Translator: CinderTL
"Huh?"
Lin Fan froze, wondering where the voice had come from.
Huan Xi'er also paused, looking down at the raised platform beneath their feet. His voice hesitant, she asked, "Did... someone just call you?"
"I think so."
Lin Fan leaned closer to the platform, tilting his ear to listen.
Just then, another voice came from beneath the stone platform: "Lin Fan, it's me, Senior Sister Xiang Tan."
"Senior Sister Xiang Tan? What are you doing here?" Lin Fan shouted in surprise, his face full of astonishment.
"I don't know! Hurry and find a way to get me out!"
"Alright, Senior Sister, just wait a moment."
Lin Fan nodded. Senior Sister Xiang Tan had helped him countless times before, and he was determined to rescue her.
"Your senior sister?" Huan Xi'er asked.
"Yeah. Let's focus on getting her out first."
"Okay."
Huan Xi'er drew his black sword and struck with all his might.
Clang!
The sword blade vibrated violently, but the platform only cracked open a tiny fissure.
The two exchanged bewildered glances. "So tough?"
"What do we do now?"
Huan Xi'er stared helplessly at the platform. If they kept hacking with the sword, it would take forever to free Xiang Tan.
Just then, Xiang Tan called out, "Hurry and get Senior Brother Xu!"
Lin Fan nodded. "Senior Sister, just hold on. I'll send a message to the holy son right away."
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Xu Sanyan gazed at the mother stone in his hand, where a message from Lin Fan glowed:
"Reporting, Holy Son. Disciple Lin Fan and Senior Sister Xiang Tan encountered each other at a grand hall seventy li south of the city. However, Senior Sister is trapped, and I am helpless. Please intervene, Holy Son."
"Outside the city?" Xu Sanyan raised an eyebrow. What were those two doing out there?
Before he could ponder further, a sudden sense of danger surged through him. Xu Sanyan whirled around to see a massive hand clawing toward him!
"Daring to freeload in my territory? You've got a death wish!"
A black-robed official snarled, his face twisted with malice. Ignoring the bustling street, he unleashed a ghost hand wreathed in dark energy from behind. Street ghosts scattered in terror.
A free ride? Is that worth getting this angry? Xu Sanyan wondered, dodging the ghost hand's strike with a swift retreat.
"Hmph, resisting arrest, are you?" The official grinned savagely, spreading his arms wide as dense ghost energy billowed around him, radiating malevolent power.
Xu Sanyan's eyes darted around, searching for an escape route. This official's cultivation level was formidable, likely around the mid-stage of Soul Refinement. Moreover, the city was the official's domain, meaning Xu Sanyan stood no chance of winning, regardless of his own strength.
Without hesitation, Xu Sanyan turned and fled toward the city gates, a clear wind lifting him swiftly into the air.
"Thief! Stop right there!"
The martial constable refused to give up. The madam had promised him ten nights with Chun Hong if he captured the young man. Whether for maintaining order in the city or for the sake of his own desires, he couldn't let him escape!
The two figures raced through the streets, one chasing the other, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Xu Sanyan glanced back at the pursuing constable, his heart calm. Though the constable's cultivation level was slightly higher, ghost cultivators were notoriously weak in combat. Having reached the Perfected Dao Seeking Realm, Xu Sanyan was confident he could hold his own in a fight.
But not within the city walls—he didn't want to attract other constables.
Martial Constable Wu gritted his teeth, struggling to keep up. The young man was surprisingly fast; even a ghost general like himself couldn't catch him.
"Boy, surrender peacefully and compensate me with soul crystals, and I'll let you off easy. What do you say?" Wu shouted from behind, already planning how to deal with him once he had him in custody.
Xu Sanyan scoffed. He'd gotten a free ride through his own skills—why should he pay?
Spotting the city walls ahead, he summoned a gust of wind to lift him over the barrier, propelling him toward the dense forest beyond.
Seeing Xu Sanyan's speed increase rather than slow down, Martial Constable Wu's fury flared. "Hmph! Let's see how long you can keep running!"
The forest outside the city was dense and overgrown. Xu Sanyan plunged into the thicket, heading south.
As the martial constable watched the time drag on, with dusk rapidly approaching, his anxiety grew. The outskirts of the city were no place to be after dark; he needed to capture Xu Sanyan quickly!
With a swift motion, he drew a bone fragment from behind his back. About as thick as a finger, its joints were polished smooth, reflecting a faint halo of light upon closer inspection.
"Die!"
The constable's grin twisted into a ferocious snarl as he channeled a torrent of ghost energy into the bone finger. Instantly, the bone swelled violently, crimson flesh surging from its crevices.
In moments, it transformed into a colossal finger, tearing through the air with a black, misty trail as it hurtled toward Xu Sanyan's back.
He had abandoned any pretense of capturing him alive. Killing him outright would do just as well; bringing back his head would suffice. The madam wouldn't dare refuse payment.
Whoosh!
Hearing the sound behind him, Xu Sanyan twisted his head around, his heart pounding with terror. What is that?!
A finger larger than his thigh—what kind of creature could possess such a digit?
Without time to ponder, Xu Sanyan erupted in a dense crimson mist. Just as the colossal finger brushed against the mist, four spectral arms shot forth from the swirling vapor, slamming into the bone finger and halting its advance.
Boom!
A dull, thunderous crash shook the air. Xu Sanyan's figure swayed slightly, but he didn't budge an inch as he intercepted the finger.
"Trifling trick!" Xu Sanyan's pitch-black eyes widened slightly, a disdainful smirk tugging at his lips. He'd expected the finger to be far more formidable—it turned out to be all show and no substance.
The martial constable grinned sinisterly. Wisps of black mist suddenly erupted from the fingertip, surging toward Xu Sanyan like a tidal wave. As the mist poured forth, the finger began to shrink.
"You didn't expect this, did you? This is my true technique!" The martial constable's face lit up with triumph. Everyone focused on the finger itself, oblivious to the true danger: the ghost energy concealed within.
"Hahahaha!" Xu Sanyan threw back his head and laughed, his composure unshaken. A slit opened on his forehead, revealing a vertical eye. Crimson Mist billowed forth, mingling with the black mist in a sizzling hiss.
The black and red mists clashed like warring armies, their boundaries sharply defined. The black mist couldn't penetrate even a fraction of an inch before being completely annihilated within moments.
The martial constable's expression twisted in shock and disbelief. This was the first time he'd encountered such a technique—one that could actually suppress his ghost energy!
"Soul Refining Realm..."
Xu Sanyan's protruding fangs looked somewhat savage. His crimson body was covered in dark red floral patterns, and his towering frame exuded immense pressure.
"I've been wanting to see what's so different about the Soul Refining Realm!"
After revealing his dao body, Xu Sanyan's personality became crazed and bloodthirsty. He wasn't seeking death; he genuinely felt little pressure from the martial constable.
Having reached the Peak Stage of Dao Seeking, he hadn't yet tested his newfound strength. This ghost cultivator was the perfect opportunity.
"Come on!"
Xu Sanyan crooked a finger, and a pitch-black great halberd materialized in his hand. With a flick of its razor-sharp blade, a nearby tree snapped in two.
"Hah, overestimating yourself!"
The martial constable immediately sensed that the youth's cultivation level was inferior to his own. Being challenged by someone weaker felt like a personal affront.
"Awoo~!"
A bestial roar erupted from the martial constable's throat. His eyes turned crimson, and from the swirling black mist, a fierce ghost slowly crawled out, followed by a second, then a third...
(End of the Chapter)
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