Ghosts shouldn’t exist in this world. After a certain period of time, lightning would strike and kill these ghosts, not allowing them to exist.
Specters were the strongest of these ghosts, just like cultivators for humans. After reaching a certain level, they would have to face lightning tribulation.
Those surpassing one were called One-Tribulation Ghost.
Those surpassing two were called Two-Tribulation Ghost.
Three was Three-Tribulation Ghost King.
Four was Four-Tribulation Ghost King.
However, this type of cultivation was not tolerated by the heaven and earth even more than corpse evils. The tribulation was unbelievably strong. Surpassing two was hard enough; surpassing three to become a Ghost King was even rarer.
A Three-Tribulation Ghost King was on the same level as a Giant, hence Feiyun’s worries. Jingyue and he wouldn’t be able to scream for help if there was one around.
“Put away your mirror, spirit treasure is useless against specters.” Feiyun said.
She didn’t know as much about specters and had to listen to him: “What do we do then?”
Because she had never trained in treasure-seeking arts, she simply couldn’t detect them. This made her even more nervous despite trying to act calm. Nevertheless, she inched closer to Feiyun.
“Run out!” With a serious gaze, he grabbed her waist and pulled her into his chest before using Swift Samsara.
He was certain that this creature was a Three-Tribulation Ghost King. As long as he made it out of this place, the ancestors from the Yin Gou would be able to suppress it.
“Boom!” A nether gale carrying a monstrous force like an ice mountain slammed into the two, blowing them back into the room.
“Shit, a second one?! Goddamn, your clan is purposely grooming these ghosts?” Feiyun’s chest was aching with blood dripping down. His flesh got pulverized in that area.
Jingyue wasn’t feeling good either. Her dress stained with blood as beads of sweat dripped down. Her injuries were much worse than Feiyun so she shuddered and tumbled, unable to stand straight. Her physical constitution was no match for his.
“So unlucky each time I see you, something bad will definitely happen.” Feiyun spat blood and saliva on the ground. His mouth was aching as if it was being pricked by many blades. Nevertheless, he still continued to help Jingyue and headed back to deeper into the place.
Jingyue was a top expert of the young generation and might be even stronger than Feiyun. Alas, she couldn’t handle a Giant’s attack and her body wasn’t as ridiculous as Feiyun’s.
She couldn’t gather spirit energy anymore and would only be waiting to die if Feiyun didn’t take her away. Though she was annoyed, she couldn’t actually refute his statement.
Their first meeting ended up with her chasing him for miles.
The second meeting, the two of them were attacked by corpses in the underground temple. Feiyun nearly died to the Evil Woman in that event too.
The third meeting, Feiyun was expelled from his clan and became a target.
The fourth meeting was at Duo Village and that disaster. He almost died there too.
The fifth meeting, oh my, they’re meeting a Ghost King right in her clan. How could he not think that she was his unlucky star?
Jingyue lied on his back with an amused glint. She looked quite charming even in this state and said: “You’re the one possessed by misfortune so don’t blame it on me. I should be the one blaming you for wanting to go here, head first into the trap, idiot.”
Nether gales were screeching with strange noises. It sounded like the ghosts were crying.
As they went deeper inside, the noises became clearer. This place was completely haunted with so many Ghost Kings waiting inside to taste flesh.
Feiyun said seriously: “There are at least three Ghost Kings around here, there’s no escaping. Our only chance of survival is to run back into that room with the painting.
“I see. The specters didn’t dare to come in that room, there must be something there driving them away.” Jingyue’s eyes flashed, understanding his idea right away.
Suddenly, another bone-chilling gale came from the back.
“Hold on tight!” Feiyun noticed and shouted.
He then let go of her and formed a mudra for the Minor Change Art. A circular wave came out from his palm and destroyed the attacking Two-Tribulation Ghost.
Physical attacks were useless but a treasure-seeking master knew how to deal with them. The Minor Change Art was one of the eight techniques capable of taking down specters.
“Damn, this is really just a ghost nest, do your clan’s Giants not come to check this place?” Feiyun took down four specters in a row and was vexed.
Jingyue was grabbing his neck with her jade hands. Her body pressed up tight against his. She still seemed fine and answered: “This place is forbidden for entry outside of the clan master or someone with his insignia. I only got here once during my youth because I look a bit similar to that statue by the river, so he brought me here. Others, including my brother, can’t come here.”
Feiyun had seen her face before so she had no need to hide this from him.
Just like she said, not too many could enter this place. Moreover, they haven’t cultivated treasure-seeking arts so the specters could hide from them. Even someone as strong as the clan master could miss them.
Of course, these ghosts needed to hide against the clan master. On the other hand, they had no fear of juniors like Jingyue and Feiyun. They directly came out, wanting to taste their flesh.
“Boom!” Endless energy came running with the howls of ghosts. The three Ghost Kings were coming.
Feiyun couldn’t stop it at all and felt his blood freezing up. He barely blocked them long enough to run into the one ancestral room before falling on the ground.
“Raa!” The winds and howls raged on outside as if there were a thousand of them. A coward would drop dead instantly from horror. However, they didn’t dare to come inside this room, seemingly afraid of a certain power.
He resisted the pain to get up and took out a spirit core. He held it and began to cure his wound, unaffected by the specters outside.
Dongfang Jingyue didn’t get hurt this time because Feiyun stopped them all for her. She gave a strange glance at him before taking out two spirit stones to begin her recovery.
After half an hour, Feiyun’s wound was much better than before. The pulverized flesh was coming back together.
‘This idiot is not bad, capable of withstanding three blows at the Giant level without dying. Don’t think anyone else in the young generation has the same physical strength.’ She was already better and stood in front of the painting, looking like a beauty from a painting herself.
Feiyun stared at her in a daze with his eyes growing bigger. He had an illusion earlier that she had just come out of the painting behind her. This feeling grew stronger because she seemed to be fusing with the painting as if they were originally one.
He recalled what she told him before, ‘This place is forbidden for entry outside of the clan master or someone with his insignia. I only got here once during my youth because I look a bit similar to that statue by the river, so he brought me here.’
She certainly looked much different as she grew older compared to her youth. How could anyone tell that she looked familiar to the statue back then?
Only the clan master could come in here, so there was no way she could enter if there was no resemblance forcing him to do so. Plus, her memories about this whole place were muddled as well.
He looked at the painting again and had a scary thought: ‘Could, could it be that Dongfang Jingyue isn’t related to the Yin Gou at all. She actually came out of the painting? That’s why she has a faint impression of it. That clan master is hiding the truth?’
This was only a speculation but it still greatly affected him.
“What are you looking at?” She asked. The wind blew up her white veil to reveal a face exactly identical to Shui Yueting.
At this moment, Feiyun only grew more astonished; his eyes were about to leave their socket.
Why? Because waves were coming out of the painting behind her. The lamp inside the shrine was emitting a radiance. What seems to be an invisible hand coming from the painting actually dragged her inside. Feiyun rushed over but it was too late.