As the spiritual energy condensed into the figure of a man around two metres tall, with wide shoulders and a stern visage, he raised a finger at me in accusation.

"This is the sacred resting place of the Great Garden Sage! You dare to defile these grounds?" it roared, its mere voice blasting us backwards.

The beasts immediately reared back, claws extending and fists at the ready. I jumped back to stand beside them. "I knew this was too easy," I cursed.

"There's no such thing as a free meal in this world," Wang Ren chuckled, drawing his glaive. "Wherever there is risk, there is also reward. Danger and fortune go hand in hand."

"Well said, strong human," Meng Huo barked, baring his fangs at the apparition. "Dead men should stay dead."

Saying that, the ape rushed forwards, smashing the old man's figure with both fists dozens of times in under a second. The spiritual body was blasted apart under the ape's barrage, turning into nothing but wisps in the wind.

"Well that was disappointing," Longma sighed. "I was excited for a fight with a powerful opponent. What was the point of such a flashy entrance if you're going to die to the first idiot who punches you?"

I began to snort at the antlered horse's joke, when I sensed the spiritual energy in the cavern swirling about furiously. "Watch out!" I yelled to Meng Huo, but it was too late.

Before our eyes the elder's energy body reformed and while the ape was beating his chest in celebration, it smashed a flat palm into Meng Huo's face. Blood spurted out and the sickening crunch told me his nose had been broken.

The other beasts rushed forward to assist. Longma gathered energy around his antlers. They started to glow bright white, crackling with energy as he charged. When he reached the Great Garden Sage, the energy exploded into three arcs of white lightning that scorched the apparition from the inside out.

It's body was blasted apart once more. This time, we stayed on guard. There was no telling if it was truly defeated or if it could reform its body once more.

As predicted, the energy started to gather at a single point. The stern old man floated in the air above us, gazing down like an emperor looking over ants.

Meng Huo was clutching his bloody nose, crawling to his feet. The old man harrumphed and clapped his hands together. Endless vines and roots erupted from the earth, at least three striking at every single one of us.

I smacked them aside, coating my palms with qi to form a scalpel's edge. They were sliced apart easily, but the instant I cut one it was replaced with two more.

It was as though we were fighting some sort of plant-hydra hybrid. The elder simply floated in the air, watching as his technique fought all of us at once. We were fighting a losing battle.

Fueled by the energy of the world itself and possessing a seemingly immortal body, the Great Garden Sage's apparition saw no chance of its defeat against the ants that dared to trample his final resting place. The apparition was only a fragment of the real sage's will, left in the hopes that a successor that could utilise his techniques might appear.

Unfortunately, every time a fresh wave of cultivators arrived here, they simply sought to steal the meagre plants that grew around his grave without caring for the damage they wrought to the ecosystem. It was unforgivable in his eyes.

"This isn't going to work!" Shuanghu yelled out while slashing at three curling vines with her claws. "This thing will kill us all before we can cancel the technique."

Even though we all knew she was right, there wasn't much we could do. Unlike the root creature in the dead forest, this was no living being with a body we could harm. It was simply the technique of a powerful cultivator.

The apparition didn't possess the full might of a sage, or we would all have died without being able to raise a finger. However, even the strength that remained was enough to suppress a group of Qi Gathering whelps like us.

I used energy vision to try and find a weakness in the technique, but it was hopeless. All I could see were strands of spiritual energy that formed the roots and vines striking at us.

They led into the ground, where they seemed to vanish into the endless mass of energy that filled the cavern.

There had to be a trick to this. Wang Ren snarled as a vine pierced his shoulder. I carved it apart before healing the wound with a burst of qi.

"Thanks," he said, already swinging his glaive at the next root striking towards him.

I didn't even have time to respond before having to deal with my own problems. Three more vines were piercing towards my heart, eye, and stomach at the same time.

There was no way to block all three. So, I didn't block. I struck out, ducking under the first as I swung with my hand, cleaving all three vines in a single slash.

The apparition's eyes flashed with life briefly as it saw one of the two humans using a technique to heal his companion. Perhaps this one is different from the others, it inwardly exclaimed.

After almost six eras standing vigil, it had given up hope of finding a worthy successor. It seemed that all traces of his techniques and similar arts had been lost from the world.

Those who reached here were all violent brutes, lacking finesse. However, the technique the youth had just used, while different to his own, held striking similarities.

Despite noticing the technique, the apparition didn't cancel its attack. Trespassing on this burial site was a sin punishable by death and nothing less.

I sliced my way through the roots, healing Wang Ren and the beasts as I darted around the cavern. I was truly at a loss here. How could any of my techniques affect an opponent without a body?

My eyes lit up. I sliced my palm through a root, freeing Shuanghu from its clutches. The tiger growled in thanks before carving apart two more with her claws.

"I know how to defeat the ghost!" I shouted over the din of battle. A few of the beasts turned to me, but everyone was too busy defending themselves to reply.

I heard a whoosh and two thuds. Wang Ren appeared by my side after cleaving his way through the roots and vines. "What do you need?"

As always, my Senior Brother was a reliable figure. "Can you distract it while I prepare a technique? Try rushing to attack, it seemed to take the bait when Meng Huo did that," I asked.

Stolen story; please report.

He nodded, stepping out in front of me and blocking the strike of a vine. He began to carve a path towards the floating apparition. "Come down here and fight me with honour! Or is that green hat on your head your true nature?" Ren jeered.

Of all the jokes to make…

Somehow the taunt worked. The Great Garden Sage's face twisted into a furious scowl and he flashed through the air.

Two dozen roots erupted from the ground, surrounding Wang Ren. They struck him from all angles. Even with his glaive swirling around him, he couldn't block them all.

The apparition reached his body. Halfway through a swing, it struck out, two vines shooting from its sleeve.

Before they could hit, I sliced them apart with my palm. The spiritual energy dissipated, returning to the air around us. The apparition sneered, slapping at me with a flat palm.

"How disappointing! I thought you were better than the rest of those brutes, but you're just more of the same," it said as its strike reached my torso.

At the last instant, my arm snapped upwards, grabbing its formless wrist. Despite its body being made of energy, my grip managed to connect.

A powerful burst of qi split into hundreds of tendrils that shot through the apparition's body. I leapt backwards, immediately cycling my qi to heal the broken rib I'd suffered from its slap.

"Every era is the same," the apparition sighed. "More fools throw away their lives for shiny trinkets when the profound mysteries of a sage's inheritance is within their grasp. No matter how many times you destroy this body, it will reform."

I smirked at its arrogant ranting. My technique ravaged the apparition, causing the energy to swell and tear itself apart. The sage's body exploded.

The roots and vines burst apart too. It seemed that any techniques it used were cancelled when the body was temporarily destroyed.

Having that knowledge would be useful if I hadn't already dealt a lethal blow. I saw the spiritual energy attempting to gather together again, but my technique had yet to run its course.

The first technique I created in this world and the most devastating in my arsenal. It started by inflicting tumours on my opponents, twisting their own flesh against them in a gruesome and deadly display.

When I cultivated to greater heights, gaining the ability to manipulate and understand qi, I was able to improve the technique. I imbued it with the ability to not only twist and mutate my enemies' flesh, but also their qi.

It was the perfect technique to counter an opponent whose body was made entirely of spiritual energy. He might be able to recover from powerful strikes for an eternity, but what if the source of the apparition's life was infected?

Well, I was about to find out the answer to that. My tumour technique had infected the ambient spiritual energy as whatever array or technique kept the apparition alive tried to reform its body.

The energy was turned against it, creating a cycle of creation and destruction. The apparition was constantly trying to reform, yet the more it struggled, the more my technique was able to infect the energy.

The strands of spiritual energy began to unravel and twist on themselves. They would attempt to join together, yet that act would cause further destruction.

"What is this-! You? Hahahaha," the sage's voice rang out from everywhere in the cavern at once.

Every single drop of spiritual energy in the room vanished instantly. I wasn't even able to see where it went. It happened beyond the perception of a Qi Gathering cultivator.

All the beasts started yelping and screeching. "What happened? Did your plan work?" Shuanghu asked me.

"I'm not sure," I replied.

The apparition had vanished. However, so had my technique along with all the spiritual energy. In fact, with every breath I was losing qi to the surroundings, no longer able to rely on the world as I cycled my qi.

It felt odd. The same way drowning did. Slowly losing a battle with no escape. I used the brief downtime to heal the wounds of all my companions.

"Come here, I'll heal you all before it comes back," I called out.

It was a risk, as I would be losing energy I couldn't quickly restore, but having all my companions ready to fight again was more important. The apparition was gone, but the way it vanished was beyond suspicious.

Thankfully, the meagre amount of qi I gained from healing them was enough to offset the losses. The moment I finished healing the tortoise, the last of the beasts, thunderous applause sounded out.

The apparition of the Great Garden Sage appeared in the centre of the cavern once more, clapping its ethereal hands. Each clap rang out like thunder.

Immediately I used my energy vision, but I found myself shocked at what I saw. The spiritual energy in the cavern was still depleted. What was fueling this damned immortal ghost geezer?

"You're like a cockroach," I cried out before I could stop myself. "Die, already grandpa. It's past your time."

"You! I was complimenting your techniques and you had to go and…" the apparition hissed. "I suppose it's fine for my inheritor to be a little arrogant. Congratulations, you are the first brat in six eras to impress this old sage. How does it feel, knowing you earned the approval of the legendary Great Garden Sage?" it continued, preening as it rambled on.

"What? Inheritor? Have you taken ghost drugs, geezer?" I snorted. This was beyond cliche. There was no way this wasn't another trap.

"Bah, stop spouting nonsense kid. I saw your techniques. That one you used at the end was particularly inspired! Vicious, but inspired nonetheless. It seems you already understand the first law of healing well," the apparition announced, vanishing and then reappearing in front of me.

I flinched, raising a hand in defence. The old man snorted. "I'm not going to hurt you again. I told you, you impressed me. You've passed the first test to become my disciple. I would give you my inheritance on the spot, but unfortunately I was a paranoid fellow when I was alive. I split the keys across this little garden. You need to find all of them if you want to acquire the treasures I left behind."

I cleared my throat, making the ghost stop talking and look down at me. "Yes?" it asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but isn't it polite to ask someone if they want your gift before ramming it down their throat? If you have any healing techniques, you can teach them to me now. I'm not going to follow your cliche plot line that ends with me dying and some underdog protagonist fellow claiming the powerful techniques of an ancient master from my corpse," I replied, flicking my sleeve and turning around to leave.

The beasts were all wide eyed, staring incredulously at the conversation. Even Wang Ren was having a hard time understanding what was going on.

However, the old man's ghost didn't seem to be attacking anymore, so after tentatively taking a few steps, the beasts then broke into a full retreat. Halfway out of the cavern I suddenly stopped.

I turned around and rushed back, plucking the three hundred-year herbs out of the floor. "I'm taking these with me. If you have a problem with that, find someone who gives a damn," I snapped at the ghost.

The wizened old man had a serene smile on his face as he watched me taking his herbs and leaving. I wondered why he wasn't fighting harder. Wasn't finding an inheritor a rare event?

Honestly I wasn't sure how that tirade of bullshit kept him off my back, but the moment we reached the tunnel again I collapsed and let out a sigh of relief. "Damn that old geezer was scary! Even as a dead ghost his aura felt like a thousand tons of steel on my shoulders," I muttered.

"Well, we escaped with all the treasures. Let's get out of here before he changes his mind," Wang Ren said, holding out a hand to lift me to my feet.

"Good idea," I replied, following after Meng Huo who'd beaten us both to the punch and was rushing down the tunnel.

All of us ran like our lives were on the line. Thankfully the security array was still deactivated and we passed by it without issue.

Only once we were safely back in the plains and a safe distance away from the cavern did we allow ourselves to relax. I sat down, laughing to myself as I took out the green gem to inspect it.

Even if I hadn't gained anything from the old sage, I at least had this crystal to study. Perhaps I would figure something out from observing the unique energy it possessed.

****

The ghostly figure stood in the middle of the cavern, scratching its chin as it watched the group of awakened beasts and two human cultivators running for their lives. It chuckled at their antics.

"Brats have no manners these days. Then again, they didn't have many in my time. I'm not surprised things haven't changed. It's a shame I had to let the kid go, but he already has the first key. Whether he wants my inheritance or not, he is already part of the game. It now depends on his fate," it muttered to itself, before vanishing into thin air.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.