The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 89 Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator
Upon seeing that the center of the formation was a living soul-nourishing wood, Jiang Yuan showed no joy, but instead became somewhat solemn.

How could someone who isn't at the Nascent Soul level obtain such a treasure?
"Hmph, you're quite a talent, kid, to actually stand before me!"

The voice echoed throughout the entire cave, making it impossible to pinpoint the speaker's location.

Jiang Yuan wasn't that panicked. That guy's soul had been separated from the Soul-Nourishing Wood for too long. If he had a Nascent Soul, he would have already sought someone to possess him. He must only have a remnant soul left, which is why he had to switch to ghost cultivation techniques. It's his bad luck.

"You old bastard, you set up this trap to scare people, you deserve to be annihilated today!"

The old ghost cackled, "For hundreds of years, no one has ever come before me and boasted!"

Jiang Yuan had already sent a telepathic message to Qinghe and Li Shouzhong, telling them not to damage the tree and to lure out its spirit to deal with it.

The old ghost was cautious, only using words to threaten and provoke, but never actually making a move.

Jiang Yuan had no choice but to test the waters. He threw a fireball at the Soul-Nourishing Wood, but it struck the light barrier instead. Sure enough, the old man was even more worried that his life-saving artifact would be burned.

He simply pulled out a handful of talismans, mostly low-level fireball talismans that weren't very useful, and threw them all in, causing the light screen to tremble violently.

"Heh heh heh, with such little ability, you dare to talk big."

Qinghe threw out five red lotuses, which burst open one after another.

The old ghost finally panicked, let out a muffled groan, and black mist filled the entire cave.

Jiang Yuan knew he was about to make a move. After two rounds of blasting, he also saw clearly what kind of formation was protecting the Soul-Nourishing Wood.

As the black mist reached the vicinity of the three, Jiang Yuan unleashed a water spell, a technique he had learned from the Laoshan Dao Sect for detecting hidden entities. The cave was filled with a fine drizzle, enough to reveal even ghosts.

And there was more than one; there were always four or five ghosts hiding in the black mist.

Li Shouzhong made his choice and released his flying sword, piercing through one of them. However, the ghost did not dissipate; instead, it suddenly reformed.

Cui Qinghe added a romantic touch, freezing all the fine raindrops in the air into ice spikes. As long as the ghost moved, the ice spikes would break and become clearer.

Jiang Yuan held the Thunder Technique in his palm, waiting for the right moment. When the two ghosts approached within three zhang of each other, he suddenly raised his hand and released lightning, shattering the two ghosts. They could no longer be reassembled.

The old ghost stopped talking.

Jiang Yuan knew that these ghosts on the periphery were just ghost soldiers imprisoned by that old man; their true forms were still inside the light screen.

Fine, I don't want to destroy the Soul-Nourishing Wood, and that guy doesn't want to either. Ice Lotus made her move, heading straight for the core array eye.

With a loud bang, the cave trembled violently, and the light curtain suddenly disappeared.

The old ghost finally got scared, and hundreds of skulls rushed out of the Soul-Nourishing Wood. Those skulls were probably the souls of cultivators who had been killed over the past few hundred years.

Jiang Yuan unleashed a double lightning storm, cleaving down over a large area and eliminating most of them in one strike.

Qinghe continued to use her "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon" technique, which, while not freezing the skeleton to death, greatly slowed down its movements.

Li Shouzhong attached the thunder talisman given to him by Jiang Yuan to his flying sword, and charged forward on it, causing skulls to explode wherever he went.

Jiang Yuan casually added some lightning magic, but kept a close eye on the old ghost's true form.

Cui Qinghe also attached a lightning talisman to the Green Fox Bow. Although the lightning shot from the bow and arrow was not strong, it was still enough to hurt the skull.

When the old ghost still didn't come out, Jiang Yuan unleashed another ice lotus, which shot straight at the main trunk of the Soul-Nourishing Wood.

The old ghost, unable to bear it any longer, finally roared out with astonishing force, plunging the entire cave into darkness.

The ghostly aura was incredibly swift; it swallowed the ice lotus whole without causing it to explode, and with its overwhelming power, it arrived before the three in the blink of an eye. Jiang Yuan was prepared; the peach wood hairpin was only three feet from his hand when the red thread fully unfurled, forming a large circular net two zhang wide.

The old ghost rushed in by himself, letting out a strange cry as he tried to struggle. The peach wood hairpin immobilized the main soul, and the red thread gradually tightened.

Jiang Yuan knew that the red thread would probably be useless after this, as subduing this Nascent Soul old ghost would be a bit difficult.

The stalemate lasted for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the red thread was finally completely gathered into a ball. Jiang Yuan put the peach wood hairpin back, affixed a talisman, and then put it into his storage bag.

The three carefully examined their surroundings and found that there seemed to be no other ghost cultivators present.

After the central array was destroyed, the arrays in the other stone chambers also became completely ineffective.

Li Shouzhong found his junior brother Zhang Chi's remains again, burned them to ashes with a fireball, and then collected the ashes in a jade bottle.

Jiang Yuan looked around the Soul-Nourishing Tree for a few moments. The tree was no thicker than a fist and about the height of a person. Its branches and leaves were not lush enough, so it must have been moved from elsewhere and was not well maintained.

After that old ghost was injured and lost his body and nascent soul, he certainly wouldn't have the ability to dig up the Soul-Nourishing Wood. He probably has a powerful accomplice.

They quickly dug up the tree, along with the soil, and stored it in their magic artifact space, then left the area first.

The outer maze was no longer changing, and Jiang Yuan already knew it by heart. He ran out in less than half an incense stick's time.

Jiang Yuan threw in over a hundred Foundation Establishment stage fireball talismans, and Qing He added seven red lotuses, completely blasting the cave entrance shut.

The three of them mounted their flying artifacts, took a detour, and escaped the windy pass through another canyon.

Just as an incense stick's time had passed, two wisps of black energy descended from the sky to the entrance of the Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl Cave. They were two Golden Core Realm ghost cultivators. Looking at the collapsed cave, they knew that their ancestor was gone, and they were filled with unbearable sorrow.

Jiang Yuan and the others didn't stop at all, and directly escaped from the Great Wind Pass, returning to the vicinity of Kucha Immortal City.

Li Shouzhong said he had a hidden cave dwelling, so the three of them went to the cave dwelling together to chat.

Jiang Yuan knew that Li Shouzhong was grieving, and since this matter was also related to him, he had to explain things clearly.

It is said that a few years ago, he accidentally obtained a new Foundation Establishment Pill formula. He originally wanted to earn some spirit stones, but he was intercepted by the Taiyi Sect and Laoshan Dao Sect. He had no choice but to kill one of them and seriously injure Laoshan Golden Core cultivator.

Later, he went overseas with Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei to lure and capture monsters. They were chased by the Laoshan Dao Sect, but managed to escape and found a place to stay overseas.

He expressed his deep regret for implicating the Divine Sword Sect.

Such a major event had occurred in the cultivation world of the Central Plains, with the Luofu Mountain and Laoshan Dao Sects having been at war for two years. Li Shouzhong had naturally heard about it before, but hearing Guan Canghai mention it in person still seemed unbelievable.

Eight Golden Core cultivators died in Laoshan; it's unknown how the two of them managed to do it.

Previously, Zhang Chi had heard that the Divine Sword Sect had sided with Mount Luofu, and he insisted on going back to avenge his family. Li Shouzhong scolded him severely, saying that he was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, and that two Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in such a great battle was tantamount to suicide.

Who would have thought that even while hiding in the Tianshan Mountains, Junior Brother Zhang would still perish, causing another wave of sighs.

Hearing from Guan Canghai that Shen Wangzhi had received the mantle of a senior cultivator overseas and was preparing to establish his own sect, he was naturally very excited.

Jiang Yuan said, "We two came here at Brother Shen's request to specifically seek out Fellow Daoist Li."

Since Zhang Chi has already passed away, Jiang Yuan will naturally not be mentioned.

Li Shouzhong's eyes welled up with tears. "Brother Shen, is that really what you meant?"

"Why don't you go overseas, Fellow Daoist Li? Then we two can address Brother Shen and his wife as brothers, and be as close as family."

(End of this chapter)