[You use the Ghost King as fuel, burning away the bones of your grievances and enemies before you.]

[You obtained the spiritual material Life-Reflected Fiend.]

[A new type of spiritual material has been unlocked, reward: Fireworks Value +1000]

Amidst the firelight, crackling sounds could be heard.

Xie Huaizheng had already been burned into two amorphous clouds of smoke, which fluttered in the fierce flames, seemingly attempting a final struggle.

Chen Xu controlled the fire, summoned the wind, causing clouds to billow around him.

The colossal mist generated by the proximity of water and fire soared like a smoky haze, reflecting the indifferent youth as if he were a being from beyond the heavens.

Amidst the firelight, a hoarse voice still echoed: "A decade of enmity, today it finally turns to ashes, boy, it was not I who was at fault, but rather I fell into your treacherous scheme!"

Chen Xu said, "No, yet I believe, elder, that you yourself no longer wish to continue. Otherwise, why have you grown weaker over time?

Look at this bamboo forest, thatched cottage, seemingly a dreamlike idyllic place. Elder, do you truly seek revenge or desire seclusion?"

"I… you, no, do not imagine you can shatter my resolve.

I am unwilling, I still hate! I hate, the old scoundrel sits high in the hall to this day, yet the evidence I painstakingly gathered was destroyed in an instant…"

"Elder, you are truly naive even in death." Chen Xu laughed, "If such a celestial-tier person exists in the world, if they could be brought down, why need evidence? If they cannot, what use is the evidence?"

"If they could be brought down, why need evidence? Why need evidence…"

Amidst the firelight, that smoke flickered and suddenly stiffened.

As if some terrifying truth had pierced through all of it.

Then, bursts of laughter rang out: "Why need evidence, why need evidence... hahaha, I was blind to the obvious, I was foolish to the extreme!

But was my pure intention wrong?

Ultimately, I was too naive, unable to achieve anything great. I wanted to consume you, and so you killed me, today I die without grievance.

In life I acted heedlessly as an official, in death the celestial prodigies extinguished my soul. This old man has no regrets!"

[You penetrated the human heart, created an evil ghost, dispersing its Divine Soul completely, obtaining a pinch of Thousands of Tribulation Ashes as spiritual material.]

Boom!

The fire surged abruptly at this moment, and that wisp of smoke amidst the flames, finally under the searing blaze, vanished completely without a trace.

Immediately, a sound akin to shattering glass rang out.

Ka-cha, ka-cha—

Chen Xu watched, as all the clouds and mists controlled by his Water Drawing Technique vanished like ephemeral shadows around him.

Both the bamboo forest and thatched cottage, even the creek, all crumbled like a brittle porcelain painting before him.

The smoke dispersed wildly, and upon looking again, where was there any waterfall and bamboo forest?

Clearly, it was still the depths of the locust tree forest.

The flames leaped, returning from the illusory small world to the mortal realm, continuing to grow fiercely.

They landed on the densely overgrown locust tree branches, igniting one black locust tree after another.

The old stump of Cai fell to the ground, covered in strange roots, with flames clinging to his body.

He looked up at Chen Xu with a face full of horror, pleading for mercy: "Don't kill me! Don't kill me... I know nothing, I am just a tree spirit!

I am innocent, I am innocent... cough cough cough!"

Suddenly, he was choked by a puff of thick smoke, and bursts of heart-wrenching coughing sounds came from his mouth.

Then, one by one, skulls the size of chicken eggs were coughed out from his throat.

The skulls rolled onto the ground with a clatter, growing to the size of ordinary human skulls in the wind, emitting a strong, foul stench.

Cai Lao Zhuang immediately stopped, staring at Chen Xu in terror.

It turned out that this Cai Lao Zhuang was the evil spirit of the locust tree on Pufeng Mountain.

This evil spirit and the Ghost King originally existed symbiotically. Now that Xie Huaizheng is dead, the locust tree evil spirit, born almost in the same body with him, naturally suffers backlash.

The locust tree evil spirit had strong roots, and after consuming Chen Xu's Meat Ganoderma Soup, just a compliment from him could grant Chen Xu [500] likes.

But this locust tree evil spirit only had strong roots but was otherwise weak in combat.

With Xie Huaizheng dead, he was firmly controlled by Chen Xu, unable to put up any resistance.

He could only plead continuously: "Spare me, I will absorb moonlight essence each night to offer to Your Excellency! Spare me, I am willing to be loyal..."

Seeing Chen Xu unmoved, the surrounding flames burned brighter and brighter.

Cai Lao Zhuang suddenly widened his eyes, speaking with a tone of both surprise and distortion: "Your Excellency, be cautious, to your right, the Patrol Envoy is launching a surprise attack!"

Before the words finished, a flash of blade light appeared.

Chen Xu unsheathed and swung his blade in an instant, the blade fell.

Today, he had even used the Ghost King as fuel; what of a Patrol Envoy under the Ghost King?

With this slash, the flames immediately adhered.

Amidst the firelight, a shadow revealed its true form.

The evil ghost let out a shrill scream, falling to the ground, and stared incredulously at Chen Xu: "Impossible, how can you no longer be blinded by my Sixth Sense Barrier?"

Not long ago, he had even infiltrated Yunjiang City, manipulating Chen Xu like a puppet.

If not for the intervention of Gongsun Jiuniang from the Prison Control Department, Chen Xu would have already been tied up and taken back to Pufeng Mountain like a chicken.

A defeated opponent, aside from scheming, why was his strength so formidable?

Patrol Envoy, Zigui.

From his understanding of Xie Huaizheng's deeds, Chen Xu already knew the full name of the Patrol Envoy to be Yuan Zigui.

Yuan Zigui was utterly loyal to Xie Huaizheng, and if it weren't for Xie Huaizheng shattering his ghostly body with one palm earlier, with him assisting, Chen Xu might not have been able to eradicate Xie Huaizheng in one go.

Unfortunately, as Yuan Zigui struggled to recover his ghostly body to surprise Chen Xu again, Cai Lao Zhuang from the same faction had exposed him with a single shout.

Chen Xu did not answer Yuan Zigui's question, nor would he tell him that even if Cai Lao Zhuang had not turned on him and exposed his whereabouts, Chen Xu could not have been ambushed by him.

Ever since he broke through to the late stage of the Meridian Passage Realm, he further understood the profound use of Innate Qi.

Now, even if Chen Xu did not deliberately disperse his Divine Thought, he was extremely sensitive to the atmospheric dynamics within a range of about ten feet around him.

The Sixth Sense Barrier could no longer deceive him.

Yuan Zigui's ambush seemed hidden, but in Chen Xu's perception, it was as clear as a candle illuminating a window.

However, Chen Xu would say nothing; he did not answer any of Yuan Zigui's questions or pay attention to Cai Laozhuang.

He simply stood in the firelight, summoning wind to strengthen the flames.

Earlier, he had many exchanges with Xie Huaizheng because a scholar's battle often prioritized psychological attacks.

Lip service is an invisible confrontation; to extinguish its soul, one must first kill its heart; otherwise, the Ghost King is difficult to slay.

Yet, Cai Laozhuang before him and the already severely injured Yuan Zigui had no chance of escaping the fierce flames at hand.

In such a case, there was no need to waste any more words with the enemy.

On Pufeng Mountain, the blazing flames waved like flags.

Some distance away, all the ghosts in the Locust Tree Forest were shocked.

The flames came too fast, not spreading from one place to another, but as soon as Cai Laozhuang, the evil spirit of the locust trees, was set on fire, all the locust trees on the mountain simultaneously fell into a sea of flames.

With Chen Xu's original power, he was not capable of controlling this massive fire over the mountain.

But who calls wood to give birth to fire?

This fire was not an ordinary fire, but Heart Fire, ignited by Innate Qi.

When the fire spread across the mountain, the Fire Qi roiled within the dense forest, further fueling the flames.

In the Ghost Market, the ghosts wailed and howled.

Cai Laozhuang was sobbing and sniveling, the tree roots on his body shaking like a sifter.

"Your Reverence, please stop, I beg you to extinguish the fire! Even if I, the little old one, am not innocent, everyone in the Ghost Market is a pitiful ghost!

How can you burn them all down with one fire?

If you really kill them all, won't you feel a pang in your heart when you wake in the night?"

Chen Xu did not answer, but stood in the very center of the blazing fire, carefully comprehending the grand fire force at the moment.

After today, it will likely be difficult to see such a grand fire again.

"Fire is born from wood, and it burns wood; the Tao resides in form, yet forgets form."

In the Fire Control Skill, subtle truths and essentials slowly flowed through Chen Xu's mind.

Yuan Zigui, nearly reduced to a twisted mass of charcoal by the flames, still coldly laughed with a weak voice:

"This person may be human, but his heart is as hard as ironstone. You might as well muster your last bit of strength for a fight!

I misjudged; I should never have provoked this person. No wonder the King often told me that scholars are often unfaithful.

If I cannot kill this beast, I am willing to die for the King... ah!"

Amidst the searing flames, he uttered his final ghastly scream.

The charcoal-like body scattered into ashes with a bang.

[You roasted the evil ghost, extinguished its soul, annihilated its True Spirit, and obtained a Ghost-Bidding Pearl as spiritual material.]

[Unlocked a new type of spiritual material, Fireworks Value +300.]

The annihilation of Yuan Zigui caused Cai Laozhuang's pleading cries to come to an abrupt halt.

As the roaring flames rose on Pufeng Mountain, on the opposite side, on another peak called Stone Peak.

The little hedgehog Wei Yuan was arduously searching for Ghost Transformation Grass on the mountain.

All things in the world are easily counteracted and generated by each other.

Just like beside a poisonous snake, within seven steps, you can often find the antidote.

A kind of Ghost Transformation Grass growing on Stone Peak is very helpful for neutralizing Ghost Qi.

Just that it's difficult to find, and Wei Yuan already knew over ten days ago that the evil ghosts of Pufeng Mountain intended to harm Chen Xu, so he often came to Shishan to find the herb, wanting to be prepared for unexpected needs.

Unfortunately, his luck was not great; after such hardship for over ten days, he still found nothing.

"No, no... it's still not here!"

He was anxious; his small body was sometimes here, sometimes gone on the oddly rocky Stone Mountain, performing the Earth Escape Technique with divine ease.

Even though Stone Mountain was rocky all over, it could not stop his shuttling through the earth.

Once again reaching the mountain top, Wei Yuan, carrying a book box, stood on tiptoe to look afar.

"I don't even know how Mr. Chen is doing in the city now? If I can't find the medicine, I can't help him; he, he won't really get killed by the evil ghosts on Pufeng Mountain?"

Thinking about the possibility of Chen Xu's death, Wei Yuan's eyes uncontrollably ache and swell.

Overwhelmed by anxiety and grief, he couldn't help but secretly clench his teeth and say:

"If worse comes to worst, I'll fight those evil ghosts! How can becoming a ghost be so wicked? Teacher said, being too wicked will receive karmic retribution.

Mr. Chen, being such a gentle and kind person, absolutely cannot be bullied by these evil ghosts..."

The little hedgehog stamped its foot, and its body began to sink into the earth and rocks below.

He decided to use Earth Escape to reach Pufeng Mountain and have a good talk with the Ghost King about reason.

At that moment, a red light suddenly flickered on the opposite mountain.

Then, hot waves filled the sky, followed by the roaring sound of fire.

Halfway through Earth Escape, Wei Yuan's body hadn't entirely sunk, half-buried in the soil, and he looked up in awe.

"Oh, heavens... could it be that my curse just now came true?"

"How could fire suddenly break out on Pufeng Mountain?"

"Could it be, those evil ghosts really faced retribution!"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.