Chapter 25 Part 3

Her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Her senior… did she look like she was fine now? Would Lu Yaotiao become the “certain woman” in tomorrow’s news, perishing in a mysterious and supernatural incident and becoming a topic of gossip?

Xie Qingdu furrowed her brow.

She hadn’t known this thing was still on her. She stared fixedly at the fox-shaped peach wood pendant, took a deep breath, and could barely maintain her usual composed expression.

She knew Lu Yaotiao was frightened and wanted to offer some comfort, but she didn’t know what to say. After a few minutes of silence, she said, “I’ll go back first.”

Lu Yaotiao was stiff as a board. She nodded, her insides seized by terror, almost unable to breathe.

Xie Qingdu lowered her eyes and carefully tucked the True Form Chart of the Five Peaks into her pocket.

Lu Yaotiao didn’t move. She’d had a little courage to open the door earlier, but now, having witnessed this bizarre and eerie incident with her own eyes, she was proud she could still breathe, let alone see someone off!

Xie Qingdu left on her own.

But she couldn’t leave completely. The moment the door opened, a beam of light shot out and pointed unerringly at her forehead. Her consciousness instantly plunged into chaos. Her body slumped to one side, caught by a woman with long, wavy hair and a gallant, heroic bearing.

Lu Yaotiao: “…” After this string of successive shocks, she couldn’t even scream anymore.

The unfamiliar visitor also knew Lu Yaotiao’s state wasn’t normal. She freed a hand to pull out her identification and introduced herself, “Qi Ji, Xuanzhen Dao Court.” Seeing Lu Yaotiao nod numbly, she entered the room, tossed Xie Qingdu onto the sofa, and continued explaining to Lu Yaotiao, “I calculated that an anomaly would occur here, possibly connected to the Southern Mountain incident.”

When she received the case of the “Millennial Nine-Tailed Fox,” she had been dealing with some troublesome little ghosts in an outer province. She realized the importance of the Shen City matter and, after dumping the cleanup work on her comrades, rushed back to Shen City. The Southern Mountain situation was more troublesome than she’d imagined. Such dense ghost baleful energy couldn’t be generated by a Great Demon; it was probably a Ferocious Ghost with a thousand years of cultivation. She had originally intended to head straight to Southern Mountain, but she sensed a strange aura within the city. After a divination using the Taiyi Calculation Scripture, she ultimately decided to run over to the Lu residence first.

Lu Yaotiao’s mind was buzzing, as if struck hard by a hammer. It took a long time before she reacted and pointed at the evil magical talisman on the floor.

Qi Ji glanced at it, and her expression changed slightly. “A talisman trigger?” She bent down and picked up the talisman, studying it for a moment before muttering to herself, “A Devil-Refining Talisman Trigger. But its core has already been destroyed…” This news wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either.

Qi Ji suddenly asked, “Her surname is Xie?”

Lu Yaotiao nodded.

Qi Ji touched her forehead and sighed in frustration. “What a mess.”

Lu Yaotiao couldn’t help but ask, “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” Qi Ji shook her head and immediately stood up. “But I guess there’s a Devil-Refining Incantation inside Southern Mountain. Since it uses Xie family bloodline as the trigger, the target is that recently unearthed Empress Wenzhao. If she fully turns into a Ferocious Ghost, tsk—”

Before Lu Yaotiao could fully grasp the meaning of her words, this expert from the Xuanzhen Dao Court had already left with the talisman, swift and decisive. Lu Yaotiao turned her head to look at Xie Qingdu and thought to herself: Since the expert didn’t say anything, perhaps this time she really was fine now?

Inside the cave.

The strange, evil talisman emitted a blood-red glow. Every time Jiang Yiguang thrust the Seven Star Sword into it, she felt a powerful recoiling force. Her hands, which never even touched warm water, were quickly scraped raw and bleeding. She wasn’t familiar with the structure of the “Devil-Refining Incantation,” so naturally, she couldn’t navigate it with the effortless skill of a master butcher.

Just as she was about to reach her limit, a thunderous boom suddenly echoed, like a thunderclap. A bolt of purple Thunder Light snaked along the cave wall, dispelling the blood-red baleful aura. In the blink of an eye, it reached the spot where her sword tip had pierced. Jiang Yiguang turned her head to see a somewhat familiar figure walking into the cave through the backlight.

“Oh, Yiguang? What are you doing here?” Qi Ji raised her eyebrows, her eyes full of puzzlement. Among the Four Great Families of the Mystic Sect, only Jiang Li had a good relationship with the Xuanzhen Dao Court, having many dealings with the Court’s upper echelons. Qi Ji had followed Jiang Li during her youth and naturally knew her daughter, who was clueless about Mystic arts and hadn’t opened her spiritual orifices.

Jiang Yiguang had no strength to explain to Qi Ji. She pointed toward the depths of the Head Hill Cave, then lowered her head to blow on her scraped, stinging palms.

Qi Ji gave a wry smile. She glanced at the Seven Star Sword in Jiang Yiguang’s hand and originally wanted to leave something behind, but after thinking it over, she found it unnecessary.

As Qi Ji walked deeper into the cave, Jiang Yiguang suddenly asked, “Did you see my mother on your business trip?”

Qi Ji turned back and replied, “No.” She hadn’t been in contact with her teacher for a long time.

Jiang Yiguang gave a noncommittal “Oh” and didn’t ask further. She didn’t move again until Qi Ji’s figure had completely vanished into the darkness. Only then did she prop herself up with the sword and rise. Perhaps that part of the plot had passed; she no longer felt that urgent desire to leave. After hesitating a moment, she decided to walk deeper into the cave.

Before the female lead truly grew strong, she had to endure countless trials and tribulations of body and mind. If Fu Juan was injured, she couldn’t let Wang Xuanming carry her, right?

Inside the cave on the prison altar.

Although the atmosphere had initially been tense and hostile, oddly enough, Xie Chaoyun hadn’t attacked. Around her, ghostly energy swirled thickly. That layer of ghastly, greenish-white pallor once again surged behind her, as if thousands of Ferocious Ghosts were roaring and raging. Yet she simply turned around and drifted onto the bloodstained prison altar. Not long ago, a living presence had been here. But in an instant, it had vanished like mist and cloud. Was it only a shred of obsession from a thousand years? Had she truly never lived in this world?

When Qi Ji entered, she found the atmosphere unexpectedly harmonious.

However, Fu Juan and Wang Xuanming were in terrible shape.

Fu Juan glanced at Qi Ji and greeted her heavily, “Senior Sister.”

Qi Ji offered a casual “Mn.” The “talisman trigger” in her palm crumbled to dust. “Found the talisman trigger, but its core was already destroyed by the time I arrived, as if by some magical artifact.” She glanced at Xie Chaoyun on the prison altar, flipped her wrist, and produced a thick stack of even more powerful talismans, instructing, “Stand back.” Even though Xie Chaoyun had gradually calmed down, since she showed signs of turning ferocious, she had to be sealed and suppressed. She couldn’t be allowed to roam freely across the Divine Land Continent as before.

Xie Chaoyun was already in an unstable state. When Qi Ji suddenly attacked, that tranquility couldn’t be maintained. Also wielding the divine power of Mastery of Five Thunders, Qi Ji’s cultivation was far deeper than Fu Juan’s or Wang Xuanming’s, so the Five Thunders technique’s might was naturally several levels stronger. By the time Jiang Yiguang re-entered the cave, the battle was already drawing to a close. The previous wounds, Xie Chaoyun’s own restraint, and Qi Ji’s various demon-expelling and ghost-subduing methods gradually dissipated the malevolent aura on Xie Chaoyun. In the end, she bowed toward Qi Ji and transformed into a wisp of smoke, entering a sealing talisman.

Qi Ji wiped the sweat from her forehead. She turned her head and studied Fu Juan and the others carefully, frowning. “You all were far too reckless.”

Wang Xuanming explained, “But the baleful demonic energy on Southern Mountain was spreading and already affecting humans. If we hadn’t entered the mountain to investigate, more people might have shed blood. We—” Wang Xuanming’s words stopped abruptly. He suddenly remembered that if Xie Chaoyun hadn’t followed them into the mountain, perhaps she wouldn’t have been trapped by the “Devil-Refining Incantation” within the cave and turned into a Ferocious Ghost. It hadn’t been their intention, but it was also a result of their carelessness.

Fu Juan spoke. “I’m sorry.”

Qi Ji’s gaze passed Wang Xuanming and landed on Fu Juan’s legs. Her expression was somewhat subtle. Over time, within the Xuanzhen Dao Court, the traces of those two from the Fu family had gradually faded. And Fu Juan, whose Dao Body couldn’t be perfected until her legs were healed, had similarly been marginalized, with no one assigning her tasks. Qi Ji’s lips moved, but under Fu Juan’s deep, dark gaze, her words turned into just: “You’re severely depleted. You need good rest.”

Fu Juan gave a quiet “Mn.” At this moment, she was utterly exhausted, lacking even the strength to recall Fu Yi and Fu Er. She lowered her lashes, and a heavy cloak of loneliness, difficult to dissipate, enveloped her. Since entering, Jiang Yiguang had been staring at Fu Juan. A sudden pang of pity struck her heart. She didn’t suppress the emotion this time but strode quickly to Fu Juan’s side, shoved the Seven Star Sword into her arms, and stated matter-of-factly, “You sit here and hold my sword.”

Fu Juan glanced at Jiang Yiguang, pursed her lips, and said nothing.

Jiang Yiguang didn’t notice Fu Juan’s expression. She was secretly thinking: That was close! I almost fawned and played the bootlicker, conforming to that detestable plot. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she recalled the main quest. Focusing her attention on the character panel and seeing the reward item “Follow One’s Heart” obtained after completing the quest, she unhesitatingly clicked to use it. The Compatibility Value number jumped, plummeting to “56.”

Jiang Yiguang saw that ray of light called hope.

But after the Compatibility Value dropped, where would the changes in her manifest? Would her attitude toward Fu Juan visibly change? Jiang Yiguang thought for a moment, then leaned down slightly, staring fixedly at Fu Juan without blinking. Meeting those dark, deep eyes, she no longer had that crazy urge to “imprison” the other, yet her heart rate still involuntarily quickened, and a blush of pink cloud crept onto her cheeks. Jiang Yiguang abruptly looked away, stepped back, and fanned her face with her hand, as if that could dispel the heat on her cheeks.

Her gaze shifted as she actively changed the subject. “Sister Qi, is the Yin miasma still lingering outside?”

“A ghost domain’s damage to feng shui is irreversible,” Qi Ji sighed deeply. “A ritual needs to be performed.”

The matter of Head Hill Cave was concluded, but in reality, the whole affair was far from over.

Where did the Nine-Tailed Fox go? Who set up the Devil-Refining Incantation? Why did Empress Wenzhao revive? And the Dragon Vein… what transformation had really occurred?!