Chapter 767: Female Ghost

All the beautiful female disciples of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion were already spoken for. Yet, she claimed to always act alone.

Aside from the possibility that she was lying, there was actually another possibility: she had no idea about the situation in the Heavenly Secret Pavilion! How could she be on the ninth floor of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's underground world and not know about the widely known relationships between men and women?

Who could she be? The answer was obvious: a malevolent entity!

It was precisely the malevolent entity that Youyunzi had warned the new disciples about, telling them to be especially wary of it on the ninth floor.

Huaxin slowly stood up. Her pierced chest healed at a visible rate. A faint layer of black mist emerged from her body, transforming into an elegant black gown. Her face, remarkably similar to Consort Yunxia's, became hazy, like a flower in the mist. Though clearly close, it was impossible to discern clearly.

“Oh? How did you know?” Huaxin, cradling her chest with her left hand and her pale cheek with her right, asked earnestly.

Jiang Fan replied, “It’s very simple.” He took out the jade box containing the Yin Marrow and said, “If there were no malevolent entities here, where would such intense Yin energy come from, enough to condense into Yin Marrow?”

He had already had suspicions when he checked the vicinity earlier. There were only a few conspicuous skeletons here, but they didn’t emit any Yin energy. Therefore, the rich Yin energy in this place was highly suspicious. Huaxin’s appearance immediately made Jiang Fan suspicious.

“I see,” Huaxin said, a look of realization dawning on her face. “A single oversight in a hundred precautions.”

Jiang Fan scrutinized her graceful figure and astonishing beauty. He also showed a hint of realization. “No wonder when I asked my elder what characteristics malevolent entities had, he avoided answering and only told me to abstain from lust.”

Such a beautiful, gentle, and pitiful fairy-like figure—uninformed people would indeed easily fall for her. Especially since this malevolent entity possessed terrifyingly high intelligence. It could even disguise itself as a Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciple. For new disciples unfamiliar with the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, the deception was simply too great.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan’s right foot surged with lightning. He stomped forcefully about half a foot behind him. A healing elixir from a jade bottle had rolled near his heel at some point. As he stepped on it, the elixir let out strange squeaking sounds. Under the lightning's attack, it even emitted puffs of black smoke.

Once the strange squeaks ceased, Jiang Fan moved his foot and narrowed his eyes. It was actually a small centipede-like insect. Its back was dark and shiny. When its head and tail curled together, it resembled a smooth, dark elixir pill!

Jiang Fan scoffed, “No wonder you kept offering me elixirs or asking me to fetch them for you. So that’s where the problem was.”

He paused. Jiang Fan then sized up Huaxin’s true form, saying meaningfully, “Also, you must have some formidable trump card up your sleeve, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have feigned injury, or even death, constantly trying to lure me closer.”

Huaxin rubbed her temples again. Somewhat annoyed, she muttered, “What kind of little monster have I run into?” Having been a malevolent entity for so long, it was the first time she had encountered such a person. She could understand his caution when he didn't fall for her tricks earlier. But then she died. He even poked her corpse with a sword, stripped off her clothes, and then burned her with fire. Was he planning to scatter her ashes next?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but feel vexed: “You brat! I’ve never met anyone so hard to trick! Are you even a man?” She pondered whether the female image she had projected, in terms of both appearance and demeanor, should have been the fairy of every man’s dreams. Yet, Jiang Fan remained completely unmoved!

Something was wrong! Jiang Fan was very wrong!

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to Jiang Fan’s legs. Jiang Fan clamped his legs together and retorted, “Where are you looking? You lecherous ghost!”

Huaxin’s expression stiffened, and she huffed, “Better than you stripping a female corpse!”

“I-I was trying to… to…” Jiang Fan’s lips twitched. He couldn’t explain it! Besides, why should he explain anything to a female ghost?

“Die now! You lecherous ghost!” Jiang Fan’s palm crackled with lightning, and he decisively unleashed a Five Thunder Heavenly Palm towards Huaxin!

Huaxin’s expression changed. As a malevolent entity, this type of divine ability was what she feared most.

“You brat, you can do it, but I can’t even talk about it? Are you trying to silence me?” She opened her mouth and spat. A palm-sized tiger tally floated out.

Jiang Fan was considerably surprised at the sight. The entire tiger tally was condensed from Yin Marrow! The half-fingernail-sized piece of Yin Marrow he had condensed earlier was merely a thin layer on the current tiger tally!

With a smack! Holding the Yin Marrow Tiger Tally, she smacked it against the incoming lightning palm. An endless torrent of dense Yin energy surged forth like a flood, instantly engulfing the Five Thunder Heavenly Palm. Only the deafening crackle and bang could be heard. The Five Thunder Heavenly Palm was completely neutralized. The residual Yin energy whistled as it rushed towards Jiang Fan.

“Void Stream Lightning!” Jiang Fan struck the space in front of him with a palm. Streaks of electric current surged out, weaving into a lightning net that dispersed the residual Yin energy.

He looked slightly solemn: “You lecherous ghost, you possess such a powerful Yin Marrow artifact. Why bother going to such lengths to get close to me?” This female ghost could have easily used the Yin Marrow Tiger Tally from the very beginning. No one among the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples could withstand it.

Huaxin snorted, “Hand over the Mountain River Cauldron, and I’ll let you go!”

Jiang Fan pondered for a moment before realizing! She desired the Mountain River Cauldron, but was concerned that it might be in a spatial storage artifact. So she pretended to be a gentle and caring elder sister to approach Jiang Fan and trick him into revealing the spatial storage artifact’s incantation. Now that deception was impossible, she resorted to threats of force.

“Hmph!” Jiang Fan sneered. “Still coveting treasures, are we? If you’re so capable…” With a glance, Jiang Fan’s peripheral vision swept over her Yin Marrow Tiger Tally, and he said, “It’s not impossible for you to have my Mountain River Cauldron. But don’t expect it for free!”

Huaxin began to ponder. Her intuition told her that this human was somewhat difficult to deal with. If she could obtain the Mountain River Cauldron peacefully, that would be for the best.

“What do you propose?”

Jiang Fan said, “Give me your Yin Marrow Tiger Tally, and I’ll give you the Mountain River Cauldron.”

Huaxin replied without hesitation, “Impossible! What kind of joke was this? The Yin Marrow Tiger Tally was her most important treasure, something more precious than her life. How could she give it away?”

Jiang Fan, settling for a compromise, asked, “Then what can you give me?”

Huaxin was already prepared. She flashed to a corner of the main hall. Kicking aside a few floor tiles, she revealed a small pit. Inside, human artifacts from various years were piled up: ancient swords that had lost their spiritual essence, decayed talismans, damaged robes.

Jiang Fan’s gaze slightly chilled: “You’ve killed quite a few humans, haven’t you?”

Huaxin glanced at him and said, “If I wanted to kill you humans, how many who come to this underground world would survive?” That was true. With the Yin Marrow Tiger Tally in her hand, at least no disciples could escape her grasp.

“They all died tragically in this underground world due to various accidents,” Huaxin clarified. “I merely collected their belongings.”

Jiang Fan glanced at the tattered items. He shook his head slightly: “Do you also have a hobby of scavenging? Unfortunately, I don’t collect junk.”

Huaxin ignored him. She rummaged inside for a while. Finally, from the very bottom, she pulled out a bronze disc covered in green rust. Incomparably complex patterns were carved onto it. After looking at it for a moment, Jiang Fan felt dizzy. He retreated cautiously, his eyes wary, and asked, “Is this… a formation?” He had just suffered from Ye Banxia’s gravity formation.