Chapter 107: The Plot to Seize Haishan! (3)

A wisp of black smoke dissipated in the open palm of Wuxiang, the core of the Haishan monster’s strange existence utterly destroyed. Now, there was no chance for it to recover!

Chen Jack watched with a pang of regret as Wuxiang released his grasp and the ghostly core vanished completely. That core had cost Shadow half his life to obtain, and he had only consumed one before that old monk had destroyed them all.

Seeing that the surrounding barrier of light showed no sign of fading, and that Wuxiang’s eyes remained fixed intently on Shadow, Chen Jack instinctively tightened his hold around Shadow, shielding her from Wuxiang’s gaze. He then shouted, “Old monk, it’s time for you to keep your promise and let us go!”

“You’ve consumed a ghost core I blasted before; leaving isn’t much of a problem. But this one… does she carry something special?” Wuxiang’s gaze never left the sleeping Shadow, sensing something unusual about her.

She radiated an overwhelming aura of evil, yet within that evil there was an imposing celestial majesty—an impression Wuxiang had never encountered before.

“Old monk, are you planning to go back on your word?” Chen Jack narrowed his eyes, a faint red glow emanating from beneath his grayish skin. Veins pulsed with a subtle yet rapidly flowing spiritual resentment. After Wuxiang destroyed the two ghost cores, the one inside Chen Jack lost all resistance, merging with him faster under the corrosive influence of this spiritual resentment.

If Wuxiang truly intended to stop them from leaving, Chen Jack was willing to sacrifice this resentment and his life to make the old monk cough up blood. The only pity was Shadow, who was still unconscious; he hadn’t even managed to bring her out before they might both die.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course not!” Wuxiang replied frankly, as the barrier of light slowly began to dissipate.

As Chen Jack carefully observed Wuxiang and started to retreat, preparing to leave, Wuxiang called after him, “Wait a moment, both of you! Put this string of beads on her. Controlling ghosts with ghosts is never a lasting solution; it only breeds fiercer monsters. If you feel anything strange in your body, come find me at Bailong Temple in Yanjing.”

With that, Wuxiang tossed the string of prayer beads from his wrist toward Chen Jack.

Chen Jack caught them and, upon careful inspection, found nothing wrong. Holding the beads, he felt a faint warmth radiating from them, soothing his irritability considerably.

“Troublesome,” he muttered quietly. After ensuring the beads were safely on Shadow, he swiftly left before other spirit scouts could arrive.

“The ghost core of the Haishan monster is destroyed; let’s return,” Wuxiang said, turning to stand before the gathered spirit scouts, subtly blocking their path.

“Just let those two from the Purification Sect go so easily?” Some of the scouts were displeased. The Purification Sect had committed countless misdeeds, taming and merging with ghosts—how could they be released without consequence?

“All beings struggle in the sea of suffering; who is truly pure? Save yourselves,” Wuxiang replied, his body twisting and transforming into a golden light before departing.

Only moments of delay from Wuxiang were enough for Chen Jack to merge considerably more of the ghost core. They had long since vanished into the rocky terrain, nowhere to be found.

The spirit scouts, lacking Wuxiang’s sensory range, could not pursue Chen Jack and Shadow, and with disgruntled expressions, they returned home.

Wuxiang was not careless in letting them go. The prayer beads he gave had been nurtured by his Buddhist cultivation for years; even from afar, he could faintly sense their location and the surrounding energy. Shadow gave him an odd feeling, so if anything were to happen, he could rush to their aid.

He had not lied: though he had not seen the object filled with ultimate evil radiating from Shadow, the beads could suppress the malevolent energy slowly seeping from her.

The returning spirit scouts reported the situation in Binhai City truthfully. Upon receiving news that Chen Jack and Shadow were fleeing, with Wuxiang having nearly trapped them but ultimately letting them escape, Xiao Keyi, who was in deep meditation, secretly rejoiced.

“Good job, Great Monk Wuxiang. If you had caught or killed them, how could I have gone out... I mean, carried out my mission!” she thought, quietly pleased.

Following the information on their escape route, she adjusted the monitoring video search area. It was only a matter of time before they were found again.

“Unless you stop eating, drinking, and sleeping! Otherwise, we’ll find you in no time. Don’t even think about escaping the surveillance!” she thought gleefully, then returned to her cultivation.

Meanwhile, Wu Zui was approaching a critical breakthrough with his magnetic energy, nearing the level of four stars.

With eyes closed, Wu Zui traced his own form within his mind using magnetic energy. The outline of his body was nearly complete, save for the eyes, which he had yet to sketch. No matter how hard he tried, magnetic energy refused to settle there.

Gradually, unease crept into Wu Zui’s heart.

Unbeknownst to him, the eyes are the window to the soul and the primary manifestation of one’s spiritual essence. Successfully outlining them would mean his method of contemplation was valid; failure would indicate he had strayed down the wrong path.

To better capture his eyes, Wu Zui paused his cultivation and studied them in a mirror. The more he looked, the more a sense of dread gripped him, as if some secret lay hidden within his gaze.

Suppressing the unease, he forced himself to stare. Finally, in the mirror, he saw two blood-red moons reflected in his eyes.

These moons were a personification of his fear of the colossal ghost in the realm of the dead. Although he appeared unaffected since encountering it, the fear had been buried deep within him, now erupting.

As this terror surged, Wu Zui’s body trembled faintly. Beyond physical fear, it was a spiritual terror. The ghost’s gaze carried a potent psychic contamination.

Soon, the room around him faded; in his vision, a gigantic ghost loomed over him. Its eyes were a deep, blood-red, as if dyed in crimson. Within those eyes, Wu Zui saw himself beheaded.

Boundless fear began to corrode Wu Zui’s spirit. The psychic contamination, born from his dread of this giant ghost, triggered all his deepest fears, preparing to drag him into the abyss.

One hallucination after another played out in his mind as if real:

First, Xiao Keyi being completely drained by Chen Jack, becoming nourishment for his advancement. When Wu Zui arrived, only her clothes remained where she had been.

Then, the world gradually falling into ruin as more and more ghosts appeared, the Earth turning into a playground for monsters, and humanity becoming their captive food source.

Next, He Ping slaughtering all the Sword Masters, seizing control of the Seven Thrones. He forged an unsurpassed path beyond all worlds through his cosmic consciousness and the destruction of all living beings.

Amid these visions, Wu Zui’s mind was like a small boat on an endless sea, at risk of being engulfed by the illusions. All he could do was desperately keep his boat afloat, resisting the flood of phantasms.

Throughout this ordeal, the Heart-Questioning Sword silently observed from within Wu Zui’s heart, offering no aid. To it, the tribulations of the mind were far more terrifying, and if Wu Zui could not overcome these, he was unfit to proceed.

As Wu Zui gritted his teeth and persevered, a blue light slowly blossomed within him, like a divine radiance. When it faded, he vaguely “saw” Xiao Keyi’s anxious face.

In the blue silhouette he traced in his mind, the final stroke for the eyes suddenly formed. Behind the figure, a black point resembling a black hole quietly appeared—an event horizon of space—a spatial singularity.

This was a skill possessed by all awakened five-star cultivators.

Having broken through, Wu Zui slowly opened his eyes, his hair drenched with sweat. The liquid in the small magnetic energy device had cooled, indicating much time had passed.

As his eyes opened, a flash of blue and then red light crossed his vision.

Having survived this crisis, Wu Zui earned deeper recognition from the Heart-Questioning Sword. The internal space imprisoning ghosts within the sword was now accessible to him; he could freely allow spirits to enter and leave without the sword’s mediation.

After leaving the “bathtub” chamber and dressing, Wu Zui summoned Wang Hu and the Lantern Spirit, two figures appearing before him—one blue, one red.

“Wang Hu, long time no see. How was it inside?” Wu Zui asked the spirit who had been absorbed by the Heart-Questioning Sword.

“Not bad. It was comfortable in there, very beneficial for my cultivation,” Wang Hu replied with his habitual roguish grin, a reflex born from years as an undercover agent, though he disliked the persona it created.

Wu Zui fell silent, noting that Wang Hu, now a four-star spirit, was different from others imprisoned in the sword. Being absorbed voluntarily, Wang Hu seemed to enjoy unimaginable benefits within that space.

This was evident from his cultivation level.

“That’s good. Tang... Yingying, right? How do you feel inside?” Wu Zui asked the faintly blue-tinged Lantern Spirit after speaking with Wang Hu.