In his previous life, Ji Chen thought that since he had completed his mission and was about to leave, he might as well contribute something to the world before his departure. The Ghost Tribe existed outside the three realms and frequently wreaked havoc, bringing immense disasters to the world.
Nine Slaughter City and its surrounding territories had become barren wastelands where nothing grew and toxic miasma ran rampant because of their influence. Originally healthy flora and fauna had mutated into poisonous herbs and venomous beasts. Those ordinary mortals without cultivation had long since been dissolved into bloody water by the miasma.
Thus, Ji Chen took his sword, Nian Chen, and went to overturn the entire Ghost Tribe. He was well aware of their power, as no one had ever dared to provoke them. They were not human; they possessed bodies that could constantly resurrect like zombies, and no matter how severe the injury, they could recover instantly without needing any spiritual power. Moreover, the most terrifying thing was the miasma they produced, which could corrode anything.
Ji Chen fought in the Ghost Realm for seven times seven, forty nine days. Finally, he died of exhaustion, and his physical body was completely corroded away. However, he had wiped out nearly the entire Ghost Tribe, leaving them almost completely decimated. Ji Chen felt that his death was worthy. Had he not known he was leaving anyway, he would never have gone looking for trouble by pushing himself onto a path of certain death.
As it turned out, he did not manage to leave. It was as if he had foolishly deleted his high level main account, and the system gave him a useless trash account just to struggle for survival. Whenever Ji Chen thought of this, he could only comfort himself with the reason of eliminating evil for the people.
Because his death was sudden and hidden, and his body was gone, everyone in the world, including his three disciples, thought he was simply in hiding. As for why his sword was in Xue Wuxi’s hands and sealed in a tower, Ji Chen had never really thought deeply about it. Now, after hearing Jiang Shengyu’s words, Ji Chen finally realized the truth. It turned out that the sword had been found and taken by this fellow.
However, based on Ji Chen’s understanding of Jiang Shengyu, he felt the man would not do something so redundant. Ji Chen asked him, “I broke your sword and forced you to abandon the blade for medicine, yet you specifically went to the Ghost Realm to bring my sword back. What exactly was your intention?”
Jiang Shengyu looked at his face but did not reply. His expression and gaze lacked the tenacity of someone who once only cared about winning; they held only the depth of many years of absence. Ji Chen thought he was about to say something sentimental, but the result was still just four words.
“You should not have died.”
Ji Chen thought to himself, “Do you even need to say that?” He had not wanted to seek death either; he was simply screwed over by the system.
Jiang Shengyu continued, “Originally, I thought you were just a drunkard with nothing but extraordinary swordsmanship. I did not expect you to also possess a heart for saving the world. I retrieved your sword because your actions truly made me see you in a new light. I felt your life should not end.”
Ji Chen was silent. Suddenly, it felt like he had been praised by his rival? Aside from the word drunkard, that is.
But Ji Chen remained clear headed. The two of them stood atop the cliff, with jagged precipices and a bottomless abyss beneath their feet. The whistling wind on the cliff had long since lost its familiar scent, leaving only desolation. Ji Chen finally asked the question that had been lingering in his heart, “Why has Phoenix Perch Cliff become such a wretched place?”
Jiang Shengyu raised his palm and gently stroked the Phoenix bird that had flown back to his shoulder. “You did not wipe out every single member of the Ghost Tribe.”
Ji Chen understood. “So it was done by the survivors? To avenge my destruction of their tribe?”
“Something like that,” Jiang Shengyu continued. “I came here originally wanting to dispel the miasma and restore Phoenix Perch Cliff to its original appearance. Unfortunately, even though the miasma is gone, nothing will grow here. When I arrived, this Phoenix bird had been corroded by the miasma until it was almost nothing but bone and was at death’s door. It took me a hundred years to heal it and bring it back to life.”
Ji Chen finally knew the real reason this cowardly bird was willing to acknowledge Jiang Shengyu as its master and let him ride it. It turned out that giving it food was not enough. Ji Chen shifted the topic and asked Jiang Shengyu with a smile, “Since you said my actions made you see me in a new light, why do you still look like you have a deep seated grudge? My grand disciple came to you seeking medicine, yet you tricked him into a gourd to refine him.”
Jiang Shengyu countered, “What do your disciple and grand disciple have to do with me?”
“How can you say that? We are good brothers. Is my grand disciple not also your grand disciple?”
“Good, good brothers?!”
Jiang Shengyu’s face instantly turned red. His normally serious demeanor vanished, and he lowered his head as if he were embarrassed. It was the first time Ji Chen had seen him like this. He had thought Jiang Shengyu would always be as stiff and serious as an old official, but he had such a cute side. Ji Chen’s urge to tease surfaced, and he joked half seriously, “Do you not want to be my brother, but my cultivation partner instead?”
This time, Jiang Shengyu was not just embarrassed; he was absolutely humiliated. “Impudent! At my age, how could I have such an absurd idea?!”
Ji Chen thought about it and realized he was right. The man had truly lived for five hundred years after Ji Chen’s death, while for Ji Chen, five hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye. Technically, he was a senior of his ancestor’s generation. Teasing an honest man of such an age was indeed a bit inappropriate. Ji Chen could only stick out his tongue and return to his previous statement, “Then let us just be good brothers.”
“Who is brothers with you?!” Jiang Shengyu became even more incensed. “Do not think that just because I brought your sword back and feel you have a sliver of merit, you can call me your brother!”
Ji Chen did not expect the man to react so strongly to that sentence. Was he actually throwing a tantrum? He really was narrow minded and held a grudge!
“Fine, fine, fine. Okay, okay.” Ji Chen had to fill the hole he had dug himself, coaxing Jiang Shengyu like a child. “Whatever you say goes.”
He wondered which of them was actually older. Jiang Shengyu suppressed his anger and calmed down for a moment before saying, “The two of us are not that close yet.”
“Mhm, okay, okay,” Ji Chen replied dismissively. After answering, Ji Chen remembered he had been bitten by a snake and asked, “I have told you everything you wanted to know. Now, give me the antidote.”
Jiang Shengyu replied, “That snake is not poisonous.”
“Then you let me get bitten for nothing?”
“What? Would you prefer it to be poisonous?”
Ji Chen was left speechless. This old fellow! Jiang Shengyu glanced at Ji Chen, took his wrist without a word, and checked his pulse through the air with two fingers. His expression darkened instantly. “Soul Devouring Gu?”
“That is right. As expected of the Medicine Ancestor, you found it immediately.” After a quick compliment, Ji Chen got to the point, “Can you completely cure it?”
Jiang Shengyu asked instead, “Who planted it?”
“Who else could it be,” Ji Chen sighed gloomily, “Is it not my third disciple, who hates me to the core.”
“Hates you to the core?” Jiang Shengyu let go of Ji Chen’s wrist. “It does not look like it to me.”
“Why? You do not even know him.”
After a long pause, Jiang Shengyu slowly said, “Right after you died, Phoenix Perch Cliff was occupied by the Ghost Tribe survivors. Your eldest disciple led a group of cultivators up the mountain to fight them, and in the end, they suffered heavy casualties. He was sent back after being severely corroded by the miasma. Your second disciple only made it halfway up before being blocked by the miasma and coming to a standstill.
Only your third disciple, who was clearly the one you cared for the least among all your disciples, hacked his way through and risked his life to kill every single member of the Ghost Tribe. When I arrived later, I saw him covered in blood, lying among a field of corpses. There was not a single piece of healthy flesh on him; his ribs were all broken, and his spiritual meridians were completely shattered.
I knew he was going to die, so I did not intend to save him. He, however, had a resilient will and actually took a long time to recover that broken body. He stood up and left in silence. But before he left, he asked me about your whereabouts. I did not tell him you were dead; I only said I did not know.”