Chapter 1857: Chapter 1850: Showing Off One’s Skills Before an Expert

Liseya’s figure was like lightning in the dark night, swiftly passing the two and subduing them. She flickered back and forth in mid-air, finally settling over their heads, her emotionless eyes quietly watching them.

She seemed to feel Cheng Ziang’s anger, as her long hair shimmered like silver threads, floating in the air like aquatic plants spreading in water.

“Ghost, ghost…”

Changyi’s eyes widened in terror, almost crying out in shock.

For the people of Kyushu, ghosts are a broad yet unfamiliar concept.

Because of the existence of cultivation, the people of Kyushu believe that humanity conquers nature, and thus they are indifferent to the abstract concept of gods and ghosts. This is precisely why religious forces have never developed there, the whole society appears to be a typical secular society.

Cheng Ziang slowly approached the two, speaking coldly as he walked, “You are members of the Heterogeneous Hall and benefited greatly from the Wen Family. Now the Wen Family is in trouble, yet you are ungrateful, no different from jackals. Hun Jiansi dying at the hands of people like you is simply disgraceful.”

The two turned around at the sound, their expressions more shocked upon seeing Cheng Ziang.

Because the relationship between Cheng Ziang and Liseya was beyond their imagination, the two couldn’t discern who was the Nascent Soul and who was just an ordinary person.

As mentioned before, the limit of the East Continent’s cultivation system is transforming human consciousness into a demigod composed of magical components, which they call the Nascent Soul.

But being a demigod must come with weaknesses, otherwise, they would face Tana’s punishment.

Liseya and Fulajie’er were created as demigods through the ancestors’ divine machines, their weakness being the crystals housing their foundation. Once the crystals are destroyed, even as demigods, they would instantly dissipate.

The East Continent lacks advanced devices like divine machines and can only rely on the cultivation system. Hence, the storage of demigod foundations is their own bodies.

In principle, all cultivation practitioners who reach the Nascent Soul Realm can keep their bodies in a state similar to fake death, like vegetative beings.

In daily life, these Nascent Soul Realm practitioners are no different from ordinary people, but once the Nascent Soul leaves the body, they fall into a fake death state, where their bodies need protection, known as the Protector.

This way, these Nascent Soul Realm practitioners can bypass the crystals and use their bodies to store componential consciousness, but the shortcomings are also apparent.

Firstly, once the Nascent Soul leaves the body, they surely can’t protect their flesh, and if the flesh is destroyed, they will perish along with it.

Secondly, even if these practitioners progress to the Nascent Soul Realm, their bodies will gradually age and eventually pass away.

This means that even practitioners at the Nascent Soul Realm cannot escape the constraints of life.

In this regard, the demigods created by divine machines evidently have an edge over these Nascent Soul Realm practitioners. The existence of crystals allows them to ignore the constraints of life, achieving absolute immortality.

Moreover, most importantly, compared to bodies, the strength of crystals is evidently higher. This makes these demigods greatly advantageous over Nascent Soul Realm practitioners.

Changyi and the Ghost Hag were unaware of the existence of the demigods, thinking Cheng Ziang was at the Nascent Soul Realm, thus instinctively mistaking Liseya for Cheng Ziang’s Nascent Soul.

It was precisely because of this that they felt incredibly shocked. Cheng Ziang’s Nascent Soul had already left his body, yet he could still move and even speak.

Of course, this was purely due to their lack of understanding of the Advance Team.

Once Nascent Soul Realm practitioners begin to leave their bodies, Protectors are needed to safeguard their flesh. Cheng Ziang, in essence, is actually Liseya’s Protector. But most times, it’s Liseya protecting him instead.

When there were less than ten meters between them, Cheng Ziang stopped.

Despite his anger, he retained basic sanity. He knew Hun Jiansi died from poisoning, and if he got too close, he might get poisoned by the Ghost Hag.

Although he wanted to personally kill the two, at this moment, he wasn’t blinded by hatred but calmly stopped his steps.

“Hero, please spare us, we were also forced…”

Seeing no hope of escape, Changyi switched faces, starting to beg Cheng Ziang.

“Who sent you?” Cheng Ziang asked coldly.

“The Wu Family, it’s the Wu Family, it’s all their fault, we are just servants doing dirty work…”

“So who is it in the Wu Family, surely you don’t expect me to resent all of them, do you?”

“It’s, it’s the four VIPs by the Emperor Wu’s side…”

“Those four guys…”

Cheng Ziang gritted his teeth.

“Hero, spare us, we were forced by others… grievances have specific causes, the Ghost Hag is the one who killed Hun Jiansi, it has nothing to do with me…”

Changyi began to shirk responsibility.

“Changyi, you brat, it was you who ordered Hun Jiansi to be poisoned.” The Ghost Hag cursed aggressively.

“If it weren’t for your instigation, would I harm Hun Jiansi? You were the one who poisoned her!” Changyi retorted unceremoniously.

“Without your obedient little pets, I could hardly poison the Hidden Mist Skill heir, you’re too good at distancing yourself!”

The Ghost Hag was fuming with rage.

“Shut up, old hag. If you had handed over the antidote earlier, Hun Jiansi wouldn’t have died. Ultimately, it’s your fault, do you think I wanted to kill Hun Jiansi?”

“Shut up, both of you!”

Cheng Ziang roared angrily at them, asking, “I ask you, besides you, has the Wu Dynasty sent others too?”

“Uh…”

The two exchanged glances.

“Answer me!”

“The Imperial Court sent the Forbidden Army, intending to capture all of you…” After hesitating for a moment, Changyi cautiously answered.

“When did this happen?”

“Judging by the time, they should be arriving soon…” Changyi replied.

Hearing this, Cheng Ziang’s heart skipped a beat.

Indeed, things were developing in the worst direction, the Wu Dynasty was utterly unscrupulous, clearly not intending to spare the Advance Team.

“And… and…” Changyi stammered.

“And what else?”

“Also… the Princess seems to have left, so the court is sending troops to demand someone from you…”

“The Princess, demanding someone from us?”

Cheng Ziang was stunned, quickly coming to realization.

“Feng, it’s Feng. She actually left, planning to come back to find us?”

If it was Feng, Cheng Ziang was not unwilling, but rather welcomed it. He thought Feng had abandoned the Advance Team for good; upon hearing of her decision, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but feel a touch of comfort.

Cheng Ziang fell into contemplation for a moment, completely unaware of the danger beside him.

However, his ignorance did not mean others were unaware, especially Liseya, known for her sharpness.

Her figure disappeared into the night sky, and the next moment, a series of animal cries and the sticky sounds of flesh and bone bursting echoed near Cheng Ziang.

Changyi was one of the Nine Streams’ Spirit Controlers, skilled at driving birds and beasts to attack enemies. These creatures were no ordinary animals but magical beasts containing magic cores within.

His attack method involved training these creatures to approach cultivators then causing the magic cores to explode, creating close-range explosive effects, somewhat akin to anti-tank dogs.

The Advance Team had encountered such skills outside West Outer Heaven, back then relying on Western Continent forces to help fend off the East Continent army’s siege of the Demon Clan city.

However, such tricks are inadequate for real cultivators and even more futile in front of Liseya, essentially like displaying petty skills before a master.

With merely a blink-like attack, she instantly resolved Cheng Ziang’s crisis, eliminating all threats around him.

Cheng Ziang paused for a moment before realizing it and then coldly smiled at the two, tilting his head asking, “Fun, isn’t it?”

“Hero, mercy, hero, mercy!”

This time Changyi finally broke down, tearfully pleading. He finally understood that any tricks he tried before Cheng Ziang were futile.

“I want to torture you to death, but my education doesn’t allow me to do so. So, die peacefully, and preferably leave nothing behind!”

Cheng Ziang said indifferently, pointing at the two. Liseya flashed above them, quickly absorbing surrounding magic, forming a dazzling light ball that illuminated the entire forest.