Chapter 336: Living Demon

Crossing palms with the Living Buddha right after escaping Zhong Kui’s past trap, Song Min wondered if he should feel honoured for the overwhelming welcome gesture.

Despite receiving injury to her astral body, Yan Ping still proved to be dangerous enough for Song Min. Unlike Anji, who had her real potential sealed, Yan Ping was a true living monster when it came to energy manipulation. Even through the brief contact, Song Min could feel the corruption of his power in their exchange.

"Impressive," he noted. "To think you would attempt to siphon ghostly energy and convert it into natural energy. If I were any slower, it would become poisonous for me."

Yan Ping made no comment. Compared to the other ghosts running rampant, this one was different. He seemed almost human, but nothing about him reflected living energy. If she had to compare the difference, other ghosts were as fickle as fog or water. They would disappear with enough fire or yang energy.

However, the man before her could not be melted or dissipated with regular fire. He was like Diamond Ice, a rare phenomenon when extreme yin energy consolidates over hundreds of years. It cannot be melted by physical fire and would even freeze fire upon contact.

To think such a ghost could exist... Yan Ping had never read about such a thing. However, the only logical explanation was a ghost who had built his power over a long time without losing his mind. Theoretically, this man should have already transcended into something closer to a living demon or an evil god than a ghost. Yet, his demeanour contradicted what he was.

"What are you?" she asked, stabbing her staff into the ground to hold her line.

Unbothered, Song Min hummed. It was a good question. He had no idea what he was, either.

"Someone with a grudge against the world," he summarised simply. "It’s not personal, living sage."

Standing her ground, Yan Ping did not let his smooth charms fool her.

"It was personal from the moment you killed Pu Jianming and kidnapped our ninth successor."

Striking fast, Yan Ping focused on chipping at the icy aura. Even in her old age, her speed surprised most people.

Song Min took damage. It was a horrible miscalculation to land where he did. The Mystical Qilin Sect should have been vulnerable to plundering. However, the living sage had somehow made it back in time, ruining his plans. With less than an hour until daybreak, his ghost army was at a great disadvantage.

Blocking the strike directed at his ghostly heart, Song Min countered with a soul-stealing strike that Yan Ping dodged. The trees behind her withered instantly, and Song Min clicked his tongue in dismay.

"Retreat!" he ordered and opened the new gateway.

Almost immediately, the army of ghosts fled into the portal, leaving the battling cultivators confused. Yan Ping attempted to close the portal immediately, but was locked in battle with Song Min, who bought time for his legion to return to the capital.

"You’re good," he admitted. "But I’m better, living sage. See you on the other side."

Chanting a new spell in her heart, Yan Ping placed a tracking tag on Song Min just before the man fled through the portal, just before the crack of dawn. In a flash, the ghostly gateway disappeared, and all Yan Ping could do was strike the ground with the butt of her staff in fury.

Even that last tracking spell had been dispelled so easily. Who exactly was that man? There was no doubt this was the real mastermind behind all the world’s calamities that she read in the stars.

Groans of pain and the scent of blood were all that remained after the terrifying night. Yan Ping’s mind buzzed with alarm. She had miscalculated something tragically. The readings in the stars had yet to change, even after she rushed to prevent the annihilation of her sect. The destruction star twinkled in the same spot, screaming a warning far beyond her comprehension.

"Sect leader, what should we do now?" a senior researcher was the first to approach her while others attempted to save the injured. "The main array has been breached, but we don’t know where the hole is."

For a long while, Yan Ping did not answer. She continued to stare at the sky with unseeing eyes. Nothing in the star charts has changed even after such a terrible incident. They were still on the same course of collision. She had not prevented annihilation despite interfering with the ghost army’s ambush.

"There is no breach in the main array," she finally replied. "Our enemy is not human."

Hearing her spine-chilling revelation, the senior researcher’s knees gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. Not human... the enemy was actual demons and ghosts...

"Gather the injured, heal those who have been hurt. Anyone with psychological injuries after possession should spend a month cultivating yang energy in the hot spring caves to recover the spirit."

Hearing the sect leader’s instructions, everyone got to work. Despite receiving no answers to the strange phenomenon, the busyness of things helped many forget the fear of the unknown.

Yan Ping also knew it was not a permanent solution. If the ghosts could travel anywhere they wanted using spirit portals, the Mystical Qilin Sect’s technology was greatly outmatched. Even with Senior Researcher Ke’s advanced teleportation spell technology, they could not counter the ghost portal’s speed and elusiveness.

Heading to the war conference room alone, Yan Ping mulled over the unchanged star charts. The mysterious ghost man with a grudge of a thousand years must have had a purpose for attacking their sect, which was all the way on the other side of the Imperial Palace. He did not take anything from them apart from raiding the energy of cultivators. Was he merely feeding his army?

Confused, Yan Ping continued to search the stars for answers. With Anji and Mingshen missing and the Imperial Palace vulnerable to attacks the same way her sect was attacked, Yan Ping wondered what she should be doing. She had already done what Anji asked of her. Technically, she should focus on strengthening the base of their Rainbow Alliance while her successor fought with the master mind. The stars told her they were fated to collide in a battle of good and evil.

Yet, there was an uncanny unease in her heart. What was the heavens not telling her?