Chapter 25: Victory! Revitalizing the Cultivation World - 25% Progress
“I noticed he has a particular fondness for steamed buns at the restaurant. I could try using steamed buns to attract his attention,” Jun Huilian said seriously.
What she said was half true and half false, and the pale-faced man hated her so much that his teeth itched. Rather than saying that the steamed bun attracted attention, it was more accurate to say that her hatred level was at its maximum.
However, she didn't want to reveal her special status and didn't intend to explain why. This was a trial ground specially selected by the systems for novice mission takers. As a max-level player, she didn't want to get involved. She just needed to keep the challenge difficulty within the capabilities of the mission takers.
All eyes turned to her. She casually tossed the steamed bun into the mansion, and the resentment around the pale-faced man intensified. The steamed bun, squeezed by the ghostly energy, turned to ashes.
It worked!
Given her previous statement, onlookers only focused on the steamed bun, assuming the white-faced guy was the one making the noise.
“I am a sound cultivator, so I can join the battle without entering the manor. I think everyone should just show their true abilities. Those who don’t have any skills can at least bring out buns that attract hatred.” One cultivator said meaningfully.
"What do you mean?" Xiao Tingyuan asked, displeased. "We provided useful information, and your first reaction is to see who has the steamed buns and who goes to their death?"
The man retorted, "This isn't child's play. Everyone has to rely on their own abilities. You few Qi Refining stage cultivators are useless, so you go and distract the pale-faced guy. Do you think you can get through this by providing a piece of information and then clinging to our coattails?"
No one refuted him; in fact, they secretly agreed with his actions.
Nobody wanted to do the most dangerous thing, so it was best to pin the blame on a few Qi Refining stage cultivators. Now that this person had spoken, all they needed to do was remain silent.
Jiang Yun's expression turned slightly cold: "Right now, everyone only has the strength of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment. The strength of sound cultivators will be further reduced when separated by a door. Why don't you go to the white-faced man's back, show your 'real skills' and play it close to his ear to ask if it sounds good?"
The music editor's expression changed: "What do you know about music editing! My music is a deadly weapon!"
Su Xiaoyao chuckled: "Your mouth too."
"puff."
Someone in the crowd laughed.
Yin Xiu's face turned pale and then red, and he fell silent.
Jun Huilian had no interest in arguing with juniors, so he stared at the pale-faced man and returned a smile.
His white face was covered in jet-black skin, and his claws and fangs were extremely sharp, seemingly capable of tearing a person's body apart with ease. He received her provocation, and his elusive figure flashed twice, stirring up a gust of wind, and instantly appeared at the gate of the mansion, his blood-red mouth opening defiantly.
Jun Huilian didn't give him a chance to continue being arrogant, and flashed into the Ghost Immortal Mansion, which was shrouded in a barrier.
"Xiao Ye, be careful!"
Su Xiaoyao and the other two immediately followed.
The others stopped watching; if they went forward one by one, they would all be wiped out. Their only chance of winning was to attack together.
When the emperor returned to his alchemy, Bai Lian was both angry and anxious, and his abdomen ached slightly.
His subtle movements were caught, and Jun Huilian threw a steamed bun at his head, laughing, "His weakness is his abdomen."
Baozi helped the white-faced man go berserk, but it also gave him a new weakness.
Jun Huilian stopped short of defeating him, then casually scurried around the yard with his movements.
The others immediately stepped forward, some to restrain the attackers, others to launch attacks.
After the three hundred people entered the mansion, they realized just how spacious it was. Some were startled by the dense ghostly aura and tried to leave to catch their breath, but found they couldn't get out.
The Ghost Immortal's Abode is a place where one can only enter but never leave.
The last few cultivators and the sound cultivator who had found an excuse to stay away from danger were still standing outside the door. They thought that since many people had gone in, they could take advantage of the situation. But just as they were feeling smug, the illusion outside the Ghost Immortal Mansion disappeared inch by inch. They hurriedly approached the mansion, but were blocked by the barrier.
"Let me in!"
They survived the all-night battle, but could not escape their selfish greed, and were swallowed by darkness along with the vanished illusion.
The area outside the mansion was completely reduced to nothingness. The cultivators inside knew that their escape route was blocked, and the only way to survive was to fight with all their might to kill the white-faced man. They no longer held back and unleashed their most powerful magic weapons.
The white-faced man suddenly lunged at the nearest swordsman, moving so fast that it was impossible to react. The swordsman quickly swung his longsword to defend himself, and the blade clashed with the demon's claws, producing a sharp metallic clang.
Seeing this, Jun Huilian raised an eyebrow and deliberately made a noise.
Looking at her pale face, her mere smile dispelled all his anger.
Enraged, the pale-faced man struck even harder, tearing open the swordsman's chest. With a roar, he hurled the swordsman into the only dry well in the courtyard before turning to chase after Jun Huilian.
The swordsman, severely injured and unable to react in time, nearly fell directly into the dry well due to inertia. Fortunately, at the critical moment, a delicate, jade-like hand caught his back.
"Thank you so much." He clutched his chest with difficulty and took out a bottle of hemostatic pills from his Qiankun bag and swallowed them.
Only after his life was saved did he realize how strong the white-faced man had been, and he wondered how the person who saved him had broken through the ghostly aura to safely rescue him.
He turned around and looked at his savior, and was stunned for a moment.
She was actually one of the people who was forced into it at the very beginning.
He lowered his head in shame: "I'm sorry, we were like this before... and you were still willing to save me."
Jun Feibai casually stopped another person who had been thrown over by the pale-faced man, his expression extremely impatient: "Get away from here. If you're going to die, don't die in this well. Can't you see the pale-faced man is feeding this well?"
Ah Lian transmitted a message saying that the difficulty of passing the level should be controlled for the mission participants. The white-faced BOSS after going berserk is very strong. This well is the source of ghost energy in the Ghost Immortal Mansion. All the items that are dropped will turn into ghost energy and nourish the mansion.
To prevent the white-faced man from becoming even more adept in the ghostly environment, he deliberately stayed here to prevent him from "feeding" the ghost well.
Upon hearing this, the sword cultivator subconsciously glanced into the well, and after seeing the deep black mist clearly, he took a step back in fear.
He shuddered and turned around to shout, "Don't let the pale-faced man throw him into the dry well! As long as there's no well to nourish him, his ghostly energy will eventually dry up!"
Before the other cultivators could understand the meaning behind his words, the white-faced man reacted. He angrily hurled a burst of ghostly energy at the sword cultivator, who quickly dodged. The blade formed from the ghostly energy struck the dry well behind him.
The silent, dry well seemed to have absorbed the attack, spewing out an equal amount of black mist.
Both the pale-faced man's reaction and the strangeness of the dry well corroborated the sword cultivator's words.
The others, with sharp eyes, began to deliberately separate the white-faced man from the dry well. The sword cultivator and the other injured cultivators who had just taken a short rest surrounded the dry well, guarding it closely and not giving the white-faced man any chance to resupply.
Under the cover of his two companions, Xiao Tingyuan jumped onto the back of the white-faced man, which had swelled to twice its size. He gripped the hilt of his sword and stabbed at the back of the evil spirit's neck with all his might, trying to strike from its weak point. However, the ghost's body was half solid and half ethereal. As soon as anything sharp got close to the white-faced man, he would immediately transform his body into a ghostly state that could not be attacked.
The white-faced demon roared and raised its body, twisting its neck into a pretzel shape. The face behind its head opened its sharp teeth and bit at him. Xiao Tingyuan had no choice but to sheathe his sword and dodge, while continuing to try to stab the demon's vital points with his sword, but all his attempts were thwarted.
Xiao Tingyuan nimbly dodged the white-faced man, and staggered back as others took over the attack.
The only advantage of having more people is that you can fight in shifts, and you can have a chance to catch your breath every now and then.
Jiang Yun reached out to support him as he stumbled backward, his eyes filled with coldness as he looked at the pale-faced man: "It seems we either have to exhaust his ghostly energy or attack his abdomen. He only has these two weaknesses. His ghostly energy is terrifyingly dense. I suspect that he has devoured the ghostly energy offered at the altar, which is why he appeared in the Ghost Immortal's Mansion. In that case, we can only attack his weaknesses."
His guess was reasonable and well-founded.
There's no reason why the White Face's strength would increase several times over after disappearing overnight. And since the White Face was able to enter the Ghost Immortal Mansion before they did, it means that the Ghost Immortal Mansion doesn't need an altar to open it.
Given the increased power of the Whiteface, the true purpose of the sacrifice is self-evident.
“Difficult.” Xiao Tingyuan spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes fixed on every movement of the white-faced man, trying to find a flaw. “After Xiao Ye discovered its weakness, it has been intentionally using ghost energy to protect its abdomen. We have tried many times, and even if it reveals a flaw and we can get close, we still can’t stab it.”
"Why didn't he turn his abdomen into a phantom like the other parts of his body?" Su Xiaoyao, having been pushed back, seized the opportunity to communicate with them. "Turning into a phantom is an all-powerful defense method. He couldn't possibly not know that, unless he couldn't do it. Could it be..."
They were unaware that a pale-faced person couldn't digest spoiled food, but through various clues, they still managed to get close to the truth.
Su Xiaoyao suddenly realized: "Could it be that he's pregnant?!"
Xiao Tingyuan looked at the crazed white-faced man.
With the help of several cultivators, one of them rushed towards him with spiritual energy. The pale-faced man quickly twisted his body, making it appear both real and ethereal, except for his abdomen, which remained unchanged. He angrily grabbed the cultivator and bit him, while using his other hand to hold his stomach and channel ghostly energy into him.
Like a ghost mother wholeheartedly protecting her ghost baby.
Xiao Tingyuan felt a chill run down his spine.
“He’s a male ghost, so he can’t have a ghost baby.” Jiang Yun was much calmer and picked up his sword again. “He’s been staring at Xiao Ye ever since she entered the room. He tried to rush up to her several times. Do you remember? When she entered the room, Xiao Ye didn’t do anything, so he instinctively protected his abdomen. That’s how Xiao Ye saw his weakness.”
"so?"
"So he must have been starving," Jiang Yun concluded. "He needed to replenish his ghost energy with us, but the dry well never got replenished, so he became angry and went mad."
The guess is wildly off-topic, but it sounds plausible.
Xiao Tingyuan was convinced: "But what does this have to do with us killing him?"
“There’s no connection. I’m used to guessing the cause and effect of things.” Jiang Yun turned to Su Xiaoyao and said, “Can I borrow your pot? Swords and spiritual energy can’t penetrate it, let’s try smashing it with the pot.”
"Then let's give it a try." Su Xiaoyao decisively summoned Brother Pot.
Upon seeing the potion pot, Xiao Tingyuan hesitated, knowing it wasn't a good time to speak. He immediately followed after Jiang Yun made his move.
Despite repeated defeats, Xiao Tingyuan grew stronger with each battle, his swordsmanship became more refined, and his spiritual energy circulation became increasingly skillful.
The martial arts techniques he had learned and the teachings of the God of Cookery flashed through his mind. His swordplay was fluid and graceful, and his spiritual energy permeated the daytime.
Jun Huilian's estimation was correct. The white-faced man had a strong ghost aura, but his strength was not particularly powerful. He could not make perfect use of the ghost aura contributed by the five thousand sacrifices. With each violent impact of the iron pot, his abdomen became more painful, and the ghost aura was consumed at almost twice the speed.
With another violent impact from the potion cauldron, the faint ghostly energy that had been dissipating did not have time to gather. Following the system's prompts, Xiao Tingyuan and Jiang Yun almost simultaneously stabbed at the white-faced man's abdomen.
The demon let out a terrible scream and could no longer maintain its form.
We won!
The workers were so exhausted they could barely stand.
Xiao Tingyuan and Jiang Yun exchanged a smile, then lay back on the ground as if relieved, letting the sweat blur their vision.
"We won! We won! We won!" As the king of the scrolls, Su Xiaoyao's thirst for victory was fully satisfied.
She wanted to find someone to share her joy, and immediately thought of Jun Huilian, who had caused a white face to run all over the place.
"Xiao Ye, Xiao Ye, you've worked so hard... Xiao Ye!"
Fear instantly replaced joy and rushed into her brain; Su Xiaoyao's eyes widened in horror.
Jun Huilian finally stopped after running for most of the day. He stood by the dry well in the courtyard, gazing thoughtfully at the bottom of the well, and then communicated telepathically with Jun Feibai.
"At the bottom of this dry well..."
A pair of hands quietly approached.
She pretended not to know, and after feeling a strong push from behind, she went with the flow and pulled Jun Feibai down into the well together.
"You ruined my plans." Shen Qirui's sinister gaze coldly swept over the dry well.
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