Freedom

Shen Ge had no idea how far he had run for his life. At last, he squeezed into a damp, dark corner and curled up, trembling.

He was like a filthy rat being hunted down, fit only to hide in the shadows and pray he would not be found.

But from the moment he entered those people's sight, every move he made had been observed. Those Golden Core cultivators, however, were high and mighty and would not bother with a mere little ghost, even if that ghost had just obtained something from Ghost Demoness.

"Fellow disciples, Old Man Wuya has escaped. Delay may bring complications, so let us hurry to the Wind Mountain Battlefield, lest anything go wrong with the plan."

"Yes."

Four people flew out at great speed in four different directions to retrieve the formation foundations, while Shangguan Ouyang controlled his flying sword to slaughter the Devil Cultivators below. In mere moments, nearly fifty Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivators had died at his hands.

"That will do. Leave the rest to these disciples. It will give them a chance to hone their skills."

Shangguan Ouyang recalled his flying sword and also collected Ghost Demoness's and Mo Shang's Storage Bags.

It was not that he cared for those things. He was simply afraid that if they fell into the disciples' hands, they would lead them astray.

In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, they retrieved the formation foundations, and everyone turned into streaks of light and vanished over the horizon.

Perhaps because all the Golden Core Stage cultivators had left, the atmosphere throughout the Verdant Sea grew much lighter, no longer as oppressive as before.

Shen Ge remained curled up and trembling. The lighter atmosphere did nothing to improve his condition.

He was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring; the slightest rustle of wind through the grass could shatter what little remained of his mental defenses.

Though he had transmigrated here a long time ago, Shen Ge had not adapted to his current identity at all. In his mind, this place was like a game, and all the people and things were NPCs.

Even after being slaughtered and collected into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he had not managed to change his mindset.

After all, everything had happened too quickly back then, so quickly that he had not even felt the cruelty of being killed or the bloodshed of the villagers around him being killed.

But when Ghost Demoness's body fell before him, his mental defenses shattered completely.

At that moment, he clearly felt that this was not a game. This world was real, and every person in it truly existed, even if those people were very powerful.

After about five double-hours, the Spirit Moon Sect's disciples had wiped out all the Devil Cultivators in the Verdant Sea. This time, however, the Spirit Moon Sect had suffered far fewer casualties than before.

After all, they had outnumbered their opponents. If they had still suffered heavy casualties, they might as well have given up cultivating; even going home to dig dirt would have been above their station.

In a relatively large clearing in the forest, the Spirit Moon Sect's disciples gathered in twos and threes.

Qin Yu strode over to Su Liuyue and greeted her. "Junior Sister Liuyue, how much did you gain this time?"

Su Liuyue gave him a cool glance and said, "Not bad. I imagine you gained quite a lot as well, Senior Brother?"

Qin Yu scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly, "Sorry to make a fool of myself before you, Junior Sister. Although I arrived a little earlier than you, the points I accumulated are only enough to exchange for one Law Technique. That is hardly a substantial gain."

Just then, someone stepped forward, cupped his fists in salute, and asked, "Eldest Senior Brother, all the Devil Cultivators have been dealt with, but there are still some ghosts in the Verdant Sea. Should we deal with them too?"

Qin Yu composed his expression and spoke with the authority befitting an eldest senior brother. "As cultivators, how can we allow such ghostly creatures to run rampant? Pass on my orders: everyone is to exterminate these ghosts. Although they were all unfortunate souls in life, now that they have become ghosts, we cannot let them remain in this world to harm people. This can also be considered putting an end to their suffering."

"Yes."

Su Liuyue cast Qin Yu an indifferent glance. Although this fellow was a tiny bit meek and ingratiating in front of her, before others he was Azure Jade Peak's eldest senior brother, upright and full of authority, and was fairly well regarded among the disciples.

"Senior Brother, I will leave this to you. I shall take my leave first."

With those words, Su Liuyue took out a flying boat Law Artifact and departed.

Qin Yu gave a wry smile inwardly, but his expression did not change. "A team of you, come with me. We are going to clear out the ghosts in the southern region."

The disciples spent a full three days combing the Verdant Sea before gradually departing. Over those three days, they wiped out nearly all the ghosts throughout the Verdant Sea. Apart from a few that had hidden well enough to escape discovery, not a single ghost could be seen.

Fortunately, Shen Ge's hiding place was relatively well concealed, and with his intelligence far greater than that of the other ghosts, he escaped this calamity.

The disciples had used blood as bait. If Shen Ge had not suppressed a ghost's bloodthirsty instincts with all his might, he might already have met the same fate as the others.

After those people left, Shen Ge did not rush out immediately. Instead, he hid in the dark, damp place for a full half month before emerging again.

But the moment he took a step out of the shadows, he drew back as fast as lightning. His left foot was actually smoking from the sunlight's burn. If he had not pulled back quickly, that pure yang true fire could have traveled up his foot and set him alight.

"Damn it, why is this happening? I was fine when I came out during the day before, wasn't I?"

Shen Ge cursed and retreated back into his hiding place, intending to wait until nightfall to act.

In fact, Shen Ge now feared the sun because, after being caught in the residual force of a Golden Core cultivator's attack, his form had become much more insubstantial.

If he had been a ghost before, now he was a lowly wandering spirit, one that would burn to death upon encountering a person with slightly stronger yang Qi.

Still, it was already a stroke of heavenly fortune that Shen Ge had survived the residual force. The gap between them had been as vast as heaven and earth to begin with, so how could he have escaped without paying a price?

When night came, Shen Ge stepped out of the cave and looked up at the moon in the sky. Bathed in its light, he felt comfortable all over.

He then used the moon and the experience of his previous life to determine his direction, though he did not know whether the rules from Blue Star in his previous life would work in this world.

Shen Ge floated southward, but he did not make a big show of it. Instead, he advanced stealthily, creeping from one patch of shadow to another.

Ever since his change in mindset, Shen Ge's way of doing things had suddenly become much more cautious, as though anything that popped up in this world could take his life.

After traveling like this for a little over a month, Shen Ge arrived at a place near the sea. It was very remote, with no people and hardly any Demon Beasts. All that could be heard was the sound of waves constantly breaking against the shore.

After carefully surveying everything around him, Shen Ge found an excellent little cave, well hidden enough, and made his home there.

"It's good to be alive." After that remark, Shen Ge shook his head somewhat helplessly. "Spirit Moon Sect, Devil Creek Sect, fight away. The harder you fight, the better. Either way, you can't drag me into it anymore."

"Once I've kept my head down and developed for a while, I'll come out and see which of you won."