Chapter 325: Jiu Shu

"Clare?"

Watching Clare, whose body was beginning to mutate into a Yoma, Nohara Rin had a bad feeling.

She was very intelligent and had always kept in mind what Clare said: unless it was an absolute last resort, one should try not to let their Yoma energy erupt.

That meant the eruption of Yoma energy had very strong side effects.

Previously,

when Clare erupted with Yoma energy, she would still communicate with them, asking them to cover for her.

But now, Clare was continuously erupting with even stronger Yoma energy than before without saying a word, which meant this side effect had already exceeded the limit, reaching a point where there was no need to communicate with them.

"Stop quickly, Clare..."

Nohara Rin hurriedly spoke up to stop her; she activated her Mystical Palm Technique, pressing it tightly against Clare's skin, which was constantly being stretched, and keenly sensed that the other's cells seemed to be undergoing changes.

This process could not be reversed even by the Mystical Palm Technique,

and one must know that the Mystical Palm Technique, as the panacea of the ninja world, could even bring a dead fish back to life, yet it could not block the side effects of a Yoma energy eruption.

In other words, Clare might permanently turn into a Yoma.

Thinking of this possibility, Nohara Rin's pupils trembled slightly; she did not want... even a friend she had just met to make a sacrifice right in front of her.

"What should we do, what on earth should we do?"

Just when everyone was at their wit's end, clang.

It was also the sound of a bell, but it did not sound eerie; instead, it was like the sun dispelling fog, making one's heart feel warm.

Accompanied by the bell sound,

the Graveyard surrounded by mist, like a torn rag bag, split open a gap through which light shone in.

"Is it him?"

Hearing the bell sound, Xuepao Daoren's expression changed drastically; losing his previous composure, he manipulated the two giant-strength zombies, intending to finish everyone off as quickly as possible.

Bang.

Clare blocked the opponent, her blade pressing firmly against the thick arms of the two zombies.

Having already transformed into a Yoma face, Clare let out a low roar: "I won't let you hurt my companions!"

To the side, Nohara Rin and the others also rushed up, using Ninjutsu, Breathing Technique, and Pirate sword skills used for cutting through steel.

They kept Xuepao Daoren firmly trapped in place, slash.

Tanjiro turned his head, dodging the clawing of a giant-strength zombie, but a hideous scar was still slashed across his forehead by the long, narrow nails.

Clang.

The grand bell sound rang a second time.

The formation was completely broken,

and a figure draped in a golden-yellow Daoist robe, carrying a peach-wood sword on his back and holding a Daoist bell in his hand, was rushing toward Ren Jia Fen Di.

The figure flashed continuously in place, and in the blink of an eye, he had already leaped across half the Graveyard.

"So be it, when I refine the evil corpse, that will be the day you all lose your lives."

Xuepao Daoren's gaze fell on Clare, and he said with great reluctance.

The giant-strength zombies under his control lifted the coffin on the ground, stirred up a gust of gloomy wind, and disappeared from the spot in an instant.

【Side Quest completed, rewards have been issued】

Listening to the notification of Reward Points being credited,

everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Before they could move, that yellow-robed Daoist had already arrived close by, frowning as he examined the situation around him, as well as the Yoma-fied Kuina.

The yellow-robed Daoist asked: "Are you the ones who blocked the evil corpse of Xuepao Daoren from leaving the coffin?"

His voice was very deep, and it sounded convincing.

A pair of dark eyebrows were almost connected, making his whole face look very serious.

Although it was a question, it was in a tone of certainty.

"A Yoma, and a low-level Yoma with mixed Bloodline and incomplete intelligence; how could it appear on a human?"

The yellow-robed Daoist frowned deeply, placed two fingers on the neck of Clare, who was struggling to maintain her sanity, and muttered to himself: "Strange, it's not a pure Yoma bloodline. A pure human—did she swallow flesh or hair contaminated with Yoma aura?"

The yellow-robed Daoist's eye for detail was very sharp; he pressed his two fingers together like a sword, about to cut open the tight clothing on Clare's abdomen, with very precise control so as not to expose too much of the girl's skin.

Clare reached out to grab the yellow-robed Daoist's wrist, shaking her head with a pleading look,

for she did not want that ugly body to be exposed in front of her companions.

"Sigh..." The yellow-robed Daoist sighed,

and having roughly figured out Clare's condition, he took out a talisman paper and stuck it on Clare's forehead.

The Yoma energy spreading throughout the body of Clare, who was already on the verge of Awakening, was like being locked onto by a vacuum cleaner, all sucked into the talisman paper on her forehead.

"Am I okay?"

Clare looked at her hands, which had returned to their original state, knelt halfway on the ground, and said respectfully: "Thank you for your help."

Being thanked by the tall, exquisitely featured little blonde girl, the yellow-robed Daoist rubbed his nose, forcibly suppressing the corners of his mouth that were curling up, indicating he was not proud,

and waved his hand: "It was a small effort. You discovered the conspiracy of Xuepao Daoren, stopped the evil corpse from leaving the coffin, and protected the entire Ren Jia Zhuang from being slaughtered; I should be the one thanking you."

"My name is Jiu Shu, and I am a Daoist from the nearby Yizhuang."

【Notification: Your Reputation Value in Ren Jia Zhuang +50, Status: 【Slightly Renowned】】

Black text appeared before everyone's eyes; this counted as an extra harvest for completing the Side Quest.

Reputation Value system.

It was also a special system for mission worlds after the version update.

Opening the Reputation Value system revealed the map of the entire 【Qingguo Guishi】 world, most of which was covered by fog and in a state where it could not be observed.

Only Ren Family Village lit up with a small dot, flickering with 50 Reputation Value.

At the very top was the Reputation Value for the entire 【Qing Guo】, where everyone was at 0, in a state of obscurity.

It is said,

that as long as one continuously completes main quests and Side Quests to increase Reputation Value, one can obtain very special rewards.

That is why most factions spare no effort in investing assets, throwing high-level combat power and resources into the mission worlds.

"This matter is also my fault."

Jiu Shu sighed and said, "Some time ago, Master Ren came to discuss with me about helping his family ancestor relocate the grave."

"I had already agreed to help him relocate the grave, but two villages in the east were wiped out by vengeful ghosts. While I went to eliminate the vengeful ghosts, Xuepao Daoren took advantage of the situation to bewitch Master Ren into relocating the grave ahead of schedule, nearly causing a catastrophe!"

Jiu Shu was also very puzzled; although there had been zombies and vengeful spirits causing trouble in the past, they were all scattered and trivial situations, and he wouldn't encounter one even in several years.

After all, a zombie is a ghostly creature that can only be born from gathered resentment, yin energy, and filthy Qi,

and the conditions are quite harsh.

Under normal circumstances, there is only a very low probability of a zombie appearing if it happens to be buried in a place of extreme yin, or in a mass grave where many have died.

Vengeful spirits require even more: the person must have had a powerful obsession before death, their birth date and time must belong to yin, and after death, the soul must instinctively gather yin energy for it to be possible for one to be born.

People whose birth date and time belong to extreme yin are already few, and furthermore, they must have a deep obsession at the time of death; the conditions are equally harsh.

It is under these harsh conditions that zombies and vengeful spirits are appearing continuously; the number of vengeful spirits and zombies that have emerged over these few years is actually more than in the several hundred years since the founding of Qing Guo,

and even Jiu Shu is puzzled and unable to understand.

Inside the Samsara Game Space, Fang Yi was working hard to knead new Runes, while the White-haired Loli curiously leaned her head in,

unable to understand what she was looking at, yet still wanting to watch.

Fang Yi reached out with an expressionless face, pushed the white-haired girl to the side, and explained: "The mode of pollution invasion is like two armies facing off, directly sending out Pollution Monsters to launch a strong attack."

Back then, the White-haired Loli was beaten to a pulp in this exact way, and could only grab her bucket and run.

This mode is only suitable for weaker First-Tier Worlds.

For slightly stronger worlds, the Polluted Continent is unwilling to adopt this mode, as it easily causes relatively large losses.

"Therefore, it will be like the 【Qingguo Guishi】 world: first pollute the core, just like a zombie infecting a virus, continuously and imperceptibly spreading the pollution until the entire world is swallowed."

Listening to Fang Yi's words,

the White-haired Loli seemed unwilling to accept the fact that she was weak, but after thinking about it carefully, she was unable to refute it.

The 【Qingguo Guishi】 world,

is a fusion world mixed with countless supernatural tales from the Republic of China era; because the dragon vein was polluted, it has led to the continuous breeding of various Yoma and ghosts, as well as cultivators whose minds are disturbed by evil Qi.

The 【Wind and Cloud】 world is in the same situation.

Fang Yi opened nine mission worlds at once precisely because these worlds are not deeply polluted and can be cleared of pollution with the force of a thunderbolt.

By then, the World Consciousness, already tortured to the point of weakness by the pollution, will not hesitate at all to defect to the Samsara Game Space and become part of his territory.

The White-haired Loli A Fu jumped out with no sense of the situation and asked, "Master, the players' harvest has already reached a state of saturation; is there still enough energy to eliminate the pollution in the nine worlds?"

(End of this chapter)