My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Moreover, those who play the old coin type of game are the most concerned with gains and losses.

In their eyes, it's not worth spending so much money just to kill one person.

"What do you mean?" the Painted Skin Queen shrieked. "Our master's cultivation is boundless; how could he be afraid of a mere Taoist priest like you?!"

When the Painted Skin Goddess saw Ye Qingfeng's indifferent expression, she couldn't help but speak up.

Ye Qingfeng did not answer, but stood quietly, his left hand still pressing on the Painted Skin Empress, and his right hand holding the Autumn Water Sword, the tip of the sword pointing diagonally to the ground.

He is waiting.

Wait for the person behind it to show up.

Time passed second by second.

Inside the secret chamber, the blood-red light of the magic array still flickered, and the jade carving stood silently on the altar, without making a sound.

The Paper Goddess and the Painted Skin Goddess initially looked smug, but as time went on, their expressions gradually changed.

An incense stick has burned out.

The jade carving did not react at all.

"My...Master?" the Paper Goddess called out tentatively, her voice somewhat weak.

no respond.

The Painted Skin Goddess gritted her teeth and spat out another mouthful of blood essence, which landed on the magic array.

The bloodstains blew even brighter, but the jade carving remained lifeless.

Another incense stick burned.

The room was eerily quiet, save for the crackling of the candlelight and the increasingly heavy breathing of the two ghostly figures.

Ye Qingfeng suddenly sighed.

"It seems," he said with a hint of regret, "that your lord... has abandoned you."

"Impossible!" the paper goddess screamed, her three-inch paper form jumping up and down on the offering table.

"Our lord wouldn't abandon us! There must be... there must be something that's holding him back!"

The Painted Skin Goddess forced herself to remain calm: "That's right! His Majesty must be on his way! You stinking Taoist priest, don't be too smug!"

Ye Qingfeng shook his head and pointed to the jade carving on the altar:

"This jade carving is both a token and a medium of communication. You communicated through the magic array; if he truly wanted to save you, even if his physical body couldn't come, at least a divine projection should have descended. But now..."

He shrugged.

There's nothing there.

Ye Qingfeng glanced at the two with some disappointment.

After all these years of effort, have you put in any work? Your Lord has simply abandoned you; surely you're not that important!

The two ghosts' faces—though their paper faces and painted skin faces made it impossible to discern their true colors—became extremely ugly.

They actually sensed that something was wrong.

This "Summoning the Lord Formation" was personally taught by the Lord, who said it could be activated in times of crisis, and that He would surely sense it.

They had tried several times in the past, and although the Lord did not actually descend, there was always a divine response.

But this time...

The magic array was functioning normally, and the essence blood offering was plentiful, yet the jade carving was like a lifeless object.

There are only two possibilities: either something happened to the master, or... the master is deliberately not responding.

A terrifying thought simultaneously arose in the minds of both ghosts.

"No...no way..." the paper goddess murmured to herself, her paper body trembling.

"Our lord will not abandon us... We have gathered so many souls for him, and performed so many merits..."

The Painted Skin Goddess panicked and screamed at the jade carving, "My lord! My lord, save us! This evil Taoist priest is going to kill us! My lord—"

The sound echoed in the sealed room, mournful and desperate.

There has still been no response.

Ye Qingfeng watched this scene with a mixture of amusement and regret.

Ironically, these two evil spirits, who were arrogant and domineering just moments ago, became expendable pawns and suffered a mental breakdown in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately... the person controlling the jade carving didn't actually dare to come.

He had originally hoped that the other party would show up, put on another show, and reap a wave of supernatural powers and cultivation.

It now appears that the plan has fallen through.

However, it wasn't entirely without gains.

At least it's confirmed that the person behind it all is indeed wary of him and probably won't take action personally anytime soon.

Perhaps I've improved my skills too much?

It couldn't possibly be a fabricated identity from Biyou Palace!

That seems a bit difficult, since Biyou Palace is a product of a mythological novel from my previous life.

Chi Yangzi and the others had never heard of it, and he hadn't heard any rumors about Biyou Palace in this world for the time being.

There shouldn't be any.

And these two ghostly creatures before us...

Ye Qingfeng's gaze turned cold.

"It seems your master isn't coming," he said calmly. "Then, it's time to send you on your way."

The Paper Goddess and the Painted Skin Goddess were both startled.

"Wait...wait!" the Paper Goddess said urgently.

"You filthy old man! You can't kill us! Our lord may not be here yet, but he will avenge us sooner or later! If you spare us, we...we can do things for you!"

The Painted Skin Goddess nodded repeatedly: "Yes! We are very diligent! We only beg you to spare our lives!"

In a life-or-death situation, the two evil spirits chose to betray each other without hesitation.

Ye Qingfeng smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it sent chills down the spines of the two ghosts.

"No need." He slowly raised his Autumn Water Sword, its tip igniting with golden-red flames. "You... have harmed so many people, and you still want to live?"

A flash of sword light!

Instead of striking the painted-skin goddess, he first struck the paper figure on the offering table.

The paper goddess screamed and tried to dodge, but where could it hide in this secret room?

A golden-red sword flashed by.

The three-inch paper figure was split in half, and flames ignited at the break, spreading rapidly.

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

The remnant soul of the Paper Goddess howled shrilly in the flames, her voice filled with resentment, unwillingness, and a hint of despair at her master's betrayal.

In three breaths, the paper figure was burned to ashes.

This time, it was a complete annihilation, both body and soul.

The Painted Skin Goddess was terrified and begged for mercy in a hoarse voice.

"Immortal Master, spare my life! Immortal Master, spare my life! I am willing to convert to the righteous path! I am willing to relinquish my cultivation and start anew! I beg you, Immortal Master—"

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Qingfeng turned the tip of his sword.

The flaming sword light pierced her brow.

The Painted Skin Goddess froze, and the light in her eyes quickly dimmed.

The delicate skin on that face began to peel away, revealing the true form of the mask underneath, made up of countless pieces of skin.

A grayish-black mist surged out, but was immediately burned away by the Samadhi True Fire.

Ten breaths.

All that remained on the ground was a complete human skin and a pile of ashes.

Ye Qingfeng sheathed his sword, swept his sleeve, and rolled up the beauty skin—this thing, though devoid of evil, was after all the original form of the Painted Skin Goddess, and keeping it might be useful.

He then looked at the jade carvings on the altar.

The crimson light of the magic circle had begun to dim, but the jade carving remained lifeless.

Ye Qingfeng approached and carefully examined the jade carving.

The jade is indeed of the same origin as the one in Wild Boar Forest, but its aura is much weaker, making it more like a "sub-artifact" or "clone".

The carving is simple and ancient, and the Taoist's face is blurred, as if deliberately not to be seen clearly.

He reached out, wanting to pick up the jade carving and examine it closely.

But the moment your fingers touch the jade carving—

"Buzz!"

The jade carving suddenly trembled violently!

It's not resurrection, it's self-destruction!

The jade surface was instantly covered with countless fine cracks, and then with a "bang," it exploded into dust!

"Are they scared?"

He wasn't quite sure.

However, judging from the fact that the other party would rather destroy the jade carving clone and abandon the two servants than show up in person.

The person behind the scenes was indeed extremely wary of him.

"Never mind," Ye Qingfeng muttered to himself, "Let's go out first."

Without lingering, he swept his hand across the secret chamber, burning all the evil artifacts inside, and then stepped out.

His figure vanished.

The next moment, they were back on the long street.

Lu Yang and the others were still waiting in the same spot when they were all surprised to see Ye Qingfeng suddenly appear.

"Immortal Master!" Lü Yang was the first to rush forward. "Where...where did you go just now?"

Ye Qingfeng waved his hand, offering no explanation, and simply looked at Zhou Wenchang, who was lying unconscious on the ground:

"He's about to wake up. Chief Sun, you should know how to handle the situation from here on out."

Sun Debiao nodded repeatedly: "Rest assured, Immortal Master! This humble official understands!"