ASER - Chapter 184
Chapter 184: A Sense of Déjà Vu
To be honest, A'Diao truly didn't care about the consequences of giving her bloodline secret technique to Daoguang Jingci, even though she could vaguely guess that Daoguang Jingci obtaining this technique was definitely related to the Tang Song imperial family—after all, she was the Empress.
A monarch has no private affairs; family matters are state matters. Conversely, the Empress also embodied this sentiment to some extent.
Firstly, alien races, like the Celestial Clan, had reproductive difficulties. Their numbers were insufficient to threaten the overall safety of the human race. That bloodline secret technique wasn't some fertility secret recipe; it wasn't a major concern. A'Diao wasn't so arrogant as to think this technique could influence the future of humanity—it was merely a verbal pretext.
Secondly, regarding the first point, if it truly had the potential to threaten the Tang Song people, it could only be because the imperial family was incompetent, overthrown from the highest level by this Empress who usurped monarchical power. That blame would fall on the imperial family; what did it have to do with her, Chen A'Diao? Besides, the Tang Song imperial family was her great enemy; she utterly despised them, and presumably, they desperately wanted her dead. As for how the Tang Song imperial family would be dealt with by this Empress in the future, did she care? She did. It would be best if the imperial family was annihilated. The imperial family was not equivalent to Tang Song; destroying a imperial family alone wouldn't destroy the nation.
Thirdly, the curse brought about by her own damn ancestors hadn't been resolved yet. She couldn't give the imperial family a chance to harm her. She had to survive first. If she died, who cared if the world was flooded afterward?
So, the thought of the imperial family being messed with by this "big sister" excited A'Diao, but she still feigned loyalty and concern...
Daoguang Jingci: "Three million Star Coins."
A'Diao immediately grasped Daoguang Jingci's hand. "Your Highness, you are the future of our Tang Song, the light of our Tang Song! Everything about you is inextricably linked to everything about our Tang Song imperial family. As long as it is your and His Majesty's command, this subordinate will definitely comply."
She had wanted to hold out a bit longer, but the Empress was simply offering too much!
Chen A'Diao was Chen A'Diao; even at this moment, she didn't forget to mitigate potential risks for herself. She had definitely recorded it.
Daoguang Jingci lowered her gaze to A'Diao's hand, her demeanor proper and elegant, her voice like mist drifting over a cold pond. "Since you know I am the Empress, how can you be so presumptuous?"
Though a reprimand, it seemed tinged with a smile, quite captivating and soul-stirring.
It was just holding hands... If you won't even let me hold your hand, your wedding night with that old king will be quite a loss for you.
A'Diao immediately withdrew her hand, and after Daoguang Jingci retracted hers, she handed A'Diao a storage ring.
"Inside are Star Coins and a Dao Tablet. This Lesser Spirit King's Dao Tablet belonged to someone who had a feud with my Heavenly Spirit Clan. It was confiscated after he was killed. The Dao intent is Aurora, emphasizing attack speed. Naturally, it can't compare to the Langya Dao Tablet or the mental attack Dao Tablet you obtained, but it's still decent."
Naturally, there was no comparison. One was for mental attacks, the other was the Dao Tablet of Lushan's Founder. Don't just look at the difference between low-grade and low-grade, or low-grade and mid-grade; the gap between them was actually quite significant.
"Aurora, it's extremely useful for me. Lightning plus space... Your Highness has been very thoughtful." A'Diao knew Daoguang Jingci had specially selected this Dao Tablet, but she also grumbled internally: You can even pick and choose Dao Tablets for a trade? How many Dao Tablets do you have in your inventory?
A'Diao felt a pang of jealousy but reluctantly produced the bloodline secret technique for her, explaining the details.
After she finished speaking and took a sip of juice, she suddenly heard Daoguang Jingci say, "There's no need to test whether I already knew about bloodline matters and wasn't just acting on a whim. You could have just asked. Did you think I wouldn't tell you?"
A'Diao, holding the juice cup, widened her eyes like a little evil dragon tentatively prodding a landmine with its claw. "Really? Then what exactly are you planning..."
She was dying of curiosity.
Daoguang Jingci smiled, leaned over the table, her breath fragrant as orchids. "I just won't tell you."
A'Diao: "..."
Daoguang Jingci smiled, stood up, and gently ruffled A'Diao's head, like a mature and elegant older sister teasing a younger one, but quickly withdrew her hand and walked away.
No matter how capable A'Diao's mind was, her age was a factor. In matters of feminine charm, she was truly no match for a Heavenly Spirit Princess with Daoguang Jingci's experience.
However, when she turned her head, she saw Daoguang Jingci's interaction with Cang Wu... The "older sister" had shed some of the Empress's dignified nobility, becoming much gentler and more understanding. And the Young Lord, her younger brother, though still taciturn, showed more familiarity and even washed his hands to prepare soup and cook for them.
Daoguang Jingci couldn't stay at Lushan for long. The wedding was in seven days. As she left after dinner, she glanced back at A'Diao. "Little Sister Diaodiao."
A'Diao, who was engrossed in her rice bowl, picking at sweet and sour pork with pineapple, instinctively turned her head, still holding her bowl.
Who was she calling?! Me? Did she investigate my nickname? Surely she didn't hear it from Chen Xun, but Chen Xun wouldn't call me that in front of her either, unless she had been constantly watching Chen Xun.
"On my way here, I came under the pretext of visiting my younger brother, and I informed the imperial family. And that Crown Prince's visit to Lushan also had the imperial family's permission..."
After leaving these words, she departed.
A'Diao had an epiphany: His Highness the Crown Prince was here by imperial decree to woo a girl, and that girl was her?
And just as Daoguang Jingci left, a Lushan disciple came to announce the visit of Crown Prince Dantai Ye.
Daoguang Jingci was a powerful figure and also the Empress; Lushan Academy gave her face, allowing her to enter uninvited and unannounced. But the Crown Prince was different; he didn't have that kind of standing. So, the people of Lushan soon knew the Crown Prince had arrived. And because the Crown Prince had come, Dantai Ke and Dantai Sheng, bound by hierarchy, had no choice but to go to the mountain gate to welcome him.
The Crown Prince was polite, telling his two younger brothers not to stand on ceremony.
Dantai Ke: "Crown Prince brother is the one who's truly not being polite. I didn't expect you to come visit us."
Dantai Sheng: "Since you knew it would be troublesome, why come? We two younger brothers probably don't even register in your eyes, Crown Prince brother."
They had been overshadowed by one person since childhood. It wasn't a big deal initially; that's how things were within the imperial family. He was the legitimate son of the first Empress, naturally possessing a noble status.
But this Crown Prince was inferior in every aspect, and after the resurgence of spiritual energy, he showed even less aptitude for cultivation. How could this convince them?
Yet, he was still the Crown Prince. So when he came, they had to rush to the mountain gate to greet him, feeling extremely disgruntled. Moreover, with the Empress (Daoguang Jingci) now present, the Crown Prince's position was like a precarious tower in the sky; they naturally weren't afraid of him.
The Crown Prince did not get angry, merely said gently, "I came to see the Junior Tutor. I've troubled my two younger brothers. Since it's like this, please lead the way."
Take you to see Chen A'Diao?!
Damn it!
The two of them wished they could be eight hundred li away from Chen A'Diao, so how could they be willing? But due to the Crown Prince's retinue of Eastern Palace officials, they had no choice but to agree and led the group to Langya Courtyard.
They arrived to see Young Lord Cang Wu cooking and Chen A'Diao eating.
Dantai Ke and Dantai Sheng thought: The Heavenly Spirit Crown Prince, a pretty boy?
They then glanced at the Crown Prince who had eagerly come, supposedly by imperial decree, to woo a girl.
The Tang Song Crown Prince, a pretty boy?
The Sixth Heaven possessed a suppressive force, but the Crown Prince clearly had a supreme treasure that nullified it. Others, however, were not so fortunate. A'Diao could tell that these eunuchs and officials had a certain level of cultivation—there were even three at the Star Realm—but they were clearly struggling with the suppression here, each one sweating profusely, their faces pale.
Crown Prince Dantai Ye was an extremely refined and gentle person, with a graceful demeanor. Although he was over thirty, his looks remained, and he possessed a melancholic beauty that tended to make women's hearts flutter. No wonder even Dantai Ke, who feigned being a yandere, thought his Crown Prince brother was like a pretty boy.
He had encountered A'Diao, his Junior Tutor, on several occasions. In their conversations, His Highness the Crown Prince seemed deeply infatuated with her, his gaze lingering and profound. However, this performance was only displayed when that particular official was watching intently.
But it didn't matter.
A'Diao watched His Highness the Crown Prince's performance with a beaming smile, occasionally playing the "green tea" (innocently manipulative), neither accepting nor rejecting, completely maintaining her "sea king" (player) aura...
From the official's perspective, while His Highness the Crown Prince was displaying his charm, this Junior Tutor ate two watermelons, one melon, three tomatoes, one apple... and also drank two bottles of milk and three cups of milk tea. While eating and drinking herself, she didn't forget to direct a certain Young Lord to serve them food.
The Crown Prince had no choice but to drink four cups of coffee, and the officials and eunuchs also gulped down several cups.
Moreover, this coffee was of extremely high purity and particularly bitter, but given the status of the Heavenly Spirit Clan's Young Lord, they had no choice but to drink it...
Half an hour later, this group of people couldn't take it anymore.
Urgency, frequency, and incomplete urination?
Damn it, this Chief's bloodline isn't Yinglong, it's Taotie!
Seeing A'Diao then ask Young Lord Cang Wu to prepare dinner, everyone was terrified. The Crown Prince had to take his leave, and A'Diao even feigned reluctance to see him go.
The Crown Prince raised his hands in a salute. A'Diao helped him up slightly, expressing her unworthiness... A slip of paper was pressed into her fingertips.
Once the Crown Prince left, A'Diao opened the note and frowned.
It read—My clan possesses relics left by the Celestial Clan.
If the Celestial Clan was indeed defeated by the human race, it wouldn't be strange for the imperial family to possess items from the Celestial Clan. But why did the Crown Prince suddenly tell her this?
"Relics of the Celestial Clan, could they curse me?"
A'Diao's heart tightened.
Should she leave Lushan then? If she didn't leave soon, the fortune generated by this already chaotic situation would be hard to seize.
Toilet: "You want fortune?"
A'Diao: "Is that strange?"
A'Diao lowered her gaze, her fingers swirling the teacup, and said faintly, "Do you know why Lushan favors the Qian Class rather than those from within Lushan? I was a bit puzzled later. The blockheads from the Lower Kun Class are not good enough, but among the older students from the Upper Kun Class, although I haven't met three of them, I've carefully observed the other five. Their aptitude isn't much worse than Nie Yuanyuan and her group. Was it really because of their age that they weren't chosen? But for those who grew up in Lushan, their golden growth curve could inherently be extended, much like the golden growth curve of the Heavenly Spirit Clan doesn't conform to human standards... Just look at Daoguang Jingci."
"So, what Lushan truly values is actually fortune."
"Because Shen Huajing and the others were selected from billions of people in Tang Song, especially those from humble backgrounds. They carry a portion of the world's fortune, and this fortune is the true key to the golden growth curve."
After figuring this out, A'Diao instantly realized that what she should strive for most in this era was not the Heavenly Spirit Clan, nor Lushan, but what they all desired.
Fortune.
"I suspect Daoguang Jingci married into Tang Song for fortune as well."
"As for so-called fortune, the most potent forms are none other than human fortune and national fortune. Tang Song has tens of billions of people; its fortune is immensely vast. Even if they only receive a tiny fraction, individuals like Shen Huajing are far more worthy of investment than those blockheads from Lushan."
Toilet suddenly understood. "No wonder after you snatched those people's houses, you insisted on controlling them. You were actually assessing their aptitude, verifying what Lushan sought, and also suppressing Lushan disciples—for reputation, to farm mental power, but more importantly, for fortune—Lushan's fortune."
And the chaos on the border had already begun; that was where the most immense fortune lay. She couldn't possibly not go.
But now, the curse was like a fishbone stuck in her throat, effectively obstructing her plans.
Toilet: "Do you trust this Crown Prince?"
A'Diao: "The curse is real, and the Celestial Clan being defeated by the human race is also real. Given the imperial family's style, they definitely plundered all the benefits from the Celestial Clan. What I need to judge isn't the good or ill motive behind his reminder today, but whether these Celestial Clan items can trigger the curse within my body."
A'Diao, deeply worried, returned to her residence. Her main body and clone separated; one went to the backyard to comprehend the Langya Jade Wall, while the other went to the Library Pavilion to read books.
She didn't even ask Cang Wu about this matter.
She trusted no one.
A'Diao examined all the primordial ancient texts she could exchange for. Fortunately, being Lushan, there were still records concerning the Celestial Clan. She read for three days and finally found relevant information.
"The Celestial Clan, a naturally born race. Those of direct bloodline are born Spirit Kings, but their talents are twofold. Firstly, Physical Spirit Kings, undying and indestructible, eternally young. Secondly, Mental Spirit Kings, their spirit transforming into a celestial sea, their souls indissipate, excelling in soul attacks. If they curse, they can easily annihilate entire ethnic groups. Most terrifying."
Look at their Spirit Kings; they feel like they're not in the same system as human Spirit Kings.
It's like comparing the seller's advertisement to the actual product; human Spirit Kings seem like cheap trinkets, three for ten yuan.
"Physical Spirit Kings are undying and indestructible? Mental Spirit Kings' curses can easily annihilate entire ethnic groups? This is fucking cheating." A'Diao, in a private room on the second floor of the Library Pavilion, couldn't help but wipe her forehead with a handkerchief and started researching the Mental Spirit Kings of the Celestial Clan.
There might not be many records about the Celestial Clan, but someone in human history must have fought against their Mental Spirit Kings.
A'Diao went back to search for accounts of Spirit Kings in human history and, sure enough, found a record of an event in some minor passages.
"In a battle against one... three Spirit Kings fought one Celestial Clan member. They prepared beforehand, using three great arrays to suppress the mental body, block the opponent's curse, and trap them within the great array. But unexpectedly... that Celestial Clan member was also prepared, summoning a secret treasure that had long stored their mental body to indirectly curse... instantly annihilating all three Spirit Kings. This event shocked the human race, leading to extreme fear of the Celestial Clan."
A'Diao's face turned very grim. She put down the ancient text, lost in thought.
Either withstand the curse, or shed the Chen family bloodline to escape the curse. There was no other way.
"The former is almost impossible. Such a terrifying curse, I can't withstand it. If I were to shed the Chen family bloodline, unless I completely discarded my previous foundation when reconstructing my body, it would be no different from starting over from scratch. Even if I recreated a body, my cultivation would be at zero, and I'd still be at the mercy of others."
At this moment, A'Diao was extremely vexed, her aversion to the imperial family reaching its peak.
So annoying!
These damn things.
As A'Diao was cursing, an idea suddenly struck her.
Her gaze gradually deepened.
Five days later, before the imperial wedding, A'Diao left Lushan.
And the imperial family immediately received intelligence.
"She has left Lushan."
"Are you sure?"
"Confirmed. But it's uncertain whether it's the clone or the main body that left. There's still someone in Langya Courtyard."
"This is very important. If a clone comes out, and the curse is activated, it targets the bloodline. Her mental body is strong enough for her main body to hold on for some time and receive treatment from those old monsters at Lushan. It must be a permanent solution. I suspect she's deliberately baiting us; it's highly probable that a clone came out. Do you have a way to confirm?"
"If she were in the Library Pavilion, it would be fine; I could detect it. But Langya Courtyard is impossible. We can only wait until next week when she leaves Langya Courtyard to attend class. Only then can I find out."
"No matter. This bit of time won't cause a delay. We also need time to make arrangements."
If Chen A'Diao were so easy to deal with, she wouldn't be Chen A'Diao. Lushan's cunning Mountain Head wouldn't let her handle internal and external situations as if letting her roam free.
What these people didn't know was that it was actually A'Diao's main body that had come out.
And she had truly come out.
After coming out, she immediately erased all her tracks and directly teleported to a place using space.
A place where she had lived for many years.
An ordinary mountain, an ordinary mountaintop. She saw the longan tree.
"What the hell, this damn longan tree has actually grown so strong and even flowered."
A'Diao was stunned when she first arrived. Then she walked around it three times, her gaze gradually dimming, followed by a cold laugh.
Someone had been here and tended to the longan tree, which was why it could grow so well.
"That old bastard, he's actually still alive. He even fertilized it, probably thinking those ashes didn't have much nourishment, right?"
Toilet: "Um, how are you so sure? Couldn't it have just thrived on its own, through self-reliance and vigorous growth?"
A'Diao: "Vigorous growth my ass. I deliberately damaged its roots back then; it was fundamentally impossible for it to grow well."
Toilet: "?"
It suddenly had an epiphany. Damn it, when she buried the ashes so long ago, she had deliberately damaged the tree's roots precisely to see if the old Daoist was truly dead. If he was really dead, the longan tree wouldn't mean much. But if he faked his death, then things would be interesting.
This old dog was unfathomable. A'Diao had suspected him long ago, so she deliberately set this up... Based on her understanding of the old Daoist, he would definitely come here to check.
So... only the old Daoist could have tended to the longan tree.
"He definitely figured it out too. This is his reply to me, damn it!"
A'Diao cursed, stomping her feet back and forth, and even kicked the longan tree, clearly infuriated.
He's not dead, he's really not dead!
"So you came back specifically to verify this?"
"No, I came to dig up the ashes."
"?"
Saying that, A'Diao actually dug up the ashes under the longan tree, fiddled with them for a bit, then erected a wooden plank with an inscription before leaving in a huff.
Toilet was speechless. This master and disciple pair were both scoundrels, with more schemes than holes in a cake.
Not long after A'Diao left, a shadowy figure furtively emerged from a spatial rift and saw the wooden plank planted in the dug-up earth under the longan tree.
It was stuck in crookedly, looking very shabby, with just a single vertical line of text.
—Grave of the despicable, lewd, shameless, and brazen esteemed master. There's poop in the grave pit, don't dig. Erected by filial disciple A'Diao.
"Damn it, this rotten girl!"
After leaving, A'Diao headed straight for the border. On the way, she was still flipping through her mental power list and found no mental power from a certain person.
This old dog is truly formidable, not even giving half a shred of mental power.
Toilet: "He is very terrifying. Why don't you directly ask him for help?"
A'Diao: "Because he is not trustworthy."
Toilet was quiet for a moment.
So, even though she was still happy that the old Daoist was alive, she calmly recognized that he was scheming behind the scenes, and she was very likely a pawn, so she refused to trust him?
Her kind of mentality was both terrifying and pitiable.
Toilet changed the subject, "There are so many cities on the border, which one are you going to?"
"What city? I'm going directly to the A-zone Demon Spirit Nest."
With her current speed, a place that would normally take a spaceship ten days to half a month to reach, she could arrive in just one day using spatial teleportation.
Two days later, in the most vast and dangerous Demon Spirit Nest region of the borderlands, a Demon Spirit Nest outbreak crisis, tens of times more terrifying than the one in the southern sea region, had erupted. It had also gathered a large number of Tang Song cultivators, including many core elites from noble families and Daoist sects, who were here both to gather resources and to defend the nation's borders.
It wasn't truly for the sake of the country and its people, but rather because if this gate fell, the common folk would lose their lives, while they would lose their generational wealth!
It rained today, making the borderlands even gloomier. This vast land had a very distinct geographical layout: bordered by an expansive and turbulent, enormous azure river. Within this boundary, several border cities were distributed, with Blood Abandonment City as the main city, grand in scale, with tens of millions of troops stationed daily by land, water, and air. Beyond this, the land was divided into three perilous areas: Blood Kite Basin, Ghost Valley, and Orchid Water Abyss.
Among them, Orchid Water Abyss was the most terrifying. It was the end of the Azure River, like a colossal chasm cracked deep into the earth. The vast amount of water that flowed into it vanished without a sound, having swallowed countless lives. Anyone who entered never returned; even Spirit Kings were wary of it.
Blood Kite Basin was primarily a battleground for the army and the Demon Spirit Nests. Ghost Valley, however, due to its narrow terrain and the ghostly aura that shrouded the sky, limited the army's effectiveness. Most cultivators from various groups came here to slay demons. All sorts of people mingled there, making it a truly mixed bag, and it was also the main area of activity for the heretical Demon Sound Sect's followers.
Just how mixed was it?
Tree branches, twisted as if they were incarnations of malevolent ghosts, intertwined with each other. The dim sky above was heavy with a ghostly aura, and this ghostly aura had a smell—the stench of blood.
A light rain was falling, and the ground was extremely muddy. Three figures, without even the residual strength to control their flying artifacts, could only run for their lives through the terrifying, gloomy ghost forest. Their boots splashed mud as they stepped on the ground, and behind them, on the ghost trees, one ghost-like figure after another seemed to flicker.
They cackled with sinister and terrifying laughter, further amplifying the fear. They landed on the branches without a sound, as if they had no physical weight, and in an instant, they caught up to them.
"Get lost!"
A female cultivator, in her terror, slashed behind her but only cut through air.
How could this be?
She had clearly imbued it with a mental secret technique; if it were a ghost, it should have...
In her panic, she suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her neck, as if an invisible hand was choking her. Before she could react...
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The three individuals, distracted by the ghostly figures and attacking wildly, had their necks snapped one after another. Their heads rolled onto the ground.
Blood gurgled and flowed onto the ground.
The ghostly figure still flickered, but soon it transformed into a ghost banner and returned to a hand that appeared out of thin air.
This person materialized, pale and sinister. "Truly foolish..."
He picked up a head, then suddenly froze, unable to move. He panicked, but there was nothing he could do until a figure, who had just rushed over from a distance, appeared before his eyes.
This person was one and a half meters tall, with a waist circumference of 120 centimeters, shaped like a squash. A wine gourd hung from his waist, and his two small mustaches resembled those of a catfish spirit.
Squash plus old catfish was this person's appearance.
At first glance, he almost thought the other party was one of his own kind.
So...
He pleaded with his eyes for the other to show mercy.
Indeed, the other person didn't kill him, merely glanced at the corpses on the ground, then at him, and directly knocked him unconscious and dragged him away.
A while later, in one of the countless caves in Ghost Valley, he was hung up.
"From the Demon Sound Sect?"
The squash-old-catfish figure was roasting a dagger over a flame in his palm, questioning him.
His eyes flickered; he refused to speak.
Then the squash-old-catfish sliced off a certain part of him.
Ah!!!
He spoke, revealing some information about the distribution of other Demon Sound Sect members in Ghost Valley.
"You're here just to gather resources? Do you have any other purpose?"
This old catfish spirit was naturally A'Diao. She had come to the border for three reasons: firstly, for points; secondly, for spirit cores; and thirdly, for fortune.
The Demon Sound Sect naturally had to be dealt with.
After A'Diao questioned him, she noticed his eyes darted away. She thrust the dagger forward.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! We came to Ghost Valley to..."
Before he could finish, a cryptic blood-drop mark appeared on his forehead, and then his head began to burn from the inside...
Not good!
By the time A'Diao sensed something was amiss, the man's head had already turned to ash.
"Damn! A curse... This Demon Sound Sect has some tricks up its sleeve."
A'Diao carefully examined the man's body. There was nothing wrong with the body, which meant the curse was placed inside his head. However, it wasn't a mental body curse; otherwise, she would likely have noticed something.
Her recent reading on curses hadn't been for naught. A'Diao quickly surmised it was a curse worm attached to the brain.
"Curse worms, these things are generally used to control people, requiring regular feeding of an antidote, otherwise they will activate. This is probably how the Demon Sound Sect controls its disciples."
Toilet: "It activated just as he was about to reveal something. This curse worm is designed to control disciples from revealing secrets. The secret he was about to tell must have contained a keyword that triggered the curse worm."
A'Diao had already started rummaging through the man's storage ring. When she opened it...
Damn it!
A pile of skulls, at least hundreds, if not thousands.
It was too terrifying, too disgusting. A'Diao almost threw up the snacks she had eaten on the way.
"What the hell! Is this guy a pervert?"
Toilet was also disgusted. "Is this person perhaps cultivating some kind of head-lowering evil art? Collecting so many heads."
A'Diao: "No, he cultivates sound attacks and illusion techniques. Through this demon banner, he transforms into a ghost figure, first attracting other cultivators' attention visually. Then, he uses ghostly sounds to stir their emotions, making them panic, uneasy, lose their sanity, and eagerly attack the ghost figure. However, his main body approaches via stealth techniques for a surprise assassination... And just now, his first instinct wasn't to pick up the three individuals' storage rings, but to take their heads. This indicates that his primary objective is the heads."
She had observed the assassination from a great distance. By the time she intervened, the three had already been killed; she could only immobilize the attacker from afar.
"Strange... This Demon Sound Sect is a bit peculiar."
Before accepting the mission, A'Diao had estimated the value of five thousand points, figuring the upper limit of power she would face would be, at most, peak Star Realm. But she hadn't expected this Demon Sound Sect to possess such strange methods.
She vaguely sensed that there was something fishy behind all this.
She had to be careful, lest she capsize in a gutter (fail due to carelessness).
After A'Diao finished cleaning up the scene and was about to leave, she suddenly saw a large-scale battle erupt in the distant ghost forest.
"Impressive, besieging three upper-stage Star Realm cultivators."
A'Diao used her True Sight. "It's them."
Toilet: "What a coincidence, they're from Lushan. Judging by their appearance, they should be those three from the Eight Gate Apostles, right? Li Jinghui, Yu Chisu, Luo Guang. Save them or not? This identity of yours was given to you by the Mountain Head."
Before leaving Lushan, A'Diao had sought out the Mountain Head, who had given her a fake identity. This identity, unlike the problematic one of Zhao Ritian, was not a trap. Ostensibly, he was a rogue cultivator, but secretly, he was a peak Star Realm internal guard of Lushan, primarily responsible for reconnaissance and rescue. His appearance in the borderlands this time was perfectly logical.
Indeed, such an identity provided a basic double layer of protection, which was a safeguard for A'Diao.
It was just that when A'Diao first saw the appearance of this identity... she was internally resistant and had said to the Mountain Head: "Master, this uncle's appearance is too high-profile, isn't it?"
Simply put, he was too ugly, too much like a villain, and very sleazy.
Mountain Head: "Even with an ordinary appearance, it's not like you'd stay quiet. Fabricating 'sister-in-law,' 'fiancée,' and then making them disappear out of thin air, and then reappear from nothing. And now you're telling me this?"
A'Diao: "..."
Hmph!
A'Diao had no choice but to accept this identity. But since she had accepted it, she had to conform to the persona.
Save them?
"Save my ass. These three are not simple. Combined, I might not even be able to beat them now."
A'Diao had no intention of intervening; instead, she observed their methods.
She said "combined." If they were separate, she was still confident.
And in the ghost forest, Li Jinghui, Yu Chisu, and Luo Guang were indeed besieged by a group of demon spirits.
These demon spirits were in a ghostly state, belonging to the ghost-type demon spirit system with demonic aura. This system was vast because ghost bodies were difficult to cultivate; by the time they managed to form a ghost body, they were already Level 8 demon spirits. Furthermore, being ghost bodies, to destroy them, one either needed orthodox Daoist techniques for exorcising evil, or mental body attacks.
Therefore, the ghost spirits of Ghost Valley were extremely difficult to deal with. Those who could operate here were generally at the Microlight level or above.
However, the ghost spirits currently besieging the three included several Level 11 ghost spirits, who were also controlling hundreds of Level 9 and Level 10 ghost spirits. This scale of siege was uncommon even in the entire Ghost Valley, sufficient to kill a peak Star Realm cultivator.
From A'Diao's perspective, the cultivators in the vicinity of the besieged area had all been scared off; clearly, none were going to help the three.
However, watching the three who seemed doomed, A'Diao felt that these three were, after all, Lushan's true "crown prince faction."
So...
Suddenly, A'Diao saw a large, golden, spiral light turntable appear in the area where the ghost spirits were roaring, descending from the sky. In the next second, a huge bronze bell totem appeared.
Clang!
With the sound of the bell... hundreds of ghosts wailed. A large number of Level 9 ghost spirits basically screamed and turned into flying ash, leaving behind only a batch of spirit cores.
The Level 10 ones were severely injured, while the Level 11 ones managed to withstand it but retaliated with ghostly howls and sound attacks. At this moment, Luo Guang, one of the remaining three, produced a string of light beads from between his eyebrows.
The light beads were brilliant, releasing an evil-vanquishing power.
Buzz... More than half of the ghost forest area was completely illuminated.
Even the Level 11 ghost spirits screamed.
A'Diao also saw the intense light, squinted slightly, captured a wisp of the light, and after investigating it for a moment, her face soured.
"So infuriating! This is a Transcendent low-grade spirit plant body."
Above Grade A is Transcendent. Logically, within the national market, Grade A spirit plant bodies or forbidden items could still be found; if one had money, they could be bought. As for Transcendent items, one could only rely on ancestral inheritance.
"These light beads should belong to Luo Guang, that bell totem to Yu Chisu, and that array disc to Li Jinghui... Indeed, these were no ordinary items. No wonder they didn't let Lan Yi and the others follow; the skill gap is a bit large."
A'Diao felt a sourness like lemon juice welling up inside her. After Luo Guang and the other two eliminated most of the ghost spirits, they did not pursue the fleeing ones. Yu Chisu subconsciously looked into the distance.
"What's wrong?" Li Jinghui asked.
"Nothing, I just vaguely feel like someone is watching us."
Among the three, Yu Chisu was a mind-type cultivator and was very sensitive.
Luo Guang: "Perhaps an expert sensed what happened here and used True Sight to check. Let's leave this place first—we exposed our tracks this time and were besieged. Either someone at the Zen Courtyard leaked information, or a Ghost King from the Ghost Spirit Nest targeted us."
"Let's go quickly!"
Just as the three were about to leave, Luo Guang looked at his watch and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Today is the imperial wedding. I have a feeling something will happen—the battles on the border will have repercussions in the imperial court. It's hard to guarantee that someone won't try to use this matter to oppose the new Empress. So, let's be careful and return to the Zen Courtyard first."
"Still going back to the Zen Courtyard?" Li Jinghui felt a chill run down his spine at the thought that there might be a traitor there.
"If we don't go back, we'll probably die even faster. At least there are many experts at the Zen Courtyard. My heart is pounding. Let's go quickly."
The three of them were not ordinary rogue cultivators; they were from Lushan, and their identities were already somewhat special. Luo Guang had a strong sense of crisis, afraid of being used as a pawn. Moreover, after this wave of fighting, their internal energy was nearly depleted, and they couldn't afford an ambush.
The three hurriedly left, heading towards the Zen Courtyard.
A'Diao watched the direction they left. Remembering that the Demon Sound Sect member had mentioned that most of their forces were gathered at the Zen Courtyard, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she quickly followed.
Half an hour later, A'Diao entered the Zen Courtyard area before the three.
The Zen Courtyard, true to its name, was an abandoned Zen Buddhist branch courtyard. It was quite large, but other areas were already dilapidated. Only the main courtyard of the Zen Courtyard could provide shelter from wind and rain. However, cultivators didn't care much about this. It was now protected by an array, serving as a temporary resting place for many cultivators in the Ghost Valley area.
But it looked truly shabby: withered leaves were strewn everywhere, and old, gnarled trees surrounded it, resembling a public mortuary.
A'Diao glanced at it and quickly knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Your father."
"..."
The door didn't open, but a golden light spirit puppet flew out, circling A'Diao. "Fellow Daoist is quite impolite. Could you be a ghost cultivator?"
A'Diao rolled her eyes and directly produced a token. "Military Department General. You say this old man is a ghost cultivator?"
This identity was quite solid; A'Diao had ultimately accepted it because it was indeed very useful.
Sure enough, as soon as the token appeared, the door opened. A'Diao entered and saw groups of cultivators, in twos and threes, gathered in various parts of the hall.
There were many people. A'Diao merely glanced, but due to her powerful memory, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Damn it, why do some of these faces look somewhat familiar?
They looked exactly like some of the hundreds, or even thousands, of heads...
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