Chapter 67 The Evil Demon is Subdued, Silently uttering two words—"Grandma." ...
Holding a long whip formed from five thunderbolts, Bitao moved with the agility of an eagle soaring through the sky, moving with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, she precisely located a small, child-like figure among the thousands of scattered and fleeing souls.
She lashed out with her long whip, stirring up a raging storm of wind and thunder—which directly bound the short but incredibly fast figure.
The instant the lightning ensnared that figure, time seemed to stand still throughout the entire Demon Realm, and all was utterly silent.
The collapsing ground stopped falling, the abyss in the sky stopped tearing, the remaining spiritual light of the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Array on the ground dissipated and stagnated, and the scattered rocks and fleeing souls hung in mid-air.
Bitao's vision suddenly darkened, and she was abruptly pulled into a dark and gloomy illusion.
Barren mountains and withered grass, will-o'-the-wisps drift in the darkness, reflecting the stark white bones by the roadside, a chilling wind rustles, and crows caw.
A thick fog enveloped the surroundings. Bitao saw a little girl squatting by the roadside, and in front of her was the skeleton of a woman who had been completely devoured.
"Sister...are you going to kill me?"
The little girl knelt on the ground and turned her head to meet Bitao's gaze.
She was not beautiful; she was emaciated and frail, looking as if she would soon turn into a pile of bones by the roadside, along with the woman on the ground.
Did I do something wrong?
Seeing that Bitao did not answer, the little girl stood up, her small figure swaying as she walked to Bitao's side and reached out to grab her hand.
He looked up at Bitao with those innocent and childlike eyes, and asked, "Shouldn't those people have died?"
"Sister, shouldn't I avenge my mother?"
"Sister, you, like me, have personally experienced their cruelty, ignorance, madness, and evil."
“Their harm to me and my mother was the cause, and my killing of them was the effect. Aren’t cultivators supposed to not interfere with the cycle of cause and effect?”
Bitao reached out her hand, her eyes full of compassion, and touched the little girl's head.
The little girl looked like a sick chick, so thin and frail that she seemed to have little time left. Anyone who saw her could not help but feel pity for her.
In particular, Bitao did indeed experience those things she went through, and like her, she died helplessly.
They resonated and empathized with each other on a spiritual level; how could she not be moved by her plight?
But Bitao's hand, which had been touching her messy, dry hair, quickly opened and gripped her skull.
Bitao looked down at her gently and asked, "Who taught you to say these things? Who told you that cultivators don't interfere with cause and effect and reincarnation?"
The little girl's pitiful expression froze instantly.
She tried to let go of Bitao's hand and leave, but no matter what she did, she couldn't break free from Bitao's five fingers gripping her skull.
Between Bitao's five fingers, arcs of lightning belonging to the Five Thunders quickly appeared, sizzling and constantly corroding the little girl's skull.
"Ah! Let me go!"
The little girl first shouted, revealing her ghostly face, and a fierce and yin aura burst forth from her body.
But once she revealed her true nature, the Five Thunder Spiritual Light penetrated even more forcefully into her skull.
Overwhelmed with pain, she couldn't hold back any longer and clung to Bitao's leg, starting to play the victim again.
"It hurts...it hurts...sister, it hurts..."
The Five Thunder Light in Bitao's palm was indeed somewhat weaker.
She begged for mercy, "Sister, please let me go. I promise I will never do evil again, and I will no longer seek revenge for Mother, okay?"
Bitao looked at her, then asked, "Who raised you to be like this? What promises did they make to you? Did they guarantee that you would never fall into the hands of cultivators?"
The little girl was stunned again, but she didn't answer Bitao's question. She kept begging Bitao to let her go.
"I just want to avenge my mother... Sister, please spare me..."
Her voice was so pitiful, her eyes so clear, and her appearance so innocent and harmless. She seemed to have no connection whatsoever with the evil spirit who wreaked havoc on the world, dragged the entire town into the realm of demons, and died from exhaustion.
She was a victim; she just wanted justice for her mother who had died tragically.
Bitao looked at her, her five fingers pressing down on the top of her head, controlling her mind and vital points with the pressure of the Five Thunders.
After listening to her series of pleas, he laughed a moment later.
His expression shifted from pity to irony.
"Are you saying that everything you did was to avenge your mother's tragic death?"
“Yes… Sister, didn’t you see it too? Didn’t you experience it yourself?” She was referring to the first dream that Bitao experienced.
Bitao saw the woman lying tragically on the ground in the distance.
She even remembered that the woman had bright, maternal, and loving eyes.
But Bitao said, "If you want to avenge your mother, shouldn't you kill yourself first?"
"If the dream you presented to me was real, when you contracted the plague, was it because your father wanted to sell you? Or that he wanted to trade you for food with another family? That's why your mother risked being torn apart by 'wolves' in the dead of night to run away with you..."
"Does she want to find a doctor to treat your plague, or does she want to take you away from this terrible place?"
The little girl's eyes reddened.
Bitao touched her little face with her other hand and said, "What a good mother she is. She risked her life to save you, and was captured and eaten alive by those demons..."
The little girl seemed to recall those painful and unforgettable past events, and her expression suggested she wanted to cry, but ghosts don't cry.
She nuzzled Bitao's hand affectionately, as if she had found someone who could understand her.
But Bitao's next words made her expression change immediately.
"Such a good mother... Is it delicious?"
Is the meat tender?
"After eating it, did you keep reminiscing about it? Did you never taste such a hot and scalding delicious food again in your life? Is that why you kept wanting to relive it in your dreams, and why you drove those souls into the desperate situation of eating their companions?"
"No...no! No, no, no!"
The evil spirit finally revealed its hideous appearance, but it wasn't that scary. It was just a skeleton with two clusters of eerie green will-o'-the-wisps in its pitiful eye sockets.
She struggled and kicked at Bitao frantically, but Bitao held her vital points in place, and she couldn't break free at all. The strength she could muster was as weak as that of a child.
She seemed to be transported back to that time, back to the helpless moment when she saw her mother being beaten down and then disemboweled and eaten alive.
"Let me go! Let me go! You're a liar! You lied to me! You never truly understood me!"
Bitao laughed sarcastically: "Did I lie to you, or did you lie to yourself?"
"If you truly care about your mother, why didn't you rush out and fight those people like you did when she was killed?"
Although the evil spirit Xi did not show that part to Bitao, it is not hard to guess.
The woman was running away with her child. Where did the child go when she was knocked down?
If the child wasn't protected by her, there are only two possibilities: either the child was kidnapped and eaten first.
—Or maybe she's hiding.
But then she reappeared beside the woman, sobbing. It turned out that she had been hiding in the shadows watching her mother being devoured.
The truth is always cruel. Bitao doesn't have eyes that are born to see through darkness and evil, but she is good at analyzing and deducing through appearances.
Bitao's tone was almost gentle as she asked her, "Are you afraid of dying? Are you afraid those people will eat you too? Or are you hiding in the shadows, thankful that they won't eat you if they eat your mother?"
"I bet you were crying and begging those people to let you go, saying you were too thin and had the plague, right?"
Why don't you dare show me that scene? Are you afraid I'll see your true colors?
"You're talking nonsense! Shut up! Shut up—"
She seemed to have completely broken down, letting out hysterical screams.
Bitao closed her eyes and sighed amidst her devastating screams.
"Actually, it's not entirely your fault."
“You were so young then, just a little kid. It’s nothing to hide because you’re scared.”
The demon paused in its frantic struggle and screaming, staring blankly at Bitao.
Bitao said, "Your mother's death is not your fault. She was just unlucky to be born into this cannibalistic world."
"You ate her flesh because you were starving and had no other choice."
"What's wrong with a child wanting to live?"
Blood and tears welled up in the eyes of the evil spirit because of Bitao's words.
The soul must not cry, for crying is self-destructive.
Bitao said, "I can understand why you want to avenge your mother. If I had such a good mother, I would definitely do everything I could to avenge her."
Xi the evil spirit almost thought that Bitao had agreed with her. Before he could feel any joy, Bitao turned into an executioner wielding a knife to torture people.
Peel away all her darkness and filth, piece by piece, to reveal her true nature.
"But since you want to avenge your mother... even at the cost of dragging the entire city of Kangquan into the realm of demons, why did you allow your father and aunt to live to adulthood?"
Ultimately, if your father hadn't wanted to kill you, your mother wouldn't have died.
"That night you ate your own mother to fill your stomach, but then you went back to your father's side and pretended that nothing had happened."
"Even after your father took a concubine, you still stayed at home to do their laundry and cook for them, being incredibly filial."
"After all the hardships of growing up, your father and aunt sold you again."
“If you hadn’t been forced into a ghost marriage and suffocated to death in your coffin, turning into a vengeful ghost, you would never have intended to avenge your poor mother.”
"I'm afraid the only thing you remember is the taste of your mother's flesh and blood."
"Let me guess another truth that you absolutely dare not show to me, or even dare not recall. After you ate your mother's flesh and blood and returned home, was the reason your father still took you in because you told him where your mother's remains were, and that he took them back and ate them?"
“I even know how to eat it. You have that big iron pot from the famine village, right?”
"Aaaaaahh ...
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
The demon had clearly gone mad; it was a cruel truth she thought she would never see again.
She unleashed a burst of Yin energy, causing the deliberate Five Thunderbolts to continuously corrode her body.
Only by enduring such extreme pain can she temporarily stop recalling the memories that have been rotting and infesting the depths of her mind.
Bitao gave her no chance to catch her breath: "You've long forgotten who the real culprit is, and you still dare to talk to me about cause and effect?"
"I haven't forgotten! I haven't forgotten! I haven't forgotten for a single moment! Of course I hate them! But how could I have grown up without them?"
"What's wrong with just wanting to live!"
Tears of blood streamed down the little girl's face as she looked at Bitao, as if Bitao were her most hated enemy.
"You're not me! You didn't experience famine like I did, or suffer my father's rejection from birth. What do you know?!"
After listening to her frantic screams, Bitao said, "Do you think you're that miserable?"
“I also had the experience of being abandoned in the wilderness by my father as a money-losing child after I was born. I didn’t even have a good mother to protect me, because I was abandoned by both my father and mother.”
Once again, the evil spirit was at a loss for what to do after hearing Bitao's words.
Staring at her with bloodshot eyes, I instinctively wanted to say she was lying.
But Bitao let the evil spirit look into her eyes, her gaze open, clear, calm, and undisturbed.
A liar wouldn't act like that; the evil spirit himself is an evil spirit, and is best at discerning human malice and lies.
"Everyone is miserable in this world, but that is no excuse to harm others."
Bitao utterly crushed all of Xi Egui's false lies and burned her defenses to ashes with her words.
This once again exposed the true purpose of the evil spirit Liu Xi at this moment. Five bolts of lightning condensed into a ball in his palm, and he pressed, "You are cowardly by nature and have no courage whatsoever. Even if you were transformed into an evil spirit due to your miserable death and your unwillingness, you would not have grown to this extent."
"Speak! Who exactly is keeping you and instructing you to harm the common people?"
All of Xi's evil was forced to be exposed to Bitao, and after her breakdown, she surprisingly calmed down.
Burdened by such bloody and terrifying memories and guilt, she never had a moment of peace of mind, whether in life or after death.
She was indeed just a naturally cowardly person.
He was just an ordinary person, like countless other mortals, who spent his life seeking only a peaceful and comfortable existence.
She looked at Bitao and said with a sigh of relief, "I have an older brother..."
Just then, the illusion before Bitao's eyes instantly collapsed, the surrounding fog dissipated, and she returned to mid-air.
Meanwhile, the evil spirit's true form was tightly bound by her long whip, which was formed from five thunderbolts, and the light of lightning was constantly eroding her true form.
Someone shouted in a hoarse voice towards Bitao's direction: "Let my sister go!"
From her vantage point, Bitao saw the cultivators from the Wenxin Pavilion holding Liuxing, who was suffering from the backlash of the formation, hostage.
With a long sword held against Meteor's neck, he shouted at Peach Blossom in mid-air, "Otherwise, I'll kill him!"
Upon closer inspection, Bitao realized that the cultivator holding the hostage was none other than Tianhua, the one from Wenxin Pavilion who had caught Zhan Kui's eye.
Tianhua's expression was ferocious, with veins bulging on his forehead. He thrust the longsword against Liuxing's neck forward, and blood trickled down, staining Liuxing's front red.
The description of the meteor was even more tragic than that of the evil spirit at this moment.
Since entering the dream, the meteor has been leading people on a constant journey.
At the most crucial moment of forming the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Array, Wei Danxin, the only one with the cultivation level to assist him, even abandoned the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Array in order to find his junior sister.
He led the cultivators to forcefully activate the formation, but because Bi Tao broke the formation, he was the one who suffered the most severe backlash.
His cultivation level has now fallen back to the lowest level, his meridians are torn, and his inner palace is severely damaged. He can't even gather spiritual energy anymore, so he is no different from an ordinary person.
Overwhelmed with grief and on the verge of fainting, and having been caught off guard by those around him, he was taken hostage by Tianhua.
Even now, he remained calm, his front stained with blood. He slightly turned his head and gently tried to calm the enraged Tianhua: "Are you corrupted by ghostly energy? What nonsense are you spouting? How could the evil spirit Xi be your sister..."
The cultivators from various sects who were still able to move gathered around upon seeing this.
Fearing that Tianhua's men would get out of control, the crowd dared not point their weapons at him and could only take turns trying to persuade him with earnest words.
"Tianhua, are you really crazy? That's Senior Brother Meteor, don't you admire him the most?"
“Fellow Daoist Tianhua, now that Fellow Daoist Le has captured the evil ghost, there is no need to be afraid even if we are tainted by ghost energy. Once we leave the realm of evil ghosts, the elders and sect leaders of the various sects outside will naturally cleanse our meridians.”
"Fellow Daoist Tianhua...why are you doing this! Quickly put down your swords..."
...
Tianhua seemed not to hear what everyone was saying, and kept looking up at the sky where Bitao and Xi Egui were.
He repeated the same sentence again: "Let my sister go!"
younger sister?
Bitao looked at the eccentric cultivator, her brows furrowing slightly.
At this moment, the evil spirit also heard Tianhua's voice, and its body stiffened unnaturally.
A moment later, the evil spirit's eyes turned blood red, as if it had completely lost its mind. Ignoring the fact that the Five Thunders binding its body were getting tighter and tighter, it actually launched a Yin energy attack on Bitao!
Because the evil spirits had already been controlled by the Five Thunders and even corrupted most of them, these attacks were the desperate struggles of a cornered beast.
Bitao easily dodged it.
However, doubts arose in his mind, and he couldn't understand why the evil spirit, who had just opened up to reveal the truth, suddenly lost his mind.
The Ghost Lord has lost control, and the Ghost Realm is in turmoil once again.
Right now!
Unable to get a response from Bitao, Tianhua became furious and plunged his longsword into Liuxing's throat—blood spurted high into the air!
"Master of Meteor Pavilion!"
"Sect Master!"
"meteor!"
"Oh my god—"
The scene became chaotic for a time.
Bitao watched as the unconscious cultivator lay on the ground unattended, as the cultivators rushed to rescue Liuxing. The remaining spiritual light of the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Array completely dissipated, and the ground beneath the cultivators' feet began to collapse.
The lightning-patterned protective seals in Wei Danxin and Lin Xuantu's spiritual platforms have all been broken. If Xi Egui falls into the Ghost Abyss again before he dies, his life will probably be in danger!
Bitao glanced again at Tianhua, who had plunged his longsword into Liuxing's neck but hadn't stopped yet.
The cultivators from various sects, hesitant to act for fear of provoking Tianhua, kept pressing closer but dared not actually make a move, lest Tianhua be provoked and cut off the meteor's neck.
Tianhua was still shouting, "Let my sister go—"
Tianhua has taken the wrong person hostage. If he had taken Wei Danxin and Bitao hostage, he might have pretended to cooperate.
Bitao cannot be released from the hostage situation.
In the chaos, Bitao saw a petite figure appear silently behind him.
The figure looked as if it had just crawled out of the ruins, disheveled, covered in mud, and extremely disheveled, but it made a gesture towards the peach blossom in mid-air.
It is Zhan Kui.
That gesture, somewhat like pointing a sword, was a signal between Zhan Kui and Bi Tao that things were going well.
Bitao's lips curled up slightly. She turned around and flew to the dying Xi Evil Ghost. She condensed a ball of lightning in her palm and slammed it down on the ghost's head!
"boom--"
The sound wasn't earth-shattering; it was just a muffled rumble of thunder.
The evil spirits vanished under the might of the Five Thunder Gods.
Like a magnificent and spectacular play, the end of the performance is never as exciting as the beginning.
The audience dispersed, the hall was empty, and no one cheered. In the end, all the love and hate were nothing more than a fleeting dream in this mortal world.
Bitao swooped down from the sky, and by this time, the five thunderbolts she had used with the Thunder Pattern Seal were completely exhausted.
With only a thin wisp of Five Thunder Lightning remaining in her hand, she followed her will and solidified it into a long rope.
She tied one side of the rope around her waist, swung the lightning rope, and bound all the cultivators who were falling due to the ground collapse into a string of "grasshoppers".
Wei Danxin and Lin Xuantu were among them.
These two people now need special protection. Each of them only has a layer of "Thunder Pattern Sealing Curse" skin left. If it gets scratched, it will be troublesome.
The evil spirits have been vanquished, the tremors in the realm of evil spirits have ceased, and everything begins to silently dissipate.
Bitao herself was also dissipating, and she would soon return to her body.
Before her soul dissipated, she looked in Zhan Kui's direction—Meteor had been rescued; his neck had been cut in half, but he was at least still alive.
The Pavilion Master of Wenxin Pavilion was indeed highly sought after, and was surrounded by a large group of cultivators who were channeling their spiritual energy to him.
Zhan Kui was not by the side of Meteor Pavilion Master's fiancé; the person lying in her arms was Tian Hua, whom she had stabbed to death from behind.
Tianhua looked at Zhan Kui; his eyes showed no fierceness, no madness, but rather a sense of bewilderment and helplessness.
The veins on his forehead bulged, his handsome face twisted and trembled uncontrollably, his eyes trembled, and his fingers gripped Zhan Kui's sleeve tightly.
It opened its mouth several times, but like a fish thrown ashore, it made no sound.
He spat out mouthfuls of blood, adding a splash of vibrant color to Zhan Kui's red dress, which was covered in mud.
Holding the Tianhua cultivator who had betrayed his cause, Zhan Kui lovingly reached out and wiped away the blood gushing from the corner of his mouth amidst the crumbling ghost realm.
His voice was rough but full of regret: "You... sigh, if you love me, can't you just say so? Why did you kill my senior brother? Although we are married, I haven't married him yet, so why are you in such a hurry?"
"My poor little thing... I'll love you again in the next life..."
As Zhan Kui's voice came, Bi Tao couldn't help but grit her teeth.
The realm of demons vanished with a roar, and all the souls returned to the mortal world.
Bitao suddenly opened her eyes inside her body. The Five Elements Exorcising Array they had formed had dissipated, but their location remained unchanged.
Bitao's first reaction was to head towards Wei Danxin, who was sitting cross-legged.
As soon as he was touched, he fell to the ground, and Bitao immediately caught him in her arms.
The wood spirit transformed into a trickle of water, flowing into Wei Danxin's spiritual meridians.
Bitao repeatedly confirmed that he was alright before letting out a deep sigh of relief.
A commotion arose outside, and Zhang Yuluan, as if she would never knock, rushed in like a madwoman.
She met Bitao's gaze, her anxious and disorderly steps immediately stopped, she cleared her throat, straightened her chest, and pretended that she was not in a hurry at all.
He said to Bitao, "You're back alive, that's good..." He spoke very softly the last three words, but Bitao heard them clearly.
"I'm sorry that you didn't die in the Mirror of Evil Spirits, Second Senior Sister." Bitao teased, pointing to Lin Xuantu lying not far away, "I have no strength or spiritual power left, Second Senior Sister, please check on Fourth Junior Brother's condition."
Zhang Yuluan instinctively wanted to say something unpleasant, but that was clearly inappropriate at this moment.
More than a hundred people entered the Dream Realm of the Evil Ghost this time, but less than thirty came out... It was a near-death experience, and Zhang Yuluan was truly grateful that her junior brothers and sisters were able to come out.
After she sat down, she began to treat Lin Xuantu's injuries and examine his meridians.
With his back to Bitao, he said somewhat awkwardly, "I've been trying to wake you all, but you're all like you're fast asleep..."
I don't know how many stacks of stimulant talismans I've used.
Zhang Yuluan wasn't ashamed that she hadn't entered the dream world to fight alongside her junior brothers and sisters; she simply felt those people shouldn't have been saved. Especially after the sect leaders and elders arrived and discovered a tomb beneath the ancestral hall in Kangquan City.
The tomb chamber was filled with countless coffins, all containing the remains of women who had been arranged into ghost marriages and had already turned to ashes.
In Zhang Yuluan's view, the entire Kangquan City was afflicted by a ghost, which was entirely its own fault. So many women were harmed, and there wasn't a single good person among them!
Bitao didn't reply. The noise outside grew louder and louder. Those cultivators who had survived in the dream should have all woken up.
Bitao let go of Wei Danxin.
Wei Danxin didn't wake up because she had broken the protective spell of the thunder pattern, was injured in the dream, and was also mentally exhausted because her junior sister "died".
Let him sleep a little longer.
Bitao pushed the door open and walked out. In the dream, they had dealt with the evil spirit Xi several times. Now, in reality, only a few hours had passed.
Dawn is breaking; the fifteenth of July has arrived.
A bluish hue appeared on the distant horizon.
Most of the cultivators who had entered the dream realm earlier have now awakened and are gathering in the corridor.
A cultivator from the Wenxin Pavilion was mobilizing the crowd: "The souls of the people in the city are adrift, their consciousness is in chaos, and they are unable to return to their bodies. The leaders and elders of the various sects have already gone to form an array."
"Now that the Meteor Pavilion Master is seriously injured and unconscious, we have been fortunate enough to survive in the Ghost Realm. We should finish what we started and finish well. Before dawn, we should go and assist the elders and sect leaders to help their souls return to their bodies."
No one objected; they had just escaped death, but everyone seemed full of energy.
Now that the evil spirit has been slain and is no longer in danger of dying, showing up in front of the sect leaders and elders will make the elders of your sect like you even more.
Bitao leaned against the corridor and did not join the others.
She doesn't need to curry favor with her own "elders and sect leader".
She tilted her head slightly, staring at the points of light on the horizon.
Those points of light were like stars scattered in the Milky Way. At first, there were only a few of them, trailing reddish-gold tails as they danced in the air.
Later, they gathered more and more, until they became densely packed, converging in the air to form a long, crimson-gold river—flowing and pouring towards the prefectural government office where Bitao was located.
The first reddish-gold firefly to arrive circled around Bitao several times before finally disappearing into her waist.
The merit storage bag, which hadn't lit up for a long time, now emitted a warm glow.
At this time, other merit fireflies also rushed to the scene. In the darkness, they were silent, yet extremely dazzling and beautiful.
It was as if someone had ripped down the Milky Way from the heavens and poured it all into Bitao's waist.
She stood in the night, as if embracing a blazing sun.
Bitao curled her lips into a smug smile.
She fed the ghosts with her own body and schemed to use the lightning-patterned curse mark on Binglun's body for her own benefit, all for the sake of these merits.
Wei Danxin's lightning-patterned protective seal also broke, which was indeed somewhat different from what Bitao had expected.
But it's not a big problem. We just need to keep a close eye on the two of them and prevent them from easily breaking the lightning seal that binds their past lives.
Bitao's fingers weaved among the fireflies of merit, causing them to flutter their wings and play with her.
Just as I was having a great time, an excited, gruff voice came from behind me: "You bastard, you've accumulated so much merit at once! Come on, share some with me!"
Bitao turned around and met Zhan Kui's big, bright eyes.
Bitao raised an eyebrow: "Your lightning rune seal is broken?"
Only those who have regained their memories and achieved the celestial status in the competition can see the Fireflies of Merit.
When Zhan Kui made that gesture with Bi Tao in the Ghost Realm, Bi Tao had already guessed what was going on.
Zhan Kui pouted and pretended to be pitiful, then looked at Bi Tao and said, "It broke. When you were holding the Five Thunder Whip, showing off your skills as if the Heavenly Dao of all realms had personally descended, you were hit by the shaking dream several times and almost died!"
Zhan Kui also reached out to play with the merit fireflies, while touching his waist, intending to open her merit storage bag and let Bi Tao share some with her.
However, the merit fireflies were not hers; they all dodged her fingers and quickly shrank into Bitao's merit bag.
Zhan Kui reached out to grab it, but grabbed nothing.
"..." Oh no, it seems the merits from the second round of the competition can't be shared with others.
Bitao laughed and flicked her forehead: "Don't worry, I'll take you on missions from now on, and your merit points will increase very quickly."
"Alright."
Zhan Kui, unable to get any benefits, was not annoyed.
She was naturally optimistic, and turned to Bitao, saying, "Sister, I'm more curious, how exactly does your brain work? How could you think of using the Thunder Pattern Seal to kill the evil spirit?"
"And when did you regain your memories?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"
Not only was Zhan Kui curious, but the immortals in the heavens above who looked up at Yin Han Gu's position were also curious about Bi Tao's brain.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm speechless. The Thunder Pattern Protective Seal can be used like this? Does the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms even know about this?"
"General Kunyi's Five Thunder Whip has been 'stolen,' hahaha!"
"The Fairy of the Peach Blossom was 'dead' at the time, and had become part of the evil spirit, which is the body of an evil ghost. Wouldn't the Five Thunderbolts directly kill demons and monsters? Why did it bring the Fairy of the Peach Blossom back to life instead?"
"The Five Thunderbolts never kill 'demons and monsters,' but rather all living beings who harbor evil intentions and use their superhuman strength to commit evil. However, the Fairy of the Peach Blossom did not commit evil. She transformed into the Evil Demon in order to use her status as a part of the Evil Demon to protect those souls. In the end, she even slashed the Soul Refining Cauldron that melts souls. When her consciousness dispersed into the Five Thunderbolts, she merged with the Five Thunderbolts, which hate evil as if it were their enemy. Naturally, the Five Thunderbolts had to cleanse the evil spirits from her body and repair her soul!"
"I thought the Fairy of the Peach Blossom had the Celestial Immortal of the Ice Wheel spray her with her heart's blood to revive her or something... but it turns out it was to burn the evil spirit with the heart's blood, which is naturally fire-attributed, and provoke it to kill the Celestial Immortal of the Ice Wheel... so as to break his lightning-patterned protective seal and use it for its own purposes, hahahaha..."
"The most sophisticated strategies often require only the simplest methods of implementation—I hereby declare that from this day forward, the Fairy of the Peach Blossom is my goddess!"
"It's all luck, I think... Besides, she chopped down the Soul Refining Cauldron. That Soul Refining Cauldron required the combined efforts of the sect leaders and elders from various sects to activate. Let's see if anyone causes her any trouble later!"
"I am truly in awe of Fairy Bitao. In that situation, she not only figured out the background of the evil ghost and plotted to use the Thunder Pattern Curse Seal of Fairy Binglun to exorcise evil, but she also exposed the cheating in the competition for immortality! She saved countless souls and gained so much merit at once. Her merit storage bag is still constantly flying into fireflies, ahhh, so beautiful!"
"But since she knew how to use the lightning rune seal, does that mean... she already had those memories? Did she cheat too?!"
"Cheating my ass! When the Fairy of Peach Blossoms descended to the mortal realm and encountered the Wounded Soul Bird, she had already broken the lightning-patterned protective seal. Later, when she entered the dream world, she must have broken the lightning-patterned seal that sealed her past life when she was on the verge of death!"
"Exactly! Some people are just stubborn. Let me see if they're really the proud Ancient Immortal Clan. The Ancient Immortal Clan has filled the Prison Palace to the brim. They even rushed to send two of the Five Thunder Kings. The Queen Mother of the West and the Xuanwu incarnation god who just ascended to the position of Star God have both been summoned to the monitoring platform to be questioned by the supervising immortals. Why aren't the Ancient Immortal Clan keeping their tails between their legs and still shouting?"
"Waaaaah, Fairy Bitao is the most amazing! When she was interrogating the evil spirit Xi, I almost felt sorry for that 'little thing.' Fairy Bitao tore through her disguise with just a few words, it was so satisfying!"
"I don't care about those things. I only care about how much merit the Fairy of the Peach Blossom has accumulated this time."
...
On the list of those competing for immortal positions recorded by the Silver River Gazette, Bi Tao's name stood out from the crowd at the top, and her merit count had already exceeded 30,000 and was still growing at a fast pace.
Even those ranked below her, with the most merit, number less than a hundred.
Although the second round of the competition has only just begun, it has only been a few months on Earth and less than an hour in the Heavenly Realm.
Bitao earned tens of thousands of merits from exorcising a ghost in one go, while the other contestants remained silent.
This disparity was like a slap across the face of the arrogant ancient immortals of the Nine Heavens.
Moreover, the entire Nine Heavens is now shrouded in darkness and turmoil, with the air thick with the sounds of wind and the cries of cranes.
The storm was raging because those lewd dragons who had engaged in incestuous relations with mortals had not yet been punished.
The more they investigated, the more dragons were involved, including dragon eggs that illegally produced human bloodlines, which was truly astonishing.
The alarm was raised because Bitao first brought up the "murder" of the Gengwu Tai Sui successor, and then exposed the collective cheating in the competition for immortal positions among the various ancient immortal clans.
If these matters were investigated, at least half of the immortals in the Nine Heavens would have to be questioned.
One wave subsides only for another to rise; now, every immortal is like a small boat adrift on a giant wave.
They were afraid that they might accidentally capsize and have some "little secrets" exposed.
The successive disqualifications from their celestial positions enraged the immortals, who then ordered the Earth Official to punish the offenders severely, with the punishments becoming increasingly harsh.
Even acts like dereliction of duty or playing around while on official business in the mortal realm will be broadcast as a warning on the Silver Net, and the immortal spirit will be penalized.
Truly, the net of Heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it.
As the Immortal Supervisor, Zhu Ming had previously thought that Bi Tao was dead, so he neglected his official duties and went to the Eastern King Duke to look for some ancient secret method to revive an immortal.
The Eastern King was so coaxed that he was about to give in, and the peach blossoms came back to life.
She even achieved great merit and reached the top, almost ruining Zhu Ming's heart meridian.
He glanced briefly at the merits of the peach blossom at the very top of the Yinhan Gu, which now occupied the top of the public notice, and then plunged into the "storm" she had stirred up.
The immortals accompanying the competition should have already begun arresting those who cheated for immortal positions. When those immortals return, Zhu Ming will have to join forces with the official in charge of pardoning sins to interrogate them. He's so frustrated he's about to slap himself on the back of the head.
Bitao ripped open many holes in Jiutian with her two "stabs," while she herself stood in the deserted corridor, chatting casually with her treacherous best friend.
"What's going on between you and Guanghan? How did you end up getting together again?"
Upon hearing this, Zhan Kui clicked his tongue and said, "What else could it be? I was chased to the top of the wall and found out he was a cultivator who had been imprisoned by those living souls. He was so confused that he couldn't even think straight. Of course, I had to rescue him! How righteous I am."
She made no mention of how, when she was about to fall into the realm of evil spirits, before she had even broken the Thunder Pattern Seal, she had already forced Guanghan, who had no memory of the time, to kiss her.
They even went so far as to claim, "We are helping to eliminate the evil spirit Xi, who is most afraid of beautiful emotions. We fell in love at first sight, our love is mutual, and it's a love that moves heaven and earth!"
Bitao said sourly, "You think looks are everything, right?"
"Guanghan has also regained her memories."
Zhan Kui said, "At the time, the two of us were hiding under a big rock. He said he wanted to run, but I was too lazy to run."
"Anyway, we won't die, and then both his and my lightning rune seals will break."
She spoke of the other, still ignorant, competition for immortal positions, saying things that might make one want to vomit blood, yet she looked regretful.
"I should have run away. I could have saved the chance to break the Thunder Pattern Seal for killing ghosts later!"
"You had no idea you were a lucky koi fairy at the time, so how could you be sure you wouldn't die?" Bitao, as Zhankui's good friend, often felt that the heavens were unfair because of her luck.
Zhan Kui shook his head and said, "I just know. I've always had ridiculously good luck. Every time I go out on a training trip with someone, the evil spirits always injure their backs when they come at me."
Bitao was speechless, choked with emotion.
Just as Bitao was planning to have Zhan Kui win over Guanghan and bring her into her ranks, a sudden gust of cold wind swept through the quiet corridor.
The cold wind was biting, and the two of them shivered.
Bitao's brows furrowed. Could there be evil spirits in Kangquan City?
Just as she was about to step forward, Zhan Kui grabbed her wrist.
He pulled her back several steps, clearing most of the passageway under the corridor.
He lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, "Ancestor, you're not the real Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms. Don't crane your neck to rush towards everything you see, okay? This isn't a ghost demon; ghost demons don't taste like this! This is the immortal of Sui Sai!"
Bitao saw several people appear in the corridor. They were as tall as mountains and exuded ghostly energy, yet each of them wore the uniform of a public official in the underworld.
Although it was surrounded by a ghostly aura, this aura contained no foul stench or turbid odor typical of low-level evil spirits, except for the chilling cold that made people shiver.
—It's the Earthly Fiend King!
Moreover, Bitao recognized the two ghost kings who had previously followed the Emperor of Fengdu and had been staring at her with eerie and chilling eyes!
Bitao quickly hid behind the beams and pillars under the corridor, afraid that the two ghost kings who had been staring at her for no reason would cause her trouble.
Bitao knew very well that the two things she had stirred up were no small matter, and now all the ancient immortal clans might be her enemies.
Although the underworld has been separated from the heavenly realm for many years, many of the underworld's public offices were once celestial positions, originating from the ancient immortal clan.
She guessed that the two ghost kings might come from one of the ancient immortal clans she had inadvertently offended.
The group quickly passed by Zhan Kui and Bi Tao, their imposing presence and sinister appearance filling the air.
One of them was a powerful and imposing Earthly Fiend King who had been eyeing Bitao since his time in the Heavenly Realm, with fiery red eyes.
As I passed by Bitao, I glanced at her sideways.
That one glance was absolutely mesmerizing, making Bitao shudder involuntarily.
Fortunately, the group passed by quickly, and Bitao and Zhankui turned around and planned to go back to their respective rooms first.
No matter how arrogant Bitao and Zhan Kui were, they dared not offend these immortal masters of the Sui Sai sect.
The group stood at the door of a few houses not far from them, their figures motionless, their ghostly energy forming a net that entered and trapped several still bewildered immortals.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Bitao recognized the people in the net as the cheating immortals she had previously exposed in the Ghost Realm!
They fought each other, and although they didn't die, they were severely injured and fell into a coma. After the ghost realm dissipated, they returned to their bodies and remained in a coma.
Almost all the able-bodied cultivators in the courtyard are now forming arrays to assist the wandering souls in returning to their bodies. The commotion here is quite significant, yet no one comes out to peek and take a look.
After the immortals who were following the race caught the first few, when they caught the last one, that person actually had a talisman for suppressing evil spirits in his palm. He slapped it onto the net of ghostly energy, and then used his spiritual energy to run away.
He recalled that what he had done in the realm of demons had been discovered. Not only would he lose his immortal position, but he would also be doomed if he didn't run away!
Unfortunately, he seriously underestimated the abilities of Immortal Master Sui Sai. To be an Immortal Master Sui Sai, one must not only be fair and impartial, but each of them must also possess top-tier cultivation, far surpassing other immortals.
Although the Earthly Fiend King is called the Earthly Fiend King, he is not a real ghost, but a celestial being.
That talisman not only had no effect, but it also made one of the Earthly Fiend Kings who was making a move laugh.
He was the tallest among them, his handsome, cold, and gloomy eyes fixed intently on the cheating immortal who had escaped.
He didn't even move an inch, let alone chase after them. He simply waved his sleeves and released two ghost children with overwhelming ghostly energy.
The two ghost children rode on dark clouds and ghostly mist, and as soon as they showed their heads, they unleashed a soul-shaking howl.
Bitao and Zhankui both covered their ears, but it was to no avail; they felt as if their souls were being torn apart by the howling.
However, these two ghost children were indeed very powerful. In the blink of an eye, they grabbed the celestial throne... or rather, they bit the two arms of the celestial throne, one on the left and one on the right.
On the way back, it continued to devour his immortal spirit.
Zhan Kui whispered, "My goodness! No wonder he's the immortal overseeing the competition; even the ghost child he raised is so powerful! How impressive! Aww!"
Bitao stared intently at the two ghost children who were greedily absorbing the immortal essence—a boy and a girl, Yin-Yang children.
In the short time that followed, most of the immortal's life force had been drained, and he fainted.
After throwing the person into the net of yin energy, the ghost child returned to the side of the Earthly Fiend Ghost King, shrinking to the size of a palm, standing on his shoulders on either side, and howling at the immortal who was trying to escape.
The tone of voice had changed; it sounded like he was cursing and swearing, saying that the person was courting death.
One of the male ghost children even rubbed against the face of the imposing and domineering Earthly Fiend Ghost King, then rubbed his lower back, looking as if he was exhausted from just capturing someone.
He would then lean back and perform a "broken-back child" act on the spot.
The Earthly Fiend King effortlessly raised his hand and wrapped a circle of ghostly energy around the waist of the boy who was clutching his back, preventing him from collapsing on the spot.
Bitao's breath caught in her throat.
Her rusty eyes followed the two Yin-Yang children and moved to the Earthly Fiend Ghost King, who had his back to her.
My eyes were uncontrollably red.
Her lips moved slightly, silently uttering two words—"mother-in-law."
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