Chapter 128

A dull crash of impact sounded, as the Ghost Gate and the recently appeared demon collided, tumbling together in a rolling frenzy until they finally stopped after crashing into the newly built gate of the experience base.

A large and small figure overlapped, both lying on the ground in a dazed state, as if they had been knocked unconscious.

The Taoist priests: "..."

For some reason, despite the fact that one of them had just flown into the air out of nowhere, and the other was dragging a long, thick tail, they couldn’t help but feel that these two didn’t have the usual demon or spirit aura at all.

They looked quite ordinary.

However, they had also overheard the conversation between Lian Cheng and Chen the Blind. As for the demon, that could be ignored, but the Ghost Gate was a passage connecting two worlds, through which countless souls must pass on their way to the underworld. This couldn’t be damaged!

The Taoist priests snapped out of their daze at this point, not even having time to be surprised that Ke Xingzhou could even fight a spirit. They quickly rushed forward to mediate, "Daoist Ke, Daoist Ke, calm down!"

"That’s the Ghost Gate! Daoist Ke, if you destroy the Ghost Gate, the souls will be trapped in the human world, and the underworld will be thrown into chaos!"

The Ghost Gate had crashed into its own body, and its entire spirit was dizzy. At first, when it heard their calls, it thought they truly wanted to protect it. But after just two seconds of feeling touched, it heard the latter part of the conversation and immediately became angry.

"Good! I knew it!" the Ghost Gate cried out in pain, "None of you care about me! You just want to use me! I might as well die… come on, kill me!"

Ke Xingzhou had never heard such an absurd request before. He raised his fist and threw two punches, ready to fulfill the Ghost Gate’s wish.

The Taoist priests were frozen, too scared to stop Ke Xingzhou, worried that he might hit them too.

They watched in desperation as Ke Xingzhou landed punch after punch, almost moved to tears, but the Ghost Gate changed its mind at the moment it was being beaten, screaming for help, "Save, save, save… help!!"

Ke Xingzhou was baffled by its contradictory behavior and couldn’t understand why the Taoists still wanted to protect this spirit: "He’s just whining a bunch, clearly seduced by that demon. A spirit with a broken Dao heart is doomed to go astray anyway, better destroy it and let the artifact be reborn."

The Taoist priests, stunned by his overbearing words, were left dumbfounded: "Re-reborn?!"

The Ghost Gate was also dumbfounded. It had just said that out of anger, but now it had become a cursed existence that must die? It stared at Ke Xingzhou in disbelief, "You really want to kill me?"

Ke Xingzhou was very calm, "You asked for it, didn’t you?"

The Taoist priests: "…"

The Ghost Gate: "…"

The life-or-death crisis stemmed from its own impulsive words. The Ghost Gate, after being kicked in the backside, regretted it so much that it almost turned green with remorse, "I didn’t mean it! I didn’t! I don’t want to die anymore!"

Ke Xingzhou sneered, "You think you can live or die just by wanting it? You’re not giving me any money."

"..." The Ghost Gate couldn’t help but get angry, "Are you messing with me?!"He, the mighty Ghost Gate spirit, was not only second to none in the underworld, but also a unique existence. No soul was unaware of him. Even the officials of the underworld had to show respect when they saw him!

If he cultivated for a bit longer, he might even achieve a divine rank and join the immortal ranks. Why, in the eyes of these humans, did he not even have the right to choose his own life or death?!

The Ghost Gate was enraged and immediately ordered its own body to attack Ke Xingzhou's face.

The gatehouse, like a massive stone tablet, crashed down with the power of thunder, aiming to strike Ke Xingzhou. The Ghost Gate's body was an ancient artifact, and if this hit, it could possibly destroy the soul!

Just as everyone was horrified, they saw the Ghost Gate pause in mid-air, halting just before smashing Ke Xingzhou's head.

Everyone sighed in relief, thinking that although the Ghost Gate seemed ignorant and had been seduced by the demon to do something wrong, its true nature was still kind, knowing it couldn’t truly harm an innocent human...

Just as they thought this, they realized it wasn’t what they had imagined—

Ke Xingzhou raised one hand, holding up the Ghost Gate, and grabbed the Ghost Gate's hair with the other, while also holding onto the demon, who was trying to flee.

His slender arms, somehow containing such immense strength, pressed down on the Ghost Gate's body, and despite the spirit and demon struggling with all their might, they couldn't break free from his grip.

Realizing that Ke Xingzhou was truly going to kill the spirit, the Taoist priests nearly cried in despair.

"Daoist Ke, don’t!"

"Daoist Ke, think twice!"

The spirit, being grabbed by the hair, screamed in agony, "Ahhhhhh!"

The demon was almost scared to death, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the Ghost Gate's body—demons had no true essence, so after death, they couldn’t form a soul to enter the underworld, but they could still die!

The demon had planned to escape while Ke Xingzhou and the Ghost Gate fought, but now, being grabbed by the neck, he screamed, "Aaaahhh!"

Everyone thought he was just shouting for nothing, but upon looking, they saw that Ke Xingzhou was not only gripping the demon's neck but also stepping on its tail.

A thick, dragon-like tail was being flattened under Ke Xingzhou’s foot, turning it into a paper-thin layer.

Lian Cheng had already moved to Ke Xingzhou’s side, kicking the Ghost Gate's body over, and coldly glanced at the Ghost Gate before turning to Ke Xingzhou, "Are you alright?"

The Ghost Gate: "…???"

The Ghost Gate, furious, struggled and kicked with all its might, forcing Ke Xingzhou to let go and punch it. Meanwhile, the demon, taking advantage of Ke Xingzhou’s momentary distraction, severed its own tail in a desperate bid to escape, clutching the stub of its tail as it rushed forward.

Most of the people present were focused on Ke Xingzhou and the Ghost Gate. The demon, crawling and rolling, managed to get a safe distance away before turning and glaring at Ke Xingzhou in resentment.

"Today’s humiliation, I will repay a thousandfold next time!"

Ke Xingzhou was silent for a second, "If you can’t win, you can’t win. What’s with all this next time talk?"

The demon: "…"

It gritted its teeth and sneered, ignoring Ke Xingzhou. As Lian Cheng and Chen the Blind advanced to trap it, it took a few steps back, nearly hiding itself in the clouds.

Lian Cheng and Chen the Blind looked at the increasingly thick dark clouds, seemingly sensing something. Their expressions darkened.

Seeing this, the demon laughed menacingly and turned to the Ghost Gate, "Wait, I’ll help you escape."

At the same time, the wind grew even fiercer. The dark clouds in the sky began to descend in layers, and the overwhelming sense of pressure made it difficult for people to breathe.The tribulation thunder brewing in the clouds became more and more apparent, with the dull sound seemingly hitting everyone’s eardrums.

The second thunder would clearly strike again soon.

The media people hiding nearby looked up in fear, watching the scene.

They had not left as per the base’s instructions. Instead, in order to make the headline news, they hid near the experience base, some even in the trees. Upon hearing the thunder, they panicked, "What the hell is going on?"

"Run, run! It's going to thunder!"

Director Wen had been confused ever since he saw a child's figure appear on the gatehouse, and now his head was filled with questions, "What’s going on? What’s happening now? Why are there still people nearby?!"

The clouds in the sky kept pressing lower, the terrifying tribulation thunder was about to form. The small tribulation lightning dispersed and split trees the size of a bowl from top to bottom, their broken ends charred black, leaving people terrified.

The crowd was screaming as they retreated, but the Taoist priests had no time to care about them anymore.

Taoist Li from the Longevity Temple had lightning shapes reflected in his pupils and shouted in disbelief, "Purple tribulation thunder... they are trying to lure the Ghost Gate into falling to the demons?!"

"Daoist Ke, be careful! The tribulation thunder will target you as well!"

As they spoke, the scattered tribulation thunder seemed to have eyes, aiming straight for Ke Xingzhou.

No matter how special his constitution was, Ke Xingzhou was still a mortal. As soon as the tribulation thunder approached, the hairs on his body stood on end, and a huge sense of danger struck his nerves.

He only felt a burn on the back of his hand, and the Ghost Gate took the opportunity to retract its grip and, without looking back, charged straight into the tribulation thunder.

The Taoist priests were alarmed, "Spirit! Don’t go!"

But the Ghost Gate paid them no mind.

As an ancient artifact spirit, although it had only been born in the last ten thousand years, it was still one of the few artifact spirits in the end of the Dharma era! Today, it had been bested by a mere human, and it could not help but believe more in what the demon tribe said—

Humans truly were all brutes!

So what if it was an artifact spirit? What did the creatures of the three realms have to do with him? His body had stood at the junction of the Yin and Yang realms for countless years, yet no one knew of his existence, merely thinking he was an ordinary door.

He was done! Whoever wanted to be the Ghost Gate could have it!

He was going to fall to the demons!

The Ghost Gate paid no attention to the Taoists’ calls and charged straight toward the tribulation clouds above. He could almost see himself living a carefree, unrestrained life after turning to evil. His mouth couldn’t help but stretch into a bigger grin, and his eyes gleamed with madness.

To the Taoist priests, the Ghost Gate’s body was once again covered in strange black patterns, his skin seemingly cracked. In the intermittent lightning, he appeared incredibly terrifying.

His eyes glowed red, and sharp fangs could be seen at the corners of his mouth. His head seemed as though demon horns were about to sprout!

"Not good, the spirit is about to turn to evil!"

The Taoist priests cried out in alarm.

In stark contrast to their fear, at the edge of the tribulation clouds, the demon tribe looked on in great excitement, their eyes flashing red, the corners of their mouths curling into an increasingly malicious smile.

When they saw the Ghost Gate charge into the clouds, the demon couldn’t help but laugh loudly three times, "Haha! It worked!"Imprisoned for over ten thousand years in the Demon Sealing Array, the demon race had suffered greatly and no longer possessed the power they once had. Fortunately, in the three realms, only the underworld and the gods still existed; neither the human world nor the demon realm had any true gods left.

Now that the Ghost Gate had fallen into demonization, the last remaining connection between the three realms would be completely severed. No one would be able to stop the demon race from flattening the human world!

The more the demons thought about it, the more pleased they felt, even forgetting the pain of their severed tails. They looked down from above at Ke Xingzhou and the others, like watching a group of ants.

However, after waiting arrogantly for a while, the scene they had expected—Ghost Gate’s demonization—did not appear. They were puzzled and looked up just in time to see Ghost Gate charging out from the calamity clouds.

Ghost Gate was wrapped in pitch-black calamity clouds, his face filled with panic, with a few burnt marks on his body.

It seemed he was furious, charging towards the demon with the force of a small cannonball, grabbing him by the collar and asking, "Why didn’t you tell me the thunder tribulation would hurt so much?!!"

Demon: "?"

The crowd below: "…?"

Ghost Gate gritted his teeth in pain, wanting to touch the wound but immediately pulling his hand back due to the sharp pain, tears even welling up from the agony.

He cursed while pointing at the strange patterns on his skin that had yet to fade, "Didn't you say becoming a demon would bring no pain? That I'd be able to do whatever I want and no one would be able to bind me again? What's this? What is this?!"

The demon was so confused by the questioning that he couldn't react at first. Then, a surge of uncontrollable anger erupted, and he couldn’t help but roar, "Demonization definitely hurts! What were you thinking? You think demonization means you can do whatever you want, without being bound by the heavenly path? How could it come without any cost?! Besides, it’s just a bit of pain. Once the thunder tribulation is over, it’ll be fine! You can’t even handle this little bit of suffering, and you want to demonize?"

Ghost Gate: "You’re lying! When I was the door, the heavenly path didn’t care about me, and I didn’t get struck by lightning!!"

"……" The demon was so enraged, he almost burst out laughing. After gritting his teeth for a while, he finally managed to spit out one word: "Idiot!"

He had to stay obedient as the gate, and the heavenly path was crazy to interfere with him!

Ghost Gate's eyes widened in disbelief: "You’re cursing me?!"

They had clearly agreed that once he fell into demonization, he would be like a high-ranking demon god in the demon realm. Even those like the Asuras, who were half-step demon gods, would treat him like a grandson, or even be eaten as food.

But now, he hadn’t even fully demonized, and this low-level demon was already threatening him!

Ghost Gate was filled with rage, and with a scream, he lunged at the demon, summoning his true form as a weapon and fiercely smashing it onto the demon.

Demon: "What the fuck... you have a problem?! That wasn’t even a curse... damn! Stop hitting me!"

The demon, who had been trapped under the Demon Sealing Array for over ten thousand years, couldn’t understand how someone born as an ancient magical artifact’s spirit could have lived so smoothly, just as the spirit of the artifact couldn’t understand why anyone would think that there are benefits that come with no cost.

Just a few minutes ago, the two had been allies, but now they were fighting without any agreement. The crowd stood there, dumbfounded.

Lian Cheng reached out into the void beside him, and immediately a classical-looking bow appeared in his hand.

Chen the Blind looked at him draw the bowstring, and a shimmering arrow formed from gathered energy appeared between his fingers. His expression turned serious: "Let me ask, are you planning to wipe them both out, or leave the Ghost Gate spirit alive?"

"Do I even need to ask?" Lian Cheng said, turning his face to the side, noticing Ke Xingzhou, who was sulking because he couldn't fly. He casually said, "The Ghost Gate has already fallen into demonization. Keeping him alive would be a disaster."

Chen the Blind: "…Wait, he just started, and he’s already regretting it..."

"Are you still Daoist?" Lian Cheng’s lips pressed into a tight line, revealing a hint of coldness. "The Daoist teachings never talk about letting go of the butcher's knife. They only talk about taking it down."

As his words landed, Lian Cheng relaxed his fingers, and a golden light formed into an illusion, shooting directly toward the Ghost Gate and the demon in the sky.

Ghost Gate, sensing the familiar energy fluctuation, turned around and almost died of fright—"Ahhh, Uncle Lian Cheng, you even want to kill me!!"

He seemed heartbroken, looking at Lian Cheng with teary eyes, screaming as he rolled and crawled to escape the demon clan, running away.

The demon clan saw the golden arrow and their face changed drastically. Their uncertain gaze scanned Lian Cheng’s face back and forth. "How is it you? No, no, this shouldn’t be you! That person is already dead!"

Lian Cheng's gaze suddenly turned cold, quickly drawing his bow and shooting another arrow.

This arrow was even more rapid than the previous one, almost instantly reaching the demon clan, sealing their escape route along with the earlier arrow.

The demon clan tried to maneuver but couldn't escape the arrows' lock, and in the end, they were consumed by the arrow light with a reluctant expression.

Ghost Gate’s face turned pale in fear upon seeing this, looking at Lian Cheng in disbelief. No longer caring about crying, he turned and ran outside.

Lian Cheng furrowed his brow and was about to draw his bow to shoot again when the bow was suddenly taken away from him.

Ke Xingzhou’s eyes lit up as he snatched the bow from him. As soon as his hand touched it, he felt a familiar and fitting sensation. Almost instinctively, he drew the bow, aiming at the fleeing Ghost Gate.

His arm tensed, and without much thought, a more condensed arrow than the one Lian Cheng had shot earlier appeared in his fingers.

Ke Xingzhou narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice low and commanding, "Stop!"

As soon as he spoke, the bow in his hand trembled slightly, and a strange buzzing sound echoed in everyone’s ears, including Ghost Gate, who was running for his life.

Ke Xingzhou immediately felt an overwhelming pressure, even more terrifying than when Lian Cheng had aimed at him earlier. He instinctively felt the imminent danger of death, and his survival instincts forced him to stop.

Even Chen Xiezi was startled by the sudden aura bursting from Ke Xingzhou. Trembling, he stepped forward to press down the bow, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and shouted at Ghost Gate, "Are you not going to come back? Do you really want to die?!"

"..." The sense of danger that felt like a sharp thorn in his back disappeared, but Ghost Gate could still feel Ke Xingzhou's gaze on his back, as sharp as a hawk’s.

Thus, after hesitating for a moment, he obediently turned back, looking at Ke Xingzhou with a fearful expression.

Could this really be a mortal?!

Since his birth, he had never felt such an overwhelming force from anyone other than Lian Cheng. The Underworld likely sent Lian Cheng for this very reason—

Chen Xiezi noticed his thoughts and fell silent.

The Underworld had originally planned to send him just to persuade verbally...

Ghost Gate didn’t realize this and kept sneaking glances at Ke Xingzhou.

Since he became conscious, this bow had always been Lian Cheng’s personal weapon. No one could even touch it, let alone wield it. But this person was able to use it more smoothly than Lian Cheng...

Could this human be someone Lian Cheng found behind the Innkeeper’s back?

Lian Cheng didn’t notice the strange gaze from Ghost Gate. He was still staring at Ke Xingzhou, his thin lips slightly trembling, as though he had something to say.

Ke Xingzhou loved the bow, his fingers lingering on the elegant, smooth patterns on its body, almost reluctant to give it back to Lian Cheng. But when he looked up and saw Lian Cheng’s expression, he hesitated for a moment, then returned the bow. "Here, take it back. Don’t make it seem like I’m stealing your things."

Lian Cheng was stunned.

He furrowed his brow slightly, wanting to say that he didn’t think that way, that the bow itself was... but Ke Xingzhou had already walked towards Ghost Gate, who had been eyeing him.He grabbed Ghost Gate by the back of his collar, flipped him over, and pressed him to the ground, starting to beat him.

Ghost Gate: "?"

The Taoist priests: "???"

The Taoist priests finally snapped out of the rapidly changing battle situation. Seeing this, they trembled in fear: "Ke... Ke Daoist, you don't really want to kill him, do you...?"

Ghost Gate had just realized he had been deceived by the demon clan, then had arrows aimed at him by both Lian Cheng and Ke Xingzhou. By now, he fully recognized his mistake. After being beaten for a while, he cried out loudly:

"I was wrong, I won't dare again! They told me that the demon clan doesn't need to do anything, that my cultivation would improve on its own, I could eat whatever I wanted, do whatever I wanted... And they said if I joined them, I could become a demon god, and every demon would come to pay their respects to me! Who could resist such temptation?!"

The Taoist priests: "..."

The spirit of a majestic ancient artifact was actually swayed by such small benefits, it would be embarrassing to say that out loud.

But Ghost Gate's importance was undeniable. Even the demon clan had come to persuade him, so it was clear that Ke Xingzhou could not be allowed to kill him.

The Taoist priests cautiously thought of what to say to persuade Ke Xingzhou, but before they could, Ke Xingzhou turned and withdrew his fist, standing up. He casually tossed Ghost Gate to Lian Cheng, who had a complex expression on his face.

Lian Cheng tossed Ghost Gate to Chen Xiezi.

Chen Xiezi let go, and Ghost Gate fell to the ground.

Ghost Gate: "?"

The Taoist priests: "?"

Before they could even wonder why the three of them seemed to be so disdainful of the artifact spirit, Ke Xingzhou had already lifted his head, brushing the rain-drenched hair back, smiling as he asked Lian Cheng: "Where did you get this bow made? Can you help me make one too? By the way, how much is it?"

Before Lian Cheng could speak, Chen Xiezi answered on his behalf: "This is also an ancient artifact, a priceless treasure."

However, if Ke Xingzhou wanted it, Lian Cheng would give it to him directly.

Ke Xingzhou lost interest in the bow as soon as he heard "priceless treasure."

He looked at Ghost Gate with frustration, then seemed to realize something. He stood up and directly looked toward the entrance of the experience base: "Someone's coming."

Lian Cheng: "..."

Everyone else: "??"

Everyone turned to look at the door and saw several people sneaking in with cameras.

Zhu Chu was momentarily stunned, his sharp instincts honed in the entertainment industry immediately telling him that something was off. He took out his phone and searched.

After a moment, he spoke in a daze: "Master, this is bad. Someone recorded a video of the demon clan and artifact spirit fighting inside Jieyun, and the internet is blowing up..."