In the incense burner, a wisp of azure smoke curled upward.

But it no longer carried the cloying sweetness from the past two days when she was secluded in Lian Zhao’s boudoir in the Wuchang clan. Instead, it was replaced by a faint bitter clarity.

It could penetrate to the depths of one’s heart, bringing peace.

The eastern window was opened a narrow crack, and a patch of skylight fell in from outside. Looking out through the window gap, one could see towering buildings stretching majestically.

This wasn’t the Wuchang clan—this was Gou Zhong Tower.

On the long writing desk sat a black jade slip, and a slender, pale finger rested on the edge of the jade slip, motionless for a long time.

Falling upon this jade slip was Jian Chou’s absent-minded gaze.

She had been thinking for a very long time.

Today was the sixth day since she had been selected into Gou Zhong Tower based on her special relationship with “Brother Lihan.” Among the elite ghost cultivators from the ten great ghost clans—a total of one hundred and three people—not a single person knew what they had been chosen to do. They had only received such a jade slip and were required to cultivate according to the technique recorded on it.

Jian Chou had naturally practiced it as well.

With her current comprehension and talent, she didn’t need six days at all—she could already perform this technique after just one day.

It was a soul control technique.

Once initially mastered, one could manipulate wandering spirits and wild ghosts whose consciousness was unclear or whose cultivation was insufficient.

For her, this was definitely not good news.

Moreover…

The bad news seemed to be more than just this one piece.

“Click.”

Her rounded fingernail painted with bright red nail polish moved slightly, touching the jade slip on the desk.

Jian Chou looked at it, returning from her thoughts, but her face showed no expression. Beneath her calm eyes, there was a trace of incomprehensible, uncertain hesitation.

“Fu… Chaosheng…”

The character “Fu” came from his original form “Mayfly” (蜉蝣), taking the homophone of the first character; the name “Chaosheng” was her casual suggestion when he first stepped onto the immortal path, meaning “though born at dawn, not dying at dusk.”

His awakening name came from her, his given name originated from her.

From the moment of his birth, he had known her—

To her, even the great demon Mayfly, the most evil under heaven, was merely a passerby encountered on life’s journey who later became a friend. But to him, she was the most familiar person in this world, his closest old friend whom he could trust with his whole heart.

From the very beginning, Jian Chou had never felt that such vastly different existences would have much intersection. Even later, when various circumstances led to somewhat kindred feelings, she had never imagined that something even more wondrous might happen after this.

After all, Fu Chaosheng was a great demon who didn’t understand human emotions and hearts.

After all, her temperament wasn’t entirely as kind and approachable as she appeared to the world.

To some extent, Xie Buchen’s assessment of her wasn’t greatly mistaken.

She was very amiable with outsiders—if people treated her well, she would repay them in kind. Congenial people could easily become her acquaintances, even friends.

But to go further was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

So Xie Buchen both loved and hated her.

But what was going on with this Mayfly?

Jian Chou’s brow furrowed slightly.

Intuition told her that things had changed somehow. But she didn’t dare be certain, not to mention that Fu Chaosheng himself seemed completely unaware of such changes and signs.

“Lord Brother Lihan has commanded! All one hundred and three recruited persons must immediately proceed to the main building! His lordship and the elders have matters to convey!”

Outside the room, a stern voice suddenly rang out.

All the ghost cultivators living in the surrounding courtyards heard it clearly. Immediately, people began walking out of their rooms, gathering in groups of twos and threes, heading toward the three-story main building of Gou Zhong Tower ahead.

Jian Chou guessed that the Eight Directions Yama Palace wanted to examine how well they had cultivated that soul control technique.

Just half a quarter-hour later, everyone had reassembled in the building.

One hundred and three people, not one missing.

Still seated at the head were “Brother Lihan” and those three elders.

These past few days, Jian Chou hadn’t seen Fu Chaosheng at all. Strangely, she hadn’t gone to find Fu Chaosheng, and Fu Chaosheng hadn’t taken this opportunity to find her and discuss subsequent matters. She could understand that she had some things that needed clarifying, but Fu Chaosheng…

Perhaps he was busy?

She looked up and immediately met Fu Chaosheng’s gaze directed at her from the head seat.

Today’s Fu Chaosheng still wore robes of dark blue, with Brother Lihan’s gloomy coldness unchanged in the slightest. His face seemed no different from usual.

But the moment their gazes met, Jian Chou felt he was somewhat evasive.

This evasiveness didn’t stem from any personal feelings, but from another kind of reluctance to speak…

Her heart suddenly sank.

Jian Chou showed no unusual reaction and bowed with the crowd.

Elder Li Yan of the Ghost King clan told them to dispense with formalities, then indeed began examining everyone’s cultivation of the soul control technique recorded on the jade slip, just as Jian Chou had guessed when she came.

Most people had practiced very well.

Even those limited by cultivation and talent, who hadn’t reached perfect mastery, could generally perform it without any problems.

Starting from those with the highest cultivation and working down, the three elders were very satisfied.

Jian Chou had thought she would also undergo examination, but when it was finally her turn at the very end, Elder Li Yan of the Ghost King clan gave her a meaningful look and walked right past her!

He didn’t examine her cultivation at all!

He only turned back toward “Brother Lihan” seated at the head and cupped his hands: “Lord Brother Lihan, examination is complete. All are qualified.”

“Good.”

Fu Chaosheng nodded and glanced at the crowd below.

“Since all are qualified, there’s no need for further elaborate preparations. Return to rest after today’s examination. We depart early tomorrow morning. You must all be curious about what this recruitment is actually for, but His Highness Lord Qin Guang has strict orders—we cannot say now, but you will all understand clearly when the time comes. All dismissed.”

“Yes!”

Everyone had thought they could depart after recruitment and learn what this was all about. Who would have expected that six days had passed before hearing about departure?

Though they heard “Brother Lihan” speak thus, they all had doubts in their hearts.

Everyone responded in unison and respectfully bowed before withdrawing.

Jian Chou was also among the crowd, making as if to leave.

At this moment, Fu Chaosheng spoke lightly: “Lian Zhao, remain.”

Jian Chou’s steps immediately stopped.

The ghost cultivators leaving around her all looked at her with strange expressions at this moment: Ever since Brother Lihan suddenly appeared before Gou Zhong Tower and spoke those four words, they felt their impressions of both Brother Lihan and Jian Chou had been completely overturned. For days, various rumors had spread throughout the streets and alleys of Fengdu City, becoming an inevitable topic of conversation among numerous ghost cultivators after meals. Now who didn’t know that Brother Lihan and Lian Zhao had something going on?

Keeping someone behind alone…

Wasn’t this obviously about to do this and that?

Everyone only looked once, not daring to look more, and filed out one after another.

The three elders exchanged glances and all smiled like old foxes.

The Ghost King clan elder who had earlier given Jian Chou a meaningful look squinted his eyes into slits: “Cough, matters of young people—we old bones won’t interfere. Miss Lian Zhao’s cultivation of soul control technique can be examined by Lord Brother Lihan himself. We take our leave.”

The three elders also departed.

Very tactfully.

The vast hall suddenly became empty, leaving only Jian Chou standing in the hall and Fu Chaosheng seated at the head.

The two looked at each other.

Neither smiled.

Jian Chou looked behind herself, confirming that no one was outside, then turned back and frowned as she asked: “Friend Chaosheng has been nowhere to be seen these past days. Has something changed at the Eight Directions Yama Palace?”

“No changes, it’s just…”

The so-called hesitation to speak shouldn’t have appeared in Fu Chaosheng, but as he rose from his seat and walked before Jian Chou, he showed several degrees of hesitation.

He gazed at her for a long while before finally speaking.

“On the day recruitment ended, I received a secret order from Lord Qin Guang sent from the Eight Directions Yama Palace. From this I learned what this recruitment was for, where we’re going, and what we need to do. Both Kun and I believe that old friend shouldn’t go.”

“…”

The ominous premonition that had been faintly rising in her heart since she understood that soul control technique finally settled down at this moment.

Jian Chou looked at Fu Chaosheng without speaking.

She was intelligent—how could she not guess what Fu Chaosheng hadn’t said? In this world now, what matter could make Fu Chaosheng wary while also making him feel she shouldn’t go?

Zhong Lanling…

There was indeed more than one.

Jian Chou clenched her fingers, slowly closed her eyes, and after a long while reopened them. Her voice already carried deep gloom and hoarseness: “Is it soul puppets?”

Or rather…

Yashan soul puppets.

Fu Chaosheng couldn’t answer.

Since learning some definite news and circumstances, his mind would constantly replay that scene from the battle at Ghost Gate Pass where Yashan people slayed Yashan souls, while his old friend went against the crowd.

Subconsciously, he didn’t want Jian Chou to know.

So for several consecutive days, he hadn’t actively sought out Jian Chou, only thinking that unless Jian Chou came to ask him, he would think it through before speaking.

One delay led to another, until today.

But someone as perceptive as Jian Chou didn’t really need him to say anything more. From these few words and scattered clues, she could deduce what they would face next.

The face he wore quietly and silently transformed back to its original appearance. On his slightly pale countenance, those deep eyes held a familiar color that Jian Chou knew well—old, dark, and cold like moss, locking all the vast flowing time within.

Though possessing demonic evil qi, it was only faint.

After a moment of silence, he slowly said: “Since that battle between the Yin and Yang realms eleven cycles of sixty years ago, under orders from the Eight Directions Yama Palace, the Ghost King clan has been researching soul puppet techniques. Using the extreme realm’s ability to manipulate reincarnation, they forcibly gathered the scattered soul fragments of Nineteen Continents cultivators who perished over six hundred years ago, piecing and repairing them, re-fusing them into souls. This is called ‘puppets among souls, ghosts among ghosts,’ intended to deal with you. This recruitment is to rush to the Underworld and awaken the final batch of soul puppets.”

The final batch.

Which meant all the previous ones had been completed.

Jian Chou suddenly felt a suppressed discomfort, unable to breathe. In an instant, she thought of the front lines of the Nineteen Continents: “How is Mao City?”

“More than half has been captured. Victory is all but certain.”

Jian Chou’s channels for obtaining information in Gou Zhong Tower were limited, but Fu Chaosheng outside knew everything clearly.

The battle for Mao City was a genuine hard fight.

Both sides had pressed massive forces onto this second line of defense in the extreme realm. Whether the Nineteen Continents or the extreme realm, both were fighting with everything they had.

But how could they calculate against Xie Buchen?

For every formation, one was broken; for every scheme, one was unraveled. All manner of conspiracies and stratagems proved ineffective. Whether advancing or retreating, attacking or defending, everything fell within the calculations of the Nineteen Continents side.

The extreme realm side was both angry and anxious, but helplessly had no method of breakthrough.

The Nineteen Continents side gained an entirely new understanding of this Kunwu prodigy’s abilities, feeling his calculations truly didn’t fall short of the legendary Hengxu Master. He was worthy of the title “Heaven-Favored Dao Child,” and in grand strategy, possessed abilities that chilled the heart.

One thing led to another, and somehow some busybody first spread the word, claiming he bore the appearance of Purple Forbidden descended from heaven, calling him “Purple Forbidden Dao Child.”

Purple Forbidden referred to the North Star.

Lord of all stars.

Throughout human history across dynasties, it was often used to represent emperors, known as the “Imperial Star.”

“Purple Forbidden Dao Child…” Jian Chou slowly repeated after hearing this, and also laughed once. “It does suit his ‘Path of Human Emperor.'”

Fu Chaosheng didn’t think highly of Xie Buchen.

Hearing that Jian Chou’s words clearly suggested she thought Xie Buchen’s title “Purple Forbidden Dao Child” was well-deserved, he frowned slightly.

So he didn’t respond.

Jian Chou then looked up at him and asked: “I remember that Friend Chaosheng previously mistakenly swallowed half a heart?”

It wasn’t exactly mistaken swallowing…

Fu Chaosheng was originally a demon. As long as he wished, whether cultivators from the Nineteen Continents or souls from the extreme realm, all living beings under heaven could be devoured in one gulp.

But Jian Chou asking this way wasn’t exactly wrong either.

He looked back at her and nodded: “There was such a matter.”

Jian Chou asked again: “Since then, have you felt anything unusual or improper?”

This question—she seemed to have asked it once before.

Fu Chaosheng remembered that after the battle at Ghost Gate Pass ended, when Jian Chou finished recovering from her injuries and walked out of the encampment, he had already answered once.

Why ask again?

Fu Chaosheng was somewhat puzzled but still shook his head: “I felt nothing unusual in the first few days. Though there have been some strange sensations these past days, they seem unrelated to this.”

“…”

Jian Chou’s gaze immediately carried several degrees of scrutiny.

She looked at him for quite a while, her eyes flickering, but said nothing. She only stepped forward toward him.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The two had been standing quite close to begin with. Though Jian Chou’s steps weren’t large, they rapidly closed the distance between them.

Moreover, even when she drew close, she still didn’t stop.

In this instant, Fu Chaosheng suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of oppression and restlessness—that strange sensation that made him uncomfortable.

Facing Jian Chou’s approach, he instinctively retreated.

In just two or three steps he had backed up to the grand chair at the head seat. With her lightly placing a hand on his shoulder, he sat down in the chair.

Jian Chou leaned down slightly, and in an instant Lian Zhao’s alluring features disappeared. The face now mere inches from Fu Chaosheng was her original countenance.

Gentle, peaceful.

But at this moment, the excessive tranquility instead seemed to harbor a startling, soul-stirring sensation.

Her light gaze didn’t move from Fu Chaosheng’s face as she said: “Throw Him out.”

Fu Chaosheng was momentarily stunned before realizing what she meant.

Though he didn’t understand the reason, since his old friend had spoken, he unfastened the fish-shaped jade pendant hanging at his waist and threw it out of this council hall.

With a “snap,” it was thrown very far.

Jian Chou didn’t turn to look even once.

One hand lightly rested on Fu Chaosheng’s shoulder—the exquisite embroidered patterns on his dark blue robes felt slightly cool under her palm. Her other hand pressed against the left armrest, the deep purple carved lacquer making her fingers appear slender and pale.

Her slender neck leaned down in a posture that made relaxation absolutely impossible.

Oppressive.

Even aggressive.

Close.

Too close.

Fu Chaosheng felt that with the slightest blink, he could touch her lowered, thick, long eyelashes.

Dry mouth and tongue.

Body tense.

He even didn’t know why he held his breath, not daring to move carelessly.

He tried to speak: “Old friend…”

But when his voice emerged, it was somewhat hoarse and trembling.

Jian Chou slowly blinked. With her back to the outside light, her eyes were deep and dark, revealing nothing.

The right hand resting on his shoulder had lifted somewhat.

Cool fingertips touched his neck, stirring up an unfamiliar tremor.

The demonic power in his body began to grow restless again.

Even on that day at Gou Zhong Tower, it hadn’t been as intense as this moment!

At this moment, Fu Chaosheng the great demon seemed to be nailed firmly to this grand chair, unable to move the slightest bit. He could only watch helplessly as his old friend drew closer and closer, closer and closer…

Her lips approached his ear.

The breath between inhalations carried a wisp of bitter, cold fragrance that drifted out.

But she didn’t completely press against him.

She only lingered for a moment, then moved downward along his ear, from his jaw to his neck. Like viewing flowers through mist, intimate yet distant…

The trembling intensified.

Strange sensations began to occupy his entire body.

Fu Chaosheng clearly had enough strength to push her away, but at this moment it seemed as if another hidden consciousness unknown to him was manipulating him from the depths of his soul, blocking him, preventing him, keeping him rigid and maintaining his current posture, staring fixedly.

Until…

Those lips that had moved to his neck slowly, bit by bit, pressed down, closing the distance between those soft, parting lips and his Adam’s apple.

Then, slowly came together.

“Boom!”

Like floodwaters bursting through a dike!

Fu Chaosheng felt only a thunderous crash in the depths of his mind. All the demonic power in his body, regardless of depth or origin, seemed to lose control in this instant!

A scorching, burning breath surged from somewhere in his chest, sweeping through his limbs and bones at a speed and in a manner completely foreign to him…

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

His entire body felt like it was about to burst into flames!

The feeling of losing control filled him with unprecedented fear.

He wanted to retreat further but had nowhere to go.

Fu Chaosheng didn’t even understand what all his current reactions meant. In this moment of wanting to retreat, he glimpsed Jian Chou’s eyes.

Half light, half shadow; half bright, half enchanting.

On features no less exquisite than Lian Zhao’s, cold snow clung peacefully, with an additional touch of loneliness between her brows. Her eyes gazed at him, seemingly as clear as always, but deeper down was something obscure and difficult to fathom.

Scrutiny, deep thought.

There seemed to be other deeper, more hidden emotions flashing by quickly, but Fu Chaosheng’s understanding of human emotions was limited, making them truly difficult to capture.

In just a moment, she had already pulled back.

The oppressive presence withdrew, and that disturbing faint fragrance also receded.

But Fu Chaosheng felt no relief whatsoever. Instead, her earlier gaze made him uneasy, so he instinctively reached out to grasp her hand as she withdrew from the armrest.

This should have caught her firmly.

But unfortunately, Jian Chou lowered her eyes, her five fingers curling lightly at just this moment, perfectly avoiding his grasp and falling back to her side.

Fu Chaosheng caught empty air.

“…”

Slight bewilderment.

He looked up at her and suddenly felt a strange oppression that made him very uncomfortable, as if something had subtly changed from before.

But Jian Chou seemed unaware, looking at him with calm eyes where contemplation had already hidden away, only saying: “Lord Wu Guan is also no benevolent person, but since you and Kun have no clues, we’ll wait until we break into Eight Directions City and take these Yama Kings’ heads to ask for the truth.”

For the first time, Fu Chaosheng didn’t know how to respond.

A voice in his mind shouted at him: No, you shouldn’t be talking about such things now! This isn’t what you want to know about!

But he ultimately didn’t speak.

Jian Chou smiled faintly and said: “I’ll return first. We’ll meet again tomorrow when we depart.”

Finished speaking, she withdrew her gaze, turned, and left.

Fu Chaosheng followed by standing up, only remaining in the hall, watching her resume Lian Zhao’s appearance, go downstairs, and quickly disappear from sight.

At this moment, the fish-shaped dark jade pendant that had been thrown out earlier flew back in from outside, its laughter carrying some teasing: “Ah, so fast?”

Fu Chaosheng blinked and didn’t respond.

The Kun transformed into a jade pendant only then sensed something amiss: “What’s wrong with you?”

Fu Chaosheng somewhat dazedly raised his hand, pressing it to his chest, feeling that the scorching heat that had earlier surged through his limbs and bones, causing his demonic power to lose control, had all disappeared, leaving only ash-like coldness.

Momentarily bewildered.

He gripped that cold spot, actually feeling some hidden pain, then slowly said: “I think… I ate something I shouldn’t have…”