Greenhorn

Snap, crackle~

Under the desolate moonlight, amidst gusts of chilling wind and mournful operatic singing, the hair-raising sound of bones and muscles snapping continued to echo through the Pear Garden.

Three red-and-white "twisted ropes" writhed on the ground, their limbs tangled together and their heads turned all the way around to their backs, the pale, jagged bone fragments looking jarringly vivid.

There was no doubt about it.

Physiologically speaking, these three men were already dead, and what was truly bizarre was that they had killed "themselves."

Wu Dao practiced the Stealing Heaven's Secret System and understood one thing clearly: restricted by the brain's protective mechanisms, a person could not suffocate themselves, nor could they actively perform actions that would endanger their own life.

Yet, these three young men.

Right there in plain sight, they had forced themselves into twisted knots.

There was only one explanation—a possession by a Ghostly Entity, or rather, their brains had been completely dominated by one!

Wu Dao knew that feeling well.

Back when he was at the Red Fire Mine, he had experienced an incident of demonic possession firsthand.

In this world, once a Ghostly Entity possessed someone, the first thing it did was damage the brain's nerves, destroy the mind, seize the will, and turn the person into a puppet.

It could be said.

Once possessed by a Ghostly Entity, a person was brain-dead; even the gods couldn't save them!

And that was only the lowest level of Wandering Soul!

As long as one had achieved success in martial arts and reached the Rigid-Soft Realm, where one had initially broken through the limits of the human body, those with a vigorous and masculine spirit could, to a certain extent, be fearless.

Those even stronger.

Such as a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

Their Martial Dao Will had already merged with their spirit, appearing on the level of the soul and consciousness like a giant furnace. As for those wandering ghosts in the Red Fire Mine, let alone possessing them, they wouldn't even dare to draw near!

But the Ghostly Entity here in the Pear Garden was completely different!

Not only could it tangibly influence the real world, but it could dominate the brains of ordinary people with just its singing; it belonged to an entirely different level of Ghostly Entities.

Even for the current Wu Dao.

To be honest, he felt slightly troubled by such an existence.

Because he remembered one thing.

That was, this Ghostly Entity had appeared suddenly, meaning it was highly likely that it still possessed the "formless and invisible" ability of lower-level entities.

No matter how strong his brute force was.

He couldn't launch an attack that would cause it any damage.

Unless one's Vitality and Spirit had transformed, granting them the ability of Spirit-Seeing Divine Sight.

But such an ability was only possessed by those who had achieved Subtle Mastery in martial arts or by cultivators in the Cocoon-Breaking Realm who had undergone Rebirth Realm.

For the Stealing Heaven's Secret System.

One needed to enter the Heroic Domain, where their mental consciousness covered the macro and micro tissues inside and outside the human body, to possess such capability.

"Troublesome..."

Wu Dao narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the entity on the stage, and rubbed his teeth.

If it weren't for the possibility that this thing was connected to the anomaly within Canyun Mountain, honestly, he really wouldn't have much interest in getting involved.

However, he wasn't in a hurry.

Just because he had no way to deal with it didn't mean the native cultivators of this world lacked methods.

Fighting a Ghostly Entity might be difficult.

But beating up people was surely a sure-fire win; he could simply wait to reap the benefits as the fisherman.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

As thoughts surged in Wu Dao's mind, the chilling wind grew stronger, and the operatic singing in the Pear Garden gradually faded until it was no longer audible.

The Green-Clad Dan on the stage stopped her singing and dancing.

The three piles of red-and-white twisted flesh below the stage also ceased their movements.

Whoosh~

A gust of chilling wind blew past.

The Green-Clad Dan on the stage transformed into an indistinct, flickering shadow.

The chilling wind swirled.

The indistinct Green-Clad Dan walked on her tiptoes, like a phantom in the wind, and drifted off the stage.

Her mournful, resentful demeanor vanished, replaced by the starving hunger of a wild beast that had successfully captured its prey.

One could see a strange, greedy look emerging on her heavily painted face mask; she crouched before the three piles of flesh like a hyena, opened her mouth, and inhaled.

Visible to the naked eye.

The three twisted, shriveled masses of flesh deflated, white bones pouring like streams of milk into the mouth of the Green-Clad Ghost.

In the span of a few breaths.

All that remained on the ground were three limp lumps of dough, with every bone having vanished without a trace—a sight truly terrifying and grotesque.

Are you not going to move yet?

Seeing this, Wu Dao glanced with surprise at Yun Tianliu, who remained calm and focused not far away.

Could he have guessed wrong?

Did these people lack the ability to subdue ghosts, and were they merely following a map, waiting for the anomaly behind the scenes to reveal itself?

Tap, tap, tap—

While Wu Dao was lost in doubt, his ears suddenly twitched, catching the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from afar.

Accompanying them was a shout filled with righteous indignation—

"Bold monster! In this bright world, how dare you harm people! Take this!"

Following this reprimand.

The silent atmosphere of the ghost-filled night was shattered.

Wu Dao was stunned, Yun Tianliu frowned, and the breathing of those hiding in the surroundings grew erratic.

The Green-Clad Ghost inside the Pear Garden seemed like a startled beast; swirled by a sinister wind, it prepared to dissolve into an intangible specter.

But before it could vanish.

Whoosh~

The sound of wind being torn apart rang out.

Under the starlight and moonlight, a three-foot-long Tianpeng Ruler, wrapped in yellow talismans and shimmering with flowing light, streaked across the void like a long nail, pinning the Green-Clad Ghost in place.

"Screech—"

A shrill, miserable cry, reminiscent of an eagle's wail, erupted suddenly, as a storm-like surge of mental power crashed outward, sweeping across the area.

"Ah! Where did this bastard come from!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"It hurts like hell!"

Under the assault of the mental storm, the people hiding in all directions cried out in agony, the situation instantly descending into chaos as they suffered significant injuries.

Even Wu Dao.

Felt as if his brain had been pricked by needles, causing him to frown deeply.

"Ah, my apologies, fellow Daoists! This humble Daoist will subdue this evil spawn immediately!"

The newcomer seemed not to have expected this outcome; his apology rang out before he even arrived.

Accompanied by rapid footsteps.

Under the bright moonlight, a young Daoist in a grey robe came into everyone's view.

He appeared to be about twenty years old, with a lean, slender frame, a sallow face, a Goatee, a Wooden Hairpin Daoist Bun, and a patched Divination Bag and Red Skin Gourd hanging from his waist.

His overall appearance was unremarkable, much like a malnourished wanderer, yet he possessed an irrepressible sense of righteous integrity.

A Daoist?

Wu Dao was stunned; this getup gave him an indescribable sense of familiarity and closeness, no different from the wandering Daoists of his past life.

But Wu Dao was clear.

This world truly possessed a path of cultivation, and so-called Daoists mostly walked this very path.

The sudden appearance of this strange Daoist broke the stalemate in the Pear Garden while simultaneously causing the hidden agendas of everyone present to falter.

Because this Daoist was clearly targeting the Green-Clad Dan, and his words were filled with the intent to subdue demons and eliminate evil.

It was just unclear whether this was premeditated.

Or if he had truly been passing by, sensed the ghostly disturbance, and stepped in out of righteousness.

"Heavenly Venerable..."

The Daoist stepped through the moonlight, his pace rapid, reaching the Pear Garden in a few blinks. Seeing the carnage, he could not help but sigh.

"Truly damnable!"

Following this, the Daoist's cold eyes, sharp as lightning, fixed upon the Green-Clad Dan struggling beneath the Tianpeng Ruler.

Seeing a white and grey lotus blooming between its brows, he said coldly: "If I truly let you cross this threshold and cultivate into a White Lotus, I wonder how much more evil you would commit!"

"Daoist... this young woman has no control over herself; harming people was not my intention. I beg you, Daoist, spare me this once."

Beneath the Tianpeng Ruler.

The Green-Clad Dan had suffered heavy suppression and injury, losing its earlier ferocity and shrillness; it now spoke in a soft, tender voice, pleading for mercy.

"Shut up!"

The young Daoist's tongue cracked like a thunderclap, righteous and unyielding as he bellowed, "A ghost is a ghost, and the fact that you harm people is indisputable. Why do you continue to spout such ghostly nonsense?"

As his voice fell.

The Daoist took the Red Skin Gourd covered in runes from his waist and began chanting under his breath.

Within three breaths.

The runic light of the Red Skin Gourd flared brilliantly, hovering in mid-air and erupting with a suction force that began pulling the Green-Clad Dan inside, bit by bit.

Faintly.

One could hear the sound of liquid sloshing inside the gourd, accompanied by shrill, miserable screams.

What a fine treasure!

Seeing this scene, Wu Dao could not help but let a look of greed erupt in his eyes.

If he had this gourd.

He would no longer be helpless when encountering Ghostly Entities in the future.

White Lotus Fierce Ghost?

At the same time, Wu Dao did not forget the information the Daoist had revealed; it seemed to be the classification of cultivation depth for the Ghostly Entities in this world.

He didn't know the rest.

But the basics seemed to be Grey Lotus and White Lotus.

If his guess was correct.

The cultivation of that Green-Clad Dan should be somewhere between the two.

Judging by the young Daoist's wary attitude, a White Lotus Fierce Ghost should be equivalent to a cultivator in the Cocoon-Breaking Realm, posing a great danger.

As these thoughts surged.

The red light of the gourd hanging in the Pear Garden gradually dimmed, and the Green-Clad Dan had been entirely sucked inside.

Only then did the young Daoist heave a sigh of relief.

It seemed that wielding this gourd took a heavy mental toll on him, as his face was filled with undisguised fatigue.

But at that very moment!

"Haha, many thanks for your help, Daoist priest! Allow me to take over the task of purification!"

An irrepressibly excited shout rang out abruptly.

From the shadows.

A man wielding a blade lunged out without warning, moving as fast as a cheetah and kicking up a gust of wind. His face was twisted with greed as he reached for the falling gourd.

"Audacious!"

"You're courting death!"

"That's a Chang Ghost! Whoever gets it can find the Strange Treasure within Canyun Mountain! Seize it!"

The blade-wielding man's sudden eruption.

Was like a spark hitting a pot of oil; roars thundered from all directions as shadows overflowing with killing intent surged out.

Their target was none other than the Red Skin Gourd!

"Haha, it's mine!"

The blade-wielding man's cultivation was not low—at the very least, he was at the peak of Internal Strengthening. Moving with the speed of a tiger or leopard, he darted to the falling gourd in the blink of an eye, leaped up, and snatched it in his hand.

Squelch!

But the next moment, a blade sank into flesh, and blood sprayed across the sky!

Under the cold moonlight.

The blade-wielding man was sliced clean in two at the waist, red and green viscera scattering across the ground—a gruesome sight.

It was an old man with a sinister face who had launched a sneak attack with his blade. He snatched the gourd and prepared to bolt.

But the surrounding area had already been tightly encircled by the surging martial artists.

Where do you think you're going?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Weapons clashed, and flesh and blood flew!

A chaotic melee erupted instantly!

"Wait, what are you all doing?!"

From the moment the blade-wielding man appeared to the eruption of the brawl, the young Daoist had remained in a state of shock and confusion.

By the time he regained his senses.

The surroundings had turned into a meat grinder, and the spraying blood and gore had turned him into a blood-soaked mess.

"Stop! Don't fight anymore!!"

The young Taoist's face was etched with anxiety; gone was his previous decisive air, replaced by a flustered helplessness as he hurriedly cried out to stop them.

But the people around them were already blinded by bloodlust, and his meager voice couldn't even carry through the chaos, leaving him unable to even look after himself.

For others had already set their sights on his Divination Bag and Tianpeng Ruler, marking him as a fat sheep and raining down a lethal barrage of blades, weapons, fists, and kicks upon him.

Wu Dao had yet to make a move, merely observing from his spot, for the hidden Yun Tianliu and another aura of the Divine Strength Realm had not yet struck.

He simply watched the Goatee Taoist, who was dodging left and right, struggling to cope while unable to bring himself to strike back with heavy force, and wore a look of utter bewilderment.

Where did this greenhorn come from?

He must have descended the mountain after learning a few high-minded platitudes about chivalry and justice.

Although the Immortal Dao was mystical and unfathomable, commanding fear from others, that only held true if people actually feared you.

Most of the people in the arena were clearly the type who lived life on the edge of a blade, caring only for immediate profit, regardless of whether you were a prince or a general.

To brazenly expose all one's treasures in such a situation.

Not only that.

He was exhausting himself to the point of depleting his Origin Qi, yet refusing to retaliate or harm others—he clearly had no idea how sinister the human heart could be.

Isn't this just begging for death?