Chapter Sixty: Mountain Ghost

Chen Xuan stood blankly, his mind a complete blank.

"The Southern Wilderness made no backup plans. Her target wasn't Immortal Shangyang's legacy. It was... me!"

In an instant, this terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.

Because he harbored far too many secrets, ones that could never withstand scrutiny from others.

In just over a month, Chen Xuan had rapidly grown from a mortal martial artist in Liu Town into a top-tier cultivator of the Ethereal Realm.

He practiced various arcane tricks and supreme scriptures of unknown origin that seemed to have materialized out of thin air... surely he couldn't have just imagined them all up?

Now.

The Five Elements Qi, successfully cultivated.

The Yellow Millet Qi and Longevity Qi, two special immortal auras, successfully cultivated.

Half-step Dao Repository realm masters, killed two of them back-to-back.

If an outsider who knew nothing of the details were to encounter Chen Xuan, they would surely offer heartfelt praise... A remarkable young prodigy had burst forth onto the stage out of nowhere!

Yet, for this great ghost-spirit of the Southern Wilderness who had kept her eyes on Chen Xuan since Tao Town, knowing his humble origins and that his innate bone potential was merely eight thousand catties...

"You are not a peerless immortal seed of astonishing brilliance. Some things are simply not meant for you to achieve."

The woman's cold voice did not manifest in the mortal realm; instead, it descended directly from the ethereal void, dropping into Chen Xuan's mind. It sounded like mountain wind brushing against jade, carrying a crisp, resonant and heart-piercing power as she continued to mutter to herself:

"Yet you have achieved them. Therefore, are you a supreme immortal pill? But where does destiny lie? I cannot see it..."

Chen Xuan's brow furrowed tightly, a thin layer of frost covering his face as he stared at the empty air. Then, his brow smoothed out.

He had miscalculated.

If the other party didn't even deign to look twice at the Yellow Millet Dream, why would she go to such great lengths and meticulously scheme against him?

When he passed through Tao Town, he had already learned the mysterious cat breathing technique of unknown origin. If she had truly harbored ill intentions, she would have seized him right then and there.

Furthermore.

His name was not even registered on the roster of destiny immortal seeds in the Lesser Underworld... He was not a child of destiny, and no one could discover the existence of the Mind Sanctum.

The true intention of this great Southern Wilderness ghost-spirit remained Immortal Shangyang's legacy.

Sure enough, the next moment, Chen Xuan heard the woman murmuring to herself:

"Those things do not matter. I only require you to bring out Immortal Shangyang's legacy and anchor the place where His divine seclusion fell..."

Only then did Chen Xuan realize she was not conversing with him at all.

She merely voiced her doubts aloud, not caring in the least if anyone else overheard.

Her tone was cold, detached, and aloof, laden with a sense of utter contempt for everything. It was impossible to discern joy, anger, sorrow, or delight, nor any hint of benevolence or malice from it.

"Boom!"

Right at that moment, a snow-white radiance streaked across the sky, resembling a shooting star plunging into a lake.

The old white-shelled turtle appeared, looking anxious, and grabbed Chen Xuan's arm, urgently demanding:

"How is the situation? Alas! The backup plan I arranged went awry. With just you alone, there is no way you could have secured Immortal Shangyang's legacy. Do you know into which faction's hands it fell? The Goddess's grand undertaking is about to be ruined!"

A rapid-fire series of questions rained down upon Chen Xuan like a volley from a cannon.

Chen Xuan stared at the old turtle and asked in bewilderment, "What backup plan?"

Upon hearing this, the old turtle smacked its dough-like head, crying out in bitter anguish:

"That little soft-shelled turtle of my lineage, a half-step Dao Repository master who spent over a dozen years desperately suppressing his breakthrough, only to be crushed flat by old scoundrel Lu Zhuan the moment he stepped foot into the Peach Blossom Spring—tragic!"

During the chaotic melee among the four top-tier mighty figures earlier, the Southern Wilderness old turtle and the Mountain Monarch tiger had joined forces to clear out Red Crow City Lord Lu Zhuan, landing a few heavy punches on him.

However, Lu Zhuan was not one to be trifled with; he belonged to the Water Virtue Rain Master path, proficient in talismans, divination, and schemes.

Lu Zhuan excelled at dark plots and held deep grudges. When he was forced to retreat, he had pinched his fingers to calculate, and with a sneer, stamped his foot to crush one of the old turtle's half-step Dao Repository descendants to death, thoroughly ruining the major preparations the old turtle had made.

"..."

Chen Xuan was rendered speechless. So it was Yan Yushu's master who had been stirring up trouble behind the scenes, resulting in him receiving no backup. Truly a headache-inducing turn of events.

Seen in this light, Yan Yushu could be considered as suffering punishment on behalf of her master; her grievance was not entirely unjustified.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a fissure tore open in the void, and a jade token emitting a faint white glow fell downward.

"Slap!"

The jade token landed in Chen Xuan's hand. Subconsciously lowering his gaze, he saw two large characters carved in ancient seal script on the front of the finger-length token:

Mountain Ghost!

This was precisely the title given by the Southern Wilderness to that great ghost-spirit goddess.

The jade token was warm and lustrous throughout, limpid and dripping with a subtle, delicate fragrance that made one's mouth water, almost tempting one to pop it into their mouth and swallow it.

"The Mountain Ghost Goddess's jade token! Why has she bestowed this item upon you?"

The old turtle's eyes widened. Then, sudden realization dawned on him: Chen Xuan must have brought back the relics of the departed immortals and handed them over to the Mountain Ghost, and this jade token was her return gift.

Chen Xuan stroked the jade token. After waiting for a moment, the Mountain Ghost Goddess offered no further words; she must have departed completely.

Chen Xuan asked the old turtle, "Does this identity token serve any other purpose?"

The material of the jade token was Jin jade from the Mountain and Sea era, identical to the jade hairpin, and swallowing it yielded immense benefits. Moreover, in the event of sustaining severe injuries, consuming the jade token could even claw a life back from the jaws of death.

The old turtle informed him that the Mountain Ghost Goddess was a mountain deity of the Southern Wilderness with immense prestige.

As long as Chen Xuan wore this jade token, apart from a few forbidden zones deep within the hundred thousand mountains of the Southern Wilderness, he could travel anywhere else unhindered. Most ghosts and spirits would not obstruct him and would gladly afford the Mountain Ghost Goddess this courtesy.

Subsequently, the old turtle circled rapidly around Chen Xuan, peering curiously into the soft armor package a few times. Catching sight of the two spiritual essences left behind by the half-step Dao Repository realm, its eyes widened as it exclaimed:

"Little fellow, to not see someone for a single day is like spanning thirty years! You've actually slain two half-step Dao Repository masters... No wonder Mountain Ghost still handed the token over to you even knowing my arrangement went wrong. She truly trusts you immensely."

Chen Xuan glanced at the creature and replied, "Pure luck."

The immortal qi within his body had returned to stillness, its various forms concealed, leaving only a wisp of ordinary golden-virtue white qi circulating. The old turtle could not stir it, and relying merely on a pair of mortal eyes, the things it could discern were extremely limited.

Yet, seeing the Dao Repository spiritual essences in the package—insulated by the immortal qi as a single black water droplet and a wisp of scarlet fire-seed—the old turtle still managed to guess a thing or two.

Chen Xuan consulted it on the uses of these two objects.

The old turtle scoffed and said, "Eat them, what else could they be used for? The Dao Repository realm is simply like this: masters of the same qi devour one another. The more you consume, the more formidable your Dao Repository becomes... Kings do not look upon kings; when you devour until only you remain, you will be the top-tier mighty figure."

Hearing this, Chen Xuan was stunned and remarked, "Brutal."

No manner of wonder then that within a radius of a thousand miles around the Red Crow territory, the number of top-tier mighty figures of the third realm could be counted on one hand.

With a sigh of emotion, Chen Xuan realized he was not yet in the Dao Repository realm, so such perilous matters did not concern him for the time being. He walked back toward the bank and began taking inventory of the rest of his spoils.

Entering the Peach Blossom Spring this time had yielded a bountiful harvest, and the majority of the ancient artifacts were currently glowing, undergoing a transformation as they shed their dust and bloomed with dazzling brilliance.

"Whoosh!"

Fish spears, fishing nets, hoes, firewood chopper blades, ox-horn bows... These were all mundane items used by ancients of old, laid out neatly apart from one another.

"One piece, two pieces... nine pieces."

Among them, only the fish spear and fishing net were obtained by slaying an ancient mortal, while the rest had been seized later from other qi practitioners.

Silver-white brilliance lit up the surfaces of the ancient artifacts, swept by the power of time, resonating with certain residual forces lingering between heaven and earth.

Chen Xuan stared unblinkingly at the ancient artifacts. Countless figures flashed rapidly within the radiance, though they remained deeply blurred, their faces indistinguishable.

Before long, the brilliance dissipated, and the ancient artifacts revealed their true appearances.

Chen Xuan picked up the fish spear, its rust completely stripped away and revealing a biting cold gleam, and scrutinized it closely, his eyes widening:

"The person who once wielded this fish spear was truly extraordinary."