You're Still Alive

"Huh? Jiang Chuan, you're still alive."

Seeing Jiang Chuan carrying White Jade Rice into the Chore Yard, Elder Jing Zhen looked surprised.

Jiang Chuan: "..."

What do you mean, "you're still alive"?

Was he supposed to be dead?

With a dark expression, Jiang Chuan put down the White Jade Rice on his back.

"Elder Jing Zhen, the Jiang Chuan you knew is dead. The person before you now is Ghost King Jiang Chuan."

"I knew Jing Hui kept shouting about chopping you to death while he was chopping wood last night. How could you possibly still be alive? But, becoming a vengeful spirit and still wanting to work, that's something all the monks in the Chore Yard should learn from."

Elder Jing Zhen nodded, acknowledging Jiang Chuan's identity as Ghost King, and declared Jiang Chuan to be a role model for the entire Chore Yard.

Jiang Chuan's expression darkened further.

Who wanted to be that kind of role model?!

And it was one thing for you to exploit people, but you're even exploiting ghosts? Where's your conscience?!

Did you feed it to Jiang Daode?

Jiang Chuan clenched his fists, preparing to turn and leave.

Considering he was no match for Elder Jing Zhen, Jiang Chuan decided to endure it!

"When I've cultivated successfully, I'll see how I can exploit you!"

Jiang Chuan silently noted this debt in his heart, and also considering that he had caused Jing Hui to chop three thousand jin of firewood, he ultimately decided to add Jing Hui's name to it.

"Treating the firewood as me, Senior Brother Jing Hui must have chopped it at least a thousand times. When I chop wood, I'll chop it back too."

After cutting another large bundle of White Jade Rice, Jiang Chuan returned it to the Chore Yard, then picked two full basins of white corn and delivered them to the kitchen.

Pinching his nose, Jiang Chuan drank a bowl of white corn porridge, then left the kitchen and went to the back of the mountain behind his dwelling. He found a spot under the shade of a tree, sat down cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

After cultivating until dusk, Jiang Chuan went to the kitchen for another bowl of white corn porridge before returning to his hut to rest.

As midnight passed, a crisp voice sounded in Jiang Chuan's mind once more.

[Ding! Simulation attempts have been reset. Do you wish to begin the simulation?]

"I hope Dragon Transformation Venerable left some treasures in his Cave Mansion," Jiang Chuan immediately began the simulation.

[Ding! Simulation started. Randomly matching a romance simulation target for the host.]

[Ding! Match successful.]

[The romance target matched for this simulation is Yu Yingnan, an outer disciple of the Seven Kill Demonic Sect.]

"A disciple of the Seven Kill Demonic Sect? This could be a bit tricky!"

Jiang Chuan stroked his chin, "I'll kill Ji Xinyu first, then figure out how to pursue her."

[The following afternoon, you proactively went to the Warrior Monk Institute and found Elder Jingyun.]

[You frankly stated that after breaking through to the Second Realm, many images appeared in your mind, and you suspected they might be related to the Cave Mansion left by your past life's past life.]

"Awakening latent wisdom and reclaiming memories of your past life is not uncommon in the Qingyuan Realm," Elder Jingyun said calmly. "Jiang Chuan, who was your past life's fellow Daoist?"

"In the images that appeared in my mind, everyone called me Dragon Transformation Venerable," Jiang Chuan replied.

"Dragon Transformation Venerable?! Jiang Chuan, you're saying your past life was Dragon Transformation Venerable?!"

Elder Jingyun's voice was filled with astonishment, and his gaze towards Jiang Chuan became uncertain.

Jiang Chuan nodded, "Yes, Elder. Furthermore, this disciple left a Cave Mansion on Chisha Island."

"Amitabha!"

Elder Jingyun clasped his hands together, "I never expected, Jiang Chuan, that your past life was the cultivator of the Eighth Realm, Thunder Tribulation Realm, Dragon Transformation Venerable."

Eighth Realm!

A towering wave surged in Jiang Chuan's heart.

Although he had known Dragon Transformation Venerable was powerful, he hadn't expected him to be an Eighth Realm cultivator.

One had to realize that many sect leaders among the Seven Sects, Six Demons, Three Palaces, and Nine Clans were only in the Eighth Realm!

"No wonder Ji Xinyu is so fixated on Dragon Transformation Venerable's Cave Mansion. Obtaining it is very likely equivalent to obtaining the entire fortune of a peak cultivator standing at the pinnacle of the Qingyuan Realm."

Jiang Chuan bowed, "I request Elder Jingyun's assistance in opening my past life's Cave Mansion and retrieving the Magic Artifacts and scriptures left behind."

[Regarding your request, Elder Jingyun readily agreed. He then summoned seventeen Bodhi Temple elders and took you to Chisha Island.]

[Upon arriving at Chisha Island, following the memories obtained from the simulation, you successfully led eighteen elders to find Dragon Transformation Venerable's Cave Mansion.]

[Elder Jingyun immediately led seventeen elders in jointly setting up the Eighteen Arhats Demon-Slaying and Evil-Dispelling Grand Formation.]

"Roar!"

A golden dragon materialized from thin air above the blood-red earth, followed by an Arhat radiating golden light, appearing majestic and sacred atop the dragon's head.

Immediately, seventeen Arhats appeared out of nowhere, some riding white tigers, others wearing golden circlets, and some holding alms bowls.

"Attack! Break the formation!"

Following Elder Jingyun's command, the eighteen Arhats manifested from the Eighteen Arhats Demon-Slaying and Evil-Dispelling Grand Formation attacked in unison.

Beams of golden light sliced through the sky, descending upon the Dragon Transformation Venerable's Cave Mansion.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Deafening sounds echoed continuously, making Jiang Chuan, who was watching the formation break from a distance, wince as his eardrums ached.

A colorless ripple surged out from the azure Cave Mansion.

The next moment, Elder Jingyun and the other eighteen elders from Bodhi Temple vanished into thin air.

Jiang Chuan's eyes widened. "What kind of technique is this? Where did Elder Jingyun and the others go?!"

The scene before him was too bizarre, so bizarre it sent chills down Jiang Chuan's spine!

The eighteen elders of Bodhi Temple, all in the Fifth and Sixth Realms, along with the Eighteen Arhats Demon-Slaying and Evil-Dispelling Grand Formation they had set up, had disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"Is the gap between the Eighth and Sixth Realms really this vast?! It shouldn't be! Bodhi Temple isn't without Eighth Realm experts. If they truly lacked confidence, Elder Jingyun would have definitely invited the Abbot to act."

Jiang Chuan suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Could this be the inheritance Ji Xinyu has been longing for?"

"Roar!!!"

Accompanied by an enraged roar.

Cracks of pitch blackness tore through the sky.

In an instant, the sky was like a shattered mirror, covered in dense, overlapping cracks.

The figures of Elder Jingyun and the other eighteen elders reappeared in Jiang Chuan's sight.

"Amitabha! Creating realms within the void, this technique is comparable to one of my Buddhist sect's ultimate divine abilities, the Buddha's Kingdom in the Palm. The Dragon Transformation Venerable truly lives up to being an Eighth Realm cultivator," one of the Bodhi Temple elders exclaimed.

"The Dragon Transformation Venerable's techniques are indeed heaven-defying, but unfortunately, what protects the Cave Mansion now is merely a Grand Formation."

Elder Jingyun opened his mouth and spat out a golden scroll, depicting magnificent mountains and rivers.

This was Elder Jingyun's Inner Scenery Map.

"All my junior brothers, let us unleash our full power and break through the formation!"

"Roar!"

"Caw!"

The roars of tigers and calls of cranes sounded as the Eighteen Arhats Demon-Slaying and Evil-Dispelling Grand Formation was pushed to its limit by Elder Jingyun and the eighteen elders.

The eighteen Arhats erupted in dazzling golden light, like descending suns, blinding Jiang Chuan.

Rumble!

The eighteen Arhats attacked in unison, causing the blood-like earth to shake violently.

Just then, a terrifying aura erupted from the azure Cave Mansion.

It was as if a purgatory from the underworld had descended, or a demon god born from destruction and death was about to awaken, ready to spread death throughout the world.

Instantly, Jiang Chuan felt as if he had plunged into an ice cellar, his entire body going cold.

He felt as though he had fallen into a frigid, boundless ocean, on the verge of suffocating to death.

"Dragon Transformation Venerable, could he still be alive..."

Boom!!!