255: Spirit Master, Stone Buddha (only correcting typos)

Xu Le raised his index finger: "Last chance!"

The Old Ghost was moved to tears and snot, patting his chest to declare that there would be absolutely no problem this time.

"Where is the Beacon?"

"Right here!"

The Old Ghost not only shared the Spirit Turtle's Beacon but also the Spirit Master's Beacon with Xu Le.

The Spirit Master was rumored to be a paper figurine who had attained the Dao, commanding an army of tens of thousands of paper figurines, and was incredibly powerful.

In the entire Spirit Realm, he was considered a figure of some renown.

The two left the Spirit Turtle's home; the streets outside had completely vanished, replaced by wild mountains and desolate fields.

Xu Le finally understood that the Spirit Realm was like a giant Rubik's Cube. A Beacon represented a region; no matter how things changed, the area within the Beacon remained stable. Outside the Beacon, however, it could be blue one second and turn green or white the next.

Another way to keep a Beacon from changing was to see it. As long as you kept staring at it, the Beacon ahead of you wouldn't change.

The way to obtain a Beacon was to defeat the guardian of the current region, which would grant something like a key.

Afterward, the owner could infinitely copy and share the key, giving it to their friends.

The Spirit Realm was infinitely large, with ownerless lands everywhere. While obtaining a Beacon was easy, owning a private Domain was meaningless.

Instead, sharing Beacons infinitely to form marketplaces was the true use of Beacons.

Following the Beacon, the two quickly arrived at the Spirit Master's territory.

It was winter in the Human Realm, but there were no seasons in the Spirit Realm.

Beside the yellowish-brown path, dense peach trees were planted, providing lush shade. All those near the path were tied with red silk scarves.

Continuing forward, the sound of suonas and gongs could be heard clashing together, along with the noisy chatter of guests engaged in loud conversation.

In the open space in front of a two-story wooden house, over thirty tables were set up. The food hadn't been served yet, but every single guest was already seated.

Only at the main table were there merely three people seated.

In the center was a middle-aged scholar in a bright red cloak, around forty years old, wearing a hair crown and looking exceptionally heroic.

The person on the left wore a moon-white monk's robe with prayer beads hanging from his hand, seemingly chanting with his eyes closed.

On the right was a green-robed Daoist priest, stroking his goatee and holding a drink with great leisure.

The Old Ghost's legs went weak, and he nearly fell over.

Xu Le frowned: "What's wrong?"

The Old Ghost's voice trembled: "The person in the middle is the Spirit Master, the one on the left is the Stone Buddha, and the one on the right is the Spirit Turtle."

Clearly, the two old friends he recommended to Xu Le had an "extraordinary" relationship with him, or else he wouldn't be so terrified.

The Spirit Master laughed loudly: "Distinguished guests have arrived. Please, come in, come in."

Amidst the sound of synchronized footsteps, two rows of soldiers in full armor blocked the entrance, clearly afraid Xu Le might run away.

Two maids wearing red high-slit qipaos walked to Xu Le's side and bowed: "Young Master, please!"

Xu Le didn't refuse. He followed directly behind the two maids and sat right across from the Spirit Master.

The Spirit Master didn't take offense, clapping his hands in praise: "Good, good, good! Truly, a hero emerges from the youth."

The Spirit Turtle had a treacherous smile on his face, looking very much like Lord Doron.

The qipao-clad maids began serving the dishes, their hips swaying. The high-slit qipaos fluttered as they walked, revealing snowy-white, delicate thighs.

Xu Le had no interest whatsoever. Those pairs of thighs were clearly folded from white paper; they truly were an army of paper figurines.

As if guessing Xu Le's thoughts, the Stone Buddha laughed loudly: "When the false is taken for true, the true becomes false; where non-existence is taken for existence, existence becomes non-existence. Why be so serious, Benefactor? One must know that life is short; enjoy it while you can."

The words were sound, but when he reached the word "short," he spoke with particular emphasis, clearly carrying a double meaning.

Xu Le didn't like speaking in riddles and retorted directly: "The Great Master is short, but I am certainly not!"

The Stone Buddha wasn't angry; he just smiled and began eating meat and drinking wine—a regular flower monk.

Xu Le looked at the Spirit Master and went straight to the point: "Rumor has it that the Spirit Master has many followers and is well-informed. Do you know where any human strongholds are?"

The Spirit Master waved his hand: "No rush, no rush! At least wait until the dishes are all served."

The maids served the food quickly; in a short while, twenty-two dishes were on the table.

Xu Le looked around. The other tables were packed full, yet a gap was left in the middle of their table, clearly meant for one more dish.

But the qipao-clad maids were no longer coming over.

The Spirit Master smiled: "I have always been one to help others. I am overjoyed that a distinguished guest has come to me for help. However, I also have a difficult matter at hand. I wonder if the guest could lend me a hand?"

Xu Le looked at the gap among the plates and smiled: "Please speak, Spirit Master."

The Spirit Master had a warm smile and an apologetic look: "I only have 22 dishes here. No matter how you look at it, it's just 'two' and 'two,' which is unlucky. I wonder if the guest could help me add one more dish?"

*Thud!*

The Old Ghost's legs went soft, and his knees hit the ground.

Adding a dish—how else could it be added?

Naturally, it would be added with a life!

Seeing the treacherous expression on the Spirit Turtle's face nearby, one could tell he had said many bad things about Xu Le to the Spirit Master.

Whose life would be used was obvious!

If Xu Le died, would he, who brought the person here, fare any better?

"Sure!" Xu Le agreed immediately.

A whip suddenly jumped out, striking directly at the Spirit Turtle's crown. Just as he was about to lose his life at the banquet, a hand as white as jade caught the whip.

It was the Spirit Master!

"Humans are truly the darlings of heaven. Even with such a tender face and being under twenty years old, one can cultivate strength that many spirits cannot achieve in a lifetime. If I were to have an All-Human Feast, do you think my strength would soar?"

"It could. As long as you can actually eat me!" Xu Le was not flustered in the least.

"What courage!" the Spirit Master shouted.

While it seemed like posturing, Xu Le clearly saw him release his Spirit Domain.

The guests drew their swords and surrounded them, their eyes filled with madness.

Triumph showed in the Spirit Master's eyes, but he suddenly felt a massive force from the whip in his hand, which escaped his grasp.

"It's useless. If I can catch you once, I can catch you a second time."

*Snap!*

A black whip lashed out again at the same speed as the previous strike.

The Spirit Master disdainfully tried to catch it, but before he could say anything intimidating, a heart-wrenching pain radiated from his palm.

The whip exerted a massive force again, broke free, and vanished, followed by another whip shadow striking down.

"I..." The Spirit Master was so angry his liver ached, but he had to bite the bullet and keep trying to catch it.

*Snap!*

Amidst the terrifying sound, the Spirit Master's right arm was directly blasted into dust by the horrific power.

Though it takes time to tell, the surrounding army of paper figurines only just rushed over; less than two seconds had passed in total.

The whip in front of Xu Le split into three, expanding outward. The army of paper figurines that had surrounded them was torn into a flurry of powder.

The Old Ghost watched all this in disbelief, suddenly feeling that being a captive wasn't so bad after all.

He remembered he still had Beacons for three other marketplaces. If they went on a looting spree and he just got a bit of the leftovers, it seemed being a dog was quite alright.

"Amitabha. Your Excellency Spirit Master, you were ambushed due to carelessness. Leave the rest to this old monk!"