Make a Name for Himself First

Qiu Changfeng's sudden appearance caught them all off guard, and the Ghost Messengers were stunned as well.

This newcomer was a little too fierce, wasn't he? He had actually shattered the formation in a single blow!

Still, the breaking of the Arhat Golden Array was good news for the Ghost Messengers.

"Who are you monks? How dare you seize the souls of Immortal Academy students!"

Qiu Changfeng was furious, itching to rush over and tear those bastards apart with his bare hands.

Just then, the Yellow Springs Ghost Messengers revealed themselves. They cupped their fists toward Qiu Changfeng. "Many thanks to this fellow Daoist for lending a hand. We will take these monks away now."

Seeing them appear, Qiu Changfeng, the academy's dean, was not particularly surprised. Some reclusive Immortal Kings had once told him about such things.

They said immortals had escaped the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but that was far too broad a statement. To put it plainly, only by stepping into the Divine Realm could one escape the Great Dao's cycle of reincarnation. Even present-day Immortal Kings remained beyond the control of neither the Yellow Springs!

Qiu Changfeng returned their salute. "Then I'll have to trouble you, fellow Daoists."

The Ghost Messengers swarmed forward. The monks from Dragon Tiger Temple could only cast spells to fend them off, with no time to spare for Xiang Tian.

Though Buddhist arts were vast and mighty beyond measure, it was the dead of night. The Ghost Messengers' tenacity far exceeded their expectations.

"Retreat! Return to the temple at once!"

Even the abbot could no longer hold on. With one command, he withdrew the Buddha statue and fled.

As for the monk holding the Buddha bowl, he simply set it on the table. How could he dare take Xiang Tian with him? He ran for his life.

"Where do you think you're going!"

The leading Ghost Messenger bellowed and led the ghosts in pursuit.

Qiu Changfeng carefully picked up the Buddha bowl, puzzled. "How did they manage to hook away your soul?"

Xiang Tian was speechless. "They had that kind of technique. What could I do?"

After casually sending the soul of the unlucky fellow left behind by the Ghost Messengers back into his body, Qiu Changfeng brought Xiang Tian back to the inn.

Inside the room, Qiu Changfeng shattered the Buddha bowl. The soul returned to its body, and Xiang Tian opened his eyes on the bed.

"I never expected there to still be people from this lineage around. Their nerve is growing by the day—they actually dared strike at our Immortal Academy!"

Qiu Changfeng's face was dark. He felt somewhat guilty over Xiang Tian's ordeal; he had failed to notice it immediately.

Xiang Tian did not take it to heart. Even if Qiu Changfeng had not appeared, he had ways to make those bald monks suffer a loss they could not swallow.

After chatting for a while, Qiu Changfeng told Xiang Tian to rest early and left.

The next day, the city exploded into uproar. The unlucky man rescued yesterday had become a celebrity.

He recounted yesterday's battle between the Ghost Messengers and the Buddhist monks in the thatched hut with such vivid detail that it felt as though the scene stood before their eyes. Everyone marveled at the monks' soul-seizing methods and was even more shaken that Ghost Messengers truly existed in this world.

"Let me tell you, when I went over there yesterday, the Ghost Messengers even called me brother! When I stood beside my Ghost Messenger brothers, those monks were scared stupid!"

"They had never heard of anyone becoming brothers with Ghost Messengers. Now that they'd seen it, they were so shocked they couldn't say a word."

"They were using evil arts, hooking away other people's souls! Of course my brothers couldn't stand for that, so they rushed up to hack them apart. But those monks had some skill—they actually conjured a golden barrier!"

The more the man spoke, the more excited he became, spittle flying everywhere. Yet the people around him listened with rapt attention, and the crowd only grew larger.

After taking a sip of tea, the man climbed straight onto a table and continued his speech with animated expressions.

"But my brothers were helpless. What could they do? That monk's turtle shell was too damn hard—they couldn't chop through it! Then, at that very moment, an old man suddenly flew in and smashed that shell apart with one slap. Those monks were so terrified they pissed themselves and crawled on the ground, begging for mercy again and again."

"They got scared and fled one by one. My brothers went after them. You have no idea—the old gentleman was truly immortal in bearing, his Daoist bones aglow in the wind! I have never seen such a handsome elder. With one hand, he broke the monks' spells and divine powers. He was simply invincible!"

Amid the crowd, Xiang Tian had come out for a stroll today with nothing else to do and happened to arrive here. He too listened with great interest, though this fellow had added rather too much of his own role to the story.

During a lull in the man's speech, someone nearby began questioning him. "Is what you're saying real? Ghost Messengers? Why don't you say the Buddha himself descended into the world? Where are there even monks these days?"

The man raised a hand and swore to heaven. "I guarantee every word is true! Ghost Messengers really did appear yesterday, and there really were monks. You just didn't see them!"

He looked around, then suddenly froze, his eyes widening as he stared in one direction.

In the crowd, Xiang Tian smiled faintly, giving him a greeting of sorts.

The man rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Although Xiang Tian had been taken into the Buddha bowl last night and shrunk in form, he was certain that the youth before him was the very soul that had been hooked away yesterday!

"It's this little brother! If you don't believe me, ask him whether several monks hooked away his soul yesterday!"

"Pfft!"

Someone could no longer hold back their laughter. This guy was getting more and more outrageous—he had even claimed the person involved was right here among them.

But when they looked in the direction he was pointing, their brows immediately furrowed.

Why did this youth look a little familiar? It seemed they had seen him somewhere before.

"No, that's Xiang Tian!"

"What? Who did you say?"

"Xiang Tian! How many Xiang Tians could there possibly be?"

Someone remembered and immediately cried out.

Xiang Tian?

The man was dumbfounded as well. Good heavens, why was it this young master?

His face instantly turned pale. His heart had no footing beneath it. Now that he had spilled the matter, wouldn't this young master chop him down, just like the Ding Family and the Black Abyss?

Fortunately, Xiang Tian truly had no interest in dealing with someone like him. He said to the crowd, "You've all heard the story. Why are you still gathered here? It doesn't look good. Disperse."

No one dared say anything more, and they scattered in all directions, leaving behind only the still-trembling man.

Xiang Tian glanced at him and said with an amused smile, "You should head back too. I ought to thank you—you made a name for me before the Dao discussion has even begun."

Seeing that Xiang Tian had no intention of holding it against him, the man thanked him again and again before scurrying away in a sorry state.

The street instantly became much more open. Among the dispersing crowd, Xiang Tian spotted someone he knew fairly well.

Xiang Tian smiled at her, but her face went pale. She lowered her head and hurried away.

It was Ning Rong.

Jade Pool would be taking part in this Dao discussion; Qiu Changfeng had mentioned it to him long ago.

In a restaurant in the distance, a young man leaned against the railing, watching the scene with great interest.

Seeing Ning Rong flee, the youth clicked his tongue in wonder. "I heard long ago that Xiang Tian had won Jade Pool's holy maiden. Seeing it today, it really is true. How enviable."

Beside him, a gaunt old man said quietly, "Young Master, this boy is far from ordinary."

"Far from ordinary? His ability to summon people is certainly far from ordinary. I'm curious how many points he can earn with his own true strength."

The youth was unconcerned.

At the same time, Xiang Tian, standing in the street, turned around. His gaze landed precisely in the young man's direction.

"Interesting. Exceedingly interesting!"

The youth slapped the table, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.

This Xiang Tian, whose fame had risen greatly in recent days, seemed to have some real substance after all.