Dragon Tamer

Zhu Minglang and Pan Shiming followed the path, only to discover a small temple nestled within the forest, built from local gray-and-white stones and coated with light red paint on the outside.

The temple was not large, with no steps leading up to it. One could walk straight in along the path and see many paper banners and wooden figures inside, as well as several cleanly butchered, simply cooked chickens and ducks placed in the center of large platters.

It was a local deity’s small temple offering worship to an unknown immortal god, as not even a single statue was seen.

No sooner had the two stepped into the temple than the candles inside flared wildly, as if the temple were alive, sensing the intrusion of outsiders; it was like pairs of candlelit eyes suddenly widened, filled with deep hostility.

“Stop hiding; we know you are lurking here, basking in the offerings from the local villagers while you masquerade as a ghost god and do evil. You’re having quite the comfortable life, eh!” Zhu Minglang said with a sneer, addressing the temple’s offerings.

Pan Shiming’s eyes were fixed on those candle flames, while the Golden Lion Purple Dragon outside kept a vigilant eye on the surroundings, seeming to detect something threatening.

“Hurrllll”

An odd cry sounded, like the growling intestines of a massive, hungry creature.

Suddenly the temple began to shake and rapidly rose from the ground. Immediately afterward, the temple doors slammed shut, startling Zhu Minglang and Pan Shiming into hurriedly jumping out.

By the time they leapt out, they were already midair, and the foundation of the temple seemed impossibly deep, still not revealing its bottom despite the continuous rise.

When Zhu Minglang and Pan Shiming took another look at the sacrificial temple, they realized it was not a temple at all, but rather a bizarre entity with the head of a temple hall!

Its body, like a radish, was buried in the soil, and its head was the stone-built temple, with the so-called doors merely its gaping mouth!

Made of mud for its body and stone for its skull, colorful mushrooms covered it from head to toe, and countless root-like tendrils grew all around.

“What on earth is this thing!” Pan Shiming exclaimed in surprise.

“It’s one of the immortal ghosts, with a cultivation base of thirteen thousand years. That’s it,” Zhu Minglang said confidently.

As for how many types of immortal ghosts there are, even the major powers can’t clearly distinguish them now. This is a kind of powerful holy spirit never seen before, and its transformation into something so terrifying is said to be connected to the folk offerings made on this land.

Offerings were supposed to be for the immortal gods, but why it turned into an immortal ghost that wantonly slaughters cultivators is unknown.

Immortal ghosts do not attack ordinary people much, especially civilians; in their eyes, they almost exclusively focus on cultivators.

This has led the locals to believe even more that immortal ghosts are the incarnations of local deities, punishing those Dragon Shepherds and God and Mortals who defy the heavens with their cultivation.

The Holy Lion Purple Dragon had already pounced, armed with the claws of a male lion and powerful fangs. Its entire body was covered in scales as tough as purple crystals, giving it a formidable ability in close combat.

The stone temple immortal ghost was adept at sorcery. It stomped on the ground, causing the rocks from all over to be lifted into the air. Then, it spread its limbs like a magnet, attracting all nearby rocks to its body.

“Clang clang clang clang!!!!!!”

Each rock became a part of its body, and no matter how the Holy Lion Purple Dragon destroyed its parts, more rocks would soon fly over from afar to repair the damage.

Moreover, as more rocks and gravel from the forest adhered to it, the body of the stone temple immortal ghost grew increasingly grand and majestic.

It didn’t take long for the Stone Fairy and Ghost to morph into a massive, stone-built pavilion, majestic and sturdy, emanating a terrifying sense of power from every part of its body!!

The Holy Lion Purple Dragon was quickly overpowered and sent flying by the increasingly mighty Stone Fairy and Ghost.

Pu Shiming, seeing the dire situation, immediately called out a Red Dragon and, mounting its back, flew toward the edge of the woods.

“Zhu Minglang, you hold it off for a while, I’ll call our fellow Sect Brothers over,” said Pu Shiming before he swiftly made his escape.

With a cultivation base spanning thirteen thousand years and the ability to assimilate stones from the earth, this Stone Fairy and Ghost had likely reached Peak Monarch Level, significantly stronger than the deceptively cunning River Immortal Ghost they had encountered before.

As for Pu Shiming, his speed in abandoning his teammate left Zhu Minglang somewhat dumbfounded.

Even if it was Peak Monarch Level, how could Pu Shiming with his strength possibly not be able to handle it?

This fellow, intentionally seeking cooperation with him, clearly had no good intentions.

Most likely, he wanted to have him killed.

And Zhu Minglang had no quarrel with him…

Zhu Minglang didn’t run either.

If it had been before, Zhu Minglang truly wouldn’t have been confident in taking down this Stone Fairy and Ghost, but with the Heavenly Slaughter Dragon at his side, the daunting Stone Fairy and Ghost had become a minor character!

“Heavenly Slaughter Dragon, your fodder…” Just as Zhu Minglang was about to summon the Dragon King, to strongly chastise the brazen Stone Fairy and Ghost, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound coming from the sky above the woods.

Zhu Minglang looked up and saw a slim and lean figure diving down at high speed from the barren branches stretching into the sky; the figure held the Shadowless Sword, cleaving downwards from a high position, with hundreds of overlapping sword shadows coming together to form an incredibly stunning streak of sword light!

“Swish!!!!”

The sword light fell upon the Stone Fairy and Ghost’s head and then ripped through its body; the angle chosen was just perfect, splitting it neatly in two!

The Stone Fairy and Ghost was cleaved open, collapsing towards the ground like a building, but the moment it touched the earth, the soil suddenly became as soft as sand, quickly swallowing the broken body of the Stone Fairy and Ghost.

The slender figure attacked again, with golden Sword Patterns branding the soil, resembling symbols capable of banishing and liberating malevolent spirits, and the ground beneath suddenly split apart. Blood could be seen seeping out, and before long, it formed a stream of blood, crisscrossing in all directions…

“Gurgle, gurgle!!!!!”

Screams emerged from beneath the ground, and the Shadowless Sword struck once more, piercing into the depths. Then the blood gushed forth like a wellspring, as if something enormous hidden beneath the mud had its artery sliced open.

A land that bleeds?

Zhu Minglang watched, somewhat captivated.

After a long spray of blood, the earth finally regained some semblance of calm.

Zhu Xuehen gestured, and the Shadowless Sword flew out from the crevices in the ground, returning to her palm, and then was cleanly sheathed back into its scabbard.