Chapter 25: Master, You’ve Been Lying to Me
This illusion didn’t last long before Wei Zixi realized the truth. He immediately swung his sword to dispel the nightmare.
As soon as he broke out of the illusion, the first person he looked at was still Ming Ji. This time, not only was the hand holding the sword trembling, but his voice could not hide his disappointment.
Then, the sword blade instantly pointed at Ming Ji. Wei Zixi’s eyes carried a tinge of scarlet.
“For so long… it turns out you were lying to me!”
Ming Ji had no spiritual power at the moment. When the cold blade pressed against his neck, he could only passively lift his chin, his face full of pain and disbelief.
“Zixi, I have never lied to you…”
Seeing the scene before him, the Thousand-Faced Ghost found it amusing—the usually high and aloof Immortal Venerable was now being glared at in anger by the disciple he had always trusted.
Thinking this, he became even more arrogant. Coupled with seeing that Wei Zixi’s words and actions were already controlled by the illusion, a more interesting idea suddenly formed in his heart.
He took a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and threw it to Wei Zixi, his voice carrying a tempting tone. “Take the medicine to restore your power. Afterward… do what you want to do.”
It wasn’t strange for the Thousand-Faced Ghost to be so confident—those controlled by the illusion would obey the commands of the array setter. Even Golden Core cultivators with high cultivation couldn’t escape, let alone Wei Zixi, who had just reached Foundation Establishment.
Being drawn upon by his most beloved little disciple, this stainless Immortal Venerable must be in agony.
The Thousand-Faced Ghost watched as Wei Zixi pointed at Ming Ji with resentment, a smile slowly rising on his lips, ready to watch this good show.
“Master, why did you lie to me? I trusted you so much.” Wei Zixi took the porcelain bottle handed by the Thousand-Faced Ghost. After swallowing the pill to restore his cultivation, his palm trembled so much he could hardly hold the sword, his face unable to hide his pain.
“Don’t be deceived by the illusion…”
Just as Ming Ji spoke and his expression softened slightly, he heard the Thousand-Faced Ghost issue another order: “Your Master is inherently this kind of hypocritical wretch. Why do you still believe him?”
Hearing this, Wei Zixi hesitated no longer. The obsession hidden in his eyes was completely exposed. Wielding the sword, he slashed his strongest move toward Ming Ji.
The triumph in the Thousand-Faced Ghost’s eyes was about to shine through as he kept speaking sarcastic words to humiliate Ming Ji.
“Immortal Ming Ji, look…”
Just as he finished this sentence, in the blink of an eye—
The move Wei Zixi slashed changed direction with lightning speed, attacking the Thousand-Faced Ghost directly.
It was too sudden. The Thousand-Faced Ghost didn’t have time to dodge. Moreover, because of the upcoming sacrifice of the women, he had already lost a large amount of ghost power. In that moment, he was actually injured by Wei Zixi, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In a flash, he was knocked back by this sword strike, slamming into the stone wall and smashing a hole in it, causing crushed stone and dust to fill the air.
Unexpectedly, the Thousand-Faced Ghost rose unhurriedly from the stone wall and burst into loud laughter.
“Good, very good.”
“A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator can actually break my illusion and even hurt me.” He suddenly lost his patience. Ghostly energy slowly condensed in his palm until it formed a vortex.
“Immortal Ming, you really raised a good disciple!”
Having said that, the Thousand-Faced Ghost immediately waved his palm to attack Wei Zixi’s face.
But he was still careless.
When that massive amount of ghost energy attacked, it was blocked by a more powerful weapon.
The Thousand-Faced Ghost spoke the weapon’s name, feeling even more amused.
Then, he looked at the owner of this weapon—Ming Ji stood holding the Xuanshuang Sword, his aura as cold as the blade itself.
“Immortal Ming is indeed formidable, completely unaffected by the Scattering Spirit Powder.”
Ming Ji looked at his still gloomy expression, becoming more alert in his heart. Standing in front of Wei Zixi, his face grew even colder.
“Immortal Venerable, I forgot to tell you—”
The Thousand-Faced Ghost wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he deliberately dragged out his tone to keep them in suspense. “The Spirit Sacrifice Array requires a person to exert cultivation to attack the center of the array. And now, it is already noon.”
“What a coincidence,” he said, laughing loudly. “Just now, your disciple slashed that sword strike.”
At this point, the Thousand-Faced Ghost couldn’t be bothered to talk nonsense. He rushed over, ready to press the array seal formed by the Spirit Sacrifice Array.
Ming Ji’s eyes narrowed. As spiritual power swirled around him, his white robes fluttered wildly in the wind.
Holding Xuanshuang, it unsheathed in an instant and flew out as a beam of sword light, directly interrupting the next step of the array.
“Not bad.” The Thousand-Faced Ghost dodged sideways, looking comfortable.
“Then let me experience Immortal Venerable’s skills.”
He was extremely arrogant. Even though he had lost a lot of cultivation just now, he continued to exert ghost power with one hand, while using his free hand to condense ghost energy to attack Ming Ji directly.
Ming Ji waved a blast of sword qi, quickly dispersing the move. His sideways glance seemed like an inadvertent look back, happening to look toward the array.
Getting the answer he wanted, Ming Ji snapped back to attention, then quickly attacked, blocking the Thousand-Faced Ghost’s surprise assault.
“Immortal Ming, you’re distracted even in this situation?” The Thousand-Faced Ghost smiled sinisterly, the angle of every move extremely tricky and vicious.
“Who is the master behind you?” Ming Ji asked slowly.
The moves in front of him became faster and faster, and he also detected the anomaly: every time Xuanshuang clashed with the ghost energy, the monster’s malice grew heavier.
Ming Ji didn’t expect the Thousand-Faced Ghost to answer this question. He probed again with a suspicious tone, “Is it someone from the cultivation world?”
“Immortal Venerable is brilliant; presumably, you already have a conclusion in your heart.” The Thousand-Faced Ghost smiled, yet not a smile, his ghost palm rolling up like wind, feeling incredibly cold.
Or is it one of those people who bullied his body before?
Ming Ji pondered, feeling he had fallen into a trap.
By now, nearly an hour had passed. Perhaps because his cultivation hadn’t fully recovered, counting carefully, he had exchanged over a hundred moves with the Thousand-Faced Ghost.
The Thousand-Faced Ghost naturally realized this too.
According to the intelligence he obtained, if Ming Ji had recovered his Nascent Soul cultivation, he should have been repelled long ago. But now…
Thinking this, he seemed to learn some hidden news and laughed arrogantly without concealment. “Immortal Venerable, are you really still at Nascent Soul cultivation?”
“You talk too much.”
Ming Ji didn’t give him time to gloat, thrusting his sword toward the Thousand-Faced Ghost’s chest.
As expected, although the Thousand-Faced Ghost’s heart hadn’t formed flesh and blood yet, it was enough to cause him heavy damage.
“Immortal Venerable is indeed powerful, but it’s a pity…” The Thousand-Faced Ghost was heavily injured, a large gash torn in his chest, bleeding hideously.
However, he turned a blind eye to his wound, as if unaware of his situation, his attitude remaining leisurely.
Soon, the cave became a deep place shrouded in ghost mist. The surrounding withered vegetation swayed as the ghost energy condensed in the Thousand-Faced Ghost’s hands, as if drawing some precious air.
“The sacrifice is complete—”
As his voice fell, the sacrificial altar instantly filled with eerie ghost energy, surrounding the ninety-nine beautiful women. Like claiming lives, the ghost energy slowly spread.
The women froze, as if sensing their fate. They were so scared they couldn’t even scream, their faces ashen as they hugged each other, trembling.
Seeing these pale-faced women out of the corner of his eye, the Thousand-Faced Ghost gained immense satisfaction.
He looked provocatively at Ming Ji again, deepening the surrounding cold ghost energy, and said, “Immortal Venerable, why aren’t you saving them?”
Ming Ji remained a cold bystander, acting as if he didn’t care about their lives, not moving even half a step.
Seeing this, the women looked more terrified by the second, their voices intermittent: “Immortal Venerable… save me, save us!”
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