When the inherent isolation barrier of the "Dragon Island Secret Realm" was forcibly broken from the outside, more than half of the experts from the major sects that supported the cultivation world for twenty-eight days arrived. Among them were the Thirty-Six Sects, Seventy-Two Gates, One Cave, and One Mansion.
They were all convinced that a fierce and difficult battle awaited within the "Dragon Island Secret Realm." Now that their forces were assembled, they were psychologically prepared for any danger they might face.
The "Dragon Island Secret Realm" had undergone a drastic transformation. The vast island was now half submerged by the sea on both its eastern and western sides.
Waves surged, the island trembled, mountains collapsed, seas overturned, and the land cracked, leaving lakes parched. On a scorched, ashen wasteland, mountains lay prostrate with the plains. The dense forests, stripped of their spiritual energy, had withered and decayed, forming a contiguous shadow. The areas of mountains, seas, clouds, and peaks were filled with a spreading aura of death.
This potent demonic energy, so thick it choked the senses, lingered indefinitely, leaving onlookers stunned.
What kind of demon, with what cultivation, had appeared here?
The place was as if it had just undergone a major battle, with shattered remnants everywhere, testament to the ferocity of the fighting.
As they marveled, they wondered who among the "Newcomer Rankings" of the "Dragon Island Secret Realm" possessed the power to fight a demon, or if these ten individuals had jointly battled the demon.
In truth, they dared not hope these newcomers could win.
Judging from the aftermath of the brutal battle, they could infer the situation. Based on the experience of those present in dealing with demonic entities, the demon's strength was far beyond what these ten individuals could contend with.
Therefore, they must have perished.
Alas.
What a pity for such excellent talents in this generation.
At this moment, the dusty and disheveled Lu Ziyin, Ru Lan, and Yan Tianjiao arrived, and both parties were stunned upon meeting.
When the barrier of the "Dragon Island Secret Realm" was breached and a large number of cultivators entered the spiritually depleted island, spiritual energy surged in like a spring. They saw a direction emitting colorful spiritual light, and knew that someone was coming to their rescue.
It was only then, burdened by exhaustion and injuries and lacking spiritual energy for restoration, that they pushed forward to join the main group.
Seeing that they were still alive, though they appeared to have endured considerable torment, their spirits remained relatively strong. The heavy weight in their hearts finally lifted, and a hint of relief appeared on their faces.
When asked about the situation, Lu Ziyin recounted the general events that had transpired within the "Dragon Island Secret Realm." However, they all tacitly agreed not to mention that the "black cloaked figure" was Gu Yi, nor that Liu Jiang Fusheng had been possessed by a demonized dragon.
Yan Tianjiao, the only rebel leader among them, did not go along with their deception of the elders. However, seeing Lu Ziyin and Ru Lan repeatedly signaling to him, he chose to remain silent when questioned about this part of the affair.
He harbored no great sentiment of returning good for evil, nor did he intend to forgive Liu Jiang Fusheng, who had once hunted him. However, he was not so cowardly as to need others to stand up for him. If he were to reveal at this moment that Liu Jiang Fusheng had been possessed by a demon, he would likely be imprisoned and placed under observation by various sects.
As long as the demonic energy remained, he would not be free.
What about Gu Yi?
For some unknown reason, Yan Tianjiao thought of Gu Yi, or perhaps the woman who should now be called Gu Junshi.
To call her a woman, apart from her physical structure, she was unlike any woman he had ever met.
In her, he saw the most unique and dazzling light of a woman.
She was indeed a memorable woman. Never before had anyone like her broken his boundaries of perception. He did not deny that he, who always ignored all women, had developed some curiosity about her.
The others, hearing that the seemingly troublesome battle, which might have resulted in a bloodbath, had vanished without a trace, were relieved.
The remnant soul of the True Dragon God had been demonized and had consumed the dragon's core, undoubtedly possessing all the conditions to wreak havoc upon the world. Yet, in the blink of an eye, it was resolved by another mysterious person.
Exterminating demons and upholding the righteous path was the inherent duty of cultivators. They instinctively guessed that the other party must be some reclusive ancestor who, foreseeing this calamity for the world, had arrived in advance to eliminate the demon and save them.
Therefore, it could be said that sometimes, well-intentioned lies or concealments could bring temporary peace to the world. If they had truly known the whole truth, that the one who eliminated the demon was not a righteous person but another sinister and more formidable villain, they would not have been filled with gratitude but would have been trembling and immediately convened an emergency demon-extermination assembly.
This expedition to the "Dragon Island Secret Realm" had cost them two disciples, and the Ghost Infant and the leader of the Great Evolution Sect, Liu Jiang Fusheng, had both disappeared. The cultivators of the righteous path scoured the island up and down, but their whereabouts remained undiscovered.
Whether alive or dead, it had become a mystery.
However, Lu Ziyin and the others knew that Liu Jiang Fusheng was definitely still alive, along with Gu Junshi, that nine-tailed fox demon, and the ghosts and monsters...
It could be said that this trip to the "Dragon Island Secret Realm" truly allowed them to experience what "life and death speed" was. Although they had initially only come to explore for treasures, they were ultimately forced into becoming the hope of the righteous path.
But their "hope" was ultimately saved by a woman whose alignment between good and evil was unclear. Even more astonishingly, she was the wife of their sect's top newcomer. The unfolding events, with their escalating climaxes, were even more thrilling and exciting than watching various opera performances.
After Liu Jiang Fusheng and Gu Junshi disappeared together, Lu Ziyin and Ru Lan secretly speculated what the ultimate outcome would be for the couple, Liu Jiang Fusheng and Gu Junshi?
Would they abandon their respective stances and past deceptions, and join hands to spend the rest of their lives together?
Or would they separate, with one staying and the other leaving, finding peace with the past and forgetting each other in the vast world, thus each holding their own beliefs, with good and evil irreconcilably opposed?
Cheng Hong held the string of Buddhist prayer beads, slowly moving them. He stood against the wind, as if a thousand trees were in bloom.
Gu Junshi, we shall... meet again.
—
Time flowed by, and seven years later.
Fengdu
Beneath a tomb, within a palace built of cold stones,蛟 oil lamps cast a dim, lingering glow, illuminating the tall man standing beside the coffin.
He wore solemn and imposing high-crowned robes, with the coronet strings tied beneath his jaw. His royal ghost attire made his pale, greenish-black face appear majestic and fierce. He stood in a high position, his gaze coldly sweeping over the people kneeling in submission before him.
"The matter of the blood slaves has still not been resolved. Now that the group of old nuns from Compassion City has been alerted, do you truly wish for those cultivation sects to notice Fengdu's anomaly and investigate?"
The people below, hearing the Ghost King's fury, fell silent like cicadas in winter.
"This matter should have been handled by Qi Qi... but he has been missing for seven years, and has been unreachable. Later, the responsibility was passed to someone else, but that person was also insatiable. The situation escalated, making matters that should have been buried irretrievable," someone explained timidly.
"Is it that my majestic Ghost City has only Qi Qi to rely on?! Incapable, useless! All of you are trash! In short, if the matter of the blood slaves is brought before me again, you will cease to exist."
After his angry reprimand, he coldly waved his sleeve and turned away, leaving behind a group of trembling ghost cultivators.
"Wh-what should we do?"
"Why don't we seek help from that esteemed person?"
"But he seems to be in seclusion. If we disturb him rashly like this, will we anger him?"
"We are simply at our wits' end. If we anger that esteemed person, at most we will be punished by him. But if we anger the Ghost King, he will show no mercy to us."
"Then... alright. I heard that Su Nu has a good private relationship with that esteemed person. Shall we ask her to intercede and persuade him?"
"Yes, let's do that."
—
In the dead of night, a sliver of a gap finally opened in the heavy dark clouds, casting an eerie light that brought brief illumination to the ghost-ridden, somber forest.
Fengdu Ghost City was perpetually covered in miasma, almost completely dark day or night. Therefore, artificial lights had to be lit to illuminate the city at all times.
This was a wilderness. The banyan trees along the path, nourished by Yin energy, were tall and sturdy, with lush branches. A few whimpering howls sent shivers down one's spine. A sharp "goo goo goo" sound from the sky made the already gloomy forest even more terrifying.
A winding, overgrown path cut through the dark forest, leading all the way to a mass grave.
At this moment, several crows cawed "wa wa wa" and flew from the grave mounds, landing on a thousand-year-old banyan tree beside a new grave.
A woman in purple, with a red crystal pendant between her eyebrows, elegantly strolled to the front of the grave. She looked at the still mound with disappointment and said, "Ye Jin, you've been in seclusion for three years. How much longer will it be until you emerge?"
She stood there quietly for a moment in disappointment. Just as she was about to turn and leave, the soil on the grave was scattered by some force and piled up on both sides, revealing a coffin made of huai wood. The coffin lid suddenly flipped open and fell to the ground, and then a strong, erect figure emerged from the coffin.
He stood up, his back straight, his physique appearing slender yet robust, as if imbued with immense, resilient strength. The cold light fell upon his eyebrows and eyes, revealing a stern yet profound youthful face, appearing to be around twenty years old. He wore a fitted top and flowing lower garment, accentuating his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and those long legs that had nowhere to go.
"Ye Jin, you've finally come out of seclusion."
Su Nu's beautiful, almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise as she quickly walked up to him.
Although Su Nu was also a ghost cultivator, she possessed an exceptionally pure appearance. The combination of her oval face and almond eyes gave her no offensive aura, but rather made her seem as gentle and virtuous as a wife and mother dreamed of by men.
The other party's pair of misty gray eyes fell accurately upon her. His nose was high, his demeanor silent and stern as ice. "What has happened?"
Su Nu paused. She had intended to tell him about the blood slave matter, but the words inexplicably took a turn as they reached her lips. She said, "The Mu family has had an incident. Rongcheng, Huacheng, and Compassion City are all pressuring the Mu family, demanding that the Mu family head hand over the eldest daughter of the Mu family, either for her to marry the young master of Rongcheng, or the city lord of Huacheng, or to go to Compassion City."
Ye Jin frowned upon hearing this.
The young master of Rongcheng was merely a tender sixteen-year-old boy, the city lord of Huacheng was a woman, and Compassion City was almost a city of nuns who had either become nuns or were already practicing them. "What's going on?"
This matter was a long story.
In those days, the Mu family was not considered a prominent noble family in Fengdu. At most, they were described as mysterious, low-key, and good at handling people.
However, ever since the head of the Mu family's willful runaway younger daughter brought back an elder daughter to the Mu family a few years ago, the Mu family had turned upside down.
Initially, the matter of the Mu family head having an illegitimate daughter while wandering outside caused quite a stir in a small circle in Fengdu. But eventually, the Mu family publicly acknowledged this elder daughter.
From then on, the Mu family, which had always been low-key and kept a low profile, began to become ambitious and aggressive. Not only were they busy encroaching on the surrounding powers, but in recent years, they even dared to extend their influence towards the territories of the four Ghost Kings of Fengdu.
It could be said that the Mu family's ascent was visible to the naked eye.
And all this arrogant change, witnessed by everyone, occurred after the arrival of that eldest daughter. Therefore, they all speculated that it was all because of the eldest daughter of the Mu family.
It was rumored among the populace that the Mu family, originally a demonic cultivator family with nothing to gain, had now cultivated a very powerful technique. If their demonic arts were to advance greatly in the future, they could use this technique to eliminate the four Ghost Kings of Fengdu and then seize the entire Fengdu for themselves.
"They all say that the Mu family is increasingly disregarding the ghost cultivators, so Rongcheng and Huacheng of Fengdu have devised a plan to arrange a marriage alliance with that eldest young lady, and for some reason, Compassion City has also become involved."
"What did the Ghost King say?" he asked.
Su Nu looked at him strangely, wondering why his reaction was so calm now. Didn't he worry that the eldest young lady would indeed yield to the pressure from Rongcheng and Huacheng and be sent for a marriage alliance by the Mu family?
She could feel that his feelings for the eldest young lady of the Mu family were not ordinary.
"The Ghost King has not made any moves yet. After all, since Rongcheng, Huacheng, and Compassion City have all taken action, wouldn't it be better for him to wait and see, and then find an opportunity to sow discord? Besides, he is currently furious about the matter of the blood slaves..."
—
Meanwhile, Compassion City had recently been incessantly harassed by the ghost cultivators of Fengdu, making them so angry that they decided to close their gates and refuse all visitors.
Speaking of which, Compassion City was a peculiar sight within Fengdu. It did not belong to the ghost cities, but was a city for the salvation of ghosts. Its purpose was to, one day, be able to influence and convert demons, bringing a realm of purity to the world.
Of course, in the eyes of the people of Fengdu City, Compassion City was a righteous cultivation sect standing on the border of Fengdu, used to supervise and mark the boundary between the two sides.
Recently, a heinous incident had occurred in Compassion City, and this matter was so widespread that Compassion City could not handle it independently. Therefore, a group of Taoist nuns had sent a request for help to the sect currently holding the executive order in the Twenty-Eight Heavens.
On this day, Master Cheng Hong of Maha Meditation Temple, Lu Ziyin of the Lu Mansion in the South Sea, Yan Tianjiao of the Flowing Bright Sect, and a green-clothed woman wearing a silken veiled hat arrived as scheduled.