Frivolous intimacy.

Flirtatious banter.

Who could connect this seductive female cultivator before their eyes with the former Yashan Grand Senior Sister Jian Chou and recognize that they were actually the same person?

She carried a faint fragrance about her.

Clearly appearing so alluring, soft, and full of charm, yet the fragrance that wafted from her was like cold plum blossoms in a snowy night.

Cold fragrance.

Once close, Xie Buchen felt his entire senses captured by her. Before his eyes was an unfamiliar snow-white skin and flower-like beauty, with only the divine charm in these eyes remaining unchanged, as if reflecting mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, parting the layers of clouds in the sky, allowing one to see from within a few parts of leisurely tranquility.

And also, mockery.

Those were picturesque eyes and brows.

Clearly a different posture from the past, yet he glimpsed a few traces of old phantoms from this posture.

It was like that time when, amidst light rain on green mountains, she stood beneath a pavilion and turned back to smile at him, vaguely having such a graceful and gentle bearing…

Naturally like clear water emerging from lotus flowers.

But in the blink of an eye, the phantom grew distant again. The sharp pain in his throat and the earth’s yin essence penetrating his body from the glass fan handle reminded him quite realistically of the distance between the past and present.

Xie Buchen’s complexion paled slightly. He no longer spoke, no longer made any movements, as if he had truly heeded Jian Chou’s warning and had no more thoughts.

Yet his gaze wandered in a circle between Jian Chou and Qu Zhengfeng.

The current Qu Zhengfeng naturally still bore Xiao Mou’s appearance. He hadn’t expected Xie Buchen to be so perceptive, noticing him so early. He just didn’t know whether Xie Buchen’s attention to him was because of Jian Chou, or because he had truly seen through his identity.

The atmosphere in the field fell silent for a moment.

With the formation broken and attacks scattered, the other disheveled Wuchang clan ghost soldiers were swaying unsteadily. But the ghost cultivators who had personally witnessed the scene of Lian Zhao speaking to this Nineteen Continents cultivator earlier almost unanimously felt a sense of “as expected” speechlessness in their hearts.

Not only did she not spare the dead, she wouldn’t even let the living go…

After all, this cultivator’s appearance was truly too good-looking, no wonder she still wanted to flirt with him even in this situation.

Some felt sour in their hearts, others scoffed disdainfully, and of course, even more people were enchanted by this clearly frivolous and seductive yet slightly dangerous feeling.

Pure beauty wasn’t deadly.

What was deadly was often beauty that made one eager to try despite knowing the danger.

Most of the ghost soldiers below weren’t clear whether the Lian Zhao of the past gave people this feeling, but they clearly knew that the current Lian Zhao was giving people exactly this feeling!

Xiao Mou said nothing.

Xue Yin had failed to capture anyone and even suffered a hidden loss. Seeing Lian Zhao’s extremely frivolous behavior, layers of disgust rose in her heart, making her not want to say even a single word.

However, Elder Kong Yin didn’t mind at all, completely unconcerned about whether he had restrained the female cultivator while Lian Zhao had restrained the male cultivator. After all, he was the elder—whoever caught someone, his contribution wouldn’t be lacking. Not to mention, it was Lian Zhao’s reminder earlier that made him choose to stake everything, break out of the formation, discover that the opponents were actually only two people in a predicament, and capture them in one fell swoop.

So now, he found Lian Zhao quite pleasing to the eye.

Seeing the poor atmosphere, he immediately came forward with a laugh: “Who would have thought it was such a frightening great formation! It was still Lian Zhao’s alertness and planning that allowed us to capture these two cultivators who didn’t know their own limitations in one stroke!”

Jian Chou glanced at the “ignorant” Xie Buchen and Lu Xiangleng with a half-smile, falsely modest: “Where? It was still the Elder’s decisive action and amazing cultivation that saved our Wuchang clan from losses. These two don’t look like ordinary people, and we don’t know how they infiltrated the Ghost Gate Pass. When we reach the watchtower later, we must interrogate them severely and get some information out of them. Congratulations to the Elder for this great achievement.”

Tactful, truly tactful!

Elder Kong Yin had seen Lian Zhao before, and though he acknowledged she was indeed beautiful, he really disliked her arrogant, condescending attitude. Now that he was being flattered, he finally understood how intoxicating this floating feeling could be.

Moreover, this Lian Zhao was sensible! Not at all like Xue Yin, who damn well wanted to steal credit!

“Haha…” He couldn’t help but clap his hands and laugh heartily, feeling a rare boldness rise in his chest. He didn’t mind the earlier casualties among the Wuchang clan ghost soldiers at all, only saying, “The credit was established by everyone together. With this elder here, naturally none of you will be lacking. Come, take these two down, and let’s hurry back to the watchtower. We’ve already delayed for quite some time.”

“Yes.”

Regardless of whether they were truly convinced in their hearts, or whether they had objections to Kong Yin’s earlier behavior of sending them to their deaths, now that the matter was concluded, everyone appeared to follow orders.

As soon as he spoke, someone immediately restrained Xie Buchen and Lu Xiangleng.

The glass fan in Jian Chou’s palm moved away from Xie Buchen’s neck and was withdrawn. With a light flip of her delicate hand, it transformed back into a glass red hairpin, which she casually inserted back into her hair bun.

Her dark hair was like a waterfall, her snow-white skin smooth and delicate.

Those loose robes seemed as if they could barely hang on her body, and her wide sleeves fluttered, revealing a slender wrist that was blindingly white.

She casually glanced around, as if only now noticing there was also Lu Xiangleng beside them: “Oh my, I was truly negligent. I didn’t notice earlier that there was also a beauty here.”

Lu Xiangleng still couldn’t quite process what had happened.

The change in circumstances was truly too strange. She wasn’t brainless and naturally saw that Xie Buchen’s earlier inadequate defeat had a somewhat perfunctory taste, completely inconsistent with the strength a middle Out-of-Body stage cultivator should possess.

He hadn’t even reached the minimum standard, let alone being a Kunwu prodigy?

She and Jian Chou could be considered to have some friendship and felt quite compatible, but they weren’t familiar enough to recognize each other with just a glance. So when “Lian Zhao” spoke in a pinched voice and turned that seductive gaze toward her, she slightly furrowed her brows, looking back at the other party without speaking.

Her snow-white clothes remained as ethereal as always.

When several ghost soldiers approached with rather rough movements to take them away.

Seeing this, Jian Chou couldn’t help but secretly furrow her brows, only calling out “Hey” with neither light nor heavy tone, stopping those ghost soldiers, and lazily said: “What are you being so rough for? After all, she’s a delicate beauty who’ll still be useful later. Don’t be thoughtless and bump or bruise her.”

She naturally understood the intent behind these words.

But when they reached others’ ears, they were quite subtle.

Everyone knew that Lian Zhao was a snobbish woman who judged people by cultivation and appearance. It was one thing for her to flirt with that male cultivator for no reason earlier, but now why was she even caring about the female cultivator?

Was it jealousy?

Was it because she couldn’t stand others being rough with such a beautiful female cultivator?

Or perhaps…

Her old habits were acting up, and she wouldn’t spare not only men but women either?

People’s thoughts were chaotic, but when they met Jian Chou’s sweeping gaze, they all shuddered in unison and stopped their wild speculations.

With her words, the ghost soldiers didn’t dare disobey, and their actions indeed became gentler. Only then did they use soul-hooking ropes to tie up both Xie Buchen and Lu Xiangleng securely.

Soul-hooking ropes were the Wuchang clan’s signature magical instruments that everyone could cultivate. Though their power varied, their effects were generally the same.

That was to suppress and hook souls.

With just seven or eight soul-hooking ropes wrapped around the two people, the power of their souls and spirits was firmly imprisoned within their physical bodies, unable to escape even slightly.

Only at this moment did everyone truly feel at ease.

Such an incident occurring halfway through conscripting ghost soldiers to the watchtower was truly beyond everyone’s expectations. Though the losses were severe, capturing these two Nineteen Continents cultivators who clearly had significant status would certainly constitute a great achievement.

Therefore, everyone’s mood wasn’t too bad.

After both people were tied up and placed in the middle of the formation, the ghost soldier force, now reduced to just over half, regrouped and continued toward the watchtower in the original direction.

Soon, the devastated wilderness was empty of people.

Only after they had left for a full half hour did figures gradually appear around the formation that Xie Buchen had originally set up.

Every single one of them was a Nineteen Continents cultivator who had come with Xie Buchen on this trip, with Kunwu cultivators making up the majority. But regardless of where they came from or what their identities were, all of them had Xie Buchen’s mental transmission from the moment of the situation’s “reversal” echoing in their minds.

Bewildered, extremely bewildered.

They had been fighting well, then suddenly were defeated and captured—what exactly had happened?

On this wild wasteland of the extreme domain’s barren soil, everyone looked at each other, at a loss, all somewhat dumbfounded.

In Wangsi City, closest to the Ghost Gate Pass, Zhang Tang’s mood wasn’t very good either.

He looked at the two little ghosts who appeared before him, clearly cowering yet trying to maintain composure, his bland gaze carrying his unique inhuman coldness.

Eighty years ago, he had gained fame in one stroke during the Cauldron Contest, thus earning an opportunity to enter Eight Directions City, serve under the Qin Guang King’s palace, and follow Qin Guang King’s assignments. Not long after, he was promoted to Grand Judge, able to stand as an equal with Cui Jue, Qin Guang King’s most capable subordinate.

Zhang Tang’s days over these years had actually been quite smooth.

If there hadn’t been Li Han of the Ghost King clan, or rather, if there hadn’t been that demonic “National Teacher Fu” from the past.

Undoubtedly, as one of the outstanding performers in the Cauldron Contest, “Li Han” had naturally also gained Qin Guang King’s appreciation, been taken into the fold, and become a judge as well.

Moreover, with the Ghost King clan’s support behind him, his influence far exceeded Zhang Tang’s.

Both men knew each other’s background, but both had some entanglement with Jian Chou. After all, if you could expose my background, I could expose yours too. First, Zhang Tang didn’t want people to know that Jian Chou’s entry into Wangsi City was his doing; second, Fu Chaosheng didn’t want people to know he wasn’t actually the Ghost King clan’s Li Han. So although the two had been openly and secretly fighting over various matters, they both remained quite composed about exposing backgrounds, never mentioning Jian Chou’s name.

Zhang Tang had thought this matter would just pass, and that Fu Chaosheng, disguised as Li Han, had also claimed to be “in closed-door cultivation” and disappeared for a long time, probably using this as an excuse to leave the extreme domain.

Even when the Yin-Yang realm war restarted, he actually hadn’t thought much about it.

Because from beginning to end, he didn’t think this matter could have any connection with him, or cause any particularly bad effects on him.

Until this moment—

The two little ghosts he had searched for extensively in his early years but never found their traces and thus couldn’t kill, just appeared before him like this.

Big Head Ghost, Little Head Ghost.

Today he had originally received orders from Qin Guang King to go to the Ghost Gate Pass watchtower to observe the situation with Chu Jiang King commanding the army. Who would have thought that just as he opened his eyes from meditation and cultivation, before he could step out of his room, he detected movement in the formation arranged outside his residence.

Then came the sound of knocking.

He released his spiritual sense to look, and upon discovering it was Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost, he almost reflexively raised his hand to directly slash these two with his blade. Fortunately, thinking of the Yin-Yang realm war restart, he barely suppressed his killing intent before acting and let the two ghosts in.

The two little ghosts were obviously terrified of him. When they entered, they pushed each other and nearly fell to the ground.

“You go…”

“You go!”

Their voices were fragmented and careful, full of fear.

Zhang Tang glanced at them, then lowered his head to wipe the sharp bone-picking knife in his hand, but asked: “Since the Cauldron Contest that year, you two ghosts disappeared without a trace, vanishing from the extreme domain. Now you dare appear before this official, you must have backing behind you.”

“Little one, Little Head Ghost—”

“Little one, Big Head Ghost—”

“Greet the Judge!”

Both Little Head Ghost and Big Head Ghost were cowards who feared death. Along the way to Wangsi City, they had thought about running, but halfway through realized that the extreme domain was only so big, and with the Yin-Yang realm war starting, where could they run to?

Death either way, might as well take a gamble.

So after hesitating and gritting their teeth, they still came to deliver Jian Chou’s message.

But upon seeing Zhang Tang, they were both like mice seeing a cat. After all, small figures like them most feared seeing officials, and Zhang Tang happened to be one of the few in the extreme domain with heavy official authority. Just one glance from him could scare someone to death!

The two ghosts didn’t dare be careless and first performed their courtesies.

Then, the wooden Big Head Ghost said nothing, leaving only Little Head Ghost to carefully observe Zhang Tang’s expression and say with a forced smile: “Zhang, Zhang sir, we two little ones came to deliver a message for someone…”

Zhang Tang was quite cold: “For whom?”

Little Head Ghost trembled: “For Jian Chou Dazun.”

“…”

Just for that instant!

The fingers wiping the thin bone-picking blade trembled slightly, and even his eyebrows twitched. The thin blade between his fingers flashed with a cold gleam!

Zhang Tang’s scheming mind was not weak even when considering the entire extreme domain.

Though he could be considered a ghost cultivator now, he still completely maintained his old ways from the isolated island in the mortal world—indifferent in temperament, but with no reduction in his desires for power and prison authority.

Being a Grand Judge was going well, and he didn’t want to create trouble for himself.

But upon hearing Little Head Ghost utter the two words “Jian Chou,” he knew that even if he didn’t seek trouble, trouble had come looking for him!

His gaze finally returned, Zhang Tang gave Little Head Ghost a proper look. Though his heart was stern as ice, his voice could still be considered calm as he continued asking: “What message?”

It was better when he wasn’t looking; one look nearly froze Little Head Ghost half to death.

Those two gazes were like two blades, about to poke two big holes in his body!

Little Head Ghost felt as if sharp swords were lying across his neck, making his voice involuntarily softer, fearing he might provoke something: “Jian Chou Dazun said that this old friend of hers has arrived, right there in the eighteenth level of hell, waiting, waiting for you sir to meet…”

Zhang Tang frowned: “That’s all?”

Little Head Ghost shrank his neck, extremely frightened: “That’s, that’s all.”