Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Night Terror at the City God Temple

Countless tiny tongues, sharp as needles and like arrows, shot straight toward him. Liu Ping felt his scalp explode with alarm at once; an unending sense of danger welled up in him, and he retreated a step in haste, barely avoiding the strike.

Yet even after evading it, the attack did not end. The tongues twisted in midair and came stabbing at him again.

In a sorry tumble, Liu Ping dodged once more, casually tracing a talisman in the air and slapping it forward.

By then, the evil thing had already burst inside. Seeing the talisman Liu Ping had drawn, it bared its teeth in a mocking sneer, contempt written all over its face. Such an attack was trash, and it thought it could deal with him?

With a careless wave, it tore the talisman to shreds, then fixed Liu Ping with a cold stare full of hatred and let out a savage grin. "A mere first- or second-tier Human Immortal, and you still refuse to surrender?"

"Who are you?" Liu Ping was somewhat disheveled. The talisman had been ripped apart too abruptly, leaving him affected; his blood was surging, and he felt somewhat unwell.

"It is this servant's corpse puppet. My young master may call it the Corpse Puppet." A sweet voice sounded, and at some point a young girl was sitting on Liu Ping's bed, smiling seductively as she said, "I asked Young Master Liu to take me in earlier, but since Young Master Liu has treated me with such coldness, I had no choice but to come uninvited."

Liu Ping drew the Azure Purity Sword, his gaze sharpening as he looked at the evil thing. He knew now that this was troublesome. He had earlier thought she was only at the Human Immortal level, and had underestimated her. Like Luo Yi, she was likely also at half a step from the Demon Marshal realm, that is, half a step from the Earth Immortal realm.

"And who are you?" Liu Ping turned his eyes to the half-clad girl and repeated the question with a frown.

"You need not know who this servant is, Young Master Liu. So long as you are willing to join this servant in shared pleasure and partake of the joys of this world, this servant will no longer trouble the young master." The girl smiled seductively as she loosened her garments, revealing a broad expanse of snowy flesh, her every gesture overflowing with temptation.

"Join you in shared pleasure?" Liu Ping sneered. "Afraid to kill me outright because you're worried about cause and effect, worried about backlash from fortune and fate, so you resort to such petty tricks. Do you really think I would fall for it? Are you too stupid, or are you too stupid?"

"Ah..." The girl sighed. "Young master, why must you be like this? If you would only share pleasure with this servant, this servant would certainly never harm you. To say such things truly breaks this servant's heart."

"What is your relationship with Luo Yi?" Liu Ping asked again.

At those words, the girl's expression changed, then turned ferocious. "Hahaha, Liu Ping, how pitiable you are. I originally meant to let you die a little more easily. Why did you not seize the chance? Why insist on exposing everything and making it impossible to turn back? You scholars all pride yourselves on being amorous, claiming that even in death you must be a death under the flowers. Fine, then let me tell you: Luo Yi is mine. You made his soul scatter to the winds; how could there be no retribution for that?"

"I think you've misunderstood something..." Liu Ping raised the Azure Purity Sword and poured spiritual power into it, then said coolly, "Just looking at your disgusting green-furred appearance under that skin makes me want to vomit. Not spitting on you is already me showing restraint."

Whoosh!

Sword qi burst forth, and majestic, righteous sword intent roared like a tide. Liu Ping struck instantly, aiming straight for the girl's head.

The girl was startled. She clearly had not expected the sword intent to be so fierce, as though it were a supreme path of the sword. She hurriedly raised her arm to block.

The arm was severed at once, but the attack did not lose even a shred of momentum; it continued slashing toward her head. With a soft sound, the girl's fine head was cut clean off.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and a foul stench instantly filled the room. The blood possessed a powerful corrosive effect, like acid, and in an instant the wooden bed had been eroded into a ruinous mess.

So smoothly had it gone that Liu Ping frowned slightly, a bad premonition suddenly rising in his heart. He quickly covered his nose and mouth, only to feel his body growing weak in waves, robbed of strength.

"Poison?!"

Shock and fury surged through him, and he hastily took several steps back.

At that moment, the red-haired monster, the Corpse Puppet, seized the opening and lunged to kill. Liu Ping swept out with his sword, but the attack was unexpectedly knocked aside.

Liu Ping wanted to get out; the longer he remained here, the greater the danger.

Yet the monster could actually contend with Liu Ping's righteous sword path and was unable to shake him off in time.

"Die! One Sword to Level the Heavens!" Liu Ping roared. Unleashing his ultimate move, he split the monster in two with a single stroke, then leaped straight out through the window.

"Foolish man, where do you think you can run?" In the room, the girl whose head had been severed picked up her arm and head and placed them back where they had been. Very quickly, the head and arm were reattached.

"Corpse Puppet, you were split into two so easily, and still you will not accept it?" She glanced toward the distant Liu Ping as he fled, though she did not hurry after him. Instead, she asked in a light tone.

The red-haired monster, which had been cleaved in half by One Sword to Level the Heavens, began to writhe incessantly. Very soon it turned into two smaller red-haired monsters, both saying in unison, "Kill him! We must kill him!"

Liu Ping flew at full speed and soon arrived at the City God Temple.

But by then, the splendid palace the temple had transformed into was gone, leaving only an ordinary City God Temple behind.

A City God sat high in the main hall, interrogating a wandering ghost.

This City God was Yin Bing, newly appointed. His skills were still far too limited to be of any real help.

That left Liu Ping feeling somewhat depressed.

"Who goes there! How dare you barge into the City God Temple?! Quite the bold one! Take him down!" The judge on the side did not know Liu Ping. Seeing a cultivator suddenly break in, he could not help but grow furious, pointing at Liu Ping with a writing brush.

"Yes!" The ghost soldiers nearby obeyed and rushed toward Liu Ping.

"Wait!" Yin Bing recognized the cultivator before him. Without Liu Ping stepping aside, he would never have been able to become the City God at all. Seeing Liu Ping arrive, he hurried to stop the ghost soldiers, intending to step forward and greet him when he suddenly felt a tremendous demonic aura surging in!

The aura was thick and heavy, a vast black mass that blanketed the entire City God Temple. Three clusters of black smoke swept in at once.

An immense pressure rolled through the temple. All the ghost soldiers widened their eyes, their legs trembling, and they muttered in disbelief, "What powerful demonic aura! What a powerful monster!"

The judge, who had been high-spirited a moment ago and pointing the way with great confidence, went deathly pale in an instant. But this was sacred territory; how could these evil beings be allowed to run rampant here? So he shouted, "This is the City God Temple! What do you monsters think you are doing?!"

Yin Bing, his expression uncertain, looked at the black smoke and felt that dense demonic presence make his whole body tremble slightly. Only after hearing the judge's words did he come to himself, and he too cried out, "What exactly do you want?!"

"We had no intention of disturbing the lords here." The words came from the young girl, who stepped out together with the two red-haired monsters. "It is only that this cultivator killed the one I loved. If I do not kill him, this hatred cannot be washed away. I beg the lords for your understanding."

She could easily kill the City God and the judge, but the powers standing behind them could not be underestimated. She absolutely could not act recklessly. If she stirred up the Underworld or the Heavenly Court, then even a hundred of her would not be enough to die once.

"Your own grudges, settle them yourselves. Leave the City God Temple at once!" The judge gave a cold snort and said indifferently.

"Impossible!" The City God suddenly intervened.

"Lord?" The judge froze. What madness was this? Could he not see that the other side was at half a step from the Demon Marshal realm? How could they possibly oppose them?

"Liu Ping is a person favored by His Majesty the Bright Emperor. How could this official allow him to be bullied by the likes of you? As for whom he killed, that was merely the removal of a scourge. You brought this upon yourselves!" Though City God Yin Bing feared the evil thing's formidable strength, he would never compromise and retreat lightly.

"Heh heh, City God, do not push this servant too far." Hearing Yin Bing's words, the girl, who had interpreted them as a slight, flashed with anger. She did not believe them in the least. She had investigated Liu Ping: how could a ghost emperor possibly have any connection to him? To bring out a ghost emperor's banner just to frighten her off?

How laughable!

The girl said coldly, "Your reasoning is truly grand and noble. As expected of those from the divine path, so skilled at twisting words. Since that is how it is, then do not blame me for being impolite!"

If it could not be settled properly, then there was only offense. So long as they were not killed, a little wantonness would amount to no more than a small matter. It would not alarm the powers above, at most only require a period of concealment to wait out the storm, and then all would be well.