The Attack of the Wastrel

In order not to attract the unwanted attention of Liu Yiyan in their discussions, the Martial Sages and Demigods put an Isolating Shield around them. However, the owner of the Sacred Lands, Gu Lingzhi could hear everything that they were saying. She had control of everything that was inside the Sacred Lands.

After conveying the contents of their discussion to Rong Yuan, he pursed his lips, “Wow, Pan Wuyang is wonderful at pretending to be a good person.”

Even though he held a tone of mockery, his eyes had a murderous glint to it.

“There’s definitely another motive behind this,” Gu Lingzhi frowned, trying to decipher the meaning behind Pan Wuyang’s words.

However, Pan Wuyang’s plots were useless as long as they were in the Sacred Lands.

In a blink of an eye, three days had passed. More and more Martial Artists flocked to the Sacred Lands and in a few days, the place had become overcrowded. There were also a countless number of Martial Artists that had given up their life whilst trying to get the treasures. It was a pity that most of these Martial Artists were low-ranking. To the Royal Palace of the North Qiu Kingdom, these were small fry that could be sacrificed.

Meanwhile, the Huanyang Grass and Accelerating Advancement Pill had attracted many Martial Artists to enter the Sacred Lands. However, most of them had turned away after learning about the conditions that they had to fulfill in order to get into the main palace. Only a small portion of people who thought that they were talented would try their luck.

A pity that none of these people had managed to make it into the main palace. This made Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan, who had made it to the seventh level, to be regarded as gods.

Suddenly, after three days of silence on the seventh level, there was a loud sound that filled the entire place. A dazzling arc of golden light shone from the seventh level, together with a strong wave of powerful energy.

In the main palace, Su Ruo, who had been sitting, suddenly opened her eyes. Her eyes were full of life and energy. The most surprising thing was her appearance. Originally, she looked like a seventy-year-old elderly woman, but now that she had advanced to a Demigod, she looked like her thirty-year-old self again. Though her appearance could not be compared to the youthfulness of a teenager, she was filled with the charm and elegance of a grown woman.

“Was that… a Demigod?” Pan Wuyang’s face darkened as he felt the spiritual energy pulsating out from the seventh level.

He did not think that the Accelerating Advancement Pill was so effective that it would allow a Martial Sage who was almost at the end of her life to advance to a Demigod in just three days. Now, her longevity would increase twofold. What other powerful treasures could the main palace have?

“Pass on the message to Ding Rou to try even harder to get Rong Yuan to marry her the moment he leaves the Sacred Lands,” Pan Wuyang appeared to mutter to himself as he looked towards the seventh level of the main palace.

However, the moment he had finished his sentence, there was an almost undetectable light gust of wind that blew from beside him, which meant that someone had gone to do what he had instructed.

“Hmm? There has been a shift in the spiritual energies outside the main palace. Why did I not detect it?” Gu Lingzhi cried in shock, unable to congratulate Su Ruo on becoming a Demigod.

Gu Lingzhi had been monitoring every single action that Pan Wuyang had taken. She had clearly heard what Pan Wuyang had muttered to himself.

However, there wasn’t anyone beside Pan Wuyang, what was that shift in spiritual energy around him?

“What’s wrong?” Rong Yuan asked Gu Lingzhi telepathically as he smiled and congratulated Su Ruo.

Gu Lingzhi then realized that she had lost her manners momentarily, so she walked towards Su Ruo and gave her blessings, “Congratulations, Elder Su, on becoming a Demigod. Now, Elder Mei will not have to shed any more tears secretly.”

“Who are you talking about? Who’s shedding tears secretly?” Mei Ying hurriedly defended himself, “I wasn’t crying, I was tired from channeling my spiritual energy to Lady Meng.”

“Yes, you’re the most hardworking person here. While Elder Hua was having cold sweats on his forehead from exhaustion, your eyes were sweating instead.”

“…Hahaha,” Su Ruo could not help but laugh. Both Mei Ying and Su Ruo had playful personalities. Now that their only worry has been solved – not only did Su Ruo advance to a Demigod, but even her appearance had been restored – she was naturally in a good mood. After hearing Gu Lingzhi mock her husband, Su Ruo could not help but giggle, “Lingzhi, don’t mind him, his temper has always been like that and he always says things that he doesn’t mean. He really thinks that I don’t know how many times he has cried secretly behind my back, but I know him too well. He wants to be known as a strong man that doesn’t cry easily, so just pretend like you haven’t seen anything.”

Su Ruo’s words had successfully managed to rile him up, he stomped over indignantly and yelled, “When have I ever cried behind your back? It was just some sand that entered my eyes, how can you lay out my flaws in front of others? Be careful what you say, or else!”

After which, Mei Ying immediately chased after Su Ruo. Even though he held a fierce expression as he hugged her, it immediately became one of tenderness the moment he touched her. As they embraced each other, Hua Qingcheng watched as his eyes reddened. He turned to look at Meng Rou who was still in the ice coffin.

Mei Ying and Hua Qingcheng had tried their best to help Meng Rou’s body absorb the spiritual energy of the Huanyang Grass. Now, the only thing that they could do was wait for her to wake up.

As Hua Qingcheng got caught up in his own thoughts, and Mei Ying and his wife got engrossed in their own happiness, Rong Yuan decided to confront Gu Lingzhi telepathically about what had happened earlier.

Gu Lingzhi hesitated for a while, before she lowered herself and spoke in his ear in a hushed tone about what had happened earlier. After hearing her description, Rong Yuan’s brows furrowed and thought of something that he had once read about in the ancient records. “Could it be that Invisible Beings really exist in this world?”

“Invisible Beings?” Gu Lingzhi raised her eyebrows, “What are they?”

“They’re Death Troops that are unique to the North Qiu Kingdom,” Rong Yuan explained, “They gather children from the different kingdoms and feed them a kind of special medicine every day. If they do not die after a hundred days, their bodies go through shocking transformations such that they slowly become transparent, until they can successfully camouflage with the air. I didn’t think that such a vicious possibility would exist.”

From Rong Yuan’s tone, even if he did not explain the process in detail, Gu Lingzhi could understand the cruelness behind it, causing her to shudder involuntarily. Understandably, she hated the Royal Palace of the North Qiu Kingdom even more after knowing this.

“If what you said about the Invisible Beings are true, then the power that the North Qiu Kingdom holds is truly something to be afraid of.”

Rong Yuan did not reply to her, but the look in his eyes told her that he agreed.

Initially, she thought that having control over the Sacred Lands could guarantee her victory. However, now that she had been told about the Invisible Beings, things were not as simple anymore. It was detrimental to their plans.

“Aren’t they just a few invisible children? What is there to be afraid of?” Liu Yiyan suddenly interrupted, though he sounded nonchalant. “As long as it is still a person, he would still have a physical body. With a Restrictive Shield, they won’t be able to hide as long as they have a physical body.”

Subsequently, Liu Yiyan shifted his thumb that was placed on his lap. On an empty piece of land that had no one on it, there suddenly appeared a trail of blood, as well as a few gasps that sounded out, as if someone had been hurt.

“See? As long as it is still alive, he or she would still need to breathe and would still get hurt all the same. As long as you concentrate, you can definitely find where they are. Use the Restrictive Shields in the Sacred Lands too, and you’ll be able to catch them.”

Upon coming to this realization, Gu Lingzhi started to ponder about how she would fight if she ever encountered Invisible Beings.

On the piece of empty ground, no one had noticed the trail of blood that had suddenly appeared. The Invisible Being that had gotten the instruction from Pan Wuyang assumed that he had accidentally walked into the Restrictive Shield. He got up and started to run towards Ding Rou.

However, he was not going to finish his mission. Though Gu Lingzhi had never dealt with Invisible Beings before, she knew exactly how to get rid of them now.

Following what Liu Yiyan had told him, she concentrated on sensing the movement of blood around her. After she took a deep breath, she could sense an unfamiliar shift in energies from a particular direction. Suddenly, with a lift of her right hand, she moved the Restrictive Shield right in front of the Invisible Being.

The next second, the Invisible Being bumped onto the Restrictive Shield again and got injured by the repulsive energy of the Shield. Fresh blood oozed out of him.

A day later when Su Ruo’s cultivation had been stabilized, she and Mei Ying were sent out of the main palace by Liu Yiyan. Meng Rou, who had been lifeless this entire time, started to stir.

Though her chest had not been moving this entire time, there were now faint signs of a heartbeat. Her rate of breathing also picked up speed. In the next two hours, her bodily functions had returned to normal. By dawn the next day, she finally opened her eyes that had been closed for a few millennia. Under the gaze of Hua Qingcheng, her body started to regain its vigor.

Meng Rou had panicked for a little while when she looked at the man in front of her, who was sloppy and unkempt. However, once she had recognized Hua Qingcheng’s eyes, she opened her mouth, wanting to say something. However, nothing came out because her throat was hoarse as she had not spoken for a long time.

“Xiao Rou, don’t you say a thing. Your body has yet to recover, you have to rest,” Hua Qingcheng held her hand tenderly against his cheek, “I’ll tell you everything once you’re better.”

Although there were many things that she had wanted to ask, she knew that Hua Qingcheng was right. Meng Rou’s body was still very weak – opening her eyes alone made her exhausted. Under Hua Qingcheng’s coaxing, she slipped back into unconsciousness.

This time, however, it was not into a deep sleep, but just a short nap.

Witnessing the reconciliation of the couple made Gu Lingzhi touched beyond words. However, it did not catch her attention for long, because a voice suddenly came from the window.

“Lingzhi, are you inside? Father is here to see you.”