Chapter 110: The Anomaly in West City

The group immediately split into two teams.

Yun Jiao took several spirit physicians and a few lower-tier disciples to search the city for anyone whose life force had not yet been completely severed. Meanwhile, Hall Master Xu, the elders, and Wenqing headed toward the Yu family estate—to locate and subdue the ghost general Chi Xiao.

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With her team’s numbers, Yun Jiao soon found several survivors. Compared to Patriarch Yu, whose curse seal had been deeply hidden within his spiritual consciousness, the marks on these people were much more obvious—some were even visible to the naked eye.

Although Yun Jiao worked with astonishing speed, it was impossible for her to treat an entire city alone. So she began teaching the other spirit physicians her method—hand-in-hand, she demonstrated how to insert the needles and set up formation arrays for life stabilization.

The others learned as best they could, though their progress was… limited. After half a day of intense instruction, they could only roughly imitate her technique. Still, even that was enough to temporarily stabilize a patient’s life force.

“It—It worked!” one spirit physician gasped in delight. “It really stopped the decay of life essence!” His eyes shone with excitement as he looked to Yun Jiao. “Master Yun, did I do it correctly?”

Yun Jiao gave his handiwork a quick glance and nodded.

“Mm. About thirty percent of an intern doctor’s standard.”

“Intern… doctor?” the man blinked, confused by the term.

“It means… apprentice,” Yun Jiao said after a pause, then added with a straight face, “temporary apprentice.”

“……”

He instantly deflated like a wilted eggplant.

Temporary apprentice?

He was an Eight-Petal Celestial Master! And yet in her eyes, he was still an intern?

Yun Jiao, oblivious to his bruised pride, continued her work. In her world, stopping life-force loss was about as simple as staunching bleeding—“intern doctor” was already a generous rating!

She quickly erected an isolating barrier to protect the patients from further contact with the ghost’s resentment. For the next three to four hours, she and the others worked tirelessly, treating every survivor the disciples brought in.

By the end, over a hundred people lay within the protective formation, most of them free from the curse. Although some had arrived too late, she had managed to save nearly ninety percent of those still breathing.

But survivors kept coming—more and more, even some who had fled the city earlier rushed back after hearing the news, begging for help. The once-silent streets grew crowded with desperate voices.

No matter how fast they worked, Yun Jiao could feel it—they were falling behind. Her fellow healers were drenched in sweat, faces pale from exhaustion. She frowned slightly.

This won’t do. There must be a faster way…

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Meanwhile, in the east of the city, Xu Qingfeng and Wenqing led more than a dozen elders toward the Yu family residence.

As they approached, they saw the entire compound shrouded in dense black miasma—a mixture of ghostly yin energy and a foul, decaying stench.

Even the most seasoned cultivators among them felt their hearts sink. This wasn’t an ordinary ghost or demon—they were up against a ghost general. None of them were confident that they could win this fight.

Xu glanced at Wenqing—the so-called “senior uncle” of Daoist Yun. It wasn’t that he doubted the man’s skill, but Yun Jiao was… exceptional. Even her so-called “sect master” Bai Yu didn’t inspire much confidence. After a moment of hesitation, Xu discreetly took out a few defensive talismans and handed them over.

“Senior Wen, the ghost’s resentment is extremely corrosive. Best to carry a few charms—just in case.”

Wenqing accepted them politely. “Much appreciated.”

“You’re too kind,” Xu replied with a deferential smile, then looked toward the blackened estate. “Senior, do you have any advice on how to deal with Chi Xiao?”

Wenqing answered casually,

“Though Chi Xiao is a ghost general, she’s still a spirit being—and spirits are of yin nature, afraid of yang energy. As long as we use spiritual or immortal energy to form seals and strike, it should restrain her.”

Then his eyes narrowed slightly. “However, Chi Xiao’s form is elusive. She can disperse into mist and escape. It will be hard to pin down her true body.”

Xu Qingfeng thought for a moment, then said,

“In that case, what if we trap her with a formation to restrict her movement, then attack the resentment directly?”

“Good idea,” Wenqing nodded. “But to hold a ghost general, the formation must be at least Earth-tier…” He paused. “You have such an array prepared?”

“We’ll use a Heaven-tier Soul-Lock Formation!” Xu declared.

“…”

Wenqing froze.

Heaven-tier?! Are you joking?! You people can use Heaven-tier arrays?!

(⊙_⊙)

But the others nodded calmly.

“Yes, that one’s good—I still remember most of its structure.”

“I’ll take the eastern formation eye.”

“I’ll handle the western one!”

“South side needs two—we’ll take it.”

“I’ll anchor the north!”

In no time, they had distributed roles and positions like a perfectly rehearsed team.

“……”

Wenqing was dumbfounded.

Had the human realm advanced that much since he’d last visited?

Heaven-tier formations weren’t something that could be casually set up—they required extreme precision and deep mastery. Yet within half an hour…

They really did it.

A vast, glowing white web of light appeared above the Yu estate, descending slowly until it enveloped the entire compound. The radiance grew stronger, illuminating the darkness. Within the shimmering light, the outlines of thick black mists became visible—clusters of resentful energy writhing beneath the array.

Whenever one of the black wisps dared to touch the net of light, it was instantly burned away.

The formation was solid, stable—shockingly so. It was hard to believe this was the work of ten-odd cultivators working together. Not only that, the formation was evolving—subtly rotating and tightening, gradually shrinking inward to compress the miasma further.

With each contraction, the glowing web reconfigured itself, adjusting to the terrain of the Yu estate—optimizing the seal.

Wenqing was stunned.

He worried that such frequent modification might destabilize the formation; if even one cultivator mistimed their hand seal, the entire structure could collapse.

But he soon realized his concern was misplaced.

These people were moving with terrifying synchronicity—almost telepathic coordination. They didn’t even need eye contact. A single shout, and everyone adjusted simultaneously, as if sharing one mind.

However… the content of their calls left him utterly bewildered.

“Attention, everyone—switch to question six, the one we all got wrong!”

“Elder Li, align with question four’s direction, then return to question six!”

“Wang Daoist, your turn—question seven, hurry!”

“Team Leader Jiao, go with your only correct answer!”

“You there—last question, last question!”

“Get ready—switching to a new set soon!”

Wenqing: “……”

What in the nine heavens were they even saying?!

(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

Had he been away from the mortal world so long that he no longer understood their incantations?

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(End of Chapter)