"Grass grab."
As soon as the creature spoke, Long Chen was startled. The blade had already been slashed, and he hurriedly turned with force. The blade flew right past the creature's head, slashing the deck, leaving a large hole in the deck.
In his haste, he changed tactics, nearly twisting his back. He looked at the creature in shock and saw that a blood-red divine light had gathered in its eyes.
That blood-red divine radiance was formed from the blood Feng You had spat out. Feng You's blood actually awakened this living being.
"Step aside,"
the creature said coldly, his voice unreserved. Long Chen gripped his blood-red long blade tightly and was about to speak when the creature continued, "
I don't have much time. I must continue the legacy."
Hearing the creature say this, Long Chen finally stepped aside. The creature opened its withered large hand, and Feng You's body trembled as she woke from her unconsciousness.
When she woke up, her face was full of surprise because she discovered that she had actually developed a bloodline connection with that being.
Whoosh!
The creature said nothing, but a withered finger pressed against Feng You's forehead. Feng You shuddered all over, and the essence blood from his brow surged into the finger.
Long Chen was shocked, thinking the dried corpse wanted Feng You's essence blood. Just as he was about to stop her, he found that as Feng You's essence blood flowed out, a rune on the corpse's finger was slowly injecting into her brow.
At that moment, Long Chen suddenly understood. It turned out that the dried corpse was borrowing Feng You's blood essence to activate the runes within him, which allowed him to pass the runes to Feng You.
The inheritance of demon beasts and divine beasts differs from that of humans; most of them rely on bloodlines, and this inheritance requires the power of bloodlines to build a bridge.
Seeing the look of ecstasy on Feng You's face, Long Chen relaxed, glanced around, and headed straight for the center of the ghost ship.
Because just now, while surveying the entire ghost ship, Long Chen noticed an altar-like presence at the center of the ship—that was his true target. At this moment, Feng You was in no danger, time was tight, so Long Chen immediately headed to the center area.
This ghost ship was enormous, and its deck was filled with standing ghost soldiers. Long Chen dared not disturb them, moving cautiously. It took the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before he saw the massive altar.
The altar was square, over a hundred zhang high, carved with strange patterns and exuding a sinister aura. Long Chen quietly climbed up and found it had nine levels. The top tier contained a coffin.
On the coffin were the faces of various demons, looking extremely ferocious. The aura of the coffin was extremely terrifying. As he approached the coffin, Long Chen couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle. He knew that inside this coffin lay an extraordinary presence.
But when Long Chen climbed to the last high platform and saw the entire coffin, he was stunned—the lid was actually half open.
"Has someone already been here?"
Long Chen could hardly believe his eyes. No wonder when he came up, he noticed something was off on the steps.
Long Chen peered into the coffin and couldn't help but gasp. There were actually two corpses inside—one lying underneath, the other lying on top.
It should have been a harmonious scene, but the two were not buried together; their palms passed through each other's bodies, seemingly perishing together.
Long Chen gripped the blood-red longsword tightly, observed for a long time, and only after confirming there was no danger did he slowly extend the blade and touch the corpse on it.
"Dang"
When the blade tip touched the corpse's arm, it made a strange sound, as if it had struck steel.
Long Chen was shocked again. How could this body be so tough? To observe better, Long Chen had no choice but to muster his courage and enter the coffin.
The coffin looked small from the outside, but inside it was a world of its own. After Long Chen entered, it didn't feel crowded.
"Nine Star Heir"
As Long Chen approached, he couldn't help but cry out in surprise. The corpse was dotted with star marks, and the entire body had transformed into stars. It was clear that the effects of the Nine Star Overlord Body Technique only manifested after reaching a certain realm.
Long Chen never dreamed that he would see a Nine-Star heir here—and an extremely terrifying Nine-Star Heir at that. Although he was already dead, judging from his fully star-transformed body, his realm had likely already reached Saint King.
Long Chen observed carefully and noticed that the corpse lying below also had tiny star marks.
Long Chen was stunned. The corpse below was already shriveled and decayed, its appearance unrecognizable, but judging by the canine teeth at the corner of its mouth, it was not human.
"It should be this Nine-Star successor who came to the ghost ship and killed the creature lying in the coffin."
Through observation, Long Chen reached a conclusion, but what he didn't understand was: why would such a powerful and terrifying Nine-Star successor choose to perish together with it?
"Sorry for the offense."
Long Chen bowed slightly to the Nine Star successor, lifting his corpse from the corpse. Both the inheritor and the creature's hands were pulled out from the other's bodies. Long Chen noticed that the Nine Star successor's hands were pitch black, and the being's claws had completely transformed into stars.
The corpse of the Nine-Star successor was as heavy as a mountain. Long Chen struggled greatly to move him away. However, although the corpse was immortal, its nerves were completely severed. Long Chen tried to communicate with his soul, but there was no response.
Long Chen had no choice but to store his body in the chaotic space, planning to find a suitable place to bury him when the opportunity arose.
After collecting the corpse of the Nine Star Heir, Long Chen carefully examined the creature and found it had long arms and legs, a tail growing from its back, and canine teeth—it seemed to be an ape-like creature.
"With a strong aura of death, this creature sleeping on the ghost ship is very likely connected to the Ghost Emperor.
The Nine-Star successor was willing to sacrifice himself to perish with it; there must be a deeper connection. Long Chen speculated secretly.
Long Chen bore the Ghost Emperor mark. Back then, Long Chen had mentioned it to Lord Jingyuan, and she had briefly mentioned some matters about the Ghost Emperor. However, Lord Jingyuan didn't think the Ghost Emperor mark was harmful, so Long Chen didn't pay much attention.
Now, seeing the deceased Nine-Star heir here, and recalling that the ghost ship and ghost soldiers were exclusive tools of the Ghost Emperor, as well as the Ghost Emperor mark on himself, it meant that the Ghost Emperor's mark appearing on him was definitely no coincidence.
"Whoosh!"
Long Chen lifted the corpse of the creature and immediately discovered that beneath the coffin, eight tentacle-like objects had appeared, firmly securing the corpse and the coffin together.
But as Long Chen twisted himself with force, all eight tentacles snapped at once. Inside the broken tentacles, star-like marks dotted the place, making Long Chen's heart skip a beat.
"So this is a divine embryo."
When Long Chen saw those eight tentacles, he suddenly understood—this wasn't the first time he'd seen such a situation.
"The divine embryo is immortal and indestructible; only by using the power of the stars can it be completely destroyed. At the same time, it disrupts the entire formation pattern of the ghost ship. No wonder the ghost soldiers on the ship seem so dazed—the reason lies here." At that moment, Long Chen understood everything.
"Rumble Rumble ..."
At that moment, the entire ghost ship roared and exploded. Long Chen was startled and immediately flew out of the coffin.