Chapter Fourteen: The Pearl of Shadows

Lu Shiqi was waiting, waiting for the arrival of the dutiful son’s ghost at the hour of the rabbit!

Time raced by. Suddenly, black mist billowed throughout the Jia residence, butterflies swirled in a chaotic dance, and the clang of cymbals and the blare of suona horns filled the air. Yet before the mourning papers drifting in the sky could touch the ground, they were frozen in midair, unable to fall.

Malice, thick as tar, was also trapped in this icy stasis. A faint, insubstantial figure appeared.

“Father! I smell the scent of a beautiful bride!” it cried.

It bore countless faces, innumerable eyes upon its body, howling with mad laughter as it cavorted in the wind and snow. When it caught sight of Lu Shiqi’s breathtaking beauty, its laughter grew even more frenzied.

But in the next instant, a primal terror surged through its mind. It began to tremble all over, and its laughter died instantly.

It saw the ground strewn with severed limbs and sensed the dispersal of three ghostly auras. Its instinctive dread only deepened.

“Father, where are you! I’m doomed, doomed, doomed! Mother, save me!” it shrieked, wailing for its parents as it spun on its heel and fled.

In its panic, it crashed through the roof and shot away over the Jia residence.

Yet Lu Shiqi did not give chase. Instead, she walked toward the kitchen.

The greatest malice dwelled there.

As Lu Shiqi’s figure vanished from Chu Tiange’s sight, a wretched scream rang out from outside. Moments later, a young scholar walked in, hoisting a spatial bag over his shoulder.

“Chu Tiange, oh Chu Tiange, at last I’ve found you!” the young scholar exclaimed, setting down the bag and wiping his brow, panting for breath.

The screams continued, coming from within the bag itself. The malice of the dutiful sons, it seemed, had walked straight into the trap laid by Xiao Shijing, plunging themselves into his inescapable net.

“Xiao Shijing!” Chu Tiange’s eyes flashed with fury at the newcomer.

If not for the damned Xiao Shijing, his whereabouts would never have been discovered by Butcher Ma and the others, nor would he have found himself in such peril.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Have you fallen for my charm as well?” Xiao Shijing, sensing Chu Tiange’s burning gaze, shook his head in mock disappointment. “I like women. Beautiful women. Especially ones as stunning as Lu Shiqi.”

Lu Shiqi, famed as the foremost female prodigy on the Azure Profound Continent, graced the cover of every cultivator’s monthly, her portrait etched into the memory of all who walked the path of cultivation—one glance, and you’d never forget her.

She had captured the hearts of countless men, young and old, becoming the unattainable ideal in their eyes. Clearly, Xiao Shijing was no exception.

“Get lost,” Chu Tiange said, taking a deep breath. “When we get back, I’m reporting you to the Cultivation Alliance for using the Azure Mirror to invade people’s privacy. What happened to the laws of the immortals?”

Xiao Shijing shrugged, utterly unconcerned. “It wasn’t me who gave it to you in the first place. Report it if you like. What does the headmaster’s business have to do with me?”

“But think carefully. You’re a disciple of the Morning Immortal Sect—if you go report the headmaster, aren’t you worried about retribution? Maybe you don’t care, but Zhao Yiren is the sect’s star pupil. She gets the best resources, the best cultivation techniques, the finest teachers—aren’t you afraid she’ll lose all that because of you?”

“Is that a threat?” Chu Tiange’s eyes turned cold.

A person doesn’t change overnight. In his previous life, the useless Chu Tiange would have panicked at this moment. But with the experience and perspective he now possessed, his temperament and outlook were utterly different.

Leaving the sect would mean losing some resources, but they were paltry compared to what he could obtain now. With the Swallowing Heaven Creation Mantra, he could blaze a new trail and still reach the pinnacle of the Azure Profound Continent.

But Zhao Yiren was different. She truly needed the best cultivation resources.

Xiao Shijing sensed the chill in Chu Tiange’s gaze and continued, “But that’s the truth of it. The headmaster only cares about your safety—why else would he have me watching over you outside the town? Consider it an extra layer of protection.”

Chu Tiange’s expression softened slightly.

Xiao Shijing pressed his advantage. “Let me make it up to you: ten superior-grade spirit stones, my treat. That should ease your anger, shouldn’t it?”

He opened his storage ring, counted out ten superior-grade spirit stones, and offered them. “Here you go. No need to be mad anymore.”

“Ten superior-grade spirit stones? Deal!” Chu Tiange’s eyes lit up. Once he accepted the stones, all his irritation seemed to blow away with the wind.

Money moves even the dead, and Chu Tiange was no exception. With more spirit stones, he could buy more resources and advance faster.

Unfortunately, Chu Tiange had no storage pouch. Before leaving the sect, he tried to buy one at the treasury, but was told there were no spares for new disciples and that it would take three days to custom order one.

Chu Tiange had no time to wait, so he paid the deposit and left. With his dorm and the main gate vandalized, he couldn’t store his stones safely and had to carry them all on his person.

He recalled that his earlier spirit stones had fallen into the cellar and said, “Fairy Lu is in the cellar—there’s a Buddhist shrine inside, where a sinister presence from the underworld occasionally possesses the bodhisattva’s image…”

Before he could finish, Xiao Shijing nodded. “Heard all about it through the Azure Mirror. The underworld’s projection is meant to connect with the mortal realm. The headmaster anticipated this long ago.”

“Let’s hurry in. I’ve long wanted to see Fairy Lu’s beauty with my own eyes.” Hoisting the spatial bag, Xiao Shijing hurried toward the kitchen, eager to meet Lu Shiqi.

Chu Tiange followed, entering the cellar and quickly gathering the scattered spirit stones and the Azure Mirror into his cloth pouch.

By now, Xiao Shijing had already vanished from sight.

Chu Tiange descended the ladder to the lowest level once more.

The ground was strewn with the mangled corpse of a fat pig—clearly, Lu Shiqi had dealt with it in passing.

Lu Shiqi stood before the Buddhist shrine, blue immortal sword in hand, gazing at the bodhisattva.

Xiao Shijing stood dumbstruck, utterly captivated by her beauty.

“So this is the most beautiful woman of the century—tall, busty, the cultivation gazette didn’t lie!” he murmured, as if entranced.

Lu Shiqi lifted her exquisite face and cast a cold glance at Xiao Shijing.

Chu Tiange frowned slightly at this. In his past life, he knew this look all too well—it meant she was about to draw her sword.

He hurried over, grabbed Xiao Shijing’s shoulder, and whispered, “Hey, snap out of it!”

Xiao Shijing blinked, coming to his senses. “So this isn’t a dream—I really did meet Fairy Lu!”

He quickly retrieved a bamboo slip and brush he’d prepared in advance and approached Lu Shiqi, both excited and nervous. “Fairy Lu, would you grant me your autograph?”

“I’m sorry, I cannot,” Lu Shiqi replied coldly.

“Fairy Lu, I once spent nine thousand supreme-grade spirit stones voting for you in the continent’s most popular show, ‘Ride the Waves, Goddess!’ I even asked my uncle to make every disciple vote for you. I’m your most devoted fan!” He played the emotional card.

Lu Shiqi raised her brows, thought for a moment, then offered a sweet smile. “Thank you for your support. I’ll keep working hard.”

Chu Tiange was stunned.

This couldn’t be the real Lu Shiqi. Where had the woman from his past life gone? Heaven itself must have swapped her out.

Lu Shiqi took the bamboo slip and brush and scrawled her signature in wild, flowing script.

Her so-called “poetry fans” weren’t admirers of her literary talent, but rather a fan club created by her most fervent devotees, named after the character for “jade” in her name. Their slogan: “In this beautiful world, our poetry is for the sake of meeting you, Jade.”

Suddenly, Chu Tiange remembered—it was true. In his past life, the Cultivation Entertainment Alliance had launched this program to promote positive values and spiritual strength in a world beset by monsters and demons.

The show was a sensation, even captivating the mundane world and stirring stagnant waters to new life.

Twelve famed beauties of the Azure Profound Continent each had their own year-long series, revealing their true selves.

The goddesses left their mark on the world—one trekked three thousand miles through snowy mountains to find a miracle herb for a dying old man; another became a “snail girl,” cooking daily for a lonely old bachelor for a year to give him a taste of happiness; yet another transformed into a living bodhisattva, bringing joy to those who had never known it.

Back then, Chu Tiange scoffed at the show—what kind of fool would trek through snow for a dying man, when a single elixir could cure him? Why make things so difficult? If not for someone keeping that old man alive, he’d have died long before a month passed.

He reserved judgment, but the living bodhisattva was truly a saint. Under pressure to vote only for Lu Shiqi, he had secretly cast his vote for the woman who brought happiness to men.

As for Lu Shiqi, she wandered alone with her sword on the edge of darkness, wherever evil lurked.

“If you ever feel afraid in this world, just summon me. Our invocation is: ‘In this beautiful world, our poetry is for the sake of meeting you, Jade,’” Chu Tiange recited from memory.

Xiao Shijing’s eyes lit up. “Brother, are you a poetry fan too?”

Chu Tiange stared in disbelief. “So you’re the idiot who spent nine thousand supreme-grade spirit stones?”

A single low-grade spirit stone equaled one vote. One high-grade stone was worth ten thousand votes. A supreme-grade stone was worth a million.

Nine thousand supreme-grade stones—ninety million votes! It put Lu Shiqi leagues ahead of every other goddess.

“How can a rich man be an idiot? My uncle has no sons. The Morning Immortal Sect will be mine one day,” Xiao Shijing replied, puzzled.

Chu Tiange couldn’t refute that.

He was right—the sect was his, assuming the headmaster survived the next two months. Otherwise, as history had played out, twenty years later the world would be overrun by evil, and the sect would be wiped from the continent.

Now, Chu Tiange only regretted not demanding more than thirty high-grade spirit stones from this walking treasury—he could have kicked himself.

“The autograph’s done. Now, to business,” Lu Shiqi said, her smile vanishing, her face cold as ice, as if the sweetness moments before had been a dream.

“Yes, on to business,” Xiao Shijing nodded, tucking the bamboo slip away as if it were a priceless treasure.

“There’s a sinister aura on the shrine. I can sense a formless power gathering malice here. The shrine is a ghost array—when the time comes, it will become a passage to the underworld,” Lu Shiqi sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t break it. I need your help—together, we can destroy the shrine and the formation.”

“I’m afraid… I can’t do that,” Xiao Shijing hesitated, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Lu Shiqi frowned.

“I’m only at the Spirit Gathering stage. How could I possibly help you? Even a thousand of me wouldn’t make a difference.” Xiao Shijing offered an awkward but polite smile, removing the treasure that concealed his cultivation.

Lu Shiqi glanced from Chu Tiange to Xiao Shijing, displeased. “So you’re only here as bait? Don’t tell me the sect sent you to play the fool.”

A sinister, grating laugh echoed. “A mere Nascent Soul cultivator dreams of breaking the shrine and destroying the array? Delusional.”

The bodhisattva on the shrine began to glow red, its expression bleeding, its form swelling grotesquely until it became a monstrous fiend.

An exalted entity from the underworld had manifested.

Chu Tiange’s heart sank.

This bodhisattva was a great power of the underworld. Killing them would be as easy as swatting a fly. Only Lu Shiqi stood a chance of escape.

“Enough noise.”

Lu Shiqi snorted coldly and slashed at the shrine with her divine sword. The blade’s force tore the air with a shrill shriek, instantly obliterating the monster.

“Don’t panic. It can’t come through. It’s only an illusion meant to frighten us,” Lu Shiqi said coolly.

Chu Tiange and Xiao Shijing exchanged glances and sighed in relief.

The monstrous bodhisattva laughed wickedly. “Indeed, I cannot cross from the underworld. Ma Wu, Monk Taichun, and the rest were pitiful failures, easily swept aside by you. But no matter. Even if the dutiful sons’ ghosts cannot weep at funerals, this mountain town will still fall. In half a month, the Yin Pearl will have gathered all the malice here.”

“Then I will emerge. When that time comes, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you two men will become my feast, and as for the beauty, I’ll turn her into my puppet to vent my lust!”

Lu Shiqi ignored the filth, asking instead, “The Yin Pearl?”

“It matters not if you know. The Yin Pearl is the vessel that gathers malice in the mortal world. It is the key to open the gates of the underworld. If you take it, the gate cannot open. But you’ll never find it—not even a God-Transcending cultivator could see it.”

Chu Tiange listened, regarding the bodhisattva on the shrine as if it were a fool.

The Yin Pearl was right there, in the bodhisattva’s palm.