Chapter 137: Ghost Cultivator

Having spent over three hundred thousand years inside the spatial orb, Feng Ke'er dealt with arrays and restrictions every single day. How could she possibly fail to recognize that the space contained a massive protective array, and that the twelve large stone pillars were, in fact, array stones?

The small wooden hut was the core of the array.

She might not know the name of this array, but that did not mean she could not break it. However, was it really worth taking on sixty thousand well-trained Underworld soldiers single-handedly just to satisfy her curiosity? If things went wrong, these entities might turn out to be part of the Feng clan, or perhaps they were something concocted by the Goddess Nüwa herself.

No, no! She was not about to go looking for trouble. Turning around to inspect the barrier in front of her, Feng Ke'er instantly regretted it: curiosity killed the cat, indeed.

Why did she have to follow them in? Why! Why!

The barrier and the protective array were one and the same. To exit the barrier, one had to break it. And once the barrier was broken, it would inevitably trigger the protective array... Sob, she must have forgotten to bring her brain with her!

Just then, a flash of white light appeared above the small wooden hut, and the spatial barrier was sliced open.

"Feng Ke'er! Feng Ke'er!"

Hearing someone call her name, Feng Ke'er almost instinctively answered. Fortunately, her hands were faster than her mouth. She immediately covered her mouth tightly and turned around slowly.

Hovering above the small wooden hut was a female cultivator in dark robes, her hands clasped in front of her abdomen. She looked down at the hut with fury, demanding loudly, "How was the barrier opened twice? Did you sneak out again?"

This person had no feet! Looking at the hollow robes, Feng Ke'er could hardly believe her eyes: a half-person draped in long hair!

Oh my, poor girl, why did you make yourself look so miserable!

Clearly, the girl who shared her name had a bit of a temper. At these words, a white figure rushed out of the hut: "Lingjia, stop spouting nonsense!"

It was the female cultivator at the Condensing Core stage.

She darted forward like an arrow, landing right in front of the half-person named Lingjia. "Which eye of yours saw the barrier open twice?" She had been holding in a bellyful of anger and, having finally found a target, her emotions were so intense she nearly sprayed spit all over the other woman's face.

Lingjia opened her arms and dodged with disgust, putting over a yard of distance between them. Stretching her neck, she shouted back into the hut, "Meng Qing! Meng Qing!"

"Here!" Another dark figure drifted out. Feng Ke'er recognized him—it was the buttery-smooth Foundation Establishment cultivator from earlier.

"Tell me, was the barrier opened just now?" Lingjia asked indignantly.

"Yes, it was," Meng Qing replied, standing respectfully behind the white-clad cultivator who shared Feng Ke'er’s name.

"A-Qing..." the female cultivator turned back, stunned.

Only then did Feng Ke'er see what this person looked like—her features were actually five parts similar to Bodhi Zi!

Immediately, she understood the woman's identity—this was the real, genuine Feng Ke'er (to avoid confusion, she would be referred to as the "white-clad cultivator").

At the same time, a big question mark popped into her head: Wait, wasn't she supposed to be missing? How did she end up here?

Lingjia pointed at Feng Ke'er triumphantly and scoffed rudely, "Feng Ke'er, the Goddess trusted you so much, handing over the management of the Grudge Spirit Space to you completely. Yet, you’ve secretly opened the barrier several times. Hmph, I will certainly report this to the Goddess as it is. Let's see how she punishes you!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Meng Qing looked up and asked with a straight face, "Sister Lingjia, if you don't open the barrier, how can you come in?"

"You..." Lingjia’s eyes turned red instantly.

"Lingjia!" The white-clad cultivator pointed at her, launching a righteous counterattack. "Hand over the token!"

Lingjia ignored her, clutching her heart and looking at Meng Qing with immense grievance. "Meng Qing, you’re helping her... You’re actually taking her side! What do I lack compared to her?"

"Sister Lingjia, what I just said was the truth." Meng Qing sighed, cupping his hands in front of his chest. "If Sister Lingjia has no other instructions, I shall take my leave." With that, he bowed and drifted back into the small wooden hut.

"Meng Qing! Meng Qing!" Lingjia was heartbroken, chasing after him with tears in her eyes.

"Lingjia! As an outer-perimeter guard, entering the Grudge Spirit Space without the Goddess’s token is tantamount to theft!" The white-clad cultivator blocked her path, shouting coldly, "Given that you are usually a steady person, I will let you off this once. If there is a next time, hmph, I will surely report this to the Goddess!"

She then leaned in close to the other’s ear, lowering her voice to add with disdain, "Lingjia, just give up. Even if A-Qing was once a ghost cultivator like you, and even if his cultivation is higher than mine, so what? No matter how powerful you are, you’re still just a legless, half-bodied ghost cultivator!"

Hearing her refer to them as "ghost cultivators" repeatedly, Feng Ke'er examined the half-bodied woman again. She hadn't noticed before, but now she saw the differences: first, the malevolence between her brows was extremely heavy. Second, the lower half of her body wasn't flesh and blood, but five-element spiritual energy attached to a grudge spirit, condensed into form. Perhaps because she only had half a body, Feng Ke'er's heaven-defying eyes couldn't find a Dantian anywhere.

It seemed the Foundation Establishment youth named Meng Qing in the hut was also a ghost cultivator. Yet, earlier, she had clearly seen that he possessed a Dantian. Could it be that there were different types of ghost cultivators? Feng Ke'er couldn't help but press her fingers to her brow, focusing her mind to peer into the hut—alas, she had just been regretting her curiosity only moments ago. A few minutes later, and her old habit had returned. It went to show that curiosity was truly not a good thing.

To her disappointment, the small hut appeared simple but was full of profound secrets. Even with all her concentration, she couldn't see through it! She lamented her luck.

Above, the situation seemed to be escalating.

With cold winds swirling, Lingjia’s hair stood on end. She let out a long shriek, grabbed the other woman's collar, and barked, "Feng Ke'er, do you dare to fight me!"

Unexpectedly, the white-clad cultivator smiled like a blooming flower and bowed to her. "Oh, I have important duties to attend to, so I cannot oblige! Lingjia, I am a person of my word. Since I promised not to pursue the matter of you trespassing in this space, I shall not. You may set your heart at ease."

What a blatant case of shifting the blame!

"Feng Ke'er!" Lingjia was about to be driven mad.

The white-clad cultivator waved her hand magnanimously, slicing open the spatial wall beside her. "Lingjia, go in peace, I won't see you out!"

If not now, when! Having waited until the flowers were almost withered, Feng Ke'er couldn't wait any longer and cast her Wind-Cleansing Art.

Feng Ke'er’s cultivation was far superior to both of theirs, so she slipped past them unnoticed and bowed as she squeezed out of the Grudge Spirit Space.

Everything went dark, and she was hit with a bellyful of cold, ghostly wind.

Outside the barrier was actually a pitch-black wind tunnel. The cold, eerie wind made her robe hem flap loudly—she was only invisible, but the robe still made noise when blown by the wind. This was truly the simplest and fastest way to break an invisibility spell. Feng Ke'er couldn't help but applaud the designer in her heart.

Sure enough, before she could even stand straight, shouts rang out one after another.

"Who!"

"Who is it!"

"Come out!"

Feng Ke'er’s night vision was equally heaven-defying.

Along the tunnel walls, there was a row of red clay jars about half a foot tall. Wisps of blue smoke drifted out, flickering and condensing into dozens of dark-robed guards holding long spears.

There were both men and women, all with disheveled hair, surrounded by a twilight-like ghostly aura. Their dark robes made their faces look deathly pale, devoid of any color.

They were also ghost cultivators; presumably, these were the so-called "outer-perimeter guards."

"What are you making a racket for!" Lingjia drifted out and roared irritably, "It's me!"

Her hollow robes were puffed up by the cold wind like a black tent.

It seemed she was the leader of the guards. The ghost cultivators all went silent in unison.

"I just went inside to patrol; everything is well within," Lingjia waved her hand, her form flickering as she transformed into a wisp of blue smoke and dove into the innermost red clay jar.

The other ghost cultivators looked at each other, then silently transformed into blue smoke one by one, returning to their respective jars.

Feng Ke'er took this opportunity to observe the ghost cultivators with great interest. Among them, many were missing limbs just like Lingjia, but a few were whole. Likewise, she couldn't find any Dantians or spiritual roots on them. However, she found a tiny vortex between their eyebrows. This vortex was invisible. It pulsated rhythmically, inhaling five-element spiritual energy and exhaling cold, malevolent energy.

It was only because her eyes were so exceptional, and she was standing so close, that she discovered this mystery. To an ordinary cultivator, they would certainly never notice, seeing only the dark malevolence hanging between the ghost cultivators' brows.

Was this vortex the life-gate of the ghost cultivators? She struggled to move her itching hand away from the Green Lotus Sword at her waist.

Goddess Nüwa had painstakingly created this Underworld army either to prepare for a future war between gods and demons or to one day storm the Divine Realm. In any case, the ghost cultivators wouldn't hide in the Grudge Spirit Space forever. Hehe, someone would surely verify where their life-gates were in the future.

Feng Ke'er curled her lip and leapt out of the wind tunnel.

Outside the wind tunnel was a cliff.

Below the cliff lay a valley of flowers, their fragrance intoxicating.

The sky was a deep, brilliant blue, and the sunlight was dazzling, reflecting off the snow-capped peaks of the distant mountains so brightly it nearly blinded her heaven-defying eyes.

Sigh, after being cooped up underground for nearly nine years, she had finally seen the light of day again!

Unfortunately, she dared not stay for even a second, let alone stand on the cliff edge to strike a poetic pose and sigh at the heavens in relief.

It wasn't because she was afraid of disturbing the ghost cultivators behind her, but because...

If she wasn't mistaken, the mountains opposite were the peaks of Kunlun. Goddess Nüwa’s cave abode was nestled right in that world of ice and snow.

Oh my heavens! She hastily performed a hand seal, silently chanting the coordinates for the Heart of the Barrier Sea: "Shift!"