This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

Chapter 241 The Power of Resurrection

"I will completely eradicate the evil spirits from your mind!"

The words of the Bronze Divine Tree were as loud as a bell, righteous and awe-inspiring, as if it had an irreconcilable hatred for evil spirits. This resolute attitude made Xiao Xingchen curse inwardly.

Clearly, this seasoned veteran is no saint; he's practically trying to kill him!

He placed all his hopes on the mysterious black auspicious cloud above his head, which seemed to be the natural enemy of the bronze tree, making it tremble with fear.

However, when he saw that the black auspicious cloud had chosen to stand by and watch after he was turned into bronze, he was left speechless with bitterness.

At this moment, the bronze transformation, like the tentacles of a demon, slowly crawled up his cheeks to his head, and his head became the only unpolluted pure land.

But it was only a matter of time; under the corrosive influence of bronze, his consciousness seemed poised to be completely consumed soon.

"Haha, see? You wretched fellow, you really do have an evil spirit hiding in your head! Watch how I take it down!"

The Bronze Tree's arrogance erupted like a volcano, invincible. The bronze light surged like a tidal wave, instantly engulfing Xiao Xingchen's vision and tightly surrounding his entire body.

"Hehe, this is really something to look forward to!" The abyss in the black auspicious clouds, like a ferocious beast, began to slowly close in.

At the very last moment before the doors closed, a voice filled with anticipation emanated from within, as if mocking Xiao Xingchen's helplessness.

Where is my wedding dress? My beautiful wedding dress! How could the mastermind behind this let me die so easily?

"Black Hand, please show yourself and protect me!" he cried out in his heart, hoping that the Black Hand hiding behind the scenes would appear and fight him.

However, reality is like a merciless blade, cruel enough to suffocate you.

Until he was completely submerged in bronze, his body remained motionless like a sculpture, and the three incense sticks on his shoulder were extinguished instantly as the bronze emerged, like candles flickering in the wind.

Everything seemed to fall into a deathly silence. The stars continued to slowly rotate in the night sky, but a humanoid statue had appeared in this bronze ruin, resembling a sleeping giant beast.

After the bronze light dissipated, Xiao Xingchen, who was in the Prince Kaoshan's mansion, suddenly opened his eyes as if he had been electrocuted. This sudden change was like a thunderbolt, which frightened Xizhu Hua to death.

She was intently observing the spreading bronze, but his eyes suddenly flashed with a breathtaking light, like the most brilliant stars in the night sky.

Upon closer inspection, although Xiao Xingchen's body had been assimilated by bronze, his eyes were like a deep universe, with his pupils replaced by the endless starry sky. Just one glance would be enough to be swallowed up by its mystery, and one would be unable to extricate oneself from it.

Although his eyes were open, his gaze was as dull as a puppet without a soul, leaving only an empty shell lying there quietly.

"I don't understand, I really don't understand. Everything that happened to Xiao Xingchen is beyond my imagination. I have never seen such a bizarre situation."

Xizhu shook her head, her brows furrowed tightly, like a chrysanthemum covered in frost.

Ruoxue, standing to the side, was already extremely anxious, pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan. As Xiaoxingchen's breath grew weaker and weaker, she felt increasingly helpless; the loss of life meant that death was imminent.

At this moment, she had placed all her hopes on Xizhu.

"Is there any other way, or is there anyone who can save him?"

"Let me think."

Xizhu sat upright to the side, her mind replaying the ancient books she had read, hoping to find records that corresponded to Xiaoxingchen's current situation.

However, she racked her brains but could not think of any case that could turn a person into bronze.

This was unheard of not only in the human world, but also in the Nine Heavens.

"Hurry up! He's dying! How could this happen? Weren't you told he'd be alright?"

Xizhu was extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.

"Don't interrupt me, I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what this damn bronze is."

Ruoxue vanished in an instant like a gust of wind. Xizhu sighed helplessly. It was only in a flash of inspiration that she remembered that Huangfu Lingxue's Ghost Sword required a secret technique to be used.

That is why ghost swords are so rare in the world. Their rarity lies not in the sword itself, but in the secret techniques behind it.

As fate would have it, she happened to have heard about this matter before, and now she could only place her hopes on Huangfu Lingxue, hoping that she could find a way to save Xiao Xingchen, otherwise Xiao Xingchen would probably be doomed.

The eldest princess is currently handling the funeral arrangements for the Prince Kao Shan's mansion. Xiao Xingchen's foundation is as thin as paper, and many times, it is the people from the eldest princess's mansion who help him solve his problems.

When she heard the news of Xiao Xingchen's death, she was filled with suspicion. She even picked at her ear to make sure Ruoxue wasn't joking. She was immediately anxious. When she rushed over and witnessed the tragic state of the Prince Kaoshan's mansion, she was stunned.

Why did he become bronze?

"I don't know. I guess it might be a side effect of the ritual with the shadow, but I've never heard of such a side effect before."

"His popularity is gone, is he really dead?" Huangfu Lingxue looked at Xiao Xingchen in disbelief. It had only been a short time since she last saw him, and now he was gone forever; it was truly hard for her to accept.

"No, I called you here because you might be able to save him,"

"I?"

"Yes, I know that Ghost Swordsman will practice a secret technique before he starts training. The only thing I can think of right now is that this heaven-defying secret technique might be able to pull him back from the clutches of death."

"How do you know my secret technique?" Huangfu Lingxue was shocked one after another. She knew Xizhu was mysterious, but her own Ghost Sword technique had never been revealed.

"At this moment, don't worry about how I know this. I just need one question: are you willing to save him?" Xizhu asked firmly.

"Your Highness, please save him! Huayulou is willing to give anything in exchange for your secret technique. Even if Huayulou doesn't have enough, whatever you want, I will get it for you."

Just as Ruoxue was about to kneel, Huangfu Lingxue stopped her.

"It's not that I don't want to save people, but that secret technique is a death spell. Xizhu, are you really sure you can save them?"

"Let's try anything, even if it's a long shot," Xizhu replied somewhat guiltily.

"How can this reason convince everyone? Since you know that I have the Ghost Sword Secret Technique, you must also know that to cultivate the Ghost Sword, one must first undergo a life-or-death test. That secret technique is simply a deadly art. Even I almost lost my life back then. Now that Xiao Xingchen has already suffered such a fate, how can he reverse that deadly art?"

Huangfu Lingxue recalled her past practice of Ghost Sword, and every time she recalled it, she felt that she must have been crazy back then.

Since the Ghost Swordsman is given the title "Ghost," he must first transform himself into a ghost. How does one become a ghost? Doesn't death make one a ghost? But how can a person return to life after death? This is undoubtedly an unsolvable paradox.

However, there is a deadly technique that can deceive everyone and give people a glimmer of hope for resurrection. But the probability is so low that saying it's a nine-out-of-ten chance of death is an overestimation; it would be more accurate to describe it as a ten-out-of-ten chance of death.

She was a prodigy, and it took her five years of careful preparation before she began to cultivate that death technique. Even so, even with her master inviting many experts to protect her, she still almost fell into a deep sleep and never woke up.

If it weren't for the miraculous event that occurred on the banks of the Luo River, I would probably have already perished, so how could there be any talk of a ghost sword?

This is one of the real reasons why the Ghost Sword has disappeared from the world, because all those who practiced the Ghost Sword have died.

Huangfu Lingxue had to carefully assess Xiao Xingchen's current condition. Judging from his current state, even if she were given a hundred chances, she would not be able to reverse his fate.

After a moment of contemplation and some hesitation, Xizhu finally revealed what she had intended to conceal. After all, Xiaoxingchen was her only clue, and she really didn't want to let that clue be cut off so easily.

"A reason?" Xizhu murmured softly.

"He was marked with the auspicious cloud symbol and had become a sacrifice to Houtu. Such a person was protected by Houtu before becoming a qualified sacrifice. However, this bronze broke this rule at this moment, which means one thing: the source of this bronze light comes from outside the realm and is definitely not something that the Nine Heavens Continent possesses. It may even be a mysterious power that we have never seen before."

"There is an unwritten rule in the Nine Heavens to deal with these forces from outside the circle: fight poison with poison, using forces that do not belong to this world to fight against them. Your ghost arts are said to originate from outside the circle, just like a mysterious key that can open the door to the unknown."

"If that's still not enough to convince you, I might as well tell you that a divine phenomenon once occurred on the banks of the Luo River, precisely at the moment you were resurrected. Therefore, your ghost book not only contains unique power from the outside world, but also a trace of mystery that even the Nine Heavens cannot fathom. This mystery is the power that truly allows him to find a glimmer of hope."

"You actually know about this? Just who are you?"

Huangfu Lingxue stood up abruptly, her whole body on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy. The miraculous appearance on the banks of the Luo River was a world-renowned secret witnessed by only a handful of people, yet in Xizhu's words, it seemed like a trivial matter.

"Don't be nervous. This matter is also extremely secret to me. When that divine thing crossed the world barrier, I was in a spiritual journey, which is why I was able to witness it with my own eyes. It was a crimson energy. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the power of a star core that condensed after a star fell. And in Xiao Xingchen's eyes, a withered star is slowly rotating at this moment."

Xizhu quickly explained,

“I even have a premonition that the power of the star core hidden in the ghost magic seems to have existed just for him. If you don’t believe me, just look at his pupils. As he perished, the stars in his eyes also began to decay.”