Chapter 35: Six Heavens Ghost Gods, Soul-Aspect Activation

"Jiang Lai!?"

Zhang Fan never dreamed that he would meet Jiang Lai again in Yujing City, at Night-Never-Bright.

Meeting three times on Zhenwu Mountain had left a deep impression on Zhang Fan.

She was like the mist on the mountain, mysterious and unfathomable, making people curious and yearning.

"You..."

Zhang Fan stood up, about to step forward.

Just then, a young man walked in from outside the door, dressed in casual clothes, quite handsome, especially between his brows, as if carrying a breeze.

"He is..."

"My surname is Jiang, three parts moonlight shine on the great river..."

"Jiang Hu!"

The handsome young man walked up, smiling brightly, and greeted Zhang Fan very familiarly.

"A new colleague, right!"

"I... my name is Zhang Fan."

Zhang Fan nodded and responded mechanically, but his attention was entirely on Jiang Lai.

"Finally, a newcomer has arrived. I don't have to be like an ox or a horse anymore."

"You must not resign!"

As he spoke, Jiang Hu stepped forward, hooking Zhang Fan's shoulder as if they were old friends, his eyes flashing with a different kind of brilliance, as if a yellow weasel had fallen into a big chicken coop.

Night-Never-Bright had always had only a few people, and it had been a long time since a newcomer had joined. In the long run, even a practitioner couldn't bear being an ox or a horse every day.

There is an old saying in the Daoist world: smoking doesn't pass the lungs, drinking doesn't pass the stomach, living alone for a hundred years, working is too tiring, reducing life by ninety years, having meetings every day, might kneel immediately.

With a newcomer, he could finally relax a bit and live a few more years.

"..."

"I'll try my best!"

Zhang Fan laughed dryly, his peripheral vision intentionally or unintentionally glancing at Jiang Lai, but the latter seemed not to see him at all and returned to her workstation on her own.

"Is she blind!?"

Zhang Fan muttered, found a gap, and found Wen He.

"Sister Wen, Jiang Lai, she..."

"What? Taken a fancy to the little girl?" Wen He looked at Zhang Fan, showing an aunt-like smile, then whispered: "That's the boss's relative, she arrived a week earlier than you."

"The boss's relative!?"

Zhang Fan's expression was strange. He hesitated slightly, walked to Jiang Lai's side, and whispered: "Weren't you on Zhenwu Mountain? Why are you here?"

"Work!" Jiang Lai replied without even raising her head. Next, no matter what Zhang Fan asked, she remained silent.

"What the hell!?"

Zhang Fan couldn't help but look at Bai Buran's office, his eyes filled with deep suspicion.

Back then, the reason he was able to step into the path of cultivation on Zhenwu Mountain had a lot to do with Jiang Lai. This mysterious girl had saved him several times, and even Zhang Fan's final appearance at the Qingwei Palace, awakening the Samadhi True Fire and merging with the Zhenwu Jade Tablet, was mysteriously related to her.

When he went down the mountain, Zhang Fan had specifically asked Pojie, but the latter said there was no such person on Zhenwu Mountain.

Now, Jiang Lai had actually appeared openly at Night-Never-Bright and even became the boss's relative? This matter was strange and bizarre! "How can there be such a coincidence in this world?" Zhang Fan's consciousness couldn't help but become restless, and he had no heart for work.

Once is a coincidence, twice is an accident, this third and fourth time...

At lunch, Zhang Fan, filled with questions and frustration, went to the rooftop to get some air.

"Hmm!?"

As soon as he went up, Zhang Fan saw a familiar figure.

"Jiang Lai!"

The wind on the rooftop blew her shoulder-length short hair, revealing a faint scar on the back of her neck. Jiang Lai stroked her hair, her ethereal eyes subconsciously looking at Zhang Fan who was walking over.

"Don't tell me you don't remember me." Zhang Fan walked up to her and couldn't help but say.

"I remember you."

Jiang Lai slowly withdrew her gaze, looking into the distance, her soft voice lingering in Zhang Fan's ears.

"Who exactly are you? A Daoist priest from Zhenwu Mountain?" Zhang Fan pressed. "So, you still don't recognize me." Jiang Lai whispered.

"Hmm!?"

Zhang Fan was stunned for a moment, not knowing what she meant, and immediately said with a strange expression: "I recognize you, Jiang Lai..."

"But I..."

Zhang Fan stopped mid-sentence. He was indeed very curious about Jiang Lai, but how could he say it? He couldn't just tell the girl to spill all her secrets to him.

"We have met."

Just then, Jiang Lai suddenly said.

"Met? You mean Zhenwu Mountain?" Zhang Fan said subconsciously.

"Longer ago." Jiang Lai said calmly.

"Hmm? When? Why can't I remember?" Zhang Fan frowned, his eyes full of doubt.

"Wait until you remember."

As she spoke, Jiang Lai turned and walked toward the stairs.

"Wait."

Zhang Fan raised his hand to call out and followed closely behind.

Hum...

Just then, Jiang Lai turned around, her right hand lightly probing, and slapped Zhang Fan's chest.

Immediately after, he staggered, his body quickly lost its center of gravity, and at the same time, his soul-aspect was actually knocked out.

"Six Heavens Ghost Gods!"

Rumble...

As soon as Zhang Fan's soul-aspect left his body, he saw the world darken, stained red with blood. Six ancient palaces appeared before his eyes, standing in six directions. Supreme and terrifying phantoms rose and flickered within the palaces, like intertwined bones, like corpses hanging from trees. Fierce power arose, and eerie baleful energy was born.

"Soul-aspect external scene!?" Zhang Fan's heart trembled.

Daoist cultivation key lies in four words: Soul-aspect activation.

Once the soul-aspect is activated, one can see ten thousand or eight thousand external scene images, especially when casting spells, appearing real yet false, false yet real, or becoming ghost god images, or becoming ferocious domain spirit realms, or becoming immortal Buddha artifacts, with heavenly flowers falling, confusing people's minds.

"Humans rule by day, ghosts walk by night."

"Yin and Yang are separate, each has its own duty."

"Great rebellion, punishment and killing, Six Heavens Ghost Gods."

"..."

Bursts of low chanting resounded around Zhang Fan's soul-aspect, like reciting mantras and secret words. The external scene before his eyes was eerie and terrifying. The six ancient palaces stood in six directions, and the dormant phantoms were ready to emerge, emitting terrifying fluctuations.

At this moment, Zhang Fan's soul-aspect was bearing boundless pressure, and every inch felt as if it were about to burst.

Rumble...

Just then, Zhang Fan's soul-aspect shook violently, and his eyes suddenly went pitch black.

Heavy rain poured down, and thunder rumbled.

At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to that night ten years ago.

The night Zhang Fan's mother died in a car accident.

Twelve years old, he knelt in the heavy rain, the night eternal, the surroundings chaotic. He rubbed his eyes desperately, but could see nothing.

"Ah ah ah..."

Just then, a shrill scream resounded in this world of Night-Never-Bright, as if coming from purgatory.

"Retreat quickly... retreat quickly... don't treat him as an ordinary little ghost."

"Don't use your soul-aspect to fight him head-on... you can't beat him... this little ghost is also cultivating the Divine Demon Holy Fetus!"

Bursts of sharp voices echoed in this dark, lightless world, carrying uneasy turmoil.

Rumble...

A thunderbolt tore through the sky, and countless noisy voices stopped abruptly.

Zhang Fan opened his eyes wide, only to find that he was still standing on the rooftop, his clothes already soaked with sweat. He looked around, but Jiang Lai's figure was nowhere to be seen, as if nothing had happened.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 36 =====