DS 08

Chapter – 08

The Mysterious Incense Burner

Once Li Yu took the initiative, the female-ghost-possessed Chen Ming was reduced to a passive punching bag, completely unable to fight back.

Li Yu discovered that although the female ghost’s oppressive presence was strong, she didn’t seem to have any formidable abilities. After possessing Chen Ming, she was a bit stronger physically, but that strength wasn’t enough to overwhelm him. With a little technique, he could toy with her at will.

Inside Chen Ming’s body, the female ghost was starting to panic. After all, possession consumed magical power as well. Once her power ran out, she would be no match for these three cultivators.

She had thought that by choosing the slightly stronger one of the four, she could easily deal with the remaining three. Who would have guessed that the truly dangerous one was this pretty boy?

She made a snap decision—abandoning the possessed body—and transformed into a white streak, hurtling straight at Li Yu.

The white blur moved extremely fast. Li Yu felt a chill surge into his body and knew something was wrong. He immediately channeled his magical power, trying to resist the female ghost’s possession.

But to his utter bewilderment, after the white shadow entered his body, aside from that chill, he felt nothing at all.

Li Yu carefully examined himself from head to toe but found nothing unusual.

Strange. Where did the ghost go?

Li Yu looked around but couldn’t find the female ghost. He only saw Jiang Li and Senior Sister Zhou staring at him with worried and terrified expressions.

The moment he moved his feet, Jiang Li conjured a fireball in his hand. Gritting his teeth, he said, “You—let Li Yu go right now, or I’ll fight you to the death…”

Zhou Zixuan also stood beside Jiang Li, on guard against a sudden attack from Li Yu.

Li Yu spread his hands and said, “It’s me. I haven’t been possessed.”

Jiang Li clenched his jaw and snapped, “Still trying to fool me! I saw it with my own eyes!”

“I really am Li Yu.”

“I don’t believe you! Prove it!”

“You have a mole on your left buttock…”

“Alright, I believe you…”

…

Possession didn’t grant access to memories. Jiang Li quickly stepped forward, covered Li Yu’s mouth, looked him up and down, and asked in amazement, “You weren’t possessed? Then where’s the female ghost?”

Li Yu shook his head. “Maybe the possession failed and she was completely destroyed.”

The female ghost had clearly lunged at him, yet she had vanished without a trace, as if she had evaporated into thin air. Li Yu himself was just as confused. However, he could be certain that the female ghost was not inside his body.

He looked down at his chest, lost in thought.

When the female ghost had crashed into him, a warm current had seemed to surge from his chest—and then the ghost disappeared.

Glancing at Chen Ming, who lay limp on the ground, completely unconscious, Li Yu said to Jiang Li and Zhou Zixuan, “You two look after Chen Ming. I’ll go back to my room to regulate my breath…”

With that, he walked back into his room and closed the door.

He quickly went to the bedside, removed his outer robe and undergarment, and when his gaze fell on his chest, he froze entirely.

On his chest, a faint mark was glowing softly.

The light flickered a few times and then faded away completely.

When Li Yu had bathed before, he had noticed this mark, but he hadn’t thought much of it, assuming it was a birthmark left by this body’s original owner. Now, upon careful recollection, it seemed that the original Li Yu didn’t have this birthmark either.

That is to say, this mark had only appeared after he had transmigrated here.

The mark was less than half the size of a palm and resembled an incense burner—its body spherical, supported by three sturdy legs.

Li Yu stared at the mark, feeling an odd sense of familiarity. Soon, it clicked—the mark on his chest looked exactly like the ancient jade pendant he had worn in his previous life…

He had worn that jade from childhood until the day he died in the line of duty, when it was shattered by a bullet. Yet in this life, an identical mark now appeared on Li Yu’s chest.

A feeling arose in Li Yu’s heart—could his second life be connected to that jade?

The evil ghost that had tried to possess him seemed to have been absorbed by this mark as well.

Cautiously, Li Yu separated a strand of his magical power and guided it toward his chest. The moment that strand touched the incense burner mark, it was immediately sucked in by a pulling force. At the same time, Li Yu’s consciousness suddenly sank into another space.

Around him was endless white emptiness, with only a single incense burner about three zhang tall standing before him. It looked like the mark on his chest, only much larger. Its surface was engraved with countless intricate patterns, and on its belly was a diagram of two intertwined yin-yang fish, with the ancient characters “Qian” and “Kun” inscribed above them.

This incense burner was not intact—it was covered from top to bottom with dense cracks. Some of the larger fissures ran across the entire burner, as if it could crumble into a pile of fragments at any moment.

Even in a world of cultivation, this scene still shocked Li Yu to his core.

But soon, his consciousness blurred, and he was pulled back to the real world. Only the faintly flickering incense burner mark on his chest indicated that what had just happened was not a dream.

Li Yu channeled his magical power again and returned to that world once more.

After multiple attempts, he discovered that this incense burner was a bottomless pit. No matter how much magical power he poured in, it was devoured completely, and he had no idea what purpose this burner served.

However, he did figure out how the female ghost had died.

Ghosts were different from ordinary humans—they only had spirit bodies, no physical bodies. And spirit bodies were purely yin in nature. At its core, yin energy and magical power were both forms of energy. This incense burner could devour energy. By trying to possess Li Yu, that female ghost had walked straight into her own death.

The Qiankun Furnace.

Since the burner bore these two characters, Li Yu decided to call it that for now. Although he still didn’t know its true purpose, the fact that it could keep ghosts from even approaching him made it a protective charm. Without it, he would have already been controlled by that female ghost, and Jiang Li and Senior Sister Zhou wouldn’t have escaped either.

*Creak…*

The door was pushed open, and a figure walked in from outside. Li Yu didn’t need to look to know who it was—other than that demonic cult enchantress, the only person who entered his room without knocking was Jiang Li.

When Jiang Li saw Li Yu bare-chested, he froze for a moment, then quickly walked over and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Li Yu put on his clothes and said, “I’m fine.”

Jiang Li asked curiously, “When did you become such a good fighter?”

Li Yu said, “I practiced in secret. I was planning to use it against Chen Ming, but it came in handy this time…”

Jiang Li looked at Li Yu. For two years, he had been with Li Yu day and night, yet only today did he realize that there were still things about him he didn’t know. The Li Yu before him now carried a hint of unfamiliarity.

The Li Yu who had just fought the female-ghost-possessed Chen Ming was a complete stranger to him.

And the Li Yu of before had always been cold and indifferent toward the female disciples of Baiyun Temple. But today, his attitude toward Senior Sister Zhou was also very different from before.

Thinking of this, he suddenly asked, “Li Yu, let me ask you a question.”

Li Yu replied casually, “Go ahead.”

Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, then probed, “Do you like Senior Sister Zhou?”

Without even thinking, Li Yu said, “Of course I like her. Who wouldn’t like someone pretty, with a nice figure? Besides, she’s kind-hearted…”

At the doorway, Zhou Zixuan had already stepped one foot inside. She glanced down at the curves of her own body, her face flushing slightly. She didn’t know whether to enter or retreat.

After saying that, Li Yu suddenly realized something. He looked at Jiang Li and asked, “Do you like Senior Sister Zhou too?”

Jiang Li waved his hand. “No way…”

Li Yu looked at him, then suddenly put on a guarded expression and said warily, “What’s wrong with Senior Sister Zhou? You’re not into women, are you? Let me tell you, although we’re close, don’t get any ideas about me…”

Jiang Li rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, “Tch, I’m going to be the future emperor of Jiang Country. I can have any woman I want. When I have my three palaces and six courtyards, you’ll be the one envious…”

Only then did Li Yu relax. He threw his arm around Jiang Li’s shoulder and said, “Don’t forget what you promised me, kid. When the time comes, just give me some random title and throw in eight or ten beauties, and I’ll be satisfied…”

Having already glimpsed how difficult the path of immortality was, this was Li Yu’s backup plan. If he couldn’t make it in the cultivation world, he’d just become a carefree prince in the mortal world and live out his life in comfort.

After all, a cultivator’s lifespan wasn’t too short—if a Qi Refining cultivator took good care of himself, he could live over a hundred years. And if by some stroke of luck he reached Foundation Establishment, living over two hundred years wouldn’t be a dream.

After a light cough, Zhou Zixuan walked in from outside and said to Li Yu gratefully, “Junior Brother Li, I really owe you for what happened just now. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. If not for Li Yu, no one present tonight would have escaped, and the consequences would have been disastrous.

Li Yu smiled and said, “Senior Sister Zhou is too kind. Among fellow disciples, we should look out for each other. Besides, Senior Sister Zhou usually takes good care of us—this is the least I could do…”

Zhou Zixuan’s face flushed slightly. The reason she usually looked after Li Yu and Jiang Li was simply because they were handsome. Who didn’t like a handsome junior brother?

This time, she was even more thankful for her decision.

Though she had only brought them down the mountain to please the eye, no one had expected that this seemingly ordinary mission would be fraught with deadly danger. If it weren’t for Li Yu, she might have lost her life.

Zhou Zixuan said earnestly, “Regardless, you saved my life. If Junior Brother Li ever needs anything in the future, just say the word. I will never refuse…”