Cloud Emperor City, Provincial Governor's Residence.
Shen Yue pulled his wooden sword from the corpse of the four-armed elder. At this moment, Shen Yue was covered in blood, his robes tattered. A horrifying wound gaped along the left side of his waist, yet his expression remained cold and stern.
The four-armed elder lay in a pool of blood. The blood-stained cloth that had covered his eyes was nowhere to be seen. With difficulty, he opened his eyes—both blood-red—and looked at Shen Yue as he asked in a trembling voice, "Was that… something you comprehended… on the spot?"
Shen Yue looked down at him and said, "That's right. You forced me into a desperate situation, and only then did I gain insight."
"A desperate situation? Heh…"
The four-armed elder let out a self-mocking laugh. He did not believe Shen Yue's words at all.
From the moment Shen Yue refused Li Qingqiu's assistance, he had known that Shen Yue possessed absolute confidence in defeating him.
He simply had not expected that he would truly be defeated by a swordsman at the 9th layer of the Nurturing Essence realm. At this moment, his heart felt both ashamed and indescribably gratified.
"Young one, you have defeated this old man—the Northern Court Sword God. From now on, you may also call yourself Sword God…" the four-armed elder said with difficulty, his voice growing weaker.
Shen Yue remained expressionless. "I have long been a Sword God. Not self-proclaimed—but acknowledged as such by the world."
Upon hearing this, astonishment appeared on the four-armed elder's face. Then, he felt relieved.
Whoosh—
A gust of cold wind swept through. The four-armed elder's body turned into drifting ashes and scattered with the wind.
Shen Yue finally let out a breath of relief. He then dropped to one knee, gripping his sword with one hand while clutching his waist with the other, his face twisting in pain.
He looked up. In the distance, other disciples were still fighting, but Cloud Emperor City no longer echoed with the earlier clamor.
This battle—it seemed they had won.
Shen Yue recalled that sword which had turned heaven and earth into daylight. His heart was filled with mixed emotions.
In this lifetime, would he truly be able to catch up to Li Qingqiu?
Adjusting his posture, he sat down to meditate where he was and began circulating his technique to heal his injuries.
After a while, 5 Qingxiao Sect disciples landed around him. One female disciple immediately performed the Secret Technique — Rejuvenation Ghost-Immortal Needles on him and inquired about his condition, while the other 4 stood guard vigilantly.
"How is the situation now?" Shen Yue opened his eyes and asked.
A male disciple replied, "Elder Jiang has already slain one evil ghost. Senior Brother Zhao Zhen and Senior Brother Li Yang are leading dozens of disciples in surrounding and exterminating another evil ghost. Aside from that, 2 more evil ghosts are still fighting us."
Shen Yue was not surprised to hear that Jiang Zhaoxia had slain an evil ghost.
What did surprise him was that Zhao Zhen had begun to shoulder responsibility. It was clear that without Zhao Zhen, this group of disciples would never have been able to surround and exterminate an evil ghost.
A faint smile appeared on Shen Yue's face. He could feel that the next generation of Qingxiao Sect was rising.
Only by personally crossing blades with the evil ghosts of Ghost King Ridge could one understand the immense pressure.
When Shen Yue thought about how many more such evil ghosts still lurked within Ghost King Ridge, he felt the burden on his shoulders grow heavy.
He had to reach the Awakening Spirit realm as soon as possible. Otherwise, being gravely injured at every turn—how could he live up to the title of Sword God?
…
When Li Qingqiu returned to Cloud Emperor City, the sounds of battle had already subsided. Though snow still fell from the night sky, it was no longer as bone-chilling as before the battle began.
He walked along the streets. Chu Jing followed closely behind, carrying the ghost infant. Along the way, they saw soldiers resting and pools of rotting flesh covering the ground. A foul stench permeated the city.
Xiao Wuqing landed beside him and reported on the situation within the city.
12 disciples had died. 134 disciples had been injured.
Li Qingqiu nodded expressionlessly and said, "Have the disciples gather around the Provincial Governor's Residence."
"Yes!"
Xiao Wuqing immediately went to relay the order, while Li Qingqiu headed in another direction.
[Given that this is your first time leading your Dao Lineage to directly defeat a ghostly Dao force in open confrontation, achieving a great victory and eliminating hidden dangers to your Dao Lineage's development, you have obtained 1 Divine Ability Inheritance Reward.]
Seeing the prompt appear before him, Li Qingqiu finally let out a breath of relief.
Although it was not a complete eradication, with Great Demon Luo dead, this calamity was temporarily over. Even if the remaining evil ghosts dared to commit evil again, they would have to tuck their tails between their legs and hide in the shadows.
He quickened his pace and soon arrived at a dimly lit district.
Landing atop a broken wall, he focused his gaze. In the ruined courtyard ahead lay a ghost flood dragon over 10 zhang long. After being ravaged by heavenly thunder, it had lost its ability to move and was barely clinging to life.
Li Qingqiu directly cast the Soul-Binding Curse on it, seizing its memories.
Gravely injured, the ghost flood dragon had no strength to resist and could only allow Li Qingqiu to ravage its ghost soul.
Chu Jing stood guard nearby, holding the ghost infant.
One figure after another descended from the sky, landing upon the surrounding ruins. At their head was Yun Cai.
When she saw that Li Qingqiu was uninjured, she visibly relaxed. She did not approach, instead standing vigil with Chu Jing.
From time to time, their gazes were drawn to the ghost flood dragon, as its immense size was truly horrifying.
After a long while—
Li Qingqiu's eyes returned to normal. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
Unlike the other evil ghosts, this ghost flood dragon did not possess the bizarre ability to split its soul. Its demonic body was one of flesh and blood, and its ghost soul could not leave that body. Once separated, it would immediately scatter and perish.
Because of this, among the 16 evil ghosts, this ghost flood dragon ranked near the bottom in terms of strength.
It was valued by Great Demon Luo because it had mastered a spell akin to summoning wind and rain. It could even infuse its own emotions into the wind and rain, influencing living beings.
The earlier heavy snowfall had been its doing. It had rendered Liu Jing's army of 300,000 soldiers unable to endure the bone-piercing cold that seemed to stab into their souls, while simultaneously disturbing the army's minds, affecting Qin Ye's judgment, and causing the entire force to descend into chaos.
"Please… senior… spare me…"
The ghost flood dragon opened its eyes and weakly spoke.
Li Qingqiu did hesitate somewhat. In life, this ghost flood dragon had been an auspicious creature and had never harmed anyone. It had been hunted by greedy martial artists and driven into Ghost King Ridge, where it was corrupted by the curse of that place and fell into its current state.
Within Ghost King Ridge, the ghost flood dragon had suffered humiliation. Only after pledging allegiance to Great Demon Luo had its situation improved.
After escaping with Great Demon Luo, it had always worked for him. Though it harbored resentment toward mortals, it was unlike the other evil ghosts who delighted in devouring the living. This was also the reason it ranked near the bottom in strength.
After pondering for a while, Li Qingqiu decided that its spell would be very useful. Coupled with the fact that its sins were not particularly grave, he chose to spare its life.
Using the Soul-Binding Curse, Li Qingqiu branded a yin-soul mark into the ghost flood dragon's soul body, turning it into his ghost servant.
Thus, Li Qingqiu gained another ghost servant.
A ghost servant of the Awakening Spirit realm.
Moreover, the ghost flood dragon possessed its own fleshly body and could operate independently for long periods without remaining by Li Qingqiu's side.
Once the master-recognition mark was imprinted, the ghost flood dragon let out a wail. It rapidly shrank, flew toward Li Qingqiu, and landed on the back of his right hand, forming the pattern of a black flood dragon.
Li Qingqiu touched it with his left hand. It felt like a lump of flesh.
This had nothing to do with the Soul-Binding Curse—it was a spell of the ghost flood dragon itself.
Though called an evil ghost, it was in fact a demon that had cultivated the ghostly Dao. Through it, Li Qingqiu learned that auspicious creatures would awaken innate spells upon reaching adulthood. The ghost flood dragon's ability to summon wind and rain had been something it possessed from birth, taught by no one.
He could not help but wonder what kind of spell the Prison Qilin would awaken upon reaching adulthood.
When Yun Cai and the other disciples saw the ghost flood dragon—over 10 zhang long—shrink and burrow into Li Qingqiu's hand, their eyes widened in shock.
After finishing all this, Li Qingqiu led Chu Jing, Yun Cai, and the others toward the Provincial Governor's Residence.
At that moment, the ghost infant in Chu Jing's arms opened its eyes and suddenly leaped onto Li Qingqiu's shoulder, drawing side glances from the others.
"Success?"
Li Qingqiu asked curiously. The gains from this journey had been immense for him. First, he had gained a ghost servant of the Awakening Spirit realm. Second, Lin Chuan had obtained the body of a mysterious ghost infant.
He could sense that this ghost infant contained terrifying power. How much Lin Chuan would be able to harness remained to be seen.
Without a doubt, Lin Chuan would become an important combat force for Li Qingqiu in the future.
"Still not used to it."
Lin Chuan tilted his head as he spoke. Li Qingqiu raised his hand and rubbed the little head gently, asking no further questions. He planned to study it carefully after returning.
When Li Qingqiu arrived before the Provincial Governor's Residence, the disciples of Qingxiao Sect had already gathered there. Jiang Zhaoxia was speaking with Qin Ye.
Li Qingqiu noticed Shen Yue's miserable condition. That old fellow truly did love to push himself.
Upon seeing Li Qingqiu's arrival, the disciples raised their hands in salute. Those meditating in nearby streets cast excited glances toward him.
In this battle, every Qingxiao Sect disciple had participated. The power of the evil ghosts had left lingering fear in their hearts. After the battle ended, however, they all felt an immense sense of pride and release.
Of course, none of them could forget the dazzling white light that had burst forth from outside the city earlier. They had heard that it was the Sect Master's sword light. While healing, they discussed just how powerful their Sect Master truly was.
The countless corpse ghosts had suddenly collapsed into pools of rotting flesh—clearly their mastermind had been slain by the Sect Master.
Without the Sect Master swiftly killing the powerful evil ghost behind the corpse ghosts, the outcome of this battle would have been far more tragic.
"Rest and reorganize within the city tonight," Li Qingqiu instructed. No one objected. Xiao Wuqing immediately went to relay the order.
Li Qingqiu turned to Jiang Zhaoxia, who promptly gave a general account of the battle.
The actual casualties of Qingxiao Sect were several more than Xiao Wuqing had previously reported. As for the casualties among Liu Jing's army, Li Qingqiu did not concern himself with them.
Of the 16 evil ghosts, along with Great Demon Luo, 9 had been slain.
Aside from the ghost flood dragon, 6 evil ghosts remained and would continue to plague the mortal world. There was no helping that.
After Jiang Zhaoxia finished speaking, Qin Ye hesitated briefly before stepping forward and asking, "Master, someone from the Li clan was used by the evil ghosts. Though he was forced, it was indeed he who set the trap. What do you think should be done?"
Li Qingqiu looked at Qin Ye, whom he had not seen for many years, and clearly sensed a certain distance between master and disciple. After a moment's thought, he said, "Mundane matters should be handled by the mundane world. Deliver him to Liu Jing and let Liu Jing decide his life or death."
"Yes!"
Qin Ye cupped his fists and accepted the order, stepping back.
Li Qingqiu looked at him again and asked, "When will you return to Qingxiao Mountain?"
Although he had originally taken Qin Ye as a disciple due to the benefits the Qin family provided to Qingxiao Sect, the bond of master and disciple was real. Naturally, Li Qingqiu would not ignore him.
Hearing his master's question, Qin Ye felt a surge of emotion and quickly replied, "Once the world is unified, I will lay down my armor and return to the mountain to cultivate."
After tonight's battle, he realized that Qingxiao Sect had produced far more geniuses than he had imagined. Too many disciples were stronger than he was, making him almost embarrassed to admit that he was the Sect Master's disciple.
Within his heart, the desire to pursue the immortal path once again ignited.