Exploiting the Gold Mine Again

Greed has taken root?

A bit like Orochimaru.

Fang Xiu felt a flicker of surprise at the sight, but he saw no reason to lose his temper over someone destined to die.

At this moment, waves of cold, white mist surged from the body of the Fusang Ghost King. From within, a baby suddenly emerged, its entire body as black as ink and covered in eerie, tadpole-like runes, emitting a bone-chilling wail.

Following close behind, other similar soul-bodies appeared—some were peers he had devoured in the past, their expressions vacant, their minds long since shattered; others were innocent passersby he had murdered and enslaved after death.

It was the precursor to a massive explosion!

"Hahaha, this is just too comfortable! There's no bitter battle here; we're just watching from the sidelines and enjoying the show." Xiaogui, the silver-armored general, held his Red Tassel Spear while guarding Hermit Caolu, his expression far from serious, instead filled with laughter.

Beside him, Ma Shangfeng, clutching his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, nodded in simple-minded agreement with a goofy grin. He loved fighting these one-sided battles—it even sounded impressive: "I crushed the Ghost King alongside my big brother, and we finally slew him in an alternate dimension five hundred years later."

At this moment, Hermit Caolu, who had finally finished brewing his ultimate technique, opened his eyes, suddenly unsure if he should even intervene.

He was capable of dealing damage, too! But Fang Xiu was simply too overwhelming. He had used the Northern Emperor Dharma Spell on the Ghost King right at the start, causing the flesh around the creature's eyes to rot and spread across its entire face, all while Daoist fire calcined its bones.

Beyond that, there had been no opportunity to strike.

Just as Hermit Caolu hesitated, Fang Xiu provided the answer—he would not yield the critical kill.

Instantly, as his Mangekyō Sharingan swirled, a golden phantom projected from his body. From bones to meridians, in just a few breaths, a massive, half-bodied Susanoo towered over the field.

"Takemikazuchi."

Once the Susanoo stabilized, the pattern in his left eye socket rotated independently.

Immediately, dazzling lightning flickered in its palm, condensing into a minimalist Sky-Piercing Spear. Even though this was not the complete form of Susanoo, it was still in its second stage, yet it made everyone watching from afar revere it like a god.

Facing the power of Susanoo, the Fusang Ghost King looked numb, as if he had been broken, unable to muster even a hint of resistance.

The lightning spear left his hand, pinning downward from above. A massive roar echoed for the last time over the battlefield created by the Earth Style Wall, stinging eardrums and causing the earth to tremble again and again.

Tang Tian and the others, fellow Reincarnators, had never expected the battle to reach such a fever pitch from the very start.

First, the earth shook and mountains swayed with Deep Forest Emergence, then came the god-like giant Wood Buddha, and finally, the ultimate blow was delivered by Susanoo.

Others couldn't even dream of intervening; even watching from afar required them to hold their breath in caution—

Under the ravages of the violent lightning, one giant rock and ancient tree after another were smashed to pieces. Debris flew, accompanied by sky-filling dust and the sound of tearing wind, carving out countless craters.

The ground, reinforced by immortal arts, finally returned to its normal state.

--[Solo kill of Fusang Ghost King confirmed. Obtained one B-rank side quest, 4500 reward points...]

The announcement from the Main God was like a sedative. Fang Xiu knew that the Shazhou Team's second novice trial dungeon was all but cleared.

Unfortunately, the cost of killing the Fusang Ghost King was far greater than the previous kill of the Alien Queen, yet the rewards did not overflow.

Had the Main God become stingy?

No, it was simply that the team-building grace period was fading, and things were returning to how they were meant to be.

Beyond that, Fang Xiu felt that this generation of the Great Light Sphere was actually quite conscientious, providing a solo kill reward rather than counting it toward collective main quest earnings. Throughout the entire trial, Fang Xiu was the only Reincarnator performing; the other members didn't even have the qualifications to spectate from the edges. If the rewards were equal, it would truly be absurd.

"Just like the last world, the boss clears the overpowered final boss at the start, and we're left to rely on ourselves for the rest."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the Haunted Mansion, Tang Tian shot a minor ghost with a spirit-bullet and said with great enthusiasm: "Let's go, brothers... and sisters!"

Although he couldn't intervene in that battle and was still far from the terrifying power of the Wood Release Buddha or Susanoo, the thought that the god-like powerhouse before him was his own captain made Tang Tian's heart race with excitement.

Having a powerful thigh to hug was far better than a group of novices struggling to survive against impossible tasks.

The other members, as well as the newcomers who had scattered to find temples, Daoist shrines, and churches to seek personal luck, felt much the same way.

"It's over."

In the suburbs.

Following Fang Xiu's whisper, the Earth Style Wall that had enclosed the dueling ground instantly merged back into the earth, and the terrifying green ocean created by Deep Forest Emergence withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before long, the entire battlefield became flat ground, without even a crater deeper than five meters. Had the impact not been so widespread, this absurd reality... might well have been dismissed as a case of mass hysteria.

"Many thanks to you, fellow Daoist, for your assistance."

"Caolu offers his thanks here. We shall likely not meet again; please take care."

At this moment, the Mystic Gate in the firmament reopened.

The last time had been an accidental opening, but this time, Hermit Caolu used the accumulated power of the Big Dipper to open it intentionally.

In the Hermit's plan, his worst-case scenario had been to wound the Ghost King and then open the Mystic Gate to drag it into a temporal turbulence.

He hadn't expected...

A super variable to appear.

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't want to leave yet! I haven't had enough soda!" Ma Shangfeng, who had watched a grand show, was still unsatisfied and shouted at the top of his lungs, but his body could not stop turning into a streak of golden light, drawn into the portal in the sky.

Xiaogui sighed in turn, then also vanished into a streak of silver light. "What a pity, I'll never be able to eat the delicacies of five hundred years later again."

Channeling the magic power in his body to slightly resist the suction of the Mystic Gate, Hermit Caolu left Fang Xiu with a complete message: "I have nothing else of value. Since we part ways here, I shall leave my personal cultivation notes to you, fellow Daoist. I hope they prove useful."

Before the voice could fade.

An ancient book appeared out of thin air, falling from the portal and heading straight toward Fang Xiu's hands.

But in an instant, gravity became a joke, and the ancient book turned into a stream of light, surging upward.

It was clearly being pulled away by the power of the Heavenly Gate! After all, the people, events, and karmic encounters from multiple space-times had intersected, which was already a major taboo; now, a special will was intervening to erase the related traces as much as possible.

Without hesitation, Fang Xiu flew into the air, using the towering trees derived from Wood Release to reach out and snatch the notes.

Rip!

The thick book was forcibly torn, leaving a few pages behind while the rest turned into specks of light and fell in the opposite direction into the portal.

Everything vanished.

Secret Technique: Heaven and Earth in a Pot, containing its own universe...