Chapter 143: The Ghost Lady of Yulan

Su Che never expected the Black Fiend to leave so obediently. It seemed he still feared greatly the “Ghost Lady Uncle” in the dark clouds.
The woman in the dark clouds was extremely famous in the Wan Gui Sect. In her youth, she was known as the “Ghost Lady of Yulan,” and later became the beloved concubine of the current sect leader, changing her title to the “Ghost Lady of Yulan.”
Later on, it was said that for some unknown reason, she fell out with the sect leader. She destroyed her own appearance and changed her title to the “Ghost Aunt of Yulan,” but everyone in the sect still preferred to call her the Ghost Lady.
Thus, when the Black Fiend called her an old hag earlier, it should actually have been an old lady…
After the Black Fiend left, Su Che bowed deeply and said respectfully, “Thank you, Uncle, for saving my life.”
Since it was impossible to kowtow in the air, Su Che’s gesture was still quite appropriate.
Unexpectedly, the Ghost Lady in the dark clouds grunted and said, “There’s no need to call me Uncle. You’re not a true member of the Wan Gui Sect.”
What?
Su Che’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected her to spot his deception right after they met.
Instinctively, he wanted to run away…
In the Immortal Prison, Old Hei sighed deeply, “Damn it, he’s trying to escape again! But this old hag has the cultivation level of the late Golden Core stage—far more terrifying than that Black Fiend scoundrel. How can he possibly escape?”
Even if he couldn’t escape, he had to try! Su Che activated the Jade Disk, aiming to flee, but the disk remained motionless as if rooted to the ground. Clearly, the Ghost Lady in the dark clouds had used some method to fix it in place.
“Want to escape?”
The Ghost Lady asked in a deep voice, “Do you really think you can?”
“I have to give it a try,” Su Che replied with a bitter smile.
“Actually, your disguise is flawless. Your spiritual energy fluctuations are exactly the same as those of my sect’s disciples,” the Ghost Lady explained voluntarily. “The reason I saw through you is because I recognize this item—crafted by Venerable Xuanji. He only gives it to his most favored disciples. So I wanted to test you. Sure enough, you exposed yourself right away.”
So that’s how it is!
Su Che regretted it inwardly. “If I had known it was because of this, I could have made up a suitable excuse, like claiming it was stolen from a disciple of the Tianxuan Sect…”
It was too late to regret now. Su Che could only ask bravely, “Does your senior know my master?”
“Of course I do!” The Ghost Lady grunted again and said bluntly, “I’ve fought him three times, losing twice.”
“It’s over!”

Su Che sighed in his heart, “I still thought I could get close to her, but to my surprise, she’s actually my master’s rival. Master, you’re truly formidable and impressive—able to defeat opponents of the same rank from the Ten Thousand Ghost Sect alone. But it seems you’ve also made many enemies everywhere. Look, even after I left, I ran into one just like this…”
At these thoughts, Su Che bowed to the dark cloud and said, “In that case… senior, I think I’d better run away.”
Inside the dark cloud, the Ghost Princess was amused by Su Che’s pitiful expression and said in a deep voice, “It’s not necessary to run away. I can give you time to come up with a reason not to kill you.”
Su Che wasn’t stupid and immediately understood what she meant. He replied obediently, “Senior, if there’s anything I can do, just give me orders.”
“Very good! Then come with me.”
As soon as she spoke, the dark cloud swirled like a huge black net and swallowed Su Che, who had no chance to resist.
Only then did Su Che realize how ridiculous his earlier attempt to escape had been. Under her powers, even the Dragon Soul’s protective barriers couldn’t activate in time.
It was clear that this Ghost Princess was far more powerful than the Black Fiend earlier. No wonder she could make the Black Fiend leave—he had no choice but to go…
The dark cloud flew at high speed toward a place tens of thousands of miles away.
Along the way, Su Che didn’t suffer any ill treatment. However, his spiritual senses were blocked by some force—he couldn’t see or sense anything. All he could feel was that he was sitting cross-legged on a soft silk cloth, as if riding on clouds.
Out of caution, Su Che ordered Old Black not to use his detection abilities, so as not to alert the Ghost Princess and risk her using soul-searching spells on him, which would be catastrophic.
They remained silent for several hours before the Ghost Princess’s voice appeared in his ears again, “I need you to enter a place and use your ability to freely manipulate the fluctuations of your spiritual energy to retrieve an item for me. This process will undoubtedly involve significant risks. I wonder if you’re willing?”
“Of course,” Su Che replied confidently. “Taking risks doesn’t necessarily mean death. If I refused, you would kill me, right?”
“Very good. A smart child—truly worthy of being the disciple of Venerable Mysterious Secrets.”

After a compliment, the Ghost Lady fell silent for a moment, her tone becoming much softer: “Once this is done, you too will reap great benefits—beyond your imagination… I am a dying person who no longer cares about magical artifacts or cultivation levels. I just want to live a few more days.”
Su Che asked tentatively, “Could that item extend your life?”
“Yes,” the Ghost Lady replied in a low voice. “It can not only extend my life but also change your innate aptitudes, removing the most redundant of your three elemental roots. That way, your cultivation prospects will be even brighter.”
“Change innate aptitudes?” Su Che was shocked and quickly asked, “Is there really such a miraculous item in the world? It’s truly an extraordinary treasure!”
“Rarity makes it strange!”
The Ghost Lady snapped in a low voice, “The world is vast—what’s not strange? A mere item that can extend life and change aptitudes isn’t worthy of being called ‘extraordinary’.”
“It’s still quite remarkable.”
Su Che was amazed in secret but asked again, “Elder, are there many of those items? From what you said, it seems you’re willing to share some with me?”
“There’s only one!” the Ghost Lady replied. “At least, that’s all I know. But I only need one part of it; the rest is useless to me and can be given to you.”
At this point, perhaps deliberately sarcastically, she added, “My innate aptitudes are a hundred times better than yours—there’s no need to change them.”
“That’s true,” Su Che nodded modestly, admitting, “My aptitudes are indeed pitiful.”
Of course, this was an extreme act of humility. Su Che’s aptitudes were merely average—neither particularly good nor bad.
However, if, as the Ghost Lady said, there really were treasures that could change innate aptitudes, then Su Che would be extremely tempted. Even if she weren’t forcing him, he would still try to obtain one.
“Currently, you have three elemental roots. If one can be removed, it will become two terrestrial roots. That way, your cultivation speed will improve further, and your chances of success in forming a core or even a fetus in the future will be much higher…”
At that moment, Lao He took over in the Immortal Prison, reminding him gravely, “Master, don’t get your hopes up too high. She clearly knows there’s such a treasure somewhere. Instead of taking it herself, she’s sending you to die. Obviously, that place must be extremely dangerous—even someone at the late Golden Core stage would hesitate to go there.”

“Not necessarily,” Su Che thought optimistically. “She just said she wanted to use my ability to freely alter the fluctuations of spiritual energy. Some things can’t be accomplished just with brute force. Maybe there are things she can’t do, but I can.”
“That’s true, but…” Lao He tried to dampen his enthusiasm, but Su Che interrupted him.
“No buts!” Su Che thought to himself. “The situation now is that I have to agree, whether I like it or not. If I had a choice, I’d rather die in some desolate place than at someone’s hands.”
To die from natural disasters rather than human actions—this was another form of Su Che’s stubbornness.
Wasteland God Valley.
Wasteland God Valley was a highly famous desolate place in the cultivation world. However, not the entire valley was dangerous; only a mysterious area at its core possessed an inviolable, awe-inspiring power, even making great cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage hesitant to venture in.
This central area was also known as the “Wind and Thunder Desolate Land,” a valley within a valley, resembling a giant crater of unknown depth.
Gui Ji flew Su Che straight to the entrance of the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land before landing. Su Che was surprised to find several small wooden houses built in the valleys outside the desolate land, arranged in a pattern that seemed to serve as sentries guarding the entrance.
“Could it be that to enter the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land, one needs someone’s permission?” Su Che wondered silently.
As a dark cloud landed, a deep voice came from one of the wooden houses: “Old witch, why have you come again? Haven’t you given up?”
“A person’s heart doesn’t die even when the body does!”
Gui Ji snorted coldly, retracting her dark cloud magic artifact before revealing her true form.
She wore a loose cloak and a conical hat, with long black veils hanging from its edges. It was impossible to tell her figure or appearance just by looking.
Even without the dark cloud and veils, her true face remained hidden.
The deep voice replied, “Same as before—if you have the courage to go in, go ahead!”
After that, there was silence for a while.
Taking advantage of this pause, Su Che sent a message to Gui Ji: “Elder, this is the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land. Even the Yuan Ying ancestors dare not go too deep. Asking me to enter is clearly asking me to die.”
“Not necessarily,” Gui Ji replied indifferently. “In this world, there happens to be a very weak creature that can enter and exit the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land freely without being struck by the gale or lightning.”
“Oh?”

Su Che asked curiously, “What kind of creature?”
“A Wasteland God Rat!”
The Ghost Princess explained in a low voice, “There is a rather peculiar rodent monster in the Wasteland God Valley. Even the rat king of that tribe only possesses the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage…”
Hearing this, Su Che’s mind stirred, and he immediately said to Lao He, “Lao He, did you hear that? The rats at the Foundation Establishment stage you need can now be easily found.”