Hua Fengwen left with Zhuo Bufan before the various kings in the city lord’s residence could react.

  “Zhuo Bufan doesn’t have the skill to record what happened in Starspace Region. That water curtain came from Hua Fengwen,” the Mountain King said coolly as he sank back into his seat. “He had Zhuo Bufan tell us this not to marshal us for action in Starspace Region, but to make sure we’re ready for what’s to come.

  “The ones who will take action is the Immortal Pagoda.”


  The others hadn’t heard what Hua Fengwen said when he entered the hall, but the Mountain King had heard him clearly.

  A bunch of ants.

  He was just here to notify them of future events so that when confusion erupted, they wouldn’t ignorantly throw their lives away.

  “That’s right, who knows how many high level kings are present at the Immortal Pagoda if they’ve already fielded Jinse and Hua Fengwen? Perhaps the pagoda is the spokesperson of an incredible heavyweight in the realm.”


  “It’s said that there’s a connection between the Immortal Pagoda and Ten Valleys of Evil.”


  ……


  News of the ghosts building a ghost nest spread like wildfire throughout Cloudexit City. Everyone discussed it with fear and apprehension. If it wasn’t for the six billion kilometers around the city being sealed off and the certainty of meeting ghosts if one ventured out, many cultivators within the city would’ve fled for safety.

  Before they could react, the one hundred thousand black robed enforcers that’d arrived at the city a few days ago uniformly rose in the air and rushed out of Cloudexit.

  They returned in orderly formation nearly four hours later and marched up to the Immortal Pagoda.

  “How wondrous, enforcers!” The Skyfall King met them at the door with loud laughter. “Slaying eleven first step ghost kings while you yourselves are superior realm cultivators, you are the enforcers of the Hongmeng alright! The law and order of our realm lies in your hands!

  “Here are ten purple crystal veins!”


  Ten premium crystal veins sparkling with hazy light took to the air like ten dragons when Skyfall waved his hand. They circled majestically in the air over Cloudexit City.

  “Our thanks to the Skyfall King!” Their leader collected the crystal veins with a beckon.

  The city boiled over with excitement and the general air of fear and apprehension immediately settled down. A hundred thousand black robes had taken down ten ghost kings! What kind of battle strength was this?!

  One had to know that though kings were also superior realm cultivators, they were ones who’d coalesced their own dao rules and were connected to the great dao of the realm. They were entirely different from superior realm cultivators. Even ghost kings possessed dao rules of ghost dao within them.

  A hundred thousand black robed enforcers had charged into Starspace Region and killed ten ghost kings without losing a single one of their own. This was unheard of!

  “What’s there to be afraid of when it comes to the ghosts? Their ghost crystals can be traded for purple crystals at the Immortal Pagoda!” someone suddenly laughed heartily. “The ghost nest is a mountain of gold just begging for us to dig up! Immortal Pagoda, prepare your crystals! This daddy’s going to get me some ghosts!”


  A third step king shot into the air and hurtled into Starspace Region.

  “Black robe enforcers, a-ten-shun!” their leader called out sternly. “Follow me back into Starspace Region to kill ghosts!”


  “Kill!”


  “Kill!”


  “Kill!”


  Black waves of qi blasted outward from each enforcer’s body. On the move once more, they departed Cloudexit City. They were regaining their lost glory with this operation.

  They weren’t the only ones—the entire city clamored to head out and hunt ghosts, sweeping away the stifling atmosphere of dread and hopelessness that’d blanketed the city.

  “From today onward, ghost crystals will not be limited to the exchange of purple crystals. Those who don’t want purple crystals can instead trade for pills, talismans, treasures, formations, and other supplemental items of equivalent value!

  “The Immortal Pagoda will open branches in the one hundred and thirty-six cities on the border of Cloudruin Region. They will all sell supplemental treasures and accept ghost crystals for exchange!

  “The Immortal Pagoda will further send out one hundred and eight sixth step kings. Led by seventh step kings Jinse and Hua Fengwen, the contingent will counterattack Starspace Region and destroy the ghost nest!”


  Announcements flew rapidly out of the Immortal Pagoda, culminating in the news of one hundred and eight sixth step kings entering Starspace Region!

  This last announcement scared everyone witless. One hundred and eight sixth step kings?! It didn’t matter whether Multitude Region possessed so many—and they didn’t—how and where had the Immortal Pagoda gotten so many kings to follow its banner?!

  What kind of background did the pagoda possess?

  Over the course of the next month, Starspace Region nearly exploded from the inside. The ghosts that’d been calmly building the ghost nest came under attack at every second. Any ghost kings beneath third step kinghood were instantly decimated by Principal Nineheavens Talismans. Ordinary ghosts turned to dust before they even had a chance to approach cultivators.

  Three thousand ghost king crystals were delivered to the Immortal Pagoda during this time, and three thousand premium crystal veins flowed out to the various kings of the Hongmeng. A near infinite number of ghosts beneath kinghood died as well, their value worth almost a dozen premium crystal veins.

  The Immortal Pagoda carried on with throwing its wealth around and turned no visitor away. All sorts of supplemental treasures streamed out of it to the rest of the realm.

  After a while, ghost crystals even started becoming another type of currency in the Hongmeng. However, they were difficult to store as they easily evaporated when not held in seed storage or storage treasures.

  Ultimately, their inability to be used for cultivation nipped the burgeoning trend in the bud.

  One thing out of the Immortal Pagoda’s control was whether anyone killed another for their reserves of ghost crystals, or outright robbed someone else’s spoils. At the end of the day, it was more efficient to rob someone of their purple crystals.

  Robbers were robbers everywhere they went. They would steal purple crystals or any other treasure they could lay their hands on, if not ghost crystals.

  But no matter what, though the Immortal Pagoda incurred hefty financial losses with their mission for ghost crystals, they reaped a sterling reputation in return. They were far more beloved than the Haotian Tower now and cultivators much more willing to shop there out of gratitude.

  Although the Haotian Tower was tempted to imitate their competition, they ultimately couldn’t make up their minds. Trading purple crystals for ghost crystals was no different from just giving the purple crystals away.

  What they didn’t know was that, out of the throngs of customers in their halls everyday, many came from the Immortal Pagoda. They purchased items from the tower, then turned around to sell them at double the price or trade them for ghost crystals in the Immortal Pagoda. As long as the shut-ins running Haotian Tower might’ve lived, they really didn’t know how to do business. They were absolutely no match for Lu Yun.

  Though Shenyu discovered signs of this arrangement, he refrained from adjusting Haotian Tower’s prices. With the Immortal Pagoda being viewed more favorably than the tower already, no one would purchase from them if they increased their prices.

  “Sir, what should we do?” In the Haotian Tower of Multitude City, some kings from the Immortal Region hovered around Shenyu with anxious expressions.

  “Human King, take the cultivators who were once part of the Colosseum and head to Cloudexit City. I know you’re a disciple of Origin World, it’s been gravely injured and secluded itself in the Qi Sea. The Immortal King did that to them, so you should know what to do.” Shenyu swept the Human King with a faint glance.

  “Sir, the Immortal Pagoda killed my third brother and hung my second brother in front of its doors. Of course I know what to do,” the Human King took a deep breath. He knew about Haotian Tower’s background, but with Origin World plainly having abandoned them, he followed steadfastly at Shenyu’s side.

  “Go on then.” Shenyu waved his hand. “Turtle King, go with the Human King. Kill Hua Fengwen and Jinse if you run into them.” [1]

  “I hear and obey,” intoned an elder with a round face. He was an eighth step king!

  1. Turtle King’s name means “big turtle” and was used for divination in ancient China. ?