“Those who know this seat's true name and true form must die!”
The ghost immortal roared, rising from the ground. Its thin, skeletal fist was wrapped in secret runes of the ghost path as a fist print of endless deathly energy blasted toward Wang Xuanyi.
The black Buddha phantom moved as well. With a heavy thud, it stood up, glaring with rage. Brandishing its sharp weapon, it slashed down immediately.
With a loud clang, the sharp weapon struck the protective golden light, sounding like a great bronze bell. Ripples shuddered outward, and the powerful impact forced the black Buddha back two steps.
“True Dragon Art!”
Wang Xuanyi pressed his fingers together, and the patterns of a True Dragon surfaced behind him once more. His magic power flowed continuously to construct its true form. With immortal runes swirling in his palm, he pressed down toward the ghost immortal.
Boom!
A massive golden handprint descended from the sky, engraved with a sea of runes. It collided with the fist print, shattering it, and continued its suppression.
The eyes within the barrier burst forth with magic power chains once more, engraved with suppressing runes, and shot out to bind the ghost immortal.
“Don't even think about binding this seat again!”
The ghost immortal roared, black mist swirling around its body. Its powerful deathly energy shattered the incoming magic power chains. Staring at the golden handprint, it could only recall the black Buddha to resist it.
“Go!”
Wang Xuanyi pointed at the ghost immortal, and the True Dragon behind him swooped down with thunderous momentum, pouring out boundless, majestic magic power.
The black Buddha held up the golden handprint with both hands, making a muffled, heavy sound. As the immortal runes swirled in its palms, the power of the handprint intensified further.
Roar!
The black Buddha roared. With a sharp crack, it was completely shattered by the golden handprint adorned with immortal runes, and the ghost immortal was blasted away along with it.
Pfft!
The ghost immortal spat out black blood, deathly energy constantly leaking from its body. It could no longer gather it back together.
“This seat surren—”
Before it could finish its sentence, the pressure of the True Dragon bore down. The unstoppable might of the dragon's wrath crushed it, and the ghost immortal completely perished under the True Dragon Art.
After the ghost immortal's remnant soul dissipated, countless fragments of light and shadow drifted down. Every single fragment reflected a cultivator—both men and women, and even demon beasts and members of the demon sect.
Wang Xuanyi walked among these fragments, seeing cultivators who had lost their lives after accidentally wandering into this place, or those who had struck a deal, giving away half of themselves only to die in the remaining half.
These were the soul brands left behind by the ghost immortal. Now, with the ghost immortal's demise, they were finally liberated.
However, they were not as fortunate as Mo Yan to live to see this moment.
Those who died because of the ghost immortal, no matter where they were when they were alive, would return here after death due to the soul brand, becoming its nourishment.
This was the ghost immortal's divine ability, Soul Capture.
“Found it. The old geezer's soul brand.”
A tiny fragment drifted into Wang Xuanyi's palm. Reflected upon it was the image of Mo Yan in his youth—very handsome, much better-looking than his current old-man appearance.
And there was also that girl from the Li family.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist!”
“!”
Wang Xuanyi suddenly raised his head. Thousands of remnant souls of cultivators stood upon their respective ancient graves, bowing respectfully toward him.
“If not for Fellow Daoist, we might still be suffering torment, unable to enter the true place of Samsara.”
“Indeed. We have waited for thousands of years, and we have finally waited for Fellow Daoist.”
“Oh my, this Fellow Daoist is so handsome. If this humble one hadn't died so early, I would have chased you to the ends of the earth.”
“Bullshit. With your looks, Fellow Daoist might not even spare you a glance.”
“Hahaha! Fellow Daoist has great skills, far stronger than us.”
“Fellow Daoist, we wish you a prosperous immortal path!”
Thousands of ghosts teased, laughed, and blessed him, eventually transforming into beams of light that dissipated into the world.
“I wish you all pleasant dreams!”
Wang Xuanyi bowed, sending them off.
Then, the moment Wang Xuanyi stepped out, the ghost immortal's domain turned to ashes, drifting away with a gentle breeze and vanishing completely.
The Ten Thousand Immortal Mound had lost another perilous place.
“Haha! This deity knew you would be fine!”
With a loud crash, a wine jar shattered. Having waited for a long time, the Immortal Phoenix tossed aside her ninth jar of Green Bamboo Wine and immediately hugged Wang Xuanyi.
“Tsk, we're not that close. Men and women shouldn't be so physically intimate. Besides, I'm still an innocent young man. You're going to make people misunderstand.” Wang Xuanyi looked extremely disgusted, yet he still hugged the Immortal Phoenix back.
This hug was not between Dao companions, but as friends.
“Hehe, this deity specifically left a jar of Green Bamboo Wine for you. I was just waiting for you to come out so we could raise our cups together.”
The Immortal Phoenix was not one to stand on ceremony. She immediately opened the last jar of wine, picked up a shard from the ground that could hold liquid, and generously filled it up before handing it to Wang Xuanyi.
Then, she picked up the jar and drank directly from it.
“Ah~ How refreshing!”
The Immortal Phoenix showed a satisfied expression. Unable to take it anymore, Wang Xuanyi stepped up and punched her.
“I brewed that wine! I left ten jars for you, and you only give me one mouthful?! Do you have any humanity left?! No, wait, do you have any beastly nature?! No, that's not right either, do you have any phoenix nature?!”
No matter how he said it, it sounded awkward.
Forget it. He shouldn't hang out with idiots.
Ignoring the aggrieved Immortal Phoenix, Wang Xuanyi downed the remaining wine in one gulp.
After that, Wang Xuanyi asked about the changes in the outside world. The aggrieved Immortal Phoenix turned her back, refusing to pay any attention to this heartless fellow.
Left with no choice, Wang Xuanyi had to take out ten jars of Green Bamboo Wine and a few side dishes. Only then did he coax the petulant Immortal Phoenix back to a good mood.
Munch, munch.
The Immortal Phoenix ate the pickles and drank the wine. Only after she was satisfied did she speak. “A few hours after you entered the ghost immortal's domain, the Dao Discussion Platform opened.”
“Oh? Was I in there for that long?”
Wang Xuanyi took a gulp of wine and asked. He felt like barely any time had passed. How could a brief moment inside equate to several hours outside?
“More than that! You spent about two days in there before coming out. If you were any later, the Ancient Immortal Realm would probably be closing,” the Immortal Phoenix said, her lips pouting.
“What?!”
Wang Xuanyi spat out the wine he had just sipped. This news was simply too shocking.
“What's the big deal? The Ancient Immortal Realm is an ancient battlefield refined by ancient immortals. The flow of time here is definitely different from the outside world. And the trial grounds created by the ten thousand immortals are different from the Ancient Immortal Realm itself, so there's bound to be a time difference.”
“Then how much time has passed in the outside world?”
The Immortal Phoenix took a sip of wine and counted on her fingers. “Probably about three months. I don't know the exact time either.”
“...”
Wang Xuanyi fell silent.
The original novel had not described this part, only stating that the flow of time in the Ancient Immortal Realm was consistent with the outside world, without much further detail. Why had it changed here?
“Oh, even if you're worried, you can't enter the Dao Discussion Platform anyway,” the Immortal Phoenix said upon seeing Wang Xuanyi's distressed look.
“What do you mean?”
“Your cultivation realm is rather special. The ancient immortals once set up a secret method: no cultivator above the Nascent Soul Realm can enter the Ancient Immortal Realm, and no Golden Core Realm cultivator can set foot on the Dao Discussion Platform.”
“The Dao Discussion Platform is essentially a place to temper Foundation Establishment and Violet Palace Realm cultivators; cultivators beyond these realms are strictly forbidden from entering. The reason the realm allows Golden Core Realm cultivators inside is also because they took into account that the strongest of these True Immortal remnant souls would only be at the Nascent Soul Realm.”
The Immortal Phoenix explained while drinking.
“I see. That's a relief then.”
Wang Xuanyi breathed a sigh of relief. He often skimmed through books, so he had forgotten many of the settings. It seemed his lack of careful reading had caused this misunderstanding.
Rate on N.U.
