Slash the Ghost

A thousand calculations and ten thousand preparations had all been for this very moment.

Chen Shaojun maintained the Spirit Eye Technique while simultaneously casting the Divine Gaze Technique.

It was only because his mental power had greatly increased; otherwise, the drain of casting two techniques at once was truly more than he could bear.

As the Divine Gaze Technique was unleashed, a beam of divine light, almost tangible, shone forth and landed upon the Jade Ruyi.

Buzzz~!

In an instant.

Their auras were drawn together.

The dense yin energy hanging overhead, like a beast king whose territory had been invaded, surged out and pounced straight at Chen Shaojun.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

Chen Shaojun's mental will collided with the Yin Baleful Intent, like two opposing millstones grinding each other down without end.

Ten strands, twenty strands, thirty strands...

The Yin Baleful Intent was being consumed.

Chen Shaojun's mental will, sharp as a blade, was likewise battered into growing muddier.

The two had always stood in opposition.

Either the east wind crushed the west wind, or the west wind crushed the east wind.

If he won, the Killing Intent would be ground away and vanish without a trace.

If he lost, the Killing Intent would enter his body, and the consequences would be impossible to predict.

Gradually, Chen Shaojun began to find it too much to bear.

His mental power had never been particularly strong to begin with, no different from that of an ordinary person. Though he had improved somewhat during this time, and the Spirit-Nurturing Pill had greatly boosted his mental power, he was at most a little more than twice as strong as an ordinary person.

Twice an ordinary person's strength was still that of an ordinary person.

Against ten or several dozen strands of Killing Intent, he could still cope with the proficient-level Divine Gaze Technique.

But with yin energy hanging over his head and more than a hundred strands of Killing Intent, he was beginning to fall short.

And that was only the Killing Intent.

The ghost itself had yet to make a move.

Just as he was pondering this.

Suddenly.

Chen Shaojun felt the temperature around him plummet. Waves of cold, sinister air continuously spread out from all around him.

"Finally couldn't hold back?"

Chen Shaojun had been watching the ghostly shadow lurking amid the yin energy all along.

After noticing that the Yin Baleful Intent was being steadily consumed, it had finally lost its patience and charged directly out of the Jade Ruyi.

It was a ghost wearing a scholar's long robe, appearing to be around thirty or forty years old. Its hair was disheveled, its face deathly pale, and within its seemingly vacant eyes lurked a trace of viciousness.

What drew the eye most, however, was its neck.

A massive gash had nearly severed its neck outright.

Under the Spirit Eye Technique, Chen Shaojun could even see the flesh and windpipe at the wound continuously opening and closing...

However.

The instant the ghost charged out, Chen Shaojun immediately discovered that his surroundings had changed drastically.

He now stood in a deserted mountain forest, with dense grass and trees everywhere. Scattered burial mounds lay faintly around him, and only in the distance did candlelight seem to shine from someone's home.

"Is this a Ghost Wall?"

Chen Shaojun's expression changed slightly.

Though he did not understand the ghosts of this world, he had heard plenty of folk tales.

He quickly recognized this as the Ghost Wall, a method commonly used by ghosts and monsters.

This method was not particularly lethal, but it excelled at confusing one's sense of direction. One careless step, and one could fall into the trap it had set, thereby facing danger.

"Break!"

Though Chen Shaojun was flustered at the sight, he had prepared for it long ago.

He swiftly reached out and opened a bamboo tube.

Although events had unfolded abruptly, Chen Shaojun had still made timely preparations for this appraisal.

Besides the wood carving required for the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique, he had also prepared two bamboo tubes.

One contained a boy's urine, while the other held black dog blood.

Both were well-known in folk legends as yang items that could ward off evil and drive away ghosts.

He did not know whether they would truly work.

But if there was even a possibility, he naturally would not begrudge making extra preparations.

The bamboo tube Chen Shaojun opened now contained black dog blood.

After plucking fur from Liu Two-Leg's black dog, Chen Shaojun had taken some blood from it as well.

To avoid causing the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique to fail, Chen Shaojun had not dared draw too much blood, but he still had nearly half a cup.

As he opened the bamboo tube, the thick, fishy stench of black dog blood rushed into his nostrils.

Without a second thought, Chen Shaojun flung it straight ahead.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

A burst of piercing corrosion sounds rang out. The mountain forest, the burial mounds, and the distant homes all vanished completely.

He was still standing inside the room, and even his feet had not shifted in the slightest.

His mental power was still being continuously consumed, clashing against the Yin Baleful Intent within the Jade Ruyi.

The Ghost Wall had been broken!

The ghostly shadow flew backward, retreating beyond the range of the black dog blood, its expression revealing uncertainty and alarm.

"It really works."

Chen Shaojun was overjoyed. While the iron was hot, he hurriedly opened the other bamboo tube.

Compared to the small amount of black dog blood, there was naturally much more boy's urine.

Not only had he contributed some himself, but among the apprentices, every one of them was an untouched virgin rooster.

He flung it out in one sweep.

"Ah..."

A heaven-shaking ghostly howl rang out. Yin winds shrieked wildly throughout the room. Drenched in the boy's urine, the ghostly shadow's soul body corroded with hole after hole, as though its face had been splashed with sulfuric acid. Its already ugly features became riddled with holes, terrifying to behold.

"Raaah!"

The ghostly shadow flew into a rage, opening its mouth in a soundless ghostly howl. Its eyes were fierce and venomous, as though Chen Shaojun were an enemy with whom it could not share the same sky. The surrounding air transformed into grim ghost qi, as if hell itself had descended.

Then the ghostly shadow shot forward, rushing rapidly toward Chen Shaojun.

At that moment, it was about to use one of a ghost's unique methods: the Possession Technique.

Once it successfully possessed him, Chen Shaojun's entire body would fall under its control.

Gouging out his eyes, shoving things into his nose, strangling himself to death... unable to control his own body, he would be better off dead.

"Now!"

Chen Shaojun's face tightened. He naturally knew this was the critical moment.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly cast the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique.

Buzz!

A faint, eerie gleam flashed across the Black Dog Wood Carving.

Immediately afterward, Chen Shaojun felt a chill run through his body. The ghostly shadow entered him directly, only to appear within the Black Dog Wood Carving an instant later.

The surging Yin Baleful Intent that had been opposing Chen Shaojun was also drawn by a special force and poured into the Black Dog Wood Carving instead.

At the same time.

Far away in the rear courtyard, the listless black dog suddenly felt deeply unsettled. It quickly rose to its feet and looked around in alarm.

But in the blink of an eye, its eyes bulged wide. Amid a howl, it let out a shrill bark of agony.

The sound was so loud and so desolate, like snow falling in the sixth lunar month, filled with boundless grief and injustice.

Chen Shaojun had no time to heed the faint barking from afar. His eyes remained fixed on the Black Dog Wood Carving. Seeing it creak and crack, as if about to split apart, he knew that the ghost was even more ferocious than he had imagined. Having sensed something wrong, it was about to break free from the black dog's body.

Daring not delay, he pulled out a kitchen knife and brought it down savagely upon the Black Dog Wood Carving.

Crack!

The wood carving split into two with a single slash.

A cloud of black smoke drifted out after it.

"Is it over?"

Chen Shaojun was filled with uncertainty. In a daze, he saw an Eight-Sided Rhombus Mirror emerge within his mind.

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