Chapter Thirty-Two: The Carefree Lord of Ghosts

"What?" Jin Yang was utterly shocked, his trembling acupoint throbbed with pain and his true energy began to lose control.

Under ordinary circumstances, such a deviation in cultivation could be remedied by sitting down to adjust his breath. But now, that was impossible.

Trapped within the formation, every movement affected the whole.

Boom!

The crimson formation flickered, and the golden toad's shadow in the air vanished completely, dissolving into countless stars.

The dissipating energy exploded outward.

In an instant, red light filled the heavens.

Jin Yang's figure shot skyward like a rag doll, only to crash heavily to the ground.

"Hahaha!!" Lu Qian laughed heartily, feeling an intense satisfaction.

Then, using the last bit of his true energy, he summoned a paper figure.

To check if the fellow was dead—if not, he'd finish him off.

He would dismember him first, then mock him as he pleased.

He understood well that villains often died from talking too much.

Whoosh!

A streak of red light shot into the sky.

Like a nimble fish, it darted and flashed, arriving before Lu Qian and burrowing into his forehead.

"Heh heh, I still have another card to play. Your body—I'll take it." The red light carried a strand of Jin Yang's divine consciousness.

The red light was too swift for Lu Qian to react.

It wasn't that he underestimated his foe; facing a late-stage Qi cultivator, he'd done all he could, but this old fox had far too many tricks up his sleeve.

The red light entered his mind, and Lu Qian immediately felt a powerful foreign will invade.

It sought to seize his body.

He had no strength to resist.

The sea of consciousness was a dark, chaotic expanse.

Its depth unknown, time uncertain.

Jin Yang gradually felt the body merging step by step with his divine consciousness, a sense of control rising within him.

"This body is average, but it'll suffice," Jin Yang thought to himself. A flicker of resentment crossed his mind. "Once I emerge, I'll dismember every one of you."

Reflecting on his life, he realized how tumultuous it had been, full of highs and lows.

He hated Lu Qian most of all—for ruining his plans at the crucial moment.

He wished to flay him, tear out his tendons, and burn his soul in ghostly fire for three hundred years.

Of course, now that the body was his own, he couldn't very well do that to himself.

As he pondered, Jin Yang's will entered the deepest reaches of the sea of consciousness.

Only by conquering this place could he truly control the body.

With things as they were, Lu Qian had no hope of turning the tables.

Though there were some twists, Jin Yang was still the ultimate victor.

He could only possess a body for seven years—after all, he was an outsider.

Within those seven years, he would find another way to extend his life.

Anything was possible.

"Hmm? What vision is this?"

Upon entering the deepest part of the sea of consciousness, the environment changed abruptly.

A world shrouded in darkness, with a gray earth spanned by a golden river.

Golden waters flowed slowly, threading through past and present.

The depths of the sea of consciousness housed a person's truest and most beautiful fantasies.

Most were worlds of birdsong and blossoms, or the things most deeply desired.

Even the most wicked villains possessed a patch of purity within.

Why, then, did Lu Qian's vision appear so bleak—was he truly so dark inside?

Splash!

Suddenly, the river churned.

A beast with golden scales, resembling both fish and dragon, emerged.

Its vertical pupil, as large as a millstone, locked onto Jin Yang, showing a hint of confusion, then delight.

Splash!

The beast rode the waves toward him.

"What is this? How can something like this exist in a sea of consciousness?!"

Jin Yang's soul trembled with terror, a sense of extreme danger surging within him.

Without hesitation, he turned to flee.

He had to abandon Lu Qian's body.

Regret flooded him; with so many options, why had he insisted on this rivalry?

Splash!

Clouds surged and winds rose, and the beast appeared before Jin Yang in an instant, coiling its body several times, gazing at him as if to say: Came here, and you still wish to leave?

"So painful!"

Darkness swallowed Jin Yang's vision—this was his final thought.

After consuming Jin Yang's will, the interior of the Yellow Springs Visualization was a storm of wind and clouds.

The dragon-like creature's body grew rapidly, endless streams of black true water forming. After a while, the growth slowed.

The world returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Qian leisurely opened his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, are you alright?" Tang Bing asked with concern.

Yu Ci and Han Bingli were also nearby.

"I'm fine, just a minor incident." A strand of information suddenly appeared in Lu Qian's mind.

Now was not the time to ponder it; he'd review it later.

He took out some Qi-boosting powder from his pack and handed it to the others.

The Abbot of Five Paths glanced around nervously, acting very polite.

He was the last survivor from Baiyang City—how could he not be frightened?

Though he was a mid-stage Qi cultivator, his Five Ghosts Carrying technique wasn't designed for combat.

If these people wanted to act against him, he'd be helpless.

So he kept his posture low.

Another figure was acting shifty. Lu Qian asked, "Brother Yan, why are you hiding?"

"Ahem, a bit embarrassed. Side effect from the Spirit Summoning ritual." Yan Xinglie turned around, his body covered in dense tiger fur.

"So that's it. I'll check for a remedy when we return, help you get rid of the fur," Lu Qian said, barely holding back a laugh.

That Spirit Summoning ritual was certainly mysterious—was there truly a god? Ghosts eat incense, gods consume candles. Probably some kind of ghost, Lu Qian mused.

The group sat and meditated, restoring themselves.

Lunar True Water Guiding Method (Beginner: 750/1000)

His cultivation progress surged by three hundred points—just another month or so and he'd reach proficiency.

This mission had been incredibly profitable, with a total increase of seven hundred points.

Robbery and murder truly advanced one's progress quickly.

If he only practiced diligently, it would take a year to reach proficiency.

"Let's return to the temple and report back. Mission accomplished," Yu Ci said with a beaming smile. Despite the twists, no one had been hurt.

Han Bingli nodded, sheathed her sword, and followed the group.

The first rays of sunlight rose from the horizon.

The dawn was red across the sky.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, did you anticipate Jin Yang's attack and poison him in advance?" Han Bingli suddenly asked.

"Not exactly. I suspected his identity, but didn't know what he planned."

"If you didn't know, why poison him ahead of time?" Han Bingli's beautiful eyes widened.

"Just in case."

Who knows what that old demon was up to, and those who cultivated life-extending techniques were never good people.

If he accidentally killed an ally, no one would suspect him—Wan Ming could take the blame.

Back at the foot of the mountain, the group's horses were gone.

Probably stolen, or killed by Jin Yang.

So everyone used their own methods to leave.

"Fellow Daoists, I'll go ahead—let's meet at the temple gate," Han Bingli said, lightly tapping her feet as sword energy encircled her, vanishing from sight.

Yan Xinglie moved like a beast, traveling through the forest.

Tang Bing and Yu Ci, lacking agility techniques, could only channel their true energy to walk, a bit faster than a horse-drawn carriage.

As they walked, they noticed Lu Qian was missing.

"Huh? Where's Fellow Daoist Lu?" Yu Ci looked around.

"There?" Tang Bing pointed uncertainly ahead.

There, a mist of black vapor rose.

Within the mist, eight terrifying paper figures carried a white sedan chair, cheeks crimson, faces twisted into eerie smiles, moving briskly.

Step after step, swaying silently.

The wind blew cold, black clouds gathered.

Dark and strange, as if the King of Ghosts himself were passing through.

What a carefree Ghost Lord!