Black Chains, Three Infants from One Source

The Golden Core shattered, and the Nascent Soul was born.

His five senses had transcended the limits of the physical body.

The black paper doll was like another Ye Fan, possessing all the power within his body.

Looking closely at the black chains, one could see strange gray ancient characters.

The chains wrapped around the paper doll's body, binding it in place. Whenever Ye Fan used the power in his body, the gray characters on the chains emitted a faint light.

At this time, having swallowed the Gui Wang Dan, the black paper doll expanded continuously. Though it was clearly just a thin piece of paper, it dragged the black chains as it moved, making a clanking sound.

As the green light emitted from the black paper doll, it seemed to produce illusions, splitting into three.

This was the Nascent Soul in Ye Fan's body, which had split into three.

Ye Fan felt a paralyzing pain transmit from his soul, and he instinctively clutched his head.

...

The black chains wrapped around the three paper dolls also seemed to triple in length, connecting them together. Once the paper dolls stopped splitting, Ye Fan's pain subsided slightly.

But at this moment, a Qing Lian suddenly appeared, occupying one of the paper dolls.

A golden light also abruptly emerged, occupying the second paper doll.

The final paper doll remained quiet, unchanged.

The appearance of three paper dolls inside Ye Fan's body had never been recorded in the Huang Ting Jing, the Seven Volumes of Heavenly Scriptures, or the Jin Gang Jing.

Could he have suffered a Qi Deviation?

"Careless."

Thinking of the Gui Wang Dan, Ye Fan felt a trace of melancholy.

"It seems items granted by the system cannot be used recklessly."

Fortunately, when Ye Fan stood up, even though his realm had dropped to the early stage of the Nascent Soul, he could still perceive distant places even with his eyes closed.

He could clearly feel that his power was stronger than ever before. After Zhang Ceye disappeared, Ye Fan no longer concealed his figure.

...

The place where Ye Fan stood was a graveyard at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts of Jizhou, with not a soul in sight for ten miles.

Just then, a white-haired old man suddenly appeared, holding a bowl and chopsticks, walking toward Ye Fan.

His face was wrinkled, his eyes squinted, and the bowl and chopsticks in his hands trembled. His weathered, aged expression looked incredibly earnest.

"Young man, have mercy, please give this old man a bun."

"This old man has been searching for his lost grandson, and hasn't had a bite to eat for three days and three nights."

'Ling Tong Zi.'

The old man looked like an ordinary person, with tears still lingering in the corners of his eyes.

However, beneath that aged skin was a set of white bones.

The bones were as dry as firewood, yet they could still speak human tongue.

...

As Ye Fan looked further into the graveyard, he discovered several other similar skeletons hiding behind tombstones, watching him.

Deactivating the Ling Tong Zi, he only saw the old man before him begging.

Ye Fan burst into a loud laugh.

"I don't have any buns. How about you eat me instead?"

The old man's expression went from blank to startled, and then he curled his lips into a bizarre smile.

"Hahaha."

"Since you put it that way, this old man won't stand on ceremony."

In the empty graveyard, the other skeletons seemed to receive a signal, and all of them advanced toward the living person before them.

Ye Fan quietly assessed their strength.

"First-grade Houtian, third-grade Houtian, ninth-grade Xiantian, eighth-grade Xiantian..."

Only the old man before him was the strongest, having reached the fifth-grade Xiantian.

"Run!"

Ye Fan always felt this was very strange.

These skeletons must have some connection to Zhang Ceye; otherwise, as the City Lord of Jizhou, why would he appear here for no reason?

A first-grade Xiantian, even if they hadn't transcended, could easily destroy these ghostly creatures like turning over a hand.

Ye Fan pondered for a moment, then turned and ran.

However, he only used the speed of an ordinary person.

The skeletons further away moved very slowly, unable to catch up at all.

The old man in front of him could clearly have stopped him, but he did not make a move.

...

The old man wore a contemptuous smile.

"When Yan Wang decrees that you die at the third watch, who dares keep you until the fifth? A fifth-grade Houtian is still far too weak before this old man..."

"Run? Can you even run?"

Just as Ye Fan was about to run out of the graveyard's boundary, the ground in front of him cracked open.

A skeletal white hand shot up from the ground, grabbing his leg.

The "fifth-grade Houtian" Ye Fan used all his strength but still could not break free from this skeletal hand.

His face turned pale as he looked at the old man.

"What on earth are you?"

Only then did the old man leisurely walk over from a distance.

"There is a path to heaven, yet you do not take it; there is no gate to hell, yet you barge right in."

"As for this old man..."

"You will find out after you die."

...

Crack, crack, crack.

The ground, which originally held only gravel and dry bones, instantly saw countless white hands sprout from beneath.

...

Ye Fan carefully observed the difference between the old man and the other skeletons. Only the old man's skeleton was glossy, looking much more refined compared to the rough appearance of the others.

So, the old man was the core of these skeletons.

And their range of activity was limited to this graveyard.

It looked as if they were being reared by someone.

Since that was the case, there was no need to be polite.

Ye Fan suddenly drew a golden long saber, crushing the white claw on the ground with a single kick.

"Lie Huo Saber Art!"

Raging red flames connected into a sheet, flaring up with the wind.

The moment the sparks touched the bones, they clung to them like flies to honey, instantly bursting into violent flames.

Even the old man no longer possessed his previous calm and leisurely demeanor.

Instead, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"A ghost... A ghost..."

The tables had turned.

The old man even forgot he was a Xiantian expert. Just as he was about to flee, a Qing Lian suddenly descended.

The Xi Xing Da Fa, it was the Xi Xing Da Fa once again.

Countless streams of black power inside the old man's body were sucked away by the Qing Lian. His eyes became hollow and dull. Finally, the skeleton collapsed to the ground with a clatter, no longer in human form.

Sensing that there were no more active skeletons in the graveyard, Ye Fan finally retrieved his Tu Long Saber.

After the black power was absorbed into his body by the Qing Lian, the three paper dolls showed no change, only the black chains grew slightly thicker at a speed barely noticeable to the naked eye.

...

Just then, Zhang Ceye, who was halfway on his journey, suddenly stumbled, almost falling to the ground.

"City Lord Zhang, what is wrong?"

A shop assistant in Jizhou City asked solicitously.

Zhang Ceye shook his head:

"It is nothing, I am very well..."

But his heart was bleeding.

Years ago, Zhang Ceye had been expelled from his sect precisely because he reared ghostly creatures. But in that brief moment just now, the subtle connection between him and the primary ghost he reared had vanished.

Zhang Ceye's face darkened, and he already had the answer in his heart.

'It must be that busybody monk.'

'Only a monk would have the strength to purify a ninth-grade Xiantian primary ghost.'

However, thinking of the warning from the sleeping black shadow, Zhang Ceye could only grit his teeth.

'I will endure... I will tolerate... Once the martial arts assembly is over, sooner or later, I will refine you, monk, into my ghostly creature!'

...