Chapter 59: A Celestial Omen

The group hurried toward the source of the scream.

They hadn’t gone a hundred meters before spotting another team of examinees — surrounded by a swarm of ghosts, barely holding behind a battered barrier. The shield was cracked and trembling, ready to shatter any moment. Among the ghosts stood a pitch-black vengeful spirit, clearly controlling the mob.

Everyone froze for half a beat — the scene was nearly identical to what they had just faced. Yet this group was so close, and they hadn’t sensed a thing earlier.

Seeing the barrier about to fail, Tang Chen reacted first. He yanked out a Blazing Flame Talisman and flung it.

A burst of crimson fire erupted, instantly consuming a large swath of ghosts and halting their advance.

“Hurry — capture the souls!” Tang Chen barked.

Snapping out of their daze, Old Bai and the rest began throwing their ghost-catching charms, sealing the scattered shades.

But the vengeful spirit shrieked, rallying its minions and sending a fresh wave surging toward them.

Their hearts sank — this was an even bigger horde than before. They had no choice but to pull weapons and charms, fighting seriously this time.

Yet there were simply too many. Before long, their capture rate couldn’t keep up with the tide. Ghostly wails echoed all around.

Tang Chen’s patience snapped.

“Courting death!”

He pulled another Blazing Flame Talisman.

Yun Jiao’s stomach clenched with dread.

“Wait! Something’s wrong with this one!”

“If we wait, we’ll be overrun!”

Tang Chen ignored her and hurled the talisman.

It flew straight at the vengeful spirit — which made no move to dodge. The seal slapped onto its head.

A blinding firestorm roared to life, engulfing the creature. In moments it was ash.

With their master gone, the ghosts instantly fell silent and drifted apart.

Even Tang Chen looked surprised at how easy it had been, but he didn’t dwell on it. He helped mop up the weakened spirits while heading toward the trapped team.

“Many thanks, fellow Daoists!”

Relief flooded the survivors’ faces.

Compared to Yun Jiao’s group, these five were in far worse shape — four lightly wounded and bleeding from ghost claws, one lying motionless in a pool of blood. His face was chalk-white, black mists curling from a deep gash across his chest.

“He was struck by the ghost’s yin energy saving us!”

A young man in green robes almost sobbed as he pleaded,

“Do any of you have healing medicine?”

Tang Chen immediately produced a pill.

“I have a Rejuvenation Pellet.”

“Don’t give that!”

Yun Jiao cut him off sharply.

“That replenishes qi and blood — it’ll only drive the yin deeper into his heart meridians and kill him faster.”

Faces blanched all around. The green-robed youth panicked.

“Then what do we do?!”

“Let me try.”

Yun Jiao pulled out a silver needle.

But Tang Chen grabbed her wrist, startled.

“What are you doing?!”

“Saving him.” she said flatly.

“You’re an array master, not a healer — meddling could kill him!”

Tang Chen’s eyes were full of doubt.

Yun Jiao: “……”

(Who told you I was just an array master?)

“We should use a teleport talisman and send him back to the Tianshi Hall!”

Tang Chen insisted.

“There are healers there who can cleanse yin energy.”

“But…”

The green-robed disciple hesitated, glancing at his fallen teammate.

“If we use the talisman, this exam—”

“He’s dying! Who cares about the exam!”

Tang Chen snapped.

The group exchanged quick looks, then nodded grimly.

They activated the injured man’s teleport talisman. White light wrapped him, his body beginning to fade—

—and then the glow flickered out.

The charm crumbled into ash.

“Huh?” The green-robed youth stared.

“Why didn’t it send him back?”

Everyone went rigid.

He tried his own talisman — same result.

The man stayed where he was, the charm disintegrated uselessly.

Panic crept in.

If the teleport charms failed… how would they get home?

Before anyone could think, the ground trembled.

A few meters away, a pillar of red light burst upward, shooting into the sky.

Instinctively everyone looked up — and saw dozens more scarlet beams flaring across the dark.

The lights pierced the night, converging high above.

Then, with a deafening BOOM, the red glow exploded like fireworks, shaping itself into a vast crimson bird.

It spread its wings, circled once, and let out a sky-rending cry before vanishing as suddenly as it appeared — as if it had never existed.

The entire vision lasted barely three breaths — a flash of flaming omen across the heavens.

“What… what was that?”

Stunned faces turned upward. A phantom bird? An illusion? None could explain it.

Yun Jiao alone turned to study the spot where the first red light had erupted.

That was exactly where the vengeful spirit had stood.

And the way that fiery bird formed… it felt uncannily like… an array.

(End of Chapter — author note: posting one first, busy this afternoon; next chapter later.)