Chapter 1445: Earth Ghost
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Chapter 1443: Earth Ghost
Tian Jizhi spat blood and sneered coldly, “Kill me if you will, cut me to pieces if you must.”
The voice of the Feathered Ascension cultivator was aged and indistinct, difficult to discern clearly, “Your father had only you, his sole son. If you die, your father’s line will be cut off. If he knew of this in the netherworld, I wonder what he would think?”
Tian Jizhi replied with the same detached calm, “Even if the Tian family line ends, we will not yield to scum like you.”
The Feathered Ascension cultivator looked surprised, “Quite the tough bone, stubborn temper.”
His sword tip advanced a few inches further, piercing Tian Jizhi’s throat. Blood seeped out, yet Tian Jizhi’s expression remained unchanged.
The Feathered Ascension cultivator shrouded in black mist had a slight shift in his gaze.
Mo Hua watched from afar and sighed inwardly.
He hadn’t expected Elder Tian’s only son to be so unyielding. Of course, his temper was indeed quite stubborn.
The Feathered Ascension cultivator’s Spirit Sword pierced deeper, and blood flowed freely from Tian Jizhi’s throat.
He was only at the early Golden Core stage, utterly powerless against a Feathered Ascension cultivator.
Yet even as the Feathered Ascension cultivator threatened to kill him, he remained silent.
The Feathered Ascension cultivator’s sword tip stopped, clearly unwilling to actually kill Tian Jizhi without obtaining the information.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me where your father’s corpse is, and I’ll spare your life,” the black mist Feathered Ascension cultivator said.
Tian Jizhi sneered, “If I cannot even protect my father’s remains, what face do I have to live?”
The black mist Feathered Ascension cultivator cursed under his breath, thought for a moment, then suddenly focused his gaze and said in a hoarse voice: “If you don’t speak, I will return and slaughter your entire Tian household…”
Tian Jizhi’s expression changed.
Seeing this, the black mist Feathered Ascension cultivator laughed again: “Men, women, old, young, stewards, servants—not even a dog will I spare… all will be slaughtered!”
Tian Jizhi rebuked, “You dare?”
The Feathered Ascension cultivator laughed, “I am a Feathered Ascension cultivator. Killing you Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators is like slaughtering chickens and dogs. Why wouldn’t I dare?”
Seeing the terrifying killing intent faintly emanating from the Feathered Ascension cultivator, it was clear he was serious.
Tian Jizhi, both shocked and furious, said, “Aren’t you afraid the Dao Court Division will hold you accountable, or the Earth Sect…”
Before Tian Jizhi could finish, he suddenly thought of something, his face turning ashen.
The Feathered Ascension cultivator sighed lightly, “See, you should understand in your heart. If I slaughter your entire household, no one will stand up for you.”
Tian Jizhi’s chest burned with rage, “My father devoted his entire life to the Earth Sect, yet…”
His throat injured, before he could finish, another mouthful of blood surged from his throat.
The Feathered Ascension cultivator showed no sympathy, only speaking coldly, “Either I exterminate the entire Tian household, or you tell me now where your father’s corpse is.”
“After all, your father is already dead. Will you drag so many lives into this for the sake of a dead man’s corpse?”
Tian Jizhi was in agony, “I…”
He still seemed unable to decide, torn between choices, his gaze subconsciously flickering toward the carriage.
The black mist Feathered Ascension cultivator’s eyes darkened.
Tian Jizhi was not a scheming man; on the contrary, his nature was rather straightforward. Having strained to maintain his disguise earlier, the inner turmoil he now endured ultimately revealed a flaw.
But the problem was…
The Feathered Ascension turned his head and looked toward the carriage.
Tonight at midnight was the night of the funeral procession. There were seven carriages in total, but only one was the true coffin-bearing carriage.
Since it was a funeral procession, naturally, the father’s burial should be escorted by his son.
But the problem was, the carriage Tian Jizhi had been escorting had already been split open, containing nothing, and the horse was dead.
Where was the secret hidden…
The Feathered Ascension pondered for a moment on the spot, then walked up to the carriage. After examining it for a while, he carefully inspected the wreckage of the carriage and the formation patterns on it. Suddenly, he stiffened and let out a sinister laugh:
“So that’s how it is… The Yin-Yang Path, living men pulling the carriage, Earth Ghosts pulling the coffin…”
“So, this is the trick you’re playing…”
Tian Jizhi’s face instantly changed dramatically. “You… how do you know?”
The Feathered Ascension gave a sinister smile. “The Shadow Division’s tricks—did you think you could hide them from me?”
With that, he walked up to the carriage and, with a single palm strike out of thin air, blasted the dead horse into a bloody pulp.
Then, with a bare-handed grasp, he condensed the bloody pulp and wrote a line of large characters on the ground.
Mo Hua was too far away to see clearly, but he roughly made out a character meaning “decree,” followed by some blood-written words carrying a commanding tone.
As soon as these blood characters were completed, the ground beneath began to tremble faintly, and a sinister Ghost Qi emanated from below.
The Ghost Qi grew heavier, carrying the chill from underground.
Before long, the earth bulged, and four ferocious heads emerged from the ground, followed by hunched bodies, ugly ghostly faces, and eyes like bronze bells.
These were not beings of the mortal realm.
As soon as these four ghostly things emerged from the earth, they let out a unified howl and strained to pull a coffin from the soil.
The moment he saw the coffin, Tian Jizhi’s face turned deathly pale.
The Feathered Ascension’s eyes gleamed with excitement, his expression overjoyed.
Mo Hua’s heart trembled.
A coffin??
Could this be the coffin containing Elder Tian’s corpse?
After Elder Tian’s death, his body wasn’t buried in the Earth Sect’s ancestral tombs but was secretly swapped and smuggled out?
Mo Hua’s thoughts raced. He turned to look at the four ferocious-headed, hunched “ghostly things” and recalled the Feathered Ascension’s earlier words: “The Yin-Yang Path, living men pulling the carriage, Earth Ghosts pulling the coffin…” He guessed that these must be the “Earth Ghosts.”
Mo Hua didn’t know what Earth Ghosts were, but based on experience, he judged that they were likely a type of underground ghostly creature.
However, unlike the “ghosts” of the Divine Sense Body, these “Earth Ghosts” had physical forms.
They were probably ghosts that had parasitized some kind of underground flesh and blood, accumulating over the years to form such creatures.
Through certain rituals and at a certain cost, these ghostly creatures could likely be commanded.
This was probably the meaning of “Earth Ghosts pulling the coffin.”
Tian Jizhi’s carriage was merely used as a “guide” above ground.
The true coffin was hidden deep underground.
And the ones pulling the coffin were these unknown ghostly creatures.
Upon reaching the destination, by inscribing certain characters of an “Imperial Decree,” these ghostly beings could be summoned from beneath the earth.
The Earth Ghosts pulling the coffin had thus arrived at their stop.
Mo Hua found this novel.
Regarding the Divine Sense World, especially matters of the upper surface Divine Realm, he was quite knowledgeable.
But when it came to these ghostly beings of the Underground Netherworld and their methods of operation, Mo Hua knew very little.
Thus, it hadn’t even crossed his mind at first.
“Earth Ghosts… they’re quite ugly…”
“I wonder… if I could catch a few to study…”
Mo Hua silently mused.
Meanwhile, the four Earth Ghosts had pulled the coffin up from the earth and were now opening their bloody maws, demanding “payment” from the Feathered Ascension.
Rules could not be broken.
The Feathered Ascension was also pondering what these Earth Ghosts’ payment might be.
But suddenly, these Earth Ghosts seemed to sense the presence of some terrifying “filthy thing” nearby.
The four Earth Ghosts instantly let out a shriek, their bodies trembling, beads of bloody sweat appearing on their heads. Without even demanding payment, they burrowed straight into the ground, fleeing desperately.
The Feathered Ascension’s hand had already reached into his storage bag, ready to pull out some offerings commonly used by the Shadow Division. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but pause, frowning slightly.
Gone?
These bloodthirsty Earth Ghosts would actually defy their nature and leave just like that?
Are they… that afraid of me?
The Black Mist Feathered Ascension thought this, then shook his head.
It was just as well that these ghostly beings knew their place.
His gaze naturally then fell upon the coffin that had been pulled from the earth.
Seeing this, Tian Jizhi grew frantic, forcing his injured body to try and stop the Feathered Ascension from touching the coffin beneath the earth.
But he was struck flying by a palm from the Feathered Ascension, blood gushing from his mouth.
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help Tian Jizhi, nor that he didn’t want to protect Elder Tian’s remains.
It was just that, faced with a Feathered Ascension, he was truly powerless to assist.
After striking Tian Jizhi flying with a palm, the Black Mist Feathered Ascension hesitated no longer. Striding to the coffin dragged up by the Earth Ghosts, he used a long sword to break the seal on the coffin, pried off the coffin nails, and with a slap of his palm, sent the coffin lid flying.
Peering inside the coffin, his body froze once more.
His expression turned extremely grim, his aura darkening all around.
The Feathered Ascension turned to look at Tian Jizhi, his voice filled with anger, “Why is it empty?”
Tian Jizhi was stunned.
Mo Hua was also stunned.
The Black Mist Feathered Ascension, clearly on the verge of rage, demanded again, “Why is it empty?”
“Where is your father’s body?”
“Could it have been eaten by some minor ghost?”
Tian Jizhi also wore a look of disbelief, unable to accept it, “How could it be empty… my father’s body…”
The Black Mist Feathered Ascension stared deeply at Tian Jizhi for a moment, then suddenly paused and said, “So, you don’t know either…”
“You don’t know…” the Black Mist Feathered Ascension realized, “That old fox Tian Mùshēng, cunning in mind, didn’t even trust his own flesh and blood…”
“The coffin he had you pull was also a fake… He deceived everyone, even his only son, tricking you as well.”
The Feathered Ascension shrouded in black mist couldn’t help but let out a laugh, his face cold and mocking.
Tian Jizhi’s pupils went blank, his expression full of bitterness.
“Since you know nothing…”
The black mist Feathered Ascension sighed, deeply disappointed. He drew his longsword and pointed it at Tian Jizhi, saying: “Then go down yourself to meet your father, and while you’re at it, ask him… whether you are truly his biological son, that he would guard against you so, distrust you so.”
Upon hearing this, Tian Jizhi’s gaze grew even more desolate, his expression utterly dejected.
Mo Hua frowned, growing anxious inside.
But he was only at the early Golden Core stage, truly no match for this Feathered Ascension.
Even if he intervened, he wouldn’t be able to save Tian Jizhi.
The black mist Feathered Ascension held his longsword, its tip pressed against Tian Jizhi’s forehead. Just as he was about to take Tian Jizhi’s life, he suddenly paused, turned his head to look behind him, and said indifferently: “Come out. You’ve been watching all this way. How much longer do you intend to watch?”
Mo Hua’s heart jolted.
This Feathered Ascension shrouded in black mist had known I was here all along? He was just pretending not to see me?
Indeed, no True-Person who has cultivated to the Feathered Ascension realm and mastered higher power is easy to deal with.
Moreover, this black mist Feathered Ascension is truly deep and patient.
He could tolerate a mere early Golden Core cultivator like me spying on him until now…
Mo Hua frowned, hesitating over whether to step forward, say a few words, exchange greetings, waste some time with pleasantries, or skip the formalities and simply slip away.
Just as he hesitated, Mo Hua suddenly froze as well, slowly turning his head to look across the path.
On the other side of the thicket, another figure had appeared at some unknown time.
This person was dressed entirely in black, wearing a black mask that concealed his face. He seemed utterly ordinary, with no discernible aura at all.
In fact, Mo Hua hadn’t sensed this person at all until now.
This was clearly another Feathered Ascension.
And this Feathered Ascension was crouching across the path, less than a hundred zhang away from him, yet Mo Hua had been completely unaware?
Mo Hua found this rather unbelievable, then his heart suddenly jolted with alarm.
Had this Feathered Ascension discovered him?
Had he also not noticed Mo Hua, or had he actually discovered him but said nothing?
Mo Hua felt a slight chill in his heart.
The fourth and fifth-grade territories aren’t so fun after all. If you’re not careful, you’ll run into unfathomable things.
You never know whether you’re tracking others, or others are tracking you…
Mo Hua held his breath and focused his spirit, growing even more cautious, not daring to breathe heavily.
At this moment, the Feathered Ascension shrouded in black mist, whose form was unclear, and the Feathered Ascension dressed entirely in black, who seemed utterly ordinary and leaked no aura, were now confronting each other.
The black mist Feathered Ascension asked in a hoarse voice, “Who are you?”
The black-clad man retorted in kind, “Who are you?”
The black mist Feathered Ascension sneered, “Are you here to fight me for the Tian family’s corpse?”
The man in black remained silent, his meaning obvious.
Black Mist Feathered Ascension said, “Then you’ve come all this way for nothing. Tián Mùshēng’s corpse is not here. There is only one thing here—Tián Mùshēng’s son, who is about to die…”
Before Black Mist Feathered Ascension could finish speaking, a sword thrust toward Tian Jizhi’s forehead.
At the critical moment, a slender flying sword swept by, deflecting Black Mist Feathered Ascension’s longsword.
Black Mist Feathered Ascension looked up at the man in black opposite him and sneered: “This isn’t your clan’s Dao Arts, is it?”
The man in black replied, “Your longsword isn’t exactly shabby either.”
Black Mist Feathered Ascension sneered, “Are you trying to stop me from killing Tián Mùshēng’s son?”
The man in black neither confirmed nor denied it. “The Tian family’s bloodline must not be severed.”
Black Mist Feathered Ascension’s pupils contracted slightly as he sneered, “Do you think you can protect him?” With that, he held nothing back, and his longsword once again aimed straight at Tian Jizhi.
The man in black opposite him also showed no further courtesy. He drew a Fourth-Grade Standard Saber (ordinary saber) and, in a flash, closed in on Black Mist Feathered Ascension, blocking his longsword with the saber. Instantly, the two were locked in fierce combat.
Since both were concealing their identities, they suppressed their Feathered Ascension realm cultivation to the extreme, using only the simplest moves to fight and not daring to unleash large-scale Feathered Ascension Dao Arts.
Even so, each swing of the saber and sword was infused with powerful True Qi.
Though it appeared to be simple slashing and hacking, any ordinary cultivator—even one at the Late Golden Core Stage—would perish upon contact.
Seeing that these two Feathered Ascension True-Persons had already begun fighting, Mo Hua made a decisive move and immediately slipped away.
This situation was far beyond his ability to “observe.” The slightest misstep—a stray sword energy or a flash of saber light—could easily cost him his life.
Having wandered the cultivation world for many years and witnessed countless spectacles, Mo Hua knew exactly which scenes were safe to watch and which were not.
Moreover, Mo Hua wasn’t sure whether these two Feathered Ascension cultivators had detected him or not.
But regardless, if he didn’t run now, he might truly be unable to escape later.
Taking advantage of the Feathered Ascension cultivators’ fierce battle, while their Divine-Sense was focused on countering each other’s moves, Mo Hua stealthily slipped away while remaining hidden.
Only after putting nearly ten miles between himself and the scene did Mo Hua finally let out a slow sigh of relief.
In the distance, the fluctuations from the Feathered Ascension cultivators’ clash continued to ripple outward. Though both sides were restrained, the power of the True-Person realm above the Great Heavenly Cycle still left Mo Hua trembling with fear.
At the same time, however, Mo Hua was filled with even more doubts:
“Why wasn’t Elder Tian’s body buried in the Earth Sect’s ancestral tombs? Was it to avoid Corpse Dissolution, or was there another reason?”
“Why are these two Feathered Ascension cultivators fighting over Elder Tian’s corpse?”
“What use does Elder Tian’s corpse serve? And where is it now?”
“At this very moment, are there other Earth Ghosts pulling Elder Tian’s coffin through the earth below…”
Mo Hua’s gaze flickered slightly.
He had to find Elder Tián’s corpse and investigate the matter thoroughly…