Ghost Seven (Two-in-One)

Before the withered old man could finish speaking,

"Ran girl! Make your move!!!"

A roar from the Saint's Remnant Soul echoed throughout the entire stone chamber:

"This guy has completely turned into a demon; this is his corpse!!"

As the sound rang out, the saint's soul immediately emerged from the Soul Ring, and black and red soul power surged out, transforming into a sharp blade that slashed through the void.

The space was quiet for a moment.

Xu Yuan then saw the withered old man's head fall off his body, but no blood flowed out, as if the blood inside had already dried up.

My breath hitched slightly.

Second-rank demon

The demon that the withered old man just mentioned, which was close to the second rank, was himself!

After the Saint's Remnant Soul severed the head of the withered old man, it did not stop its actions.

But as the head rolled, a dense, dark ghostly aura immediately emanated from the withered old man's body, surging towards the saint's soul from all directions!

The intertwining and collision of the dark red soul power and the pitch-black ghost energy caused the entire special stone chamber to shake violently as if an earthquake had struck!

The oscillation lasted for about ten seconds.

The urgent voice of the Saint's Remnant Soul rang out again:

"This monster wants to eat me! Ran girl, if you don't make a move now and it devours my Source Soul, we're all doomed!"

"The Saint's Remnant Soul... the soul body of a saint... the Source Soul of a saint"

The withered old man's head on the ground emitted a strange, seemingly insane laugh, "Hehehahaha!! If I eat you, then I'll be the Eldest Young Master, hehe."

"."

Ran Qingmo gripped the sword tightly, but still didn't move.

Because the moment the withered old man uttered those words, Xu Yuan had already grasped her wrist.

"Xu Yuan," Ran Qingmo called softly.

Xu Yuan gently shook his head.

The battle between the saint's soul and the withered old man took place just ten meters away from him, and the fact that he remained unharmed in such a high-level battle speaks volumes.

"Take me out of here."

Ran Qingmo pondered for a moment, then picked up Xu Yuan and ran wildly out along the passageway.

"..." The Saint's Remnant Soul.

"You bastard!!!"

The sage let out a roar, forcibly breaking through half of his body from the black mist, and his tangible black-red soul power directly grabbed at Xu Yuan.

But at this moment, the formation inside the stone chamber had already been activated.

With a flash of white light, strands of white chains shot towards the saint's soul in the center of the stone chamber.

In an instant, the Saint's Remnant Soul was pierced and fixed by thousands of chains.

The withered old man let out a strange laugh, and the black mist emanating from his corpse began to flow continuously into the saint's soul.

Seeing this scene, the Saint's Remnant Soul roughly guessed what this pseudo-second-rank demon was planning, and shouted sharply:

"You bastard, how dare you!!!"

Soul Fusion

This second-rank demon dared to attempt to Soul Fusion with his!!

After the explosion, the chains that shot out from the formation immediately became more ethereal, as if they were about to collapse.

The sage began to burn his Source Soul in a desperate attempt, but unfortunately it was too late.

Before he could break free from the array's restraints, all the black ghostly energy in the stone chamber seeped into the saint's soul.

The shaking of the stone chamber ceased, and everything inside was plunged into darkness.

Imperial Capital,

Tian'an Main Headquarters's Institute of Investigation, Heavenly Armor Courtyard.

Within Heavenly Armor Courtyard lies a high ground where an elegant pavilion has been built, surrounded by a small river. From the pavilion at the top, one can look down upon a scene of graceful, winding waterways.

At this moment, within this pavilion, two people are sitting facing each other.

He was a middle-aged man with graying temples and sharp eyes.

One man had white hair but a youthful face, and his features were handsome; one could vaguely tell that he had been a dashing young man in his youth.

"Your Excellency is so busy with state affairs, yet you find time to come to my Institute of Investigation?"

Upon seeing this powerful prime Prime Minister, the white-haired old man showed little respect. "Speak, what is it now?"

Xu Yinhe glanced at the other person, but didn't speak immediately. He personally poured tea, pushed a cup of fragrant tea towards the other person, and then said softly:

"I had nothing to do, so I came over to chat with you."

The old man stared at Xu Yinhe with his bright eyes for two seconds, then suddenly revealed a disdainful smile:

"You're alright, but I have things to do. Tell me quickly."

A gentle afternoon breeze caressed the pavilion.

Xu Yinhe wasn't angry; he slowly sipped the fragrant tea in his cup.

"Decades have passed, and you are still the same as before, not changed at all."

"."

The old man shook his head, gathered his sleeves, and picked up his teacup.

"They're urging us to release the Heavenly Message Crystal again? It's only halfway done. Right now, the Liuxuan Crystal can barely hold the communication array, but it's too small. It's still difficult to compress the energy Source Qi into the crystal. To complete it completely, it will conservatively take at least [time]."

"Jiang He."

Xu Yinhe suddenly interrupted the old man, his eyes calm.

"."

The white-haired old man named Jiang He was slightly taken aback, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly stroked his beard and chuckled:

"Oh, you actually have time to come over and chat with me?"

Xu Yinhe did not deny it. He put down his teacup, leaned against the courtyard wall, and looked down at the foot of the mountain leading to the Imperial Capital. He said softly:

"We've known each other for about sixty years, haven't we?"

Jiang He frowned, recalled for a moment, and whispered:

"You entered the Capital City in the thirty-second year of the Yongqing, and now it is the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing; a full cycle of sixty years has passed."

A hint of reminiscence lingered in Xu Yinhe's sharp eyes:

"It's been so long already, time really flies."

Jiang He's bright eyes held a hint of a smile, and her voice lacked much respect, sounding more like that of an old friend:

"It's unbelievable that the current prime minister, who supposedly ensures that all government orders are issued within the Golden Throne Hall, is so melancholic. Haha."

Xu Yinhe didn't take the other person's words to heart, and simply said:

Of those friends from back in the Imperial Capital, only a handful are still alive today.

Jiang He scoffed, "You and that guy Li Yaoxuan killed them all, so naturally there aren't many left."

"." Xu Yinhe.

Li Yaoxuan, the current emperor.

Jiang He stared at the middle-aged man's graying temples and chuckled softly:

"So many years have passed. Even if you hadn't killed them, those people might not have survived until now. I'm almost as old as dust, and you're still in the same state. I'm really curious how long you can live with your current cultivation level?"

Xu Yinhe glanced at the old man, pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice:

"If I make no further progress in this life, I will probably live to be sixty years old."

A hint of envy flickered across Jiang He's aged face:

"That's great."

Xu Yinhe showed little emotional fluctuation, but simply asked in return:

Is there any meaning to living a long life?

Of course.

Jiang He snorted softly, "If I can live a little longer and have more time to comprehend the great Dao of formations, then my life in this mortal world will not have been in vain."

Xu Yinhe smiled:

"What I pursue is different from what you pursue, but if you wanted to live longer, you should have listened to Prince Xiang from the beginning."

Upon hearing this, Jiang He did not immediately reply. She leaned back gently in her chair and remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh and murmuring:

"Cultivation?"

Jiang He thought of her father, whose memory had become blurred, and shook her head:

"If I had chosen cultivation back then, I would have put the cart before the horse. Time is limited; if I had spent more time on cultivation, I would have spent less time studying array formations."

"Besides, I really have no interest in the path that old man paved for me. My current cultivation level is only for the sake of array formations."

As he spoke,

As if struck by a thought, Jiang He's aged face suddenly brightened, her eyes gleaming with excitement, and she whispered:

"By the way, Xu Yinhe, the grand formation I told you about four years ago will be completed soon. Its power will be at least twice as great as the Imperial Capital's protective formation."

At this point, Jiang He coughed lightly:

"That old man Hua Hong won't give me the money, look at this."

Xu Yinhe listened carefully, a smile appearing in his eyes, but he did not give in:

"Hua Hong will handle the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce's accounts themselves; I won't interfere."

The Institute of Investigation is very expensive, especially since most of the investment yields no visible returns.

Four years ago, Jiang He first told him and Hua Hong about this incredibly powerful formation.

The story was told almost exactly the same way it is now.

They said they'd invest another hundred million, and if they invested just a little more, their Institute of Investigation would immediately produce results.

Then Hua Hong invested.

Then four years passed.

Upon hearing this, Jiang He's expression immediately hardened. She snorted coldly and raised her glass to see the guest out.

Xu Yinhe looked at his old friend, whose personality remained unchanged, chuckled, shook his head, and then suddenly said softly:

"Jiang He, the Soul-Absorbing Array you created has malfunctioned."

Upon hearing this, Jiang He's previously stern expression froze, gradually turning serious.

But he wasn't surprised that the formation malfunctioned.

A perfect formation is naturally the result of hundreds or thousands of calculations before it is put into practical use, but this does not mean that it is perfect. Many things change over time, and the myriad variables in reality can cause deviations between the formation and the test results. Ultimately, a formation must be perfected step by step in practice.

Just like how humans first domesticated Demon Beast, the formations and techniques for raising Ghost Mist still have a long way to go.

After a moment's thought, Jiang He shook her head and said:

"I knew you, Prime Minister, wouldn't come to the palace without a reason. Tell me the details."

Xu Yinhe pondered for a moment, then said:

"Changge went to Jingjiang Prefecture again because of some things."

Jiang He frowned slightly. "Jingjiang Prefecture is that Ghost Mist in the mountains near Wuyuan City?"

"Hmm." Xu Yinhe.

Jiang He paused slightly, a hint of hesitation on her aged face:

"I remember there were three Grandmaster guarding that Ghost Mist, weren't there?"

"Um."

Xu Yinhe nodded, then calmly uttered three words:

They're all dead.

"Impossible!"

Jiang He clenched her hands, which were stroking her long, white beard, and said in a low voice, "My formation simply cannot allow demons of the fourth rank or higher to be born in the Ghost Mist."

Xu Yinhe stared calmly at his old friend for a few moments, his voice very soft:

"Demons and ghosts are not born in the Ghost Mist."

"."

Upon hearing this, Jiang He's aged face suddenly paled, her wrinkled hands trembled slightly, and she asked hesitantly:

"Is it demonic transformation?"

"Hmm." Xu Yinhe gave an affirmative answer.

Jiang He's breathing became slightly rapid.

Such a major flaw in the formation he created was something he could not tolerate.

Make a fist and forcefully punch your forehead.

After a while,

Jiang He suddenly looked up and asked:

"No, no! If such a change had occurred, with the formation out of control, Nine Origins City should already have been swallowed up by that Ghost Mist, and the entire court and the people would be in chaos."

"Ghost Seven is over there," Xu Yinhe interrupted, his voice very calm.

"Ghost Seven?"

Jiang He was taken aback, and asked in a low voice after a slight hesitation, "The guard who accompanied you when you entered the capital? He... didn't become a ghost?"

Under the warm winter sun, a gentle breeze blows.

"It's turned into a demon."

Xu Yinhe stared at Jiang He, his voice remaining completely flat:

"Changge said,"

"He's been guarding that formation the whole time."

Organs, along with body parts and viscous blood, flowed down the tunnel as if there were no end in sight.

"Clatter"

"Clatter"

"Clatter"

The sound of boots clattering on the ground echoed slowly and deliberately in the spiraling, downward-facing staircase.

As Xu Changge descended, he observed his surroundings, a thoughtful expression in his calm eyes.

Lou Ji said that there seemed to be some problems with the Ghost Mist here.

Although the Soul Crystal within this Ghost Mist array have been delivered on time for the past three months, the person on duty each month has not left.

It now appears that the changes in this space are not as simple as some problems.

As he pondered this, Xu Changge stepped out of the long, secluded passageway.

Beyond the passageway, a honeycomb-like cave comes into view, with dense stone chambers imprisoning countless vengeful ghosts.

Besides these, there were human corpses that were almost completely spread out on the ground.

Among the crowd, he spotted two acquaintances.

Two Grandmaster of the third rank had met him once in the Imperial Capital.

However, the two of them had been silent for a long time, and the incorruptible bodies of the third-grade Grandmaster looked particularly strange at this moment.

After glancing at it, Xu Changge looked away and continued walking forward. He saw a "living person" in the northeast direction of the cave.

He was thin and gaunt, kneeling quietly in a corner without uttering a word.

A huge, honeycomb-like cave, a frail old man hidden in the darkness, eerie and deep.

"Clatter"

"Clatter"

"Clatter"

In the midst of deathly silence

Xu Changge walked to a spot three meters behind the withered old man and silently took out the three-foot-long sword from his Sumeru Ring, but did not immediately swing it down.

Beside the withered old man was a whole box of neatly stacked "Soul Crystal".

This should be the Soul Crystal that need to be supplied to the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce this month.

A look of confusion flashed in Xu Changge's eyes, but then a complicated expression crossed his face, and he silently sheathed his sword.

He stood silently, his blue robes making him appear like an immortal, completely out of place in the hellish scene around him.

In the pitch-black cave,

The withered old man kneeling facing northeast seemed to finally sense something, turning his head 180 degrees to look at Xu Changge behind him.

He was stunned for a long time.

A certain clarity seemed to return to the eyes of the withered old man:

"Elder son.?"

Xu Changge stared at the old man, sensing the almost tangible ghostly aura emanating from him:

"Are you Ghost Seven?"

"Ghost Seven?"

The withered old man murmured something, then stared blankly for a long time before nodding:

"This old servant greets the Eldest Young Master."

The cave, as hellish as it was, was utterly silent.

I don't know how much time passed.

The withered old man shakily pushed the box beside him forward:

"This is the Soul Crystal of this month."

"This old servant has failed Your Excellency."

"Please... Young Master, kill this old servant."