Crisis

After returning to the Li Estate, Lin Bei hadn't come back yet, so Chu Liang sat cross-legged and prepared to reward himself during this time.

Entering the White Pagoda, he saw a faint golden ghostly figure being held in a cell.

Chu Liang had previously wondered if this White Pagoda was some kind of evil magical artifact that refined souls in exchange for treasures. Later, he realized it probably wasn't. The White Pagoda didn't interfere with the dissipation and reincarnation of souls. The golden ethereal figure it extracted seemed more like a mark, simply used to prove that he had indeed slain such an evil creature.

The most direct evidence was the Painted Skin Demon before him, and the Cat Spirit from earlier. They were both formed from ghostly entities, inherently ethereal souls.

If the White Pagoda was extracting and refining their souls here, then their forms within the White Pagoda should be no different from their forms outside. However, that wasn't the case. Inside the White Pagoda, there was only a mindless golden ethereal figure.

So, this was just a positive energy White Pagoda that encouraged him to slay demons and eliminate evil.

Thinking this, he casually pressed the "Refine" button.

Boom—

After the light faded, he caught the treasure in his hand and found it was a crystal-clear white jade talisman.

[Soul Transfer Spell]:

Can temporarily swap your soul with the soul inside another body, lasting for three breaths. It is recommended to use on the same species; entering a different species will not be a pleasant experience. Three breaths is a very short time, but sometimes it is enough.

Chu Liang curled his lip. This reward was a bit disappointing.

Strictly speaking, this kind of jade talisman wasn't a talisman scroll. It was just a stored spell.

Cultivators could store one of their divine abilities or spells in such a jade talisman using a complex method. The higher the grade of the jade talisman, the better the storage effect. A white jade talisman like this could preserve at least eighty percent of the power.

Sometimes, these jade talismans could have miraculous effects, such as allowing complex spells to be cast instantly, or storing defensive spells for juniors.

However, this method had many limitations and the cost involved was significant, so it wasn't particularly common.

As for the Soul Transfer Spell stored in this jade talisman...

Chu Liang didn't see much use for it. It would have been better to give him an empty white jade talisman. This rare material could be sold for quite a few Sword Coins at the Sword Transmission Hall.

But a white jade talisman that stored a useless spell wasn't worth much.

Just as the reward finished, Lin Bei returned from outside.

"How did it go?" Lin Bei asked.

"Very smoothly, the Painted Skin Demon has been eliminated," Chu Liang replied.

"That's good. Things went smoothly on my end too. Yan Xiaohu has recognized me as his sworn elder brother and swore to turn over a new leaf and be a good person from now on," Lin Bei said with a smile.

Chu Liang nodded.

Then he told Lin Bei about the specific process.

"But it's strange..." After hearing Chu Liang recount the events and understanding the full picture, Lin Bei was a bit puzzled. "They were all people who bullied her, so why didn't Situ Yan hold a grudge against Yan Xiaohu? He was scared for a long time, but he wasn't even on her revenge list."

"Perhaps... it's because Yan Xiaohu didn't discriminate against her based on her appearance," Chu Liang mused. "Although he would demand money from Situ Yan, he would also demand it from others, and the amount was the same. In this regard, he treated everyone equally. The ones who caused Situ Yan harm were those who treated her specially..."

"That makes sense, sigh..." Lin Bei nodded, then let out a long sigh.

Late at night, it should have been a quiet night.

Returning to Nanshan Academy, Song Qingyi circulated her energy and meditated for a while before lying down to rest.

Cultivators in the Human Realm still needed sleep to recuperate their spirits. Only upon reaching the peak of the Divine Intent Realm, with complete essence, energy, and spirit, could cultivation replace sleep. However, even that experience was not as comfortable as a solid night's rest.

Not long after, as dawn approached, she was suddenly awakened by a whimpering cry.

"Hmm?" Song Qingyi turned over and sat up, confirming that a faint, intermittent crying sound was drifting in from outside the window.

She got up, put on her clothes, and with a swift movement, appeared outside the window.

This was a residence specifically arranged for her by Nanshan Academy, quite far from the other instructors' quarters, with no one living nearby.

Who was crying?

Following the sound, she didn't go far before she saw a small figure curled up in the corner of a wall, with her hair styled in twin buns, her back to her, weeping.

"Little one?" Song Qingyi hurried over. "What's wrong?"

By this time, the matter of the Painted Skin Demon had come to an end, and she wasn't particularly vigilant. But the moment the child turned her head, a thick wave of Yin energy almost assaulted her face. Song Qingyi's heart tightened, and she retreated swiftly!

But it was still a little late.

She still saw the child's face, dark, terrifying, with gnarled, hideous veins, shattered like a rotten watermelon. A clang seemed to echo in her mind, as if a heavy hammer had struck deep within her soul.

Although her reaction was very fast, she was still caught off guard by this attack, and her entire body froze in place for a moment.

It was at this juncture that several popping sounds came from beneath her feet. Seven or eight bony, long-nailed ghost hands broke through the soil, simultaneously grabbing her ankles!

Song Qingyi bit her tongue hard to regain consciousness, flipped her hand, took out the Inch Heart Ruler, and was about to sever these ghost hands.

But another bone-chilling coldness came from behind!

She herself could only feel extreme cold, and her body was stiff and unable to move.

But if one were to look from the side, they would see a white-clothed female ghost with her face covered by long hair, who had somehow attached herself to her back, her hands gripping her shoulder blades.

"Who is it?"

Song Qingyi was restrained but did not panic. Instead, she asked in a calm voice. So many ghosts appearing at the same time could not be a coincidence.

Someone must be controlling them from behind.

"Heh heh, so it's the little girl from Gentleman Hall..." A hoarse, unpleasant voice sounded from the side.

A tall figure wearing a black robe that covered his body and a hood over his head slowly walked out. His voice sounded very old, but his physique and posture did not resemble an old man, which was slightly eerie.

"You shouldn't have, you absolutely shouldn't have, touched the Painted Skin Demon I painstakingly refined." The black-robed man's tone still held resentment. "I promised her that if she killed three enemies here, she would focus on collecting souls for me. Who knew... it was clearly over, and she was ready to leave with me... but you just had to kill her at that moment..."

"I'm very angry..."

"You must pay the price..."

The black-robed man's sinister tone sent shivers down one's spine in the darkness before dawn.

Song Qingyi said no more, but suddenly formed a hand seal with her left hand, and a golden light floated up into the air. It was the Half-Page Golden Book.

The Half-Page Golden Book ascended into the sky, casting down a clear radiance. The several ghost hands that were binding and entangling Song Qingyi instantly emitted black smoke! Sizzling sounds were incessant, and screams and wails immediately erupted.

"Ah—"

The ghostly hand and the white-clothed female ghost retreated one after another, and Song Qingyi immediately regained her freedom. She did not try to attack the black-robed figure, because the previous battle had already proven that the opponent's cultivation was far superior to hers, at least a Golden Core Realm cultivator... and a demonic cultivator with strange methods.

Escaping at this moment was the most important thing.

She flipped over and swept backward, but the black-robed figure did not pursue. He just smiled strangely, flipped his hand, and took out a large black iron slingshot.

He made a grasping motion with his right hand on the slingshot, pulled it taut, and lightly shouted, "Go!"

Whoosh—

A flash of lightning streaked across the long night.

Hiss.

Song Qingyi's figure trembled in mid-air, making the sound of being pierced by a sharp weapon, but no wound appeared. She just suddenly froze, and then fell heavily to the ground.

Bang!

After she fell to the ground, she felt a chilling coldness throughout her body, incredibly stiff. Even moving a finger was extremely difficult. A name suddenly flashed through her mind.

Soul Piercing Nail.

A demonic artifact of the Nether King Sect, formless and shadowless, specifically used to pierce the human soul. With one nail, if the soul is fixed, the person is fixed.

The sound of footsteps from behind grew closer and closer. The black-robed figure slowly walked over, then hooked a finger. It was as if invisible threads were pulling Song Qingyi, and her body involuntarily straightened up.

"Come with me."

The black-robed figure let out a strange laugh and stepped forward. The very stiff Song Qingyi followed behind all the way, seemingly unable to escape.

However.

In a corner unnoticed by anyone, the Half-Page Golden Book that had just protected Song Qingyi had quietly disappeared