Supreme Emptiness

The two of them stepped back in unison.

Wu Manyue said in a deep voice, "Junior Brother Jiang, she just claimed to be a new disciple!"

"And said she was your friend."

"That's why we started talking to her!"

Ren Guhong decisively drew his magic artifact and said:

"Junior Brother Jiang, there's absolutely no such person among the senior disciples!"

Jiang Fan's heart sank!

If this woman was neither a senior disciple,

nor a new disciple,

then she was...

"Hehe~"

A cold and coquettish chuckle escaped from Liu Li's mouth.

At some unknown moment,

her eyes had turned pitch black.

Biting her rows of silver teeth, she ground them together with a grating sound:

"You dog!"

"You finally fell for it!"

Jiang Fan's face changed drastically.

He exclaimed, "It's you? The female ghost?"

Damn!

This wretch just wouldn't leave him alone!

He hurriedly activated his Thunder Dao Divine Power.

But being caught off guard, his actions were exceptionally rushed.

Meanwhile, Hua Xin had long made her move.

With a flick of her long hair, it wrapped around Jiang Fan, attempting to drag him out of the transmission array.

Ren Guhong and Wu Manyue were startled.

They immediately intervened to help.

"Stay out of this!"

"This is between me and him!"

Hua Xin snorted coldly, unleashing a torrent of Yin Qi from her entire body.

The two were blown away at once.

"Ninth Layer Perfection?"

The two gasped in shock.

At this critical moment,

Jiang Fan activated his power of thunder and lightning. Though not much, it should have been enough to counter Hua Xin.

But unexpectedly,

Hua Xin had already prepared, her body covered in a thick, ink-like layer of Yin Qi.

The thunder and lightning dissipated upon contact.

"Stop wasting your energy!"

"You can't escape!"

She leapt out of the array, yanking hard to drag the now tightly wrapped Jiang Fan out.

In this moment of crisis,

Jiang Fan's thoughts raced.

From within the Heavenly Thunder Stone, a monk's corpse clad in a kasaya emerged.

As soon as it appeared,

the corpse emitted an intense Buddhist light.

Hua Xin, caught off guard, let out a shriek.

The hair wrapped around Jiang Fan began to emit thick black smoke under the radiance of the Buddhist light.

It quickly snapped apart.

The space transmission array also successfully activated in that instant.

"No!"

Hua Xin, unwilling to accept this, sent her severed hair darting forward again.

Like countless tentacles, they clawed desperately at him.

But it was too late.

Jiang Fan had already been teleported away.

However,

an unexpected twist occurred.

Although she missed Jiang Fan, her hair managed to snatch something from his arms—a small, innocent-looking creature staring at her with wide, blinking eyes.

Hua Xin froze.

What was this?

She stared dumbfounded at the Little Qilin, while the Little Qilin gazed back at her with an equally innocent expression.

From the white glow of the transmission, Jiang Fan suddenly realized something was wrong and shouted, "Little Qilin!"

"Come here quickly!"

The Little Qilin rolled over and hurriedly used its Space Escape Technique.

Hua Xin also reacted, realizing that Jiang Fan seemed incredibly concerned about this little spirit beast.

How could she let it get away?

Without hesitation, she painfully opened her mouth and spat out a blood-red chain, which swiftly looped around the Little Qilin's neck.

The Little Qilin used its Space Escape Technique to dive into the white glow,

but the chain around its neck remained.

Before it could leap back into Jiang Fan's arms, Hua Xin gave a fierce tug and yanked the Little Qilin back.

"Wuuu, Master, I've been caught by a ghost!"

The Little Qilin cried out in fear.

Hua Xin snorted coldly, "Return the Yin Marrow Talisman to me."

Jiang Fan, infuriated,

didn't hesitate at all and took out the Yin Marrow Talisman.

Compared to the Little Qilin, material possessions were meaningless.

But,

at that moment,

he was disoriented and unable to toss the Yin Marrow Talisman accurately.

Nor could he guarantee that Hua Xin would keep her word and release the Little Qilin.

Hua Xin also realized the issue.

After calculating the time, she stomped her foot furiously. "Damn it!"

"The time you all have in the underground world is running out."

"There's no time for further transactions!"

She cursed angrily, "You brat!"

"One month from now, bring the Yin Marrow Talisman to exchange for this little spirit beast!"

"During that time, I won't mistreat it."

"But if you don't show up, this little spirit beast will remain with me in the underground forever!"

Jiang Fan could hear her voice,

but he was already unable to respond.

As everything spun wildly, his feet suddenly landed firmly on solid ground.

Without a second thought, Jiang Fan dashed toward the downward transmission array.

Ren Guhong abruptly pulled him back and said, "Junior Brother, don't go!"

"There's no time!"

"You won't have enough time to get down and come back up."

"Otherwise, when the time is up, you'll be trapped underground for a month."

Wu Manyue added, "Junior Brother Jiang, since you hold that Yin-tainted item,"

"she wouldn't dare harm your spirit pet."

"You can rest assured for now."

"After a month, we'll gather the strong and help you retrieve it."

"And wipe her out while we're at it!"

Furious at how they had been deceived by the female ghost, Wu Manyue fumed.

First they were plotted against by Ye Banxia,

and now tricked by a female ghost.

This expedition to the underground world was admittedly a frustrating one!

Jiang Fan calmed down as well.

The Little Qilin had the Merit Divine Pearl inside it, making it unafraid of the Yin Qi's corrosion in this place.

Spending a month wouldn't harm it significantly either.

But if he were trapped here for a month, the consequences would be dire.

"Alright!"

"Let's head up first,"

he said through clenched teeth, suppressing his anger.

Once back, the first thing he'd do was cultivate the "Heavenly Thunder Six Parts: Undying Blade."

Next time, he'd deliver such a powerful strike to this female ghost that her soul would scatter to the wind!

The group hurried toward the upward transmission array.

A crowd had already gathered there.

Among them were Liu Qingxian and her companions.

"Fan, where did you go? We were searching everywhere on the Eighth Layer and couldn't find you!"

Liu Qingxian approached with a slight pout of grievance.

Only then did Jiang Fan recall leaving them a message on the Seventh Layer, saying he was heading to the Eighth.

He hadn't expected to be chased, forcing him to flee to the Ninth Layer,

causing them undue worry.

"An unexpected trip to the Ninth Layer,"

Jiang Fan explained apologetically while holding Liu Qingxian's hand. "I had no choice but to go."

"I'm so sorry..."

Liu Qingxian covered his mouth and scolded playfully, "Why are you apologizing?"

"We should be the ones apologizing; you were in danger and we couldn't help."

Xia Chaoge also approached.

In a gentle voice, she asked, "Martial Uncle, are you hurt?"

Jiang Fan felt a warmth in his heart and replied, "I'm fine."

Liang Feiyan stepped forward and gave him a light punch on the chest. "You rascal."

"Don't ever go to the Ninth Layer alone again."

"If a female ghost kidnaps you, Senior Sister Liu and Junior Sister Xia will be crying rivers."

Jiang Fan felt at a loss for words.

He had indeed encountered a female ghost, and a rather powerful one at that.

At this moment,

a bright, cheerful, silvery laugh echoed out.

"Senior Sister Liu, Senior Sister Xia, look what I found!"

In the distance,

a girl with twin buns adorned with peach blossom hairpins came dashing over with a mischievous laugh.

She wore a goose-yellow round-collared short-sleeve shirt with a pale red skirt featuring wavy patterns.

Her knee-length skirt showed off a pair of slender, snow-white legs.

On her feet were a pair of new white deerskin boots.

Her round cheeks and smooth, delicate skin radiated with the youthful glow of collagen.

Her large, glistening black eyes resembled embedded dark gemstones.

Her nose was dainty, and her lips were ruddy red.

As she ran, she let out contagious laughter full of vitality.

She exuded a sense of youthful exuberance.

"What an adorable little sister," Wu Manyue couldn't help but feel a liking for her.

She even wanted to pinch her cute little cheeks.

Jiang Fan, however, grew suspicious. "Isn't this one of your senior disciples?"

The new disciples definitely didn't include this woman!

Hmm?

Wu Manyue and Ren Guhong immediately tensed up with caution.

They had just been tricked by that female ghost.

After all, the Eighth Layer was known to house Yin-tainted entities too.

"Junior Brother Jiang, this person isn't among the senior disciples!"

Wu Manyue narrowed her eyes.

Jiang Fan let out a bitter chuckle. "What a coincidence, she's not one of ours either!"

"Do all these damned female ghosts have a compulsion for deceiving us?"

Hua Xin had already enraged Jiang Fan by abducting the Little Qilin.

Now another ghost dared to try her tricks?

Sorry, but she was about to face his wrath!

In the arms of the cute girl,

a hairpin quivered slightly, muttering softly:

"Why do I feel like that brat looks… a bit hostile?"