Chapter 98: Princess of the Moon

“What brings you here? Are you here for a trial? Then how did you end up in this place?” The ghostly woman was surprisingly talkative.

“Yes, it’s a trial. Honestly, I have no idea. The moment I appeared, I was already here. As for why, this is my first time participating—I don’t even know what a trial is.” Ma Yi decided to just let things be; after all, what was the worst that could happen? Death? He might as well have a conversation with this ghostly woman.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” Now that he saw she hadn’t tried to kill him, Ma Yi’s courage swelled. He looked at her curiously.

“Me? I’m called Yue Ji. I’m dead, you know. I don’t really know why I’m here either.” The ghost relaxed as well, sitting down beside her crystal coffin.

“Oh, right, you’re dead. I forgot. Sorry. How did you die?” Ma Yi asked, puzzled.

“I think I passed away while journeying to the gathering place of my ancestors. The last thing I remember is traveling with my kin toward the edge of the Star Sea. I don’t remember much after that,” she mused.

“The edge of the Star Sea? What’s that? And tell me about your life before—were you human too? Which generation of humans did you belong to?” Ma Yi suddenly found himself intrigued by this ghost. After all, the Butcher’s words had already upended everything he thought he knew about five thousand years of Chinese history.

“Yes, the edge of the Star Sea. I don’t really know what we were supposed to do there. I only remember that once a clansman reached the Boundary-Breaking Realm, they were summoned to the edge of the Star Sea. What the purpose was, none of us knew. Honestly, I preferred staying in our original tribe.” Yue Ji’s gaze turned vacant, as if lost in memory.

“Our tribe was large, but everyone got along well. We helped one another, cared for each other. My friends and I often went hunting together. Life was happy—until one day, a powerful warrior arrived, saying he was there to select gifted fighters from the tribe. He took away all the children our age, as well as some older ones. He brought us to a mysterious training ground where we trained day and night, constantly learning and fighting to grow stronger. Time seemed short inside, but in the outside world, many years went by. When we finally finished our training and returned, our tribe had long since vanished.”

“I was so heartbroken that I fell ill. The warrior who led us said I’d recover in time, and then he took us on a journey toward the Star Sea. My illness only worsened, and in the end, I don’t even know how I ended up in this giant tree.” Yue Ji’s face grew sorrowful, clearly remembering her friends and kin.

“Who was the warrior who took you?” Ma Yi asked, curious.

“I think his name was Zi Ya or something like that,” she answered uncertainly.

“Jiang Ziya?” Ma Yi asked, his heart pounding.

“Yes, that’s the name. He trained us, led us, and then took us to the Star Sea.” Yue Ji nodded, certain now.

“You said time passed slowly inside the training ground? Wasn’t that place near your tribe?” Ma Yi pressed.

“Actually, it was the opposite. Time flew by there, but it felt slow, because there was no difference between day and night—just a gray, unchanging sky. You couldn’t feel the passage of time. Jiang Ziya said it was a magical training ground—ten years inside was only a month outside. So we eagerly entered, thinking even a hundred years within would only be a year outside. But you couldn’t sense the time slipping by, only your growing strength. When we finally emerged, we’d spent over a thousand years inside, while only a little more than a decade had passed outside,” Yue Ji explained helplessly.

“There’s a place that terrifying?” Ma Yi’s spirit surged. If he had such a treasure, couldn’t he train for years inside and come out vastly improved?

“By the way, how did you all cultivate?” Ma Yi suddenly thought of something crucial and hurriedly asked.

“It’s simple. We meditated and refined our bodies through meditation,” Yue Ji said lightly, feeling the boy must be a bit dim-witted to not even know how to cultivate.

“I’ve never cultivated before. Could you teach me?” Ma Yi’s excitement spiked. He was already nearly at the tenth level of initiation, but had reached it purely by luck, without knowing the first thing about cultivation.

“You really don’t know how to cultivate?” Yue Ji was genuinely surprised this time. She stood and examined Ma Yi, then placed her jade-like hand on his wrist, feeling his pulse in silence, astonished beyond words.

“What’s wrong?” Ma Yi asked, curious at her reaction.

“You really haven’t cultivated. How did you reach the ninth level of initiation without training? And your pulse is odd—not like a normal human’s. Plus, there’s a tremendous energy inside you, but you can’t control it at all. If you could harness that power, you’d break into the Extraordinary Realm in the blink of an eye,” Yue Ji said, her eyes sparkling as if she’d found a fascinating specimen.

“I ate a lot of spirit herbs,” Ma Yi replied, nodding.

“Spirit herbs? I know about those. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean another type—a violent energy,” Yue Ji shook her head.

“Violent energy? Violent? Energy? You mean lightning?” Ma Yi frowned, then lifted his hand, sparks of violet lightning crackling across his palm.

“That’s impressive, but it’s not that. It’s a kind of energy I’ve never seen before,” Yue Ji frowned as well—she had never encountered such a force.

“Wait, do you mean corpse qi?” Ma Yi was startled. He knew his own body best—there was nothing inside except perhaps the corpse qi that had turned him into a zombie, which Yue Ji had probably never seen.

“Yes, that’s a close description, but not quite right. Whatever it is, it’s powerful. If you can master it, you’ll definitely become a master of the Free and Unfettered Realm,” Yue Ji said, sensing a breath of death within that energy.

“Stronger than lightning?” Ma Yi asked urgently.

“Yes. Lightning is rare, but in our tribe, one out of twenty could control some lightning. It’s not that special,” Yue Ji replied, dismissive.

“But novels always say only the most gifted can wield lightning powers—is that a lie?” Ma Yi silently scoffed at all those authors.

“I’ll teach you a set of techniques. Lay your foundation first,” Yue Ji said after a long moment, her brows tightly knit as she looked at Ma Yi.

“Alright!” Ma Yi perked up. At last, he was about to turn his life around.

Yue Ji taught Ma Yi a method of meditation, sitting beside him to guide him step by step.

As dusk fell, Ma Yi finally realized he was still at the top of the giant tree, and that nighttime in this trial land was terribly dangerous.

“We should hurry and get out of here—it’s terrifying at night,” Ma Yi said anxiously as the sky darkened.

“Why run? It’s fine. At worst, we’ll just get into the crystal coffin,” Yue Ji chuckled.

“In the coffin?” Ma Yi looked around, hesitated, but finally nodded.

In the blink of an eye, he found the scenery had shifted—he and Yue Ji were pressed close together inside the coffin. Looking at her at such close range, Ma Yi realized she was actually quite charming. She wasn’t the sort to captivate at first sight, but rather someone whose beauty grew on you—a gentle, delicate kind, with each feature nearly perfect upon closer inspection.

“By the way, how often do you awaken?” Ma Yi suddenly thought to ask.

“Awaken? What do you mean?” Yue Ji looked at him blankly.

“Aren’t you a ghost?” Ma Yi was thrown off by her question, growing confused.

“Am I? Oh, right, I’m dead. But how did I wake up?” Yue Ji stared at Ma Yi, just as clueless. The two of them sat there, wide-eyed and bewildered.

Night had fully fallen. Before Ma Yi could ask any more questions, the stone statues at the four corners of the platform began to stir. From below, the roars of beasts echoed up. The four statues slowly transformed into towering monsters, spreading their wings and swooping down in unison.

Ma Yi and Yue Ji couldn’t see what happened, but the anguished howls of beasts carried up from below.

“Are those stone statues killing the beasts below? Why do they seem so familiar?” Ma Yi only realized after the fact that the statues, when they rose, had seemed oddly familiar.

“Animating stone into soldiers!” Yue Ji suddenly blurted out.

“What?” Ma Yi looked at her in surprise.

“It’s a technique—carving stones into the desired form, then sealing blood essence within. Under special circumstances, these statues come alive and fight,” Yue Ji explained, thinking Ma Yi hopelessly ignorant.

“There’s really such a spell? Amazing.” Ma Yi was marveling when a mist appeared inside the crystal coffin. Looking closer, he saw it was a vapor of blood.

As the blood mist seeped into the coffin, it rushed into both their nostrils. Suddenly, Ma Yi understood.

“Condensing blood into vapor, nourishing the corpse and soul—there’s truly a master’s grand array set here to revive me,” Yue Ji murmured, stunned. But then she frowned; by rights, the array should have stopped once she woke, so why was it still running? How had she awakened in the first place? Now, not only was Ma Yi puzzled, but Yue Ji was also at a loss to explain her own resurrection.