My Master Disconnected Yet Again Chapter 261-270

Chapter 261: Healing Souls at Bai Yun

"You really have a way to treat Shortie?" Lonemoon anxiously asked.

Bai Ze glanced at Lonemoon, his blush reducing. He spoke more smoothly as well. "Bai Yun Mountain has a spirit spring that can treat souls."

Lonemoon's heart leaped. "Alright, let's set off immediately."

The few of them quickly restored the last temple and flew to the entrance of the main hall. Lonemoon looked down at Qian Yue, who was surveying their workmanship. "Supreme Divinity Qian Yue, the temples have been restored. We have caused much trouble to you this time. We have to rush and get our disciple treated, so we will not stay any longer."

Qian Yue nodded, not intending to make things any more difficult for the group. "Since my Thousand Feet Mountain has been restored to its original condition, I will not force you all to stay." He turned and glanced at Xuan Tong, as if guessing what they were thinking. He added, "This Miss Xuan Tong's primordial spirit is unstable. Even if she goes to the spirit spring, you all will need to use your immortal Qi to protect her. Otherwise, she would not be able to recover."

"Thank you for your advice, Supreme Divinity Qian Yue."

The few of them stayed no further and began to mount their swords. Qian Yue conjured a seal to bring part all the crystal peaks to form one straight path out of Thousand Feet Mountain.

"You're not coming?" Shen Ying turned around suddenly and asked.

Qian Yue paused. He looked around, then realised that Shen Ying was talking to him. He pondered for awhile and remembered that this woman was the one that Bai Ze had spent years looking for. Yet, he could not remember her name. He smoothly said, "It's not convenient for me to leave Thousand Feet Mountain. Please forgive me for not walking you all out."

Shen Ying tilted her head. "Why not? Aren't you injured as well?" Qian Yue suddenly turned pale. There was an indiscernible expression on his face. He immediately answered, "When I was battling with Bai Ze, I did get slightly injured. I just have to rest for awhile and I will be alright."

"Oh." Shen Ying did not press him any further.

A moment later, the group disappeared into the distance.

——————

"Shortie, how's your injury?" Lonemoon asked with a stern expression. He had immediately summoned the fan-shaped dharma artifact once they got out of Thousand Feet Mountain, pulling everyone on board.

"It's fine for now." Xuan Tong shook her head. "It's only my primordial spirit that's unstable. I'm not exactly injured.  As long as I'm not attacked by some kind of soul-extracting sorcery, I should be fine." "Yes." Lonemoon nodded and said, "I did not ask you this before - did you manage to get a clear look at the ghost immortal who attacked you?"

"Well…" Xuan Tong frowned and answered, "That man's body was covered with Yin Qi. My cultivation level is low - I did not manage to see his face."

"Was it a woman?"

She pondered for awhile and shook her head. "No. Although I could not see his face, I'm quite sure that he was not a woman."

Lonemoon and Yi Qing exchanged a meaningful glance. Their expressions darkened. "It looks like it was not Mother Feng who attacked Shortie."

"The other party's target is clear - it's Shortie's soul," Yi Qing said in a low voice. "She dodged the bullet this time, but the person will surely be more careful in the future." "That's right. Now we still have no idea who that person is and why he has his eyes on you." The more Lonemoon spoke, the more stern his expression became. "Before we find out, you'd better not leave our side. Or rather, you'd better not leave Shen Ying's side."

"Alright, your disciple understands." Xuan Tong's eyes brightened, as if she had just won a huge prize. "I will definitely not leave Sect Master!"

Yi Qing: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

Suddenly, Lonemoon and Yi Qing realised that they might have made a mistake. Could they really safely return to the immortal realm?

Lonemoon nudged the woman next to him who was chewing on a fruit. "Shen Ying, why are you…" Before he could finish, Shen Ying's eyes brightened. She answered loudly, "I remember!"

"What?" The group of them jumped. What did you remember?

Shen Ying turned and pointed to the person next to her. "So you are that Furball!"

Yi Qing: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

Xuan Tong: "…"

Bai Ze: "…"

You're just freaking remembering him now? ——————

Bai Yun Mountain was Bai Ze's abode. While Thousand Feet Mountain was filled with cold and hard crystal peaks,, Ling Tai Mountain was filled with cloud seas, Wu Qi Mountain was filled with greenery and the Dragon Abyss was filled with volcanoes, Bai Yun Mountain was exceptional. In between the layers of clouds stood a blindingly white temple. All around it was blue God Power. The place just did not feel as cold and intimidating as the other Supreme Divinities' places. All along the way, the group saw various types of immortal beasts. Among them, there were also many divine beings.

Only then did Lonemoon and his companions have time to understand the basic story behind the Divine Underworld. It was very different from the immortal realm - the Divine World's people were by nature more buddha like. They had no concept of territory. There were no complicated divisions into continents. The ordinary divine being went wherever he pleased, as long as he did not invade others' homes. The Divine World not only had the various divine beings but also had formidable beasts, gentle beasts, and strange wildlife. There were also some immortal cultivators who turned into mortal divinities. They were the ones who had been left behind when the immortal realm and divine realm split. All the divine beings were of various cultivation  levels. Among them, the four divine races were the strongest - dragons, phoenixes, Qilins and black turtles. The only thing was that Qilins and black turtles already became extinct since the ancient times. Dragons and phoenixes never got along and often found themselves in fights against each other.

In sum, the divine realm was a free-range place. It was no wonder that it fell out with the immortal realm. It had so much power, yet it ended up connecting itself to the Underworld instead of making it to the end with the Immortal Realm.

Among all the divine beings, there were only five people who were fit to be called Supreme Divinities. Lonemoon could not figure out if this was purely a coincidence, but Shen Ying and the rest had come into contact with every single one of them. Needless to say, Long Zhen and Feng San were Chef's parents. Apart from Bai Ze, there was also Supreme Divinity Hongyu. Bai Ze said that he was made out of the clear lotuses in the beginning of creation. He was the only vegetation spirit that turned into a divine being. He was absolutely pure and had nothing to fight for in this world. That was how he became the only divine being that survived from the ancient times. Ordinarily, his only hobby was to organise sermons. Over 90 percent of the divine beings in the Divine World had heard his sermons before. Supreme Divinity Qian Yue - the one who looked exactly like Lonemoon - was the only mortal divinity that became so by ascending from the immortal realm.

"Speaking of which, Father Niu, you look different in television as well." Shen Ying scanned him from head to toe. She still had some recollection of the nation's father, who was known in every house and every neighbourhood, and who always had a way of doing business.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes. "Stop looking at me like you're suspecting me of going for plastic surgery."

"…" She never mentioned plastic surgery.

"I look different from before because when I became a Nascent Soul, I had my body broken." Lonemoon shook the fan in his hand and proudly said, "I'm not like your chef - I was not born a sword cultivator. That's why I had to make use of the Heavenly Tribulation when I was becoming a Nascent Soul to reform my body and cleanse my meridians. That's why I look different." "Oh…" Shen Ying thought about the sect's colourful girls. Indeed, they looked different from before they went through the lightning tribulation. They even learned how to  change their forms.

"The way I look now is the result of breaking everything in my body to take on my most primordial form." Lonemoon's face was stern as he said, "Do you think I was born this handsome?"

"…" Where was his shame?

Chapter 262: A Buffet of Sea Creatures

"As for why that Qian Yue looks exactly like me, I have no idea as well." Perhaps it was a coincidence? Lonemoon frowned as if suddenly recalling something. "Shen Ying,, don't you think…"

He just started speaking when Bai Ze suddenly appeared beside them. He looked at Shen Ying excitedly and said, "Shen… Ying, come with me."

"What's the matter?" Shen Ying did not feel like moving away from the table.

"It's not something wrong with Shortie, is it?" Lonemoon jumped to his feet. Shortie had already been resting at the spirit spring for three days. There were still no update.

"No! She's doing very well. She can probably come out tomorrow." He spoke clearly once he turned to Lonemoon. "I just have a place where I want to bring Shen… Ying to."

"I'm not going" Shen Ying rejected him. She had no interest in matters that required her to move.

"…" Bai Ze stared anxiously at her. He thought of something, then retrieved a storage bag, handing it to her. "Give."

"What?" Shen Ying received it. She pulled it open and something slid out. It was long and smooth and had a slimy body. It dropped on the floor with a splat and kept wriggling.

What the hell?

"This isn't an… octopus is it?" Lonemoon prodded the leg on the table with his fan.

"It's a thousand-legged beast.," Bai Ze responded. He looked at Shen Ying, blushing.

"Can I eat it?" Bai Ze nodded profusely and said, "There are a lot…"

"Father Niu!" Shen Ying's eyes brightened. It was written all over her face: I want to go, I want to go, i want to go! Seafood, seafood, seafood!

╭(・ᄇ・)و̑̑

"You can go if you want to - I don't want to!" Lonemoon glared at the foodie. He was not going to go and be her bag-carrier.

"You should have said so earlier! Let's go!" Shen Ying jumped to her feed. She pulled Bai Ze's head along without looking back.

It's been a long time since she had seafood!

"Wait!" Lonemoon shouted after them. "Don't forget what we just talked about. While it's-" "I know!"

A reply came back but Lonemoon could no longer see her.

He narrowed his eyes and sat back down.

A while later…

Chef walked out with a plate of food in his hand. He glanced at the empty seat, not knowing how to respond. He looked blankly at Lonemoon. "Where's Master?" She had not finished eating her lunch. This was the first time this was happening!

Lonemoon raised his head and scanned Chef from head to toe. "She got lured away by someone's octopus."

Yi Qing's expression darkened. "Why didn't you stop Master?"

"Why should  I  stop  her?"  Lonemoon  retorted.  He  looked confusedly at Chef's murderous expression. There was a twinkle in his eye as he sighed. "Ah, women are unfaithful!"

"…"

Yi Qing's expression became even darker.

He wanted to kill a beast!

——————

Bai Ze brought Shen Ying to a huge lake. The water was so clear that one could see right to the bottom of the lake.It looked like a blue gem sitting on the ground. The lake was extremely big as well - Shen Ying could not see where it began."

"Furball, how should I catch them?" Shen Ying's eyes were bright. She had a bunch of names of the sea creatures filling her mind. "Should we drain the water?" Bai Ze stared in awe at Shen Ying's twinkling eyes. Then his face turned bright red. He quickly turned aside. "Wait… Wait for awhile."

He quickly took two steps away and stopped in front of the water. He conjured a seal, producing a flash of bright light. Bubbles began to surface at the water surface. Suddenly, a figure appeared from inside the lake. He was a middle-aged man in back robes. Yet, the lower half of his body were octopus legs, complete with the suckers.

This was the octopus?

"Thousand Legs greets the Supreme Divinity." The man bowed respectfully to Bai Ze, walking to the shore with his countless legs.

"Mm." Bai Ze nodded, recovering his cold demeanour. He reached out and said, "Give it to me."

"Supreme Divinity, you've finally decided to clear the demonic beasts from the lake!" Thousand Legs rejoiced, his excitement clear on his face.

Qian Ye Lake is nicely located at the south of Bai Yun Mountain. There were countless demonic beasts inside the water. Although they could say that those beasts had no spirit or intellect, there were still a lot of them. What's more, they had a tendency to emerge from the water and attack the beasts that walked by. As time went by, nobody dared to come to the lake. Some begged the Supreme Divinity to do something about it, but for some reason, the Supreme Divinity was determined not to clear them. All he did was to send Thousand Legs there to take charge of the place and ensure that the beasts did not come out to hurt others.

Now, Supreme Divinity finally decided to interfere in these matters. Thousand Legs had not felt so excited in a long time. He quickly reached out and plucked off a strand of his white hair. It turned into an octopus leg immediately. He handed it over to Supreme Divinity. "Supreme Divinity, I have long prepared it."

Bai Ze received the leg, turned and gave it to Shen Ying. "Shall we go fishing?" "How should we fish?" Shen Ying glanced at the thick octopus leg . She only knew how to eat. Hey, this leg was good for barbecuing!

"This Exalted Goddess," Thousand Legs quickly stepped forward and said. "The demonic beasts are familiar with my aura. As long as you throw this in, you will lure them toward you."

Shen Ying received the octopus leg and turned to ask, "Doesn't it hurt?" It must have hurt, even though he had so many legs.

Thousand Legs laughed. "Exalted Goddess, you're very considerate. This is just the form that my hair takes. It looks this way because it contains my aura. It's not actually my leg."

"Oh." She threw it into the water, hundreds of metres away.

The leg was just about to land on the waterbed. The calm and quiet water surface suddenly stirred and more than ten huge black shadows broke out of the water. Their green scales were illuminated by the sunlight. There was a flash of golden light and the beast right in front swallowed the octopus leg before returning underneath the water. It seemed to have notice that there were people on the shore, and it quickly charged toward them. The wave above the water grew to about ten feet tall, and they could faintly see hundreds of pairs of blood-red eyes staring at them from within.

"This is not good. It's the Green Sand Demonic Fish group!" Thousand Legs explained. This type of demonic fish always travelled in groups. Each group had about fifty to two hundred fishes and each of them looked horrifyingly ferocious. "Supreme Divinity, why don't we…"

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Ze waved his hand. He immediately summoned hundreds of thousands of wind blades which flew toward the wave. Every single fish was hit. Not a single one remained alive.

The next moment, the wave subsided. On the water surface, the bodies of the dead fishes floated toward them. The pile of dead bodies was as tall as them.

Thousand Legs: "…" He's indeed the Supreme Divinity. Shen Ying excitedly ran over to pick the fishes up. She held one fish in each hand. There were so many! She was thinking that she had to ask Chef to steam, boil, roast and barbeque them. He had to cook them in every single way possible.

"Furball, your method is so effective!"

Bai Ze's face flushed red immediately. He quickly caught up with her and pulled out a storage bag, handing it over to her.

Shen Ying's eyes brightened. She received it and patted his shoulder. Very seriously, she said, "I like people who have good taste like you."

Bai Ze stiffened. The red in his face spread to his hair so that it looked like he dyed his hair red. He faintly felt something explode in his mind, which was empty at that moment. Did she just say she… she… likes?

o(*////▽////*)q A long time later…

He finally muttered, "Me.. too."

Chapter 263: Seafood Harvest

Shen Ying was almost done collecting all the fishes. The storage bag that Furball handed to her was especially big. Even after Shen Ying stored hundreds of fishes in it, it was not filled to the brim.

"Furball, are there other sea creatures?"

Bai Ze had been staring into blank space for a long time. Finally, he regained his composure and nodded. "Yes!" He mounted a cloud and reached his hand out toward Shen Ying. "I'll take you there."

"Alright!" Shen Ying jumped onto the cloud. "Let's go!"

Bai Ze retracted his arm disappointedly. Shen Ying turned to Thousand Legs and spoke.

"Hey, that… Fish bait? Octopus? … What's your name again?" "Thousand Legs!" Bai Ze reminded her.

"Oh, Brother Thousand Legs, let's go, we're changing locations! Don't get left behind!"

Thousand Legs: "…"

Did she just call him Fish Bait? She definitely did, right? Supreme Divinity, did you seriously come here to clear the water demonic beasts? Why did you collect those demonic beasts' corpses? These demonic beasts would be of no use since they did not even train their internal core.

Thousand Legs followed them, confused. Yet, the same thing kept happening again and again. He kept plucking his hair to lure the demonic beasts out for Supreme Divinity to exterminate them. The two of them would then happily pick up the corpses, and refuse to let him help them.

This kept repeating until they made a full round around the lake. Thousand Legs suddenly had a scary thought. Could it be that Supreme Divinity did not clear the lake of these demonic beasts on purpose for all of these years, just so that this Exalted Goddess could come over and retrieve the corpses?

Σ(°△°|||)

No, no, no, my Supreme Divinity would definitely not have a hobby like that. This must be a mistake, a mistake!

An hour later.

"Supreme Divinity…" Thousand Legs weakly called out. "Why not we stop here for today?"

Bai Ze finally turned around to look at him. "Have we cleared all the demonic beasts from the lake?"

"N-N-No!" "Oh?"

"We have not cleared all the demonic beasts, but… I've almost run out of hair to pluck." It was no big deal for Thousand Legs to pluck one or two strands of his hair at one time. This did not affect his cultivation level and he ordinarily did not shed many strands of hair anyway. But this did not mean that he could pluck his hair out at will! If this carried on, he would become bald for sure.

Bai Ze: "…"

Shen Ying glanced at the obvious bald spot on Thousand Legs' head and cleared her throat. "Let's go back first then." Chef is probably preparing dinner now.

"Alright." Bai Ze turned around and started to fly back to the hall.

"Wait!" Shen Ying suddenly called out. She split the ten-plus storage bags she was holding into three equal portions, then handed one portion to Thousand Legs. "Here, this is yours!" Thousand Legs glanced at the storage bags in confusion. What is this for? Is she splitting the corpses? Or is this a threat?

"Thousand Legs is a water being. These demonic beasts do not have intellect or spirit and have not trained their internal core. They are of no use to him," Bai Ze explained.

"So… he doesn't eat seafood?" Shen Ying stared blankly at Thousand Legs. She pondered for awhile, then began searching in her robes for something. A moment later, she retrieved a pearl and handed it to Thousand Legs, saying, "Why don't I give you this? Chef gave it to me. He has no use for it anymore. You should find a use for it."

"This… This is… A Dragon Pearl!" Thousand Legs' eyes widened. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not seeing things.

Only those who were born as true dragons had this kind of dragon pearl attached to them when they were born. It was useful for them to pass their inheritance down. Although it was said that the God Power in the pearl would be of no use to dragons once the dragons received their inheritance, the pearl was still considered a treasure to the other water beings. The water race all had the ability to train into dragons, but not everyone would have the chance to become a dragon. Those with a dragon pearl would have their chances doubled. "Exalted… Exalted Goddess, you're really… really giving it to me?" Thousand Legs was so excited that he was going to pass out.

"You don't want it?" Chef said the pearl was shiny and very useful. That was why he gave her several pearls. She still had a whole bunch of them.

Thousand Legs immediately bowed. "Thank you, Exalted Goddess!"

"I'll give it!" Shen Ying stuffed the pearl into his hands.

Thousand Legs was extremely touched. Indeed, Supreme Divinity only interacted with good divine beings.

"Exalted Goddess, I-" "Don't worry, your hair will grow again," Shen Ying thought for awhile and added.

"Er…" Could she not mention his hair?

"Goodbye, Brother Fish Bait!"

"…"

He was really not called Fish Bait!

Bai Ze did not hesitate any longer. He immediately helped Shen Ying onto the cloud and flew past the lake, toward the right corner at high speed.

Along the way, he suddenly recalled something. He stuttered, "I… have pearls too. Do you want them?"

"Oh, do they glow?" "N-No."

"Then I don't want them."

"…"

Bai Ze's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

"Hey, Furball."

"Yes."

"Are you lost?" She did not recall flying for such a long time when they went to the lake.

Bai Ze paused, and there was a flash of panic in his eyes. A moment later, he replied, "I… I'm not." "Oh." Shen Ying did not pursue it any further. She looked down and continued to appreciate her large bags of seafood.

Bai Ze heaved a sigh of relief. His heart rate quickened as he sped up and flew upward. A moment later, they saw the temple between the layers of clouds. When they left, they left through the front hall of the temple. This time, they were arriving at the back hall. He had brought Shen Ying to a place at the back hall that had been covered up by clouds.

This was a sea of flowers, which were pure white and jade- like. Each flower looked like it had been carved out and Shen Ying could faintly smell their fragrance. The flowers were surrounded by thick God Power that was so thick that it was almost tangible. From afar, the flowers looked like they were growing atop a layer of blue God Power.

"Do you… like it?" Bai Ze nervously asked. He caught Shen Ying's eye.

"Huh?" Shen Ying had been wondering why they suddenly stopped flying. She glanced at the flower bed and finally realised that Bai Ze was asking if she liked the flowers. "They're alright!" Ever since Invincible Sect planted Radish, who liked to give her dandelions, she got weird feelings every time she saw flowers - no matter what type they were. It felt almost as if all of the flowers were grown by Radish, and they did not even have clothes on.

"These are Black Spirit Blossoms," he said as his eyes twinkled like the night sky. "Ever since I got back, I… planted a lot of them…" For you.

"Oh." What did this have to do with them returning for dinner?

Bai Ze's face was completely flushed by now. He used all his willpower to suppress the urge to turn away from Shen Ying. Suddenly, he fixed his mind on something. He bent down and plucked one of the best-looking flowers, then handed it over to Shen Ying. "Shen… Shen… Ying."

"For me?"

"Yes." He nodded profusely, his eyes brightening more still. He looked at her intently, as if afraid to miss out on anything. The hand that was holding on to the flower kept trembling. "For… you."

Shen Ying reached out and was just about to take hold of the flower when she suddenly stopped a couple of centimetres from it. She tilted her head.

"Furball!"

"Oh?"

"This flower… isn't meant for a proposal right?"

"…"

o(*////▽////*)q

Boom! There was a faint sound of something exploding. ——————

Eight hours later.

The moon was in the middle of the sky at Bai Yun Mountain temple.

Someone drew his sword furiously, his body overflowing with murderous intent.

"I'm going to kill that little bastard!" Yi Qing ran out of the hall.

Chapter 264: Chef is too Slow

"Holy shit! Chef, what are you doing?" Lonemoon was quick to react. He pulled Yi Qing back.

"Get out of my way! Let me kill that little bastard who dared to tease Master." Yi Qing's murderous intent was overwhelming. If Lonemoon had not been prepared, he would have been pushed out of the way by Yi Qing easily.

"What are you rushing for? You should at least let her finish speaking!" Lonemoon activated his sorcery to hold Yi Qing down on the chair He turned to glare at the person responsible for this mess, who was sitting at the table and chewing on her fruits. "And then? You said yes to Bai Ze?"

"I didn't!" Shen Ying shook her head.

Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief. Yi Qing finally relaxed. "Did you reject him?"

"I didn't." "…"

What the hell?

Lonemoon pursed his lips. "Since when did you freaking learn to tease others? How can you make use of teenage-girl tricks like this?" He gave her a dirty look.

"I wanted to say, but by the time he finished asking the question, he covered his face and ran away, leaving me there alone! Shen Ying looked at Lonemoon innocently. Bai Ze ran as fast as a hare - a red one at that. "I didn't even get the chance to shout at him to stop. I walked around for a long time before I finally found my way back here." She had not even made it back for lunch.

Lonemoon: "…" So this was the reason that she skipped lunch and only came back for dinner? She spent four hours outside trying to find her way back?!

"Chef, is dinner ready?" Shen Ying looked at Yi Qing. She had been stuck in the rear hall all afternoon and was absolutely starving!

"Master!" Surprisingly, Chef did not run into the kitchen immediately. Instead, he turned to Shen Ying sternly and said, "You cannot agree to his request. You're pure and you don't know what kind of motives he harbours… Divine beings' hearts are evil - don't get cheated by Bai Ze. Although he's helping us now, you were the one who helped him back to the Divine World in the past. This is him repaying the favour."

"Er…" All she wanted was some food.

"Master, we just got back to the Divine Realm and we don't understand everything here well enough. Don't be too trusting." The more he spoke, the more serious Yi Qing got. He looked extremely serious when he said, "Besides, he hasn't known you for very long, yet he has the cheek to propose to you. That shows us how superficial this man is."

"But dinner-"

"How long have you known this man? He's setting his future way too easily. He's too messy. What's more, he's a divine being. Didn't you say that you wouldn't date someone of a different race?"

"Dinner-"

"I haven't come across many good people in the Divine World. Divine beings are not to be trusted. Just look at that Feng San and Long Zhen. Just because of a small misunderstanding, they doubted each other for hundreds of thousands of years. It's obvious that they're naturally averse to forming deep relationships."

Shen Ying: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

You've included yourself into this generalisation - is your family even aware about this?

"What's more, Master's cultivation level is so high. How can a mere divine being like Bai Ze be a match for you? Whatever it is, I'm not agreeing to this! I will not let some little bastard get close to you," Yi Qing said somberly while his fist was clenched tightly around his sword, as if he was itching to run out and hack a certain someone into pieces.

Shen Ying stared blankly back at the man who had just spent a long time preaching. There were mixed feelings in her eyes. "Yi Qing?"

"Master."

"Why don't you want others to get close to me?"

"Huh?" Yi Qing paused like he had been exposed.

"Oh…" She narrowed her eyes. "What if I want to accept more disciples?"

"No way!" Yi Qing blurted, his expression changing suddenly. "Why?"

"Because… because…" He did not like it! Yet, somehow he could not say that. His entire body stiffened and panic began to rise in his chest. It felt like he was leaving something out on purpose, and yet somebody was forcing it out of him.

Lonemoon, who had been sitting by the side watching the entire time, shook his head and sighed. He could not help but reach out and pat the silly boy on his shoulder. "It's alright, you've been looking for her all day. Go back and rest. Don't worry! Nobody in this world can cheat your master. She knows what's good for her."

Yi Qing turned slowly and looked past Lonemoon, then glanced at Shen Ying. He rushed out of the hall in a daze, unable to recover from the conversation he just had. In fact, he looked just like a travelling soul in that moment.

It was only then that Lonemoon turned to face a certain someone, who was slumped on the table. "You're too… unkind." Shen Ying scanned him from head to toe. "Am I being kind by remaining silent?"

Lonemoon scoffed. Then, as if recalling something, his expression changed. Alright, that would be even more unkind.

"Then what exactly are you thinking?"

"I'm too lazy to think about that."

"You're… you're extremely lazy indeed!" She's selectively lazy now.

Shen Ying waved the teacup in her hand and whispered, "Whose fault is it that the holiday is ending so quickly?"

"What?"

"Nothing much,  Father  Niu,  do  you  really  have  nothing  to eat? Your daughter is so hungry."

"Get lost!" I don't have a lazy daughter like you.

"…"

"No matter how you decide, I'm not going to bother about this matter. You can settle it on your own." Lonemoon pursed his lips, then added, "But… be gentle about it. You've known him for so long afterall."

"… Yes."

Then, Lonemoon set up an isolation array and closed the door before returning to the table. "Let's talk about serious business now! You've gone out to observe for the entire day. How're things, then? Did you find anything? Did you  check thoroughly?"

Shen Ying looked at him lazily and said, "Mm, I guess so?" "What do you mean by that?"

She set up and threw the full storage bags onto the table.

"What's this?" Lonemoon picked one up and opened it. A huge fish's tail suddenly stuck out of the bag and flew toward his face. There was a loud smacking sound that echoed throughout the hall.

Lonemoon: "…"

Where's my knife?

"Er… there are too many little animals inside. Be careful!" Shen Ying hastily added.

"Freaking hell, what's the point of telling me now!" Lonemoon threw the storage back toward Shen Ying's face. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You must have!" "Don't waste it, Father Niu!" Shen Ying caught the storage back and stuffed the fish tail back in. They could still eat it if it wasn't rotten from being thrown around.

"Where did you catch all of these from?" Lonemoon glared at her. "These are all demonic beasts that can only be barbequed."

"From the lake at the bottom of the hill."

"The bottom of the hill!" Lonemoon jumped to his feet, his expression changing. "You mean to say-"

"We guessed rightly. Furball has a problem too." Shen Ying nodded. "His cultivation level seems fine, that's why he hasn't realised it yet."

Lonemoon's expression darkened and he frowned. He tried and failed to keep silent, so he cussed, "Shit!" This was becoming more and more vexing. What should they do? Tell them now?

"I'm so tired!" Shen Ying slumped back down on the table. "Indeed, working my brain is a tiring business!  Father  Niu,  do you really not have any snacks on you? I'm about  to  pass  out from hunger - I just need one bite."

"Get lost!" The corner of Lonemoon's mouth twitched. You've only been gone for half a day, alright? "Tomorrow, Shortie should be emerging from the spirit spring. We should let them know about this early - I'll call them over tomorrow."

Once he finished speaking, Lonemoon got rid of the isolation array and walked out the door. After taking one step, he paused.

Motherf*cker!

He cussed under his breath, turned around and returned to the table. He began to take out over ten different dishes from a storage bag. There were vegetables, rice, pastries, fruits and more. The table was piled full with food in seconds. "These are leftovers from lunch. Eat, eat, eat. Eat till you fall over dead! Hmph!"

He did not stop again as he stalked out of the door. Shen Ying: "…"

Mm, Father Niu has a unique way of doting on his daughter!

Chapter 265: Collectively Losing Souls

Shortie, who had soaked herself in the spirit spring for four whole days, finally woke up. Lonemoon greeted her and told her to get Bai Ze to gather in the side hall where Shen Ying was. Then, Lonemoon went to look for Chef.

Chef looked like he had not rested the entire time. His body was listless, as if there was a difficult problem that he could not solve. When he finally met Shen Ying, he looked constipated. Even his food tasted an entire standard lower.

Lonemoon glanced at the breakfast on the table. Mm, this was a breakfast that did not have any soul in it. He scanned a certain someone who was still calm and lazy. The corner of his mouth twitched. Damn it, she's enjoying this meal in particular. Why was it that she despised all the other meals that Chef cooked for her before this?

He looked around and realised that somebody was missing.

"Where's Bai Ze?" "Elder, I did not manage to find Supreme Divinity Bai Ze," Shortie answered. "I tried searching the entire Bai Yun Mountain and I still could not find him."

Lonemoon's expression hardened as he glared at the foodie. He turned to Yi Qing and said, "Chef, you go! I don't care how you do it, just find the man for me!"

Yi Qing had just been staring into blank space. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he looked alive again. "Alright!" He turned and disappeared out of the door looking extremely excited.

Shortie: "…" Elder Yi Qing went to search for him right? Why did he bring his sword? And why did he have so much murderous intent?

Shortie could not find Bai Ze anywhere on the  mountain. Chef, whose cultivation level was much higher, took less than 20 minutes to locate Bai Ze and bring him into the hall. The two of them were covered in dust and looked extremely messy - especially Bai Ze. Ordinarily, he would be dressed in white robes. This time, his robes were brown from the dust and his face looked bruised. "He's here," Chef announced before keeping his sword. He carried his small body and stopped behind Shen Ying as he always did. It was then that he realised he was being blocked. He turned around and moved a stool to a spot behind Shen Ying, then climbed on top of it so that he was a full head taller than Shen Ying. He glared across the hall at Bai Ze.

Little bastard, stop trying to cheat my master! I will keep my eyes on you!

Bai Ze, upon entering the hall and spotting Shen Ying in front of him, seemed to have recalled something. His rage disappeared and his face flushed as red as a shrimp. He wanted so badly to turn around and fly away.

Lonemoon's reaction, however, was quick. He cast a spell to close the door and set up an isolation array. "Hey, you're almost done. We have some serious business to talk to you about." He turned and glared at the lazy bum.. "Shen Ying."

"Huh?"

"Huh your ass. Settle your matter first!" "Oh." Shen Ying stood up and walked toward Bai Ze. She looked him in the eyes and said, "You ran away too quickly yesterday. I did not have time to reply you."

Bai Ze's heart skipped a beat and he felt the temperature in his face rise. "Shen… Ying… Well… Well…"

"Thank you, I don't accept!"

"…" Bai Ze stared blankly back at her, his face turning pale. "Then I-"

"I don't like you!"

"I… I can-"

"I will not like you in the future."

"I-" "I have never liked you."

"…"

Shen Ying patted him on the shoulder comfortingly before turning around and plonking back down at her seat.

Lonemoon: "…"

Xuan Tong: "…"

Was she… stomping all over his heart? She was being a bit too brash about it, wasn't she?

Xuan Tong looked meekly at Lonemoon. "Elder, why do I feel pity for Supreme Divinity?"

"It's better to deal with painful things quickly than to allow them to drag on. Shen Ying already rejected him before. He is considered quite experienced with this pain."

"Will he… be alright then?"

"Don't worry, he's just fallen out of love. He won't die." It was just a crush too.

"But he looks extremely heartbroken. Eh? He's kneeling at the corner of the room! He looks so weak, like he's going to be blown away by the wind any second. Will he really be alright?"

"…"

"Heh… Well, let's talk about some serious business." Lonemoon stepped forward and said in a serious tone.

Elder, you're changing the topic, aren't you?

"Shortie, is your primordial spirit alright?" He suddenly asked.

Xuan Tong nodded and looked thankfully at the man who was still kneeling at the corner of the room. "Supreme Divinity's spirit spring is indeed miraculous. I feel like my primordial spirit is stronger than it was before. Even my cultivation level feels like it's going to breakthrough anytime soon. I think I will soon be able to return to the immortal realm."

"We can't return to the immortal realm for now." Lonemoon's expression sank. "Because not only your primordial spirit is injured, but Chef's as well."

The moment he finished speaking, everybody but Shen Ying looked at him in shock.

"What!" Xuan Tong jumped to her feet. "Elder Yi Qing is injured as well! How can that be? Isn't he a divine being now? What kind of person can hurt… Eh? Why are you all looking at me?" She paused mid-sentence and found that everybody was staring at her with eyes widened. "What's wrong?" "Shortie, you…" Lonemoon pointed at her lower body.

Xuan Tong looked down to find that there was a very familiar body lying on the table… it was her body!

She was transparent and floating in the air.

"Ah ah ah.. What's going on?" Xuan Tong screamed. She instinctively flew back to her body. Suddenly, the body on the table sat up. Xuan Tong's soul had returned.

"Indeed, there's still a problem with Xuan Tong's soul." Lonemoon's face fell.

"That can't be!" Even Bai Ze was frightened to see what had just happened to Xuan Tong. He scanned her from head to toe and said, "My spirit spring does have recuperating functions. I even checked her primordial spirit myself - it was recovered. How can it be that her soul can still leave her body for no reason?" "This has nothing to do with her primordial  spirit," Lonemoon answered. "This is because a part of her soul is missing."

"You mean… that remnant soul!" Yi Qing suddenly remembered that array Mother Feng had.

"She is missing a part of her soul! But aren't you and Bai Ze as well?"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you realise…" Lonemoon glanced from one to the other. "Each of you have a part of your soul missing as well?"

Bai Ze: "…"

Yi Qing: "…" Lonemoon frowned deeply and his expression darkened. "Shen Ying and I just found out about this as well. From the beginning, we thought only Shortie had a problem. Especially so when we realised that her remnant soul was trapped in the array we found in the Divine Underworld. But later, when I checked Shortie, I realised that apart from her unstable primordial spirit, there was nothing missing from her soul. At first I thought that the remnant soul was left behind before Shortie reincarnated. Perhaps the power of reincarnation made Shortie's soul whole again, and that's why her remnant soul from her previous life was left behind, but…"

"If her soul is complete, the remnant soul should disappear," Bai Ze completed Lonemoon's train of thought.

"That's right." Lonemoon nodded. "The weird thing was that the remnant soul did not just remain for a day or two. That proved that it did not exist from her previous life. The issue being Shortie did not have such a problem until she got injured by the ghost immortal's Yin Qi. Later, Shen Ying reminded me that when Chef was in the egg, he too was exposed to Yin Qi. Hence, I decided to check on him as well. I found that although not obvious, his primordial soul was also in a state of mess."

Chapter 266: Discovering the Reason

Yi Qing paused and instinctively looked in to scan his own primordial spirit. He turned pale suddenly. "I thought it was because I have a new body that-"

"Quite the opposite!" Lonemoon answered. "It is because your soul is incomplete that your body looks like that."

"…" Yi Qing frowned, his expression darkening.

"And then Bai Ze-"

"Me?" Bai Ze paused.

"That day, when you fought with Qian Yue, we were right beside you." Lonemoon pointed to a certain foodie beside him. "She was the one who realised there was a problem with you. That was why we decided to follow you to Bai Yun Mountain."

"Shen…" Bai Ze's heart fell for a second as he looked at Shen Ying, as if recalling the rejection from earlier. His expression crumpled and he looked absolutely defeated. A second later, he said, "But… my primordial spirit is fine."

"Your primordial spirit is fine, but I'm not sure about the other parts of your soul."

Bai Ze stared back at him. What did he mean?

"The lake at the bottom of Bai Yun Mountain is filled with demonic beasts, right?" Lonemoon rolled his eyes at the foodie. "Didn't you bring Shen Ying there to see them yesterday? Those demonic beasts weren't there before, were they?"

"…" They really weren't there before.

"Do you know where they came from?"

Bai Ze paused. "I don't… know." They only appeared in recent years. "I remember when we were in the Three Azure Realms, you stayed at the Yi Family's abode for hundreds of thousands of years," Lonemoon continued. "Not a single demonic beast in the Mirage Sea dared to come onto the shore. When you returned to the Divine World, your God Power should have gotten stronger. Why is it that the demonic beasts started appearing in your own territory? And the were beasts with no intelligence or soul whatsoever at that?"

"Well…" He had never thought about this. At that time, all he thought about was to keep them until Shen Ying came so that he could make her happy.

"The only explanation is that your soul has a problem as well and that is affecting your skills. But the impact is small. You might not even have noticed it." Lonemoon poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip and continued, "You're a divine being. Demonic beasts with intelligence and souls would definitely know that you're powerful and would not dare to come close. Lower-level demonic beasts can only use their instincts to sense when there is danger. They probably don't even know who you are." Bai Yun Mountain was a place with rich God Power and was thus ideal for training. Since there was a problem with Bai Ze's soul, these low-leveled demonic beasts probably did not sense that there was any danger and thus decided to make a home for themselves here. Bai Ze fell silent. All of it sounded entirely plausible. That was why Shen Ying was worried yesterday and went with him to fish? Yet, she said that she did not like him at all! He was heartbroken!

"Elder, you mean to say that all three of us have a remnant soul missing from our bodies, and we have not realised it?" Xuan Tong looked worried.

"You are indeed missing a remnant soul, and we have found that remnant soul of yours. We just have not found a way to return it to your body. But we're just guessing about Yi Qing and Bai Ze." Lonemoon frowned. "The remnant soul is different from the other parts of the soul. We have no idea how to check if their souls are whole."

"I have a way," Bai Ze suddenly said.

All of them turned to look at him

Bai Ze flicked his wrist and immediately, a huge bronze mirror appeared in his hand. "This is the Life Mirror - it is my prized dharma artifact. With this mirror, one can see into his previous and present lives. But it only works with a whole soul. Without a whole soul, the mirror will not reflect anything." That's how the mirror would help them determine if they were missing a remnant soul.

Lonemoon's eyes brightened. He immediately carried Yi Qing down from the chair. "Quick, look into it."

Yi Qing got carried in front of the mirror before he even had a chance to think about it. He and Bai Ze both exchanged a hard glare before Yi Qing looked into the mirror.

Bai Ze already activated the Life Mirror in his hands. There was a white flash in the mirror, but everything was just a blur of white fog. Only Father Niu's reflection was visible in it - and Yi Qing was not in his arms.

The three of their expressions fell immediately. Indeed, they were right. Bai Ze and Chef both had problems with their souls.

"The three of us have come into contact with ghost immortals. It must be the same person that's behind all of this." Xuan Tong's face was a mask of worry. "The only question is why does he want the three of our remnant sous?" Remnant souls were different from whole souls - they did not affect the body much when they were missing. Over time, the bodies would recover without it."

"He might not be after just three." Shen Ying, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly spoke. "There are other people who have come into contact with this ghost immortal."

All of them paused. Yi Qing, who was still being carried by Lonemoon, spoke up, his eyes widening. "The two roleplayers!" He suddenly looked panicked as he turned to face the person at the table. "Master…"

"Let's go!" Shen Ying dusted her bottom. "I'm full." From breakfast.

The three of them exchanged glances and immediately drew their flying swords. Bai Ze and Xuan Tong had no choice but to follow them. "Elder Lonemoon, who are the roleplayers?" Xuan Tong could not help but ask.

"Chef's cheap parents."

"…"

Elder Yi Qing's surname was role? Didn't divine beings take on their race as their surnames? She had not heard of the surname "role"!

(⊙_⊙)

——————

What Shen Ying said was definitely a possibility. If Shortie and the others were missing their remnant souls because they interacted with ghost immortals, then Feng San who had ghost immortals as friends likely also interacted with them. He was so chummy with Zhu Ming and had gone to  the  Divine Underworld more than once. As for Long Zhen, although she had not met a ghost immortal, she had taken care of the dragon egg for many years. She did not even sense that there was Yin Qi in the dragon egg. If the ghost immortal took away her remnant soul as well, it was likely that she had not realised.

It was proven that they were not overthinking things. Feng San and Long Zhen's reflections did not appear at all in Bai Ze's Life Mirror.

"How can this be?" Long Zhen looked absolutely confused. Given hers and Feng San's cultivation levels, how could it be that a part of their souls - albeit their remnant souls - got stolen without them even realising?

"According to what I know, ghost immortals'  cultivation levels are all very high. Divine beings of various levels are not even their match. But given my and Little Zhen's cultivation levels, we can at least draw with them." Feng San lowered his voice and said, "It is unlikely that there is a ghost immortal out there who is so much stronger than us that he can steal our remnant souls without us even realising. Why is it that we too…" It was obvious that he could not figure it out. If Yi Qing, their son who ran away with his master, did not suddenly return to tell them this, they would not even have realised that they were missing their remnant soul.

"You can't guess who might have done it either?" Lonemoon asked anxiously.

The two of them exchanged a look and shook their heads. "We don't know. What's more, why would the other party want just our remnant souls?"

"Do you have a way of locating your remnant souls?" Lonemoon asked. They were divine beings afterall.

They shook their heads. "Remnant souls are different from the other parts of one's soul. We did not even sense that we were missing our remnant souls - how could we sense its position?"

"But we can ask someone why the other party would want remnant souls," Feng San said. All of them paused. Bai Ze seemed to suddenly understand something. "Do you mean Hongyu?"

"That's right!" Feng San nodded. "Supreme Divinity Hongyu is the most ancient divine being in the Divine World. If anyone knows anything about souls, it would be him."

Long Zhen chimed in, "Then we should immediately head for Ling Tai Mountain." She turned and the air in the hall suddenly stirred, as if someone was ripping it apart. A black figure suddenly appeared in the hall out of nowhere.

Chapter 267: Crazy Mother Feng

"Brother Feng, there's something important that I need your help with." The person who appeared out of thin air was Zhu Ming, and he was looking at Feng San with a panicked expression on his face.

"Brother Zhu? This is…" Feng San stared blankly back at him. He had not expected Zhu Ming to suddenly appear, and in this fashion no less. Although teleportation would allow one to travel hundreds of thousands of miles in a second, it required a huge amount of energy. Unless it was a matter of life and death, ghost immortals would not teleport.

Zhu Ming was obviously extremely anxious. "Brother Feng, can I ask where the three people who came to the Divine Underworld earlier…" He stopped mid-sentence on seeing Shen Ying next to him. His eyes brightened and he cupped his fists immediately. "That's great, you all are still here. Mother Feng… Mother Feng is in trouble."

"What's the matter with her?" Lonemoon walked up, shocked.

"I don't know what's happened to her either. Her soul suddenly became extremely unstable," Zhu Ming said anxiously. He scanned the room and rested his gaze on Shen Ying. "May I please ask this Exalted Goddess to come back with me and save Mother Feng?" He had observed her when she broke the array earlier. This Exalted Goddess whose surname was Shen had a cultivation level higher than what it appeared as. If anyone could save Mother Feng, it would be them. He had no other choice but to come and look for them here.

Shen Ying and Lonemoon exchanged a look and decided to go and check things out. Afterall, this whole matter about missing remnant souls probably had something to do with Mother Feng as well.

"The few of us will go and check in on Mother Feng first," Lonemoon said as he addressed Feng San and Long Zhen. "May I trouble both divinities to go to Ling Tai Mountain first to ask about the missing remnant souls?"

The two of them scanned the group worriedly. "But you all…" Feng San's expression reflected confusion. He could not understand why Zhu Ming came here not to ask him for help, but to ask his son's weak-looking master for help. He was just about to persuade Zhu Ming to change his mind when he caught Long Zhen glaring at him. He swallowed his words. "Thank you, friends." Zhu Ming quickly thanked the three of them upon hearing that they would follow him back. He urged the few of them to teleport with him.

Everything went dark for a second, then they found that they had arrived in the Divine Underworld. They were surrounded by ghost Qi and travelling souls. In front of them was a foreign temple that was covered in thick Yin Qi. It was obvious that this was where Zhu Ming lived.

Half of the originally tall temple had crumbled into pieces. From inside, they heard intermittent screaming and could faintly see the red glow of an array.

"Mother Feng is right here," Zhu Ming exclaimed. He led the group into the temple.

The inside of the temple was in ruins. Everywhere, the walls were shattered. All that remained was the sturdy glowing array in the middle of the hall. In the middle of the array was Mother Feng, who looked as crazy as when they first saw her. She was attacking the array that trapped her. Both her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like to be in extreme pain. The key thing was that there were nine Mother Feng's in the array. Each was taking turns to scream, wail and groan in pain. Each one crashed into the walls of the array with greater and greater force, until cracks began to appear on the array.

"Mother Feng!" Zhu Ming shouted, rushing forward to conjure a seal to hold the array in place.

"Her soul has been split!" Lonemoon shouted, turning to face Zhu Ming. "What happened?" The different parts of her soul should have been connected to one another. As long as they were not in the soul-splitting array, they should gather back as one. Why was Mother Feng's soul splitting into more parts?

"I don't know either. She just became like this all of a sudden. No matter what I did, her soul would not gather back together. I had no choice but to trap her in this array," Zhu Ming explained as he mended the array. He turned to Shen Ying pleadingly. "I had no choice but to trouble the few of you. The last time, you were able to break the Soul-Splitting Array. This time, can you please help me find out what's wrong with Mother Feng?"

Lonemoon frowned. "We can't tell what's wrong with her either." Mother Feng was different from Chef. She was missing her primary soul, not her remnant soul.

Zhu Ming's face fell. He was beginning to panic again.

Mother Feng's movements in the array became weaker and weaker. It seemed like she was getting tired. Or perhaps her split souls could no longer withstand the torture. Yet, her screams and wails were getting louder and louder. Each word overflowed with indignation so that it seemed like the entire Divine Underworld echoed with her hatred.

"I hate what you did to me! Why?"

"Every mountain and valley, staying together for eternity, hahaha… liar, all lies!"

"I will not die, I won't die! Even if I become a ghost forever, and am not allowed to reincarnate, I will drag you all down into hell with me forever!"

"Great justice, cutting off your emotions to achieve enlightenment… it was all a lie! Return my life to me! Return it to me!"

Her voice was becoming more and more ear-piercing and each sentence became louder than the last. Black Qi began to appear on Mother Feng's originally transparent souls. It did not look like the Yin Qi of ghost immortals and neither did it look like demonic Qi. Her outraged energy rushed toward the sky, threatening to fill up the entire atmosphere."

"Grievance aura!" Zhu Ming's eyes widened in disbelief. "How… how can this be?" Although everyone who became a ghost immortal had died with huge grievances, this was the Divine Underworld. The Divine Underworld's Yin River could remove all the grievous energy so that ghost immortals would not be forced to descend into insanity. That was why it was not easy for ghost immortals to leave the Underworld. Yet, Mother Feng had so much grievous energy despite her soul having split.

Zhu Ming's eyes remained wide as he realised something. His face drained of all color as he muttered, "Could it be… she still can't let go."

"There is one soul missing in the array," Xuan Tong cried out. Everyone jumped back in shock and turned to look. Indeed, of the nine Mother Feng's that they saw in the array, only eight were left. And each of them had a huge amount of grievance around them. A moment later, five of the souls became surrounded by grievances and began to gather, as if they were being pulled by an invisible force.

"Spirit Convening in Grievance," Bai Ze muttered, his jaw hanging open. All that grievance was helping her parted souls to gather back into one.

"No, this would cause Mother Feng to be swallowed by the grievances." Zhu Ming became even more worried as he conjured a seal hurriedly. Yet, he could not produce anything.

The different parts of Mother Feng's soul had already more or less gathered into one. The wailing and screaming stopped. Mother Feng's black robes and messy hair blew about in the middle of the array. Two trails of blood remained on her face.

Suddenly, she quietened down and lost her craziness. For some reason, those two blood eyes seemed to brighten. Her gaze fixed on where the group was. All of a sudden, she broke into a cold toe-curling grin. "Mother Feng…" Zhu Ming took a step forward.

Mother Feng's grin widened from ear to ear. Her eyes were almost bulging out of her sockets when she suddenly laughed. "Heh heh heh… you were an accomplice. You all deserve to die. Return me my life, will you… Junior Brother?"

"You… remember?" Zhu Ming's eyes widened as he stiffened.

Mother Feng raised her arms and screaming, causing a gust of grievous aura to charge toward Zhu Ming. All around them, the Yin Qi retreated to make way for the grievances which looked like they was about to swallow him whole.

"Zhu Ming!" Lonemoon screamed, throwing a ball of sword Qi toward Zhu Ming so that he was pushed out of the way of the grievous aura. The ground began to shake and the temple which was already half-destroyed, fell to the ground in a heap of rubble.

Chapter 268: The Main Culprit

Zhu Ming slowly got to his feet in a daze. Suddenly,  he recalled something and looked anxiously into the array. "Mother Feng… Mother…" The figure in the array was gone and so was the grievous energy.

"Well…" He ran into the array, panicked. "What exactly happened? How did Mother Feng suddenly disappear? Where did she go?"

Yi Qing frowned and stepped forward to scan the array. "This array isn't broken. I don't think she broke the array to escape."

"Then where did she go?" Zhu Ming asked anxiously. He conjured a few spells to locate Mother Feng's aura, but dropped his hands down in defeat after awhile. "I can't detect her aura and there's no sign of any other array in here."

"Could it be that she disappeared into thin air?" Bai Ze asked.

"No." Yi  Qing  shook  his  head.  "I  didn't  feel  any  sorcery earlier."

All of them fell silent. The array wasn't broken and there was no sign of any other array in there. How did she disappear?

Zhu Ming looked crestfallen and listless. He fell to the floor in a heap. "Where could she have gone?"

"Are the different parts of a soul connected?" Shen Ying suddenly asked.

All of them turned to stare at her. After awhile, they realised. "The Soul-Recalling Technique!"

"Mother Feng lost her primary soul…" Zhu Ming muttered. "You're saying somebody used her primary soul to recall the other parts of her soul? But…" He pondered for awhile, then his expression fell. "I used the array to trap her earlier. What kind of Soul-Recalling Technique can recall all the different parts of one's soul using just the primary soul?" "There is one!" Shen Ying nodded. "Haven't you all seen it before?"

Zhu Ming paused. A moment later, he seemed to have realised something. That was when his eyes widened. together with Lonemoon, he shouted, "That array in the mystic realm!"

That array had used just Shortie's remnant soul to drag her entire being from the immortal realm into the divine realm.

"She's in her own territory!"

Zhu Ming quickly turned around and ran toward the east. Lonemoon exchanged glances with the rest. One by one, they mounted their swords and flew out.

"Mas…" Yi Qing was used to pulling Shen Ying onto his own sword. He reached out his arm halfway and for some reason, stiffened. The mixed feelings were back.

Shen Ying, on the other hand, did not seem to notice. She jumped behind Chef and said, "Go."

"Yes, Mas…" Strangely, he could no longer say that word. He looked at Shen Ying with a tortured expression. Seeing that she did not seem to realise, he focused on chasing after Zhu Ming.

Bai Ze looked at the two of them and felt his heart drop. He looked absolutely pained.

Zhu Ming flew at top speed. Lonemoon frowned and glanced at the Zhu Ming in front of him now, who was filled with panic and no longer had the calm, gentlemanly demeanour he once did. In a low voice, Lonemoon said, "Fellow Daoist Zhu, don't you think you should explain your relationship with Mother Feng to us all over again?"

He said that Mother Feng was his junior sister before, and it did not seem like they were that close. But from the looks of it, that did not seem like the truth.

The colour drained from Zhu Ming's face as he shot Lonemoon a guilty look. He closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh. "I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just that Mother Feng is too obsessed. I was afraid that she might do something silly, so I didn't talk too much about the past. She isn't  my junior sister. In fact, she's my senior sister."

Zhu Ming's expression became unreadable. "When she was alive, we were in the same sect and we grew up together. Later, she ascended to immortality earlier than I did. By the time I ascended, she was already pushed to her death by a couple of evildoers. I became a ghost immortal because of her. As ghost immortals, the price of training ourselves is losing our souls. The stronger we are, the weaker our souls get. Mother Feng got her revenge after she became a ghost immortal, but the hatred in her heart deepens as the days go by. That's why her training got more and more extreme. I was worried that if this carried on, she would lose her soul completely. I wanted to persuade her to forget about the past and enter Samsara, but she would not listen."

Zhu Ming clenched his fists and his expression turned pained. "Later, she lost her primary soul by accident and forgot the past. I hoped that I would be able to persuade her to reincarnate and find her primary soul back in time. That would be better than completely losing her soul. I never thought that the hatred in her heart would continue to intensify. Now, even without her primary soul, she can remember what happened." "Fellow Daoist Lonemoon…" Zhu Ming looked at him somberly. "I sincerely apologize. I was afraid to talk too much about it in front of Mother Feng because I did not want her to get upset. That was why I didn't go into too much detail before. Now, her soul is extremely weak. She might lose the last bit of it at any time. If we don't send her to Samsara soon, she might never get the chance to reincarnate."

Lonemoon looked at him, speechless. He stopped asking anymore questions and Zhu Ming sped off.

Mother Feng's abode was not far away. In less than ten minutes, the group arrived. They saw a red light coming from the abode and travelling souls running around in all directions. The place where her house once stood was now covered in a red array. Faintly, they could see the entrance to the mystic realm.

"Mother Feng!" Zhu Ming screamed. He ran toward the entrance of the mystic realm.

"Zhu…" Lonemoon tried to stop him but it was too late. He turned around and shot the group a look. After reminding them to set up their own defensive arrays, he followed Zhu Ming in.

Red light filled his entire vision. It was still the same small mystic realm that was filled with the array. Now, though, it there was also overwhelming yin Qi all around. The array that Shen Ying destroyed earlier was now whole again, and it looked stronger than before. Mother Feng was trapped right in the middle of the array, and she looked like she was in extreme pain. Her figure got fainter and fainter, as if she was disappearing.

On top of the array, a person was floating. He was covered in black Yin Qi. They could not make out his looks, but they could tell that it was a male.

"Sect Master, it's the ghost immortal that chased me!" Xuan Tong shouted.

All of their expressions darkened. This person is finally making his appearance. "The array down there can devour souls. Don't get too close, everyone," Lonemoon reminded them but it was too late. Zhu Ming was one step ahead of him, rushing in the direction of the array without hesitation.

"Mother Feng!"

Before he landed, there were a few flashes of red light that hit him squarely in the chest. Zhu Ming's body hovered in the air for awhile. Then, a silhouette appeared. Zhu Ming's soul was being split apart.

"Chef!" Lonemoon immediately shouted.

Yi Qing summoned a gust of God Power and sent it toward Zhu Ming, pulling him back up.

Bai Ze stepped forward and conjured a seal to stabilise Zhu Ming's soul.

Yet, Zhu Ming cared nothing for his injury. He turned around to look at the person controlling the array that Mother Feng was trapped in. "Stop! Who the hell are you? What have you done to Mother Feng?" The black figure did not reply. Instead, he intensified the array so that the red light became more blinding. They felt the frightening aura coming from the array. Their souls felt unsettled, even though they were standing outside of it. Thus, they had no choice but to retreat a couple of feet.

The group started. What kind of array was this, that even divine beings could not come near to it?

Lonemoon's heart jumped. The remnant souls that Chef and the others had lost could be in this person's hands. He turned to Shen Ying. "Shen Ying, you…"

He was just about to ask her to do something when Shen Ying seemed to have noticed something. She turned to Bai Ze and asked, "Furball, what's the use of the Soul Stabilizing Pearl?"

Bai Ze hesitated, then answered, "Of course it's mean to stabilize divine souls…"

"Is that it?" She pointed down. They looked down and saw that indeed, a pearl was circling around the black figure. It disappeared and reappeared intermittently. They had not noticed before because of the thick Yin Qi. Now, upon closer inspection, they saw that the pearl was releasing faint God Power. It was the Soul Stabilizing Pearl! Any person who could use God Power to stabilize souls could not be a ghost immortal.

Could it be that the person was…

"Qian Yue!"

The four of them shouted at the same time.

Chapter 269: Incompatible Souls

The black figure paused. Even the red light seemed to dim slightly. The next moment, the black Qi around the person dissipated. Slowly, it turned into blue God Power. A face that looked exactly like Father Niu's began to appear.

"I thought that you would only find out after a long time," Qian Yue laughed mirthlessly. He raised his head to look at them, as if he had no intention of hiding himself any longer. "That's fine then, you can all be sacrificed for the array."

Suddenly, he raised his hand toward the group. The entrance to the mystic realm closed behind them. An array that looked just like the one below appeared in the air. Before any of them could react, they felt weighed down and their auras began to feel unstable. One by one, the flying swords dropped to the ground. They were unable to hold them up any longer.

The red light of the array intensified. Everything around them turned a blood-red as the group realised that their primordial spirits were compromised. They faintly felt their souls beginning to split apart. Bai Ze quickly set up an array and dragged the entire group into it. That was when the excruciating pain finally stopped.

"You've… been hiding your cultivation!" Bai Ze exclaimed as he struggled to hold up the array. They battled several hundred times and he was the most familiar with Qian Yue's cultivation level.

Qian Yue replied in his characteristic gentlemanly way, "I didn't hide my cultivation level. It's just that I am not the same as before, all thanks to your remnant soul."

"It was indeed you that stole everybody's remnant souls!" Xuan Tong shouted.

Qian Yue's expression darkened. He sucked in a deep breath and said, "I heard that Bai Ze's race is the only one to have survived from the beginning of time. His race was the one that chased away all the ghosts amidst the chaos in the beginning. Naturally, his soul is different from everyone else's. To activate this array, I needed your remnant soul." "You wanted my remnant soul just to increase your cultivation level?"

"I need to be powerful and strong in order to do what I want. But now… it's not enough!" He frowned. There was a determined twinkle in his eye as he raised his hand toward the group.

Lonemoon felt a great force sucking him in. He could not control his body as it flew out and landed in Qian Yue's hands.

"Father Niu!"

"Lonemoon!"

The group stared on in disbelief. Qian Yue's palm was inside of Lonemoon's chest and he was using all his might to grab Lonemoon's soul alive from inside his body. The red light flashed and he retracted his hand.

Yet… Nothing happened.

(⊙_⊙)

Forget about the whole soul - not even a part of Lonemoon's soul floated out. The two of them stayed where they were, one grabbing the other, their gazes locking.

Lonemoon: "…"

Qian Yue:: "…"

Everyone: "…"

It was extremely awkward.

"How can this be?!" Qian Yue could not believe his eyes. The red light re-appeared in his hand and he tried again. Apart from causing creases on Lonemoon's shirt, Qian Yue had no effect on him. Even Lonemoon looked down at his chest, confused.

"Mm, it looks like your soul system is incompatible with ours!"

A clear female's voice sounded next to Qian Yue's ear.

He jumped and turned around to find that a woman had appeared beside him from out of nowhere. She looked extremely familiar and was now looking at him through narrowed eyes. She was only looking at him and yet he felt an immense pressure pressing down on him.

"Who… are you?" His heart skipped a beat. He did not even have time to figure out how she got there.

She broke into a grin and pointed at the man in his hands. "That is my Father Niu!"

With a flick of her wrist, she grabbed his collar. Then, he was spinning in the air and all he saw was darkness.

Qian Yue cried out as his body flew through the air and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Then, several thuds followed.

The array on the ground was breaking apart. A moment later, the array which filled the entire mystic realm crumbled and the red light dissipated.

Lonemoon got to his feet, still trembling from the ordeal. He glared at the person who had just beaten up his doppelganger, anger rising in his chest. "Damn it, can you hurry up the next time you rescue me? He almost stole my soul!"

"He would not!" Shen Ying stopped beating Qian Yue for a second. Everybody was missing a remnant soul except for herself and Father Niu. This proved that Qian Yue could not even touch their souls.

Lonemoon paused. "You mean you knew from the start that he would not be able to touch my soul, but you didn't bother to tell me?" "Er…" Wasn't it obvious? "Stop thinking about the details!"

"Small details my foot!"

凸(艹皿艹)

"Supreme Divinity Bai Ze!" Xuan Tong suddenly shouted, "Sect Master!"

The two of them turned around. Bai Ze was stumbling. A moment later, he lost his balance and fell to his knees. His face was drained of all colour.

"Furball?"

"What's the matter?" Lonemoon ran up to him and checked his meridians. His eyes widened. "How did his primordial spirit get injured?" He was fine awhile ago. "Mother Feng!" Zhu Ming shouted from across the room.

The array was broken but Mother Feng's soul was still splitting. She was getting more and more transparent and looked like she would disappear if anyone got too close. Zhu Ming began to panic.

"Hahaha…" Qian Yue, whose God Power had all dissipated from the beating, suddenly laughed maniacally. "Their remnant souls are under my control. If I die, they will not be able to survive either!"

All of their expressions darkened.

Bai Ze turned around to look at Shen Ying, whose leg was still on Qian Yue, appreciatively. His eyes twinkled as he suppressed the pain in his primordial spirit. "I'm alright. Shen… you're worried about me, aren't you? I… actually can-"

"Can shut up!" Yi Qing interrupted, squeezing between Bai Ze and Shen Ying before the former could complete his sentence. "My master doesn't know anything about God Power. If you want to survive, then rest!"

"It's just a remnant soul. I'm alright. Shen-"

"I'm the only divine being here. Nobody else can help you."

"I don't need your help!"

"Heh, don't stand on ceremony, Supreme Divinity!"

Bai Ze: Annoying brat!

Yi Qing: LIttle bastard!

There was the sound of static in the air.

Lonemoon: "…" Shen Ying: "…"

Xuan Tong: "…"

They can still quarrel - that means they're fine!

( ̄_, ̄)

"Mother Feng!" Mother Feng's situation was deteriorating by the second. Bai Ze was only missing his remnant soul, but Mother Feng was missing her primary soul. Shen Ying looked back and forth between the two of them and decided not to continue beating Qian Yue.

"Qian Yue, Mother Feng has nothing against you. Why are you doing this?" Zhu Ming shouted in a fit of anger.

Qian Yue tutted. "Ghost immortals should not exist on this earth! I'm doing this for the entire Divine World!" "You…" Zhu Ming was over the top with rage. It was obvious that he did not believe this reason. He summoned his weapon and tried to get the primary soul back.

At that moment, Mother Feng - who was in his arms and who just entered maniac mode - rushed out. Her once-transparent body suddenly filled with grievous energy. A black so intense that it looked like ink began to colour her soul. Her bleeding eyes were fixed on Qian Yue as she charged toward him.

"Bian Xinchen, return my life!"

Chapter 270: The Great Heartless Dao

Mother Feng's speed was extremely fast and she was surrounded by a consuming grievous energy so rich that even Shen Ying retreated a couple of steps. Qian Yue was knocked away by Mother Feng. Her grievous energy melted his dharma clothing and even his undergarments away so that he stood nude.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed on his body and Mother Feng rebounded back. The silhouette of a golden lotus surrounded him and trapped him inside. The grievous energy dissipated. Qian Yue took a deep breath in and looked at Mother Feng with fear in his eyes.

"You… You are…" Zhu Ming looked at Qian Yue in disbelief as if he realised something.

Qian Yue laughed mirthlessly. That face that looked exactly like Father Niu's changed. His disguise was fading before their very eyes. His face looked entirely different after a couple of seconds.

"It really is you!" Zhu Ming's eyes widened in shock. "You… How can that be?"

Mother Feng recovered from the impact earlier and charged forward again, unaffected by Qian Yue's change in features. "Bian Xinchen, I'm going to kill you… kill you…'' She was positively insane by now. She kept getting rebounded off by the golden light, but she kept charging toward it anyway. Each time she did, her soul got a little bit weaker and the grievous energy around her body got a little bit ricer, It was almost as if she was going to become entirely made out of grievous energy.

Zhu Ming cast some sort of sorcery to stop her suicidal ways. Then, he looked up at the man in front of him with pure anger in his eyes. "Bian Xinchen! You're still alive!" It was no wonder that Mother Feng still refused to reincarnate after all this time - her enemy was still alive, and he even became Supreme Divinity Qian Yue!

"I haven't achieved the Great Dao, of course I would not die!" He glanced warily at Shen Ying before retreating a  step. "Mother Feng is the biggest obstacle between me and the Great Dao."

"Obstacle!" Zhu Ming clenched his fists and shouted, "Bian Xinchen, are you heartless? She was your wife. She was loyal to you and did nothing to let you down! Yet, how did you treat her? In order to achieve the Great Dao, you sucked all of her cultivation and even milked her immortal bones, leaving her to die of resentment! You've already caused this much harm to her, what else do you want?"

It was obvious from the man's expression that he felt not one bit of guilt. He replied calmly, "If you want to achieve the Great Dao, you must make some sacrifices."

"You…"

"Zhu Ming!" Bian Xinchen's expression darkened. He scoffed, "Don't forget. You were the one who told me that I could only become a divinity if I practise the Heartless Dao"

Zhu Ming stiffened, his face draining of colour. Something flashed in his eyes. "I.. I did not think you would… I just-"

"You just did it to steal Mother Feng?" Bian Xinchen asked sarcastically, cutting Zhu Ming off. "You've liked her since you were little. When you handed me the formulations for the Heartless Dao, I already guessed your motives. You wanted Mother Feng to lose feelings for me. Now that you're both ghost immortals, you can say that your wish has been fulfilled."

"Shut up!" Zhu Ming roared. He looked both guilty and enraged. The sword in his hand was pointed toward the man in front of him. "I did have selfish desires then, but I  never thought you would really…" He looked like he could not complete his own sentence. Trembling and through gritted teeth, he said, "Kill your wife for the sake of the Dao!"

The moment he said that, everybody present sucked in a sharp breath.

Shit! Another bastard.

So he was the one who killed Mother Feng. What's more, they were man and wife?

It was no wonder that Mother Feng would harbour so much grievance over losing her primary soul. Bian Xinchen's expression remained the same. "Hmph! Cutting off all ties is the key to achieving the Great Dao I only had hopes of becoming a divinity by killing my wife and pursuing the Dao. I have never regretted killing her."

"Bian! Xin! Chen!" Zhu Ming roared.

"Don't forget, you're equally responsible for Mother Feng's death!"

"…"

Zhu Ming stiffened, his face turning pale once again. He kept his gaze fixed on the other man. "I did let Mother Feng down. That's why I'm a ghost immortal today - to take revenge on you!"

Zhu Ming drew his weapon and charged toward Qian Yue. "Return Mother Feng's primary soul!"

Yet, Bian  Xinchen  did  not  even  flinch.  He  was  not  even concerned about getting attacked by Zhu Ming. Before  Zhu Ming reached Qian Yue, he bounced back. The impact caused his soul to be unsteady.

Lonemoon glanced at Zhu Ming, who was lying on the floor. Suddenly, he liked neither Bian Xinchen nor Zhu  Ming. Although he knew Zhu Ming had been hiding something, he had not expected it to be something as huge as this. He did not think Zhu Ming would have led someone else to pursue the Heartless Dao just to win the heart of his beloved. As a result, Bian Xinchen killed his own wife on his pursuit. Each man was worse than the last.

The only one worth pitying was Mother Feng, who was killed by her own husband while alive. After her death, she took great pains to train as a ghost immortal and yet got her primary soul stolen from her. Her primary soul probably helped Bian Xinchen rise to divinity in such a short time. What Lonemoon was unsure about was why Bian Xinchen needed to take on his appearance. Was it just a coincidence?

Lonemoon looked at the man in the air. No matter what, he had to first get back Bai Ze and the others' remnant souls. "Shen Ying." Shen Ying nodded. In a flash, she appeared behind Bian Xinchen. She reached out to grab him.

Bian Xinchen jumped. This time, he reacted quickly and retreated several feet. His gaze turned cool as he gathered every last bit of God Power in his body and shot it toward Shen Ying.

She did not even intend to dodge the attack, but saw that the God Power that was initially headed toward her fly past her and toward Mother Feng.

"Mother Feng!" Zhu Ming screamed. He ran over but was too late. That God Power had hit Mother Feng. The array in which she was trapped immediately darkened.

Before anyone could react, Mother Feng suddenly rushed forward once more. The grievous energy was now completely bloated as she ran toward Bian Xinchen.. With what looked like all her energy, she screamed his name. "Bian! Xin! Chen!"

"Mother Feng, no!" Zhu Ming exclaimed. There was no time. Mother Feng was already drowning in an insane amount of grievous energy. The thin soul that she had left had already dissipated. Now, all that was left was the blackness of her grievances.

"Mother… Feng…" Zhu Ming fell onto the ground, as if his sanity had left him. He looked absolutely hopeless.

Suddenly, the God Power around Bian Xinchen's body intensified. His cultivation level began to increase before their very eyes. Even the God Power that Shen Ying had gotten rid of earlier was regained and he now stood in the midst of the blue light with an excited look upon his face, clearly having gotten what he wanted. "Indeed, she's the only obstacle between me and the Great Dao. Now, she has disappeared. I have completed the Heartless Dao and have become the one true God. Hahaha…"

He got more and more excited as he spoke, and the God Power around him got thicker and thicker. His suppressive aura rushed toward them so that everybody in the group tasted blood in the back of their throats. Shortie, who was of the lowest cultivation level, fell to one knee and coughed up a mouthful of blood.