Stranger Danger

“Silver Moon is still alive?”

Visibly startled by the answer, a few rays of light returned to Jiang Yunlai’s dark, cruel eyes.

“Of course not. I’ve only sealed her mind and consciousness temporarily,” replied Xuanyuan Xin.

“Huh…” Jiang Yunlai let out a visible sigh of relief before asking, “Can you please leave her body then, Imperial Princess?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot do that. Not yet,” Xuanyuan Xin turned him down.

“Why not?” Jiang Yunlai asked.

“When you find me a suitable body, then I will leave her.” Xuanyuan Xin smiled. “Until then, I will be using her body.”

Seeing Jiang Yunlai’s frown, Xuanyuan Xin added, “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t hurt her during this period.”

“I hope you’ll uphold your promise, Imperial Princess,” Jiang Yunlai said after a moment of silence.

“In that case, can you tell me how I can resolve my Life Tribulation already? I want you to teach me your celestial arts and Magia as well. You promised!” Jiang Yunlai’s eyes burned passionately.

“The Life Tribulation can wait. First, I’ll teach you an unparalleled art of Kunlun Ruins!” Xuanyuan Xin replied.

“Are you reneging on your promise?” Jiang Yunlai grew furious.

“Of course not. I swore a Dao Oath, remember?”

Xuanyuan Xin beamed at him. “The Life Tribulation is one of the Kunlun Ruins’ ultimate curses. At my current strength, I could not break it even if I wanted to. That is why I am teaching you a celestial art that could suppress the effects of the Life Tribulation. Once you have mastered the arts, and I am sufficiently recovered, then we can work together to neutralize it.”

Jiang Yunlai did not say anything. He simply stared at Xuanyuan Xin for a moment.

“Don’t believe me? Should I swear another Dao Oath then?” Xuanyuan Xin asked with a smile that didn’t reach the eye.

“No. I believe you of course, Imperial Princess,” Jiang Yunlai finally answered.

“Good boy. We still have a long road ahead of us. How can we cooperate if we don’t trust each other?”

Xuanyuan Xin’s smile brightened. “Oh right, there is one more thing I need your help with.”

Jiang Yunlai immediately shot her a wary look.

“I need you to find out who else were fighting Xuanyuan Kun besides those three Sages!” Xuanyuan Xin ignored his suspicious look and said frankly.

“I don’t understand,” Jiang Yunlai voiced his puzzlement.

“Xuanyuan Kun is still alive. He’s probably possessing one of the fighters right now,” Xuanyuan Xin answered.

“Why do you think that?” Jiang Yunlai asked curiously.

“He is a celestial. If even I can survive, then there is no way he would pass away so easily.” Xuanyuan Xin’s expression slowly darkened. “Besides, he is my brother. We are descendants of the Queen Mother of the West, so if one of us dies, the other will sense it.”

“I felt nothing, so I know with every fiber of my soul that he is still alive.”

“If those ants hadn’t interfered, Xuanyuan Kun would’ve died by my hands. I must kill Xuanyuan Kun, I must kill him…”

Jiang Yunlai waited until Xuanyuan Xin’s bout of madness had subsided somewhat before continuing the conversation, “How did you know that Xuanyuan Kun wasn’t hiding in one of the three Sages earlier?”

“I would have sensed it if he was,” Xuanyuan Xin replied simply.

Jiang Yunlai nodded but did not say anything. Sensing his meaning, Xuanyuan Xin broke into a smile and said, “Relax, I won’t make you work for free.”

“In exchange for your labor, I can tell you a secret. It will be a massive opportunity for you!”

A moment passed, and Jiang Yunlai ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation. “Tell me!”

“I knew you wouldn’t reject me.”

Xuanyuan Xin began, “Do you know what the bronze bell that boy used to fight you off earlier was?”

“You know it?” If Jiang Yunlai’s curiosity wasn’t piqued before, it was now. After all, he would’ve killed the boy and the old man if it wasn’t for the bell.

“You know it too, I’m pretty sure.”

Xuanyuan Xin revealed the truth. “It is most likely the legendary Earthly Sovereign Bell!”

“What?! The Earthly Sovereign Bell?” Jiang Yunlai rarely allowed himself to be overcome by emotions, but this time, he couldn’t hold back his shock. “Are you sure?”

“I am not so ignorant that I would fail to recognize the Earthly Sovereign Bell,” Xuanyuan Xin answered. “The age of chaos truly is near. To think that an ultimate treasure like the Earthly Sovereign Bell had resurfaced as well.”

“If you can obtain the Earthly Sovereign Bell, then you would possess the ability to survive and even thrive in the upcoming tribulations.”

“Do you think this opportunity is worth your labor?”

“It is.” Jiang Yunlai nodded, eyes glinting with greed. “Don’t worry. I will assist you in getting your revenge.”

“Good. Good.”

Xuanyuan Xin laughed loudly. “No matter what, I must kill Xuanyuan Kun.”

“You cannot escape, Xuanyuan Kun!”

……

“The Profound Yellow Mother Qi… dammit…”

Gusts of yin wind blew by, and Ghost Taisui’s form was revealed.

Ghost Taisui did not have a physical form right now. It had been shattered by the Earthly Sovereign Bell either. Even his ghost form was broken in countless places—for example, his arms and legs were missing bits and pieces—and covered in wounds.

As if that wasn’t enough, dark yellow light were seeping out of the wounds and burning him like fire or boiling oil. The sizzling noises almost felt mocking as he writhed in pain.

His cultivation art was an art of the Way of Ghosts. Therefore, he was naturally afraid of yang and similar objects. The Profound Yellow Mother Qi was the mother of all qi and possessed the ability to purify all filth and evil. Naturally, it was even more toxic to him.

This was why he had been seriously injured at the first exchange. The celestial’s self-destruction afterward only made things worse. It was also why he chose to escape immediately. He feared that his “fellow” Sages would take advantage of his weakness and try to kill him.

This excursion had turned out to be a devastatingly terrible one. He had given a bride and lost an army on top of it.

Originally, he was hoping to get a celestial body for himself. His ghost form was overflowing with deathly qi, and mortal bodies simply could not withstand its erosion for long. Most of them rotted in just a short time. However, there was a good chance he might be able to resolve this problem if he could obtain a celestial’s body. Assuming he succeeded, he would definitely be stronger than he was before.

However, Ghost Taisui never expected that his one bout of carelessness resulted in disastrous results. Not only did he fail to obtain the celestial’s body, he almost died as a result. It was terribly unfortunate to say the least.

And why did this happen? Because of the guy with the bronze bell, of course.

“I don’t care who you are, I’m going to strip you of your soul and refine every last wisp! Only then can my anger be sated!”

Ghost Taisui roared when he thought until this point. Maybe it was because he was too agitated, but his wounds reopened, and massive amounts of Profound Yellow Mother Qi poured out of them. As a result, his ghost form began burning as if it was on fire and elicited a terrible wail from him.

Not only that, dark clouds were gathering in the sky above him. They were rumbling with lightning and thunder as well.

“Oh no!”

Ghost Taisui panicked when he saw the phenomenon. It was because it was the sign of a heavenly tribulation.

The world did not tolerate a human who walked the Way of Ghosts, not to mention one who had not restrained himself from wanton slaughter. He was steeped in sin to put it mildly, which was why he was loathed by the world and reviled by the Great Way.

Since Ghost Taisui became a Sage, he always attracted heavenly tribulations or other accidents every time he practiced his art and made progress. This was also why he spent most of his time in his Taisui Mountain in recent years.

The reason he left his abode this time was because his instincts told him that there was an opportunity to be had in this land. Unfortunately, he screwed up and landed himself a massive misfortune instead.

As if that wasn’t enough, a heavenly tribulation was coming for him while he was seriously injured. It was adding hail to snow[1] to say the least.

1. Meaning bad luck on top of bad luck. ☜