"Silence!"

Just as the strange shadow's hand was about to touch Su Xuan, a faint figure suddenly materialized in front of him. Upon seeing the faint figure, Su Xuan's pupils shrank. He recognized that silhouette—it was the scholar he often saw in his mansion on Houhai Street. He had dealt with the man before over a prescription.

But how could he be here? Has he been following me this whole time? Su Xuan was completely baffled.

"Who are you?" the strange shadow asked, startled. It drifted back several steps.

"My friend," the scholar said to the shadow, his bearing elegant as he held a scroll in one hand with the other behind his back. "The words you just spoke were rather excessive. I could not simply stand by and watch, so I would like to have a debate with you."

"A debate?" The strange shadow paused. "What do you want to debate about?"

"How about we make a wager first?" the scholar suggested. "If I win our debate, you will apologize with your death. How does that sound?"

The shadow grew wary and did not immediately respond. In its eyes, the scholar was clearly a troublesome opponent. Su Xuan, on the other hand, noticed something different about the scholar. Before, back when I hadn't started cultivating, I saw the scholar as nothing more than a ghostly shade. But now, he's suffused with a kind of righteous, noble energy! It's so potent it's almost piercing to look at. Can one really cultivate such an aura just by reading books?

"Are you afraid?" The scholar smiled and took a step toward the shadow. "It's just a debate. I won't lay a hand on you. If you can out-debate me, I too will apologize with my death." As he spoke, the scholar glanced at Su Xuan. "After all, my friend did inadvertently trespass on your territory, so he is indeed partially at fault."

"Fine!" the shadow nodded. "Then let's have our debate!"

Before the words had faded, a great torrent of black energy surged from the shadow, filling every wisp of the surrounding air. The scholar's robes rippled, but his body stood firm and unmoving.

Ghostly apparitions once again appeared in the dark mist, all chattering at the scholar. "What do you want to debate with us, boy? You look so prim and proper. You must be one of those beasts in fine clothing, your belly full of filth instead of ink! Come on, then! Let's hear your debate!"

Are they trying to defeat the scholar by outnumbering him in a shouting match? Su Xuan mused, an amused smile touching his lips. But what happened next left him utterly dumbfounded.

With an utterly serious expression, the scholar delivered his rebuttal. "My friend, are you suffering from hemorrhoids? Is that why you can only spew excrement from your mouth?"

"Was your mother in a latrine when she gave birth to you? Is that why your tone is so foul?"

"I must ask, do you bear a striking resemblance to a certain gentleman with the surname Wang?"

The stark contrast between his refined image and his vulgar words made it impossible for Su Xuan to feign composure any longer. He burst out laughing with a snort. The scholar, seemingly aware that Su Xuan had been putting on an act, turned and gave him a wink.

"You bastard… that's going too far!"

Clearly enraged, the shadow commanded the ghostly figures to begin circling the scholar at high speed. The black mist churned wildly in a spectacular display, as if the shadow was trying to bolster its own bravado through sheer spectacle. Su Xuan pulled Qi Li back a few steps.

With that retreat, however, he could no longer hear the voices from within the black fog. He could only see the ghost shadows constantly opening their mouths, pointing and gesturing at the scholar like shrews screaming curses in the street. The scholar, in contrast, appeared calm and composed, leisurely retorting with an air of effortlessness.

A moment later, the ghost shadows were spinning like a giant pinwheel, and the billowing black fog completely enveloped them. Su Xuan could no longer see the scholar's figure, only a white aura shining like a beacon in the dark night. It was the scholar's noble aura, impossible to ignore.

"What's happening?" Qi Li had woken up by now, and she asked in alarm at the terrifying scene before her.

"It's nothing," Su Xuan said softly, his eyes still fixed on the black fog. "That strange thing we met in the water showed up again. You said it used some kind of soul attack to control us and make us enter the stone gate. It seems to hold a grudge against me and wants to kill me, but someone from my side arrived..."

Qi Li suddenly realized she was already inside the stone gate. She had no memory of how she'd gotten there, and a wave of fear washed over her. I was completely defenseless while I was unconscious! What's even more baffling is how Su Xuan is so lucid and remembers everything! And someone from his family arrived? How is that possible? We're in the mountain world, inside an underwater Moon Xuan Stone Tomb! How could any of his family get here? Who is it? This is impossible!

Since Su Xuan didn't elaborate, she felt it wasn't her place to ask more. She too fixed her gaze on the rolling black fog just ahead. Soon, she made a discovery.

"Su Xuan, they're battling with magic!" Qi Li couldn't help but whisper. "It's such a powerful confrontation, unlike anything I've ever seen!"

"What?" Su Xuan turned to glance at her, a strange look on his face. "What kind of magic battle?" They're clearly just arguing! Is arguing a form of magic battle?

"It's Telekinesis," Qi Li explained. "They're competing with Telekinesis!"

"What's Telekinesis?" Su Xuan asked, confused.

"Telekinesis is invisible; you can only feel it," Qi Li said. "It's like the soul attack we experienced. That's essentially a form of Telekinesis, attacking our minds and forcing us to obey its commands!"

"Oh?"

"I witnessed a powerful Telekinesis battle once when I was a child," Qi Li said, her eyes filled with recollection as she murmured, "Father took me to the deepest layer of the Eighteen-Layer Mountain, where we met a little girl named Meng Anran. All by herself, she faced the numerous titans of the Eighteen-Layer Mountain and debated the Dao with them using Telekinesis. She debated so fiercely that those famous old masters all started spitting blood and fell unconscious!"

"A little girl?" Su Xuan said in astonishment. "That domineering?"

"If you knew whose daughter she is, you'd think it was perfectly normal," Qi Li said slowly. "She's the daughter of Ancestor Meng, born with the Heavenly Dao Body. In the mountain world, she's an incredibly transcendent existence. You could even say she isn't human!"

"Huh?" Su Xuan was getting lost. Who is Ancestor Meng? What's a Heavenly Dao Body?

BOOM!

Before Qi Li could answer him, the swirling black fog suddenly burst apart.

The scholar still stood with one hand behind his back, his expression relaxed.

The strange shadow, however, lay on the ground, oozing black blood from its body. It was a miserable sight.

"To win an argument to this extent..." Su Xuan muttered to himself. "Now that's what I call domineering!"

The scholar walked leisurely to the shadow and held out his hands.

The weakened shadow looked up at the scholar and said resentfully, "You hid your strength. You..."

"A loss is a loss. Say no more." The scholar's hand remained outstretched as he said, his tone cryptic, "Hand it over. You no longer deserve to possess it. In your hands, it is but a pearl cast into darkness."

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