Is this a blend of black and white?

As for strength data, it was "0~0".

Goodwill is 80.

Such a level of goodwill would not harm him.

Lady Zhushan came with sincerity.

Many thoughts flashed through Song Cheng's mind, and before he could speak, Lady Zhushan had already said, "Please close the door, lock it tight."

She did not bother with any small talk and directly stated her needs.

Song Cheng, who had already gained an understanding of this lady, did not ask anything and directly closed the door, locking it tight.

"Please take off the black cloth," Lady Zhushan said again.

Song Cheng removed it.

"Open your eyes."

Song Cheng opened them.

If at the initial subsiding of the Ghost Tide, his pupils were "a tiny dot the size of a bean focused within the vast expanse of white," now they were just "a small point."

Extremely strange.

Like the tip of a needle dipped in ink, lightly touching a sheet of white paper.

As for his vision, which was originally blurry, it had now become almost completely blind.

"No wonder you went to Thousand Treasures Pavilion to buy Soul Strengthening Pills, it turns out you were harassed by an evil spirit. It seems the rumors in Shanghe County about you being able to see through Ghost Servants also stem from this," Lady Zhushan commented.

And her goodwill strangely rose to 90.

"I'm used to it," Song Cheng responded indifferently, then wrapped the black cloth back on.

"So am I," said Lady Zhushan.

After that, she added, "I need to conduct a test."

"Hmm."

"Lift your head, look at me," she instructed.

Song followed her command.

In his eyes, the contour of the gray-faced plump woman seemed like a gray lotus blooming in water; she shed her coat, revealing a dark gossamer dress clinging to her full waist and soft, long legs, her dainty, translucent feet beneath.

Her gray grew ever darker, the black lines sketching out a flawless outline.

She was a perfect woman, a Nation-Toppling Beauty, every stroke, every aspect exuding the charm of a woman, tempting the Divine Soul of men with her curves, her lines...

"Am I beautiful?" Lady Zhushan asked arrogantly, her voice seductive, yet her face expressionless, even indifferent.

The mottled plump face disappeared, replaced by a ravishing face that could drive any man mad.

"Beautiful," Song Cheng praised, but his tone remained calm, without madness.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Lady Zhushan put her heavy clothing back on, and then, without avoiding Song Cheng, directly picked certain remedies from a small medicine jar and applied them to her face, returning to her previous plump visage.

"We are partners now," declared Lady Zhushan.

Song Cheng inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are partnering with me because of your wife's order, and I need a master who won't be affected by my Illusionary Realm to cooperate with me," stated Lady Zhushan.

"That's why we have come together.

You'll hear my commands only because they are your wife's orders, not because of me.

Do you understand?"

She seemed to be trying her utmost to distance herself from any relationship with men.

"Therefore, I will only issue commands directly in times of partnership, in an emergency.

Many things do not have the luxury of explanation.

In other matters, I won't interfere with you, and you needn't concern yourself with me.

Whether you are sitting and drinking tea or lying down and rolling about, it will be of no concern to me.

I will call you Song, as that seems to be how your master refers to you.

This should make it more comfortable for you."

Song Cheng wore a peculiar expression.

He gave an "Okay" and then casually sat down.

Suddenly, Lady Zhushan said, "Song, you are a Guest Elder at Shanhe Martial Arts Hall and also participated in the great battle at the East City Pass. You must think I am a woman who does not ask questions and only wants to take Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple and flee, right?"

Song Cheng replied, "When everyone is fighting desperately, there must be someone who thinks of a way out.

So it's not fleeing; it's foresight.

Actually..."

Before he could finish saying "we share a common goal, I too am looking for a way out," Lady Zhushan gently shook her head, interrupting, "Song, you are wrong, I just have never approved of this war from the start.

The Great Hall Master, Old Venom, they believe it's the Barbarians invading, their enemy is the Barbarians, and they want to valiantly crush the Barbarians.

But I know that's not the case.

This is a war between humans and ghosts.

The fiercer the war, the more death ensues.

The more death, the easier it is to bring forth more terrible evil spirits, making the next Ghost Tide even more terrifying.

Even though the Ghost Tide has receded, many Ghost Servants are still lurking, especially those Barbarians scattered abroad.

They come from the north, seemingly unscathed, but in reality... they're already riddled with holes."

We're in the city, we have Soul Trainers, but the Barbarians do not.

The Ghost Servants want to borrow the Barbarians to move south, causing chaos in the Human World.

I... must expose them.

I have already found a kind of prescription.

This prescription can make Ghost Servants manifest.

I want everyone to realize this, to realize that the Ghost Servants have infiltrated many places...

We cannot go to war, we need unity."

After speaking, she laughed at herself again, "But saying this when the Northern Barbarians are invading and the county town is being massacred, I find it laughable myself.

But there's no alternative, the Ghost Servants have memories, they know that among the humans there is a group of us...

So, they will target us first.

The more of us who can see Ghost Servants die, the blurrier the human sight becomes.

Everyone will fight to the death; whether Dashang wins or the Northern Barbarians win, it actually doesn't matter.

What matters is... the war is always there, famine is always there, death is always there.

They... don't hope for the Northern Barbarians to win, nor for Dashang to win.

They hope for balance.

The small groups of Barbarian Cavalry attacking the cities are only scouts.

Their goal is to assess the strength of the city's defenses, and then... like a sharp knife, they will insert themselves into the city, trying to kill us.

They... are almost here.

I saw them.

Song, come with me to greet them.

I don't know whether they are strong or weak, but I won't retreat.

My battlefield has always been different from others.

What I have to protect isn't just a Prefectural City, but much more than that."

Her calm voice was filled with passion and fervor.

Song Cheng: ??????

He was dumbstruck, with a lump in his throat.

"No, senior, hasn't Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple not made a single move?"

"Because our battlefield isn't elsewhere, it's right here."

Song Cheng: ...

Got it.

Things have become clear.

The oddnatured Taoist Temple Master of Pearl Mountain had no intention of fleeing.

"You seem a bit down, Song?" Lady Zhushan asked perceptively, "Actually, you don't have to worry. When I deploy my Illusionary Realm, the Ghost Servants won't be able to move an inch. All you have to do is quickly step forward and finish them off with a single slice, ensuring they're killed.

And you don't need to worry about being ambushed.

Where those Ghost Servants are now is all within my grasp. I will release false information, and then we can go to wait for them ahead of time."

...

...

That day, Lady Zhushan moved directly into the An Residence, taking up residence in the courtyard next to Song Cheng.

The Medicinal Humans began their major relocation; soon that courtyard was filled with an odd, ancient aura.

It was the style of a boudoir belonging to ancient noble women.

The bed was an opulent Gold Jade Couch that seemed to be an artifact from over a thousand years ago...

Mirrors, clothes racks, wardrobes, everything seemed antique.

And that evening, Tong Jia went to Lady Zhushan's home to become her disciple.

And Thousand Treasures Pavilion also signed a contract with Ruyi Commerce Chamber...

As for Song Cheng, as one of the Three Giants of Hanping Prefecture, he too gained a lot.

The Cultivation Techniques he once needed to survey stealthily with his Out of Body Divine Soul were no longer necessary.

Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple, with its large foundation, in order to cultivate Medicinal Humans, had collected many Cultivation Techniques and compiled them into books. Among them were numerous Power Techniques and Force Methods, compiled into one called "Pearl Mountain Martial Code," which even included a Form Technique known as "Whale Swallowing Blue Sea Form."

In the past, the "Pearl Mountain Martial Code" was only for the Medicinal Humans to browse.

But Song Cheng's status was special, so a copy of the "Pearl Mountain Martial Code" was brought to him.

When night fell...

In the courtyard, Song Cheng sat with closed eyes to recuperate, while Ling read aloud to him by the moonlight, word by word.

With Lady Zhushan present, he naturally could not freely let his Divine Soul wander.

Ling read all night and also listened all night to the low rumbling of muscles and bones in Song Cheng's body, a faint hum like distant thunder.

That was the checking and filling gaps of Force Methods, the ultimate state of the Force Realm.

A night passed.

Ling yawned endlessly.

Song Cheng, however, was in peak condition.

He glanced at his status panel.

Under the [Cultivation Technique] category, "Xuanwu True Force (9 Force) (Yellow Level Grade C) (Perfect)" had disappeared, replaced by "Xuanwu Body (Perfect)."

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