Chapter 60 – Joy City (6)

On the fifth floor, the Yin energy had condensed into a gale-force vortex, shredding to pieces any minor ghost cultivator foolish enough to try stepping through. Around a single lotus flower, several cultivators stood locked in a tense standoff.

“You people who cultivate human arts have absolutely no shame — hand over your storage pouches!”

“As if you weren’t human yourselves once.”

A ghost cultivator laughed heartily. “When were we ever human? Are you referring to those memories of being human that we still carry?”

Sun Xingyi cursed inwardly. All he wanted was to gather enough to exchange for an Arrow Token, yet here he was, cornered by a group of powerful ghosts.

The ones trading verbal blows with the great ghosts were two disciples from the martial cultivator clan of Cangyun Ravine — one named Zongzheng Chun, the other named Yi Mingyuan.

The people from Cangyun Ravine truly had remarkable tricks — they even had a bag capable of storing objects. Could anyone not see that the surrounding area was completely bare, with only a single lotus flower remaining in the center? Everything else had been harvested by these two!

Sun Xingyi had only paused to remark on this in admiration, but unexpectedly, several of the great ghosts took offense and blocked his path, bringing him into this calamity against his will — now he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to.

Zongzheng Chun had a square-shaped face that gave him an air of great composure, and he was equally decisive in action. “Since you are unwilling to settle this peacefully, then do not blame me for being impolite.”

He reached into his sleeve and drew out a jade ruler, which expanded to eight zhang in the wind, sweeping down upon the ghost cultivators head-on.

For their journey to Ghost City, they had prepared extensively and brought a full complement of equipment — that jade ruler alone carried no fewer than three spells specifically designed to counter ghost cultivators.

The ghost cultivators dodged aside as golden light flashed continuously from the jade ruler, producing a sizzling sound wherever it made contact with Yin energy.

“A mere trifle.” One ghost cultivator pinched eight black bells between his ten fingers, and the ringing sound struck at the minds of those nearby.

Yi Mingyuan’s lips curved slightly upward as a zither appeared in her hands. She plucked the strings, and a sound-killing attack was unleashed. Zongzheng Chun seized the opportunity, striking repeatedly at the ghost cultivators with his jade ruler.

Working in tandem, the two steadily gained the upper hand.

“Useless trash!” A sudden explosive shout rang out, and the sheer ferocity of that voice alone shattered Yi Mingyuan’s zither strings and sent Zongzheng Chun’s jade ruler flying.

“Who goes there!” Zongzheng Chun was greatly alarmed — such power surely belonged to a master at the peak of the Prenatal realm.

The ghost cultivators who had been so arrogant moments ago were now silent as quail. “Senior Brother Chang will make you pay.”

At the sound of his name, a ghost arrived on a swift wind in an instant — black-robed, with a pale-green face, his gaze sweeping coldly over Zongzheng Chun and Yi Mingyuan. Then he turned and roundly berated the ghost cultivators: “A whole group of you couldn’t take down just two people — have you no shame? Get out of my sight and go cultivate.”

The ghost cultivators shot one resentful glance at the two cultivators and then drifted away.

Just as Zongzheng Chun and Yi Mingyuan let out a breath of relief, Chang Lingqiu produced a ghost banner in a backhand motion. Resentful Ghosts howled as he snarled, “Bad enough that you took things for free, but your greed knows no end — do you think the ghost path has no capable people!”

Zongzheng Chun hurriedly held his jade ruler up against the frenzied ghost spirits lashing out wildly. “Fellow Daoist Yi, quickly!”

Yi Mingyuan had just managed to retune the strings, and after a few sweeping notes, she formed a sound-barrier dome around them. “This ghost is powerful — we cannot afford a head-on clash. Watch for an opening to retreat.”

Their goal had only been the treasures; there was no need to leave their lives here.

While humans and ghosts waged their battle, the full pool of lotus flowers swayed gently, and a silhouette came walking along the cascading layers of lotus leaves.

Zongzheng Chun, Yi Mingyuan, and Chang Lingqiu all cast their senses toward the figure almost simultaneously, then all fell into puzzlement — was this a human or a ghost?

Zhan Changfeng glanced at the two people and one ghost locked in combat, then turned her head toward Sun Xingyi, who was staring at her. “What a coincidence, Senior Sun.”

Sun Xingyi, who had been huddled to the side trying to preserve his life, replied drily, “What a coincidence indeed, young Fellow Daoist.”

He then watched as this young Fellow Daoist calmly skirted around the two ghosts and one human, and walked deeper into the floor.

Zongzheng Chun saw her exchange greetings with Sun Xingyi and immediately called out, “Fellow Daoist, wait — help us drive off this ghost, and we will reward you handsomely!”

Chang Lingqiu burst out laughing. A human? Her body was wreathed in Yin energy and carried not even a trace of a living person’s aura — how could she be human? This male cultivator was so desperate he was seeking help from a ghost.

Chang Lingqiu unleashed his full power, performing hand seals, and countless Resentful Ghosts and wronged souls poured out from the ghost banner, putting the two in an even more perilous situation.

Zhan Changfeng had intended to politely decline with “I’m busy,” but she noticed that above the single remaining lotus flower, Yin energy was surging and condensing like a brewing storm, silently neutralizing the attacks from both sides.

Chang Lingqiu and Zongzheng Chun cried out almost simultaneously, “Transformative Netherwater!”

Transformative Netherwater was a supreme tonic for ghost cultivators — a single drop was worth a full year of cultivation in this place! Naturally, as a rare heavenly treasure, it was equally precious to human cultivators, whether for pill refinement or artifact forging.

Drip~

A clear, ethereal sound arose from deep within the heart, as a single drop of water fell from thin air onto the petals of the fully bloomed lotus flower, glistening like a dewdrop.

A taut line snapped. Chang Lingqiu, Zongzheng Chun, and Yi Mingyuan erupted into fierce combat once more, but this time each fought for themselves — all vying for that single drop of water!

Zhan Changfeng weighed the situation. Although there was a reasonable chance she could seize it, it would take too much time. Finding the supreme Yin qi was more important.

However, at this moment, cultivators who had sensed the emergence of the Transformative Netherwater began appearing one after another — and among them was Gongsun Long.

Upon seeing Zhan Changfeng, Gongsun Long no longer cared about any water. He immediately charged forward with his twin swords. “Those three idiots couldn’t even deal with a child.”

“Don’t be too downhearted — you may not prove to be any better than an idiot,” said Zhan Changfeng, dodging a sword and darting toward the sixth floor.

Not any better than an idiot?

Either way it was an insult. Gongsun Long bellowed, “If you have the guts to talk back, then stop running!”

He slapped a talisman onto himself to guard against the Yin energy’s intrusion, then gave chase with his full strength.

Zhan Changfeng deliberately headed in a direction with no one around. Gongsun Long wanted to kill her, and she likewise wanted to deal with him sooner rather than later, so that he wouldn’t stab her in the back at a critical moment.

When the sounds of the other cultivators fighting over the Transformative Netherwater had faded into the distance, Zhan Changfeng stopped merely evading. She channeled Pure Yin power into her sword, and a chilling aura descended sharply.

Gongsun Long moved as light as a startled swan, his sword technique dancing elegantly — like a great net strung with hooks, each sword strike coming one after another with a suffocating sensation of being slowly ensnared. His strength surpassed Gongsun Jing by more than a little.

Yet Zhan Changfeng was no longer who she had been before. Gongsun Long felt a secret alarm stir within him — in just over a month, her strength had already exceeded the intelligence reports.

At this rate, how could she be allowed to continue!

“Yi Zhan, the Yin Dynasty has fallen — you have nowhere left to go in this world. Hand over the Dragon Scale Divine Scripture, and I will spare your life!”

“Now that the Yin Dynasty has fallen, where in the world can I not go?” Zhan Changfeng laughed coldly. “And you should remember — my Yi Family destroyed your Gongsun Clan once, and we can do it a second time.”

Her elusive, bone-chilling sword light struck straight for vital points and death gates. Goaded by her words, Gongsun Long nearly lost his footing. The catastrophe that had annihilated his clan eight hundred years ago was their eternal shame — only the blood of the Yi Family could wash it away.

Twin swords crossed and slashed through empty air, sending scattered leaves flying in all directions. Gongsun Long’s gaze turned frosty. He joined the two sword hilts together into a single double-bladed sword, which suddenly began to dance — like ten thousand agile serpents, shredding the surrounding Yin winds into fragments while pressing down upon Zhan Changfeng with airtight force.

This technique was magnificent in momentum and exquisitely refined — both offensive and nearly impervious to counterattack. In any other place, Zhan Changfeng might not have been able to beat him.

But within this Stone Lotus Platform, she absolutely could not lose.

“This fire — consider it an advance funeral offering for your Gongsun Clan.” Zhan Changfeng swept her long sword out, and a nearby lotus stem snapped in response. The lotus flower was flung into the air, and petals fell like cascading embers.

Her sword danced like a dragon, and the spinning Yin energy drew the falling petals along with it. The lotus flowers revealed their true nature — ghostly fire spreading and connecting into sheets.

Ghostly fire could temper a ghost’s body and burn a human’s body; to the former it was a fine medicine, to the latter a deadly poison.

She found a gap in Gongsun Long’s defenses, and in an instant the ghostly fire followed her sword onto his body, scorching his very soul!

Gongsun Long let out a miserable cry and frantically dug out various medicinal pills, stuffing them into his mouth.

Zhan Changfeng had already experienced firsthand how Gongsun Jing had maintained an unbeaten fighting style through an endless stream of magical tools — she would not allow him to buy time in the same way.

Four sword strikes pierced through key meridian points on his body. Simultaneously, she launched the Soul-Searching Technique and tore out his memories, searching through scene after scene until she found the information she needed.

And at that very moment, He Yuntian, fleeing for his life with his spirit-walking boots, suddenly caught sight of what appeared to be a person’s silhouette off to his right. He immediately veered in that direction, shouting as he ran, “Fellow Daoist, catch! I worked so hard to snatch this for you!”

With that, he flung what he was holding — only for the person to spin around and cleave the thing clean in two with a single sword strike.

“…” Zhan Changfeng.

“…” He Yuntian.

Could it get any more awkward? Shouldn’t a normal person’s reflexes have been to catch it!