Chapter 688: You Are the Two-Faced Buddha!

The Desire Ghost's body had grown slightly deformed. Its upper half was emaciated, but its belly bulged as if pregnant, and the faint sound of sloshing water echoed from within.

"How much black water did you drink?" Surrounded by the sect cultivators, I hadn't had the time to pay attention to anything else; only now did I finally look at the Desire Ghost.

After its successful transformation, the desires in the Desire Ghost's heart had multiplied. It didn't know how to suppress itself, and it would use any means necessary to get what it wanted.

The black water on the stone platform was condensed from the purest malevolent yin energy, making it incredibly difficult to digest. Right now, the Desire Ghost's belly looked ready to burst.

"Get it out of here! This monster just tried to eat me!" Wang Shi yelled from his hiding spot behind the Mountain God Sculpture. He was terrified of the Desire Ghost.

I nodded and tried using a ghost art to pull the Desire Ghost back into the Ghost Ring. Perhaps sensing my will, the Desire Ghost halted its frenzy. It tilted its head, dry hair plastered across its face, and stared at me with an unfamiliar gaze.

There was no submission in its eyes—only a sliver of hesitation and undisguised killing intent.

"Yin-Yang Has an Order!" Yin-Yang Ghost Art had a massive suppressive effect on ghosts. Given that the Desire Ghost already bore my brand and that I had killed it in its past life, it held an innate fear of me. "Come back."

I issued the command a second time. The Desire Ghost's bloodshot eyes bulged as it weighed its options; it had to choose between its life and its desires.

A moment later, the Desire Ghost dropped to the floor. Pressing its belly full of malevolent yin water against the ground, it reluctantly returned to my Ghost Ring.

'Raising a ghost is like raising a tiger; you have to stay vigilant at all times,' I reminded myself. I put the Ghost Ring away and looked at the stone platform. Because the Desire Ghost had swallowed a portion of the black water, the yin energy was spreading from the platform much more slowly than I had initially anticipated.

'That malevolent yin energy seeped out from deep within the Yin Meridian. It's a top-tier treasure. If the Desire Ghost hasn't completely digested it, I can force it to spit some out for other uses once I'm safe.' Suppressing the thought, I turned to Wang Shi. "Have you finished refining the Yang Talisman in your body?"

"It's done. I just finished." Wang Shi pointed at his heart, seemingly afraid I'd misunderstand. A faint yang flame flickered there; it no longer looked like a talisman at all.

"Finally. Leave with me right now," I said, letting out a long breath of relief. The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation could collapse at any moment. With the bloodstained yang qi appearing outside, who knew what else might happen if we stayed? I really didn't want to linger here.

'My current abilities aren't enough to fight the Five Great Upper Sects. Leaving for Jiangcheng this time, I have to seize every livestream opportunity to earn points and increase my strength.' Jiangcheng was destined to become the focal point of the struggle between various factions. It would turn into a massive vortex, swallowing up everyone involved.

'This city is a giant tomb. Leaving is for the best,' I thought after a long moment. I turned my head and realized Wang Shi was still standing behind the Mountain God Sculpture. He showed no intention of coming out.

I frowned. "Are you afraid I'm going to hurt you?"

"You've misunderstood me again." Wang Shi smiled bitterly and pointed at the Mountain God Sculpture in front of him. "I'm pinned here by this Clay Figurine. If I want to leave, we have to move it out of the way."

Wang Shi's lower half was soaked in yang qi and black water. Only when I used my Judging Eye did I realize his legs were pinned beneath the sculpture.

"You really are a lot of trouble." Time and time again, issues cropped up. I had half a mind to just abandon Wang Shi, but on second thought, we had already made it this far. Wasting a little more time wouldn't hurt.

"Let me try." I stood at the edge of the stone platform and placed my hands on the Mountain God Sculpture. I didn't feel the coldness of stone; instead, it carried a trace of warmth.

I pushed against the sculpture with all my might, but it didn't budge an inch.

"The core of the yang qi is in the sculpture's chest. As long as you can take that out, the sculpture should be movable," Wang Shi said, burning with anxiety. He knew this place was going to collapse soon.

"Once the yang qi core is removed, the balance of yin and yang will break, and the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation will collapse instantly," I said coldly. "The Five Great Upper Sects are surrounding us outside, and bloodstained yang qi is drifting everywhere. Without the grand formation blocking them, are you going to stop those sect cultivators?"

This was the biggest problem I faced right now. I needed someone to hold off the sect cultivators so I could escape the Three Yin Sect the moment the grand formation collapsed.

Hearing my words, Wang Shi's face grew incredibly grim. There was no way out of this deadlock. No matter what happened, Wang Shi, pinned beneath the Mountain God Sculpture, was going to die.

We both fell silent for a moment. Neither of us spoke.

"Is there really no other way? I help you, and you help me—that's what we agreed on from the start."

I didn't answer his question. Looking out at the endless Yin Meridian, I said, "I tried to save you. If it wasn't for you, I could have left ages ago. I would never have ended up in this situation."

Wang Shi looked into my eyes. He stared for a long time before lowering his head. "I know. I understand. It's just... I finally saw the hope of being reborn as a human. I endured the agony of yin and yang energies slicing into me like a thousand knives just to gain this body."

He clenched his fists, completely speechless by the end.

Plummeting from heaven to hell, he had experienced what it felt like to be a living human again, only to lose everything before he could even use this body to see the outside world. And this time, he probably wouldn't even get to be a ghost. The shockwave of the grand formation's collapse would shatter his soul.

"It seems I still can't escape this calamity." Wang Shi's voice echoed through the ley lines, but it didn't travel far before being swallowed by the churning yin energy.

A few minutes later, he finally calmed down, his expression dim. "Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him. If I were you, I would make the same decision."

"Decision?"

Before I could react, he added, "Abandoning someone you can't save and escaping on your own isn't despicable. If it were me, I'd definitely do the exact same thing."

His face was ashen, as if he had already accepted his bitter fate.

"You don't need to worry too much. I'm waiting for an opportunity. Once it gets dark, it'll be harder for the sect cultivators to hunt me. If the grand formation can hold out until then, I'll definitely come down to save you."

Wang Shi didn't seem to believe me. Assuming I was just looking for an excuse to leave, he said nothing more. His eyes turned vacant, losing all color, and he stared blankly at his legs pinned beneath the Mountain God Sculpture. "I was originally planning to write my recent experiences into my next novel. What a pity."

He raised his head and looked at the pitch-black ley lines. "Go. I'm already satisfied that I got to live this much longer."

A person's truest self is revealed at the final threshold of life and death. Right now, it felt as though Wang Shi had laid down a heavy burden. His gaze was weathered, yet it carried a trace of relief.

"Don't give up. Like I said, there will be a chance once it gets dark."

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, and I didn't dare stay any longer. I turned and left.

I stepped out from behind the shrine and looked out of the grand hall. The sky had grown completely overcast, covered in dark clouds. Blood-mixed yang qi floated in the middle, while the yin energy from the Henshan Yin Vein was suppressed at the very bottom.

"Fate Ghost!" I had been inside the ley lines for less than half an hour, but the situation had already drastically changed. The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation was suppressed. All the ghost soldiers were avoiding the bloodstained yang qi, and the Fate Ghost presiding over the grand formation had nowhere left to retreat. Surrounded by yang qi, it was in critical danger.

"Come back!" I knew that hastily summoning the Fate Ghost might cause the ghost soldiers to dissipate, entirely erasing the advantage we had built up. But compared to countless ghost soldiers, I valued the Fate Ghost much more.

In the center of the grand formation, the Fate Ghost's black hair whipped wildly at the approaching yang qi like long lashes. Its hair was woven from destiny itself and didn't fear ordinary yang qi. However, against the yang qi from beneath Jiangcheng's dragon vein, the hair was constantly forced back. It crackled loudly, more than half of it burning away.

The Fate Ghost was injured. Where its black hair couldn't protect it, the yang qi slipped through, leaving scorch marks all over its body.

"I told you to come back!" It had actually disobeyed my first command. Recalling the Desire Ghost's behavior from earlier, I vaguely understood that once ghostly entities grew to a certain level, they developed their own emotions. Controlling ghosts couldn't rely solely on forceful enslavement.

Only after repeated calls did the Fate Ghost abandon its control over the ghost soldiers and retreat into the grand hall.

Its physical condition was even worse than I had imagined. Its black hair was ragged and devoid of luster, and most of its skin was burned by the yang qi. If not for the protection of the totem formed by that ghost face, the Fate Ghost likely wouldn't even be able to maintain a human shape right now.

'The backlash of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation is actually this severe! If a living person took its place, they wouldn't be able to endure it at all. This is sacrificing human lives to Yanluo!' Ignoring the Fate Ghost's resistance, I ordered it to stand behind me and forbade it from acting rashly.

Without the Fate Ghost presiding over it, the coverage of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation rapidly shrank. Ten Directions Complete Annihilation—it left no path of survival. The sky full of yang qi pressed down, suffocating me with absolute despair.

"I've done all I can."

There was still some time before the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation collapsed. Before leaving, I had one last thing to do.

I gathered my belongings and walked out of the Three Yin Sect's main hall.

By now, the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation could only protect the side rooms at the edge of the Taoist temple. The dense fog had thinned, allowing the sect cultivators and me to see each other clearly.

"He's out!"

"The little thief is finally giving up his resistance."

"It seems our persistence paid off. Once we capture him alive, we'll have to trouble Daoist Chen."

"It's a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

The sect Celestial Masters were beaming with smug satisfaction. Seeing their faces, I let out a cold laugh and walked straight to the edge of the grand formation.

At the boundary between the two overlapping formations, I stopped in my tracks. My gaze swept across those so-called righteous Celestial Masters before finally landing on Elder Chen.

"Elder Chen," I called out directly. "The last time we met, you were a widely respected philanthropist. This time, you're a Taoist priest from the Xiao Zhuang Taoist Temple. I wonder what identity you'll be using the next time we meet?" In these final moments, I was going to tear off his disguise right in front of the Five Great Upper Sects!