novelraw Chapter 582 - 581: It’s over, they’re coming for me!
Chapter 582 - 581: It’s over, they’re coming for me!
[Filthy Disease Energy: The aura emitted from a life form that has been bizarrely polluted for a long time. Initially, isolating the bizarre source so it no longer gets polluted will gradually improve the situation; in the middle and later stages, professional cultivation techniques are required to purify and expel the disease energy.]
The words "long time" and "bizarre" made Jiang Yuan’s temples throb, indeed, Lin Chunsheng was acting strange!
"Take this." He shoved the cloth-wrapped package into Qiao Mei’s hands and urgently asked, "Where is your brother now?"
Only then did Lin Chunxi notice the guests at home. She was both surprised and anxious upon recognizing them, pointing behind her as she replied, "He already went to the main street, he wouldn’t listen and I couldn’t pull him back, his strength is surprisingly great, and he ran really fast..."
Oh no!
He had already started spreading pollution to his family, and Lin Chunsheng’s current situation was perilous. With the wilderness about to descend, who knows what he intended to do by leaving the city.
If the bizarre forces completely possessed him, it would be a huge problem!
"Qingfeng!" Jiang Yuan couldn’t care less about anything else and summoned his spirit sword to soar up in search of Lin Chunsheng.
Seeing this, Qiao Mei suddenly had a bad premonition.
Thinking about how her husband couldn’t reach her in his dreams, her son’s drastic change in temperament, and the sudden visit from the little immortal mentioning he wanted to see the two children... something major must have happened!
"You all stay home, Chunxi help Grandma San with her work, Mom’s going to handle this!" She tucked the package into her bosom, specifically instructing her daughter to stay home and not wander off, and rushed out into the alley.
At this moment, the little immortal’s traces were already unseen. Since her daughter said her brother was determined to leave the city, pursuing in the direction of the main street was certainly right!
While Jiang Yuan and Qiao Mei were chatting idly and waiting for Lin Chunsheng to return from school, Bai Heqing was leisurely inspecting the conditions of the people on the street with his hands behind his back.
He hoped that he could envelop the entire mountain in protection, allowing him to take in more refugees and expand Ping’an Town. After all, with more people, the incense offerings could become more prosperous, bringing him significant benefits, giving him more capability to protect the town—it’s a win-win situation for both sides.
But currently, his strength was limited, only able to provide a protective barrier of this size, and he had no time to interfere with human autonomy.
So he would occasionally take a stroll to see if the administrators were overstepping, to "reveal" a little and order them to correct it, striving for Anping Town to become more prosperous and thriving.
The citizens living and working in peace without threats from the wilderness could have more children. With more people, the incense offerings could gradually grow stronger, his strength could incrementally rise, and then he could expand the territory further to take in nearby refugees.
In the midst of envisioning the future, he suddenly sensed a very ominous force!
At this time, the wilderness had not yet descended, and it clearly wasn’t the mist cloud that his fellow cultivator mentioned. Moreover, Bai Heqing didn’t know why he felt a pounding in his heart, as if danger lurked in the town, within the array he set!
"Haha, I’ve finally lured you over." Lin Chunsheng stood in the shadows cast by the setting sun, his expression gloomy. His eyes stared fixedly at Bai Heqing, revealing a covetous look.
Being bizarre, it fully understood its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was: Except when coming up against cultivators skilled in purification, it was invincible in both the mortal world and the cultivation realm; even encountering other bizarre entities, it could go all-out in a desperate battle.
The disadvantage was: Without complete possession of the body, it could still curl up without releasing bizarre pollution aura. Once it achieved full possession, it couldn’t control the pollution aura anymore, and without sufficient means to hide it, it would easily be exposed and draw attention.
Thus, for safety’s sake, it didn’t dare to brazenly possess the body of an ordinary person who couldn’t cultivate before finding a satisfactory body, to avoid attracting cultivators proficient in purification who could directly neutralize it.
But continually hiding wasn’t sustainable; after all, it was a bizarre entity that even high-tier cultivators feared, so how could it endure such grievance of hiding in a mortal body every day with no means to display its skills?
Unfortunately, the young mortal it occupied was also a piece of trash, his family was poor, and he had no spirit root to cultivate. Though he was easy to control, he couldn’t absorb spiritual power, leaving it to helplessly sense the rich spiritual energy at night without being able to nourish its soul.
Additionally, luck wasn’t on its side, as in such a remote place, it couldn’t even see the shadow of a cultivator, and its divine soul’s yearning for spiritual power made it impatient to possess a cultivator’s body.
Even if it were the weakest cultivator, possessing one with spirit root and spiritual power would grant it the means to utilize many skills, leaving nothing to fear at that point!
In utter desperation, it sometimes controlled Lin Chunsheng’s body to obtain information related to cultivators.
Hard work pays off. By getting some silver coins and mingling among wealthy students at school, it painstakingly managed to gather the information that the "Immortal Elder" in Anping Town would show divinity.
During its time lurking in Lin Chunsheng, it had already figured out the basic operational rules of this world. Thus it inferred that the so-called divinity appearance must be a cultivator pretending to be a deity enjoying incense offerings and responding to believers’ summoning for a true body descent.
Since they were so conscientious, why not lure them to Anping Town and seize the opportunity to possess them?
Thus, during the occasions it controlled Lin Chunsheng, it occasionally released bizarre pollution aura, attempting to attract attention. The initial attempts yielded no results, but today, just after leaving school, the bizarre entity lurking inside the mortal suddenly sensed a wave of spiritual power fluctuation!
It was overly excited, hurrying to trace the source, but was hindered by Lin Chunxi, that annoying little girl, almost missing the opportunity.
If it weren’t worried about causing unnecessary trouble due to the difficulty of a mortal body easily shaking off a nuisance, it would’ve long removed the mortal impeding it with a single slash.
After finally shaking off Lin Chunxi, it discovered the cultivator’s trace and prepared its next strike!
Bai Heqing held his breath and focused, trying to locate the source of that ethereal and formless force. However, as usual, it appeared suddenly and disappeared without a trace, making it impossible to track.
"Strange, what on earth is this bizarre thing?" The white-bearded old man looked puzzled, his gaze sweeping over the bustling crowd, yet finding nothing unusual.
The eerie force withdrew its control, leaving Lin Chunsheng’s mind somewhat muddled. Under the influence of its temptation, he felt as though there was something very important he must do outside the city and hastily walked forward, hoping to complete the task before nightfall.
Bai Heqing didn’t pay much attention to the young human boy walking toward him. As they brushed past each other, Lin Chunsheng’s eyes suddenly turned completely black, his entire being exuding a sinister aura, and with a grin, he lunged at the old man with a white beard. "Hehe, I’ve got you!"
"Oh no! He’s coming for me!" Bai Heqing instantly felt a chill down his spine; he wanted to fight back but was engulfed by a gray mist.
He could feel the spiritual power circulating within him being clung to by the gray mist, and a fear of being devoured arose in his heart.
The bronze thorns on his body burst out attempting self-rescue, but the spread of the gray mist was evidently faster than his reaction. Barely protruding its tip, the bronze thorn was polluted and controlled, unable to move.
"Quick! Run!" Realizing that his death was imminent, Bai Heqing mustered all his strength to wave his arms and shouted to the crowd: "Leave here! Get away quickly!"
The bustling crowd on the street only then noticed a teenager cornered in the alley, pounced upon an old man, his hands firmly squeezing his throat. The old man struggled desperately, screaming, but his voice was indistinct; it seemed he was calling for help.
"Whose child is that? Why bully the old man?"
"Gone mad, hasn’t he? Let go quickly! If someone dies, you’ll pay with your life!"
"Hit him with a stick, maybe he’s truly gone mad..."
...
Seeing those mortals rushing over attempting to help, Bai Heqing’s eyes turned red with urgency.
As a cultivator himself, he was subdued with one move, unable to resist. Once they get tainted by the gray mist, won’t they be doomed?
"Go! Quickly go!" In utter despair, he saw a fellow he met once coming in flying by sword. His mind raced; the gray mist could devour spiritual power, that’s dangerous. If the other also gets polluted and devoured, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Oh dear, evidently the young fellow didn’t understand his intention; he’s flying over!
If he left to fetch reinforcements, maybe Anping Town could still be saved. But now, if he too gets polluted... Bai Heqing felt utterly stifled.
The cultivation path is tough but bearable; finally cultivating to the Bone Refining Realm and receiving mortal incense for so many years, how could he end up dying silently, disappearing completely?
Even dying in a mighty battle, at least fighting with skill and being killed, would still be better than not deploying a single move and falling ignominiously, dying with regret!
"Step back, everyone!" Jiang Yuan, flying high and seeing far, the system in his sight automatically targeted and analyzed data, quickly locking onto the target—Lin Chunsheng in the crowd, who almost seemed devoid of his soul, exuding a gray mist as he pounced on Bai Heqing. The little old man was already engulfed in the gray mist, unable to move.
Yet a group of mortals gathered around, some holding shoulder poles, and others drying poles, hit Lin Chunsheng in chaos, trying to make him release the old man’s throat.
Jiang Yuan thought of the eerie force occupying Lin Chunsheng’s body; once his skills attacked, the eerie might not die, but Lin Chunsheng’s life would undoubtedly be lost.
"Whoosh!"
Everything happened in a flash; reacting swiftly, he clicked the spare capture net in his storage bag, instantly capturing Lin Chunsheng and Bai Heqing tangled together.
Anping Town’s geographical location is quite special, with winding mountain paths and a rather long journey, but flying straight makes it very close. Jiang Yuan struck precisely, flicking his right hand, casting the soul hook wrapped around his wrist!
[Mysterious Soul Fragment +1]
[...+1]
...
"Another one?" Lin Chunsheng’s body housing a slime-like soul burst forth, resembling an octopus, tightly wrapping Bai Heqing in a bid to devour his soul and possess the cultivator’s body.
Just as the eerie felt triumphant, a large net descended from above; it turned to look and chuckled—a younger and more handsome cultivator’s body!
Though unable to see through the strength instantly, judging by the caliber of the spirit sword he wielded, he was far stronger than the wretched old man.
Devouring a cultivator’s soul and possessing his body also consumed quite a bit of divine soul power. Given a better option offered itself, there was no need for this one; after being polluted, anyway, he wouldn’t live for much longer.
Sticky tentacles released Bai Heqing; Lin Chunsheng tried to escape the net but failed, intending to flow his soul out through the holes, when he suddenly felt a slicing pain surging through his divine soul, cutting sharply, jolting him in pain, his actions momentarily halted!
"Oh dear, step aside quickly!"
"Oh my heavens, the lad can fly!"
"Perhaps it’s the Immortal Elder showing his power? Old Master Ding is preparing a banquet to worship the Immortal Elder..."
...
The onlookers, already hesitant to approach, could only help with makeshift tools from their hands. Then they turned their heads to see someone flying over from above, each widened their eyes in astonishment, instinctively retreating, swiftly clearing a space.