Shen Ying did not even spare them a glance. Her expression fell slightly and she spoke slowly, “I’m asking you again – where is Mushroom?”

　　The disciples paused. What did she mean? Wasn’t she holding onto Mushroom?

　　Jian Xing, who was standing by the side, could take it no longer. He pulled out his sword and attacked. “Exalted Master, I’m sorry!”

　　He lifted up his sword and waved it at the mushroom Shen Ying was holding. His sword was inches away from her palm. Suddenly, another gust of sword Qi charged forward, breaking Jian Xing’s move. The impact caused him to fly and crash into the ground with a loud bang.

　　The next moment, Yi Qing appeared. He stood beside Shen Ying. It was obvious where that gust of sword Qi came from.

　　Lonemoon’s voice came from behind them. “What are you doing?”

　　“Master, are you alright?” Yi Qing scanned Shen Ying from head to toe anxiously. Seeing that she was uninjured, he turned to face the person on the ground.

　　Overwhelming sword Qi filled the atmosphere and covered the skies, surging toward Jian Xing. The entire arena began to crack open. Jian Xing felt an immense pressure pressing him against the ground. His meridians began to split open, and he was covered in his own blood in no time. Even the other three disciples were kneeling over and coughing up blood. Their primordial spirits were being torn apart.

　　“Chef, calm down!” Lonemoon shouted, trying to pull back the raging Yi Qing.

　　Yi Qing did not react until Shen Ying shouted, “Chef!”

　　He retracted his sword Qi immediately.

　　Everybody relaxed. Only a couple of seconds passed, yet they felt like they had a near-death experience. They were all clearly shaken. What kind of sword Qi was that? It was so formidable

　　“Fatty, go and check on him!” Lonemoon instructed Fatty. Fatty ran to the middle of the arena and helped the blood-covered Jian Xing up. He shoved a pill into his mouth and used his own immortal QI to help heal Jian Xing’s meridians. If Yi Qing delayed retracting his sword Qi for just one second, JIan Xing would have been permanently paralysed.

　　“Senior Brother…” Jiang Xing opened his eyes wide and stared at Fatty. He was finally regaining consciousness. Yi Qing watched on, with the sword Qi in his body threatening to burst forward once again.

　　“Chef, wait. Clarify what just happened first.” Lonemoon quickly pulled Chef back and turned to Jian Xing. His expression darkened. “What exactly happened? How can you use your sword against Shen Ying?”

　　Jian Xing pressed onto his chest and turned to face Shen Ying. He looked panicked. Awhile later, he said, “She… wanted to kill Mushroom.”

　　Lonemoon turned back and saw that the person Shen Ying was holding onto was Mushroom. Mushroom’s face was drained of all color. She looked like she had been strangled.

　　“Mushroom…” Fatty shoved Jian Xing aside in a panic and walked briskly over to Shen Ying.

　　“Shen Ying?” Lonemoon hesitated. Why was this happening all of a sudden? Didn’t she like Mushroom? She liked Mushroom so much that she was even willing to share her fruits with her.

　　However, Shen Ying made no response to Jian Xing’s accusation. She just stared at the person in her hands and asked, “Where did you hide Mushroom?”

　　“What are you talking about? What hide-” Lonemoon stopped himself mid-sentence, finally understanding something. His eyes widened. Conjuring a seal, he tapped on Mushroom’s forehead.

　　A moment later, a translucent soul jumped out of Mushroom’s body. The soul was wearing the exact same clothes, but the soul’s face was not Mushroom’s. Instead, it was another familiar face.

　　“Zhi Lin!” The three disciples shouted in unison.

　　Even Lonemoon was shocked. Since when did Mushroom become possessed? They did not notice any signs of possession on Mushroom’s body before.

　　“She’s Zhi Lin. Where’s Mushroom?” Fatty asked, confused. He was the one who healed Mushroom before, but he had not noticed that anything was different.

　　Zhi Lin panicked. She turned around to fly away, but Shen Ying let go of Mushroom’s body and grabbed the translucent body instead, using the same hand at that. “You’re still not going to talk?”

　　Shen Ying tightened her grip. The soul in her hand began showing signs of cracking.

　　“Ah…” Zhi Ling felt a sharp pain shooting throughout her body. She let out a piercing wail, “No, no… It’s been eaten by evil ghosts… I didn’t kill her! Don’t kill me…”

　　“No!” Jian Xing shouted. “She didn’t do that on purpose. Please don’t hurt her!”

　　Lonemoon’s expression darkened. He turned to face Jian Xing. “You knew about this from the beginning!”

　　“I…” Jian Xing’s face drained of color. A moment later, he said in a low voice, “That day, the evil ghosts caught them both at the same time. By the time I arrived, Mushroom’s soul had been devoured.” He raised his head to glance at Zhi Lin’s soul, which was still being held onto by Shen Ying. He continued, “I saved Little Lin’s soul and realized that her body had also been devoured. All I could do was lead her soul into Mushroom’s body.”

　　He struggled to get on his knees. Facing Lonemoon, he said, “Master, your disciple did this in a moment of desperation to save a life. I was afraid… you would develop a misunderstanding toward Zhi Lin. That’s why I didn’t say anything. Please forgive me, Master.”

　　Lonemoon frowned. Possession was no small matter, but given the circumstances he found himself in, he really had no other choice but to possess Mushroom’s body. Otherwise, Jian Xing might not have been able to save either one of them. Even Lonemoon did not dare say that he did the wrong thing.

　　However…

　　“Is that so?” Shen Ying suddenly said, her gaze cool. “Is Mushroom really dead?”

　　All of them paused. What did she mean?

　　Shen Ying suddenly raised her other hand and reached out toward Zhi Lin’s forehead.

　　“What are you doing? Stop it!” Zhi Lin screamed. She struggled, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not escape from Shen Ying’s grip. The next moment, a piercing pain shot through her body – even more tortuous than the attack before. Earlier, she felt her soul cracking apart, but this time, it felt like someone was ripping her into pieces.

　　Shen Ying was indeed tearing her soul into pieces. She grabbed one side of Zhi Lin’s soul in each hand and tore it.

　　“Ah… Save me, save me… Brother!”

　　“Little Lin!” Jian Xing tried his best to get up and run toward them, but he had no energy to even get to his feet. All he could do was watch as Shen Ying ruthlessly tore Zhi Lin’s soul into pieces.

　　The translucent body was becoming more and more see-through by the second. There were now two souls. One half looked like Zhi Lin, but the other…

　　“Mushroom!” Fatty shouted.

　　Everyone present, including Jian Xing, looked on in disbelief. How could this be? Why was Mushroom’s soul connected to Zhi Lin?

　　Fatty stepped forward and took hold of the almost transparent soul in Shen Ying’s right hand. He called out, but there was no response. “How did this happen?”

　　“She lost her primary soul. This is only a part of her soul,” Lonemoon explained. He figured it out with just one look at Mushroom’s soul. A soul without the primary soul had no sentience. That was why Zhi Lin’s portion of the soul was not reacting.