Translated by Hua Li ^_^
A sudden fire broke out in a certain five-star hotel in the city center. The firefighters arrived just in time to control the fire and evacuate the panicked crowd, averting a major disaster.
Zhang Dou, wearing firefighting gear, nervously watched the flames that hadn’t been extinguished yet and then looked at Gou Liang, who had set up a barrier. He asked anxiously, “What happened? Who would dare to act so recklessly in broad daylight in the city center?”
Gou Liang was preoccupied and didn’t have time to explain. He just instructed Zhang Dou to quickly evacuate with his team before the barrier closed.
He and Bi Xia didn’t dare to underestimate Guyang’s abilities, but considering that Bi Xia had gained 500 years of cultivation through the soul-transferring array last night and was now equipped with the Nine Pagoda Tower and protective robes, they estimated they had a sixty percent chance of winning against Guyang.
But Guyang turned out to be even more difficult to deal with than they anticipated!
They couldn’t fathom what kind of experiences he had in the past three thousand years to possess a weapon capable of rivaling the Nine Pagoda Tower. As a result, the situation was at a stalemate. The intense battle between two three-thousand-year-old ghosts would surely cause a commotion. If Gou Liang hadn’t been stationed outside the hotel and promptly controlled the situation, this commercial center would likely have been destroyed.
Fortunately, Yuan Qing, Liu Yiyi, and Fang Yunshu, the three Tianshi who were stationed in the capital, rushed to the scene, finally allowing Gou Liang to catch his breath.
Seeing the terrifying ghostly aura rising within the barrier, the oppressive aura of the millennium-old ghost made the three Tianshi unable to catch their breath for a while. Although they couldn’t see through the situation, they knew it was critical. Seeing Gou Liang, who was maintaining the barrier with great effort, turning pale, they didn’t have time to inquire about the details and quickly reinforced the barrier from the four directions of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise along with Gou Liang.
Only after adding several layers of protection to the barrier and ensuring that the damage was contained within the area of the five-star hotel did Yuan Qing and the others hurriedly approach to inquire about what had happened.
Gou Liang’s expression was grim. “I was careless.”
He took off the Nine Pagoda Tower from his waist and handed it to Yuan Qing and the others. They didn’t understand at first, but upon Gou Liang’s instruction, they infused spiritual power into it and dispelled the illusion. Only then did they realize that the Nine Pagoda Tower in their hands was actually a fake!
“This, this! How could this happen?!”
Fang Yunshu exclaimed in shock.
The Nine Pagoda Tower, even if it wasn’t Gou Liang’s primary artifact, was still an extremely powerful sacred-grade artifact. Who could have counterfeited it so convincingly?
Liu Yiyi quickly came to his senses and exclaimed, “Was it done by Song Lian?”
Gou Liang nodded solemnly.
Yuan Qing and Fang Yunshu pressed for more information, and Liu Yiyi said, “Xiao Meng just returned from Shuangye City today. I thought his spiritual power must have been severely depleted, so I wanted to go check on him. Unexpectedly, I met Song Lian at the Qizang Pavilion. He claimed to be curious and asked Xiao Meng for a look at the Nine Pagoda Tower. Naturally, Xiao Meng refused, and I also reprimanded him. I didn’t expect him to be so crazy, taking advantage of Xiao Meng’s weakened spiritual power to use an illusion technique to steal the real Nine Pagoda Tower!”
“What?!”
“Damn it, this Song Lian is truly foolish! Does he think the Nine Pagoda Tower is something you can just play with?!”
Yuan Qing and Fang Yunshu were shocked and angry.
Gou Liang was pleased to see Song Lian take the blame for it, and he said with a restrained expression, “It seems that he had more than just curiosity. Otherwise, how could he release the suppressed ghost inside the Nine Pagoda Tower right after obtaining it?”
Using the thousand-year-old ghost to achieve his goals was definitely not a good sign.
The three Tianshi immediately understood the situation and began to brainstorm countermeasures.
Liu Yiyi asked seriously, “Yuan Qing, have you verified Song Lian’s identity? Is he really a disciple of Changtian Gate?”
Yuan Qing nodded, “He has the seal of the head of Changtian Gate. That thing couldn’t be faked.”
Changtian Gate’s reputation in the field of metaphysics in China was like that of a patriarchal figure. They naturally had a greater degree of trust and respect for the people of Changtian Gate. They never expected that the favored disciple of the head of Changtian Gate would turn out to be such a scheming person.
Fang Yunshu said, “We can’t worry about his background now!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Fang Yunshu naturally understood, but given the current situation…
Liu Yiyi’s eyes were resolute as he looked at the sky filled with an ominous ghostly aura. He said, “If all else fails, I’ll stake my life on it. I won’t let this thousand-year-old ghost wreak havoc in the world again.”
Although Yuan Qing and Fang Yunshu did not speak, their expressions showed that they made the same decision as Liu Yiyi.
Gou Liang felt somewhat emotional. Among the three celestial masters, even though Fang Yunshu tended to be more self-interested, when it came to the bigger picture, they still placed life and death above all else.
Previously, he didn’t fully understand this sentiment, but since coming to this world, he had seen many such people—whether it was Mr. He, who didn’t hesitate to transfer his lifelong merits to two black cats to ensure his wife had a better next life, or the old lady who faced death fearlessly last night.
In their hearts, there was always something greater than themselves that allowed them to sacrifice without complaint.
And now, he was beginning to understand.
——Where there is emotion, there is fear. Having compassion gives rise to courage.
Looking at the swirling ghostly aura enveloping the rooftop of the blazing hotel, Gou Liang said solemnly, “Since Song Lian dared to release a thousand-year-old ghost, he must also have prepared to deal with him. Let us observe for now. If it truly comes to a desperate situation, with the combined strength of the four of us, we may be able to turn the tide.”
Yuan Qing and the others nodded. It seemed that was the only option left now.
In the presidential suite surrounded by raging flames, Bi Xia and Guyang were engaged in a fierce battle amidst the ghostly flames.
Song Lian was barely surviving using the imprint of Guyang’s ultimate weapon, the Changtian Seal. At this moment, he tightly gripped the Nine Pagoda Tower, trying to erase all of Gou Liang’s marks on it using the secret techniques taught by Guyang, in order to claim this sacred artifact for himself.
Guyang had never slackened in his cultivation over the past three thousand years. Having served as the head of Changtian Gate for fifty-six consecutive terms, with countless disciples and achievements, his cultivation had greatly increased.
However, the karmic hindrances on his body could never be completely eliminated, remaining a latent threat.
Originally, the person responsible for his karmic hindrances was Bi Xia. As long as he personally killed Bi Xia, even if the heavens noticed, they would give him some leeway. Therefore, the first thing he did after stabilizing his soul was to go to the place where Bi Xia was sealed and kill him. He didn’t expect him to be stolen away just three hundred years later.
Afterward, for nearly a thousand years, he searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. He had no choice but to resort to another method, he tried his best to possess his son and share his karmic hindrances with a pure infant soul.
Seeing that his karmic hindrances were about to be completely eradicated, paving the way for his cultivation, but then a mistake happened at this critical juncture.
He realized that if he couldn’t destroy Yun Xian’s soul, his actions would be exposed to the heavens when she entered the underworld. At that time, his karmic hindrances would increase exponentially, undoing thousands of years of effort.
What’s even more hateful is that the one who ruined his good deeds was Bi Wuzhan!
But he was also grateful that Bi Wuzhan had thrown himself into the net!
As long as he destroyed Bi Xia’s soul, and with the karmic hindrances on his body as a sacrifice to heaven and earth, not only could he eliminate the karmic hindrances on his body, but this merit would be even greater than saving a city or even a country.
Thinking of this, Guyang became more ruthless.
Bi Xia didn’t hold back either.
He held a long sword, clearly a ghostly weapon, but surrounded by golden charms, exuding a powerful deterrent force against ghosts. Bi Xia had spent a long time in the Soul Jade, wearing top-grade magical clothing, perfectly concealing his ghostly aura, and could deceive the golden charms. While Guyang’s aura-covering artifact was of slightly inferior quality, it couldn’t escape the attacks of the golden charms.
In this way, even though Bi Xia’s cultivation was one level lower than Guyang’s, he still held his own in the fight.
Both of them were determined to destroy each other’s souls. After hundreds of moves, seeing that Guyang couldn’t subdue Bi Xia, Guyang suddenly changed tactics and rushed into Song Lian’s body without any defense, intending to use orthodox methods to kill Bi Xia.
“No!”
Gou Liang’s face changed suddenly, and he shouted, “Song Lian actually wants to erase the ancestral blood imprint of the Meng family from the Nine Pagoda Tower and seize my artifact! I must stop him. Please guard the barrier, all three of you.”
Seeing him rushing into the flames, Liu Yiyi took a step forward. “Meng Tianshi, let me assist you!”
“No, we must maintain a three-legged stance. Liu Tianshi must guard the eye of the formation!” Gou Liang ordered urgently.
Hearing this, Liu Yiyi had no choice but to stop, and together with Yuan Qing, the two of them nervously watched as Gou Liang was engulfed by the ghostly flames in an instant.
Guyang took Song Lian’s heart blood, holding the Changtian Seal in his hand, and wrote as he spoke, “Three Pure Celestials, lend me your power, eliminate evil and demons, countless merits! Changtian grants the seal, eradicate evil!”
Gou Liang was almost a step too slow, but fortunately, the Nine Pagoda Tower was a product of the system and didn’t require him to chant a spell. With a single thought, he immediately sent the Changtian Seal, which intended to crush Bi Xia’s soul, toward him!
“Bi Xia, come back!”
Gou Liang shouted, seeing Bi Xia being sucked into the Soul Jade. Then he chanted, “Heavenly Saint of the Northern Constellation, with your boundless radiance, cut off all sources of evil from heaven and earth!”
The Nine Pagoda Tower suddenly emitted a dazzling light. When the light on the ninth layer lit up, countless souls wailed, and Guyang’s soul was forcibly ejected from Song Lian’s body.
He raised his hand to shield his eyes. All he could see under the glaring light was the ghostly imprint on Gou Liang’s face. He instantly understood the relationship between him and Bi Xia, cursing him for aiding the tyrant and blaming himself for being careless. He realized that he had missed such an important clue by not realizing that Song Lian, with his shallow cultivation, had never possessed anyone before.
Guyang knew that he couldn’t defeat both Bi Xia and Gou Liang at once. Making a decisive decision, he flew out of the barrier with the Changtian Seal.
Inside the barrier, everyone heard a loud roar descending from the sky, “Changtian Seal, appear, and let all evil be vanquished!”
Immediately, a huge seal-shaped artifact descended from the sky, breaking the barrier and pressing down on the ghostly flames!
“Despicable!”
The Soul Jade shattered, and Gou Liang quickly transferred Bi Xia into the Nine Pagoda Tower, picking up Song Lian from the ground and smashing through the window!
At the same time, the seal-shaped artifact descended with a violent surge of energy, extinguishing the black aura. The five-star hotel was instantly crushed—
“Stop!”
“Wait!”
“Meng Tianshi!!”
Yuan Qing, Fang Yunshu, and Liu Yiyi shouted loudly, but they were pushed back by the exploding concrete.
With a thunderous roar, dust filled the air.
Suddenly, Guyang appeared out of nowhere, using his dust whisk to sweep away Yuan Qing and the others, retreating to a safe distance. With a flick of his whisk, the dust in front of him immediately stopped swirling and fell to the ground.
“What happened here? How could there be the aura of a thousand-year-old ghost?” Guyang asked, “Didn’t they say that the ghost in the capital had already been subdued?”
Yuan Qing exclaimed, “Senior Dugu?”
Liu Yiyi and Fang Yunshu wanted to rush into the ruins, but Guyang stopped them, retracting the Changtian Seal and saying, “The aura here is very heavy. Before it is removed, everyone should not approach.”
“But Meng Tianshi is still inside!”
Liu Yiyi exclaimed anxiously.
Liu Yiyi exclaimed urgently.
Guyang’s face showed surprise, saying, “I was reckless. I didn’t expect there to be someone in that overwhelming ghostly aura.”
A clear voice responded, “Master Dugu, there’s no need to blame yourself.”
A person was thrown out from the rolling dust and soil, followed by Gou Liang jumping out, landing steadily on the ground and clapping his hands, saying, “I must thank Master Dugu for lending a hand. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve that fierce ghost so smoothly.”
The fierce ghost mark on his right cheek was emitting strong black resentment, presumably injured by the celestial force of the Changtian Seal just now, causing intense pain.
Seeing this, Yuan Qing hurried forward to treat his injuries.
Guyang looked at the person on the ground, furrowing his brows. “Song Lian? What’s going on?”
In terms of acting skills, Gou Liang would never lose to Song Lian. He thanked Yuan Qing and said, “Yuan Tianshi, please remove these Yin auras first. The barrier here won’t last long, but I’ll be fine.”
Yuan Qing also understood the urgency of the situation and called on Fang Yunshu to help.
They had to clean up the remaining ghostly aura before the barrier collapsed, otherwise it would leak out, affecting people within a radius of ten miles, causing illness and panic.
Gou Liang breathed a sigh of relief and then kicked Song Lian on the ground without hesitation, saying, “Is this person really Senior’s disciple? Huh, I also want to know what happened. With so many artifacts from Changtian Gate, why did he target my Nine Pagoda Tower? Not only did he want to seize it for himself, but he also released the ghost inside. I’d like to ask Senior, is this how Changtian Gate teaches its disciples?”
“Xiao Meng! Don’t be disrespectful!”
Liu Yiyi saw Guyang’s face darken and hurriedly stopped him, saying to Guyang, “Senior Dugu, this is not the place to talk. Let’s wait until this matter is understood before saying anything. Maybe there’s a misunderstanding.”
Gou Liang snorted and caressed the Nine Pagoda Tower, giving Guyang a provoking smile where Liu Yiyi couldn’t see.
When the barrier was lifted, Zhang Dou and the others rushed in and were shocked to see the completely collapsed thirty-story hotel.
Fortunately, they, as logistics personnel, were experienced in handling aftermath matters, so Gou Liang and the others didn’t need to worry. They quickly moved to a courtyard.
Guyang woke up Song Lian and sternly said, “Evil disciple, did you seize Meng Tianshi’s artifact? Did you release a thousand-year-old ghost? Quickly confess!”
Song Lian’s last memory was of his master and the battle with the ghost. At first, he was confused by the accusation, then he realized what his master was implying. Seeing Gou Liang trying to turn the tables, he immediately protested, “No, Master! It’s clearly—”
“Are you saying I wrongly accused you?”
Gou Liang interrupted him, slamming the lid of his teacup shut, emitting a piercing sound of porcelain clashing, not hiding his displeasure.
He sneered, “Did I give you the Nine Pagoda Tower? Did I release a thousand-year-old ghost? Why would my Nine Pagoda Tower appear in a hotel nearly a hundred kilometers away from the Qizang Pavilion, and why were you there? When I traced you, why was the ghost I suppressed in the Nine Pagoda Tower released? Did I instruct you to erase the Meng family’s imprint on the Nine Pagoda Tower and replace it with another? Mr. Song, are you suggesting that I did all this to frame you?”
Song Lian’s face turned red, and he was about to retort, “It was you who—”
But when faced with the accusing and disdainful gazes of Yuan Qing and the others, he couldn’t say anything anymore— even if he did, no one would believe him.
He looked at Guyang, wanting to seek help, but Gou Liang coldly said, “Mr. Song, what do you think about Senior Dugu? Are you going to say that your master instructed you to steal my family’s heirloom while I was busy with Changtian Gate’s affairs and my spiritual power was depleted after breaking the soul-transference array? Are you going to say that it was at the same time as I was investigating you, that the ghost imprisoned in the Nine Pagoda Tower was released? Are you going to claim that all of this is my doing to frame you?”
“You’re spouting nonsense!”
Song Lian cursed.
Yuan Qing coughed, “Xiao Meng, don’t talk nonsense.”
Gou Liang said with a stern face, “I almost died inside without knowing why. Can’t I even ask for the truth?”
Liu Yiyi’s expression was also grim as he said, “That’s right. Master Dugu, while Changtian Gate values loyalty and righteousness, Meng Tianshi, despite his young age, has saved countless lives from water and fire, with remarkable achievements. Now, your disciple has committed such despicable acts. We have all witnessed it. Please, Master Dugu, give Meng Tianshi and us an explanation.”
Guyang was in a difficult position, his hands clenched tightly inside his sleeves. He looked at Song Lian, who was kneeling on the ground with a twisted face, and said sternly:
“Song Lian, what have you been hiding from me when I sent you down the mountain to assist the Tianshi in eliminating evil spirits?”
Hmph that stupid ghost is such a nasty two face person, he even tried getting his own disciple’s body😤😤
Poor boy
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙