Chapter 45

Inside the eerie Ghost Palace, Xie Wen squinted her mischievous eyes at the endless void and said, "I bet you've always wanted to know what exactly is going on with the unusual Golden Banquet in the Ghost Palace illusion?"

As she finished speaking, Xie Wen noticed a gust of wind that lifted a strand of hair at her temple. She looked back in the direction of the wind and her gaze fell on a solid object.

"You are indeed quite clever. Xie Wen, is that right?" The eerie wind swirled around Xie Wen's ears as Chu Xianyue drew his sword and stood solemnly in front of Xie Wen.

This Ghost Palace Master is also an unpredictable person. No matter how gentle and refined he was in life, after death, he was consumed by resentment from the inside out, suffering greatly, and was no longer the person he used to be.

The Ghost Palace Master's hoarse, dry voice suddenly turned cold. "Who do you think you are? To presume to know me? Huh? Who do you think you are? Xie Wen?" His malevolent aura surged, and ghostly flames instantly appeared around the Ghost Palace Master. Once ignited, they would spread endlessly, impossible to cut off or burn out.

Just as the will-o'-the-wisp was about to spread to Chu Xianyue and Xie Wen, Chu Xianyue cast a fire-avoidance spell. The azure spiritual light and the rushing flames collided, isolating the will-o'-the-wisp from the two of them.

But the will-o'-the-wisps grew fiercer, and the Ghost Palace Master hovered above, sneering. His hoarse voice sounded particularly eerie. Xie Wen continued, "I haven't finished speaking yet. Why are you so angry? Don't be in such a hurry. Listen to me."

The Ghost Palace Master, as if afraid of hearing something, frantically circled in mid-air, yelling, "Shut up!"

The will-o'-the-wisps spread along with the flames.

It created a strong impact with the shield formed by Chu Xianyue's azure light.

Xie Wen remained calm and composed, continuing, "It's exactly what you thought. You already knew that. Why bother?"

Since you already know about Jin Yan's time travel, why deceive yourself any longer?

You know, it's all your fault that Yingyue is in trouble.

The person you should resent the most is yourself.

Stop deceiving yourself.

What's the point of staying in this world? Every day since becoming the Lord of the Ghost Palace has been nothing but self-torture, hasn't it?

You're all alone here, filled with hatred and resentment.

But that person is gone, and Yingyue has long since severed ties with you, and all grudges have been forgotten.

Yet you have been guarding the Ghost Palace for over ten years.

What are you guarding? Perhaps they have already entered the cycle of reincarnation and been reborn as humans.

And you, looking like a ghost or a human being, what right do you have to see her?

These voices, like flames buried deep in his heart, suddenly erupted, engulfing him from the inside out, burning him with intense resentment.

Finally, he chuckled hoarsely, bathed in the will-o'-the-wisps, and self-destructed to his death.

The fire surged forth instantly, spreading throughout the entire Qingdeng City.

Chu Xianyue flashed in front of Xie Wen, reinforced the spell, and the green lamp suddenly lit up. The strong spiritual light made Xie Wen unsteady on his feet. In a daze, a hand barely supported Xie Wen's waist.

The will-o'-the-wisps spread to the entire Ghost Palace and Green Lantern Forest, engulfing the entire forest in raging flames. Just as Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue were about to return to Little Mirror Lake, they heard the angry cries of a flower demon coming from the Green Lantern Forest, "Damn it, who is it? Who burned down my old home? It's burning me to death!"

Immediately afterwards, the flower fairy's voice took a sharp turn for the worse, filled with grief, and she trembled as she said, "Master! You can't leave me behind!"

The mournful sound seemed to pierce through the Green Lantern Forest and echo above the Small Mirror Lake. When Xie Wen's vision cleared again, he saw a vast, boundless, icy blue world, with distant mountains and green pines standing in the mist in the distance.

She turned her head and found herself, as if in a dream, being supported by Chu Xianyue around her waist. She felt the warmth of his large hands rubbing against the skin of her waist. It tickled.

Xie Wen looked at Chu Xianyue, who also realized that the posture was a bit strange, so he subconsciously let go of Xie Wen. Xie Wen lost his balance and fell down with a thud.

Xie Wen fell onto the water's surface. Actually, falling on such a soft medium as water didn't hurt at all. On the contrary, it felt like falling on cotton, with the slight coolness of the lake water.

Xie Wen glared at Chu Xianyue again, angrily reaching out a hand towards him. Chu Xianyue wisely grabbed the hand and pulled Xie Wen up.

Suddenly, a series of tearing sounds came from above Little Mirror Lake. It was the sound of the Ten Directions Cauldron artifact above Little Mirror Lake shattering. The Ghost Palace Master was right. He had dissipated, and the Ten Directions Cauldron artifact had collapsed on its own.

The area above Little Mirror Lake began to churn again, with the lake water surging incessantly. Above, the Ten Directions Cauldron artifact gradually transformed into fireflies and dissipated, while simultaneously continuously exhaling and absorbing the spiritual energy of Little Mirror Lake.

Looking down into the small Mirror Lake, a deep blue spiritual energy poured into it, causing the lake to become turbulent.

However, the two people standing below were not actually happy or relaxed because the matter of Little Mirror Lake had come to an end.

Because Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue both knew that the Little Mirror Lake incident was just the beginning.

Only then did they officially unveil the curtain of their conspiracy.

At this very moment, in the Green Lantern Forest on the outskirts of Leling City, will-o'-the-wisps flickered, and black smoke billowed into the sky, from which the mournful cries of flower fairies could be faintly heard.

Its demonic soul returned to the pear tree in the Ghost Palace where Yingyue and Meishanting were buried; that was its final resting place.

It was originally just an ordinary pear tree in the Mei family courtyard. As the years passed and the sun and moon turned, it stood there, not yet aware of its own existence. But at the same time, it also witnessed the three years that Mei Shanting and Yingyue spent together.

Three short but heartwarming years. Their love nourished the pear tree, giving rise to consciousness, but that love was not enough for it to transform into a demon.

Three years later, the two died under the pear tree. Relying on the resentment of Meishan Court, not only the Ghost Palace Master was born that night.

And then there was it, a little pear blossom fairy.

It was Meishan Ting who allowed it to transform into a demon, thus giving it its own consciousness. From then on, the little flower demon followed Meishan Ting every day.

Actually, Meishanting treats it quite well.

Otherwise, the little flower fairy wouldn't have chosen to leave with its master today.

Meishan Court gave it a new life back then, and now it has returned the favor.

Others could not see the Ten Directions Cauldron hanging high above the Small Mirror Lake, nor could they perceive that the Ten Directions Cauldron above the Small Mirror Lake was shattering and dissipating at this moment.

But Yunyan can see it.

He was practicing new spells with Sikong Mingxue and the others in the Trial Forest when he ran into Shen Lizhi, who had come to clean the Trial Grounds. Yun Yan was extremely displeased upon seeing her. His master really brought Shen Lizhi back to the sect and made her do chores?

I wonder what this person is capable of?

Yun Yan deliberately increased the force, smashing the trial forest's props and magical artifacts into a mess, leaving Shen Lizhi to clean up the mess.

To everyone's surprise, the disciples of Shen Li were all tidied up, but Yun Yan's area was deliberately avoided.

Seeing that Shen Lizhi was doing it on purpose, Yun Yan ordered her around with a sense of entitlement: "If the new handyman can't do his job, then get out of here."

Shen Lizhi turned around and glared at Yun Yan with a resentful look, then went to Yun Yan to clean up. She deliberately made a lot of noise, causing debris and dust to fly everywhere. Yun Yan was so angry that she looked like a big hen, her hair almost standing on end.

Just as he was about to get angry, he saw that above the distant Little Mirror Lake, the Ten Directions Cauldron shattered, and spiritual energy poured back into the Little Mirror Lake.

Yun Yan's eyes widened, which meant that the formation of the Ten Directions Cauldron had been broken.

But he wasn't there.

Who broke the formation?

Yun Yan immediately flew to Little Mirror Lake. When Shen Lizhi saw Yun Yan turn and run away, she gave him the middle finger.

Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue walked out of Xiaojing Lake one after the other. Suddenly, a cloud banquet flew in from the horizon. The cloud banquet glanced at the vast Xiaojing Lake, but there was nothing above it, nothing at all.

Yun Yan asked, "Master, did you break the formation?"

Xie Wen skipped over to Yun Yan, pointed at himself and said with a smile, "I broke it."

Yun Yan clearly didn't believe her. "Senior Sister, don't joke around."

Xie Wen blinked innocently, but it really was me who broke it.

At this moment, Chu Xianyue said calmly, "It is indeed Xie Wen."

Yun Yan looked at Chu Xianyue and then at Xie Wen, still unable to believe it.

Xie Wen pursed his lips. Sigh, no matter what, it's the truth.

She patted Yun Yan on the shoulder. "Junior brother, I don't mean to discourage you. Whether you believe it or not, the fact is the fact."

After saying that, Xie Wen skipped away, leaving a joyful silhouette on the water.

For some reason, Chu Xianyue could tell from Xie Wen's back that she was secretly laughing and gloating.

Yun Yan was still immersed in the shock and resentment of being thoroughly outdone by Xie Wen.

Chu Xianyue watched Xie Wen's departing figure and smiled helplessly. A faint smile appeared on his lips, reflected on the icy blue lake surface like tiny ripples.