Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 271 - 271 270 The Sword Returns to the Nether End of the Month Request for Monthly Ticket

271: Chapter 270: The Sword Returns to the Nether [End of the Month Request for Monthly Ticket] 271: Chapter 270: The Sword Returns to the Nether [End of the Month Request for Monthly Ticket] PS: Bonus chapter, seeking monthly tickets!

If we wait any longer, they’ll start to mold!

……

At nearly the same time as Xiang Zhiwen and the disguised ghost merged, a sword light suddenly slashed down, severing the disguise, which had lost the support of the Soul Pill, into two pieces.

Its soul attempted to flee the body, yet it seemed as if an invisible barrier prevented it from soaring away.

Hou Niao’s sword light surged again, but the disguised ghost, armed with a Soul Pill, displayed astounding power in its life and death struggle.

Even under the mysterious suppressing force, the absolute dominance of its realm and the uniqueness of the Soul Body were simply beyond what a lower cultivator’s sword could extinguish.

With a surge of ferocious energy, the disguised ghost realized the peril of its current situation as its body was destroyed and years of hard work dissipated in an instant, coupled with the intervention of an unknown external force.

It was not surprising that Xiang Zhiwen fought back desperately, but the ghost suspected that a higher cultivator from Quanzhen Sect was lurking nearby.

The techniques, however, clearly did not belong to a sword cultivator, compelling the ghost to find a safe means of escape.

Returning to Jin City was out of the question; lying low had failed.

Its immediate problem was to escape the threatening invisible barrier around its Soul Body.

In its exposed soul state, it struggled to exert influence, barely able to move, so a temporary refuge in another body was needed to break free before considering the next step.

The ghost set its sights on the body of the low-level cultivator before it.

Did it even have another choice?

As a Ghost King-level Soul Body possessing a Soul Pill, it naturally had the power to take over the bodies of low-rank humans.

Under normal circumstances, this would bring no benefits, as an incompatible body would limit its strength and cultivation, which is why it meticulously chose bodies like Zheng Shixie’s, which were closely matched in realm, rather than demean itself by possessing the body of a lesser cultivator.

But now, with no alternative, it had to force its way in, borrowing the body to make its escape, and then fly far away once it was outside the cave.

As for the fate of the lower cultivator, such brutal possession left only one possible outcome.

When it made its decision, Hou Niao was powerless to stop it.

His sword could not inflict fatal damage on the disguised ghost’s Soul Body; the sense of impotence in the face of a higher realm was the core issue.

The disguised ghost transformed into a pure form of energy, passing through Hou Niao’s longsword as if it were nothing, and with an upward thrust, it entered the depths of Hou Niao’s Purple Mansion…

This was a trick the ghost was well accustomed to; there were two ways for a Soul Body to invade: one was through the Sea of Consciousness, the other through the Purple Mansion Vortex.

Entering the Sea of Consciousness was for the purpose of body seizing, which involved struggling against the host consciousness, not only wasting time but also the ghost had no interest in seizing the body of a low-level cultivator.

Thus, the only option was to enter the Purple Mansion Vortex.

Although it couldn’t control the cultivator’s actions, those outside could do nothing about it, unless they completely destroyed the cultivator’s Purple Mansion.

It was equivalent to a secure haven to momentarily seek refuge, hiding from the elusive expert, which was the entity it currently feared the most.

The location of a human’s Purple Mansion was all too familiar to it, and this one was no different.

As the Soul Body collided and headed into the unknown depths of the Purple Mansion, it found its place of refuge.

The next moment…

Hmm, this path seems rather long?

To the ghost, a normal person’s Purple Mansion was but a thin membrane, easily broken through with a collision.

It was just a layer of mystery, but this person’s Purple Mansion was twisted and convoluted—had it run into the wrong spot, stumbled into an intricate labyrinth akin to intestines?

Seemingly endless, with no sign of conclusion; crucially, the ghost found that upon entering, it couldn’t control its own Soul Body.

There was an immense force of suction ahead, and even if it wished to leave now, it was completely unable to control the involuntary progression, moving despite itself.

Fear began to rise in its heart; what kind of freak was this, whose Purple Mansion was so wondrous?

Inside a Bridge Connection cultivator lay a force that even a Ghost King with a Soul Pill could not resist.

Could this be a reincarnated individual?

But the Heavenly Dao Rules had long since prohibited reincarnation.

The disguised ghost grew increasingly terrified as it realized that it couldn’t struggle against this engulfing force.

Until, in its field of vision appeared other Soul Bodies, grouped in twos and threes, drifting aimlessly, some of them even hostilely closing in on it.

Being a true form of Soul Body Energy with a perception unique to Soul Bodies, as soon as it saw these floating, wandering souls, it felt an overpowering sense of weakness from deep within.

These weren’t the rootless subordinates it had back in West Mang Mountain; the majority were the souls of mortal soldiers, with only a very few cultivator souls, mostly of low cultivation.

Those who had reached the third realm of Tongtian in their lifetime were exceedingly rare.

But here, it was the only Soul Pill, while all other soul bodies were at least starting at Nascent Transformation, and even higher there were those unspeakable entities!

What place was this?

The skin-walker sat paralyzed on the ground, having long lost the will to resist.

How could it not, when there were tens of thousands of soul bodies like it here?

Was this the Heavenly Palace of Souls?

Then what was that minor cultivator doing outside?

…Hou Niao patted his own belly, that fool had charged headfirst into his Purple Mansion Vortex, and in this lifetime, it would never think of getting out again; as he slowly made his way there, he would eventually find it and flay it alive!

He reached Xiang Zhiwen’s side just as the man was on the brink of death; even if he stuffed the most precious elixir into him, it would be futile.

The collapse of the Purple Mansion was beyond human power to reverse.

Suppressing his grief, he passed a thread of spiritual power, not to save him but to know his last wish.

With his effort, Xiang Zhiwen opened his eyes.

Hou Niao didn’t want him to waste time on trivial matters, so he said softly,

“Senior brother, the skin-walker has been eliminated, thanks to you entangling with it.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the chance to kill it.”

At this moment, Xiang Zhiwen was half-conscious and did not have the strength to consider whether he had truly ensnared the skin-walker.

But as long as the great enemy was gone and his brothers were safe, nothing else mattered.

“West Mang soul ghosts…

must not be slaughtered…

This is a solitary matter of grudges, not to be expanded…

If possible, just report to the sect that my ascension to the upper realm failed, unrelated to others!”

Grudges are forever unsettled, nor is there a way to measure that can satisfy both sides.

If one dwells on this, unless one side is completely obliterated, it is never possible.

Will humanity be obliterated?

No!

If humans don’t perish, soul ghosts won’t either!

Thus, humans and souls are in a state of coexistence, never changing.

Slaughtering West Mang soul ghosts might relieve immediate anger, but it wouldn’t be certain when another skin-walker would emerge, nor another unlucky Xiang Zhiwen; this was why during the trials at West Mang Mountain, even if disciples died, the various powers did not exterminate the soul ghost group.

Xiang Zhiwen wasn’t worried that the Quanzhen Sect would do such a thing; what he worried about were his patrolling brothers undertaking such a meaningless task!

Hou Niao grasped his hand tightly, “Senior brother rest assured, the West Mang soul ghosts won’t be slaughtered, but there will also never be a second Ghost King in West Mang Mountain!”

Xiang Zhiwen’s hand grew weaker.

Hou Niao urgently asked, “Senior brother, do you have any more instructions?”

“None…”

Xiang Zhiwen closed his eyes, never to open them again.

…With a sigh, he buried his sword, lamenting the passing waves in the wind.

Wu Qian became grave covered in mugwort, while Chu Wan turned into a song amongst the leeks.