my mind. When you place your hand on the Heavenly Stone, you can still communicate with me through your consciousness. Naturally, I will be able to read your thoughts!” A small smile actually broke into Fu Guang’s serious face. “Have you decided to activate the seal of life for fifteen people?”

“Wait, don’t rush me! I still haven’t decided on which one I want to activate!” Yan Liqiang looked at Fu Guang and hurriedly stopped him. After taking a moment to reorganize his thoughts, he continued, “I ran into some problems recently which might put my life in danger. I would like to find an assistant to help me make some preparations. Do you have any advice for me…?”

“Advice? Yes, of course. Look at what kind of assistant you need and just select the specific seal of life to activate one!”

“So I can activate any living creature that I can imagine?”

“As long as they exist in this world, you can bring them to life here. If they don’t exist in this world, then they won’t be able to come to life even if the Heavenly Stone has its seal of life. There are certain rules in the Heavenly Shrine. Bringing a living creature which doesn’t belong in this world is a violation of the heavenly laws!”

“Then, how many species of life can I activate?”

“There’s a total of 3,750,000 species!”

3,750,000 species?! Yan Liqiang was shocked by the number. Although he was mentally prepared, he didn’t expect to be able to activate so many seals of life!

“Apart from humans, which exotic living creatures can predict danger among the activatable seals of life?” Yan Liqiang looked at Fu Guang’s projection in the crystal ball with eager eyes. “I don’t know much about exotic creatures. Is there any that can sense danger and even pick up poison in food like Goldie?”

“The dangers you speak of are too vague and subjective. The definition of danger may vary among different people or creatures. The things that you identify as dangerous might not necessarily be true for people who are a thousand times more powerful than you. To a camel, the desert is safe and the ocean is dangerous. However, for a shark, the opposite is true. The instinctive perception of danger is something that is specific to all living creatures. Hence, it is very difficult to be replaced by another living creature. Likewise, you have this kind of instinct too. As for your question on which living creature can sense universal dangers, they don’t exist. I have never seen any in your world or other worlds!”

Yan Liqiang couldn’t but smile wryly at Fu Guang’s words, feeling as though he was a little too demanding. Why would any creature in the world be tailored to fit your needs…?

“However…” It seemed like Fu Guang hadn’t finished speaking yet. “There is an extremely rare creature in your world which can bestow upon you a special ability. This ability may help you gain insight and perception to what you deem dangerous…”

Yan Liqiang felt a sudden burst of energy. “Oh? What is this creature that you speak of?”

“This…” As soon as Fu Guang’s voice faded, the silhouette of a strange-looking serpent appeared in the crystal ball.

Yan Liqiang’s eyes immediately widened at the serpent’s strange appearance. It was almost transparent from its head to its tail, looking as though it was made of glass. If Fu Guang didn’t mention that it was a living creature, Yan Liqiang would’ve mistaken it for a beautiful work of art…

“What is that?”

“I call it the Psychic Serpent…”