Ghost Master

"How did it go, Qing Feng? Did you find out anything about Broken Void City or the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range?" Bai Yixin asked Shi Qingfeng, who had just woken up.

Now that he had successfully entered Heaven-Mending Pavilion, Bai Yixin hadn't forgotten why he'd come. One reason was to study the scriptures, but unless he could get into the Scripture Pavilion, he wouldn't gain much. He had already mastered what the instructors taught in class.

More importantly, he needed a ride to the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range. After all, Bai Yixin had no idea how to get to Broken Void City on his own.

News about the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range had been harder to come by than he'd expected. And it was probably farther away than he'd thought, too. At his current pace, he didn't know how long it would take him to get there.

"I couldn't find any reliable information. I only heard it seems to open once every few hundred years, at irregular intervals, and that it's extremely mysterious. As for Broken Void City... Brother Bai, sorry, I couldn't find anything." Shi Qingfeng replied after returning from the Void God Realm.

"Just as I thought..."

Bai Yixin fell silent. Fortunately, he'd expected this.

After all, Shi Qingfeng's abilities were limited. At most, he could ask around in the Initial Ground—the Blood-Moving Realm—and the odds of finding someone who knew anything were low. Even Bird Master and Master Jingbi weren't familiar with the place. It was already impressive that Shi Qingfeng had learned anything about the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range.

Bai Yixin wouldn't casually venture into the Void God Realm himself. His spirit would leave his body behind, and if someone came knocking while he was away, given how much trouble he'd stirred up these past few days, they'd probably take the opportunity to beat him half to death.

Shi Qingfeng hadn't even opened a Heaven Cave. He wouldn't be able to stop anyone who came looking for trouble.

So, was Ghost Master his only viable option now?

Ghost Master was an abandoned disciple of the Heaven-Mending Sect from the Upper Realm, and the founding patriarch of Heaven-Mending Pavilion. The woman he loved had joined forces with a super expert from the Heavenly Kingdom to ambush him, killing him with a sword thrust through his crown.

Bound by an obsession, ever since his death he had searched for talented disciples of Heaven-Mending Pavilion who met his requirements whenever the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range opened, sending them to find the sword he had lost there.

The Hundred-Broken Mountain Range opened once every few hundred years, and each time its opening shook the world. But not everyone could enter. It was a battleground for geniuses, and only youths under eighteen could go in. Every top power escorted its clan's geniuses there. Anyone too weak would simply become food for the other clans.

If Bai Yixin accepted Ghost Master's commission and retrieved the sword he'd lost in the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range, he could report back to the Pavilion elders and earn a ticket to go there.

"I'll try my luck first. I wonder what Ghost Master's standards are. I'll go see the Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit in the next few days." Bai Yixin thought it over. He'd already beaten up everyone in the Genius Camp over the past few days. It was time to explore Heaven-Mending Pavilion.

The grounds of Heaven-Mending Pavilion were truly vast. There were hundreds of Spirit Mountains where the disciples cultivated alone, while every elder and senior figure occupied a magnificent ancient mountain.

There were also many mysterious places, as vast as the primeval wilderness, where disciples were forbidden to approach.

The Ancient Sacred Academy was one such place.

Auspicious mists shrouded the academy, hiding its buildings. Only a path could be seen, as if it led to the end of chaos.

A youth walked along that path, hailed as a near-divine being among those of his generation. He merged with heaven and earth, while divine sounds of the Great Dao rang out, as though ancient gods were chanting.

That person was Shi Yi.

"Being born into a good family is a kind of strength, too," Bai Yixin remarked.

There was no comparing them. The Martial King Manor was one of the most powerful branches of the Stone Kingdom. It had the true blood of Primordial Remnants, Treasure Techniques, and all sorts of other treasures. Add his Double Pupil and Little One's Supreme Bone to that, and Shi Yi's starting point had been raised sky-high.

But so what? Bai Yixin was confident he could surpass him. He refused to believe that even with his own cheat, he still couldn't catch up.

This was an enormous garden filled with all kinds of plants, bridges over flowing water, pavilions, and halls. But they all shared one striking feature: they were ancient and dilapidated. The bridge and halls looked ready to collapse, as though they hadn't been repaired in thousands of years.

The plants remained lush, but the arched bridges and the like seemed to be relics from ancient times, on the verge of falling apart.

"This should be the place." Bai Yixin gazed at this ancient Pure Land and murmured to himself.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Bai Yixin heard a noise. He turned and saw Little One tiptoeing over, holding Furry Ball by the tail.

"Hey, Brother Little White! What are you doing here?" Little One and Furry Ball cried in delighted surprise.

"I came to pay my respects to the Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit." Bai Yixin smiled, patted Little One's head, and answered properly.

"Hey, Brother Little White, that surprise you mentioned last time..." Little One looked at Bai Yixin expectantly.

Furry Ball's big eyes darted around with curiosity, just like Little One's.

"Let's talk as we walk."

Overhead, strands of divine radiance poured down from the sky. The stars across the heavens and the Silver Moon both shed their light, like silver raindrops falling into the depths of the garden.

The two of them and the monkey headed deeper in, arriving before an ancient garden.

It was a garden within a garden, surrounded by old walls, weathered and mottled, bearing countless traces of time.

The courtyard had three sections. The rear one was filled with the brightest light-rain, and all the moonlight fell there. The Sacrificial Spirit was clearly there.

Endless light-rain showered down, silver radiance rising in the air and filling the place with peace and holiness. A plant stood there: the Sacrificial Spirit of Heaven-Mending Pavilion.

But it was completely unlike what they'd imagined. It wasn't dazzling or verdant green. Instead, it was yellow and sickly, as though it were about to wither away.

It was a gourd vine growing over a pile of stones. Its entire body was dull and lifeless, its only color a withered yellow.

It wasn't very large, only five or six meters long. Its leaves were sparse, as though autumn had come and drained away its vitality.

A withered vine with barely a trace of life, its frame covered in yellow leaves. Even the light-rain showering down from the sky couldn't ease its decline.

The starlight and moonlight blazed as they poured down, turning the entire rear courtyard white. They sank into the vine, yet it remained listless, sorely lacking in vitality.

This was Heaven-Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit, an ancient vine that had lived for countless years. It made one's heart tremble. Even sickly and seemingly near the end of its life, it still possessed an inexplicable majesty, like a god!

Little One had just learned that his parents were still alive, and had been so excited he could hardly contain himself. But at the sight of it, his expression froze, and he fell silent with solemn respect.

"Greetings, Sacrificial Spirit!" Bai Yixin had greeted it as soon as he entered the courtyard, despite being far away. Now that he stood before it, he bowed once more with a serious expression.

"Wild grasses on the ancient plain: they wither each year, then flourish again. If it could be reborn through nirvana like Willow Deity, it would become a terrifying powerhouse. Then..." Bai Yixin murmured deliberately, mentioning the cycle of withering in autumn and flourishing in spring, and invoking Willow Deity as his backing.

The unspoken rest of his sentence was: Then Heaven-Mending Pavilion might not be destroyed.

"That's right, that's right. I know a willow tree. It was even sicker than you, with not a single leaf left and only one branch remaining, but in the end it came back to life."

Little One was quick-witted and began buttering it up.

"Sacrificial Spirit Uncle, can we cultivate here?"

Little One sat down cross-legged. As the light-rain fell over him, some of it sank into his body, and he felt refreshed all over. The runes resonated with it, and his eyes lit up.

"Since the Sacrificial Spirit hasn't objected, we'll take that as permission. We won't stand on ceremony, then. We'll come here to cultivate from now on."

Bai Yixin bathed in the light-rain and naturally understood that cultivating here would bring twice the results for half the effort. Seeing that the Sacrificial Spirit showed no reaction, he spoke cautiously.

After exchanging a glance with Little One, Bai Yixin sat cross-legged beneath the gourd vine and began visualizing the Original True Interpretation in his mind, continuing his study of the various profound runes recorded within.

A breeze blew through, and the yellow leaves swayed. The entire gourd vine trembled slightly as silver light-rain fell, making the place seem especially sacred and serene.

No one knew how much time had passed. As Bai Yixin studied the Original True Interpretation, he seemed to hear the Great Dao ringing faintly. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the Green Gourd on the trellis moving, an ancient rune flashing across it amid chaos, mysterious beyond compare.

Bai Yixin's heart skipped. He desperately wanted to make out the rune, but no matter how many times he tried, he failed. It was impossible to see clearly.

He calmed himself again and realized that whenever the rune flashed, the Great Dao resounded through heaven and earth, and he seemed to find it easier to comprehend the Original True Interpretation.

Bai Yixin was astonished. This place was truly extraordinary! It was even more miraculous than the book had described!

Night slowly deepened, and Bai Yixin awoke from his meditative state.

"Little One, it's time to go."

Little One woke up as well. He knew that disciples weren't allowed in this part of the grounds. If they spent the night here and someone found out, they'd be in trouble.

The two of them stood and bowed toward the rear courtyard once more, agreeing to return the following night.

But as soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, they saw an old man standing outside the gate. His hair was gray, his eyes hollow, and a rust-streaked ancient sword was thrust through his head. He wore clothes that looked incomparably old.

He didn't breathe or have a heartbeat. There wasn't the slightest sign of life about him. He simply stood there, his eyes so hollow and terrifying they looked like a pair of black holes.

Little One grabbed Bai Yixin and stumbled backward several steps, eyes wide as he asked:

"Brother Little White, did you see that?"

"Yikes, that's terrifying in the middle of the night!" Bai Yixin was startled, too. He'd been expecting it, but it still scared him.

The old man vanished without a sound, as if he'd never appeared at all. But Bai Yixin and Little One felt a chill crawl up their backs. They whipped around and immediately felt their scalps go numb.

Furry Ball was so frightened that he leaped from Little One's shoulder. The gray-haired old man was right behind them, his hands about to land on their shoulders.

"Damn!" Bai Yixin's hair stood on end. He swung a fist, the blow carrying the sound of wind and thunder, but it didn't connect.

"Whoosh!"

The old man vanished again without a sound. This time, he didn't appear behind them, but instantly materialized among the courtyard's broken walls and ruins, letting out a wailing sound as if he were crying.

"Brother Little White, this place is haunted, isn't it?" Little One's face had gone pale. He looked badly shaken.

"When soldiers come, we'll stop them; when water comes, we'll dam it. No worries, I've still got this under control." Bai Yixin had been frightened too. This was more thrilling than watching a ghost movie.

"Should we go back and ask the Sacrificial Spirit to protect us...?"

Without a sound, the old man suddenly appeared in front of Bai Yixin and Little One. He stood there, his face wooden, his eyes hollow, blocking their way without a word.

Suddenly, Little One turned and raced back into the courtyard, darting toward the rear garden.

"Say what you need to say. Don't scare us like this in the middle of the night." Bai Yixin knew Ghost Master wouldn't hurt them, and forced himself to stay calm.

Bai Yixin didn't know what Little One had done in the courtyard, but the gray-robed old man in front of him shuddered and spoke: "Return my sword..."

"Brother Little White, are you all right? The Sacrificial Spirit ignored me!" Little One cautiously poked his head out.

"Come over. It's all right." Bai Yixin beckoned to Little One.

Little One's back still felt icy. The gourd vine had actually left this strange old man alone. Could there be some connection between them?

"Are you sure it's all right?"

"If we don't agree, neither of us will be able to leave." Bai Yixin showed Little One that no matter which way he tried to go, the old man would block his path.

"Return my sword," the old man kept muttering.

"Isn't the sword on his head?" Little One asked, startled and confused.

"If only it were that simple. The sword in his head was clearly the murder weapon that killed him. The sword he wants is his own." Bai Yixin explained.

"Little One, you're not going to leave me to face him alone, are you?"

"Haha, of course not..." Little One's body stiffened as he replied.

"Come on." Bai Yixin gestured to Ghost Master.

"We'll help you find your sword, but tomorrow you have to come with us to talk to the elders."

"Right, we'll help you look for it, but the elders have to agree first." Little One hastily chimed in. Once we're in front of the elders, I won't be afraid of you!

As soon as those words left his mouth, the world lost its color. The wind howled, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. The old man vanished without a trace.

"Brother Little White, are you sure we're okay? That was way too bizarre!" Little One was still tense, his expression uncertain.

"It should be fine. If something really happens, we'll go back to Stone Village and ask Willow Deity to protect us." Bai Yixin couldn't guarantee that everything would be all right.

But no matter how strange Ghost Master was, he was still no match for Willow Deity.

The next day, Ghost Master appeared before them right on time. Little One hadn't expected the old man to appear even in broad daylight. It caused quite a commotion and reached the ears of the elders.

Just like that, Bai Yixin and Little One were both brought before the senior figures of Heaven-Mending Pavilion, and received spots to enter the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range.

The Pavilion elders were puzzled as to why Ghost Master had chosen two people this time. But after briefly testing the two boys' abilities, they realized they were extraordinary. They also learned that Little One was the Bear Child, and decided to send them to the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range to search for the Everlasting Spring as well.

As a reward for finding the Everlasting Spring, they would be allowed to spend a month in the Scripture Pavilion and choose any one Treasure Technique.

The reward was pretty good. The Everlasting Spring had already been one of Bai Yixin's targets in the Hundred-Broken Mountain Range, so handing over a single drop in exchange for these rewards seemed like a fair deal.