Chapter 290: First Display of Divine Power (7)

In desperation, Old Cai took Shui Miao and fled swiftly towards a crowded area.

That crowded place was precisely where numerous demons and monsters were fighting fiercely over the Nine Tripod Cauldron. At that moment, all the monsters were locked in chaotic battle, creating such a scene that the sky and sun darkened, and the moon lost its light. Yet Ye Xian had already abandoned the cauldron and hidden himself elsewhere.

“What’s going on?”

“Why are there so many outsiders here in my Yellow Springs Sect?”

“Where is the strategist? Where are the ghost generals?”

Looking down from the air, King of the Yellow Springs noticed his sect was no longer recognizable. Shocked, he paused, looking around, when suddenly he saw Ye Xian hurrying toward him.

“Senior Patriarch, you… you’ve succeeded in cultivating the Thunder Soul Body?”

Ye Xian, surprised and bewildered, approached King of the Yellow Springs and respectfully knelt on one knee.

“Stand up,” the Patriarch frowned at Ye Xian. “Quickly, tell me what exactly happened to my Yellow Springs Sect?”

“Reporting to the Patriarch,” Ye Xian replied, “since you were injured and entered seclusion, numerous demons and monsters have come to our Yellow Springs Sect to cause trouble. Even some Kings of the Underworld arrived. They shamelessly claimed to be here to spar with you, but in reality, they slaughtered our core ghost generals until our backbone was completely destroyed. Then, even more shamefully, they sent these demons and monsters to seize the Nine Tripod Cauldron. I resisted with all my might, but due to being outnumbered and outmatched, I couldn’t turn the tide. Fortunately, the Patriarch has finally emerged from seclusion. With your divine might, you will surely eliminate all these demons and monsters!” Ye Xian couldn’t tell whether King of the Yellow Springs had successfully cultivated the Thunder Soul Body or not.

Therefore, Ye Xian acted quickly and cleverly approached to test the situation.

“Despicable! These gods of the Underworld dare to take advantage of my misfortune. They are truly detestable!” King of the Yellow Springs was furious.

“Patriarch…”

“Watch out, Patriarch! Ye Xian is a traitor!”

Suddenly, a white shadow shot rapidly from a nearby mountain range…

“Hmm?”

King of the Yellow Springs turned his head and saw that the person was Zhuge Suanpan. His spiritual body was extremely weak, clearly having just succeeded in regenerating his soul.

Seeing Zhuge Suanpan, Ye Xian’s heart suddenly jolted—he had underestimated him; Zhuge had hidden a life talisman elsewhere!

“What’s going on?”

King of the Yellow Springs immediately approached Zhuge Suanpan. “Who did this to you?”

“It was him, this Ye Xian!” Zhuge Suanpan pointed at Ye Xian and accused, “This heartless villain secretly colluded with Sima Zongheng to frame me. Then he mobilized all the ghost generals and soldiers to the Yellow Springs Swamp, leaving only some chaotic ghosts to resist the demons and monsters. He claimed he was preserving our strength, but in reality, he wanted those demons to kill you, Patriarch, so he could take your place!”

“Hahahaha…” Ye Xian suddenly burst into laughter, his face beaming as he grinned at Zhuge Suanpan. “Zhuge Suanpan, you’ve miscalculated again, hahaha! Did you really think this old man had successfully cultivated the Thunder Soul Body?” Ye Xian had just extended his spiritual sense to detect King of the Yellow Springs and discovered that the Patriarch had not succeeded in cultivating the Thunder Soul Body, and his internal dark energy was also on the verge of collapse.

“What…”

Zhuge Suanpan was greatly shocked. He quickly looked at King of the Yellow Springs and, seeing the Patriarch’s expression was off, he was instantly stunned.

Zhuge had originally assumed that King of the Yellow Springs had successfully cultivated the Thunder Soul Body, gaining immense power that could turn the tide. But now, the reality was completely different.

King of the Yellow Springs turned back to look at Ye Xian. “That boy who stole my spiritual energy, was he also someone you brought here?”

“You mean Shui Miao?” Ye Xian glanced at Shui Miao and Old Cai nearby, his eyes flickered, and then he narrowed his eyes, excitedly giving Shui Miao a thumbs-up. “Brother, you’re really lucky! I didn’t expect you to help me so much! Without you, this old man might have successfully cultivated the Thunder Soul Body. Good brother, you wait, I’ll retrieve the Nine Tripod Cauldron and give it to you.”

Shui Miao and Old Cai looked at each other in silence.

King of the Yellow Springs roughly figured out what had happened and sighed to the heavens, “Heaven! What wrong have I done? I gathered wandering souls here to establish the Yellow Springs Sect, teaching them cultivation, self-discipline, and repentance. I never allowed them to do evil. I haven’t done anything against Heaven! Why does Heaven treat me like this!”

“Patriarch, I, Zhuge Suanpan, am willing to die with you!”

Zhuge Suanpan was filled with grief and rage. Years of cultivation had been undone in an instant, and he couldn’t bear the blow anymore. He no longer wanted to live.

“Hahaha…”

Ye Xian laughed again. After a few laughs, he shook his head at King of the Yellow Springs, “Old man, you’re truly stupid. Did you really think you could survive in the Three Realms just by being good? Let me tell you, in my past life, I was the Yellow-Browed God of the Immortal Realm. Because I was good and submitted to Heaven, I ended up in such a miserable situation. Watch me, I will soon return to the Immortal Realm, cause chaos in Heaven, and eliminate all those hypocritical and self-righteous people!”

“Haha, Brother Ye Xian, I’m willing to help you! Let’s first cause chaos in the Underworld, then go to Heaven!”

Shui Miao and Old Cai flew over.

“Haha! Great!” Upon hearing this, Ye Xian was excited and nodded repeatedly. “Great brother, we’ll roam the Three Realms together from now on!”

“But…”

Shui Miao frowned again. “But Brother Ye Xian, I can’t fight those demons and monsters. If the Nine Tripod Cauldron is taken by them, I won’t be able to improve my cultivation. How about I guard this old man and Zhuge here, and you go help me retrieve the Nine Tripod Incense Burner?”

“That’s easy!” Ye Xian was thrilled. Now that King of the Yellow Springs was practically useless and Zhuge Suanpan had just regenerated his soul, being even weaker than a small ghost, handing them over to Shui Miao for guarding was naturally no problem. Immediately, Ye Xian’s eyes flickered and he said, “You two wait for me in the back hall. I’ll go to the Yellow Springs Swamp and lead the million ghost soldiers to seize the Nine Tripod Cauldron back.”

“Great! Brother Ye Xian, from now on I’ll follow you!”

Shui Miao suddenly knelt on one knee before Ye Xian.

Ye Xian quickly helped Shui Miao up. “Brother, why are you doing this?”

Sighing, Shui Miao shook his head. “If my past life was indeed the Black冥 God, then I haven’t been a proper big brother at all. So regardless of my past, in this life I only want to follow you. From now on, you’re my big brother!” Shui Miao appeared very sincere. If not for being a soul body, he might have even shed a few tears.

Hearing this, Ye Xian’s face immediately lit up with joy. “Haha, the past is the past, brother. Don’t dwell on it. You go to the back hall and wait for me. I’ll be back soon.”

“Great! Big brother, be careful!”

Shui Miao looked at Ye Xian affectionately, truly reluctant to part. What a touching brotherhood it was.

Not fond of lingering, Ye Xian immediately rushed to the Yellow Springs Swamp.

As soon as Ye Xian left, King of the Yellow Springs coldly said to Shui Miao, “Kid, don’t be fooled by him. When he came to join me back then, he acted even more affectionately than my own grandson.”

“Save your breath. Your time is up. Just wait to die.”

Shui Miao quickly used fairy energy to wrap around the King of the Yellow Springs and Zhuge Suanpan, pulling them into the Holy Yuan Ring.

King of the Yellow Springs didn’t self-destruct his soul. He always felt there was still a glimmer of hope, so he unwillingly refrained from self-destruction. Once inside the Holy Yuan Ring, King of the Yellow Springs suddenly saw a large amount of purple lightning energy wrapping around him…

“Shui Miao, what do you mean by this?”

King of the Yellow Springs desperately needed spiritual energy. If he had enough, he could still cultivate the Thunder Soul Body.

Shui Miao’s voice echoed inside the Holy Yuan Ring. “Senior Patriarch Huangquan, you were right. What I did earlier was just an act to deceive Ye Xian. How could I ever collude with him after he kidnapped my friend, Senior Bai Feng? A person like him, who would kidnap my friend to blackmail me, would surely betray me for his own interests in the future. I didn’t understand the situation and mistakenly thought you and he were the same. I unintentionally stole your spiritual energy, putting you in danger. That was my mistake. Now I’m returning all the spiritual energy to you. Quickly cultivate the Thunder Soul Body inside my Holy Yuan Ring. I’ll do everything I can to hold him off.”

King of the Yellow Springs and Zhuge Suanpan looked at each other, stunned.

The situation had taken such an unexpected turn, beyond anyone’s expectations.

Bai Feng nodded at King of the Yellow Springs and Zhuge Suanpan. “Both of you, Shui Miao is a person of righteousness and compassion. I was a female ghost who had cultivated for over five hundred years. Because of his compassion and sense of justice, I decided to follow him, protect him, and help him, no matter the cost, even if it meant sacrificing my life. So please believe his words and quickly begin your cultivation.”

“Senior Patriarch, I believe what she said…”

Zhuge Suanpan’s eyes nearly popped out when he looked at Bai Feng.

“Shui Miao!”

King of the Yellow Springs took a deep breath and shouted, “Brother Shui Miao, I, King of the Yellow Springs, swear from this day forth, you will be my brother. If anyone dares to bully you, I, King of the Yellow Springs, will never forgive them, even if it costs me my life.”

After making his oath, King of the Yellow Springs immediately sat down cross-legged, his mind focused, gathering a massive amount of spiritual energy to continue cultivating the Thunder Soul Body.

Bai Feng felt a bit shy under Zhuge Suanpan’s gaze. She bit her lip and frowned slightly, softly saying, “What are you looking at? Hurry up and cultivate! Once you’re done, get out quickly. I don’t want to stay here with you two men.”

“Er… Right, right…”

Zhuge Suanpan awkwardly nodded and quickly sat down to cultivate.

The Holy Yuan Ring was filled with abundant spiritual energy, giving Zhuge Suanpan a stroke of incredible luck.

Seeing Zhuge Suanpan’s shy demeanor, Bai Feng couldn’t help but secretly smile, developing a subtle fondness for him.

Then, Shui Miao had Old Cai take him into the back hall.

After that, Shui Miao had Old Cai quickly take Old Qin and the others away, no longer competing for the Nine Tripod Cauldron to avoid falling into Ye Xian’s trap.

After Old Cai hurriedly left, Shui Miao immediately found a place to sit cross-legged, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and began exchanging thoughts with Bai Feng, learning the techniques of the Wind Mastery Art. He was sure it would come in handy for his final showdown with Ye Xian.