Transcending two realms to become an earth immortal

The tax collector, dressed in a pale white robe and wearing a tall hat, slowly turned around.

Upon seeing its face, Fang Chen's junior brothers and sisters were terrified, turning pale and even gagging, nearly collapsing to the ground.

The tax collector's face had no facial features at all, only a constantly writhing mass of deformed flesh.

Even more horrifying, dozens of distorted and shrunken human faces were densely embedded in that mass of flesh!

These faces, their eyes filled with venom, stared intently at Fang Chen and his companions, emitting overlapping, ear-piercing cries:

"Heh...heh heh..."

A chilling laugh echoed through the mourning hall, sending shivers down one's spine.

Fang Chen's expression remained unchanged; he merely cupped his hands slightly in greeting.

"So it's Lord Xie Qi. We've already paid this month's blood tax. May I ask what brings you here in person?"

Dozens of mouths on that mass of flesh opened and closed simultaneously, emitting a piercing, overlapping sound:

"The monthly taxes have been paid... but the toll fees for your trip back to the city, and the extra money you found outside, haven't been paid yet!"

Dozens of faces pressed forward, staring greedily at Fang Chen, their gazes almost tangible.

Since the collapse of heaven and earth and the imbalance of yin and yang, the city has been filled with foul evil energy. These underworld ghosts and gods, who have no flesh and blood to protect them, will die if they leave the city.

At best, their minds are eroded by the malevolent energy; at worst, their souls are scattered. Therefore, they are trapped in the small territory of the Dao City Underworld, barely maintaining their sanity with a meager monthly stipend.

If you want to improve your cultivation level or accumulate more magic money to resist the corruption, you can only set your sights on the cultivators in the city and do this kind of bone-sucking business.

And cultivators like Fang Chen, who escaped from the shadows of the old world, are exactly what they want.

Having no roots in the city and formerly being from a supposedly righteous background, his magic is greatly diminished in this filthy apocalypse, yet he still clings to some useless sense of superiority.

Most importantly, they also have families to support, vulnerabilities, and worries.

Such an easy target was not to be missed by Xie Qi and his gang of tax collectors.

Not only do they collect all the taxes every month, but they also frequently use various pretexts to extort and plunder, like a persistent, invasive disease, as if they want to squeeze every last drop of profit from the land.

Previously, Fang Chen and his mentors had been tolerant and made compromises repeatedly because they were concerned about the elderly and weak in the house and felt that Dao City itself was like a den of demons. They, as descendants of the righteous path, needed to hide carefully to avoid attracting attention.

But in return, they only received even greater greed from the other party.

Just now, those dozens of faces were becoming impatient, their voices growing increasingly shrill:

"Our nose is incredibly sensitive... You must be carrying some good stuff from outside the city!"

Fang Chen frowned and said in a deep voice:

"The laws of Daocheng are clearly written, and it seems that there is no such rule."

"Rules?" Xie Qi let out a sinister laugh, the mass of flesh floating forward several feet, its putrid, chilling stench filling the air. "Here, what we say is the rule! Today's tax, you pay it whether you like it or not!"

It paused deliberately, and the faces on the flesh all turned to the trembling boy and girl behind Fang Chen, revealing a sinister smile:

"Or... we could use the souls of these little kids behind you to pay the price! Perfect, we're just short of a few fresh faces..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Chen's body seemed to tremble slightly.

He turned his head and quickly glanced at the terrified faces of his junior brothers and sisters behind him, his eyes flickering slightly.

Our sect elders are currently away and have not returned, yet this person has chosen this time to come knocking on our door; I'm afraid...

When he turned back, his expression had changed. It was three parts ugly, three parts reluctant, and three parts deeply humiliated.

A mix of emotions culminated in a long, helpless sigh:

"Very well... The road to success is difficult. Since you want to add something, sir, I did manage to obtain something in a dangerous place outside the city a few days ago. Perhaps it will catch your eye, sir, and I am willing to offer it as payment for taxes."

He took out a dark wooden box, presented it with both hands, his face showing intense humiliation and reluctance:

"This thing contains malevolent energy, and I don't know what use it is. Keeping it around would only be a disaster... I hope you will accept it, sir."

"Oh?" Dozens of Xie Qi's faces lit up with joy. His spirit instantly approached, and a hand formed from black energy eagerly grabbed the wooden box. "You're smart! Let me see what good stuff is inside—"

Before the word "west" could be uttered, the sound abruptly stopped.

Its body suddenly froze in mid-air.

Looking down, one could see that a pale white bone sword had silently emerged from below and pierced through its soul!

The sword was writhing in a dark gray aura, moving like a living snake... This is the [Yin Corpse Turbidity]!

It is taken from the bodies of those "Yin Sha Turbid Corpses" in the city who have been drained of everything by tax ghosts and turned into them. After repeated refinement by secret methods, this extremely Yin and filthy thing, which is specifically designed to damage the soul, is obtained.

For a ghost like Xie Qi, who has no flesh and blood to protect him and is purely a condensation of yin spirits, he is the greatest danger.

In this world, pure spiritual energy is scarce and hard to find, but this kind of turbid and evil energy that corrodes the soul is almost everywhere because of the upheaval of heaven and earth and the suffering of all living beings!

"Ugh—!!!"

A piercing, inhuman scream suddenly erupted, nearly tearing the roof off the mourning hall!

Xie Qi's yin spirit body trembled and swelled violently, and the dozens of faces on its surface twisted and deformed at the same time, emitting different screams, but all filled with extreme pain.

Immediately afterwards, the entire body exploded, turning into countless pale and illusory human faces, carrying wisps of gray-black resentment, which burst and flew around the room like fireworks!

Despite suffering such a deadly sneak attack, it was not completely dead on the spot.

All that could be seen were the pale, wailing faces that were still struggling and twisting, their resentment faintly connected, as if they were about to regroup and re-form!

Before long, it actually recovered somewhat, and a chorus of venomous roars echoed in the air:

"You little beast! How dare you plot against me?!"

"Noisy."

Fang Chen's expression remained cold and unmoved.

What a joke! They dared to set their sights on him; this is courting death.

If we don't kill them, what are we waiting for?

Now that we've taken action, we must wipe them out completely, leaving no hidden dangers!

In an instant, he swiftly pulled a talisman from his sleeve with his left hand.

The talisman paper looked like it was made of human skin, with a fleshy red color and faintly charred lines along the edges.

With a shake in the wind, the talisman spontaneously combusted, producing a cluster of flames.

But this flame was unusual, emitting a pale, eerie green glow. As the flames flickered, it seemed as if countless tiny faces were struggling and crying within it... This was the turbid fire of yin, which had the strongest restraining effect on the soul!

The ghastly green flames, like a leech, suddenly lunged at the vengeful, writhing faces in the air.

Those were Xie Qi's remaining soul essence.

If it is not burned completely, given time, it may be able to re-condense and revive with the help of yin energy!

The green flames ignited fiercely the moment they touched those faces, spreading instantly, and a cacophony of inhuman, overlapping, and agonizing wails filled the air!

The faces writhed wildly in the flames, trying to escape, but were instead entangled and devoured by the fire until they crumbled and melted away.

"No...no! Immortal, spare me! Immortal, spare me!!" Xie Qi's terrified scream echoed from within the flames, all traces of his arrogance gone. His voice, distorted with fear, screamed, "I am a righteous official of the Underworld! I am registered! You cannot kill me! Otherwise, the Underworld will not let you off..."

"We've already reached a point of no return, what's the use of talking about empty titles?" Fang Chen said calmly, his eyes cold.

Since we've decided to take action, eliminating the root of the problem is the only option.

How could he possibly still harbor any illusions and leave such a future problem?

With this thought in mind, his hand gestures suddenly changed, and he pointed in mid-air!

The eerie green flames in the sky received the command, and their flames suddenly surged, their green light intensifying, burning as fiercely as hellfire. They completely engulfed the last few wisps of gray smoke and remnant souls that were still struggling frantically, burning and refining them with a "sizzling" sound, like the weeping of evil spirits.

"stop!!!"

Just as the remnant soul was about to be completely burned away, a furious roar, filled with rage and chilling magical power, suddenly erupted from outside the courtyard! The sound waves rolled on, causing the white banners in the mourning hall to flutter wildly and the candlelight to dim abruptly!