Chapter 142: King of Spirit Theft

Huang Wuchang felt quite helpless in his heart regarding Ye Dong obtaining such a great blessing.

"Grandmaster, you guys are hardly being fair. Your great-grand-disciple comes all this way to visit you, and yet you go and hand this massive blessing to a total outsider! Could it be that you heard the old man here wanted to take him as a disciple and decided to give him a welcome gift in advance?"

"Not at all. Our ancestors aren't that generous. It looks like it happened because the mud dragon was eradicated."

Huang Wuchang shook his head and looked at Ye Dong, who still wore an excited expression. He muttered to himself, "Could it be that this brat has some predestined affinity with the tomb-robbing faction? If so, I'll find an opportunity to take him under my wing."

He then glanced at Master Wei and the others, who wore expressions of envy, and quickly compared them in his mind. "In today's little drama, He Wentian completely overshadowed these three. If that fellow Guangqi were to set his sights on him, the plot would become a lot more interesting."

As it turned out, Huang Wuchang still did not know that Guangqi was already dead.

"Brother Tian, how are you feeling right now?" Lixing asked in a low voice.

"I feel pretty good. My breathing is very smooth, and the burns on my feet have healed quite a bit; they don't hurt nearly as much."

Ye Dong looked at his own hands and gave a bitter smile. "I don't know why, but other than feeling tired, my body seems to have no major issues."

Lixing was overjoyed to hear this. "It seems Brother Tian has been favored by divine power inside!"

Master Wei was also grumbling inwardly. "Does this brat not even realize he's received a blessing? First the fire blades, and now a blessing—this is driving me green with envy."

"Of course I know I received a blessing," Ye Dong thought with a twitch of the eye as he swept a glance toward Master Wei and Lecheng, laughing inwardly. "These two must be green with envy. Heh, it seems the designer of this ancient tomb is quite good at picking people, since they actually chose me to receive the blessing!"

"It is recorded in the True Words of the Three Outer Realms: slaying serpents and beheading flood dragons, drawing sinew and banishing curses, braving the dragon's pool alone—the one who achieves the valor of these three trials is like a carp leaping through the dragon gate, and shall attain a great blessing. So that's what it meant."

The memories Guangqi had "bestowed" upon him surfaced in Ye Dong's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more pleased he became. "I wonder what Master and the others will think when they find out I've obtained a blessing? Once I get the chance, I must show off properly to Dachun and the rest so they can die of envy!"

"It's great that Brother Tian is fine!"

Seeing that Ye Dong was unhurt, the man named Chen Yong led his subordinates forward to inquire, "Master, what are your plans for right now?"

Seeing that Chen Yong was injured but otherwise in stable condition, Huang Wuchang nodded and asked, "How many casualties did we suffer in the recent battle?"

"Reporting to the Master, the recent battle cost us six lives, with one heavily injured who probably won't last much longer."

Chen Yong seemed somewhat helpless and unreconciled as he continued, "While we knew that accompanying the Master into this ancient tomb would be fraught with danger, we've barely passed four checkpoints and already lost more than half our forces. This far exceeds our plans."

Hearing Chen Yong speak thus, Huang Wuchang also furrowed his brows slightly.

He glanced around the battered stone path and sighed with emotion. "The depth of our ancestor's wisdom is not something we later generations can fathom. However, you cannot catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair—I believe you all understand this logic. As for the brothers who died in battle, I will personally help ferry their souls across, and their families will receive triple compensation."

Hearing Huang Wuchang's promise, Chen Yong finally smiled with relief. He said, "With the Master's promise, I and my brothers can only offer our lives to accompany you to the end."

Huang Wuchang nodded and gently patted Chen Yong's shoulder. "If you all manage to reach the final checkpoint, I promise that under the witness of our ancestor's sacred coffin, I will take you all into my sect and make you core members."

"Thank you for your appreciation, Master!"

Chen Yong and his subordinates cheered with joy, responding in unison.

Seeing Huang Wuchang appealing to their emotions while dangling benefits before them, Ye Dong sneered internally. "Huang Wuchang is using that trick to deceive people again. What use is being a core member? In the end, aren't you still just one of his pawns?"

"Although my energy has increased, I still can't let my guard down. Who knows what tricks Huang Wuchang will pull next?"

After obtaining the blessing, Ye Dong quickly cooled down from his excitement. Having gone through the incident with Guangqi, his inflated and complacent mentality had restrained itself considerably.

"Right now, I must keep a cool head; I can't let this blessing turn my brain to mush!"

Ye Dong kept the teachings of Chen Yao and Officer Li firmly engraved in his heart. "Master, Officer Li, I will not let you down!"

"Everyone gather around, check your gear, and after a twenty-minute rest, we move on!"

With that, Huang Wuchang planted five small flags of different colors around them. After chanting some strange incantations under his breath, a ripple of energy suddenly enveloped them all.

"Is this boundary art? A formation similar to the Vajra Subduing Demon Circle?"

However, Ye Dong quickly shook his head. "No, the Vajra Subduing Demon Circle is far more powerful than this Five-Flag Array!"

Seeing Huang Wuchang chanting in a low voice, Ye Dong's gaze sharpened as he suddenly felt that those small flags planted in the ground looked somewhat familiar!

"White, black, yellow, red, cyan—aren't those the colors of the Five Ghost Men!?"

"Poof!"

Before Ye Dong could even suppress his doubts, the five figures that had once caused him immense annoyance popped right out!

"Damn it, it really is these five scumbags! Last time I was wearing Guangqi's face, but now I'm back to being Ye Dong—there's no way they can recognize me, right?!"

Ye Dong clenched his fists tightly, feeling quite irritated. "Last time you ran away before my Master arrived, and if I don't exact a fierce revenge this time, am I even Ye Dong?"

A yawn echoed through the air, immediately followed by four more yawns.

"Aiyo, to think someone actually has a death wish and summoned us out?!"

The white-faced figure stretched lazily, patted the armor on his belly, and looked toward Huang Wuchang, who was holding the ritual decree.

Huang Wuchang chuckled, cupped his fists, and said, "Five seniors, how have you been lately?"

The white-faced figure also chuckled and replied, "Good, good, good, just a bit bored. Any fun events today? It's been a long time since I came to the mortal realm; I need to have some real fun."

Seeing Huang Wuchang "invite" beings from the spirit realm, Master Wei and the others were nonplussed, but Chen Yong and his men were somewhat terrified.

"Whatwhat is going on here!?"

Huang Wuchang chuckled and placated them, "There's no need to panic. These five are the ancestors of the tomb-robbing trade, the Five Ghost Men."

"So the Five Ghost Men actually exist?"

Chen Yong looked them up and down before respectfully bowing to pay his respects. "This junior greets the Five Ghost Men."

Ye Dong played his role as He Wentian to the hilt. Taking large strides forward, he pursed his lips and asked coldly, "Hey, are you guys human or ghosts?!"

His question instantly threw the Five Ghost Men into a quandary, because they were neither human nor ghost; they were half-ghosts wandering outside the gates of Hell.

"This..."

The white-faced figure hesitated, unable to come up with an answer.

"Well? Are you human? Ghosts? Or gods?" Ye Dong deliberately pressed the issue, his goal being to make things awkward for them.

Seeing how arrogant Ye Dong was, the black-faced figure behind the white-faced one sternly demanded, "How come you brat didn't pay your respects when you saw us?!"

"Why on earth should I, He Wentian, pay my respects to you?!"

Ye Dong wore an expression of utter disdain. "I, He Wentian, only pay my respects to people of high moral standing and great prestige, only to the ghostly souls of my ancestors, and only to the deities of heaven and the Buddhas of the Western Paradise. What kind of things are the five of you, that you even deserve for me to pay my respects?!"

As the saying goes, having conviction in one's heart makes one's voice much louder. Ye Dong's high-pitched retort completely stunned the Five Ghost Men.

"You! You brat are awfully cocky!"

"It's not being cocky; I'm just stating facts!"

The black-faced figure's face was already dark, but facing Ye Dong's harsh words, his complexion turned as black as pitch. Stumbling slightly, he whipped the treasured saber from his waist, making as if to slash at Ye Dong!

"Motherfucker, I've been itching to beat you guys to a pulp for a long time!"

Ye Dong felt a burst of secret delight. Not holding back at all, he drew his Prison Flame saber and blocked the black-faced figure's blade right in front of him!

"Aiyo, who would've thought this brat actually possesses a divine artifact!"

Seeing that Ye Dong was wielding the "Prison Flame," the Five Ghost Men were greatly startled. In their panic, they all drew their sabers, ready to hack Ye Dong to pieces at the slightest disagreement!

"Stop!"

Huang Wuchang, standing to the side, said in a deep voice, "He Wentian, they are helpers invited by the old man here; you should show some respect."

"Master, I'm just telling the truth. If they were gods or Buddhas, I wouldn't say another word and would drop to my knees to kowtow and pay my respects. If they were the masters of this ancient tomb, I would also kowtow and pay my respects. To step back even further, even if they were ghost kings or evil lords, I would still pay my respects."

Ye Dong did not yield an inch, looking coldly at the Five Ghost Men. "Well? Speechless now, aren't you?"

Everyone present looked at each other in dismay, none of them expecting He Wentian to be so overbearing, showing not an ounce of respect to ghosts and spirits.

"Hmph, we are at least two thousand years old; we can't be bothered to argue with a brat like you!"

The white-faced figure let out a cold snort. Though he said that, he was still quite angry inside. "The five of us just came out—how did we manage to offend this sharp-tongued kid?"

Seeing that Ye Dong refused to yield an inch, Huang Wuchang felt a surge of secret satisfaction. "What He Wentian says actually makes a lot of sense. If this sharp tongue of his, combined with his blessing, can be put to use by me in the future, that wouldn't be bad at all."

"Huang Wuchang, what did you call us out for?"

As the leader of the five, the white-faced figure naturally had to clarify Huang Wuchang's purpose for seeking them out.

"This Daoist wishes to use the power of the Five Ghosts to pass through the next checkpoint."

That shattered painting no longer existed, and the massive door behind it had been revealed. Huang Wuchang pointed toward the door and said, "This gate is the Evil Ghost Gate. Guarding the inside are no ordinary ferocious ghosts, but malevolent spirits that have been trapped for at least a century."

"You mean you want to use our blades to help you kill ghosts?"

The black-faced figure sneered. "As far as I know, this is an ancient tomb set up by a later-generation Daoist called the 'Tomb-Robbing King,' and it's called 'Eternal Life,' is that right?"

Huang Wuchang nodded with a smile. "The Five Ghost Men are truly well-informed, and I admire that. Indeed, this is the tomb of my grandmaster, the 'Tomb-Robbing King'!"

"The Tomb-Robbing King?"

Ye Dong felt a jolt in his heart. "What an overbearing name!"