As soon as he spoke these words, a stir immediately erupted.
Many masters also reacted at this time, all looking at the person on the stage with unfriendly eyes.
Seeing such a change, the person on the stage became panicked. Under the cool central air conditioning, sweat even fell from his forehead, showing that his mental quality was not strong.
Master Liao noticed that the situation was unfavorable and quickly stood up, saying,
"Everyone, please calm down. As we all know, this evil spirit is inherently formless and substantiless, and it tends to form in densely populated areas. Although we have the ’Ten True People’ present here, it is inevitable that some newly formed evil spirits will permeate. It’s not surprising that Mr. Pei was able to use True Qi to force it into appearance."
Hearing his forced explanation, the crowd slowly calmed down, and even the elder who had spoken out in reprimand was now silent.
After all, in their circle, it’s acceptable to bluff and boast, but one must always save face for others.
Everyone was deceiving, and no one would expose another; otherwise, it would indeed lead to a relentless fallout.
"Half-immortal Pei," seeing Master Liao had helped defuse the situation, discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his face and then continued with his performance.
"Qian represents heaven, Kun represents earth, the thunder symbolizes purity, and Xun wind eliminates evil! Swift as the law! Gather!"
He held the Eight Diagrams Compass in his palm, tapping it continuously with his other hand, and then suddenly yelled out, startling several guests nearby.
Following his shout of "Gather!", the faint white mist around him slowly started moving toward the giant dragon on the Eight Diagrams Plate in his hand.
Although the movement was slow and barely visible, with careful observation, one could still spot it.
"What exactly is going on? What is he doing?"
"He must be absorbing that mist, right? There’s something strange about the thing in his hand..."
"Really? But why do I feel like he’s fooling us... That Eight Diagrams Compass, it must be an air purifier, right? I swear I even heard the sound of machinery operating."
"No, be confident, remove the feeling, he is fooling us..."
"Should we expose him?"
"Uh... let’s forget it, let’s follow the rules. See it and don’t say it, just like the masters do..."
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman, seeing what the person on the stage was doing, felt a sense of déjà vu—wasn’t this exactly like the Soul Absorption Technique she had used at Su Fu’s house?
Only this person was far from professional and terribly flawed.
Many masters who had attended the Parasitic Spirit incident previously were also dumbfounded at this moment.
They all stood up, trying to get a clearer view of the man’s features, to distinguish him from the person they had seen before.
Clearly, they began to doubt whether this so-called "Half-immortal Pei" was the real deal.
Elsewhere, not far from the central stage, at a large table, a sturdy middle-aged man was watching the scene with a grim face.
Seeing "Half-immortal Pei" operating the modified Eight Diagrams Plate and absorbing smoke everywhere, he slammed his teacup onto the table and shouted angrily,
"Who is this man? Does he take us all for fools? How was such a person allowed in here?"
Meanwhile, a black-clad assistant quickly signaled to a staff member, who seeing the cue, promptly stepped forward and said,
"I remember this name, Half-immortal Pei, who was famously invited to this conference, and his travel expenses were covered at a second-tier rate. However, later on, many masters from Jiangnan claimed that this Half-immortal Pei was an impostor, and after the organizers checked the information, they realized it was indeed a mistake, they were just namesakes."
"Then who is this person on stage?"
The staffer wiped the sweat off his forehead and said:
"The one on stage...might...probably is the real Master Pei. After all, according to what the cultivators from the Jiangnan Region have said, Master Pei is not very old, around twenty-five years old..."
"This is outrageous!"
The robust man slammed the table.
"How could you invite someone without even confirming their identity and background? If any Tom, Dick or Harry can just walk in and present themselves on stage, then what credibility does this national Cultivation conference have!?"
As he spoke, his already somewhat pale face became even grayer, and he couldn’t help but cough repeatedly.
"Boss, mind your health, shall we head back earlier? The doctor said it’s not good for you to overexert yourself..." the assistant quickly suggested.
"I’m fine, I’m still in robust health, no need to worry." The man drank a cup of tea and gestured with his hand, "By the way, has Old Master Ye Cang arrived yet?"
The assistant replied, "We’ve already informed the Ye Family, and the Old Master will be here soon."
"Alright, thank you for the hard work."
The man nodded, though his expression betrayed some pain. He felt that he probably couldn’t hold on much longer.
This man, Qin Yan, was the major investor of this Cultivation conference. He had originally made his fortune through some legally gray industries, and after making his money, he switched to investment.
Because he also somewhat believed in the tales of ghosts and gods, and saw a market opportunity in this domestic sector, he decided to invest, leading to the now annual national Cultivation conference.
The conference was less about providing a venue for masters to spar, and more about serving as a massive exchange expo.
They used this opportunity to invite celebrities from various fields, and also set up auction houses, gamble on stones, and other highly profitable ventures, making the income from just this one day an astonishing figure.
However, this year’s conference had encountered an accident. Before coming, Qin Yan had received terrible news that his brother, with whom he had grown up, had fallen ill during a trip to Qionghua City.
The hospital was unable to diagnose any issues; the patient remained unconscious and his vital signs continuously declined.
Inevitably, Qin Yan had to rush back to take care of his brother, consequently postponing the Cultivation exchange conference, as some important guests still needed him, the host, to be present.
But to his despair, despite having several nationally renowned experts come to treat his brother, there had been no improvement at all in his condition, and something even more horrifying occurred.
A human face had grown on his brother’s abdomen!
Qin Yan saw it clearly; the face looked exactly like his brother’s! Having always believed in tales of ghosts and gods, this immediately made him think of certain supernatural phenomena.
"This is retribution! It’s retribution!"
Qin Yan fiercely pulled his hair, his eyes bloodshot.
His brother was already dead.