Mountains and rivers came to life, vividly realistic. As radiant light flowed, the illusory great seal began to solidify, appearing like a colossal mountain falling from the heavens.
The crushing pressure made it difficult for the Redfire Old Ghost to breathe.
Instinctively, he wrapped himself in a crimson banner, while the other two quickly brought out their magic tools, talismans, and treasured artifacts in a desperate attempt to survive the descending great seal.
Boom
The seal smashed down mercilessly. A sharp, grating crack followed it, and it was the sound of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's defensive artifact being shattered into pieces.
"No… please… Leader, save me!"
He cried out in panic, desperately hoping his leader would come to his rescue.
But no one responded to his pleas or screams. He could only watch in horror as the seal shattered his protective spiritual shield and, in utter despair, turned him into a cloud of blood mist.
He was like a praying mantis blocking a cartwheel, unable to slow it even the slightest. The now-solidified seal, stained with fresh blood, crashed down heavily onto the Redfire Old Ghost and the head of the Gluttonous Fiend Monster Hunting Squad.
Boom—
Dust and smoke billowed into the sky above the nameless mountain range. A mountain crumbled, leaving behind a massive square-shaped crater.
Watching the seal in his palm slowly fade, Song Changsheng's eyes flashed with surprise. This was the first time he had used the Mountain-Flipping Seal in actual combat, and he hadn't expected it to be so devastating; it had flattened an entire hill and created a pit several zhang deep.
If a mountain could be so easily destroyed, then the fate of the three who directly faced the Mountain-Flipping Seal was obvious. The weakest, the early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, was reduced to blood mist. The other two now lay in the pit, barely clinging to life.
Song Changsheng waved his sleeve to disperse the dust, then descended on his sword to the edge of the crater. From above, he looked down at the Redfire Old Ghost and the fiend-hunting team leader.
Their current state could only be described as miserable. The Redfire Old Ghost's crimson banner had lost its glow and was torn, a large gash running through it. He was embedded into the mountain wall, chest caved in, coughing up blood and fragments of internal organs.
Gone was the arrogance from earlier; his eyes now stared at Song Changsheng with utter terror, and hoarse groans escaped his throat.
The team leader was in slightly better shape. Scattered around him were pieces of a shattered bronze artifact, once a low-grade spiritual tool that had taken the brunt of the impact for him. Though heavily injured, his Foundation Establishment peak cultivation kept him from being completely incapacitated. He struggled to crawl out of the human-shaped pit.
Song Changsheng fixed his eyes on him and, after a moment, frowned. "This is the weakest peak Foundation Establishment cultivator I've ever seen. You're not the real one, are you? Or at least, not your true body?"
Cough, cough... "So you noticed," the blood-soaked team leader replied weakly. "Fellow Daoist, let's make a deal. What'll it take for you to let me go?"
"What? You're just going to abandon that guy?" Song Changsheng glanced at the Redfire Old Ghost and crossed his arms with an amused expression. "He's still breathing, you know."
"Hmph, he's a useless cripple. Leaving him behind means nothing. Let me go, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened. I'll even pay you handsomely."
In the Redfire Old Ghost's despairing gaze, the fiend-hunting team leader discarded him without a second thought.
A faint smile appeared on Song Changsheng's face. "I might be willing to consider letting you go. But first, I'd like to know what the Gluttonous Fiend Monster Hunting Squad, so infamous in the north, is doing down here in the south?"
The leader kept a straight face. "The northern part of the Great Qi cultivation world has turned into a battlefield between two major sects. We couldn't survive there anymore, so we came south."
"Sounds reasonable enough. But do you take me for a three-year-old? Tell me your real purpose. Otherwise… forget this clone of yours."
A dangerous edge crept into Song Changsheng's tone. His eyes gleamed with killing intent.
The team leader's expression changed slightly. Although this was just a clone, he had fused a quarter of his soul into its sea of consciousness to make it more realistic, allowing it to maintain a peak Foundation Establishment level. If the clone were destroyed, he would lose a quarter of his soul, which would not be fatal, but certainly unacceptable.
"Are you willing to make an enemy of the Gluttonous Fiend Monster Hunting Squad?" the leader asked coldly.
Song Changsheng looked around and chuckled. "You were the ones who chose to oppose me. So now, it's simple talk, or die. You have ten breaths to decide."
"You! Fine. I'll consider it."
The leader frowned deeply, as if seriously pondering his options. But in the next instant, a surge of energy exploded from within his body, and he charged straight toward the dying Redfire Old Ghost.
It was clear he wanted to die together with him.
"I knew you wouldn't give in so easily."
Song Changsheng had been watching him closely the whole time. How could he let him succeed? With a flicker of his figure, he appeared in front of the Redfire Old Ghost, his blood and qi surging, and slowly threw out a punch.
"Pfft!"
The punch landed squarely on the leader of the Monster Hunting Team, caving in his chest. His already injured internal organs were completely shattered. His eyes bulged as he spat out a large mouthful of blood, and then collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
From his skull, a nearly transparent miniature figure emerged, its face twisted in a snarl as it shrieked, "You just wait! I'll make you wish you were dead!"
"Heh, I'll be waiting."
A cold smile crept across Song Changsheng's face. He extended his right hand and directly crushed the tiny figure, reducing it to a shower of dissipating light.
In a remote mountain hollow in Yangzhou, a shrill scream echoed out. A middle-aged man, identical in appearance to the leader of the Monster Hunting Team, clutched his head and rolled on the ground in agony.
It took a while for him to calm down. His body was still trembling slightly, though the searing pain in his mind had eased a little.
"Who was it?! Who destroyed my soul avatar?! I swear I'll tear you to pieces!"
His ghostly scream echoed through the hollow, startling a flock of birds into flight.
"Looks like the master you chose isn't so reliable after all. Not only did he abandon you, he even tried to kill you."
After confirming the man was truly dead, Song Changsheng squatted down next to the Redfire Old Ghost and said in a voice full of mock sympathy.
Hatred filled the Redfire Old Ghost's eyes as he sent a voice transmission to Song Changsheng:
"Spare my life, and I'll tell you the secret of why he came to the South!"
"So you do know something…"
Interest flickered in Song Changsheng's eyes. If the man was willing to risk the destruction of his soul avatar rather than reveal this secret, then it was certainly something worthwhile.
"If your intel is valuable enough, I might just let you live."
"No, I want a promise that you won't kill me. Otherwise, I'd rather die!"
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Song Changsheng's brow twitched ever so slightly. But then, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Alright, if you speak, I promise not to kill you. I swear it on my path to Dao."
Hearing this, the Redfire Old Ghost finally relaxed and said,
"He's searching for a treasure, one that even a Purple Mansion cultivator would be tempted by!"
"A treasure?" Song Changsheng's eyes lit up. Now that's something I'm interested in.
"I don't know too much about it," the old ghost continued. "He was always very guarded with us. I only know that the treasure is somewhere in the South, and it's related to a few jade tokens."
"Jade tokens?" Song Changsheng's heart stirred. Could it be? He had one himself that was connected to a treasure.
With a calm expression, he asked, "What does the token look like?"
"It's just a jade piece with some kind of engraving. I only got a glance. From what that bastard said, there are four tokens in total, and he only has one, just a quarter.
But he has a special secret technique that lets him use his piece to track down the others. He calculated that one of the tokens would pass through Yangzhou, which is why he sent us here to intercept anyone passing through.
Flying boats are rare in the Great Qi cultivation world, and their owners are usually not ordinary people. I didn't want to attack you, but he had a soul avatar watching, and I couldn't say no."
Like spilling beans from a bamboo tube, the Redfire Old Ghost poured out everything he knew. He even threw in an excuse to defend himself at the end.
"So that's it!"
Song Changsheng's eyes gleamed with excitement. No wonder I could never pinpoint the location of the Blood Demon Treasure, turns out one of the tokens was still out there.
"Leader of the Gluttonous Fiend Monster Hunters… whether you die or not now, you're doomed!"
After so many years, the treasure finally had a new lead.
"Do you know where his true body is?" Song Changsheng asked.
"I only know he's somewhere in Yangzhou, but I don't know the exact location. He didn't tell anyone. And now that you've killed his soul avatar, he's gone into hiding."
"So basically… you're no longer of any use," Song Changsheng said with an icy calm.
Terror flooded the Redfire Old Ghost's eyes.
"You swore you wouldn't kill me! You promised on your Dao path!"
"Hahaha, just messing with you. I said I wouldn't kill you, so I won't."
Song Changsheng flashed a radiant smile, but to the old ghost, it was no different from the face of a devil.
"I'll give you two options," Song Changsheng said gently. "First: give me your soul imprint and swear loyalty to me. I'll heal your injuries, feed you, and shelter you.
Second: I cripple your cultivation… and then let you go."
That kind, warm smile on his face only made the Redfire Old Ghost's heart sink further into dread.
"…I-I submit…"
After an intense inner struggle, his survival instinct finally overwhelmed his pride as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Better to be a slave than a cripple left to be eaten by beasts, right?
A wisp of his soul separated from his sea of consciousness and floated in front of Song Changsheng as a glowing mote of light.
"A wise decision. Don't worry, as long as you behave, I might even consider granting you freedom one day."
Song Changsheng split off a wisp of his soul, imprinted a restriction on the light, and merged it back into the old ghost's sea of consciousness.
From this moment on, the Redfire Old Ghost's life was completely in Song Changsheng's hands. As long as he showed the slightest disloyalty, Song Changsheng could detonate the wisp of divine soul he had left behind, blowing his sea of consciousness to smithereens.
It was a highly reliable method of control unless the Redfire Old Ghost surpassed Song Changsheng by an entire major realm or had a sea of consciousness strong enough to withstand the soul detonation; he would have no way to break free on his own.
Moreover, if Song Changsheng were to die, he would be buried along with him!
"What an effective method... It's just a shame I can't use it too often," Song Changsheng sighed inwardly. This method carried considerable risk.
If a controlled person died, Song Changsheng would lose a fragment of his divine soul. The more people he controlled, the greater the risk.
Under normal circumstances, controlling three people was already dangerous. If someone managed to kill all of them at the same time, Song Changsheng's divine soul would suffer severe damage, affecting not only his cultivation but possibly even ending his cultivation path entirely!
"Light of Rejuvenation."
A surge of boundless vitality suddenly poured from Song Changsheng's palm, causing Redfire Old Ghost's internal injuries to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When Song Changsheng withdrew his hand, the old ghost was astonished to find that nearly half of his injuries had already recovered. This deepened the reverence he felt toward Song Changsheng.
He crawled up from the crater, turned toward Song Changsheng, knelt, and pressed his forehead to the cold ground. In a hoarse voice, he said, "I... this old slave greets his master!"
Song Changsheng nodded and said, "From now on, you'll be called Redfire. No need to call me Master, just call me Young Lord."
"As you command, Young Lord," Redfire replied, feeling slightly more at ease.
"Clean this place up, freshen yourself up a bit, and then come see me on the flying vessel." Song Changsheng gave him a slightly disgusted glance before flying toward the airship hovering overhead.
He had deliberately moved the battlefield, so the vessel hadn't been affected.
After putting away the Lu Wu Bell, he turned to the two young ones and said, "It's done. The threat is gone."
"You're hurt?" Song Qingxi asked with concern, noticing the bloodstains on his body.
"This is all the enemy's," Song Changsheng replied.
In truth, he hadn't directly clashed with the opponent much during the fight, and he barely had a chance to get injured.
"I sensed a very powerful force just now," Song Qingxing said, glancing at the massive crater in the distance.
"That was one of the family's three great divine abilities, Mountain-Flipping Seal. There's also one called Xun Wind Finger, which suits you well. Once the time is right, you can try cultivating it."
Song Qingxing nodded lightly, clearly lost in thought.
"You two should get back to cultivating. I'll go check the damage on the flying vessel."
When Song Changsheng reached the back of the ship, one glance was enough to make his heart sink. Redfire's earlier strike had been extremely precise; the propulsion system was directly damaged. Without major repairs, the vessel could crash at any moment.
"We've only just reached the border of Yangzhou, and it's still a million li away from Heavenly Sword Sect. If we rely on sword flight, it'll take even longer and drain our spiritual energy. We have to find a place to repair it."
Although Song Changsheng was an artifact craftsman, he didn't have the skills to fix a flying vessel. He would need a specialized Artisan Master.
Artisan Masters were a sub-branch of artifact refiners, focusing primarily on crafting large-scale instruments like flying vessels and warships.
Such masters were rare in the Great Qi cultivation world; those at the second tier and above could be counted on one hand. Fortunately, there was one qualified Artisan Master in Xiangzhou who could repair the propulsion system.
Just then, a burst of sword energy suddenly surged from the flying vessel.
Song Changsheng rushed over immediately, only to find Song Qingxing standing protectively in front of Song Qingxi, sword in hand, facing off against a red-haired old man.
Seeing the two little ones, Redfire looked completely innocent.
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