Ghost Demoness's New Life

The talisman and formation competitions began the following day. With Chu He supporting him, there shouldn't be any major problems with talismans. Although he might not be number one, he would definitely be among the top three.

However, the situation is more complicated when it comes to formations. Since Senior Brother Wei Sen's death, although the Formation Hall is not exactly facing a talent shortage, there is indeed no one among the disciples who can shoulder the responsibility. Therefore, this competition is the one where Spirit Moon Sect has the least chance of winning.

Shen Ge lost interest after watching for a while, since he wasn't particularly knowledgeable about these things.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind Shen Ge: "Senior, I didn't expect you to be a disciple of the Spirit Moon Sect. What a coincidence!"

Shen Ge turned his head and saw that the person who came was a young man wearing the clothes of the Evergreen Sect, and he was quite handsome.

"It's you. You've joined the Evergreen Sect?"

This boy was the same boy Shen Ge had rescued in Sunset Mountain Market. Back then, he was only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, but now he had already Foundation Establishment.

"It's my honor that you still remember me, senior," Ye Xingchen said, cupping his hands in greeting with a faint smile on his face.

"With your experiences, it's hard for me to forget them." Shen Ge smiled and said, "Alright, stop calling me 'senior.' I was qualified to be your senior back then, but now we're all at the same level. Just call me by my name, Shen Ge."

"My name is Ye Xingchen. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to Brother Shen. If it weren't for your helping hand back then, I might not be alive today."

"If the chosen one of destiny died so easily, I'd cut off my head and use it as a football!" Shen Ge thought to himself before saying dismissively, "Brother Ye, you're too kind. Since we met, it must be fate. And what you gave me was very good, which is why I offered my help."

"Brother Shen, that's not right. No matter what, you saved my life, and that's something that can't be changed by strength. So, since we've met today, let's find a place to have a good talk."

"OK."

The two then left the viewing platform and, led by Ye Xingchen, arrived at a scenic and Qingyou place.

Inside the Spirit Moon Sect, Su Sui sat on a boulder on the edge of a cliff, his hands supporting his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

"Senior sister, senior sister, come down quickly, I brought you some good stuff."

Su Sui glanced at the boy waving below and said absentmindedly, "Lu Sheng, I don't have time for you right now. If you want to ask about cultivation, go ask Nishang."

This young man is the newest disciple to enter the Divine Sword Peak. He was taught by Su Sui and Nishang, and he has decent talent, possessing three Spirit Root: metal, fire, and wood, with fire being of superior quality.

"Senior Sister, you've misunderstood. I didn't come to ask you about cultivation. I just came back from the outer sect. I heard you like crispy pork pies, so I brought some back for you. They're still warm," Lu Sheng quickly explained.

Su Sui stood up and looked at the young man below, his expression suddenly turning icy as he said, "Are you trying to curry favor with me? You've just entered the sect, and instead of focusing on cultivation, you're thinking about finding a backer. Lu Sheng, you truly disappoint me."

Hearing this, Lu Sheng was speechless, because Su Sui was right; he did indeed want to find a powerful backer.

From a young age, he understood that having a powerful backer would save him a lot of trouble, prevent him from being bullied, and sometimes even give him something good. So when he arrived in this new environment, he immediately began to look for a backer, and Su Sui was undoubtedly the one with the strongest background among all the people he had met.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you ashamed?" Su Sui pressed again.

Lu Sheng smiled sadly, bowed, and said, "Senior Sister's words today were truly enlightening and have benefited me greatly. Please rest assured, Senior Sister, I will definitely cultivate diligently from now on and will never again entertain such Evil Dao thoughts."

Su Sui's expression softened slightly, and he nodded, saying, "It's best if you can understand this. You must know that even the strongest backer is not as good as your own strength. Your own cultivation is your greatest support."

"Senior sister is right. Then this junior brother will go back to cultivate now."

Seeing Lu Sheng about to turn and leave, Su Sui raised an eyebrow, slightly displeased, and said, "Didn't you bring me some crispy pork pies? What, now that I can't be your backer, you're not going to give them to me?"

Lu Sheng slapped his forehead, somewhat embarrassed, and said with a forced smile, "Look at my brain! What my senior sister just said was like a wake-up call, and I forgot it all in my nervousness."

"Senior sister, here, these are crispy meat patties made with the hind leg meat of the Heroic Sword Pig. It was just slaughtered today, absolutely delicious."

Su Sui lightly leaped off the boulder, took the box, opened it, and smelled it. It was steaming hot and fragrant. After closing the box, Su Sui turned to leave, saying, "If you have any questions about cultivation in the future, feel free to ask me. If I'm not around, go find Senior Sister Nishang."

Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng bowed and thanked her, saying, "Thank you, Senior Sister."

"Is this the local sect of the Southern Barbarian Lands? Should we go in and say hello?" Behind the clouds, a purple figure stood, gazing calmly at the sect's headquarters below, which was covered by an array.

"This level of Spiritual Qi concentration is rare even for those in the Spirit Severing Realm. If I were to go there, I should be able to leave."

After hesitating for a while, the figure ultimately chose not to show herself. After all, everything she had experienced in the Luo Heaven Sea had made her distrust everyone, and she would not expose herself to danger without her own safety guaranteed.

Above the Verdant Sea, the purple figure slowly emerged, her expression cold as she gazed at a small mound below. "This aura is neither ghostly nor human; truly a strange Cultivation Method. Interesting."

With that, she reached out, and a ball of light, half a person's height, burst forth from the ground. The ball of light darted left and right, instinctively trying to escape, but under that terrifying pressure, it finally fell into the hands of the woman in purple.

"It's only half recovered. Forget it, I won't wait any longer."

The woman raised her hand and patted the ball of light. Soon, ripples spread across the ball, and it expanded rapidly like a bubble.

"Pop~"

With a popping sound, a little girl of only seven or eight years old fell out, but instead of falling, she stood steadily on the clouds.

The little girl had delicate features and fair skin, but perhaps due to the influence of the purple-clad woman's spiritual power, she also had purple hair and purple eyes, giving her a bewitching yet noble air.

"What's your name?" the woman in purple asked.

"What is a name?" The little girl stared at the woman in purple with wide, innocent eyes that blinked, looking incredibly endearing and pure, as if even her soul had become innocent and flawless.

Could it be that I accelerated her recovery process, causing her to lose her memory?

Alright, let's take her with us for now and see if we can figure out this strange Cultivation Method from her body.

"In that case, from now on you will be called Purple Eyes, and you will begin your cultivation with me."

"The competition has ended. The top three in the talisman contest are..., and the top three in the formation contest are..."

Somewhat surprisingly, Spirit Moon Sect didn't manage to get a single top-three finish in these two competitions. Even Chu He, who had devoted himself to the art of talismans for decades, failed to secure a top-three position.

As expected of the Evergreen Sect, it is the leader of the righteous path; there are simply too many disciples with great abilities within its ranks.

Shen Ge walked over to Chu He, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him, "Senior Brother Chu, don't be discouraged. Temporary success or failure doesn't matter. If you lose this time, you can always make up for it next time. Besides, for us cultivators, the most important thing is cultivation level. These things are just aids on the path of cultivation."

Mu Wan didn't dwell on where Shen Ge had just gone, and instead comforted him, saying, "That's right, Senior Brother Chu He, don't be discouraged. If we can't beat them at drawing talismans, we can try other methods. If all else fails, we can secretly beat them up."

Upon hearing this, Chu He quickly moved away from Mu Wan, explaining, "I didn't say that. I never even considered it. If you ever get knocked out, go look for her, don't come after me."

Not far behind him, several Evergreen Sect disciples stared at them with blank expressions, unsure of what to say.

These were the top three in the talisman competition. They had originally wanted to come up and say hello, but now they were too afraid to approach, so they turned around and walked away quickly.

Seeing that Chu He had betrayed her so readily, Mu Wan was furious. She gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, Senior Brother Chu He, you're something else! You turn around and sell me out. Just you wait, don't come begging me for anything related to weapon crafting in the future, or I'll definitely make things difficult for you."

Chu He smiled calmly, completely unconcerned about Mu Wan's threat. After all, she wasn't in charge of the Artifact Refining Hall anymore. Even if he needed to refine weapons, he didn't necessarily have to go to her. He still had Jin Ling and Shen Ge. If all else failed, he could ask the elders of the Artifact Refining Hall for help. So, this threat had no effect whatsoever.

"Did I say I was discouraged? Did I need you to come up with these terrible ideas? There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. I've known that for a long time."

Shen Ge chimed in, "Exactly! What a terrible idea you came up with! To secretly beat them up on their turf? Who knows who'll get beaten up in the end? Besides, we could have just talked about this in private, but now they've overheard us. What kind of mess is this? I'm afraid they'll strike first, and then we'll be really embarrassed."

"Shen Ge!" Mu Wan shouted, "I haven't even asked you where you ran off to. You smell so strongly of peach blossoms. Did you go flower viewing with that Li Xue? You didn't even pay attention to such an important competition, just went off to enjoy the flowers. Shut up!"

Mu Wan had guessed it perfectly. After parting ways with Ye Xingchen, he had met Li Xue, and at her invitation, he had gone up to Lonely Cloud Peak with a group of female disciples to admire the flowers and exchange Daoist teachings.

Seeing Shen Ge remain silent, Mu Wan was instantly enraged. She took a few steps forward, ready to attack, but then remembered Shen Ge's injuries. Since her hand was already raised, and not wanting to lose face, she lightly patted Shen Ge's shoulder. "So, Shen Ge, you really did go off to enjoy yourself. How were they? Did they catch your eye? Any favorites? Should the sect help you propose marriage?"

Shen Ge slapped the hand off his shoulder and said, "Alright, this is getting more and more absurd. Let's discuss tomorrow's team battle instead. The Evergreen Sect is very strong; we're afraid we'll lose more than we win this time."

Chu He, who had originally wanted to watch the two of them bicker, Orthodox God his expression upon hearing this. "Although we'll most likely lose in the end, it's good to discuss it. At least we need to make sure we don't lose too badly, otherwise it'll be incredibly embarrassing."

The following day, disciples from both sides gathered above a narrow valley.

The rules for this team battle are as follows:

First, no lethal force is allowed;

Second, the use of elixirs and array formations/talismans is strictly prohibited.

"The outcome of this competition will be determined by who reaches the Jade Slip at the very top of the valley first. Now, let the competition begin!"

At the elder's command, all the participants summoned their Law Artifact and flew into the valley like dumplings.

Although everyone was at the late Foundation Establishment Late Stage stage, there was still a difference in their cultivation levels. Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, several figures flew to the front.

Shen Ge glanced at Chu He, Jin Ling, and the others, nodded slightly, and then cast the spell himself. A long Sword Qi Long River rushed straight towards the Evergreen Sect members at the front.

Mu Wan, who was standing to the side, also launched an attack. She raised her hand and summoned several golden arrows that mingled with Shen Ge's Sword Qi Long River, accurately locking onto each of the Evergreen Sect disciples in front of her.

Faced with the overwhelming attack from behind, even the Evergreen Sect disciples who were firmly in the lead had to stop flying to block it.

Li Xue summoned a golden light shield to protect herself, and at the same time said with a charming smile, "Fellow Daoist Shen, attacking from behind, that's hardly the act of a man."

"Fellow Daoist Li, there's nothing I can do. Who told you to turn your back to me?" Shen Ge remained expressionless and took a few steps back before Jin Ling stepped forward. The Law Artifact in his hand emitted a faint golden light and unleashed a cross-shaped sword Sword Qi that was more than ten feet long, carrying an aura that seemed capable of cutting through everything.

"As expected of Senior Sister Jin Ling, your Cross Sword Slash has reached the point of being second nature." Shen Ge complimented her before quickly retreating to help Qingfeng suppress the Zhang Li. As for Lu Yuan, who Foundation Establishment Late Stage, other disciples took care of him, since he was the least likely to get involved.

As for Li Ze, his strength is truly formidable. Although both are at the Foundation Establishment Peak, he completely suppressed Chu He after only a few exchanges. If this continues, it's only a matter of time before Chu He is defeated.

Seeing that Qingfeng had gained the upper hand, Shen Ge immediately abandoned Zhang Li and turned to help Chu He. As for Yue Shan, with Mu Wan and her men blocking her way, although victory was slim, it wouldn't be a big problem to just hold off the opponent.

Li Ze looked at Chu He and Shen Ge who were attacking him, a smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes were filled with fighting spirit. He raised his hands, and countless water Spiritual Qi gathered into a water dragon that snaked and coiled towards Shen Ge and Chu He.

"Water Dragon Technique!"

Shen Ge frowned and raised his hand to send out several flying swords, but his attacks passed right through the water dragon, and the holes he left were immediately filled in, rendering the attacks completely useless.

Chu He shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Then a giant hand made of earth and stone reached over Shen Ge's head and grabbed at the water dragon. The water dragon coiled and twisted, trying to dodge, but it was as if it had been frozen in place by an eagle and could not escape at all.

After grabbing the water dragon, the giant hand squeezed it slightly, and the water dragon exploded completely.

"The Hand of the Earth?" Li Ze smirked, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "Looks like you guys aren't as weak as I thought. In that case, I'll let you have your way."