Chapter 2713: The Psycho City Lord's 37 Rules of Love and Killing

Outside the Cold Palace, the sound of killing shook the heavens.

The National Preceptor hovered in midair, his Spiritual Power surging; behind him stood the dense ranks of his manor's disciples and various capable strangers who had rushed upon hearing the news, enclosing this remote palace garden so tightly that not even water could leak through.

Only a few people stood trapped in the center.

Yin Chaosheng stood in the ruined courtyard, his black hair disheveled, his features even more striking amid the killing atmosphere; he coldly eyed the surrounding foes while Jin Chen stood half a step ahead of him, firmly shielding him from behind.

Jin Chen held only a single ordinary sword in his hand.

An utterly ordinary sword, yet it made the National Preceptor wary, and no one dared to approach.

Behind Jin Chen stood only Chu Jiushan, Liu Shuoyue, Zang Huaian, and Heiyi—four of them, their expressions grave yet resolute.

"Jin Chen!" the National Preceptor's voice was ice-cold. "Do you truly intend to become an enemy of the orthodox path for this fierce ghost?"

Jin Chen didn't even lift his eyelids, merely asking calmly, "The orthodox path? By what right do you define it?"

Before his words faded, he moved slightly; what seemed a plain sword technique rendered his famed exquisite art full of holes—like a child waving a stick, utterly useless.

"Pfft!"

The sword light swept past, and the National Preceptor's hastily erected layers of Spiritual Power shields shattered like paper.

She grunted, blood staining her Daoist robe, and fell from midair to crash heavily onto the ground.

The National Preceptor struggled to lift his head, full of humiliation; he claimed his cultivation was profound, enough to match even the old National Preceptor in a fight, yet before Jin Chen he couldn't even withstand three moves.

Just where did this brat come from!

Seeing the strongest National Preceptor defeated in a single move, the other cultivators turned pale with fright, instinctively stepping back.

The National Preceptor spat a mouthful of blood, glaring at Jin Chen with vengeful eyes; knowing a head‑on clash offered no chance of victory, he raised his voice to rally the crowd.

"Fellow cultivators, you all saw it! This youth's power reaches the heavens, yet he willingly allies with a fierce ghost to slaughter humanity!"

"If we retreat today, tomorrow he will surely aid that Ghost King in wreaking havoc upon the world! Do you really want to watch humanity fall into the Ghost Domain? Jin Chen, if you today unleash a massacre against humanity for this fierce ghost, you will be cast out by all cultivators and cursed for eternity!"

Her words were highly inflammatory; the cultivators who had originally been fearful now flushed with indignation upon hearing them.

"Exactly! Those not of our kind must harbor different hearts!"

"Jin Chen! Do you truly wish to become an enemy of all mankind for the sake of a mere ghost?" someone shouted in agreement.

Liu Shuoyue's cold face flushed with anger as she stepped forward. "Within Ghost City lie countless souls unable to reincarnate, with nowhere else to go—innocent spirits who were ordinary people in life, trapped after death; what wrong have they done?"

"Sophistry! Humans and ghosts walk different paths!" another shouted, neck strained.

Chu Jiushan jabbed a finger at that man's nose. "Pah! You hypocrites! Don't you have any relatives or friends who have died in recent years?"

"I've been to Ghost City! It's no different from the capital—there are evil ghosts that harm people, but also spirits who only wish to live peacefully. They regard it as their home, their homeland; what right do you have to cry extermination?"

His words left many cultivators sunk in silence.

Indeed, whose family hasn't lost a loved one?

If after death the soul goes to such a place……

"... Should we just let Ghost City remain, allowing yin and yang to fall into chaos?" someone asked blankly, their momentum already halved.

Jin Chen flicked his wrist, flourishing his sword; the fierce sword qi filling the sky suddenly retracted.

He landed calmly, his robes fluttering, his gaze tranquil as it swept over the crowd.

"We merely need to reinforce and reseal the barrier where Ghost City overlaps the mortal realm—the nexus of that seal lies beneath the capital's moat."

His gaze mocking, he turned to the National Preceptor whose complexion had shifted. "I'm curious why, for years, someone has continually obstructed your approach to the moat."

Upon hearing this, everyone stared in surprise, then doubtful glances converged on the National Preceptor and her close disciples.

"National Preceptor, is what the Young Hero said true? Why do you block us from going to the moat?"

"Could you be hiding something?"

Faced with the crowd's questioning, the National Preceptor gritted her teeth, hating Jin Chen to the core, yet daring not to act against his unfathomable strength, she could only rasp, "... How can you believe his one‑sided words!"

"When a person dies they become a ghost and ought to enter the Underworld for rebirth; those lingering in the mortal realm are nothing but wicked, unwilling fierce ghosts—Ghost City is merely their nest!"

"You're spouting nonsense!" Zang Huaian snapped. "You've never even set foot in Ghost City—how dare you make such baseless claims!"

Then someone asked, "If souls should normally go to the Underworld, why have the majority of recent dead appeared in Ghost City instead? Underworld… why has it stopped welcoming the departed?"

Yin Chaosheng, clad in blood‑red robes, stood beside Jin Chen, his expression complex yet indifferent. "Since over a decade ago, Ghost City has completely lost contact with the Underworld; every newly dead soul is inexplicably drawn there. I once tried to find the cause and send them on, but to no avail."

Heiyi slapped his palm in sudden realization. "No wonder the legendary malevolent fierce ghosts that ought to be sealed in the Underworld, along with their sealing jars, show up in Ghost City!"

"Ghostly nonsense! Stop listening to his deceit!" the National Preceptor shrieked, her exterior fierce but interior weak.

"You dare scold me again?" Jin Chen gave her a cool glance and stepped forward half a pace.

The National Preceptor was so frightened her soul fled; she clutched her chest and spat another mouthful of blood, her breath instantly collapsing—she could not speak, and her disciples rushed to support her.

By this point, every cultivator present with even a modicum of judgment had already formed their own opinion of right and wrong.

Compared to the National Preceptor's accusation—full of holes and self‑serving—the words of Jin Chen and Yin Chaosheng explain the current strange situation far better.

Jin Chen looked at her and said, "Then, National Preceptor, what secret are you and your deceased master still concealing?"

The National Preceptor's face turned ashen as earth, her lips trembling, yet she could not utter a word.

Only then did Jin Chen turn his gaze to those who had earlier shouted for battle, now silent as cicadas.

Anyone his eyes swept over felt their heart tighten, cold sweat beading, silently thinking, "This is bad."

Having impulsively chosen the wrong side earlier, now that the National Preceptor has fled, should this killing god demand reckoning……

Jin Chen sheathed his sword, saying, "Today's trouble arose solely from the National Preceptor's meddling. I hope you fellow cultivators will henceforth discern right from wrong, not be easily used, and avoid needless casualties."

Upon hearing this, they first stared, then felt as if granted a great pardon, hearts bursting with joy—no longer bothering with besieging the Ghost King, they hurriedly offered Chaotic salutations to Jin Chen.

"The Young Hero understands great righteousness!"

"We are the foolish ones! Thank you, Young Hero, for sparing us—farewell! Farewell!"

In the blink of an eye, the previously mighty besieging army scattered like birds and beasts, leaving not a trace.

Outside the Cold Palace, tranquility returned.