Book 3 Chapter 8 (Part 1) Taking it up a notch

  Two days later, the Fragrant Gathering officially began.

  To give me a boost, the Peanut family also followed me to the venue. Along the way, Bai Guangguang kept pestering me: "Good nephew, hand over that competition iron ticket to me. I'll participate, it's better than you having a chance."

  I said irritably, "For the past two days, I've been paying for all your food and lodging. With your skills, it shouldn't be a problem to steal some money to buy an iron ticket." I found that the decline of the Bujutsu Kojou school was largely due to this old man's responsibility. He was lazy, greedy, and loved to show off. Even taking a bath required going to the most expensive "Rose Pool" in town, and afterwards, he would find female demons to give him massages. If such a large foundation were handed over to someone like him, it would be ruined completely. If I didn't have some regard for Hanae's face, I wouldn't bother with him at all.

  "Bah! You dare to say that I would steal money? How shameless can you be?! I am the great master of the Bingqi Jiuyi Sect, how could I stoop so low as to do something like that?" He said with a flourish, having just snatched the Bixuanshuiyun Beast from Huashengguo and proudly leading it by its reins, his face full of self-satisfaction.

  We headed to the Fragrant River in the south of the city, where the Fragrant Flower Festival was being held. From a few miles away, we could smell the sweet fragrance wafting through the air. The Osmanthus trees were rooted in the river water, and unlike those in Luoyang, their trunks were also golden yellow. The fragrant flowers hung like strings of small golden bells, blooming profusely on the branches. As the warm breeze blew by, the delicate flowers fell onto the river's surface, sparkling instantly and scattering like flashing sparks.

  "This year's star jasmine is blooming beautifully." Yuè Hún let out a low sigh.

  The scene was chaotic, with spectators packed in like sardines. The Huangpao Lion's Roar Secret Society, the Hongyi Golden Vajra Secret Society and the Tiantang Jiaoyu Secret Society were all busy maintaining order. By the riverbank, a huge awning had been set up, with a sign that read "Competitors please enter". The awning was guarded by attendants on all sides. I pushed through the crowd and showed my iron token to a burly man from the Golden Vajra Secret Society, who examined it carefully before leading me under the awning and saying, "Please wait here for a moment."

  There were nearly a thousand people in the shed, each one staring at the others like fighting cocks. More and more contestants were being led into the shed, I looked around at the crowd of onlookers, wondering if the three beauties would be among them?

  More than half an hour later, the leaders of the three major sects, including the Lion's Roar Secret Path Sect, appeared on the scene, causing waves of cheers from the crowd. The leader of the Lion's Roar Secret Path Sect was a tall and fat old lady named Liu Hedong. The leader of the Golden Secret Path Sect, Wei Tuo, was a burly man. The most comical one was He Ping, the leader of the Topple Three Down Four Aoyu Sect, who wore his sheepskin coat inside out, held a broken fan in his hand, and had a pair of dirty bare feet.

  He spat out a mouthful of phlegm, and He Ping spoke up first: "Welcome, friends from all over the world, to our Fragrant Prosperity Gathering. Why are we so happy? Because we have the opportunity to make money off of you."

  The surroundings burst into laughter, and Wei Tuo continued: "The rules of this Fragrance Gathering Competition are the same as before, and three winners will be decided. The prizes are Firewing Butterfly, Red Practice Grass, and White Bone Bug Egg." He smiled and said: "Unlike previous Fragrance Gatherings, the biggest prize this time is He Zhangmen's thousand gold - a beautiful flower in Daqian City. From the three winners, one strongest person can marry the beauty!"

  "He's here! He's here! He's here!" The crowd shouted, and He Ping yelled out, "Girl, come out quickly and show yourself off, don't keep people waiting until they're drooling."

  "Stop calling!" A clear and crisp female voice echoed in the air, a green bird flew over the clouds and arrived swiftly. On the back of the green bird sat a beautiful young woman, with a yellow flower on her forehead, her dark eyes scanning around boldly and unrestrainedly. The crowd immediately erupted into cheers, but I didn't even bother to look, compared to Gan Ningzhen and others, He Saihua's beauty was far inferior.

  Liu He Dong suddenly let out a loud roar: "Less nonsense! I officially declare that the Fragrant Prosperity Gathering is now beginning! Light up the White Rhinoceros Horn!"

  The crowd's shout shook the air, and several burly men in yellow robes carried out a curved, snow-white beast horn, ignited it and threw it into the Fragrant River. A dazzling light burst forth immediately, and the burning rhino horn floated on the surface of the river, with colorful lights flowing and reflecting off the transparent water below. I was amazed to see that at the bottom of the river lay a huge, dark iron tower, entwined by aquatic plants. At the three entrances of the iron tower, thousands of ghosts and spirits wandered about. Some were poisonous insects and snakes, some were half-human and half-beast, while others had pale faces without any facial features, like vengeful souls drifting to and fro.

  "Soul Suppressing Tower!" Moon Soul muttered, a hint of unusual color flashing in her eyes.

  "Three colored flags are placed on the top of the tower, whoever retrieves the flags and returns safely to shore will be the winner! However, the iron tower is infested with ferocious beasts and evil spirits inside and out. If your magical powers are not up to par, it's best to withdraw early and avoid losing your life in vain!"

  I only just found out that whoever grabs the colored head first wins, I had thought it was a fight to the finish. Thinking about it is funny, among so many participants, probably only I didn't know the rules of the competition. As my gaze swept over, I suddenly discovered Liu Cuiyu, he was also squeezed in among the participants, but his eyes were fixed on the river bottom and hadn't noticed me.

  Separated by iron chains, the peanut fruit waved at me: "Lin Fei big brother must win!" Bai Guangguang rolled his eyes: "I think it's a must-lose." The peanut shell glared at Bai Guangguang and shouted at me: "Lin Xiaozi, fight for your dignity, don't be looked down upon by dog eyes!"

  "What are you waiting for? Don't you go down to the river and seize the treasure?" He Ping shouted strangely, and the crowd burst into laughter. More than a thousand participants showed off their skills, rushing into the Fragrant River, thousands of snow-white waves splashing high, exceptionally magnificent.

  There's safety in numbers, and the crowd surged towards the iron tower at the bottom of the river like a swarm of bees. I calmly blended in with them, figuring that even if someone managed to get there first and snatch the prize, I could always take it back from them.

  The iron tower has nine floors, with a strange triangular shape. Every floor's flying eaves and corners are carved with talismans. Three narrow entrances are located at the bottom of the tower, and the top is engraved with the two characters "Zhen Hun".

  Just as they approached the iron tower, the evil spirits and monsters rushed towards the crowd, and both sides engaged in a fierce battle. For a time, the waves surged and the blood splashed, the killing sounds shook the ears to deafness. Many participants died on the spot, and some simply fled in panic. After I took a closer look, I found that these evil spirits and monsters were actually indestructible. They were clearly cut in half by a sword, but soon merged together again, and there was no blood on their bodies.

  "What in the world are these monsters?! I dare not be reckless, so I'll take a defensive stance and cast the Xuanyi Secret Path Technique, forming a rotating circle around me. The moment those evil spirits approach, they'll be repelled by the Xuanyi energy barrier. At the same time, I'll activate the Puppet Witchcraft, conjuring up two puppet water humans to closely follow my sides. Even if some powerful evil spirit manages to break through the barrier, it will be struck down by the water humans."

  "These monsters and evil spirits are all ghosts who cannot be reincarnated." Yuè Hún said suddenly.

  I was taken aback: "Don't all ghosts from the Northern Border eventually go to the Yellow Springs Heaven?"

  "The Yellow Spring Heaven is indeed the final destination of the dead, but the Yellow Spring Heaven has a river called the Naihe River. The water occasionally overflows and when it does, the ghosts crossing the river will be swept away by the tide and sent out of the Yellow Spring Heaven to become lucky undestroyed wild ghosts. It's said that at the bottom of the Fragrant River there is a secret waterway connected to a tributary of the Naihe River, so it's not strange for ghosts to appear here."

  "Have you also been to the Yellow Springs Heaven? Otherwise, how would you know so clearly?"

  Yuè Hún remained silent for a moment before speaking, "This Soul-Tethering Tower was built by Méi thousands of years ago to trap the ghosts that escaped from the Yellow Springs Heaven. The iron tower is engraved with talismans, forming a soul-tethering boundary that confines the ghosts at the bottom of the Fragrant River, preventing them from escaping to harm humans. Who would have thought that it has now become the venue for the Fragrant River's grand competition?"

  At this time, the contestants continued to die and be injured, and those who escaped were getting more and more. The number of evil spirits did not decrease at all. As far as the eye could see, the remaining hundreds of people were surrounded by ghosts and were fighting desperately.

  A magnificent green light suddenly flashed, the sword energy tore through the water waves, dispersing a group of evil spirits. Liu Cuiyu's eyebrows shot out with sword aura, and she charged into the Town Soul Tower on horseback. Immediately after, dozens of other experts also rushed into the Town Soul Tower one after another.

  I'd better hurry up, I took a deep breath and activated a secret technique called "Pure Yang Flame", rushing towards an entrance. The Pure Yang Flame technique uses the liver as its foundation, refining the liver fire into a true flame to subdue enemies, which should be effective against ghosts. A malevolent spirit resembling an octopus was guarding the entrance, with a head like a bamboo steamer, black holes for eyes, and over ten greenish tentacles hissing as they reached out towards me. I let out a low growl, and true flames shot out of my nostrils, enveloping the ghost in purple-red flames. With a "whoosh", the ghost dissipated into a wisp of blue smoke, its form and spirit annihilated.

  I rushed into the Town Soul Tower, and immediately heard a burst of wailing and howling. The tower was very large, with evil spirits surging in from all sides like a tide, and everyone who entered was fighting for themselves. I continuously sprayed out the Triple-Truth True Flame, burning them until they let out miserable cries and retreated in fear. With a tap of my toe, I followed the spiral staircase and charged up to the second floor of the Iron Tower.

  "Whoosh", a chill wind like a cold arrow, shot straight at my face. My mind moved quickly, two puppet watermen appeared in front of me, blocking the attack for me. I snorted, and the Samadhi True Fire immediately burned to death the black evil spirit that had launched this sneak attack.

  The Xuanji aura circulated, sending the dozens of evil spirits that had surrounded me tumbling about in all directions. I didn't have time to entangle with them, so I shot upwards and leapt onto the third floor.