Chapter Ninety: Ascending the Immortal Sect

Seeing this, the armed men dared not fire blindly again. Wang Zhenling closed in on them, knocking them to the ground one by one with single strikes of his palm.

At that moment, the body of the gunman who had been shot withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then, the ghost emerged from his body; its yin energy had diminished significantly, yet its ghostly aura seemed more concentrated than before.

"Interesting, it actually managed to absorb the vital energy of a living person... I suppose this ghost is quite lucky."

Ordinarily, vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts rely primarily on the accumulation of resentment; the stronger the resentment, the more powerful they become. In fact, the more lives they claim, the stronger their resentment grows. However, they cannot actively absorb the vital blood and energy of the living—a feat that requires at least the strength of a malicious spirit. Only entities at or above the level of a malicious spirit can directly drain a living person to bolster themselves. Therefore, while common vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts have limited threat levels, once one reaches the level of a malicious spirit, killing becomes effortless.

Although this entity was merely a fierce ghost, it had been struck by a bullet while attempting to seize control of the armed man's body. Heavily wounded, it had stumbled upon a fortuitous opportunity to absorb some of the man’s yang and vital energy, which strengthened it. This was why Wang Zhenling remarked on its luck.

Having tasted the sweetness of life essence, the ghost refused to stop and lunged toward the other armed men. Wang Zhenling blocked its path, and the entity, now enraged and surging with malicious intent, charged at him. Wang Zhenling pointed his fingers like a sword and struck the ghost with a single blow. The energy of the sun seared its form; had Wang Zhenling not shown mercy, the ghost would have been obliterated on the spot. Even so, this was an act of restraint—the ghost had, after all, helped him earlier. Otherwise, under Wang Zhenling’s Sun-Slaying Sword, any spirit that had not yet reached the level of a malicious entity would have been destroyed in a single stroke.

"These must be men from the Titan Corporation, I presume."

Having cowed the ghost with his sword, Wang Zhenling paid it no further mind. He looked at the armed men; despite being fully equipped, they bore no insignias, nor did they resemble the special forces of any particular nation. He had already reached his conclusion. It was hardly surprising that a powerful multinational conglomerate like Titan Corporation would possess elite troops capable of executing such special missions. The fact that they had found him so quickly suggested they must have been tracking Mr. Ma all along. He had stepped into a troublesome vortex, but as he pondered this, Wang Zhenling did not take it to heart. After all, what did this world truly matter to him?

These worldly forces were of no concern to him, provided they did not employ weapons of mass destruction. This world held no real significance; even if he never returned, it would be of no consequence. No matter how powerful the Titan Corporation might be, could they possibly hunt him down in another world?

Caught up in the heat of battle, Wang Zhenling hadn't had a chance to reflect. Now, he re-examined the combat. His internal energy had circulated through his body without issue, and he had not attempted to project his Taiyin Demon-Slaying Sword, so there were no problems there. However, the moment he projected his internal energy, not only did it fail to form a protective barrier, but it had nearly backfired on him. This world was truly unfriendly to practitioners. Fortunately, he had only been using techniques from the Qi Refining stage; he dared not imagine what might have happened had he attempted to project his primordial spirit.

As he thought this, he looked at the ghost that had once been Mr. Ma and felt a jolt of alarm. Just a moment ago, the ghost had been brimming with yang energy and ghostly aura, acting arrogant and overbearing—far more powerful than an ordinary fierce spirit. Yet, in this short span of time, it had already begun to wither. Although his sword strike played a role, he had held back, and it shouldn't have caused the ghost to weaken so drastically, to the point of nearly falling out of the fierce ghost realm. Wang Zhenling was shocked; this was clearly a problem inherent to the world itself. He realized that even without his strike, this ghost would likely have dissipated within a few days.

"The Titan Corporation doesn't actually need to fight these ghosts; they only need to wait a few days, and the ghosts will vanish on their own!"

Wang Zhenling suddenly understood. He had previously wondered how the Titan Corporation dealt with these entities, but now the truth was clear.

"Very well, since you helped me, I shall return the favor. A ghost soldier means little in the Dongchen World, but here, it is quite useful."

With this thought, he produced a piece of talisman paper and folded it into a paper doll.

"Go!"

With a pinch of his fingers and a chant, he drew the ghost into the paper doll. "I will provide for you for a time, and in return, you shall act as my guardian."

After settling this, Wang Zhenling checked on Liu Yun and Mrs. Ma. They had only been hit with tranquilizer darts and were in no real danger; they would likely wake up in a few hours. It seemed the Titan Corporation’s men had shown some restraint and had no intention of killing indiscriminately from the start.

"Right, I recall information about the 'Ascension Gate' from the memories of that Fog Valley cultivator. Now that I have the chance, should I go and see this so-called Ascension Gate?"

Putting the recent events behind him, Wang Zhenling contemplated his next move. The Ascension Gate was a place passed down through legend in this world, and it served as the portal through which most travelers from this world had crossed over into the Dongchen World. Although the gate appeared to be a one-time-use construct, Wang Zhenling was still intrigued. Since the immediate crisis was resolved and the two victims were out of danger, he couldn't be bothered with the messy aftermath. He trusted that the Titan Corporation would handle the consequences of the gunfire. He turned and left, leaving the rest behind.

The Ascension Gate was located deep in the mountains of the southwest. Despite the name, it was merely a smooth cliff face with the words "Ascension Gate" carved in ancient seal script using cinnabar. It was said to have existed since ancient times, though no one knew its true purpose. Later, rumors emerged that ancient immortals, having foreseen a shift in the celestial destiny of this world, had left behind a gate of opportunity for future generations. This gate was said to have been opened three times.

Most practitioners of this world had crossed over to the Dongchen World through this gate. The disciples of the Snake Fiend Sect, along with many other rogue cultivators and even members of various sects, had crossed over during the third and final opening of the Ascension Gate. Now, the gate had long since lost its power, returning to being nothing more than an ordinary cliff face.