Chapter 2679 The Mad City Lord's Love-Hate Relationship 01

[Transferring to the original storyline... Transfer successful!]

The original plot revolves around the protagonist Fu Lingjing's leveling-up storyline. Talented people from all over the world gather in the capital, only because more and more strange things are happening in the capital. Some enlightened people even say that Shengjing is prosperous during the day, but will turn into a ghost town at midnight.

The coexistence of humans and ghosts in the city leads to the loss of control over the ghosts. The imperial advisor in the palace, along with other enlightened individuals, found a way to enter the ghost city, but they needed to select four talented young people to enter.

In the original storyline, the original Jin Chen and his junior brother Chu Jiushan came from the Gua Dao Sect and both won first place in the competition.

In order to successfully enter the Dark Night Ghost City, the protagonist Fu Lingjing chose to use underhanded tactics against Jin Chen to obtain the final spot, and afterwards gave him fifty taels of silver as compensation.

After entering the ghost city, Fu Lingjing unintentionally became entangled with the vengeful ghost city lord, the villain Yin Chaosheng. Yin Chaosheng was an unfathomable ghost, ruthless and vicious, extremely beautiful and eerie, and almost caused Fu Lingjing's death on several occasions.

After enduring many hardships, Fu Lingjing finally honed his skills in the Ghost City and became a master ghost hunter. He killed Yin Chaosheng, who was standing in his way, and together with the Imperial Advisor, they completely destroyed the Ghost City.

After leaving the ghost city, Fu Lingjing realized that the human world had become a living hell.

With countless ghosts running rampant and strange events constantly occurring, Fu Lingjing once again embarks on the path of slaying ghosts. He also falls in love with a noblewoman in the palace and frequently returns to the palace to meet her.

[That's how the story goes. But host, you absolutely cannot be replaced by Fu Lingjing. He doesn't know that in the original story, the human world became a hellish place later on because he was greedy for merit and acted rashly, directly destroying the Ghost City. This caused all the ghosts to lose their restraints and escape to the human world, which is terrifying.]

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The palace and the square were filled with talented and extraordinary people who had come from all over the country.

On the high platform, the elderly emperor, surrounded by palace attendants, could not hide the weariness and turbidity between his brows.

Standing quietly on the platform beside him was a woman in a plain white robe, who was none other than the current imperial advisor.

Her face was cold and aloof, showing no emotion whatsoever. Her phoenix eyes swept over the crowd below the stage as if looking down at ants.

The Imperial Preceptor slightly raised his hand, his wide sleeves fluttering in the wind, and his disciples stepped forward to gather their energy and raise their voices.

"By imperial decree and the Grand Preceptor's order, four extraordinary individuals have been personally selected to venture deep into the Dark City of Ghosts to find its root cause and eliminate its ringleader, thus restoring peace to the world and bringing tranquility to the people! Upon their success, they will be granted the rarest treasures in the Grand Preceptor's Pavilion to choose from, along with ten mansions in the Imperial City, a hundred acres of fertile land, and ten thousand taels of gold!"

The generous reward, however, caused an uproar.

The disciple paused briefly, then continued shouting, "However, Ghost City is dangerous, with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. The competition is about to begin. Those who voluntarily give up should retreat to the side gate on the east side of the square and leave."

They whispered amongst themselves, many of whom had come for the treasures of the Imperial Preceptor's Pavilion, never expecting to personally venture into that legendary, perilous place that was a capital by day and a ghost town by night.

In a short while, most of the crowd in the square dispersed, leaving only twenty or thirty people behind. Most of them looked solemn, either confident in their skills or having no other choice.

The competition then began.

The rules are simple: a free-for-all until only four people remain in the arena.

Dao Gua Sect was renowned, and Jin Chen and Chu Jiushan attracted much attention as soon as they entered.

Chu Jiushan was exceptionally agile, his divination plate waving in his hand to distract his opponents. Jin Chen, on the other hand, was even more conspicuous. His movements were elusive, and whether his opponents used talismans, magical treasures, or martial arts, he could casually flick his sleeve and flick his finger, causing them to stagger back as if struck by a heavy blow.

In no time, there were very few people left standing in the square.

Fu Lingjing retreated to the edge of the square, locking onto Jin Chen's figure.

Time is running out; there are only five people left in the arena, and we must fight for Jin Chen's spot.

Fu Lingjing's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, his eyes filled with struggle. "I...can't I choose someone else? That Chu Jiushan guy seems easier to deal with."

"No!" The voice in my mind suddenly hardened. "Opportunities are predetermined, but seizing them requires defying fate. You must take them from its grasp, otherwise it's all just empty talk."

Fu Lingjing was also helpless against this voice. It appeared in his consciousness three days ago, claiming to be some kind of immortal from beyond the heavens. He had no choice but to do as it was told.

Fu Lingjing took out a long whip that looked as if it had just been pulled out of a cold pool. The whip was covered with moisture and brought up a cold wind when it was swung.

"Excuse me!" Fu Lingjing hissed, no longer caring about stopping short of a fight, and his whip struck Jin Chen's back!

[Host, be careful, the protagonist is coming!] Ling Gun Gun exclaimed from Jin Chen's shoulder, then tilted his head. [Strange, why does this person look so bitter and resentful? Is he very unwilling?]

Jin Chen took two steps back, the whip whistling past the hem of his clothes. He then slashed downwards with his right hand, fingers pointing like a knife.

A condensed gale burst forth, striking the whip. Fu Lingjing felt his tiger's mouth split open, the whip flew out of his hand, and he was thrown out of the plaza boundary, crashing heavily onto the bluestone slab, spitting out blood.

"You... how come this broken whip you gave me is completely useless!" Fu Lingjing roared in his mind, both shocked and furious.

The immortal scoffed, "Useless! He can't even force Jin Chen to use half his strength."

His tone then turned dejected. "Forget it, this path is blocked. We'll find another way."

Fu Lingjing: "..."

That's such a clean break!

When the incense sticks had burned out, only four people remained in the square.

The seemingly unreliable Chu Jiushan also survived to the end with his senior brother, standing next to Jin Chen with a grin and clasping his hands in greeting to the other two.

"Chu Jiushan of the Dao Gua Sect, this is my senior brother Jin Chen. May I ask your names?"

At this moment, the disciples of the Imperial Preceptor stepped forward and loudly announced the names and origins of the final selected candidates.

Liu Shuoyue was born with yin-yang eyes, giving her an extremely keen sense of ghosts and monsters.

His family had been ghost hunters for generations, and he was tall and buried in Huai'an.

"Miss Liu, we're going to bury our brother. We'll be venturing into dangerous territory together. Please guide me!" Chu Jiushan said with a bright smile.

As they got to know each other, Jin Chen leaned against the dragon-carved stone pillar, arms crossed, and glanced at Fu Lingjing, who was scrambling to his feet in a disheveled state on the outer edge of the square. His slender fingers rubbed the tips of his fingers that had just touched the water whip.

"Does he have a system?" Jin Chen asked in his mind.

"[Hmm?]" Zero Rolling immediately poked its head out. "[No system fluctuations detected. Has the host noticed anything wrong?]"

Jin Chen casually withdrew his gaze, a subtle interest flickering in his eyes.

He's acting strangely; keep a close eye on him.

"Okay, I've got this covered!" Ling Gun Gun nodded vigorously.