Chapter 121: The Diamond Corpse

"Useless trash!"

Zhang Keqing's voice turned icy in an instant, stripped of all the gentleness I had known before. A sudden, violent shiver ran through me. It was clear now: she was no longer the Zhang Keqing I knew, no longer the Sister Zhang who, despite her cold exterior, had always looked after me.

"I... I..."

The innkeeper trembled so violently he could barely speak, stammering for a long moment.

"You have no value left!"

Before the words had even faded, Zhang Keqing lunged with her hand. As her fingers clawed the air, the entire space seemed to buckle and shudder. In that single, jarring vibration, I felt a terrifying force surge forward, piercing straight through the innkeeper’s body. Instantly, plumes of visible, hissing corpse miasma erupted from him.

The innkeeper of the Nameless Inn, who had been so arrogant and overbearing just moments ago—the very person I considered my greatest threat—was now being slaughtered before my eyes, utterly helpless to resist. Within a heartbeat, he had been reduced to a small, black orb.

*Hum.*

Zhang Keqing caught the black sphere in her palm and crushed it with a casual squeeze. I shuddered violently, looking at her with genuine terror.

Chen Chuyi stepped forward, shielding me, and said coldly, "I never expected you to actually succeed in forging the Diamond Body."

Zhang Keqing turned slowly to face Chen Chuyi. There was no anger or resentment on her face; instead, there was a hint of gratitude.

"Heh, I really owe it to your schemes that the seals on my long-dormant soul were slowly unraveled. If you hadn't forced me into a life-or-death struggle with your Yin-Yang arts, I might never have realized I needed to come to Painting Eyebrow Village to reclaim my essence. I might still be nothing more than a wandering ghost, chased through the streets by Yin-Yang masters."

Zhao Shiwu, unlike Chen Chuyi, did not seem particularly worried. A faint smile touched his lips.

"A Diamond Corpse. My brother and I truly miscalculated there. But then again, if we hadn't fought you that day, we would never have learned the true reason our Pavilion Master was forced to reincarnate and reshape her form!"

Zhao Shiwu stepped closer to me as he spoke.

"Pavilion Master? Reshape her form?" Zhang Keqing, standing before us, looked baffled.

"Let’s put it this way," Zhao continued. "In the beginning, we only suspected. The affair at Lingquan Village was orchestrated by an elder of our Azure Dragon Pavilion long ago. The Pavilion Master had already reincarnated, but there was a seventy-year gap. At the time, Lady Xiyue was severely wounded in both spirit and flesh while protecting the Pavilion Master through the turbulent currents of the Ghost Path, and she had been recuperating on Azure Dragon Mountain. Lingquan Village is a prime piece of geomantic real estate, but we had no choice—to lure you out, we had to set up the Three-Corpse Rebirth Array."

"The elders created a void in the formation, and theoretically, no one should have died, especially not the Nine Evils. But because you appeared, mistaking this ancient Three-Corpse Rebirth Array for something that resonated with your Lotus Pedestal, you used the power of the array to manifest the Nine Evils."

Zhang Keqing, standing before me, looked stunned, her face a mask of disbelief. "Impossible, that’s impossible..."

Chen Chuyi took up the thread: "That includes this body of yours. Zhang Keqing was originally a dying woman on our Azure Dragon Mountain—or perhaps, a living dead woman. The elders, unwilling to let her pass, had no choice but to use the Yin-Soul Borrowing Life technique to ensure she fulfilled this final mission!"

My heart sank. This was devastating, earth-shattering news. Even Xiyue, standing beside me, looked utterly shocked. I felt as though not only had my entire path been mapped out by others, but everything I had ever seen or experienced might be a fabrication.

*Tu...*

I called out into my sea of consciousness, but no one answered. I called for Nie Xiaoke for a long time as well, but there was only silence. I couldn't help but feel that everything I had touched until now was a lie.

"Hmph, even if you planned it, what does it matter? I have claimed this body, and I have attained the Diamond Corpse. None of you are my match!"

Zhang Keqing’s eyes flashed with lethal intent as she turned her cold gaze toward me. "If it weren't for you back then, I wouldn't have ended up like this. Today, you will be the first to die!"

Before Chen Chuyi and the others could react, she lunged at me.

"Suppress!"

The moment she reached for me, I felt as if I had been locked in place by a violent, crushing force, my entire body paralyzed.

*Hum.*

With a dull thud, Zhao Shiwu was knocked back several steps. Chen Chuyi threw his arms out to block the space between me, Xiyue, and the attacker. "Xiyue, quickly! Take Xiaodong to the central tunnel!"

"The central tunnel?" Xiyue asked, clearly confused.

"Go!" Chen Chuyi shouted. "There’s no time! One of the Nine Funerary Heaven Coffins is in there, along with Yellow Springs water. This is our only chance. This Diamond Corpse is powerful, but she has only just transformed—her memories and faculties haven't fully recovered. You must claim the corpse coffin now; it is the only way we can gain the upper hand!"

Xiyue nodded, grabbed me, and pulled with all her might. I felt like someone drowning in a mire being hauled out by a great force, and in an instant, I was standing at the tunnel entrance.

"You’re courting death!"

Zhang Keqing was no longer the woman who had helped me hunt ghosts. A small red dot appeared in the center of her forehead, rapidly expanding into a strange, intricate pattern that began to spread across her skin.

At the same time, I watched in horror as terrifying corpse miasma erupted from her body—an aura so dense it was nearing physical manifestation.

Only then did I truly understand the meaning of the phrase: *When one corpse becomes a Diamond, ten thousand corpses bow in homage.*

When I had read that line in Chen Chuyi’s notes, he had explained it simply: A Diamond Corpse appears only once every thousand years. Once the ritual is complete, the heavens and earth themselves will change color.