Chapter 70 Youthful Spring Robes (Sixteen)

As dusk settled, the mountains were silhouetted against the dark purple sunset, their silhouettes stretching endlessly. A cool evening breeze stirred the blood-stained hem of his robe.

Jiang Gu gripped the Crimson Snow Sword, stepping over withered leaves and weeds, making a soft, cracking sound.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wei Feng caught a glimpse of scattered, lonely graves amidst the overgrown weeds. The paper-cut decorations on the funeral banners fluttered forlornly in the cold wind, sending chills down one's spine.

Jiang Gu traveled at an extremely fast speed on his sword, only landing when his spiritual energy was exhausted. Wei Feng was taken by him to experience what it meant to travel ten thousand miles a day, and he had not yet recovered from the feeling of floating in the air.

He cautiously asked, "Master, where are we?"

"The southernmost part of the Pingze Continent." Jiang Gu looked at the boundless wilderness before him and stopped in his tracks.

The horizon, illuminated by the setting sun, transformed into a thin, golden-red thread. Rolling black clouds, like a stampede of ten thousand horses, swept across withered graves and wild grass, approaching with a dark, oppressive force.

Before him stood a solitary grave without a tombstone. Jiang Gu glanced at it indifferently, then swiftly formed hand seals to activate a formation. In the blink of an eye, he arrived beneath the grave, the surging black clouds almost grazing his head as they swept past.

Wei Feng felt a sense of terror rising from the bottom of his heart. The hairs on his body stood on end, and his primordial spirit trembled. He curled up in Jiang Gu's primordial spirit and shivered.

Thanks to him, Jiang Gu experienced for the first time in his life how intense fear could be.

Beneath the tomb was a pitch-black, enclosed space, the air stagnant and thick. Wei Feng had never even heard of the name of the far south. He pitifully rummaged through Jiang Gu's primordial spirit inside, "Master, it's too dark. Shall we light a luminous pearl?"

He was scared, but not that scared. His fear came more from the dark, heavy clouds above the grave than from the narrow, enclosed space. After all, Jiang Gu's spirit was omnipresent to him, and he felt very safe.

Jiang Gu took out a luminous pearl. He pondered for a moment between completely devouring Wei Feng's primordial spirit to take over the Ghost Face White Eyes' abilities and finding the person behind it. In the end, his rationality of transcending tribulation and ascending to immortality prevailed.

Moreover, Wei Feng's primordial spirit was filthy and dirty, with a turbid and viscous feel, so dirty that it was hard to swallow.

He bit his fingertip and touched it to his brow, then with a flick of his hand, he pulled out a dark mass of primordial spirit.

Wei Feng suddenly soared into the air, momentarily stunned before realizing he had emerged from Jiang Gu's body. Sensing something amiss, he struggled to return, but in his panic, his primordial spirit lost control, transforming into the form of a divine kite shark. Its tail and wings glowed with a faint silver-blue light amidst the darkness. Countless ghostly patterns spread and danced wildly from his primordial spirit, like ferocious tentacles reaching towards Jiang Gu. Its empty eye sockets shifted between human eyes, the long gray pupils of a mermaid, and the vertical pupils of a kite, as if vying for ultimate control. In the end, the white pupils prevailed, appearing exceptionally eerie in the sticky darkness.

Wei Feng's spirit stared intently at him, his long, forked tongue twitching restlessly. Black mist swirled around the fine, double-rowed serrated teeth in his mouth. On the left were two oddly shaped merman fangs and a ghost tooth, while on the right was only a blue ghost tooth and half a broken merman fang. His mouth opened and closed, and he stretched out his arm towards Jiang Gu with a mixture of grievance and panic, "Master..."

Jiang Gu felt his eyes were being polluted by this appalling appearance.

The thought of swallowing such a filthy thing that was wrapped in his primordial spirit made Jiang Gu's face turn slightly green. He made a hand seal and cleansed his primordial spirit inside and out three times, washing out a few wriggling ghost patterns in the process. He then crushed the ghost under his feet with a dark expression.

Wei Feng sensed that he was angry, so he awkwardly withdrew his arm, suppressed the ghostly markings on his body that were still trying to get closer to Jiang Gu, and quietly flicked his mermaid tail, saying sincerely, "I'm sorry, Master, I was wrong."

"There's no need to call me Master anymore." Jiang Gu looked at him coldly, his killing intent undisguised.

Wei Feng flinched at his murderous intent, staring blankly at him, tears streaming down his face, turning into dark, dim luminous pearls that fell to the ground, then dissipating into spiritual energy.

The fact that his primordial spirit could shed tears was something Jiang Gu had never seen before. The strangely shaped primordial spirit gradually weakened and shrank as he shed tears. Without Jiang Gu lifting a finger, he could truly "cry himself to death."

"Don't cry," Jiang Gu ordered him impatiently.

"You don't want me anymore! And you still care whether I cry or not!" Wei Feng sobbed fiercely, then burst into loud wails. The dim, black luminous pearl clattered and hit Jiang Gu's sleeve. He cried and howled, "I'm going to cry!"

Jiang Gu's face darkened. "Who are you calling 'I'?"

Wei Feng let out a hiccup in fright, his spirit was on edge, his eyes darted around, both afraid and stubborn, he muttered softly, "I... I just said it casually, it wasn't directed at you..."

Jiang Gu's expression was icy, as if he was about to explode with anger. Wei Feng immediately dared not howl anymore, and could only swallow his anger and secretly wipe away his tears. Looking at his dark primordial spirit, he was heartbroken to the extreme, "My body is gone too... I finally grew so much taller..."

He cried bitterly, while Jiang Gu sat cross-legged beside him. Several ghostly patterns wandered around his back, trying to climb onto his shoulders, but before they could even touch the hem of his clothes, they were grabbed and crushed into dust by him.

Wei Feng cried out in pain, curled up at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from him, and stubbornly released more ghost patterns in front of him, as if it were a blatant provocation.

"Wei Feng." Jiang Gu raised his eyelids and gave him a warning look.

The ghostly markings that had almost reached his knees shrank back again. Wei Feng shook his mermaid tail pitifully, "Master, I'm scared."

Jiang Gu was too lazy to correct him anymore and said in a deep voice, "If you dare to move again, I will turn you into a puppet and throw you into a spirit pet bag so that you will never be able to get out again."

Wei Feng stared at him in shock, then began to silently drop large, luminous pearls. He seemed to be heartbroken to the extreme, his very soul showing signs of disintegration. Seeing this, Jiang Gu quickly cast a spiritual energy shield to contain his scattering soul, saying, "Concentrate your mind and focus your will."

Wei Feng refused, staring straight at him as tears streamed down his face. His voice choked with sobs as he said, "Go ahead and refine me. You've already plucked my protective scales, dug out my Fire-Separating Pill, drunk my wing root blood, and shared my Yuan Pill with you. Now you've even reduced my body to ashes. You might as well make my soul disappear too. Anyway, I deceived you and betrayed you. No matter how much I respect and love you, you'll discard me like trash. If I die, fine. You'd better refine me into a puppet and lock me in a spirit pet bag, making me wish I were dead, torturing me for thousands of years to vent your hatred!"

"Qu Fengyu is right, you are heartless and cruel!" Wei Feng cried out, his voice dripping with blood, staring stubbornly at him through his tears. "But let me tell you, as long as I have a breath left, I will haunt you for the rest of my life. You can't get rid of me, no matter where you go!"

"..." Jiang Gu looked at him expressionlessly, forcibly gathered his primordial spirit with his spiritual power, and casually stuffed it into a small wooden puppet. "Noisy."

While crying, Wei Feng looked down at his "new body," a wooden figure no bigger than the palm of his hand, but with realistic joints and limbs. He moved his arms and legs, looked up at Jiang Gu, and tried to speak, but couldn't utter a sound.

Jiang Gu looked at the mouthless wooden puppet and felt somewhat relieved.

Even inside the puppet, Wei Feng refused to behave. He grabbed Jiang Gu's clothes and tugged at them, pointing to his mouth and jumping up and down in frustration.

Jiang Gu pressed a finger against his forehead, sending him flying a long way. "Don't you want to die now?"

Wei Feng rolled around on the ground several times, got up, wiped away his tears haphazardly, and stubbornly ran towards him, grabbing his clothes and huffing and puffing as he climbed onto his knees.

His body had just been destroyed, and Jiang Gu had forcibly taken over his primordial spirit. He had almost lost his soul just now, and he was at his weakest. If he was knocked unconscious and put to sleep, he would easily become an idiot. If he was emotionally agitated, he would be more likely to lose his mind. This puppet was holding his primordial spirit, so at most it could only move. Jiang Gu had no choice but to reduce his strength and not throw the person out again.

Wei Feng stood on his knees, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws, tears still falling, his spirit weakening further. Jiang Gu simply bit his fingertip and wiped it on the puppet's mouth, coldly saying, "If you cry again, you'll really die."

Wei Feng grabbed his index finger, looking at him with teary eyes, and accused him, "I wasn't finished speaking—"

"Don't say it." Jiang Gu interrupted him mercilessly.

Wei Feng sobbed and clung tightly to his fingers, "Master, I don't want this wooden shell. I want my original body. I haven't finished growing yet."

"..." Jiang Gu almost laughed out of anger, "You're trying to bargain with me?"

Wei Feng stared at the puppet's two beady eyes, nodded cautiously, and said in a soft voice, "Master, what I said just now was just said in anger. You definitely won't really kill me... I lied to you before and said the artifact was on you because I was afraid you would abandon me. I really know I was wrong. As long as you don't send me away, you can punish me however you want."

Moreover, it was Jiang Gu who lied to him first, and then tormented and bullied him so much, even more so than him, a hundred times, no, ten thousand times!

However, Wei Feng didn't dare say this to his face. If he did, he would definitely be in deep trouble.

Jiang Gu's fingers were held tightly by him, and ghostly patterns were already recklessly burrowing into his flesh. He said coldly, "Let go."

Wei Feng immediately let go and pulled the unruly ghost pattern back, saying innocently, "Master, I didn't mean to. Sometimes I can't control these ghost patterns."

He sat obediently on Jiang Gu's lap, secretly licking the blood from Jiang Gu's lips, thinking he had done it discreetly, but little did he know that Jiang Gu had seen it all.

Jiang Gu was simply beyond words.

He couldn't kill him, but he couldn't let him die either. To make matters worse, this bastard was shameless and spineless, clinging to him relentlessly. If he didn't get his way, he could torment him to death. Jiang Gu had never encountered such a troublesome creature in his life.

"Master, please, I want my original body back." Wei Feng knelt obediently on his lap, gazing at him pleadingly. "Or you can swallow me back into your primordial spirit, I can do that."

He was surrounded by Jiang Gu's sweet and soft primordial spirit, and he felt quite comfortable there.

Jiang Gu, with a blank expression, tried to recall what his primordial spirit looked like... Jiang Gu refused to recall.

He can't.

“You can become a ghost cultivator,” Jiang Gu said calmly.

Wei Feng was immediately alarmed. "No! That will prevent you from growing taller!"

Jiang Gu couldn't understand his obsession with height at all.

"Besides, I'm afraid of the dark. I won't be able to taste anything as a ghost cultivator, and I'll become ugly." Wei Feng argued confidently. He was getting tired of kneeling, so he quietly sat on Jiang Gu's lap. Although he didn't know if his body could be retrieved after it turned to ashes, he was sure his master would have a way. Under his master, being alive was the greatest victory.

"Master, good master, I am your only disciple. You are reluctant to devour my primordial spirit. Master, I just want my own body. Please, master, you have treated me the best." His little mouth chattered incessantly as he sat on Jiang Gu's lap, acting coquettishly and showing off his belly. He seemed to know that Jiang Gu wanted him to live, vividly demonstrating what it means to get a good deal and still act innocent.

Jiang Gu slowly narrowed his eyes.

The little beast was smart enough to finally figure out the key. On the surface, he acted cute and charming, but in reality, he had grasped Wei Feng's weakness—Wei Feng was still useful to him and couldn't die.

Jiang Gu reached out and grabbed him. Wei Feng's body was suddenly lifted into the air. He struggled to free his arms and pried open Jiang Gu's hands, panting as he looked up and said, "Master, you're holding me too tightly."

Jiang Gu squeezed even tighter, watching the little thing's face turn red from holding it in, and said coldly, "If you want a body, you can trade it for something."

"What...thing?" Wei Feng patted his hand hard, indicating that he was about to suffocate.

Jiang Gu had no choice but to loosen his grip a bit, "Break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment within a month."

He originally wanted those ghost patterns, but those things looked disgusting, so he found a way to keep Wei Feng quiet.

Wei Feng never expected that he would have to cultivate again. He gave up struggling weakly, and suddenly had a bad feeling. His master was so concerned about his cultivation level. Maybe when he cultivated to a certain level, his master would fatten him up and slaughter him.

He couldn't help but shiver. Looking at Jiang Gu's pale lips, he inexplicably wondered if his master would lick them before eating him.

Jiang Gu said coldly, "What are you looking at?"

Wei Feng suddenly snapped out of his daze, smiling with an innocent and pure expression. "Master, I will definitely not let you down."

"You are not allowed to call me Master."

"Master."

"..."

"Master, could you make my new body a little taller?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, Master."