Chapter 98: 89, Members of the same camp are good at exposing each other's past secrets_2
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"Are you going to help him?" At this moment, a voice emanated from within the yin wind.
Tan Shuchang remained silent, only lifting his hand in the direction of the voice to make a grasping motion in the air.
In an instant, blood surged out of nowhere, wrapping the yin wind directly. Thus, the vicious ghost within the yin wind met the withered tree in the Blood Pool.
However, neither of them felt like enemies coming face to face at this moment.
Seeing the scene within the Blood Pool, the withered tree suddenly felt as if the issues of Sword Disciple Mountain seemed insignificant. As for that vicious ghost, it naturally felt somewhat panic-stricken and uneasy.
Because it sensed the resentment of the ghosts, a kind of unique malice arising only when a large number of vicious ghosts had perished within the Blood Pool.
Living beings would find it incredibly fragrant and sweet.
But once a vicious ghost came into contact with it, aside from terror, all it wanted was to flee this place as quickly as possible.
"Welcome, esteemed senior and this Taoist friend, to Black Heart Mountain! As your host, may I introduce you to the scenery of Black Heart Mountain?" Tan Shuchang's figure also appeared in the Blood Pool, but not in human form. Instead, he manifested as a constantly writhing pile of viscous blood, with that sense of sanctity in the golden light shining exceptionally strong on this blood mass.
"Is this your self-created 'Cross Calamity Immortal Scripture'?" The withered tree, seeing Tan Shuchang's unique way of appearing, couldn't help but be startled, then he asked, somewhat incredulously.
The name 'Cross Calamity Immortal Scripture', too, had become famous directly following Tan Shuchang's battle.
"Indeed, senior. If you wish to learn it, I can also teach you, although since you no longer have a body, you can probably only contemplate it in vain," Tan Shuchang strictly kept the tacit agreement with the leader of the fiends.
"Truly a peerless genius! That damned Son of the Heavenly Mandate is no match for you at all!" The withered tree was thoroughly convinced of Tan Shuchang's prowess.
Because when he first left the mountain, he had specifically investigated Tan Shuchang's background.
The results were such that, had he not looked into it, he would have descended the mountain with the intention of a mutual destruction.
After a delay of over a decade, kidnapped by the Heartless Old Man to cultivate on the mountain, it took him only three years to kill the severely wounded Heartless Old Man. Afterwards, not many paid attention to Tan Shuchang, and even the people on Sword Disciple Mountain listed him as a stepping stone for that designated Son of the Heavenly Mandate.
Who could have predicted, in just such a short period, this stepping stone's cultivation would reach unimaginable levels, nearly shattering the Son of the Heavenly Mandate himself.
It was only because of his three foolish disciples that he narrowly escaped with his life.
Now, the withered tree, witnessing this self-sufficient technique, could not help but think that his three disciples dying at the hands of such a person was perhaps a fitting end.
"Senior, may I know what has transpired? Could you please explain in detail? I might conceal the truth for a moment, but I cannot keep it hidden from the Land of Yin and Darkness for too long," Tan Shuchang said, even though he could protect the withered tree until the time the bizarre game summoned him, then leave him behind in that world of the bizarre game.
But he saw no need to do so for someone who had been an enemy, even if that person had provided him with part of a body composed of a Nine-Orifices Martial Demon.
Sometimes, what people need to fear the most is having too much compassion.
Anything in excess is detrimental.
Upon hearing this, the withered tree nodded, and then began to tell Tan Shuchang everything in detail.
Yes, in detail.
He started from when Su Huan'an approached him, including the secrets Su Huan'an shared with him, which naturally involved matters of the Ancestors of Sword Disciple Mountain.
After that, the withered tree recounted how he took on Su Huan'an's quest and descended the mountain, only to be trailed by a sinister ghost, which unbelievably used the Ghost Suppressing Technique to seal him away.
The withered tree was so detailed because he was uncertain whether this was someone scheming against him, or against Su Huan'an.
Thus, he simply decided to go all in, selling out everything about Sword Disciple Mountain.
Anyway, he wouldn't be around for much longer as he was soon to head to the Land of Yin and Darkness.
After his death, what did he care if the floodwaters raged!
The wrathful ghost, who had been silent on the side, was initially frightened by the ghostly resentment, but upon hearing the withered tree expose Sword Disciple Mountain so thoroughly, immediately became agitated, "You fool, do you realize what you're doing? How could Sword Disciple Mountain have such an idiot for a disciple?"
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Even when immersed in the Blood Pool, the wrathful ghost couldn't help but unleash a torrent of verbal abuse at the withered tree.
It began as a stern chastisement, but quickly devolved into cursing one's ancestors.
Clearly, the wrathful ghost was truly enraged.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you curse me like that?" Although already dead, the withered tree couldn't help but get angry upon hearing such filthy language and responded with a stream of vile retorts.
"Me? If we're talking seniority, you should be addressing me as 'Little Ancestor'!" the wrathful ghost roared in fury, because the withered tree's curses were unbearably offensive.
If it hadn't been for the limitations imposed by the Blood Pool, it would have pounced on the withered tree and given it a savage beating.
And upon hearing this, the withered tree was momentarily stunned.
"Are you truly my Little Ancestor?" the withered tree asked with some hesitation, not because it believed the ghost's words outright, but having witnessed the ghost's prowess, who as a wrathful ghost wasn't constrained by the Ghost Suppressing Technique but could instead use it to suppress him. This planted seeds of doubt in the withered tree, who had always lacked self-confidence.
"The sword technique you practice is the Winter's Silent Sword, which was left behind by one of my clan brethren!" the wrathful ghost declared.
This caused the withered tree's expression to shift slightly.
After all, the Winter's Silent Sword was the core of the cultivation technique he practiced. Only those deeply familiar with this technique would be aware of its core aspects.
However, at this moment, Tan Shuchang spoke up, "Senior, your identity in life is of no use after death. After all, when a person dies, everything becomes a thing of the past."
Because he wanted to hear more secrets about Sword Disciple Mountain from the withered tree.
There were many details not even mentioned in that letter a certain young lady had written to him.
"Not necessarily. He's about to go the Land of Yin and Darkness, and there, I have a special status! The Sun-Walking Spirit Envoy under the guard of the gate!" The wrathful ghost sneered, revealing quite a bit of information about the Land of Yin and Darkness.
"Senior, remember this identity. It might come in handy for pulling some weight when the time comes," said Tan Shuchang, and with a backwards press of his hand, the blood surged up, enveloping the wrathful ghost completely.
This time was different from before; as soon as the blood enveloped the wrathful ghost, it began to scream in agony.
Tan Shuchang was now refining the wrathful ghost.
Hearing the agonized screams of the wrathful ghost, the withered tree felt a sense of unreality. Was the fearsome Little Ancestor who effortlessly dominated him going to be so easily refined and killed?
Thus, after collecting his thoughts, he told Tan Shuchang everything he knew.
And after he had finished speaking, the withered tree prepared to leave.
Tan Shuchang then lifted the Blood Pool's restriction, and as the wind outside touched the withered tree, the legendary Sword Cultivator who had reached the level of a Sword Master of Heaven and Earth vanished without a trace.
He was headed directly to the Land of Yin and Darkness.
Perhaps there, he would become a Ghost Cultivator, or maybe he would enter the legendary cycle of reincarnation, leaving all his past deeds as nothing but smoke and clouds.
Tan Shuchang closed the Blood Pool and continued the refining process.
After a while, having finally refined the wrathful ghost, Tan Shuchang couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
Because the wrathful ghost hadn't left him with much useful information.
Moreover, somewhat strangely, although the wrathful ghost was difficult to refine, the power gained from refining it was about the same as that from an ordinary ghost.
"It seems that, unless something unexpected happens, Senior Withered Tree won't be able to flaunt that identity in the Land of Yin and Darkness," Tan Shuchang muttered to himself with a slight shake of his head.
Although he had never been to the Land of Yin and Darkness, he had ventured into that bizarre game several times and had seen a lot of secrets about the spirits on the game's sole official website, so he was well aware that in the world of ghosts, even if it appeared to be orderly and civilized, not solely relying on brute force like the human world, it was ultimately still governed by the law of the fist.
And judging by the power he gained from refining the wrathful ghost, this one was not likely to be an important figure in the Land of Yin and Darkness, and might even be on the same level as a minor gate guard.