Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Hun Mengji explained, "I was originally a dancer in Jiangnan and was even a bit famous. Unfortunately, fate was unkind to me, and I fell seriously ill. I was supposed to die.

"But the Violet Gold Marquess happened to find me. Right when my soul left my body, he captured it and used a Human-Faced Jade Essence Flower to reconstruct my corporeal body.

"I became a being that's neither human nor ghost. And he placed restrictions on me, preventing me from leaving this airship. I could only stay here and serve him."

After hearing Hun Mengji's story, the three men nodded, believing she was telling the truth.

Her situation was just as she described. She had a corporeal body, yet she was surrounded by an aura of death. Furthermore, there were indeed restrictions on her, which the Violet Gold Marquess had put in place. It was impossible for her to leave.

Having heard Hun Mengji tell them her story in a weak and tearful voice, they couldn't help but pity her.

The Weapons Master comforted her. "Miss, you don't have to be sad anymore. The Violet Gold Marquess has been slain, and I will now lift the restrictions he placed on you and help you regain your freedom."

Chu Liang said, "But she is still considered a ghost even though she has a corporeal body. If she encounters righteous cultivators outside, they might treat her as an evil entity. And if she encounters bad people, she doesn't have any cultivation power to protect herself."

"Senior Brother Chu, are you thinking of keeping her here?" Wen Yulong asked cautiously. "Would Senior Sister Jiang allow that?"

"W-w-why are you asking that??" Chu Liang quickly waved his sleeve dismissively. "I have no improper thoughts like that!"

"Heeeeey," the Weapons Master said, "Little Chu, you are at the age when you're hot-blooded with raging hormones. It's normal for you to have thoughts like that. This airship is part of your spoils of war, so how you deal with it is none of our concern. If you choose to keep her, we'll keep it a secret for you. However, let me give you a piece of advice. When it comes to matters of the heart, it's important to remain devoted to one person..."

Well, then. The old man is unexpectedly loyal.

Chu Liang silently expressed his gratitude to the Weapons Master and Wen Yulong, Thanks, guys.

"That's not what I meant..." Chu Liang quickly explained. "I was thinking we could let Miss Hun Mengji live on Mount Shu."

"On Mount Shu? Our sect doesn't have a tradition of keeping ghosts. I doubt it will be convenient for her to move around on the mountain either."

"I can find her a job so she can save up some money. In the meantime, she could also find a cultivation art that's suitable for her. If she has plans to do something else in the future, she can do as she wishes."

"Oh," Wen Yulong uttered in understanding. He had figured out Chu Liang's intentions. "You want to trick someone into working for you again."

"How can this be called trickery?" Chu Liang glanced at Hun Mengji with a serious expression. "I'm resolving her need for a job."

Hun Mengji's gaze shifted back and forth between Chu Liang and Wen Yulong, utterly confused by what they were discussing. However, she did grasp one point. The current owner of the airship was this young man surnamed Chu.

So, Hun Mengji quickly bowed and said, "I, your servant, am willing to follow your orders, Young Master."

In truth, Chu Liang was resisting a great temptation.

Of course, this temptation was not anything anyone might have imagined. He was tempted not by the woman's beauty but by the fact that she had fused with the Human-Faced Jade Essence Flower as a ghost to make her corporeal body. She was essentially an upgraded version of a Human-Faced Xiao!

Moreover, the Violet Gold Marquess had used his divine abilities to fuse Hun Mengji's spirit with the Human-Faced Jade Essence Flower, so it was certain Hun Mengji would have much better qualities and abilities compared to wild Human-Faced Xiao that consumed the Jade Essence Flower directly. Otherwise, Hun Mengji wouldn't have such a fully intact consciousness and be entirely devoid of ferocity.

Human-Faced Xiao were extremely rare. Chu Liang had been searching for a long time and had only managed to gather a couple of Large-Headed Dolls. If he were to cut Hun Mengji down with a sword now, he might be able to obtain a top-grade doll.

Nevertheless, it was precisely because Hun Mengji had a fully intact consciousness and was clearly an innocent, living woman that Chu Liang couldn't bring himself to kill her. He could only accept this new employee with a heavy heart.

However, his reluctance was visible in his gaze when he looked at Hun Mengji.

My Large-Headed Dolls... I have to admit that my personal effort only accounts for a small part in achieving my current cultivation level. Most of the credit goes to my Large-Headed Dolls that work so hard until they give off smoke.

So, how could I not be tempted to have one more Large-Headed Doll?

The Weapons Master, an old hand in the martial world, noticed Chu Liang's lingering gaze. He smirked and whispered to Wen Yulong beside him, "See that? He's still got the desire for it, heh."

…

Obviously, there was more on this airship than just one servant girl. Chu Liang, Wen Yulong, and the Weapons Master quickly explored every part of the airship they could and found that it was indeed contained a world of wonders.

The Violet Gold Marquess had clearly put a lot of effort into this airship. The materials used for the exterior were extremely expensive and durable, and there were extremely complex enchanted formations in the interior.

In the bridge of the ship, there was a disk made of dark gold. It was missing a piece in the center.

Chu Liang inserted the iron token for the airship, and it fit perfectly. The airship rumbled, shaking as spiritual energy surged within it.

After activating the enchanted formation, Chu Liang tested the airship's speed. It accelerated steadily, taking a while to reach maximum speed. When the airship was flying at full speed, its speed was almost on par with that of a seventh-realm Eminent One riding the wind with full force!

Of course, it couldn't compare to divine skills like the Golden Path, but to Chu Liang, the airship's flying speed was incredible. Additionally, the flight was remarkably stable, with no bumps or vibrations at all.

There were various inscribed enchanted formations on the disk, and Chu Liang activated one of them.

With a whoosh, more than ten stone statues sprung up around the deck, all resembling armored soldiers wielding weapons.

As soon as the stone statues appeared, Hun Mengji let out a miserable cry, "Ah..."

The Weapons Master immediately recognized the statues and stated, "These are Soul-Suppressing Stone Statues. They are specifically used to subdue ghosts."

Chu Liang hurriedly deactivated that enchanted formation and then activated the one next to it.

Boom!

A black-colored hole opened on the airship. A small bronze ball shot out from the hole and exploded in the distance.

Chu Liang recognized that bronze ball. "It's a Shadowburst Thunder Bomb."

"Senior Brother Chu, don't just go trying out the enchanted formations one by one. Why not pass the airship to me?" Wen Yulong suggested. "I'll thoroughly inspect its capabilities and modify it according to your preferences before handing it back to you."

"Sounds good."

Chu Liang had also realized that the enchanted formations in the airship were too complex. He wouldn't be able to test them all in just a short time. He might as well just leave that task to Wen Yulong instead.

Chu Liang added, "Obviously, the elements associated with diabolical sects need to be removed. The color scheme is not very pleasant to look at either, so it would be best to change it to a neater color."

The Weapons Master was exploring another side of the bridge and made a discovery. "It seems this airship even has autopilot mode using spiritual energy. That's quite novel."

"We can't use that." Chu Liang shook his head decisively. "The airship still needs someone to drive it, or problems could easily occur."

The three of them flew the airship around in the sky for a while before landing it on the clearing behind at the back of the mountain. Then Chu Liang put the airship away for the time being.

Overall, he was very satisfied with this airship. He had finally found something from among the Violet Gold Marquess' belongings that he could use.

After returning to the Hall of Weapons, the three of them resumed pulling things out from the Violet Gold Marquess' storage enchanted tool.

"Let me try to pull out something good again," Wen Yulong said with a grin.

He reached in and pulled out a weapon. It looked like a scythe, its blade radiating an eerie blue glow. They could tell at one glance that it was a weapon used for evil.

The Weapons Master explained, "This is a Soul-Harvesting Scythe. The blade is made of a special material that has been through a refining process. Just by inflicting a small cut wound on a person, the scythe can extract that person's soul through the wound. It's extremely malevolent."

Chu Liang reached into the storage enchanted tool again and pulled out an extremely chilling and sinister book.

He had seen this item before and immediately recognized it. "The Netherworld Codex!"

When he opened the Violet Gold Marquess' Netherworld Codex, each page emitted an aura of killing intent that soared toward the heavens. The entire room instantly filled with a chilling air, and the cries of ghosts seeped out from the pages!

"The Violet Gold Marquess was truly heinous. He saved up refined conscious souls in this Netherworld Codex to serve as fuel for his cultivation power. Who knows how many innocent lives he took throughout his cultivation journey..." the Weapons Master said angrily.

The Soul Subjugators used to roam the world, helping the Violet Gold Marquess collect conscious souls. Back then, there would be a monthly Soul-Gathering Meeting, where each Soul Subjugator had to hand over one conscious soul to the Violet Gold Marquess. Extra souls could be exchanged for his cultivation arts manuals or precious herbs.

Naturally, Chu Liang, who had been an undercover agent in the Dark King Sect for a long time, had already known all about that. Nevertheless, when he saw the many resentful souls in the Violet Gold Marquess' Netherworld Codex, it made him feel that the Violet Gold Marquess's death had been far too peaceful. The Violet Gold Marquess’ sins were so great that even descending to the eighteenth level of hell would not be enough to make up for them.

The Weapons Master added, "This book needs to be purified immediately so that the souls in it can find peace."

Wen Yulong reached into the storage enchanted tool again. This time, he pulled out a black-gold token about the size of his palm, with the word "Guardian" engraved on it. The spiritual energy flowing within the token seemed to exude an imposing aura similar to that of an ancient vicious beast.

"This… is the token of a Guardian of the Dark King Sect," the Weapons Master stated. He inspected the token and remarked, "It seems a unique secret technique was used to imbue the token with spiritual energy to signify the owner's identity."

"So, does that mean anyone who possesses this token can become a Guardian of the Dark King Sect?" Chu Liang asked.

The Weapons Master replied, "Perhaps. People who have never met the Violet Gold Marquess may acknowledge whoever is in possession of this token as a Guardian."

Chu Liang quietly put the token away as well.

The Violet Gold Marquess had died silently, so it was likely that very few people knew he was dead. Chu Liang had no intention of publicizing that. This token might come in handy in the future.

Afterward, Chu Liang pulled out a bunch of bottles and jars. The Violet Gold Marquess had kept his many ghosts in them, and there were nearly a hundred in total.

However, just like with the Soul Subjugators, the Violet Gold Marquess had imprinted his soul flame on the ghosts to prevent them from rebelling. So, when he died, these ghosts perished as well.

Hun Mengji had no combat ability whatsoever, so it was likely that the Violet Gold Marquess had not worried that she might rebel. He had not imprinted his soul flame onto her soul, so they were not bound together, allowing her to escape dying with him.

When Chu Liang reached into the storage enchanted tool again, he pulled out a letter from the few remaining items.

"Huh?" Chu Liang uttered. Curious, he opened the letter. "Why would the Violet Gold Marquess keep a letter?"

Upon opening it, he found the contents of the letter to be quite astonishing.

Marquess, I heard that you've recovered and emerged from closed-door cultivation. I assume you are now more powerful than before. Congratulations.

The Assembly of Immortal Sects is approaching, and we, the West Sea Forces, will gather in the capital of Yu. We will strike like lightning, overturning the heavens and the earth.

We sincerely invite the Eminent Ones of the Dark King Sect to join us in this grand event.

The letter was signed, Immortal Yuan Lu.

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD