Spirit Butterfly Venerable's Methods

The opponent's strength far surpassed the sect master's imagination; they were not on the same level at all.

The young woman casually unleashed a palm strike, its power terrifying. The Spirit Ghost's formidable golden shield of talent was as fragile as paper under the young woman's small hand.

What's more, when dealing with the two Spirit Ghosts, the young woman even produced golden talismans. Such high-grade items would have cost him half his life if he took even one hit.

"At least peak second-grade True Master, possibly even the legendary third-grade Houtian Battle King. And so young." The sect master felt his entire life had been lived for nothing.

In terms of both strength and treasures, he was far from a match for the young woman. If he had attempted a surprise attack, the outcome would have been no better than the two Spirit Ghosts.

No, if he dared to make a move, he would fare even worse than the two Spirit Ghosts. After all, the Spirit Ghosts still had some value for exploitation, whereas he had absolutely no value to Yurouzi. Enemies with no value were best sent to their graves.

Then there was that seemingly ordinary man. He couldn't sense any trace of blood energy or true qi from him. Yet, this ordinary man, simply by sitting there, found the eye of the terrifying sealing array. And at the most crucial moment, he activated the grand array, completely sealing the two Spirit Ghosts!

This insight and confidence, coupled with his 'senior' status, made the sect master's legs tremble when he recalled it.

He was, by nature, a cautious, or rather, a timid man.

It was precisely because of his caution that he could cultivate the evil 'Ghost Driving' technique, creating malevolent spirits and fiends everywhere, yet live unharmed for over 170 years.

But he was unwilling.

Sixty years! He had spent sixty years on the Ghost Lantern Temple and the Spirit Ghosts! Sixty years of planning, sixty years of waiting, all for nothing.

No matter how timid he was, he could not accept this.

The sect master felt a tightness in his chest. He looked up at the starry sky, his voice filled with grief, "You took your Spirit Ghosts, but leave my Spirit Ghost behind and return it to me."

Of the two Spirit Ghosts in the Ghost Lantern Temple, one was sealed by the Spirit Butterfly Venerable. The other, however, belonged to this sect master!

As for why he hadn't taken the two Spirit Ghosts when they had long matured, waiting until Yurouzi and the others arrived?

It wasn't that he didn't want to take the Spirit Ghosts. In the years after the Spirit Ghosts matured, he had thought of nothing else but taking them from Huang Dagen's tomb!

But he couldn't!

The original Ghost Lantern Temple, now Huang Dagen's tomb, was surrounded by seven incredibly powerful and infuriating arrays. Besides the obvious spirit-confining array and the 'Poison Dragon Grass array eye' array triggered by Song Shuhang, there were five more terrifying arrays hidden around Huang Dagen's tomb. These were arrays that would take him a thousand years to break.

Once these arrays were activated, they could only be opened by a descendant of the Spirit Butterfly Venerable's bloodline. As long as this chain of arrays remained unbroken, no one could take the Spirit Ghosts within!

The Spirit Ghosts within the array could enter but not leave!

Yes, this was the part the sect master hated the most—the Spirit Ghosts could be put in, but not taken out.

Back then, he hadn't discovered the hidden arrays. Believing he had broken the spirit-confining array by using Huang Dagen to push over the Ghost Lantern Temple, he smugly considered the Ghost Lantern Temple his own, waiting for the Spirit Ghosts to mature.

Perhaps this Luoxin Street was truly his lucky place. After living in seclusion here for a few years, he coincidentally obtained another immature Spirit Ghost. Delighted, he sent it into Huang Dagen's tomb to be nurtured.

But when the Spirit Ghost matured and he tried to retrieve it, he discovered the six hidden grand arrays.

This was clearly a trap.

In fact, with a little thought, he should have realized—it was a place prepared for his daughter to nurture Spirit Ghosts, how could the Spirit Butterfly Venerable be careless? Even if the Venerable looked down on Spirit Ghosts, since he had bought the land, he considered the Spirit Ghosts his own. He would never just leave a spirit-confining array there!

Unfortunately, such a simple truth was missed by the sect master sixty years ago, his eyes clouded by greed.

"No, I can't just let this go. At least... at least, I must get back the Spirit Ghost that belongs to me. I'd risk everything I have now." the sect master muttered.

With just one Spirit Ghost, he would have a chance to break through his current second-grade True Master realm, reach the third-grade Houtian Battle King realm, and extend his dwindling lifespan by another hundred years!

Even if it meant kneeling and offering everything he had, no price was too great.

He cast one last look at Huang Dagen's tomb, surrounded by arrays, a look of profound grief on his face. He turned and left with heavy steps.

After the sect master left, another tall and handsome man appeared in the small grove. He had a lazy expression and pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Master, Junior Sister has successfully found the Ghost Lantern Temple and sealed the Spirit Ghost. She's gone back to rest and should return to Spirit Butterfly Island tomorrow or the day after." The man reported earnestly, though his voice carried an inherent laziness.

"That's good. This girl worries me too much. Were there any accidents along the way?" Spirit Butterfly Venerable's voice came from the other end of the line.

"No, no accidents," the man replied.

"Very well. Continue to look after your Junior Sister and report back when she safely arrives at Spirit Butterfly Island," Spirit Butterfly Venerable added. "Also, tidy up the few arrays I set up, so that activated arrays don't cause casualties among ordinary people. Thank you for your trouble, Jian Yi."

"Leave it to me, I'll handle it!" The man chuckled, hung up the phone, and shrugged.

There were actually minor accidents, like that sect master, and that man named Song Shuhang.

Watching the sect master's retreating figure, Liu Jian Yi yawned. "Well, how should I put it? That guy was quite sensible. He didn't make a move, saving me the trouble."

The sect master was lucky. He didn't get the chance to act. Otherwise, even if he had dared to show any intention of attacking Yurouzi, he would have been sent to accompany Huang Dagen in the underworld by now.

As for that Song Shuhang... he's troublesome! If his master knew that Yurouzi had barged into this man's room in the middle of the night and was sitting on his chest in an ambiguous pose, wouldn't his master fly into a rage?

Who knows if his master would then assign him the task of monitoring Song Shuhang? So, he absolutely must not tell his master any information about Song Shuhang.

Too troublesome, Liu Jian Yi thought lazily. Anyway, Yurouzi didn't lose a single hair, nor did she suffer any losses. Instead, she received a lot of help from that Song Shuhang.

More importantly, he was a man who advocated for thrift. He once practiced the Turtle Breathing technique because he was too lazy to breathe, eventually reaching a state where he only needed to breathe two or three times a month. His life's motto was: if something can be done with one finger, never use two.

He would never do anything that would bring trouble upon himself!

Yurouzi would never have imagined that her discovery of her father's journal and her journey to Ghost Lantern Temple were all silently supported by her father from behind the scenes. Along the way, Spirit Butterfly Venerable even sent disciples to watch over her, showing his painstaking efforts.

In fact, even if Mad Saber Three Waves hadn't courted disaster himself, Spirit Butterfly Venerable would have found another excuse to temporarily leave Spirit Butterfly Island.

It could only be blamed on Mad Saber Three Waves running into trouble at the wrong time, saving Spirit Butterfly Venerable the trouble of coming up with an excuse.

***

The next day.

June 3rd, Monday, Sunny.

Song Shuhang struggled to get out of bed until eight o'clock.

This time, Yurouzi didn't ride on his chest to wake him up.

This made him feel a little relieved, yet also a little disappointed? Human nature is truly perverse!

After getting up, he dialed the bedside phone to Yurouzi: "Are you up yet?"

"I'm already up, I just finished my morning meditation. Senior, shall we go back?" Yurouzi replied in a soft voice.

"Let's go eat some breakfast first, then we'll head back," Song Shuhang answered. The hotel offered a free buffet breakfast.