Chapter 250: Clear Sky Sect’s Actions
Li Qingqiu opened his eyes, and his brows furrowed along with them.
Great Demon Luo and his grand plan for the Establishment of the Ghost Dynasty had become a hidden worry in his heart.
However, the most urgent matter was to first deal with the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, lest that fellow make a comeback.
Li Qingqiu stood up. He turned back to look at Huang Shan and said, “You all continue guarding the place. I’ll go and eliminate that guy first.”
Through the memories of the split soul, Li Qingqiu had obtained some clues, making him feel that there was a chance to find the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend.
Although these evil ghosts were powerful and their ghostly techniques bizarre, they had no experience roaming the Immortal Cultivation world—at least, neither the Silent Nether Ghost King nor the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend did.
Perhaps the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend had never expected Li Qingqiu to seize his memories.
After giving his instructions, Li Qingqiu lifted the Soul Refining Banner, leapt into the air, and transformed into a streak of sword light that vanished into the horizon.
Several hundred disciples looked at one another, never expecting the matter to be resolved so smoothly.
“Did you all see clearly just now?”
“No, I only saw the Sect Master wave the banner. What kind of magic implement was that banner?”
“As expected of the Sect Master—truly impressive. Tell me, when he was sitting there meditating earlier, what was he doing?”
“The Sect Master is proficient in ghostly path spells. How could we possibly speculate?”
The disciples discussed among themselves. Many of them secretly resolved that in the future, they would cultivate ghost-related spells—if not to become ghost cultivators, then at least to master techniques specifically meant to deal with ghosts.
Gu Changping gazed in the direction Li Qingqiu had departed, his eyes firm.
He was determined to become an Immortal Cultivator like the Sect Master.
……
At dawn.
Within a village amid the wilderness, miasma spread thickly, and houses loomed indistinctly within it, resembling demons and specters.
A black fox darted out from the miasma—it was none other than the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend.
His figure was agile as he rapidly leapt over bamboo fences, jumping into a courtyard and landing before a bamboo pole.
The bamboo pole was planted in the soil, with a hand bone hanging from its tip. The middle and ring fingers were missing, and the entire hand bone was curled into a claw-like shape, looking eerie and terrifying.
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend circled the bamboo pole, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Suddenly.
The sound of footsteps rang out. Four youths—boys and girls—pushed open the courtyard gate, each holding flowers and fruit, cautiously entering the yard.
When they saw the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, their faces turned deathly pale. They hurried forward, placed the flowers and fruit down, then prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling violently in extreme terror.
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend glanced at them, his gaze indifferent.
“I told you to lure passersby here. Why didn’t you succeed? I haven’t sensed any new souls,” the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend asked carelessly.
His words only made the four youths even more frightened, and they all begged for mercy.
“I originally wanted to give you a chance, to let you become my ghost servants. Unfortunately, your hearts are too soft and your natures too cowardly. Since you can’t seize the opportunity, then become a portion of the Immortal Bones’ power.”
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend said coldly. Ghostly energy began to emanate from his body, rapidly spreading, as though a massive black fox were slowly standing upright.
Two of the girls were so frightened that they burst into wailing cries, while the other two boys kowtowed repeatedly, their foreheads striking the ground with loud thuds.
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend let out shrill, piercing laughter, growing ever more arrogant. He greatly enjoyed the despair and struggle of living humans—he believed this to be the most exquisite moment.
Those who died in despair produced the most exquisite souls.
“Even if one must die, one should not die in a way that lets the enemy have their way.”
A voice entered the courtyard, startling the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, who spun around abruptly—yet he saw nothing.
The four youths instinctively raised their heads, and then they saw Li Qingqiu’s figure. They could not help but freeze in shock.
Li Qingqiu stood behind the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, his gaze icy cold.
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend reflexively turned his head. Catching a glimpse of Li Qingqiu out of the corner of his eye, he was so frightened that he immediately scattered his soul. Billowing ghostly energy exploded outward, surging endlessly.
Li Qingqiu directly took out the Soul Refining Banner. Vital Energy was poured into it, and the banner burst forth with terrifying suction, dragging the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend’s ghostly energy into it.
Even though the Clear Sky Sect had been developing its own path of magic implements, to this day there was still not a single implement that could compare to the Soul Refining Banner. The stronger the Vital Energy, the greater the power it unleashed. Moreover, the Soul Refining Banner was a growth-type magic implement, with no visible upper limit for the time being.
Li Qingqiu had seen many evil ghosts, yet none were as terrifying as the evil ghost currently sleeping within the Soul Refining Banner.
“No—!”
The Soul-Seizing Black Fiend let out a miserable scream. He simply could not resist the power of the Soul Refining Banner.
Compared to when Li Qingqiu had dealt with the Silent Nether Ghost King, he was now much stronger. Not to mention, the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend was inferior to the Silent Nether Ghost King in strength.
Li Qingqiu, holding the Soul Refining Banner as he devoured the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, left a scene etched into the eyes of the four youths. Every one of them stared wide-eyed, their gazes sparkling with joy, as though beholding an immortal deity.
Very soon, the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend was suppressed within the Soul Refining Banner. He arrived in a magic-implement space filled with ghosts, as if floating in the firmament.
He lifted his gaze and saw ghosts darting about in all directions. To his horror, he discovered that he could not move at all, and the sensation filled him with panic and unease.
Next, his eyes were drawn to a sun in the distance. Within that sun, a mysterious evil ghost was curled up, sleeping.
His eyes widened as he muttered in a trembling voice, “This is… how is this possible…”
In reality, Li Qingqiu retracted the banner. He took out some dried rations from his storage pouch and placed them on the ground, then removed the hand bone from the bamboo pole and tossed it into the storage pouch.
Before the four youths could speak, Li Qingqiu leapt up, like a Soaring Immortal, and swept into the miasma.
……
After suppressing the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, Li Qingqiu flew back to the Heavenly Mountain Spirit Pool at full speed. Before all the disciples, he released the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, letting them see it clearly, before collecting it back into the Soul Refining Banner.
“Have someone send the deceased back to the Clear Sky Sect. I’ll return first to prepare for the matter of exterminating ghosts.”
Li Qingqiu instructed Huang Shan. Huang Shan immediately accepted the order and then watched Li Qingqiu depart.
The Sect Master came and went like the wind, swift and decisive, inspiring both admiration and longing among the disciples.
The psychological pressure brought by the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend dissipated as well, though they could no longer be as carefree as before.
Near noon, Li Qingqiu was already seated within the Lingxiao Courtyard. Zhang Yuchun, Zhu Yan, Shen Yue, Xue Jin, and Clear Sky Daoist sat opposite him.
He had already recounted all the intelligence regarding the Soul-Seizing Black Fiend, leaving everyone in silence.
There were actually still fifteen evil ghosts active, all coveting the Nine Provinces.
Everyone felt immense pressure. These evil ghosts clearly required Spirit Perception Realm experts to deal with them, yet the Clear Sky Sect currently had only three Spirit Perception Realm experts.
Li Qingqiu spoke directly, “Dispatch disciples to investigate areas where vegetation is withering. Remember—once discovered, retreat immediately. Do not go deeper.”
Zhang Yuchun and Xue Jin nodded. They would make the arrangements.
“Great Demon Luo wants to open up a Ghost Dynasty. This will bring calamity upon the entire Nine Provinces. He must be exterminated. We need to prepare for battle in advance. Select one thousand disciples—when the time comes, I will personally lead them north to annihilate Great Demon Luo and his ghost army!”
Li Qingqiu continued issuing orders. No one objected, and all accepted the command.
This matter could not be rushed. Li Qingqiu merely had them begin selecting personnel. He intended to wait until Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning returned before making further decisions.
No matter what, the Clear Sky Sect had to have at least one Spirit Perception Realm expert holding the fort.
In the following days, news of demonic and evil attacks at the Heavenly Mountain Spirit Pool spread within the sect. As corpse after corpse was sent back, the entire sect was shaken.
One evening, Yun Cai came to find Li Qingqiu.
“Sect Master, if we head north later on, you must take me with you,” Yun Cai said seriously as she stood before Li Qingqiu. Her heart was far less calm than she appeared.
She had previously recommended Bo Zhao and the others to go to the Heavenly Mountain Spirit Pool, intending to provide them with a better cultivation environment. Yet this time, among the list of the dead were two constables who had followed Bo Zhao. This left her deeply distressed and full of guilt.
Li Qingqiu had already noticed this matter earlier. He simply had not paid special attention to the surviving Bo Zhao at the Heavenly Mountain Spirit Pool. In his eyes, all disciples were equal.
“Alright,” Li Qingqiu agreed without hesitation. He knew that if he did not give Yun Cai a chance for revenge, she would likely be left with a lingering obsession.
Yun Cai then saluted and took her leave, while Li Qingqiu continued cultivating divine arts within the forest.
News that the sect was preparing for a large-scale operation spread rapidly. Although no official notice was posted, disciples learned through their own connections that this operation was extremely dangerous. Only disciples at the fourth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm were qualified to apply, and even then, approval was not guaranteed.
This caused widespread discussion among the disciples, who were unsure whom the sect was planning to deal with. It also made the various great families nervous, fearing that their juniors might do something foolish at such a critical juncture.
Time soon reached mid-June.
Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning finally returned.
The two entered the Lingxiao Courtyard together. Li Qingqiu had Xiao Wuqing strike the Lingxiao Bell. Only after all the upper ranks had gathered did he allow the two to begin recounting the intelligence they had discovered.
“I encountered an evil ghost at the border of Cangzhou. The Nourishing Vital Energy Realm was absolutely no match for it. It excels at pulling people into illusions, causing them to lose perception of their surroundings. I could only barely drive it back—I did not exterminate it,”
Jiang Zhaoxia spoke first. As he mentioned this, his expression was solemn.
Only by truly facing such an evil ghost could one understand how terrifying they were. Every time Jiang Zhaoxia thought back on it, he would think of Li Qingqiu.
He did not know how Senior Brother had been able to so effortlessly exterminate such a powerful evil ghost.
When everyone heard that even Jiang Zhaoxia could not kill the evil ghost, they all frowned, including Shen Yue and Yan Daozong.
Jiang Zhaoxia continued, “The matter of ghost soldiers is real. I encountered them one night. Because there were two extremely powerful strands of ghostly energy within the ghost army, I held back. By the time dawn came, they had vanished.”
“The ghost soldiers I saw already numbered over a thousand. Whether there are more, I do not know. But this force of ghost soldiers is already capable of threatening our Clear Sky Sect.”
He shifted his gaze to Xu Ning. These were the two crucial pieces of intelligence he had obtained. He wanted to know whether Xu Ning had also encountered evil ghosts.
Although the two had returned along the same route, they had exchanged fewer than five sentences along the way.
Xu Ning spoke, “I also encountered two evil ghosts. Both possessed power not inferior to the Spirit Perception Realm. One evil ghost had immense strength, capable of shaking the earth and altering the environment. The other was extremely fast, with claws sharp as blades. I only exterminated the immensely strong evil ghost. The other was too fast and managed to escape.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed. The way they looked at her was filled with awe, while Jiang Zhaoxia’s expression visibly stiffened.