Chapter Twenty-Five: On the Eve of the Joint Entrance Examination

“You could never slaughter the Maiden’s Peak,” Chu Tiange shook his head.

“You’re stubborn, aren’t you? But there’s a saying among the people: villains die from talking too much. Right now, I’m the villain, but unfortunately for you, I don’t talk much. I won’t give you the slightest chance to stall.” The Ghost Slave cackled, intent on swift action, leaving no future trouble behind.

He soared upwards, using the moonlight to lock onto Li Ergou’s location.

Li Erwa felt the killing intent descend upon him and screamed in terror.

“My grandmother is eighty, my sister is ten—I can’t die!”

“Master, save me, save me!” Li Erwa cried out desperately.

“Third Grandfather, help!” Zhang Tiedan shouted anxiously.

The Ghost Slave scoffed, slowly raised his right hand, and pointed; a black-tinged ice ray shot forth, fierce and unstoppable, straight for Li Ergou’s throat.

Chu Tiange, seeing this, flicked his fingers repeatedly. Threads of sword energy flashed from his fingertips, meeting the ice ray head-on.

Bang!

Two contrasting forces collided, the sword energy and ice ray exploding into waves that spread out in all directions, enveloping the peak in a swirling veil of snow and mist. The icy wind ravaged the mountain.

As the smoke cleared, the Ghost Slave’s figure appeared again, his expression tinged with shock.

Chu Tiange stood not far away, hands clasped behind his back, his face impassive as he gazed at the Ghost Slave.

“Manifested spiritual energy—a Gathering Spirit realm!” The Ghost Slave was stunned.

He had never expected this so-called wastrel to have reached the Gathering Spirit realm.

Zhang Tiedan, unable to move, stared with wide eyes, shocked that his cheap master had reached the Gathering Spirit realm.

It was widely rumored that Chu Tiange, at sixteen, had barely entered the Morning Immortal Sect thanks to Zhao Yiren’s connections, and after eight years, was still in the Mortal Bone stage, not even having reached the Fused Flesh tier.

But today, with a mere lift of hand and step, he displayed manifest spiritual energy.

Yet the Ghost Slave was at the Divine Pill realm—a figure who could be the founder of a minor sect. Gathering Spirit was still far inferior.

Despair quickly overtook Zhang Tiedan. He shouted urgently at the frozen Li Erwa, “What are you waiting for? Go to the Chaoyang Hall and get help!”

Li Erwa, awoken by Zhang Tiedan’s urging, turned and fled.

“Heh, think you can escape? Even if you’ve established your foundation, you’re just a slightly bigger ant in my eyes. Once I kill that disciple, I’ll entertain Peak Lord Chu properly.” The Ghost Slave sneered, only mildly surprised, soon regaining composure.

With a step, he traversed the void, his figure like lightning, charging toward Li Erwa.

“You’re too arrogant,” Chu Tiange shook his head, his form turning into a phantom, thunder spreading around him, arriving within thirty feet of the Ghost Slave in an instant.

The two-foot-three sword was drawn, a flash of silver dazzling the night, sword energy erupting, sword intent surging!

“Sword intent, interesting. But still not enough.” The Ghost Slave mocked, not taking the attack seriously.

The gap in realms was insurmountable; Chu Tiange posed no threat.

The Ghost Slave, smiling, formed seals with both palms, spiritual energy converging into a Nether Ghost imprint.

But Chu Tiange was faster—five afterimages appeared, almost simultaneously drawing swords and slashing, blades tearing through the void with a piercing scream.

Slice!

Five sword edges struck like lightning at the Ghost Slave’s vital points. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes; he had not expected Chu Tiange’s strength to be so formidable, difficult to handle.

The blades struck the Ghost Slave’s protective true energy, emitting a sharp metallic clang. The sword edges shuddered, but did not stop.

The Ghost Slave resisted with all his might, but his Divine Pill cultivation seemed insufficient before Chu Tiange. The blades crept ever closer to his body, sword light flashing in his eyes with irresistible force.

“Impossible! I am Divine Pill realm! How could I not withstand this sword?” The Ghost Slave roared, spiritual power surging wildly, trying to resist Chu Tiange’s attack.

But Chu Tiange’s swordplay was unparalleled, like divine weapon descending, crushing all before it. His gaze was deep as the ocean, betraying an endless coldness.

“Exorcise Evil!” Chu Tiange whispered, and sword intent surged like a vast ocean, summoning the divine thunder of the heavens.

The Ghost Slave sensed mortal peril and tried desperately to evade, but it was too late.

Thunder rumbled...

The sky churned with storm clouds, lightning converging upon the blade.

The Ghost Slave’s pupils contracted, terror etched across his face!

The thunder’s power pierced his chest with the sword, blood gushed forth, and he let out a wretched scream. His body trembled as ghostly energy evaporated, his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness.

Chu Tiange took a small bottle from his storage pouch, collecting a drop of golden fluid, his gaze still cold as he looked at the Ghost Slave, devoid of pity. He spoke calmly, “It’s true, villains die from talking too much, but have you never heard villains die from underestimating their enemies?”

The Ghost Slave’s dantian was pierced, even his core shattered, and he fell heavily to the ground.

“Impossible... Absolutely impossible. Even if you’ve established your foundation, you shouldn’t be able to leap across such a gap and kill me. You’re hiding your cultivation!” The Ghost Slave coughed up black blood, screaming in agony.

Chu Tiange sheathed his sword. “What realm I am doesn’t matter. If you were at the peak of Divine Pill, forming a Golden Core, perhaps you would have bested me. Unfortunately, you’ve barely condensed liquid, and came to trouble me, so arrogant—wasn’t this courting death?”

The Divine Pill realm had four stages: Condensing Liquid, Pill Origin, Origin Pill, Golden Pill.

The Ghost Slave was at the early stage, refining pill liquid, not yet solidified, and was destroyed by Chu Tiange in one strike, his pill liquid taken, now a cripple.

The atmosphere froze. Zhang Tiedan and Li Erwa stared, stunned, unable to believe what they saw.

In their eyes, Chu Tiange stood above the Ghost Slave, silhouetted in the moonlight, solitary and lofty, like a merciless sword god.

On Maiden’s Peak, blood drifted through the air, carried away by the wind.

“Is this... really our master? A Divine Pill expert suppressed with a single sword?” Li Ergou’s mouth hung open, stunned.

“Impossible... Can that sword really just be a high-grade spiritual weapon? It can summon heavenly thunder—far fiercer than any supreme weapon I’ve hidden away,” Zhang Tiedan doubted everything, wishing to reclaim the high-grade sword and study it.

“Tomorrow morning is the Immortal Sect joint exam. You two are injured, so you have a reason not to attend.” Chu Tiange looked at his two disciples.

Tonight, they had rushed to help upon hearing the commotion. Their cultivation was lacking, but at least they showed some filial concern, which comforted Chu Tiange.

He truly did not want them to participate in the joint exam, as it marked the decline in the original trajectory of the Qingxuan continent. If they encountered danger during the exam, their lives might be at risk.

Therefore, Chu Tiange decided to dissuade them from registering, keeping them in the sect to focus on cultivation.

Their abilities were too low to bear any unforeseen changes; the exam hid forces capable of destroying even Transcendent realm elders. Even he might perish if careless.

Li Erwa nodded silently, knowing his strength was insufficient. Attending the exam would only make up the numbers, soon to be eliminated. Better to cultivate in this spirit-rich place.

Here, a day’s cultivation was said to be worth several high-grade spirit stones, a sacred site. The exam might last three months, or a year—only fools would go.

“We’ll do whatever Master says,” Zhang Tiedan nodded hurriedly, though he was anxious.

Unlike Li Erwa, he was a proud talent. Not allowed to attend? How would he stand out among the sects, gain opportunities, make his name known? This master truly wanted to crush his dreams.

Such a thing could not happen. Tomorrow morning, he must discuss it with Third Grandfather.

Once his disciples departed, Chu Tiange turned to the dying Ghost Slave.

“I’ll give you a chance to live. Tell me, who sent you?”

Coldly, Chu Tiange stared at him.

“Heh, my cultivation is ruined, my path to immortality cut off—do you think I still fear death?” The Ghost Slave laughed, a taunting tone, resigned to his fate.

“If your immortal path is broken, what about the sinister path?” Chu Tiange’s gaze was piercing, as if seeing through everything.

“You!” The Ghost Slave’s face changed dramatically.

The sinister path! How did Chu Tiange know?

“What is the world’s greatest fear? Death. But you don’t seem afraid—you have another path. But you must know, the sinister path is dark and terrifying; one misstep, and you’re lost in darkness forever.”

“I want to know—you, a Divine Pill cultivator, a pillar of the Morning Immortal Sect, why taint yourself with the sinister path? Why become a slave to the bizarre? What benefits did these entities offer you?”

“Ascension through the sinister path! I shall be eternal! Who I am—I won’t tell you...” The Ghost Slave sneered.

Suddenly, black mist surged, and the Ghost Slave’s body floated.

He laughed madly, eyes gleaming with demonic red, his body exuding decay, stench, and blood.

His flesh began to rot, and a scarlet thread escaped from his skull, fleeing high into the sky!

The bizarre entity revealed itself—a slave seed rooted in the Ghost Slave’s mind, controlling the weak-willed. Now, sensing crisis, it fled, returning to its main body.

Chu Tiange’s brows rose; he snorted coldly and pressed his palms together, forming an incantation.

Golden light appeared around him, like chains; the scarlet thread was trapped mid-air, unable to move.

“Western Buddhist—Meditation Seal!” A voice rang out in the night: “I did not expect, after thirty thousand years, to see Western Buddhist arts again. Too bad, this cannot bind me.”

The Meditation Seal, created by a legendary Western Buddhist, was meant to imprison spirits. Since the chaos of the Bizarre Lake, it had been used to confine sinister souls.

The bizarre entity was right; with Chu Tiange’s Gathering Spirit realm, the seal could not hold it.

But that was not all Chu Tiange had.

He only needed to delay for a breath. The next moment, his figure vanished, reappearing close to the scarlet thread.

“Hahaha, you’re courting death! Become my new vessel!” the bizarre entity shrieked, and the scarlet thread pierced Chu Tiange’s mind.

Instantly, Chu Tiange’s consciousness began to collapse; black lines of mist seeped into his veins, his facial blood vessels bulging.

Chu Tiange saw darkness.

A drop of scarlet blood fell.

It was endless pain, hatred, despair, malice, fear, sorrow—all negative emotions entwined, forming overwhelming mental oppression.

A giant blood-red eye slowly opened.

It was unspeakably dark, sinister, like a demon’s gaze from the abyss, full of violence, cruelty, evil, as if it could devour everything.

This was a supreme being, gazing down from the heavens, shattering will in an instant. Chu Tiange stood dazed, like a puppet.

Yet oddly, there was not a hint of fear on his face.

“With a single soul fragment, I can consign you to eternal damnation.”

A chilling voice echoed in the darkness.

But the next moment, the voice screamed!

Ninety-nine steps appeared in the void, radiating infinite brilliance, with a vast, crushing might, threatening to tear the heavens, shatter the universe, destroy all, suppress everything.

Boom!

The world trembled.

Unmatched power erupted, setting the sky ablaze, the giant blood eye exploded in a flash!

“No, no, no! Impossible! Who are you?!”

In the blink of an eye, the blood eye was obliterated.

Darkness faded; Chu Tiange opened his eyes, the strange marks on his face disappearing.

“To dare invade my soul—courting death.” Chu Tiange looked at the rotting remains, raised his sword, slicing through, leaving only a head.

Chu Tiange took the head and headed to the Cloud Morning Hall.

This matter could not escape the Blue Sky Mirror’s “eyes.” Xiao Shijing, acting head of the Morning Immortal Sect, should know, but had sent no aid, clearly asleep.

Sure enough, when Chu Tiange knocked on the hall doors, Xiao Shijing rubbed his eyes, yawning, “So late—are you taking me to some brothel?”

Chu Tiange said nothing, tossing the head over.

Xiao Shijing caught it instinctively, looked closely, and jumped in shock, quickly tossing it aside, his gaze flustered as he looked at Chu Tiange, “You killed someone? Even as a peak lord, you can’t just kill people! Nor can you use our relationship to act recklessly—it makes me nervous!”

“Do you know who he is?” Chu Tiange ignored him, just asked.

“Looks familiar—like Deng Gang, the third disciple of the Ageless Peak. But that’s not right, he’s Divine Pill realm, and the rot suggests he’s been dead at least ten days, not something you could’ve killed. Where did you find this?” Xiao Shijing examined the decayed head.