Chapter 346: Ghost Seven |
The Black Giant Salamander attempted to chase after them but was blocked by the barrier of the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation, leaving it no choice but to roar in frustration while being helpless against those outside the array.
“This creature is really tough to handle. Luckily, the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation can trap it. Otherwise, we’d be in big trouble today.”
Old Mei Fourth wiped the cold sweat from his brow, still shaken by the ordeal.
“Fighting across a major realm isn’t something to take lightly. Surviving this is already a blessing.”
“Although we lost one person, our gains aren’t insignificant.”
The eldest Mei brother took out a small piece of the Black Giant Salamander’s tail from his storage ring, his gaze glowing with excitement.
Who knew why the Black Giant Salamander had fixated on crazily attacking Master Wei while ignoring everyone else, allowing him to effortlessly sever its tail? If not for that bizarre focus, obtaining this piece of its tail would’ve been near impossible.
“Master Wei, can you refine a Regeneration Pill from this tail segment?”
Old Mei turned to Master Wei, asking with anticipation.
“No problem. I’m absolutely confident I can refine a Regeneration Pill from this.”
Master Wei’s gaze burned as he looked at the tail segment, his excitement barely contained. Despite his severe injuries, obtaining this piece of tail was well worth it.
With a Regeneration Pill, the severed part of his body could finally regrow. Clenching his fist hidden under his sleeve, Master Wei was visibly resolute.
Upon hearing this, Old Mei didn’t hesitate and tossed the severed tail to Master Wei.
Master Wei was overjoyed and eagerly reached out to catch it.
However, just as he was about to grasp the tail, a sudden change occurred. The tail, midair, abruptly changed direction, flying vertically toward another figure. It finally landed steadily in the hands of a person clad in black robes.
At the same time, over forty black-robed figures descended from the sky, surrounding the group.
These black-robed individuals were all Gu cultivators at the Spiritual Sea stage. Previously, it seemed they had been hiding high in the clouds, making it impossible for anyone to detect them.
Upon seeing this group, the hearts of Old Mei and the others sank, and their faces turned grim.
They recognized these outfits all too well. These Gu cultivators were members of Ghost Sect, one of the most dominant forces in the Sinful Lands.
How could Ghost Sect possibly appear in the territory of the Glorious Moon Empire? It was evident now—someone had betrayed them, leaking the secret of the Black Giant Salamander to Ghost Gate.
Seeing the tail stolen right before him, Master Wei was furious. He was about to curse but immediately went silent upon recognizing the thief. His face turned deathly pale.
This man had a sinister and feminine appearance, with purplish-black lips and a ghostly aura emanating from him. Master Wei knew this person all too well.
“Ghost Seven? Why are you here?”
Master Wei’s voice trembled as he spoke, his fear evident.
Ghost Seven was the prized disciple of Old Ghost Burial Demon. His combat prowess was terrifying beyond measure.
Though he was currently at the Spiritual Sea peak stage, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even if everyone here joined forces, they wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
And now, with their group injured and outnumbered fourfold, any hope of victory was nonexistent.
Why had Ghost Seven suddenly appeared here?
“Damn it! Who sold us out?!”
Master Wei’s eyes burned with rage as he glared at his teammates. Clearly, he realized there must have been a traitor among them. Otherwise, how could Ghost Gate, confined to the Sinful Lands, have shown up here?
“Heh, don’t blame your teammates. It was you who leaked the information to me. You’ve dug your own grave.”
Ghost Seven looked at the furious Master Wei with a mocking smile.
“Me? That’s impossible!” Master Wei froze in disbelief.
“Have you forgotten how the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation came into your possession? That formation disk was crafted by me.”
“And the formation disks I sell are all tampered with. They allow me to monitor every move of their buyers.”
“Did you really think you could discover a treasure like the Black Giant Salamander without me knowing?”
“We’ve been lying in wait long before you even arrived,” Ghost Seven sneered darkly.
“You... you tampered with the formation disk I bought?! You despicable scum! How can you conduct business so dishonestly? Who would dare buy your formation disks in the future?!”
Hearing this, Master Wei broke down, glaring at Ghost Seven with a venomous expression.
Long Xuan, watching silently, found Master Wei’s outrage ironic. Was he really in any position to accuse someone else of dishonesty? The Sinful Lands were filled with deceit; everyone tampered with their wares. After this ordeal, Long Xuan resolved never to trust any external formation disks again.
Ignoring the fuming Master Wei, Ghost Seven turned his greedy gaze toward the trapped Black Giant Salamander.
The salamander continued to crash against the formation in a frenzy, trying to escape.
Yet, no matter how hard it tried, the barrier remained unshaken. The salamander grew more frantic, its collisions more violent.
“Beast, stop wasting your energy. Do you think my formation disk is so easily broken?”
Ghost Seven then turned to Master Wei with a smirk. “Since the formation disk is mine, everything inside naturally belongs to me. I assume none of you have any objections?”
Old Mei and the others wore bitter expressions. How could they possibly object?
With their injuries and the overwhelming number of Ghost Sect cultivators, they had no chance of winning. If surrendering the salamander could save their lives, it would already be a miracle.
But would Ghost Seven let them leave? None of them were sure.
As their gazes swept over the forty-plus Ghost Sect cultivators surrounding them, their hearts grew heavier. Escape seemed impossible.
“The Black Giant Salamander is yours. We were merely passing by. Can you let us go?” Old Mei finally asked.
“Let you go? Haha, if I let you leave, wouldn’t the whole world know Ghost Seven captured the Black Giant Salamander?” Ghost Seven sneered, his eyes flashing with mockery.
Old Mei and the others’ hearts sank. It seemed their fate was sealed.
Ghost Seven had clearly decided to kill them to eliminate any loose ends. Even without this incident, encountering a group of Gu cultivators weaker and fewer in number than his own would’ve likely resulted in the same outcome.
Many began to show expressions of despair.
Just as they prepared to fight to the death, Ghost Seven spoke again.
“Letting you go isn’t impossible, but I’ll only allow one of you to leave.”
A sly smile appeared on his face.
“I just thought of a fun game. People from the Sinful Lands are all villains. I want to see just how despicable you are.”
“Each of you will recount the most sinister and heinous thing you’ve ever done. The one who has committed the darkest deed will be the one I let go.”
As he spoke, Ghost Seven placed a Integrity Gu on his shoulder. The insect emitted no light as he spoke, confirming his honesty.
This represents that what he just said is all true.
However, Long Xuan sneered inwardly when he saw the Integrity Gu.
He was too skilled in playing with the Integrity Gu and knew very well that just because it doesn’t light up doesn’t mean the words are truthful.
Ghost Seven had clearly played a word game earlier. What he said was, “I let go,” but what about the other ghost cultivators?
His implication was that he wouldn’t act personally, but he never said the other ghost cultivators wouldn’t. He never intended to let anyone here go from the beginning—he was toying with them.
After all, everyone here already knew he had captured the Black Giant Salamander. How could he leave witnesses alive?
If this matter were exposed, those already crippled Gu Kings would undoubtedly come after him. Not to mention that he had just revealed that he tampered with the formation disks he sold—this secret couldn’t be leaked either.
By letting Master Wei and the others know about these things, Ghost Seven showed that he never intended to let anyone leave from the start.
Therefore, Long Xuan didn’t even consider playing this meaningless game with Ghost Seven. He was a good man after all—how could he ever commit the most despicable and sinister deeds?
If he wanted to escape, he had to think of another way.
Long Xuan quickly thought of a plan: secretly dismantle the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation and release the Black Giant Salamander. When it rampaged, it would draw most of the ghost cultivators’ attention.
Ghost Seven, fearing the Black Giant Salamander might jump into the sea and escape, would undoubtedly put all his effort into stopping it, leaving no time to deal with the rest of them.
Once the Black Giant Salamander was released, whatever it decided to do would inevitably tie up most of the ghost cultivators.
That would be Long Xuan’s best opportunity to escape. Otherwise, he dared not act rashly before this enigmatic and unpredictable Ghost Seven.
Breaking the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth wasn’t difficult for him. With the Eye of Heavenly Secret, he was the most accomplished formation master in the world.
Long Xuan focused his attention, letting his soul probe the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation...
However, while he didn’t trust the Integrity Gu, others had complete faith in it.
Seeing the Integrity Gu not lighting up, everyone except for Madam Yue Niang believed Ghost Seven’s words. They truly thought that doing as he said would allow them to survive.
Master Wei looked at his ten teammates, knowing that none of them would survive in Ghost Seven’s hands no matter what. Resolute, he prepared to reveal the darkest secret in his heart.
In the face of the Integrity Gu, he knew he couldn’t lie. At this point, he could only confess his biggest secret.
“I initiated this mission, so let me start,” Master Wei said.
“Hehe, whoever has done the darkest deed can survive? Then the only survivor here will probably be me.”
Master Wei scanned the faces of his teammates, sighed, and finally said, “Since you’re all destined to die here, I’m not afraid to let you know something.”
“Actually, Ghost Seven isn’t the only one who likes tampering with what he sells—I do too.”
“I like to put Parasite Gu into the pills I sell. Everyone who buys my pills gets parasitized.”
“The Parasite Gu grows by feeding on the host’s nutrients. Once it matures, it completely takes over the host, making them controlled by me.”
Master Wei pointed at himself smugly, revealing a sinister grin.
“Since the Parasite Gu is a Mother-Child Gu, with the Mother Gu in me, all the people parasitized by the Child Gu are under my control.”
“There are already quite a few people in the city indirectly under my control, though most are Marrow Cleansing or Spiritual Seabstage Gu cultivators.”
“Because the Parasite Gu is extremely costly, low-level Gu cultivators aren’t worth it, and I won’t waste them on low-quality pills.”
At this point, Master Wei no longer hid anything. He tore off his mask of hypocrisy, his face now radiating pure malice.
His words left everyone stunned, staring at him in disbelief.
Especially those who had purchased Master Wei’s pills, like Old Boss Mei and others—they turned pale instantly.
All eyes turned toward Master Wei with hostility, their fury reaching the brink of explosion.
“Damn you! You dare put parasitic worms in your pills? You dog! You even dared to mess with us, the Five Ghosts of Plum Mountain!”
The most short-tempered of the Five Mei Brothers, Old Fifth Mei, immediately began cursing at the top of his lungs.
The rest of the crowd watched Master Wei with eyes wide open in rage, on the verge of exploding with anger.
"Urgh!" Madam Yue immediately gagged and dry-heaved. Remembering how she had struck it rich and bought a large number of Master Wei’s pills, only to consume countless insects, she felt a wave of nausea.
Realizing that her body had likely been parasitized by an unknown number of Gu worms, her face turned pale, and her eyes were filled with terror.
She screamed hysterically, "Wei, you dared to feed me worms! Are you even human?"
"I was your old friend! I regularly supported your business, and this is how you treat me?"
"You’ll die a horrible death!" Madam Yue roared hoarsely.
Master Wei sneered and replied, "Heh, aren’t friends meant to be exploited? If I don’t exploit you, then who else should I exploit?"
"Don’t get angry. You’ve already been parasitized by multiple control Gu. Under their influence, you can’t even kill me."
As he noticed Madam Yue about to lose control, Master Wei smirked coldly.
He turned toward Ghost Seven confidently and said, "This situation is dark enough, isn’t it? I don’t think anything could be darker than this. Can you let me go now?"
However, before Ghost Seven could respond, Madam Yue let out a burst of maniacal laughter, her tone dripping with disdain. "You call that dark? I have something even darker."
"So whoever has done the darkest deeds gets to leave, right? Then the only one qualified to leave is me!"
She swept her gaze around the room, sneering, "At this point, there’s no need for me to hide it anymore."
"Those star performers I manage? They aren’t alive. They’re all corpses that I control using corpse-control Gu worms."
"Do you really think there are that many beautiful Gu cultivators willing to sell their bodies?"
"Haha! I’m sure you all enjoyed sleeping with those corpses—must have been pretty cool and comfortable, right?"
"Now, who here could possibly be darker than me?"
Her words left everyone stunned, their eyes wide with disbelief. Then, all at once, they began gagging uncontrollably.
It was obvious—everyone who was vomiting had been patrons of Madam Yue’s business.
"Are you kidding me, you old hag! You actually let corpses entertain us? That’s way too twisted!"
"My buddies and I have been loyal customers, and you gave us corpses?! Are you even human? Urgh…"
"To hell with you, Madam Yue!"
A cacophony of furious curses erupted as everyone glared at her with bloodshot eyes, swearing and ranting in madness.
As they recalled what they had touched in the past, a collective wave of revulsion swept through the crowd.
Even the Ghost cultivators present were left utterly dumbfounded.
Ghost Seven’s eyes widened in astonishment.
He enjoyed giving his opponents hope before crushing them, which was why he had devised this twisted game. Yet, he never expected to uncover such shocking secrets by sheer chance.
There was someone who stuffed pills with worms, and someone else who used corpses for business. Were these even human acts? These people were utterly depraved. Where did City of Sin find such talent?
Ghost Seven was amused. After clapping enthusiastically, he laughed loudly, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! This show just keeps getting better. Go on, continue!"
"Is there anything darker than this?"
The rest of the Ghost cultivators were now watching intently, thoroughly captivated by the unfolding drama.
Long Xuan, meanwhile, simply watched the two of them, a cold expression on his face. This was a case of scoundrel versus scoundrel, and he was quietly anticipating how things would develop next.
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