"Mother!"
Piao's cry had barely faded when a visible stream of bronze-colored air surged violently from the crack in the door!
The bronze-colored gas carried a cloyingly sweet scent of rot. Everywhere it touched—whether the decaying wood of the doorframe or the sand on the ground—it was assimilated at an alarming speed, stained with an ominous yellow-bronze hue.
"This is bad!" Jiang Ziang's expression shifted drastically.
The Pursuing Soul Envoy, tasked with guiding resentful spirits, had already been shredded by Piao.
The Corpse Soul Sect had spent years of effort and paid an immense price to research a special ghost like the Pursuing Soul Envoy, capable of consuming copper poison and resentful spirits.
Now that the Pursuing Soul Envoy was destroyed, if the copper poison were allowed to erupt, its inherent toxicity would instantly contaminate the land for miles around, turning this entire Huangshawo into a barren bronze hell.
At that point, let alone the living, even ghosts would be unable to remain in this place.
Jiang Ziang hesitated for a brief moment before a look of resolve flashed in his eyes.
He slapped the black pottery jar at his waist and rapidly chanted an obscure incantation.
"With my blood as the guide, with my soul as the contract, hear my command—malevolent ghost, appear!"
Following the summoning, the pottery jar suddenly glowed with intense dark light.
A thick plume of black smoke erupted from it, quickly condensing in mid-air into a terrifying ghost over ten feet tall. It had a green face and protruding fangs, with its entire body wreathed in the illusory shadows of countless resentful spirits.
This was his natal malevolent ghost, nurtured with his own soul for many years. It shared a life-bond and a telepathic connection with him.
"Go! Draw the poison into your body!"
This was the only option left.
He would force his natal malevolent ghost to swallow the copper poison, using the ghost's body as a container to temporarily suppress it.
The price would be that his natal malevolent ghost would be completely eroded and assimilated by the copper poison afterward, eventually turning into a mindless bronze statue. He himself would suffer soul damage and his cultivation would regress several realms.
But at this moment, he could no longer worry about his future.
As a disciple of the Corpse Soul Sect, protecting the land and preventing the spread of evil anomalies was a responsibility carved into his bones.
However, Piao was faster. She slapped the green-faced malevolent ghost aside with one hand, then slammed the door open and rushed to the old woman's bedside.
The old woman was very old and very ugly; her face was already tinged with bronze, and she was on the verge of death, about to transform into a resentful ghost carrying copper poison.
Yet, facing the bronze cyclone that was about to fully erupt, Piao made no attempt to defend herself. Instead, she opened her mouth and took a deep breath.
Jiang Ziang's pupils snapped to the size of needle-points.
He saw the bronze gas flowing from the old woman's seven orifices, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, turning into a thick stream of bronze dust that was entirely sucked into Piao's mouth.
Jiang Ziang stood frozen on the spot. His natal malevolent ghost, which had been slapped to the ground, looked up blankly, unsure whether to continue following its master's order.
What... what was he seeing?
Swallowing... copper poison?
How was that possible! That was a bizarre poison that even the Sect Master was powerless against. This woman actually... actually ate it like it was a meal?!
Just as Jiang Ziang's worldview was being shattered once again, a wisp of copper poison that hadn't been absorbed in time drifted out from the door crack.
The bronze-colored air seemed to possess a life of its own. It circled in the air once before immediately locking onto the only living person in the area: Jiang Ziang.
The copper poison spiraled down, seeking a new host.
Jiang Ziang had just been so shaken that he couldn't react in time.
However, Jian Huaishuang, who had been standing beside him without moving the entire time, became a barrier. The moment the copper poison came within three feet of him, it was instantly annihilated and purified as if it had met its natural enemy, leaving not even a trace behind.
Jiang Ziang shuddered, finally coming to his senses, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat.
He looked in horror at Jian Huaishuang beside him, and then into the room.
He had never seen such a troublesome and overbearing copper poison be dealt with so easily.
Whether it was the woman who swallowed copper poison or this man who could disperse toxic gas with unknown means, their existence had completely exceeded the scope of Jiang Ziang's understanding.
No wonder... no wonder the old woman in this house, despite reaching the end of her lifespan, had not yet succumbed to the poison.
It turned out this strange woman had been using this inconceivable method to extend her life.
Inside the room, after consuming all the toxins, Piao walked to the bedside and extended a slender wrist.
On her other hand, fine insect carapace grew out, and her fingernails lengthened like blades. She made a light cut.
No blood flowed out.
From the wound emerged a thick, pale golden liquid that emitted a strange, cloyingly sweet scent.
She brought her wrist to the old woman's dry, cracked lips and fed her the golden liquid drop by drop.
As the golden liquid integrated into her, the old woman's body, which had already completely lost its vitality, actually regained a faint glimmer of life.
Though she remained frail, her complexion reddened slightly, and even the aura of sickness seemed to be significantly driven away.
In contrast, Piao's face became increasingly pale.
Absorbing such a massive amount of copper poison and giving up essence blood was certainly not without cost for her.
At the boundary line on her face, the hideous dark insect carapace began to stir. The patterns upon it seemed to come alive, trying to encroach and expand bit by bit toward the beautiful half of her face.
But Piao simply endured it silently, her face maintaining its flat, expressionless look, as if the one experiencing the biting of the insects was not herself.
Outside, Jian Huaishuang withdrew his gaze from the room and let it fall upon Jiang Ziang and the natal malevolent ghost that had not yet dispersed.
He remembered the tattered book he had picked up in Kushi City. "Are you a member of the Corpse Soul Sect?"
By now, there was no point in hiding his identity.
Jiang Ziang took a deep breath, dismissed his natal malevolent ghost, cupped his hands toward Jian Huaishuang, and said in a heavy voice, "Jiang Ziang, inner disciple of the Corpse Soul Sect."
He answered openly, without any evasion.
Jian Huaishuang gave him a deep look.
Having integrated his body with an evil spirit, he had inherited half of an evil spirit's ability to peer into people's hearts. Furthermore, his current cultivation at the Essence Devouring stage gave him a divine sense far beyond cultivators of the same rank.
In his perception, the soul of this young man claiming to be a disciple of the Corpse Soul Sect was clear and his intent was pure. Although he practiced the path of ghosts, there was not a trace of malice or resentment in the depths of his heart.
This left Jian Huaishuang feeling very puzzled.
Why would such a seemingly upright disciple of an immortal sect be part of such a notorious organization?
"Why does your Corpse Soul Sect drive knocking ghosts to perform this soul-reaping business that harms lives?" Jian Huaishuang continued to press.
Hearing this, a bitter smile appeared on Jiang Ziang's face as he shook his head. "You mean the Pursuing Soul Envoy? That matter... is not as you think."
"How is it different?"
"It concerns sect secrets, so I cannot divulge it," Jiang Ziang's tone was firm. "But I can guarantee that what my Corpse Soul Sect does is by no means for the purpose of harming lives. Quite the opposite—we are saving people."
He paused, his tone becoming incredibly heavy. "You saw it for yourself just now. The copper poison is so overbearing that no one can neutralize it; it uses the land as a medium to find parasitic hosts.
"And my sect's Pursuing Soul Envoy is the only thing ever researched in this world that can combat and purify the copper poison."
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