Within the forest barrier.
After confirming that the commotion inside would not cause harm to the outside, Yan Luo's released cyan-purple flames suddenly surged.
Burning fiercely.
For a moment, the forest echoed with wails and howls, as if in angry roars or mournful cries.
"Killing your father is an act that incurs divine retribution."
The initial voice, mixed with the cacophony of wails, struggled and roared.
"Divine retribution? Your child is already dead, so what retribution is there?"
Yan Luo looked at the struggling ghost below. She knew that burning would not kill what was inside; at most, it would cause it pain.
"In the past, I used to wonder, if you weren't the State Preceptor and didn't have such great abilities, would you still have personally thrown your daughter into the alchemy furnace?"
Her expression was cold and calm.
The fire burned intensely, its dappled reflections cast upon her face.
This was her greatest obsession after she had 'resurrected' from that alchemy furnace.
But now...
She raised her hand, and streaks of golden light appeared above the barrier that enveloped the entire forest.
Finally, they transformed into the character '封' (Feng), meaning 'seal'.
"No, no, Father loved you the most..."
"I was also forced! The Emperor wanted it, the people demanded it!"
In the forest, the wails and howls continued.
The voice grew increasingly frantic and chaotic.
"This is Heaven's will... this is Heaven's will..."
...
*Pfft*—
A mouthful of blood spurted from Yan Luo's mouth.
She indifferently wiped away the blood, and on the invisible barrier enclosing the forest, several more golden '封' characters appeared.
With each additional '封' character, the cries within the flames grew louder.
She calmly watched it all, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
In the past, those answers were very important to her.
But now, they were no longer important.
Her life was saved by that Lord.
The flames burned fiercely.
The barrier covering the forest was gradually enveloped by dense '封' characters.
"May you 'live' like this forever."
Yan Luo emerged from the barrier above, not glancing back inside.
She extended her hand, and the '封' characters on the barrier blazed with golden light, performing the final sealing.
The Eastern Hall excelled at sealing, while the Northern Hall specialized in musical instruments and paper effigy techniques.
After the sealing concluded,
Yan Luo looked north, a hint of cyan-purple flame burning in her eyes.
This time, she was determined to burn that madman's paper effigies!
...
...
Meanwhile.
Jiang Lin had arrived at the center of District 18 and was executing a pursuit order with his teammates.
With the cooperation of the Black Impermanence team, the pursuit order was not difficult to carry out.
Along the way, Jiang Lin also encountered Xu Shuzi.
"I heard it was you who proposed coming to support District 18. Thanks," Jiang Lin said.
"No need to thank me. Your District 18 has the fewest members; even if I hadn't said anything, other teams would have come to support."
Xu Shuzi retracted his chains and said to Jiang Lin with his back turned:
"As for you, becoming a captain without a word! You owe me a feast when we get back!"
Jiang Lin smiled. "Alright, let's go to the biggest restaurant in the Ghost Market, and bring Sister-in-law and the others along."
Someone coming to support was one thing.
But at a time like this, Xu Shuzi's immediate thought was to support him, and that was another matter entirely.
Xu Shuzi whistled. "Then let's finish this quickly and go for a big meal!"
With that, he charged directly at a group of ghosts and monsters.
As Jiang Lin was about to follow, his peripheral vision caught sight of the barrier above the forest in the livestream of Lord Yama's location disappearing.
And in the center of the forest, there was a large area of scorched earth.
It looked like it had been burned by a mountain fire in the summer.
Suddenly, the livestream screen moved.
The little livestream ball was following Lord Yama and flying north!
Jiang Lin: "???"
Was this livestream ball too enthusiastic, or too gossipy?
Judging by Lord Yama's demeanor, it didn't seem like they were returning to the Underworld.
Could it be that they had discovered the source of the Ghost Proprietor incident?
Jiang Lin fell silent for a moment.
He wondered if the following content could be livestreamed?
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for completing the daily task and obtaining 1000 points of Faith Heart! (2/3)"
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for completing the daily task, promoting Underworld culture - Sealing! (1/3)"
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for completing the daily task, livestreaming for two hours..."
"..."
Listening to the system prompts, Jiang Lin decided to continue livestreaming and see how things unfolded.
Afterward, he joined Xu Shuzi in fighting their way out.
...
...
While a great battle was taking place in the Eastern territory, a pursuit and sealing operation was also underway in the Western and Southern territories.
The Southern territory excelled in various techniques and martial arts.
In the sky, you could see all sorts of techniques flashing by.
There was sword energy that surged like a rainbow, splitting the earth with a single strike and revealing hidden evil spirits.
There were ghost qi attacks like a storm of pear blossoms, piercing the ghosts and monsters like sieves.
There was also ghost qi covering the body, forming blades on fists and feet, directly severing the heads of ghosts and monsters in combat...
You heard that right.
The ghost envoys here were all incredibly brave.
Upon seeing evil spirits, they would directly engage them.
Even those hiding in the earth and mountains, as long as the ghost envoys wished, they would directly break through the mountains and rivers and drag the ghosts out to beat them!
"Hahaha, I've already knocked out thirty-one! I've reserved the first place!"
"Thirty-one? Hmph, with just one sword strike from me, I killed dozens!"
The ghost envoys of the Southern Hall bickered with each other while pursuing ghosts and monsters.
"I think that's not sword energy, but hot air and foot odor!"
"Get lost! Want to compare?"
Just as two ghost envoys were rolling up their sleeves, preparing to fight, a voice suddenly sounded from the side.
"Seniors, if you keep arguing, you really won't get first place. I heard Lord Zhong Kui has already eliminated over a hundred ghosts."
"Over a hundred?!"
The two seniors looked over simultaneously, then glared at each other and quickly got busy.
"I'm not arguing with you; in the end, results speak for themselves!"
"You think I want to? It's a waste of my time. That guy Zhong Kui has already snuck ahead again!"
Watching the two seniors leave, the young ghost envoy behind them breathed a sigh of relief.
If they continued to argue, their group's score would fall to the bottom again.
In the distance.
Zhong Kui stood on a fallen giant ghost and looked towards the north.
He sighed, "I hope Lord Yama doesn't demolish the north..."
He wasn't worried about Lord Yama having any trouble, as their strength was evident.
What he worried about was the Northern territory.
In terms of destructive power, Lord Yama was the number one ghost of the Southern Hall.
If they directly demolished the north...
The subsequent reconstruction and compensation would not be a small expense.
Why did the Southern Hall excel at using techniques and martial arts?
On the surface, these techniques looked cool and were convenient to use.
But the most fundamental reason was...
They were out of money.
...
A long time ago, the Southern Hall also used ghost artifacts.
However, given the barbaric fighting style of the Southern Hall ghost envoys, most ghost artifacts would break during use.
When they broke, they needed repair or replacement...
And if something else was damaged...
For example, if Lord Yama demolished the north this time, the Southern Hall could go bankrupt directly.
Therefore, later on, although the Southern Hall still used ghost artifacts, they became known for their techniques and martial arts.
In this regard,
The Western Hall, which excelled at using ghost artifacts, was actually very wealthy.
"..."
Zhong Kui mused that if Lord Yama really demolished the north.
Then they would have Lord Yama extort some money from the West.
After all, money shouldn't just be spent without coming in.
...
"Ahhh—Achoo!"