Chapter 369: Wishing For A Hundred!

Chapter 369: Wishing For A Hundred!

North of Mount Shu was the Bombax River, and the wind was blowing fiercely and relentlessly there. Under the mellow moonlight, a strange black wine jar emerged from the river and drifted down the river. After a short distance, the wine jar came to an abrupt stop, bobbing up and down as it exuded a chilling aura.

A while later, a remnant soul that had lost its rationality approached. The moment it neared the mouth of the jar, the black hand of a ghost extended out from the jar and dragged the soul inside. Then the wine jar shook with the rhythm of a person chewing their food.

If someone were to follow the wine jar as it drifted along the Bombax River, they would eventually find themselves in an extremely well-hidden underwater cave. Then if they entered the cave, they would end up traveling through a long, narrow waterway and arrive at a strange pitch-black area where a mysterious force prevented all living creatures from approaching.

Whenever aquatic creatures entered this black area, they would disappear and then reappear at some corner upstream in the river. If they ventured further into this magical black hole... they would find an underwater cavern.

The cavern was filled with talismans of gold and silver colors. It looked like a cage where a monster had been sealed, but the only resident of this underwater cavern was an old man with disheveled hair, a dirty face, and raggedy clothes.

His messy hair and beard had almost completely covered his face. Peeking out from behind his hair, his pitch-black eyes shone brightly like stars, still burning with the will to survive. He looked like a cold-blooded beast that had gone mad from being trapped.

"Haa..."

The old man exhaled and placed the empty wine jar in his left hand on the ground. Then, treating the fingers on his left hand like a saber, he used them to slash his already cut and bruised right hand.

Sizzle.

His veins had almost dried up, but he still managed to squeeze out a few drops of blood into the wine jar. The blood immediately transformed into a black substance that exuded a chilling aura. The pain of forcing his blood out left him clenching his teeth in agony.

Something seemed to stir inside the wine jar, causing it to rock gently. The old man shoved the wine jar into the black hole in the wall with great force.

Boom.

As the wine jar was sent out, ripples flickered across the black hole. Cheêck out latest novels on n/o/ve/l/bin(.)c/o/m

That was when the old man finally lay down on the ground with satisfaction, his head dripping with sweat. He'd sent out another Spirit-Slaying Jar into the world.

The old man's name was Xuan Yinzi. He had once been a prominent and extremely powerful figure among the diabolical sects, capable of shaking up the whole world. Of his many titles, the most illustrious one was the Sect Leader of the Dark King Sect.

That's right. Xuan Yinzi used to lead the largest diabolical sect, the Dark King Sect. He had undoubtedly been the top figure among those in the diabolical sects. However, the glorious first half of his life started to decline when he took on a taciturn and reserved disciple.

That boy...

Just the thought of that disciple still had Xuan Yinzi gritting his teeth in rage.

Xuan Yinzi had imparted his divine arts to that disciple and even made the disciple his trusted assistant. He had no idea that the disciple had harbored ill intentions against him.

...

That disciple had somehow managed to secretly gain control over the True Form of Ksitigarbha. With its power, that disciple went on to snatch away Xuan Yinzi's control over the Great Dao of the Profound Darkness and became the new Dao Master of the Profound Darkness. That disciple then naturally became the Dark King Sect's new sect leader.

Xuan Yinzi's cultivation level fell miserably to the seventh and a half realm. On top of that, his disciple banished him, forbidding him from returning to the Dark King Sect in this life.

Nevertheless, Xuan Yinzi did not get discouraged. He wanted to reclaim everything he had lost, but that was impossible with his current cultivation level. He had to return to the highest level he had achieved in the past... and surpass it!

However, five hundred was Chu Liang's limit. He really wished he could kill a hundred each day! Nevertheless, there were never more than ten.

So, Chu Liang implemented a reservation system. All members of the Mount Shu Sect could put in a reservation to purchase the Fragrance of Enlightenment, and their names would go into a lucky draw. The winners of the lucky draw would get to purchase fifty sticks of Fragrance of Enlightenment.

Consequently, all of Mount Shu was waiting eagerly. Those who didn't win awaited the next draw, those who did waited for their shipment, and those who had already received their incense used it up very quickly and wanted more.

The craze over the Fragrance of Enlightenment even overshadowed the rumors about Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai. Everyone forgot about how the Fragrance of Enlightenment was revealed; they just wanted to try it.

It was an aid in comprehending the Dao! Was there a stronger temptation for cultivators? There were extremely few treasures with such effects in the world, so this was the first time there was something that everyone in the sect had a chance of acquiring.

The berries that Chu Liang sold were popular too, but they were seen as more of a novelty item, whereas the Fragrance of Enlightenment was undoubtedly useful. This was why the sect members had a very different attitude to the latter.

However, the great enthusiasm of Chu Liang's fellow sect members left him feeling totally helpless. After all, Chu Liang couldn't split himself in two. Even if he used the Immortal Art: External Manifestation, he couldn't send his clones more than a thousand li away. The Intoxicating Spirit Flower Seeds would only be given as a reward if he killed the wine-jar monsters in person, but he couldn't easily abandon his rare undercover position in the White Bone Hall.

While Chu Liang was thinking about all that, almost ten top talents from various sects arrived at Silver Sword Peak. They had agreed in advance to meet on Mount Shu before leaving to converge with Ghost Face.

Of course, the veteran undercover agents Monk Pushan and Luo Yao—the core members of Chu Liang undercover team—were there too. They had become quite familiar with Silver Sword Peak, yet every time they went there, they would be amazed to find that it was slightly different from before. It was currently the off-season for the Berry Wonderland, but if Pushan and Luo Yao had gone to visit earlier, they would have been even more shocked.

Next up was Zhuge Guanxing from the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals. The beautiful young man smiled, and his eyes narrowed into narrow crescent slits, making him seem rather astute.

As Zhuge Guanxing glanced around Silver Sword Peak, he grinned and said, "I heard that Mount Shu had a new fruit garden, but I didn't expect it to be this large.

"Oh? A sixth-realm Golden-Furred Hou? Well, that's impressive.

"Is that Senior Di Nufeng's residence? Let's avoid it."

Ji Lingyu had arrived with the four core disciples of the Great Astral Sect. This runaway youth was actually missing home, but her family hadn't come looking for her. Returning on her own would be too embarrassing, so she decided to stay with this group for now.

The core disciples of the Great Astral Sect showed no signs of discord. The time for the most important part and most brutal competition of the trial was soon approaching, but their bond remained strong.

They all respected their eldest senior brother Ren Hongdao, cared deeply for their junior sister Tang Shi, fully trusted the wise[1] and courageous Yun Chaoxian, and greatly admired the skills of Li Fujian's second uncle.

Chu Liang was not surprised by that. It was well known that the Great Astral Sect was of one mind, so they wouldn't have any problems with unity.

Zhang Chen, the last member of the undercover squad, wasn't there.

"Brother Zhang asked me to apologize to everyone," Ren Hongdao said. "The academy assigned him an important mission at the last minute, so he can't join us for this operation."

Chu Liang felt a bit regretful about that. The head disciple of the Ascending Dragon Academy had left a deep impression on Chu Liang. He had a feeling that Zhang Chen was the strongest among them. Even if Zhang Chen wasn't the best fighter, he was definitely the most reliable.

"No matter. We have many people in our group; Ghost Face shouldn't mind that we're one less," Chu Liang replied.

It was common for diabolical sects to gain or lose a member anyway.

1. Lol no, this isn't a translation mistake. It could also be interpreted as “resourceful”, but considering the way the author likes to joke around, it should probably be “wise”. ☜