Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The ones appearing before Tang Jie's eyes were none other than Shi Jingzhai and Tutu.
When Tang Jie had been teleported away back then, while Yiyi had come with him, Shi Jingzhai and Tutu hadn't been able to come along. He hadn't expected to run into them here.
At this time, Tutu the rabbit fiend was crouched on Shi Jingzhai's shoulder, squealing as it covered its eyes with its ears and trembled in fear. Meanwhile, Shi Jingzhai was shouting and grunting as he battled with the daemons.
With his addled mind, he didn't know the way to kill daemons and only knew brute strength. Fortunately, most of the daemons had been killed by Godhead Palace, so he was still able to hold on.
But in the maze, he didn't know to take the initiative and run. If Tang Jie hadn't come, he probably would have exhausted himself to death.
When Tang Jie saw that it was those two, he immediately rushed in. Without using Primordial Yang power, only his punches, he cleaned up all the daemons.
Shi Jingzhai excitedly rushed over. Tang Jie was about to hug him, but Shi Jingzhai surprisingly ran past him and went up to Yiyi, where he covered his head and started to cry. This imbecile didn't know how to talk, so he just cried in front of Yiyi. As for Tutu, it jumped down from Shi Jingzhai's shoulder and into Tang Jie's arms, shouting, "Young Master, we finally meet again! Wooo… eh? You seem a little different."
Tang Jie lifted up its ears. "Save the chatter and tell me how you got here first."
Tutu stammered out their story.
Shi Jingzhai and Tutu had been left all alone in the Basking Moon Sect. Without their master, they had lost their backing, but Qi Shaoming and Tang Jie's other comrades hadn't mistreated them.
But the Beast Refining Gate's attack on the mountain had caused the two sects to enter open hostilities, and the Transverse Range had been turned into a battlefield. Cai Junyang, Peng Yaolong, Qi Shaoming, and Wei Tianchong were all fighting with the Beast Refining Gate there.
Without the help of Tang Jie's good friends, Tutu was in trouble.
While most of the cultivators of the Basking Moon Sect had a sense of camaraderie, there were still a few scoundrels, just like that Yu Yan from before. And this time, a chamberlain came out with the intent of taking Tutu.
This person seemed to have been interested in Tutu's identity as a Heaven-Lost Rabbit. Perhaps thinking that Tang Jie wouldn't be coming back alive, he acted without any sort of restraint.
With no other options, Tutu could only flee the Zephyr Mountains with Shi Jingzhai.
They had nowhere to go, so they just ran around blindly. One having strength and no brains, and the other having brains and no strength, they made for a perfect pair. Thus, in half a year of traveling, they basically weren't in much danger.
One day, as Tutu and Shi Jingzhai were wandering around, they ended up in the Mount Eternal region.
The Stone Gate Sect had been located in Mount Eternal, and so Shi Jingzhai inexplicably managed to recover some of his memories upon seeing the familiar scenery.
Thus, he led Tutu toward the mine, venturing all the way until they reached the very bottom of the mines.
The poisonous moths had already been killed, and the water purified. All the dangers had been cleaned up, and there were certainly no hidden treasures, just an empty space.
But the several years Shi Jingzhai had spent digging here had left an indelible impression on him.
Thus, he once more swam through the underwater river into the cavern.
Since the water wasn't poisoned, Shi Jingzhai didn't need to strip his clothes.
Through that small passage, he and Tutu arrived at that now-cleaned-out cavern.
He followed the path he had dug out until he came before a black fissure.
"'A black fissure'?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.
He naturally knew what that was.
A spatial fissure.
He had seen that fissure before when exploring that underground cavern, and he knew that the cavern's abundance of rare resources was closely linked to the fissure. Even the bean soldiers, as a treasure that Shi Jingzhai had secretly hoarded for himself, were probably from the spatial fissure.
But after that, Tang Jie stopped paying attention to the fissure.
He hadn't expected the fissure to suddenly become active again.
Looking at Tutu, Tang Jie suddenly remembered something.
A Heaven-Lost Rabbit!
He suddenly understood.
He said, "You went into that spatial fissure?"
Tutu shrank back. "I didn't expect that guy to be this crazy."
Even with the ability of spatial orientation, surviving and drifting in the void was no easy task. Tutu had never imagined that there would be a spatial fissure there, let alone that Shi Jingzhai would go crazy upon encountering it. This madman shouted when he saw the fissure and jumped right in.
This scared Tutu out of its wits.
It was well aware that it and Shi Jingzhai were not strong enough to live for long in the infinite void, so it immediately activated its ability and sought a way out.
Its luck turned out to be pretty good.
The moment it activated its ability, it found a spatial tunnel not far from their location. This meant that they could get back to the Rosecloud Domain through this passage, though it might not be in Sageheart.
Tutu immediately took control of Shi Jingzhai and had him fly toward that tunnel.
They arrived in time, and when they reappeared, they were in the underground palace, surrounded by daemons.
"You're saying… this maze has a spatial fissure?" Tang Jie's eyes glinted.
"No, it's not a fissure," Tutu unexpectedly replied. "It's a proper spatial gate, a secret entrance."
―――――――――――
The farther one went, the thicker the fog became.
It gradually became impossible to see one's own hands, even worse than that lightless maze.
The avatar Tang Jie advanced through the fog, seeking a way forward.
Suddenly, a cold laugh rang out next to his ear.
Turning his head, he saw a dark figure drifting about the fog.
"A Wandering Soul?" Tang Jie narrowed his eyes.
Wandering Souls were a type of ghost, ranked lower than White Phantoms but even more troublesome. This was because these ghosts were ethereal beings that were immune to the majority of attacks. Besides that, they also knew spell arts. Most importantly, they weren't solitary existences.
As that one Wandering Soul appeared, more and more of them began to appear around Tang Jie, all of them laughing.
"Quite a lot of them," Tang Jie casually said, not the least bit afraid. Smiling, he said, "The stronger you are, the happier I am."
Hiss! The ghosts shrieked.
"It's useless." Tang Jie shook his head and revealed something in his palm.
The Soul Refining Pearl.
The moment the ghosts saw the Soul Refining Pearl, fear appeared on their savage faces.
The Soul Refining Pearl was specifically built to absorb souls, and ghosts happened to be souls that used Yin energy to manifest.
If these were ghosts like White Phantoms, who were individually rather strong, the Soul Refining Pearl wouldn't have been able to deal with them that easily. After all, it wasn't a pearl made for absorbing ghosts. But it was more than enough against ghosts like Wandering Souls.
The Soul Refining Pearl basically countered these Wandering Souls, so how could they not be afraid? With a shriek, they retreated.
Tang Jie snorted. "You think I'm going to let you come and go as you please? I happened to be lacking in souls, so I can use you lot to refill."
Ever since he had decided to deal with Godhead Palace in this place, Tang Jie had decided to use everything he had. As he had already used his previous trump cards and racked his brains for what else he could do, he finally took out the Soul Refining Pearl, which he had always been reluctant to use, but it wasn't the only thing he was using.
As the Soul Refining Pearl activated, none of the Wandering Souls was able to escape, all of them drawn into the pearl amid howling blasts of sinister wind. As they flew into the pearl, Tang Jie thrust his finger at the air several times.
Spiritual light flashed, and an ethereal cage formed.
A Spirit Light Cage.
The Spirit Light Cage was a spell art recorded in the Ghost Classic specifically for imprisoning ghosts, doing exactly as the name would suggest. But this cage was only good for holding, not catching, for which one still had to rely on oneself.
Tang Jie didn't care, pointing at the cage and saying, "Go!"
Though the Wandering Souls hesitated for a moment, they surged toward the cage en masse.
When the choice was between death and imprisonment, everyone knew what to choose.
The Spirit Light Cage glowed, and it was soon stuffed with Wandering Souls.
Catching the Wandering Souls one by one would take a great deal of effort, but when coerced by the Soul Refining Pearl, they accepted being captured as a group. Only a few Wandering Souls entered the Soul Refining Pearl, where they howled as they were refined, leaving the remaining ghosts trembling in fear.
The Spirit Light Cage shrank until it fell into Tang Jie's hand, the size of a palm. Tang Jie put it away and continued forward.
He had big plans for these ghosts.
He didn't go far before he heard a growl.
A person walked out of the fog.
Though he called it a person, it was really another type of ghost. That person's face was stiff and dried out like jerky. Its rigid body made it sway as it moved, and it wore a suit of tattered armor and held a spear.
"A Shambler," Tang Jie muttered.
Before him was clearly a Shambler.
This garden truly had a host of creatures: White Phantoms, Wandering Souls, and now Shamblers.
Shamblers were ranked the lowest among ghosts and shouldn't have posed a threat, but Tang Jie was still extremely cautious.
Unlike other ghosts, Shamblers arose from corpses and came with physical bodies. While their rank was low, their strength actually depended on the strength of the corpse in life.
This Shambler clearly belonged to a deceased guard of the Court of Myriad Domains.
The guard shouldn't have been very strong, but it was hard to say that when it came to the Court of Myriad Domains.
This was an existence that had once ruled the entire Great Stellar Chiliocosm, so even an ordinary guard couldn't be underestimated.
Sure enough, the Shambler staggered over, and when it got close to Tang Jie, it thrust out its spear.
It seemed like an unremarkable blow, but Tang Jie evaded to the side, not daring to underestimate it. At the same time, he chopped his palm, sending out a Dragonlike Hand.
The attack struck the Shambler with a bang, and the Shambler swayed. But then, as if nothing had happened, it turned around and thrust its spear at Tang Jie again.
Tang Jie grimaced.
He was much stronger now that he had attained the Celestial Heart Realm, and his power was no longer restrained by his cultivation realm. His Dragonlike Hand had seemed simple, but it was actually built on the foundation of the Ninedark Mantra and the Violet Jade Mantra, so it was much stronger than normal. Yet it had done absolutely nothing to the Shambler.
That spear moved with deceptive speed, and Tang Jie could only raise his hand to block.
The palm clashed with the spear, and Tang Jie felt an immense power surging through him. Unable to control his body, he was blown back.
Meanwhile, that deceptively fast spear went straight for Tang Jie's neck.
"Fuck!" Tang Jie only had time to curse as he activated the Chaoswind Step, blinking away. He then flung out his hand, and there was a golden flash of light that swept past the Shambler. Bang! A head went shooting into the air.
The headless Shambler turned around and thrust its spear again at Tang Jie. Losing its head had had no effect on it, not even on its sense of direction, though it was hard to say exactly how this Shambler could tell which direction was where.
Tang Jie had no choice but to swing the golden saber three more times: once to break the spear, a second to break the arm, and the third to break a leg.
With three swings, the Shambler was left with only one arm and one leg, but it was still crawling along the ground, refusing to die.
Helpless, Tang Jie stomped on the Shambler.
The Shambler's hand grabbed his ankle.
Tang Jie coldly said, "I'd like to see if you can still move after you've been cut into a thousand pieces."
His blade danced.
The Shambler was sliced into countless chunks.
This time, it stopped moving for good.
Whew! Tang Jie breathed out.
This creature had been more troublesome than he had expected.
It was clear that the guard Shambler had been like a body refiner, lacking powerful spell arts but possessing an extremely tough body that could fend off various attacks and was endowed with immense strength. If his golden saber hadn't countered it, it truly would have been difficult for him to deal with.
Thinking this, he raised his pant leg and saw that the area where the Shambler had grabbed had a purplish bruise that was rapidly fading.
Even with his Heavenly Spirit Law Body, the Shambler had still left a dark bruise, and he was momentarily at a loss for words.
Alas, Shamblers had no spirit, or else he would have captured one.
Wait.
Tang Jie had a thought.
Shamblers had no spirit, so could he put one in them?
With this thought in mind, Tang Jie pulled out the Soul Refining Pearl.
The Soul Refining Pearl's initial purpose was possession.
But the soul would resist, and the vast majority of possessions ended in failure. However, the momentary daze created by the process of possession made the pearl an excellent paralyzing weapon.
But what if the target had no soul?
Tang Jie was suddenly tempted.
If the target had no soul, the possession would encounter no resistance. Didn't that mean he could possess and control the target as he desired?
In truth, he had had thoughts like this more than once, though he had never found a suitable target. After all, there were few existences that were both strong and soulless. In addition, he didn't dare to use it in the Rosecloud Domain.
But today, Tang Jie saw some hope.
Both the Soul Refining Pearl and Ghost Classic were objects that couldn't see the light of day, and they were ideal for a world that didn't see the light of day.
This secret dimension was the ideal location!
Thinking this, Tang Jie stopped and rushed off to the side.
If he remembered correctly, that Shambler had come from here.
If he went there, he might find more.
As he ran over, he saw several people running toward him: two Bloodbath Hall disciples of Godhead Palace and several members of the Beast Refining Gate.
They spotted Tang Jie and excitedly shouted, "Young Master Qian, hurry and help us! The ghosts here are very formidable."
"What kind of ghost?" Tang Jie asked as he strode over.
"Some Shamblers. Weapons can't penetrate their skin, and spell arts barely do a thing," one of them replied.
"Leave it to me," Tang Jie replied as he walked over. He swung his golden saber, and several heads dropped to the earth. With a wave of his hand, their bags flew to him, and he put them away without a second glance.
This fog garden place was a perfect place to kill and loot.
Several people charged out of the fog, clearly Shambler guards like the one Tang Jie had killed earlier.
Tang Jie raised the Soul Refining Pearl, and a figure floated out of the pearl—one of the souls that the Soul Refining Pearl had absorbed. This soul had spent too little time in the pearl to become a Mindseizer, and it didn't have any ferocity, so it would have been difficult for it to possess anything. But the target it was being used on was even weaker, a Shambler without any soul at all. It was an empty house that even the weakest person could occupy.
As for mature Mindseizers, Tang Jie naturally had some, but they were liable to change the original appearance of the host and become purple daemons that were rather similar to the black daemons of the maze. Not even mentioning the decrease in strength, this would also be more likely to expose the Soul Refining Pearl. It was better to leave them in reserve as a paralyzing tool.
Thus, letting out souls that had yet to become Mindseizers was more suitable in this situation.
With a whoosh, the soul flew into the Shambler.
A moment later, the Shambler froze, then it looked around, clearly able to think. It saw its new body, and a smile appeared on its stiff face.
When it looked at Tang Jie, there was a ferocity in its eyes.
Tang Jie snorted, "It seems you don't know your place."
He raised the Soul Refining Pearl, and the Shambler shuddered as it remembered what had happened to it within the pearl.
This was a pain that was engraved in its soul. Even for a ghost, it had been a supreme punishment.
Cowed by the Soul Refining Pearl, the Shambler got down on one knee in front of Tang Jie, though it was done with great reluctance.
"Very good!" Tang Jie was very satisfied.
The other Shamblers were rushing over at this time, and Tang Jie released several more souls to take control of them. With the power of the Soul Refining Pearl, he was able to turn all the Shamblers into his subordinates.
Tang Jie created another Spirit Light Cage and put the Shamblers within. The Spirit Light Cage had little effect on the physically powerful Shamblers, but as Tang Jie didn't permit them to break it, they could only bear it.
Tang Jie began to seek out ghosts and Shamblers, planting souls in the Shamblers to take control of them.
The ghosts of the garden were so fierce that others would detour around them, but he happily went up to them. He captured many of the garden's ghosts, having a wonderful time in this dangerous place, as if he was in paradise. In truth, even if he were in a real paradise, he wouldn't have been as happy.
As Tang Jie was searching, several ghosts appeared before him.
Just as he was about to use the Soul Refining Pearl to absorb them, the ghosts shouted and ran off.
They ran!
They actually ran!
Tang Jie was stunned.
Ghosts had intelligence and could communicate with each other.
It was clear that Tang Jie's infamy had begun to spread through the garden such that the surviving ghosts would no longer get in his way.
There was a gust of wind.
The fog scattered.
Pavilions and fountains appeared before him.
"Is this… seeing the visitor out?" Tang Jie muttered.
Several ethereal figures appeared in the air, bowing toward him.
It seemed like they really were afraid.
Several brainless Shamblers wanted to rush at Tang Jie, but they were disoriented by some fog and sent off in another direction.
Tang Jie saw that there weren't many ghosts left, so after some thought, he decided to give up. Nodding, he said, "Fine; I'll let you go."
The ghosts were delighted.
A gust of wind delivered a small bottle.
Tang Jie opened it and glanced inside. "A ghost essence?"
He had been hunting ghosts originally to gather some ghost essences, but ghost essences were so rare that one could kill one hundred ghosts and not find a single one.
To his surprise, these ghosts had gifted him some. There were quite a few within the bottle, probably left behind when the ghosts of this garden dissipated and gathered up.
It might have been useful for those ghosts with intelligence. They seemed well-aware of how important they were.
He looked pensively at the ghosts and said, "You guys are much smarter than I thought. I still need the ghosts I captured to control the Shamblers, so I can't release them for now. Once the battle is over, I will release them."
The ghosts in the air prostrated to Tang Jie in thanks.
Tang Jie turned and left.
It seemed like the ghosts here had more feeling than humans.
After this incident, Tang Jie knew that he needed to pay more attention when using the Soul Refining Pearl. From now on, he could only absorb ghosts that were particularly wicked.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺