Chapter 654 - 358: Female Vermilion Fruit 2

Master Qingbu, on the other hand, held out the longest since he had not yet fully transformed into a Ghost Cultivator.

"I... I..."

His heart was filled with endless grievances, but he ultimately said nothing.

Master Qingbu never imagined that an ordinary outing would become an unavoidable calamity in his life. Faced with a chasm-like gap in power, his desire to survive led him to fall from grace. He accepted the task of scheming against the Core Formation cultivators of Qingbu Square, forcing them to descend into being Ghost Cultivators as well.

But fate, it seemed, had a twisted sense of humor, for Lü Zhong had appeared out of nowhere.

’If only... if only you had appeared back then, how wonderful that would have been!’ The thought surfaced in Master Qingbu’s mind. He couldn’t help but look up at his former comrades, only to see them all glaring at him with hostility. He let out a heavy sigh in his heart, then slowly raised his right hand and slapped it against his own forehead.

With a sickening SQUELCH, bone fragments and brain matter splattered.

Only after he was dead did the other cultivators breathe a sigh of relief.

Staring at the headless corpse on the ground, they couldn’t help but feel the relief of having survived a catastrophe. Then, they saw Lü Zhong use Instant Teleportation to appear in the hall. He collected the spoils of war as if no one else was present. Without much hesitation, the surviving Core Formation cultivators in the hall bowed deeply in salute.

"Thank you for saving our lives, Senior!"

"Heh, you’re celebrating far too soon!" Lü Zhong chuckled. He pulled a token from one of the Storage Bags he had just acquired—it was the Qingbu Pavilion Master’s Order. Without giving it a second glance, he tossed the token to the ground. As the crowd watched in confusion, he stated coolly, "Out of respect for our shared ancestry, don’t say I didn’t warn you. The Gounan Ghost Emperor is on his way. You’d best prepare yourselves."

With that said, his figure flickered and vanished.

...

「Not long after.」

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The warning bells tolled urgently.

A curtain of light rose into the air as the Grand Array enveloping Qingbu Square activated.

Almost simultaneously, dark clouds billowed in from the distance, swiftly crossing a hundred li. A heavy, black-gray fog then descended, shrouding Qingbu Square completely.

Instantly, the sound of wailing ghosts erupted!

Yin Souls danced in the sky, and then a black wind swept through.

From within it, a figure emerged.

He was a burly man wearing a Nine-Streamed Golden Crown and a Nine-Striped Ghost Dragon Profound Robe, his presence naturally imposing. He gazed down upon Qingbu Square with imperial disdain, like a monarch surveying his domain.

He was about to subjugate the square with overwhelming force, just as he always did.

But just then, a sense of crisis suddenly welled up within the Gounan Ghost Emperor. The Ghost Infant inside him shrieked madly—something that had never happened in the century since he had awakened.

’Could there really be a powerful enemy down there?’

Suspicion flickered in his eyes, yet he did not retreat.

Meanwhile, Lü Zhong had already returned to the inn.

After instructing his Incarnation to keep a close watch on his apprentice, Yaoyun, and prevent her from running off, he returned to his room. He began to take stock of his harvest while sipping a cup of clear tea.

There were quite a few Storage Bags—eight in total.

To Lü Zhong’s surprise, these Ghost Cultivators were exceptionally wealthy. Their Storage Bags were filled with all kinds of Spiritual Objects, and there was no shortage of Spirit Stones either—nearly a million in total.

’They must have emptied the Qingbu Square Treasure Vault!’

He had expected a meager haul, but a huge surprise had been waiting for him instead.

Elated, a smile spread across his face.

The inventory was quickly completed.

All the items that Master Qingbu had advertised to draw a crowd for the trade fair were present. Even the Spirit Stones Lü Zhong had spent on the Flying Ship and the Yin Gui Pills he hadn’t yet sold had now fallen into his hands.

A quick estimate placed their value at no less than four to five million Spirit Stones.

Lü Zhong usually burned through Spirit Stones like water; his spending on Pill and Incarnation refinement often reached the tens of millions. But suddenly obtaining such a large sum still made him feel a jolt of excitement.

The only downside was that there was little of use for a Nascent Soul Cultivator. Only a few items caught his eye.

The most valuable among them were:

The Morning Star Jade, the Eight Spirits Treasure Bamboo, and the Female Vermilion Fruit.

Morning Star Jade was an artifact refining material, icy cold to the touch and named for its shimmer, which resembled a morning star. Refining it into his Star Mirror would increase its power. It could also stimulate an Artifact Spirit, allowing a Magical Treasure to sprout the beginnings of a spirit or accelerating an existing one’s growth. It was an extremely rare Exotic Treasure of Celestial Descent.

Gazing at the jade, Lü Zhong thought to himself, ’It was well worth taking action.’

The Eight Spirits Treasure Bamboo was an exceptionally rare type of Spiritual Bamboo, its value rivaling even that of the Morning Star Jade. However, despite its high value, it wasn’t particularly useful to Lü Zhong. The piece was only about ten feet long, enough to refine a single Magical Treasure at most.

Lü Zhong decided to set it aside for now. Perhaps it would be useful in the future.

He picked up the Female Vermilion Fruit, a strange expression suddenly on his face. After studying it for a long moment, he murmured, "Perhaps this is fate... that I would be the one to find this."

The Female Vermilion Fruit’s value was both high and low. To some, it was as worthless as a wild berry.

Its value depended entirely on who needed it.

’For my wife back home, this is probably something she’s dreamed of. It’s good that I got it. At least now I can fulfill her long-held wish.’ Lü Zhong shook his head and carefully stored the Female Vermilion Fruit.

Then, ignoring the Gounan Ghost Emperor outside, he sat down and began to meditate.

...

As dark clouds filled the sky, panic gripped the people of Qingbu Square.

Even with the protection of a Fifth-tier Array—one that even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would struggle to break through quickly—their anxiety did not lessen. No matter how powerful, the Grand Array was an inanimate object. Once its power was depleted, it would shatter. Facing the terrifyingly strong Gounan Ghost Emperor, it was impossible to feel at ease.

To everyone’s surprise, however, the Ghost Emperor in the sky made no move.

The seconds and minutes ticked by.

The pressure, vast as an ocean and oppressive as a prison, weighed on everyone’s heart.

「Until sunset.」

In his room, Lü Zhong, having just restored his Magical Power, slowly opened his eyes. His gaze pierced through the thin window, locking onto the figure in the sky, and a smile touched the corner of his lips.

The Gounan Ghost Emperor’s strength was merely equivalent to the Mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.

’He still hasn’t left after all this time. It seems he’s decided to stay here permanently.’

Then, his figure vanished.

At the same time, the Gounan Ghost Emperor saw his moment had come. With a piercing shriek, he threw out a black Jade Seal. Instantly, an endless torrent of black energy surged from the seal, descending like a pitch-black canopy.

In less than a breath, he used his Lifebound Ghost Treasure, the Five Directions Prison Seal, to forcibly drag the entirety of Qingbu Square—an area spanning over a dozen li—along with every cultivator and mortal within, into an Illusion Realm.

...

In the Netherworld, there was no sun to be seen.

Lü Zhong’s figure materialized, and he surveyed his surroundings with interest.

’I must say, the methods of Ghost Cultivators are truly extraordinary,’ he thought. ’To think one could conjure such a vast Yin Earth. If the terrain were shaped more carefully, it might even capture the essence of the Yellow Springs Underworld. It’s said that if one cultivates this path to its deepest level, the illusory Yin Earth can be turned into reality. I wonder if that’s true.’

Before he could get a better look, the sound of battle cries erupted in the distance.

A gust of eerie wind blew, and an army of thousands materialized out of thin air. Led by several ferocious-looking Ghost Generals, they charged forward with the force of an avalanche.

’As expected,’ Lü Zhong noted, his expression unchanged and his demeanor calm. ’Once a Ghost Cultivator forms a Ghost Infant, they gain control over a Rule Illusion Realm. Within a certain range, they can manipulate the rules at will, rather than being bound by them.’

The Ghost Army looked impressive, but they were nothing more than wandering spirits.

He smiled faintly and activated the Thunder Seal in his Sea of Consciousness.

A burst of lightning erupted as Lü Zhong unleashed the "Thunder Descends" technique. In an instant, a blinding flash of lightning swept across the field. The army of thousands had arrived in a flash, and they were gone just as quickly.

In a single moment, tranquility returned to the land.

After the Ghost Army perished, it turned into a sky full of ash that rustled down from above. This proved that they had indeed been real souls, not mere illusions conjured by the Gounan Ghost Emperor.

"We knew that even Our Imperial Guard would be no match for you."

Accompanied by a sinister voice, the Gounan Ghost Emperor appeared in Lü Zhong’s sight. He stared fixedly at the black-robed young man before him with a pair of eerie green eyes, his ashen face grim.

"Just who are you!"