Chapter Twenty-Three: Opportunity

Zihuan pondered for a moment before speaking, “This creature is called a Ghost Infant. Its true form is the child forcibly cut from a pregnant woman's womb before its natural birth. Because it was so cruelly torn from life, it carries immense resentment. If it is then refined with secret arts of gu magic, it becomes a Ghost Infant that craves to devour vital energy and yang essence.”

Chen Jiu slowly opened his eyes, just in time to see the Ghost Infant approach a mortal nearby.

Mortals, of course, have not cultivated vital energy, so the Ghost Infant opened its mouth and sucked out a great mass of yang essence!

Immediately after, the person aged at a speed visible to the naked eye, his expression growing ever more listless.

“Who could have created such a thing?!” Chen Jiu was greatly perplexed.

“Beyond the Jin Dynasty, there was once an ancient kingdom in the Cloud Dian region, where gu practitioners reveled in a hundred poisons. Perhaps the method of making Ghost Infants originated there…” Zihuan speculated.

Chen Jiu watched as the Ghost Infant continuously devoured the vital energy of cultivators and the yang essence of mortals, soon it would be his turn.

“My magical power is greatly diminished now, only the Heavenly Eye on my forehead remains usable.” Chen Jiu mused inwardly.

Zihuan responded, “Exactly! You must use your Heavenly Eye… My spiritual sense is exceptionally strong. If you activate the ‘Spiritual Light Art’ in tandem with me, we might catch the Ghost Infant off guard and deal it a heavy blow. Then you can escape in the chaos.”

Chen Jiu’s heart leapt—this fox spirit was indeed clever… Wait! How did she know he possessed the ‘Spiritual Light’ technique???

But there was no time to inquire further, for the Ghost Infant was already before him!

Its blood-red eyes stared at Chen Jiu’s weary face, and it slowly parted its pale lips.

A chill swept from his head to his toes. Though Chen Jiu felt tense inside, his face betrayed nothing.

He had little magical power left, but activating the Heavenly Eye required only spiritual sense.

He gathered all his spiritual sense at his forehead.

The Ghost Infant hissed, and suddenly a powerful suction force erupted.

“This is your chance!” Zihuan cried.

Without hesitation, Chen Jiu opened all three eyes at once!

“Spiritual Light!”

The Ghost Infant’s twisted face grew even more grotesque at the sight.

“Ji!”

It let out a long, sharp shriek.

But Chen Jiu’s Heavenly Eye had already appeared, its violet-gold light flashing rapidly.

Moments later, a slender violet-gold beam shot forth.

With a bang, the beam struck the Ghost Infant, erupting in white smoke and sparks.

This attack, imbued with potent spiritual sense, instantly pierced the Ghost Infant’s skin, burrowing into its soul.

The Ghost Infant was terrified, whether from pain or the sudden loss of soul energy was unclear, but it flew out of the dilapidated temple and shrieked wildly outside.

“Ji!”

The sharp cry was like a sword, slicing through Chen Jiu’s ears and seeking to pierce his soul.

Just then, a violet light flickered, and Zihuan appeared suddenly.

She conjured a purple shield over Chen Jiu and untied the ropes binding him, saying, “We must go, the Ghost Infant seems to have gone mad.”

Chen Jiu had no objections; fleeing was the wise course.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Infant’s shriek seemed to awaken the others tied to the pillars.

One by one, they gazed around at the strange, terrifying scene, their faces dull.

“Where… where am I?!”

“What is that ghostly thing in the sky?!”

“Why am I tied up? Where is the spirit herb I just harvested?!”

…

People struggled off the rotten pillars, stumbling to the ground and looking around in confusion.

Suddenly, the Ghost Infant’s long howl ceased.

Apart from the clamor within the temple, all was silent.

Just as Chen Jiu was about to escape from the other side, a fierce, chilling wind swept through the temple.

The wind was sharp as blades, raising tatters and broken tiles from the floor.

The Ghost Infant flew in again—this time, its body was entirely blood-red, lips cracked with gaping wounds, and razor-sharp nails grew several inches from its fingertips.

It charged murderously at the panicked cultivators.

Chen Jiu frowned deeply—this was trouble. So many cultivators, their magical power nearly drained, stood no chance against the Ghost Infant.

But he had no interest in playing the savior; their fate was none of his concern.

Just as he was about to vault the low wall and escape the ruined temple, a whistling sound resounded overhead.

“Not good! The Ghost Infant has lost control!” An old, astonished voice rang out above him.

“What went wrong? This has never happened before!” another person said anxiously.

“Never mind that, let’s subdue the Ghost Infant first.”

“What about the awakened cultivators?” someone asked.

“Kill those without background. This must not spread!” a chilling voice replied.

“Good! I’ll set up a ward below, not a single one will escape.”

The whistling resumed, now heading toward the center of the temple.

Chen Jiu’s heart skipped—it was the old managers from Ascendant Pavilion!

From their conversation, it seemed the Ghost Infant’s creation was tied to Ascendant Pavilion…

But Chen Jiu had no time to dwell on that, for it was clear they would not spare cultivators like him.

“While I still have enough spiritual sense to shield you, hurry and run!” Zihuan urged.

Chen Jiu hid behind the low wall, waiting until the elders left for the temple to deal with the Ghost Infant; then he leaped over the wall and dashed away like oil on his heels.

Though his magical power was nearly exhausted and he should have been utterly spent, the threat of death awakened boundless strength within him.

“Head up the mountain. They must have set wards below—going down would mean walking into their trap.” Zihuan warned urgently.

Without hesitation, Chen Jiu changed direction, heading toward the mountaintop where the mist was thinner.

From the temple came agonized screams.

Soon, dozens of people fled, scattering in all directions like startled beasts…

Chen Jiu glanced once, then hurried onward.

“This is a disaster! Not only did I gain nothing, I nearly lost my life!” he muttered as he ran.

He suddenly realized that his bag of spirit herbs was gone, and his carryall containing the wooden sword and his traveling funds had vanished as well…

Though he kept his monastic certificate and cultivation manuals on his person, he’d had several taels of silver in that bag!

The thought of being penniless again made his heart ache.

Zihuan, now a violet light, hovered above Chen Jiu’s head, guarding him from the Ascendant Pavilion managers’ detection.

In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Chen Jiu burst through layer upon layer of white mist and reached a flat, open area.

“Where is this…” Chen Jiu saw many chaotic footprints ahead, clearly others had passed through.

“There’s a fluctuation of spiritual energy ahead!” Zihuan said.

Chen Jiu, hearing this, cautiously advanced to the edge of the clearing.

Soon, he reached its farthest rim.

He peered down and saw, below, an even broader platform.

On that platform stood a rectangular wooden table, covered with treasures that belonged in Ascendant Pavilion!

Beside the table stood a young man in a fiery red robe, evidently a guardian.

“That’s it!” Chen Jiu’s expression changed dramatically as he saw the pitch-black lotus pedestal at the center of the table.

“It seems they truly intend to reward the participants of the assembly,” Zihuan said, her tone meaningful.

Yet at this very moment, those who should be awarding the cultivators were slaughtering them…

“Can you just take him out directly?” Chen Jiu whispered.

With the treasures so close, he felt a cat-like itch in his heart, almost unbearable.