Chapter 237: He Moved

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: He Moved

"In other words, he’s hiding to avoid a potential attack from us."

"And so, this daily task of Young Master Ghost’s has been put on hold."

After Jiang Xu finished speaking, Zong Ziqi looked thoughtful.

"So you’re saying that this delay will have some negative consequences for Young Master Ghost. He can’t stop for too long before he’s forced to resume his task."

"Exactly! It’s a game of patience now. We’re in the shadows, and he’s in the open. He isn’t actually sure if we’re going to assassinate him or not."

"As long as the pressure on Young Master Ghost becomes great enough, he’ll eventually take his chances and leave the temporary encampment. When that happens, we’ll have our opportunity to take him out."

As Jiang Xu sensed Young Master Ghost remaining in the temporary encampment, he had already pronounced a death sentence in his heart.

"Let’s go. We’ll find a spot somewhere. We need to prepare for the long haul. I don’t think this Young Master Ghost will dare to step out anytime soon. This is perfect, actually. I have quite a few Magic techniques I need to practice."

"Same here. I still haven’t really practiced the *Celestial Thunder Cloud Dragon Sword* I bought. This will be the perfect time to work on it."

The two turned and began searching for a secluded spot to continue their cultivation in isolation.

...

「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」

"Well, well, if it isn’t Young Master Ghost. I seem to be seeing a lot of you lately for such a busy man!"

Young Master Ghost was returning from somewhere within the encampment when he happened to run into the very person he least wanted to see.

The other man was a rising star who had recently emerged in the Netherworld Mansion’s encampment. Having just won a string of victories, he was currently in the limelight. He seemed to have his eye on Young Master Ghost’s position and frequently subjected him to taunts and sarcasm.

"My actions are none of your concern!" Young Master Ghost snorted. The faint image of a Soul-Calling Banner materialized, startling the man, who stumbled back a few steps with a look of apprehension on his face.

Seeing the man back down, Young Master Ghost sneered, flicked his sleeve, and departed, leaving the other man standing in place with a dark expression.

After Young Master Ghost was long gone, the man spat at his retreating figure.

"Tch! What a piece of trash. Hiding in the encampment all day long. He’s clearly a coward, yet he’s hoarding Lord Ghost King’s Soul-Calling Banner and refuses to let go. He’s always using it to threaten people. Just wait until I get my chance. I’ll make you regret ever crossing me!"

Of course, the departing Young Master Ghost didn’t hear what the man said, but even so, he could guess the gist of his thoughts.

After all, that was how he had taken out the previous Banner Carrier to rise to his current position.

Anxiety gnawed at Young Master Ghost.

Out of an abundance of caution, he hadn’t taken a single step outside the temporary encampment for the entire past month.

He had even sent men to gather intelligence, constantly monitoring for any news of an attack on Wuji Fairy or any sightings of the Thunder Knight.

He had just left his abode to ask his subordinates for an update, only to be told that nothing had happened.

’Could my suspicions have been for nothing? Was Young Master Yellow Springs’s death really just a coincidence?’

Young Master Ghost had been under immense pressure lately. It wasn’t just because of the new rival challenging his position, but also because of the Soul-Calling Banner in his hand.

As the Banner Carrier, his primary duty was to find new souls for the Soul-Calling Banner.

But he hadn’t fed the Soul-Calling Banner a single soul in a month, which was a grave dereliction of his duty.

A month was the absolute longest he could afford to delay.

If he delayed any further, not only would his position be in jeopardy, but his very life would be at risk.

Young Master Ghost gritted his teeth.

’I refuse to believe it! The three of us went to all that trouble, and we still couldn’t take out the Thunder Knight!’

’Even a Golden Core Cultivator might not have been able to heal his injuries back then. How could he possibly have recovered in just a month and become strong enough to kill Young Master Yellow Springs?!’

...

’He’s moving?’

Jiang Xu opened his eyes in his makeshift cultivation abode, sensing Young Master Ghost’s movements.

’Heh, so the guy’s finally decided to move. Any longer and I would’ve thought someone else had already killed him.’

Over the past month, Jiang Xu had finally cultivated his Thousand-Faced Illusion Body to the Skilled Stage.

But to his surprise, when the Thousand-Faced Illusion Body reached 100/100 in the Beginner stage, it hit a limit and couldn’t automatically advance to the Skilled Stage.

With no other choice, Jiang Xu had to use a Limit-Breaking Point to advance it to the Skilled Stage.

’It seems that learning Magic from Jade Scrolls is much more cost-effective after all.’

’Not only does it save a ton of practice time, but it also eliminates the need to spend Limit-Breaking Points.’

’The only problem is that the Spirit Stone cost is hard to swallow.’

’Luckily, those Demon Cultivators had a decent amount of Spirit Stones on them, plus some other miscellaneous items that were worth a fair bit. All told, I managed to get seven or eight thousand Spirit Stones.’

’Young Master Yellow Springs accounted for the lion’s share. I also got his Water of the Yellow Springs, which is good stuff.’

With this influx of Spirit Stones, Jiang Xu decided that from now on, he would buy Magic techniques via Jade Scrolls whenever possible. This was no time to be cheap with Spirit Stones.

’He guessed that to break through to the Mastery stage for Thousand-Faced Illusion Body, the cost would likely be ten Limit-Breaking Points. After that, each stage would probably require ten times the points of the previous one.’

’The final breakthrough to the Perfect Stage would probably cost a hundred Limit-Breaking Points.’

’Right now, Jiang Xu gained one Limit-Breaking Point every four days. That meant it would take over a year just to get the Thousand-Faced Illusion Body to the Perfect Stage.’

’And he suspected it probably wasn’t just the Thousand-Faced Illusion Body that required so many points.’

’It was likely that the Limit-Breaking Point cost for all Tier Two Techniques had increased.’

’It’ll take me a year and a half of saving up Limit-Breaking Points for a single technique. If I didn’t have two hundred and fifty years of lifespan, I really couldn’t afford it.’

Jiang Xu sighed and with a wave of his hand, a Water Mirror materialized before him.

His face, reflected in the mirror, was a perfect copy of Zong Ziqi’s!

Then, in the Water Mirror, Jiang Xu’s face began to shift, changing from Zong Ziqi to Ding Shiping, then from Ding Shiping to Qian Jianjun. He even casually shifted into the faces of Yan Chunyu, Shen Ji, and Shan Lanlan.

Now that his Thousand-Faced Illusion Body had reached the Skilled Stage, his transformation speed was much faster. For anyone he was familiar with, he could replicate their face flawlessly in about two or three breaths.

Even for someone he had just met, Jiang Xu could perfectly match their face within four or five breaths.

However, for now, Jiang Xu’s skill was limited to his face; he couldn’t yet rapidly alter his entire body.

At the "Skilled" level, Jiang Xu’s goal was to progress from changing parts of his appearance to altering his entire body.

This meant that in addition to his face, he needed to master changing his body proportions, height, and build—for instance, instantly going from short and small to large and muscular, or from stout to slender.