Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

Watching their backs fade into the distance, the stall owner shook his head. "Strange little fellow," he muttered. "I have a feeling we’ll meet again..."

At the same time, his middle-aged appearance rapidly aged. In just a few seconds, a weathered face, etched with the wrinkles of countless years, emerged. The next moment, without anyone noticing, the old man and his stall vanished completely, as if they had evaporated into thin air.

...

"Yuelai Guest House."

Standing before a massive building about twenty stories tall, Mu Chen smiled at the sign flickering with the light of Primordial Power. "This must be the place," he said with a laugh. "Looks like that stall owner didn’t lie to us. The place is actually quite nice."

Chu Aoqing hummed in agreement and murmured, "Was it my imagination?"

Mu Chen heard her and asked, puzzled, "Aoqing, what’s wrong?"

Chu Aoqing faltered for a moment. "Ah," she said. "It’s nothing. I was just thinking about something. Let’s go inside."

Although he was curious, Mu Chen didn’t press the matter. He just nodded and headed inside. Upon entering, the atmosphere immediately grew somewhat intimate. Hmm, that was because the Elemental Power Lamps here were an orange-yellow color, giving the place a retro feel at first glance. However, since the Extreme Martial Continent had already entered autumn and the weather was gradually cooling, the lighting design was actually quite fitting for the season.

"Are you looking for a room, sir?" While Mu Chen was still surveying his surroundings, a clerk from behind the counter near the entrance asked with a smile.

Mu Chen glanced over and nodded. "Yes, I’d like two rooms, next to each other."

"One moment, please." As she spoke, the clerk began to check for available rooms. Ten seconds later, she nodded. "We do, but they’re on a higher floor. On the plus side, they have a fairly large outdoor terrace with a panoramic view of Ghost City at night."

"A view of the city at night?" Mu Chen smiled. "That’s fine."

The clerk returned his smile. "Please follow me, then."

Mu Chen and Chu Aoqing followed at a leisurely pace. The clerk was a woman of average looks, but she always wore a smile. The walk upstairs was a bit dull, so the clerk started to chat as they went. "You two look like you’ve traveled a long way. You must be from out of town, right?"

Mu Chen didn’t mind this kind of small talk, as he could often glean useful information from it. He nodded and said, "We are. It’s our first time visiting Ghost City, and I have to say, I’m quite curious about its name."

"Is that right?" The clerk’s smile didn’t waver. "Almost every guest who comes here asks that. Ghost City is called Ghost City because its residents are a little different from those in other towns."

Mu Chen feigned surprise and joked, "Don’t tell me all the residents here are actual ghosts?"

The clerk chuckled. "You’re quite the kidder, sir. Of course not. It’s just that the residents here prefer the nightlife. During the day, the streets are nearly empty, and things only get lively after dark. Since their schedule is the same as a ghost’s, the name ’Ghost City’ stuck."

"I see."

After that, there wasn’t much more to talk about. The clerk casually mentioned a few local customs before stopping midway down the hall on the fourteenth floor. She turned to them and said, "Here we are."

With that, the clerk produced two keys, handed them to Mu Chen, and gave a slight bow. "I’ll leave you two to rest, then."

As the clerk disappeared down the hallway, Mu Chen said to Chu Aoqing, "Go on in and get some rest."

Chu Aoqing nodded. "Okay. We’ll travel at full speed tomorrow. It will take at least a month to reach Medicine City."

Mu Chen nodded, took out his key, and opened the door. There was nothing particularly special about the room’s decor; aside from a massive bed, there was a wall that was completely transparent. Beyond the transparent wall was the outdoor terrace the clerk had mentioned. He had no time to admire the so-called night view right now, however. Pulling the curtains shut and closing the door, Mu Chen said urgently, "Master."

The next moment, a white figure materialized beside Mu Chen. He leisurely sat down on the spacious bed and flashed a wicked grin. "Well now, this bed is surprisingly comfortable. Xiao Chenzi, what did you call your master out for?"

The corner of Mu Chen’s mouth twitched. Annoyed, he pulled out a pair of long boots and a ring and tossed them to the Profound Old Ghost. "My dearest Master, you’re the one who told me to get these. Now Chu Aoqing thinks I have some kind of weird fetish."

The Profound Old Ghost chuckled. "Heh heh." He took the boots and ring from Mu Chen. "Why’d I have you get them? For you to use, of course. These things are rare treasures."

"For me?" Mu Chen pursed his lips. "But these boots obviously won’t fit me. Besides, once Profound Celestial Silk is woven, its size can’t be altered. How am I supposed to use them?"

The Profound Old Ghost shot the long boots a disdainful look. "Can’t be altered? What dumbass told you that?"

Mu Chen exclaimed, "You can alter them?"

The Profound Old Ghost rolled his eyes. "Of course. If I couldn’t alter them, why would I have you go get them?"

As he spoke, the Profound Old Ghost tossed the Profound Celestial Silk Boots onto the bed and picked up the ring. The smile at the corners of his mouth deepened, and a sharp glint flashed in his purple pupils. With a sharp CRACK, the Spiritual Mark on the ring shattered completely. The contents of the ring spilled out with a CLATTER, scattering all over the bed.

However, aside from some Purple Elemental Crystals and a few articles of clothing, there was nothing particularly noteworthy. With a casual wave of his hand, the Profound Old Ghost blew the clothes aside, revealing two medium-sized, square boxes that had been hidden beneath them. The boxes looked quaint and simple, made from very ordinary materials, but their exteriors were inscribed with incredibly complex Sealing Array Maps.

"What are these?" Mu Chen asked.

"Good stuff. I’m just surprised someone nowadays still knows how to use such a complex Sealing Array Map. That’s a rare sight indeed."

The Profound Old Ghost didn’t elaborate. A look of interest appeared on his face as he studied the Sealing Array Map on the box. He then extended a finger. Primordial Power swirled around its tip as a golden point of light suddenly condensed there. The next moment, the Profound Old Ghost’s finger tapped lightly, and the Sealing Array Map on the box erupted in a dazzling flash of light. Immediately after, the main nodes within the array began to drift erratically along its lines, seemingly without any rhyme or reason.

But the Profound Old Ghost didn’t hesitate for a second, moving as if he’d inscribed the Sealing Array Map himself. His finger touched a node on the array, using Primordial Power to tug the drifting point and send it darting rapidly through the diagram. Even Mu Chen, with his Ice Extreme Demon Pupils, couldn’t follow the Profound Old Ghost’s movements.

Three seconds later, the array map flared with another brilliant light before dimming. The Profound Old Ghost revealed a wicked grin. "Unlocked. To think that after a hundred thousand years of stagnation, my skills have gotten this rusty. A mere Medium Sealing Array Map actually took me a whole three seconds."

As he spoke, the Profound Old Ghost broke the seal on the other box in the exact same manner.

"Go on, open them and take a look."

With a mysterious expression, the Profound Old Ghost placed the two boxes before Mu Chen. Mu Chen didn’t hesitate, opening them immediately. To his slight disappointment, the boxes contained neither Cultivation and Battle Skills, nor Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, nor even a High-tier Treasure. Instead, there was a luxurious white robe and a pair of equally luxurious white bracers, both beautifully designed.

"Tch, so they’re just clothes."

The Profound Old Ghost immediately rolled his eyes and tossed the boots from the bed to Mu Chen. "Take a closer look, why don’t you?"

Mu Chen froze. He looked at the long boots, then back at the robe and bracers. His eyes widened. "No way."

"No way?" The Profound Old Ghost chuckled slyly. "Now you see it wasn’t a bad deal, huh? I have no idea where that kid came from, but Profound Celestial Silk isn’t something you can get in large quantities. He actually had a robe, boots, and bracers all woven from it. How much Profound Celestial Silk must that have taken? Tsk, tsk. And to weave them as separate pieces, what an utter waste."

The Profound Old Ghost took the robe and bracers out of the boxes and shook them out. "None of them are in your size, but that’s fine. Give me a moment."

The words had barely left his mouth when the Profound Old Ghost rolled up the three articles of clothing and vanished, leaving behind the mess of other clothes on the bed and an utterly exasperated Mu Chen.

With a single thought, Mu Chen picked up Zhou Ziheng’s Storage Ring and swept all the items from the bed into it. Then, he pulled back the curtains, opened the large window, and leaped lightly outside.

Out on the terrace, a cool breeze drifted past. Mu Chen glanced toward Chu Aoqing’s room and saw that her lights were already out. ’She’s either resting or in the bathroom.’

Taking a deep breath, he crossed to the terrace railing in two steps. The fourteenth-floor vantage point was high enough to take in the entire nightscape of Ghost City. Feeling the tranquility around him and gazing down at the bustling night market below, Mu Chen gradually sank into contemplation, pondering the words the stall owner had spoken to him.

"These past few years, have you been happy?"

’Yeah, these past few years... have I been happy?’

Memories surfaced in his mind, unbidden. ’These nineteen years of my life... have I been happy? The answer is no. Or perhaps, just as I flippantly said, I was happy once.’

The pursuit of the apex of the Martial Dao was bound to be a life of hardship and struggle. But the prolonged tension had left his spirit exceptionally weary, exceptionally pained. He had even begun to feel lost, to lose his passion and drive, like a string stretched to its breaking point.

The moonlight was cold and clear, and a slight chill hung in the autumn night air. Mu Chen stretched out his right hand, as if trying to grasp the moon, but it was destined to close on nothing but air. It was just like his spirit at that moment—because his life was so full, it felt all the more empty.

’Is this... the inevitable reversal?’

With a sigh, he drew back his arm, letting the cool breeze blow through his long hair. His expression gradually grew vacant as he became lost in a daze...

And yet, behind Mu Chen, in Chu Aoqing’s room, a pair of crimson eyes watched him intently from behind the curtains. She stared at the figure that radiated such immense loss, loneliness, and exhaustion, and a sharp pain lanced through her heart. ’Over the past year, I’ve spent almost every day with him. His cultivation intensity, the rhythm of his life... just watching it is enough to feel how tedious and monotonous it is. For someone to develop a routine like that, it’s definitely not the work of a single year. I don’t even have to imagine to know how Mu Chen has spent the last decade and more...’