After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

For a moment, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence, followed by even more chaotic exclamations and incredulous whispers.

"That...that's Minister Jiang's eldest daughter?"

"She can exorcise ghosts?!"

"Was that celestial music just now? Those ghostly figures seemed afraid of that flute music!"

"She has a cinnabar mark on her forehead... Could she really be the reincarnation of a Buddhist guardian goddess?"

The people, still in shock, stared at the pale purple figure in the center of the hall, their eyes filled with astonishment.

On his throne, Emperor Cangqi was no less shocked than anyone else.

He had just noticed that there was a strange girl sitting next to Princess Yongning, and now he saw that she was able to use music to ward off ghosts.

He composed himself as an emperor and asked in a deep voice, "Yongning, who is this young lady?"

Princess Yongning had regained her composure and quickly rose to report, "Your Majesty, this is the daughter of Jiang Mao, the Minister of Rites, named Jiang Dusheng. I took a liking to her and invited her to join us at the table."

"Jiang Aiqing's daughter?" Emperor Cangqi repeated in a low voice, feeling that the name did not match his memory, but he could not recall the specifics for a moment.

Seeing this, the Empress immediately leaned forward and quickly reminded her in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, this is the eldest daughter of Minister Jiang, who was frail from childhood and was sent to Nanchan Temple for foster care and blessings. She was only brought back to the mansion a few days ago."

She paused, lowering her voice even further, with a subtle, almost imperceptible undertone, "That is, the one whom the Imperial Uncle arranged for Yan Zhao to marry when he was still a baby years ago, after he was drunk."

Upon hearing this, a look of sudden realization flashed across Emperor Cangqi's eyes.

It turned out to be her...

At this moment, in the center of the hall, Jiang Dusheng and Xie Jinchen almost simultaneously sensed that even more powerful aura had fully awakened.

Those were not ordinary battlefield ghosts or unjustly killed spirits, but beings that had been suppressed for at least several hundred years, and even carried a trace of dragon energy.

"roar!!"

A roar, seemingly emanating from the depths of the earth, erupted.

The entire floor of Chang Le Hall trembled slightly, and the beams and pillars groaned under the weight.

A mixture of Yin energy, ten times stronger than before, and blood-fiend resentment surged into the sky from a crack in a floor tile in the center of the main hall.

This aura coalesced into a form, vaguely revealing the phantom of an emperor dressed in tattered imperial robes and wearing a broken crown.

As soon as it appeared, the hundreds of ghosts gathered around it, whimpering with a mixture of fear and excitement, as if they were worshipping a monarch.

Even more terrifying was that the phantom's eyes, burning with eerie green flames, were fixed on Emperor Cangqi on his throne.

The emperor's phantom let out a sharp, long howl, carrying with it the yin energy of the hundred ghosts that had gathered around it. It transformed into a beam of light, ignoring the faint golden sound waves that tried to block its path, and rushed straight towards Emperor Cangqi on the imperial steps.

"Protect the Emperor!!"

The guards' roars seemed pale in the face of absolute power.

The formation was instantly shattered by the torrent of yin energy, and several elite guards were sent flying like kites with broken strings, crashing into the palace pillars with a dull thud.

Emperor Cangqi staggered backward, and even with the protection of the True Dragon Purple Qi, the biting cold still made his face turn pale.

At this moment, the long sword at Xie Jinchen's waist emitted a clear and melodious hum, and its cold light flashed as it was already three inches out of its sheath.

Before anyone knew it, his figure had appeared like a ghost, blocking the way for Emperor Cangqi.

"bass!"

With a sweeping sword strike, the emperor's vengeful spirit was forced back three steps.

The surging black mist of the phantom roared angrily, and ghostly green flames danced wildly in its eye sockets.

The hall was deathly silent.

Everyone held their breath, their hearts pounding in their throats.

Jiang Dusheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

This is no longer a simple parade of a hundred ghosts, but a ferocious being of the Emperor Soul level that has been unexpectedly awakened.

Before she could think any further, the spiritual energy within her body surged at an unprecedented speed, and the cinnabar mole on her forehead burned intensely.

She took a deep breath and brought the bone flute to her lips again. This time, before the flute produced any sound, a majestic and awe-inspiring aura rose from her slender body.

The clear, icy shout drowned out all the ghostly howls and screams:

"Having already perished and their country destroyed, their souls returned to dust, why do they still cling to their obsessions, disturbing the mortal world?"

Upon hearing this, the vengeful spirit of the emperor suddenly flew into a rage, its body surging with black energy as dark as ink. It abandoned Emperor Cangqi and instead lunged towards Jiang Dusheng.

A cold wind swept through, and several candles in the hall went out.

"Be careful!"

Two voices rang out simultaneously.

One was Xie Jinchen, and the other was Jiang Zhiyuan.

Jiang Dusheng remained unmoved, advancing instead of retreating. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the bone flute toward the spirit, her hands rapidly forming hand seals as she silently chanted:

"The netherworld has its order, and reincarnation follows its laws!"

The sound of a flute ripped through the air.

No longer the clear and refreshing sound of before, it has transformed into a tangible thing, with thousands of golden threads shooting out from the holes of the bone flute.

The golden threads intertwined rapidly in the air, condensing into streaks of light covered with runes. Each streak reflected the candlelight and ghostly green flames in the hall, and flowed with runes such as "seal, suppress, cross, and transform".

It started later, but arrived first.

Before the emperor's vengeful spirit could pounce on Jiang Dusheng, the golden light rope had already descended like a net from heaven and earth, covering him from above.

"Now, using the orthodox methods of the Xuanmen (Taoist school), I will guide you away from your malevolent energy and send you to rebirth in the Pure Land!"

Jiang Dusheng's voice echoed in the main hall. Her slender body stood ramrod straight, and the cinnabar birthmark on her forehead was so red that it seemed as if it would bleed at any moment.

"Imperial Edict—"

"Return to the Pure Land!"

The last two words, when uttered, sent a jolt through the entire hall.

Even the flame in the bronze crane lamp stand next to the throne flickered.

The golden light suddenly tightened, binding the struggling and howling vengeful spirit layer by layer.

Runes flowed across the chains, lighting up one by one.

With each light that appeared, the thick, dark aura emanating from the vengeful spirit dissipated a little, like boiling water poured over snow.

The hissing sound as the black energy dissipated, mixed with the resentful shrieks of vengeful spirits, echoed through the hall, sending chills down one's spine.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding demons let out terrified wails and fled out of the hall like a tidal wave.

Just as Jiang Dusheng was about to completely annihilate the illusory image of the emperor's vengeful spirit—

"Amitabha."

A Buddhist chant, seemingly capable of calming all restlessness, resounded.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out all the screams and shouts.

As the Buddhist chant was recited, a string of sandalwood prayer beads, shimmering with a warm, golden light, floated gently in from the temple entrance.

"Ding!"

A crisp, light sound, like the clinking of gold and jade.

The light emitted by Jiang Dusheng's bone flute collided with the golden light emanating from the prayer beads, instantly dissolving and disintegrating into specks of spiritual light that dissipated.

The golden prayer beads hovered in mid-air, transforming into a pale golden, semi-transparent light shield that firmly trapped the roaring, struggling phantom of the emperor's vengeful spirit within, preventing it from budging or thrashing about.

In the blink of an eye, the tide turned and the crisis was averted.

"It's the Imperial Advisor!"

"The Imperial Advisor has arrived!"

Cheers mixed with sobs erupted in the hall, and many people's legs went weak, almost causing them to kneel down.

Emperor Cangqi's tense expression suddenly relaxed. He looked towards the palace gate, his tone filled with relief: "Qinglian, you've emerged from seclusion?"

Jiang Dusheng clenched his five fingers, and the bone flute flew back into his palm.

Several fine cracks appeared on the white flute.

She frowned, turned abruptly, and stared at the source of the Buddhist chanting.

At the entrance of the palace, a person had been standing quietly for some time.

He was dressed in a spotless white robe, the fabric of which was not ordinary silk, but seemed to have moonlight flowing over it. The wide sleeves of the robe fluttered slightly in the wind, giving him an ethereal and otherworldly air.

My gaze moved upwards, and there was a face so handsome that one dared not even think of it as something desecrating.

His eyebrows and eyes were kind and gentle, like the lowered eyebrows of a Bodhisattva.

His eyes were a rare light glass color, clear and bright, as if they could reflect the finest dust in people's hearts, yet they were as distant as a still pool reflecting the vast world.

If Xie Jinchen's handsomeness is aggressive, it is as eerie and scorching as a red lotus in hell.

Then the person before you is like a snow lotus under the bright moon of the heavens, pure and holy, seemingly out of place in this turbid world, and every movement of their body is a picture.

A faint golden light flashed deep within Jiang Dusheng's pupils as he silently activated his Qi Observation Technique.

However, all that could be seen was a hazy, soft golden light, like looking at flowers through a fog, with no trace of destiny or fortune to be discerned.

Another one she can't see through!

An indescribable sense of frustration washed over Jiang Dusheng.

Or... why not just go back to Nanchansi Temple and retreat for decades?

The moment that thought arose.

A slightly cool voice sounded almost against her ear, carrying an elusive meaning:

"Is it pretty?"