“Senior White, you have come back.” Song Shuhang forced a smile and said, “My current appearance is the outcome of an accident… just now, Ye Si finally came out. Then, the two of us started testing an interesting new ability. However, we went too far while fooling around, and now that we have become like this, we can’t revert to our previous appearance.”

　　“Ye Si… oh, I remember now. It’s that girl that really likes crying,” Venerable White said with a nod. “Did she become your ghost spirit?”

　　“That should be the case. However, the relationship between the two of us is rather strange. It’s somewhat similar to the one between a ghost spirit and its master, but also different at the same time,” Song Shuhang said. “Now, Ye Si’s arms fell under my control, and I can’t shrink them back in my body.”

　　“You can’t shrink them back? In that case, why don’t you simply get them out!” Venerable White said.

　　While he was speaking, the huge ginseng behind him started to fiercely struggle, seemingly preparing to use all its strength to flee underground.

　　“Tsk, still causing trouble?” Venerable White turned around and gave the ginseng a powerful roundhouse kick.

　　“Bang~” The huge ginseng fainted on the spot.

　　“Is that a ginseng that has turned into a spirit?” Song Shuhang asked. At the same time, he controlled Ye Si’s arms, waving them. “Ye Si, can you try to come out of my body? Who knows, perhaps you’ll regain control over your arms once you completely come out of my body?”

　　Ye Si laughed, somewhat embarrassed. Just now, they got too anxious, and the duo forgot about this point.

　　Immediately after, Ye Si’s drilled out Song Shuhang’s head. Since both her arms were stuck in Song Shuhang’s shoulder area, she could only come out from there if she wanted to get out of his body.

　　Anyway, now, it felt as if there was an additional head growing out of Song Shuhang’s head.

　　“Pfff~” Venerable White laughed again. “This scene is very similar to the one I saw in a movie a few days ago. In that scene, someone’s soul left their body, and that soul also came out from the head, just like this.”

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　Ye Si took half of her body out of Shuhang’s body, and her arms—which were previously stuck in Song Shuhang’s shoulder area—also came out. Therefore, she exclaimed happily, “Success!”

　　Song Shuhang gave the thumbs up, and said, “Excellent!”

　　Ye Si couldn’t resist the urge to stretch out her hand and likewise give the thumbs up.

　　However…

　　“…” Ye Si’s eye sockets became red. “It didn’t work! My arms are still not under my control, even if they left your shoulders already!”

　　“Senior Sister Ye Si, in that case, why don’t you try to completely come out of my body?” Song Shuhang suggested.

　　Ye Si pondered for a moment and jumped out of Song Shuhang’s body. After a short moment, she lowered her hand and looked at Song Shuhang, with a layer of mist appearing in her eye sockets. “It still didn’t work.”

　　Song Shuhang forced a smile. It seemed that they had really gone too far while playing around earlier!

　　Venerable White held his chin and pondered. “What did you guys exactly do when you fused together and assumed that form with four arms?”

　　“We didn’t do anything in particular… the only thing I did was to try out the ‘Lightning Palm’. However, I didn’t really use it, and just dismissed it in the end,” Song Shuhang replied.

　　“In that case, try to control Ye Si’s arms and use the Lightning Palm again. This time, use the Lightning Palm properly, alright? Perhaps the problem arose since you’ve interrupted the Lightning Palm halfway,” Venerable White suggested.

　　The eyes of the duo lit up.

　　Afterward, Song Shuhang controlled Ye Si’s arms again and used the Lightning Palm.

　　A ball of lightning with a one-meter diameter appeared on Ye Si’s palm once again.

　　“Hmm, just as I’ve expected… it seems it’s too difficult for you to control Ye Si’s spiritual energy of the Fifth Stage rank with the current level of your mental energy. The Lightning Palm wasn’t controlled properly and inflated up to this point,” Venerable White said. “Now, use the Lightning Palm.”

　　Song Shuhang controlled Ye Si’s hand and aimed at the ground.

　　“BOOM!!!”

　　The Lightning Palm exploded on the edge of the Jade Lake, creating a huge hole in the ground. However, the hole disappeared soon after it was created.

　　“Now, try to relieve the control you have over Ye Si’s arms,” Venerable White said.

　　Song Shuhang followed Senior White’s instructions and gave it a try.

　　This time, Ye Si was finally able to regain control of her arms. Both Song Shuhang and Ye Si heaved a sigh of relief.

　　“Thank you, Venerable White.” Ye Si greeted Venerable White.

　　“You are welcome. I just gave some advice,” Venerable White said with a smile. “Still, when you fused together with Shuhang and assumed that form with four arms, as well as when you drilled out of his head, it was very funny.”

　　Ye Si’s face immediately became red.

　　Next, she turned toward Shuhang and jumped.

　　Song Shuhang instinctively stretched out his hands and prepared to catch Ye Si… however, what he grabbed was empty air. Ye Si directly entered his body, just like a swimmer diving into the water.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　He felt really awkward while having his arms foolishly stretched out.

　　“Ahahaha~” Venerable White laughed happily.

　　“Ahem, Senior White.” Song Shuhang coughed, and then put on a serious expression while trying to shift the topic of conversation. “Earlier, when I was using a puppet to explore the area in my stead, I discovered a mountain valley. The mountain valley was very strange, and as soon as the puppet got inside, I lost contact with it. After a short while, the puppet was thrown out of the valley, but its body had been cut into five pieces. From the picture that was transmitted over after the connection with the puppet was reestablished, I noticed that the mountain valley was full of formations. The puppet was destroyed by the sword qi of a formation. I suspect that something important is hidden in that mountain valley. Perhaps the core of this illusory reality is precisely in there.”

　　“Shuhang, you are really bad at shifting the topic of conversation,” Venerable White said.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　“However, this mountain valley you’ve mentioned piqued my interest. Maybe we will find a few good things in there. For example, like this big ginseng that I found earlier. This thing is a treasure, and Medicine Master would surely like it if I were to sell it to him,” Venerable White said.

　　Eh? Senior White unexpectedly wants to sell this big ginseng?

　　Song Shuhang said, “Senior White, I thought you wanted to eat it.”

　　“That thing is too bitter, and it doesn’t taste good. Moreover, it’s something that has become a spirit and gained intelligence. Therefore, it would be a pity to eat it, and also somewhat cruel. After all, this thing is the same as that Lady Onion… oh, nevermind. You ate Lady Onion several times already,” Venerable White said.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　In the size-reducing purse, Lady Onion had already cried herself to sleep. Whenever she saw that huge pile of green onion sprouts next to her, sorrow would fill her heart.

　　While they were discussing, a figure quickly approached from afar. It was Su Clan’s Sixteen.

　　After a few exquisite moves to reduce her speed, she steadily stopped in front of Venerable White and Song Shuhang. Then, she sized up Song Shuhang, and said, “Shuhang, are you alright?”

　　“Yes, I’m alright now,” Song Shuhang said. “Sixteen, what about you? When we were talking earlier, you also seemed to be in the middle of a battle.”

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen sighed with emotion, and said, “I’ve found several palace-like buildings earlier… but there were no living people inside, only a few skeletons. And what was battling with me were some resentful spirits that had even lost their intelligence. They pestered me for a while, and I retreated as soon as I was able to find an opening.”

　　When she saw those damaged palaces, she could vaguely get a feeling of how prosperous the Heavenly City had been back in the days. But now, everything was gone, and only the souls of the dead were left roaming in those palaces.

　　“Resentful spirits? How was their strength?” After hearing her words, Song Shuhang’s eyes immediately lit up. He hadn’t forgotten the black glow shining between his eyebrows, as well as the ‘super-duper good’ divination. Therefore, he needed to look for an opportunity to strengthen his ‘light of virtue’ and make it undergo a qualitative change.

　　“Their strength wasn’t too high, and I alone could fight ten or so of them without any danger. The only problem was that they were somewhat difficult to deal with,” Su Clan’s Sixteen replied.

　　“In that case, is it fine if we go look for those palaces in a while?” Song Shuhang said.

　　“Why do you want to look for those palaces?” Su Clan’s Sixteen said in puzzlement.

　　“To ferry souls!” Song Shuhang said. “I want to increase the strength of the light of virtue shrouding my body.”

　　“Are you planning to become a monk?” Su Clan’s Sixteen asked.

　　“Of course not! I’ve never considered becoming a monk!” Song Shuhang said. “I’m doing this only to survive a calamity. Recently, a black glow is shining between my eyebrows, and my luck is absolutely terrible. Therefore, it would be a good thing to elevate the strength of my ‘light of virtue’ to the next level, which should help me get through this unlucky phase.”

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen silently nodded her head. “Alright. I’ll bring you over there in a while. Anyway, what do we do now?”

　　Venerable White said, “Shuhang discovered an interesting mountain valley. Let’s go take a look at it first.”

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen said, “Good! Shuhang, lead the way.”

　　Thereupon, Song Shuhang led the way, while Venerable White and Su Clan’s Sixteen followed after him.

　　Venerable White still had that big ginseng in his hand and was dragging it alongside them.

　　Just in this fashion, the party of three sped toward their destination.

　　After Song Shuhang’s group of three had disappeared into the distance, the female guards in the Jade Lake relaxed. After a short moment, the other ten or so female guards once again sank into the soil at the bottom of the lake.

　　Only the silver-armored female guard kept absent-mindedly gazing at the figures of Venerable White and the others disappearing into the distance.

　　“So handsome,” the silver-armored female guard muttered after a long time.

　　That ‘Venerable White’ that had just left was really handsome. In particular, when he turned around and used that roundhouse kick to KO the ginseng spirit, he looked extremely cool.

　　After a long time, her heart was throbbing with excitement once again. Now that the Imperial Pearl had broken, they needed the strength of a new ‘belief’ to persevere in their mission.

　　Perhaps love would work as a ‘belief’ as well?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　At the entrance of Demon Venerable Lushan Street’s mountain valley.

　　“It’s this place!” Song Shuhang said while gazing at the mountain valley. Then, he picked up the broken puppet lying on the ground. After it had turned into this appearance, even its nucleus had been destroyed. It was unknown if it could be fixed this time.

　　Su Clan’s Sixteen said, “There are many formations inside the mountain valley. In addition, each of the formations is of a very high level. If we barge into the valley just like this, we’ll need to break each formation first, which is rather troublesome.”

　　“Hmm, these formations are all of the Venerable rank. From the looks of it, that Venerable of the Limitless Demon Sect is hiding inside.” The corner of Venerable White’s mouth rose. Then, he waved his hand, signaling Song Shuhang and Su Clan’s Sixteen to fall back.

　　Afterward, he quickly made several hand seals while silently reading an incantation.

　　Since the whole mountain valley was full of formations and traps… why should they bother trying to get inside?

　　It was better to stand at the entrance and blow everything up!

　　There was nothing that a good explosion couldn’t fix… and if there really was a need to, he could create a few more explosions!