Chapter 19.2 Tianyan City
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Before the Ghost City stood two reliefs depicting ox-headed and horse-faced figures. Below the reliefs were two ordinary mortals guarding the city gate. Dressed entirely in black, they appeared bored. After all, guarding this place and not seeing a new face for months had dampened their interest.
The two youngsters conversed half-heartedly.
The person on the right said, “I heard a rumor recently. It seems the City Lord is actively arranging a marriage for the Young Master.”
The person on the left widened their eyes and exclaimed, “What? A marriage?”
The person on the right: “Yes, it’s really strange. Do Nascent Soul stage powerhouses have such peculiar ideas? The Young Master has just achieved the perfect Golden Core stage. He’s only one step away from the Nascent Soul, so shouldn’t his cultivation take priority? Why is the City Lord meddling in his marriage at this time?”
The person on the left hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Have you ever heard of a peculiar cultivation method?”
The person on the right was taken aback and locked eyes with the other person, both sensing a trace of peculiarity in each other’s gaze.
They exclaimed in unison, “Dual cultivation?!”
The person on the left stroked his chin and slowly spoke, “I think it’s highly possible. The transition from Golden Core to Nascent Soul is a critical juncture. Countless cultivators have perished at this stage. The Young Master seems to have encountered a bottleneck, and only dual cultivation can break through it.”
The more they thought about it, the more it made sense. They cast off their previous weariness and began contemplating with a sense of urgency. They counted the female cultivators in the world, wondering who would be fortunate enough to become the Madam of the Ghostly Duke.
“I think the eldest daughter of Yin Sect’s senior disciple is a good candidate.”
“Can’t you broaden your horizons? When it comes to female cultivators, there are plenty of beauties in the Yingzhou region. Have you heard of the Fushang Fairy? She’s a perfect match for our Young Master, ranked fifth on the Wentian Rankings, just below him in terms of strength. Talented and beautiful!”
It was clear that this cultivator was an admirer of Yu Qinglian. When mentioning the Fushang Fairy, his words flowed incessantly, “I had the honor of catching a glimpse of the Fushang Fairy once. She walked over from the Forgotten River, dressed in red with light veils and golden bells. Her lips were like coral, her eyes full of tenderness. There is no one in this world as stunning as her.”
“If she could become the Ghost Realm’s Young Madam, I would willingly die.”
At that moment, a youthful voice, filled with a clear and cheerful tone, rang out, “You should say those words to your Young Master. Who knows, he might actually let you die first.” With Ji Wuyou and Yu Qinglian together, both Yingzhou and the Ghost Realm would likely be thrown into chaos.
“Who?” The two disciples jumped in surprise, turning their heads to look.
They saw a figure emerging from the perpetual gloom of the Ghost Realm, where daylight rarely reached.
Clad in a pristine white robe, exuding a cold and austere demeanor, he wore a black-haired jade crown and had eyes as dark as lacquer. At this moment, a faint smile graced his lips, his posture straight and upright, resembling a drawn sword, standing between heaven and earth, radiant and dazzling.
The cultivator on the left, who had just claimed that there was no one as stunning in this world, now felt a slight pang of jealousy.
He stared blankly at the snow-robed sword cultivator before him for a long time, only snapping back to reality when the person beside him pinched him. Fulfilling their duty, he spoke, “Immortal, entering the Ghost City requires a pass.”
Pei Jing smiled, “I know.”
Holding up the jade pendant she had obtained from Ji Wuyou, he showed it to the two individuals. “Now, can I go in?”
Both of them found the jade pendant somewhat peculiar, unlike an ordinary pass. However, the characters and aura on it undeniably belonged to the Ghost Realm. Scratching their heads, they decided to let Pei Jing in and watched his figure disappear. They remained puzzled.
“Do you feel a sense of familiarity from that jade pendant?”
“I do too.”
Suddenly, a flash of realization dawned upon them, and both of them turned their heads simultaneously, their eyes filled with astonishment as they exclaimed, “Young Master?!”
The jade pendant was identical to the one the young master always wore!
To be connected with the young master, clad in white, wielding a sword, radiating an air of elegance and purity.
They were speechless, but in their hearts, the same name echoed through their minds.
A figure from legend.
Yunxiao.
Pei Yuzhi.
He made his way unhindered into the main hall of the Ghost City.
The peculiar tastes of Ji Wuyou were well-known—his fondness for skeletons and darkness. The main hall was adorned with blue ghostly flames, casting an even gloomier shadow upon the young man standing in the center.
Wearing a gray brocade robe, he had the appearance of a scholar, noticeably thin, with an eerily cold gaze.
Outsiders often described him with a mix of reverence and fear. After all, with a single command, he could reduce bones to ashes, a chilling scene that sent shivers down one’s spine.
As Pei Jing entered the hall and surveyed his surroundings, he couldn’t help but sigh, “Your strange taste remains unchanged after all these years.”
Ji Wuduan’s lips turned pale, looking sickly, and he mocked, “Your annoying personality hasn’t changed a bit.”
“That’s going too far. I’ve come to bring you something good.”
Ji Wuduan didn’t trust him and, with a pale and emaciated hand holding a green lantern, he walked into the palace.
Pei Jing recalled the conversation between the two young disciples at the city gate, feeling a hint of schadenfreude. “I heard that your father is currently busy arranging your marriage?”
Ji Wuduan paused, his expression stiffening, and replied, “That’s none of your business.”
Pei Jing continued, relishing in the situation, “Oh, but it does concern me. On the day of your grand ceremony, you might even invite me.”
Ji Wuduan coldly snorted, “Hmph.”
Pei Jing knew he must be feeling a bit embarrassed. Ji Wuduan, despite his gloomy and sickly appearance, had a streak of naivety in him, almost like an innocent youth.
They entered a palace chamber and faced each other across a desk. A skull was transformed into a pen holder, filled with various precious brushes. Ji Wuduan resembled a scholar of the mortal realm, with similar interests in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and flowers.
Pei Jing followed the topic of their conversation and teased, “Do you have any female cultivators you admire?”
Ji Wuduan looked somewhat uncomfortable on his face. “No, I don’t.”
Pei Jing suddenly had an idea and said, “How about I introduce someone to you? I met her just a few days ago.”
“Are you really being so kind?”
“Of course! After all, we were classmates for five years. She’s a demon I encountered in the Yunlan Mountain Range, with a truly graceful figure and countless transformations.”
Ji Wuduan had a bad feeling. “A demon?”
“Yes.” Pei Jing changed her expression, implying something deeper. “A demon with a thousand faces. She can assume any appearance you desire.”
“…”
Ji Wuduan could already tell that Pei Jing wasn’t being serious.
He swept his sleeve and pulled out a pen from the skull pen holder, throwing it directly at Pei Jing. This pen had been in the Ghost Realm for a long time and had acquired some evil spirit aura. The bristles of the pen spread out, making cute little sounds, landing on Pei Jing’s face.
Pei Jing reached out, catching the pen and placing it on the table, no longer joking around. “I won’t tease you anymore. I’ve discovered some peculiar things in the Yunlan Mountain Range. I brought them here today to ask for your opinion.”
Pei Jing opened the mustard seed box and took out the blood spiritual mushroom, the ʙᴀʙʏ’ꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ, and the mask. Placing the three items on the table, there was no need for a closer look as the bloody and eerie aura was already evident. Ji Wuduan, as the Young Master of the Ghost Realm, revealed a hint of astonishment on his face and softly uttered a surprised sound. He flicked his finger against the mask, and the closed-eyed beautiful pointed face with long eyelashes exuded an elegant charm.
A chilling sensation ran through his fingertips.
Ji Wuduan lifted it up and stared at it for a long time, his expression gradually darkening.
Pei Jing: “Do you know about it?”
Ji Wuduan put down the mask and spoke three words, “Thousand-Faced Woman.”
“That’s quite a fitting name.”
“However, this is only a fragment of the Thousand-Faced Woman. Twenty years ago, she suddenly appeared in Tianyan City, devouring the living and committing all sorts of atrocities, causing fear among the surrounding sects. It took the joint effort of several Nascent Soul experts of that era to defeat her. After the Thousand-Faced Woman died, her body split apart, and her pointed faces scattered, although most of them were destroyed. However, a few managed to escape and who knows where they fled, wreaking havoc in the mortal realm. This should be one of the faces that escaped back then.”
Pei Jing was taken aback. “Tianyan City?”
Tianyan City was a city infested with villains. Many outlaws from the cultivation world roamed there, including powerful Nascent Soul cultivators. It wasn’t as terrifying in the past, but in the last century or so, it had become increasingly mysterious and dangerous. Even his Master warned them not to provoke it easily.
So, this Thousand-Faced Woman actually originated from Tianyan City?
A complex expression appeared on Ji Wuduan’s frail face. “I also learned about it from my father. But it can’t be said that she originates from Tianyan City. She appeared out of nowhere… and she’s incredibly powerful.”
Yes, it took several Nascent Soul cultivators joining forces to subdue her, at the very least, the strength of a half-Nascent Divinity. In the current era, there are only a few who have reached the Nascent Divinity stage. Within the Institute of Celestial Ascension, there was still only one.
Ji Wuduan’s hand directly touched the decayed and blurred ʙᴀʙʏ’ꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ, his expression filled with disgust. “Each of the Thousand-Faced Woman’s faces can devour a living person and regenerate a body. The faces of the consumed victims will emerge and grow on her. This blood spiritual mushrooms nurtured from ʟɪᴠᴇ ɪɴꜰᴀɴᴛꜱ is probably meant to stabilize her physical form.
“Using ʟɪᴠᴇ ɪɴꜰᴀɴᴛꜱ to nurture spiritual mushrooms is a wicked technique and extremely cruel. Ancient texts record that the success rate is very low, and usually, these live infants are not normal babies. Correspondingly, there will be Mother Gu. Injecting the gu worms into a woman’s womb, the worms will continuously lay eggs inside her belly. The creatures that crawl out of her belly will resemble human infants.”
Pei Jing’s eyes turned cold, and he let out a long breath. “I understand.”
“The Thousand-Faced Woman’s strength is unfathomable. Fortunately, it’s you who will investigate this matter. Otherwise…”
Pei Jing understood his meaning. For any other Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would likely be a one-way journey.
Each face probably possessed only one-thousandth of the original host’s abilities. However, even with just that one-thousandth, it could evade his divine consciousness and conceal itself. One could only imagine how terrifying the true form must be.
Pei Jing asked again, “Regarding the other faces of the Thousand-Faced Woman that were slain, do you know what became of them?”
“They should have been mostly eliminated.”
Ji Wuduan pointed his finger on the table, furrowing his brow. A deep emotion flickered in his gray-brown eyes. “Actually, what I said earlier wasn’t entirely accurate. Even when those five Nascent Soul cultivators struggled to the end, they still couldn’t match the Thousand-Faced Woman… It was the Lord of Tianyan City who finally intervened and subdued her.”
“The Lord of Tianyan City?”
“Yes. As the Thousand-Faced Woman grew stronger in the battle, when it seemed that the cultivators were about to be overwhelmed, a chilling wind swept through the Tianyan City. The wind was icy and fierce, like a whirlwind of snow. Immediately, the Thousand-Faced Woman let out an agonizing scream, as if someone had seized her by the neck. She writhed on the ground, with each face bleeding and in excruciating pain, until she self-destructed and fled. The wind originated from the deepest part of Tianyan City, and there are various speculations, but most believe it was the Lord of Tianyan City.”
“When did Tianyan City acquire a lord?”
Ji Wuduan had already spoken a lot, and his complexion grew even weaker as he leaned back. “There has always been one, but he has remained shrouded in mystery, unknown to the general public. It’s only in the past century that rumors of his existence started to spread. It is estimated that very few people in Tianyan City are aware of him.”
Pei Jing: No wonder Master warned me not to approach Tianyan City. The city lord there is, at the very least, a Nascent Soul cultivator. In the entire world, perhaps only the founder secluded within the Institute of Celestial Ascension would dare to oppose him.
However, he was puzzled, “Since Tianyan City is a gathering place for villains, its city lord shouldn’t be a benevolent person. So why would he lend a helping hand?”
Ji Wuduan shook his head, “No, the wind nearly crushed the divine consciousness of a Nascent Soul cultivator. The city lord’s intervention was most likely just to deal with the Thousand-Faced Woman, without any intention of providing assistance.”
Pei Jing nodded in understanding.
Unseen, invisible, unheard. With a gust of wind sweeping directly from the depths of the city, it suppressed the demons and scattered their souls. This city lord… truly mysterious.
Before parting ways, Ji Wuduan suddenly looked at Pei Jing and asked, “You haven’t broken through to the Nascent Soul stage either?”
Pei Jing glanced at him and replied, “Aren’t you in the same situation?”
It seemed the people from the Celestial Pavilion were just talking nonsense.
Ji Wuyou: “I thought you would have broken through.”
“I encountered some minor troubles.” Every time he attempted to break through the bottleneck, a chilling aura would slowly emanate from his inner core. Pei Jing recalled it and felt a bit annoyed. But his Master had advised him not to be too hasty, so he dared not be overly persistent.
A faint smile tugged at the pale corners of Ji Wuyou’s lips as he said, “In the next Trial of Challenging the Heavens, you might be surpassed by Feng Jin.”
Pei Jing merely chuckled, his handsome face filled with an air of indifference. “Him? Forget it.”
Ji Wuyou sneered, “Unfounded confidence.”
Pei Jing laughed, “With it, everything will be taken care of.”
Returning from the Ghost Realm was nothing more than an overnight affair.
He didn’t even have time to return to Tianqian Peak. Upon arriving at the Yunxiao, he shrank his figure and transformed into the appearance of Zhang Yiming. He ascended Yinghui Peak and headed straight for Xuyia Courtyard.
Dawn was approaching, the mist was light and white, seeping into his clothes, carrying a coolness.
Pei Jing pushed open the door, thinking that Chu Junyu might still be asleep.
As soon as he entered, his gaze collided with Chu Junyu’s.
The young man stood amidst the misty haze of the mountains, his robe fluttering like a snowstorm, exuding elegance.
Pei Jing was momentarily stunned, scratching his head and smiling, “You’re up really early.”
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