Chapter 117: Chapter 114: An Unexpected Reversal

Xie Zhang had a crazed look on his face. The Magical Artifact he drew from his sleeve was shaped like a short whip, its tip shimmering with a dim golden glint.

As the short whip landed on the Mysterious Ghost Spirit across from him, the creature let out a wretched scream.

The moment the Mysterious Ghost Spirit’s body touched the golden glint, it was like fine snow meeting a flame—it began to melt away at an unstoppable, rapid pace.

It seemed Xie Zhang’s short-whip Magical Artifact was especially effective against Mysterious Ghost Spirits!

The withered-faced Mysterious Ghost Spirit, which had seemed so unfathomable, couldn’t even withstand a single strike from that golden glint.

Xie Zhang snatched the forty Primordial Longevity Pearls that fell, a look of joy just beginning to spread across his face.

Inside the Eternal Pavilion, the other Mysterious Ghost Spirits, packed together in a chaotic mass, suddenly shrieked in unison, "Passerby, you made a bet but refuse to accept your loss! You broke the rules first! You deserve to die!"

A cacophony of voices shouted, high and low, "All who break the rules must die! Die...!"

BOOM!

The countless Mysterious Ghost Spirits originally confined within the Eternal Pavilion were like a flood bursting through a dam, rushing out of the structure with a great WHOOSH.

They reached out with deathly pale hands, some grabbing Xie Zhang’s hair, others pulling at his limbs, and still others clawing at his body...

Xie Zhang desperately brandished the short-whip Magical Artifact, but the wisp of golden glint at its tip had already dissipated when it killed the withered-faced Mysterious Ghost Spirit.

Without the power of that golden glint, the Magical Artifact’s might seemed utterly ordinary.

Xie Zhang’s Cultivation was not high, and he was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the swarm of Mysterious Ghost Spirits when he let out a roar, "Now’s the time!"

"Make your move! Why aren’t you doing anything? Dad! Dad! Dad, save me!"

Then, as Song Ciwan and Xie Yunxiang watched in stunned disbelief, the few Cultivators who had been chasing Xie Zhang earlier finally made their move.

A Martial Artist leaped forward, swinging his blade, while a Cultivator formed a finger seal and chanted an incantation. They unleashed their Attacks on the Mysterious Ghost Spirits swarming Xie Zhang.

—Yes, it was the very same Cultivators who had been hunting Xie Zhang, loudly proclaiming that he had swindled them out of their Primordial Longevity Pearls. Yet now, they were helping to save him.

And it wasn’t just them. In an instant, several more Cultivators rushed out from the streets along both banks of the Black River.

The man in the lead said in a deep voice, "Zhang’er, don’t be afraid. Your father is here."

Then he raised his voice and shouted, "The Tower Guardian is dead! Everyone, kill them!"

It turned out this man was none other than Xie Zhang’s father, Xie Yunfeng, who had been hiding in another concealed spot all along!

As he spoke, he raised a bamboo-tube-shaped Magical Artifact. Pushing the back of the tube with his other hand, there was a sharp BANG, and a cloud of needles as fine as ox hair, shimmering with a faint light, shot forward like a goddess scattering flowers.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

An entire row of Mysterious Ghost Spirits instantly turned to gray smoke and dissipated into the gloom.

One of the Mysterious Ghost Spirits dropped a Primordial Longevity Pearl.

The Primordial Longevity Pearl rolled across the ground but was quickly lost from sight, trampled by the next wave of surging Mysterious Ghost Spirits.

The eyes of the Cultivators on the perimeter turned red. They all unleashed their techniques, simultaneously fighting to kill the Mysterious Ghost Spirits and seize the Primordial Longevity Pearls, while also trying to rescue Xie Zhang.

Crouched in a corner watching the scene, Xie Yunxiang was dumbfounded. He couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, ’Damn it! So Xie Zhang’s bet with the Mysterious Ghost Spirit was just bait. This was all premeditated... Does that make me the world’s biggest idiot?’

Song Ciwan was also quite surprised, but upon careful reflection, she realized there had been signs all along.

The next moment, she heard Xie Yunxiang say, "Still, how does my ’dear’ nephew Xie Zhang have the nerve to cry for his daddy to save him when he’s in danger? Brother Xin, do you think he doesn’t know that we saw everything he did in the Illusion Realm?"

"That’s true. If that guy knew, he probably wouldn’t dare to be yelling for his dad. Hahaha!"

"I just wonder what my oh-so-sanctimonious ’good’ cousin is feeling right now, shouting slogans so earnestly to save his ’good’ son Zhang’er?"

He suppressed his voice, laughing with undisguised schadenfreude.

Amid this surge of strong emotion, the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared once more.

[Human Desires: The Xie, Fury, and Sorrow of a Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator. Value: two jin and one tael. Tradable.]

Song Ciwan sighed with a smile. She took two crudely made Human Skin Masks from the Heaven and Earth Scale, placing one on her own face and tossing the other to Xie Yunxiang.

"Brother Xie, since you feel so aggrieved, why not cut in and snatch their prize?"

Xie Yunxiang was taken aback. "Brother Xin, what do you mean?"

Song Ciwan replied, "Brother Xie, you invited me into Illusory Nether City. Surely it wasn’t just to hide in a secluded corner and watch the show?"

Saying no more, she stood up and took a light step forward.

The movement was small, but her speed was so great that she seemed to transform into a gust of swift wind.

In a mere moment, she crossed dozens of yards and appeared not far from the Eternal Pavilion.

The Cultivators and Mysterious Ghost Spirits were locked in a chaotic battle. Xie Zhang, pinned down by numerous Ghost Spirits, was crying out, his voice growing weaker.

But too many Mysterious Ghost Spirits were pouring out of the Eternal Pavilion, an endless tide like the waves of a great river. No matter how hard the Cultivators on the perimeter fought, they couldn’t reach Xie Zhang in time to save him.

Xie Zhang grew more and more frantic, wailing in desperation, "Dad! Dad, save me!"

Xie Yunfeng could only shout, "Zhang’er, hold on! I’m coming!"

More and more Mysterious Ghost Spirits swarmed forward. Even though they were only Low Level Ghost Spirits, seemingly lacking complete sentience and acting purely on instinct, with individual strengths only around the Gray Travel Level, their sheer numbers were overwhelming.

Even Xie Yunfeng, a cultivator at the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation, seemed to be struggling to keep up.

The other Cultivators, all with lower Cultivation levels than him, were even more flustered and stretched thin.

At this critical moment, Song Ciwan, having arrived in a single step, began her harvest of the Mysterious Ghost Spirits.

She raised her hand and formed a Finger Technique. As her fingers moved, wisps of Blazing Flame shot from her fingertips like spiritual snakes.

The flames danced and weaved through the air. Any Mysterious Ghost Spirit they touched was instantly pierced through the body before turning into gray smoke and vanishing without a trace.

Whenever a Primordial Longevity Pearl dropped, a wisp of Qingfeng would sweep past and snatch it up.

And so, Song Ciwan stood at a distance, harvesting Primordial Longevity Pearls.

One by one, the Primordial Longevity Pearls fell into her palm. Not only that, but the Heaven and Earth Scale constantly materialized beside her, ceaselessly collecting.

[Gray Travel Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Value: one mace. Tradable.]

[Gray Travel Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Value: two maces. Tradable.]

[Gray Travel Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit. Value: three maces. Tradable.]

...

As more and more Mysterious Ghost Spirits were collected by the Heaven and Earth Scale, the flames on Song Ciwan’s fingertips grew ever more agile and wild.

Gradually, the individual wisps of flame transformed into a rain of fire that filled the sky, and all sorts of new insights about fire welled up in Song Ciwan’s mind.

On the Insight Technique’s panel, the experience bar for her Blazing Flame Technique was jumping continuously, a testament to Song Ciwan’s rapid progress.

Since beginning her Cultivation, she had always been exceedingly cautious and actually had very little direct combat experience. This was a rare opportunity for her to fight so freely and unleash her full power.