novelraw Chapter 571 - 570 Landing and Turning into a Box
Chapter 571 - 570 Landing and Turning into a Box
"This is outrageous!" Jing Peiran had never been treated like this before.
Born the son of the Clan Leader, he was held in high esteem by the clan members from the moment of his birth, and the formidable cultivation talent he quickly displayed made him a true child of destiny.
Having survived the collapse of the world while his clan’s land remained intact, he felt a sense of being chosen by the heavens.
Upon entering the Ghost Realm and miraculously surviving as a mysterious being, Jing Peiran found that cultivators were terrified of mysterious beings, fearing that provoking them would lead to death and the end of their path. But he himself had become a mysterious being, so what was there to fear!
Once he could establish connections through the Holy Stone with mortals from the safe world, Jing Peiran was certain—he was undoubtedly the Chosen One.
Enduring these hardships was all arranged by the Heavenly Dao to make him an invincible existence. When this king descends upon the world, he will create a mysterious realm where he will be the king of all mysterious beings!
With ambition and determination, he planned step by step, executing the possession technique, until just before his Storage Ring was snatched away, he had never suffered at the hands of anyone in his entire life.
"I am a mysterious being, after all!" The more he thought, the angrier he became, his soul dissolving into a mass of liquid extending countless tendrils, clinging tightly to the monster’s body, attempting to contaminate or devour it.
He believed he would be king upon landing, yet hadn’t encountered a proper cultivator and instead ran into a monster that played by its own rules, and directly landed in a coffin.
Jing Peiran could feel his divine soul weakening bit by bit, his heart filled with anger and rage yet increasingly terrified; a sense of despair he had never known grew stronger.
"If you weren’t a mysterious being, I wouldn’t be fighting you." Jiang Yuan endured attacks from the Illusion Realm, feeling pain but having to resist looking at the seductive fox spirits whose clothes dwindled, holding back his fury.
On another side, although Yu Hu warriors weren’t confused by the Illusion Realm, the mysterious beings’ fighting style evidently posed some adaptation challenges for them.
Seeing the situation poorly, Ali initially planned to sneak away leaving the Clan Leader behind, but unexpectedly found himself surrounded by dozens of corpse ghosts, unaffected by pollution, feeling no pain, and impervious to illusionary charm techniques.
Their whole clan had been slaughtered by mysterious beings, and the remaining intelligence hated the source of poisonous miasma, fighting to the end even if pulverized!
Unwilling to fight anymore, she stopped using illusionary charm techniques, and her soul, gelatinous like rubber, split into several pieces before colliding with Yu Hu warriors’ weapons, scattering in several directions attempting to escape.
"General, it’s trying to escape!" Yu Hu No. 1 saw their strikes had no effect, concerned the cunning mysterious being would succeed in fleeing, immediately chose to report and request assistance.
Jiang Yuan busily engaged, turned his head and exclaimed in shock, seeing a dozen odd-sized green pustules squirming on the ground or flattening into disks attempting to fly away, with each Yu Hu warrior having one more than ample.
Unable to spare the time himself, he had a sudden idea to click and use a large Capture Net, enveloping the green pustules, then tossed out the Chaotic Heaven Bell.
"Duang!"
The giant bell trapped all the fragments Ali painstakingly splintered, and the deep and resonant sound echoed in Wan’en Temple, jolting those mortals trapped in illusions within the Golden Tower and Zen Room, clearing their minds completely.
"What just happened? Why is the bell ringing again?"
"Hey? I distinctly saw a fairy, could it be my heart is so big I’ve fallen asleep?"
"Keep quiet, the monster is still outside!"
......
City Lord Gao Ye, in a daze, felt as though he succeeded in seeking immortality and finally ascended to the Immortal Realm.
Immersed in his celestial travels, flirting with fairies, a sudden bell sound brought clarity to his hazy mind. Although a court official he had weathered some storms and witnessed many strange phenomena, he promptly realized that what he experienced were all illusions!
By the way, what happened to Lu Erxi and his son Lu Shaojie?
Earlier, the pair had changed from their usual cordial selves to sinister and fierce, and he dared not face them directly. All he could do was grit his teeth and patiently wait, but not long after they left, a monster appeared outside, and he hadn’t heard anything since.
Inside the Golden Tower, many familiar faces from the city were participating in the granting skill, Gao Ye randomly pointed to a wealthy merchant, and in a low voice said, "Boss Xu, you’re closest to the window, could you please check outside?"
Named, Boss Xu shivered uncontrollably, whispered, "City Lord, I couldn’t resist taking a glance earlier, and the monster is truly terrifying... Lu Sect Leader and Lu Young Sect Leader seem to be dead..."
He avoided wetting his pants, thanks to a trip to the toilet before the granting skill, thus having no leftover.
Speaking, he trembled as he pointed behind him, too scared to look again, "The bodies are in the corridor, scared stiff by the monster they collapsed and haven’t moved since!"
"Were they just scared to death?"
"Lu Young Sect Leader hadn’t even used his formidable skills yet, what’s going on?"
"Since both were scared to death directly, what is the monster fighting?"
"Oh, dear! There’s another tower outside! Those earlier monsters resembling humans are surrounding that tower, and the big monster that’s not human seems busy doing something, puffing and panting, quite frightening..."
......
Fear cannot conquer the curiosity of some people, and soon the Golden Tower was filled with whispered discussions, just like the Zen Room.
Realizing there seemed to be no immediate danger, the window sills and doorways gradually became crowded with heads peeking out.
"Stop fighting! We can negotiate cooperation!" Jing Peiran also attempted to escape by splitting part of his Divine Soul, prioritizing survival over potential recovery complications later.
Unfortunately, with Ali as a previous example, Jiang Yuan had already learned to handle it with ease. No matter how many pieces it split into, a large Capture Net easily resolved it! Since he divided his soul into small fragments himself, using the Soul Hook became even handier, catching each one accurately.
"Cooperation?" Jiang Yuan pretended to ponder for a moment, then asked, "First, tell me how you possessed and arrived in this world?"
"The Holy Stone of our Divine Mountain originally connected with the Celestial Realm. By chance, when the world collapsed, it fell into this world. I tempted Lu Erxi through the Holy Stone, using him to perform the Possession Technique for my arrival."
"Where is the Holy Stone?" Jiang Yuan listened, considering using this link to gather more Mysterious Soul Fragments, but then thought of the risks and potential irreversible damages if left unchecked.
To ensure safety, it’s better to eliminate it early!
Jing Peiran thought he had found a way to survive, hoping that if he could just live on stealthily, he’d have the chance to possess a cultivator’s body. Then many methods would become available to him, and even if he couldn’t kill the monster, he could at least escape, gain complete freedom, and find ways to replenish his Divine Soul.
As for those tribesmen still floating in the void, unable to descend and possess?
Bad luck, he thought. As the king, he had done enough for them, but now personal survival was more critical, and he mustn’t provoke the monster.
"The Holy Stone is placed in the attic at the top of the Golden Tower." Jing Peiran, sacrificing a pawn to save the king, didn’t dare deceive and answered truthfully, "Using its power allowed numerous tribesmen’s souls to swap with humans, thereby possessing bodies. Fellow Daoist, we’ve had no old grudges nor recent enmity, as the saying goes, no fight no acquaintance, why don’t we..."
He intended to win Jiang Yuan over, but the monster unexpectedly shook the iron chain in his hand, attacking his soul again!
"Friend, friend, please spare me, let’s talk it out!"
"You and your subordinates don’t look like ordinary cultivators, so you must face discrimination in this world. Friend, you aren’t afraid of the eerie, we can join forces!"
"Look at how those mortals view you. They see you as monsters! Friend, why not cooperate with me...oh no, I’m willing to pledge allegiance to you, using my mysterious traits to transform the entire world to your liking! Then you will be the ruler of this world!"
...
Jing Peiran moved from seeking cooperation, to painting grand visions, to breaking down into cursing, and under the incessant effort of the Soul Hook, his soul shrank smaller and smaller. Accompanied by the final +1 notification, his curses abruptly stopped, and the green mist in the courtyard dissipated instantly in the wind.
[Side Quest: Human Support Plan]
[Task 1: Use the Soul Hook required for the task to collect 300 Mysterious Soul Fragments inhabiting human bodies. (312/300) Completed. Reward: Permanent Soul Hook Blueprint +1 issued]
[Task 8: Use Soul Hook to collect 500 Mysterious Soul Fragments (12/500) Reward: Acceleration Card +5]
[Resist the Illusion Realm’s temptation, Willpower +10]
"It’s indeed worthy of a Clan Leader; his soul was quite substantial." Jiang Yuan muttered until the culprit was entirely sliced apart, allowing the illusion realm around him to completely disperse. He didn’t bother checking the spoils, shaking the Soul Hook in his hand and storing the Chaotic Heaven Bell away before continuing with the second mysterious slice.
Ali practiced the Illusionary Charm Technique. Though physically aged, her soul power was by no means weak. However, besides helping Jiang Yuan resist temptation and increasing his willpower by another 20 points, her greatest contribution was advancing the progress of task 8 to (161/500).
"Thank you for your hard work, General!" A multitude of Yu Hu warriors saluted in unison. They were not at all concerned whether their master who easily defeated the mysterious creature was human or a monster in appearance. Being corpse ghosts, they only recognized bound aura and strength.
Jiang Yuan’s voice came out through the eerie skull with a slight chill, commanding, "Bring out all the mortals from the Golden Tower and Zen Room, have them line up in two rows."
"We’re done for! It’s our turn now!"
"City Lord, say something! What should we do?"
"Is the monster going to eat us? It’s all because of that Lu Sect Leader for provoking evil, claiming he would capture the evil spirit as a puppet. Now look? They both died, and we’re dragged along!"
"Immortal grandfather, spare us! It was Lu Sect Leader who said you were an evil spirit; it’s got nothing to do with us!"
"I have an eighty-year-old mother and a baby who needs feeding; Immortal, have mercy and spare me..."
...
Jiang Yuan was busy finishing the tasks and checking the spoils, seeing the situation he coldly snorted and took the chance to admonish them: "Each of you mortals without Spirit Roots dreaming of becoming immortals? Do you even qualify?
This city was in good order, yet frauds run rampant and evil spirits roam wild. As the City Lord, you mingle with these evil spirits who disguise themselves as practitioners to absorb people’s Yang Energy. You are unaware, but your Yang Energy has already been partially consumed. If I hadn’t intervened, within days, not only would you have fallen ill and died, but your families would have been affected too!"
He spoke as he lifted the bodies of Lu Erxi and Lu Shaojie with the Soul Refining Banner, throwing them to the ground, "These two have long been dead, even their souls utterly dispersed and unable to reincarnate.
Today, as the General, I am mercifully returning the Yang Energy taken from you; from this day on, abandon your devious thoughts, practice good deeds, and live well, and you can achieve a good end. Otherwise..."