Mana

Tu Shan Jun's expression was grave.

He had no idea how strong the ghost inside the painting scroll was.

Most importantly, the banner master was in terrible condition.

At a glance, once the scroll had fully unfurled, all five people had toppled crookedly to the floor.

Even Li Qingfeng, at Qi Refining First Layer, was no exception.

Even if Tu Shan Jun reminded Li Qingfeng, it was useless.

The Soul Banner could only sway faintly.

Without mana to support it, there was simply no way to act. He could only watch helplessly.

The painting scroll gave off a pale pink mist.

As the five collapsed unconscious onto the ground, the figure in the painting began to move.

First came the eyes.

They rolled once, suddenly vivid and alive.

Then the head controlled the body, and the limbs slowly stretched out with it.

Seemingly unwilling to remain trapped in the painting, the figure extended a hand.

A pale arm abruptly rose and stretched out from the painting, its scarlet nails seeming capable of dripping blood.

White thighs swayed.

The tips of its toes probed about before finally landing on the floor of the private room.

Scarlet toenails against white feet looked remarkably seductive.

Before long, the female ghost from the painting had stepped out of the scroll.

Tu Shan Jun had been reminding Li Qingfeng all along, but Li Qingfeng slept like a dead pig and could not be awakened at all.

It did not matter if he could not wake him. So long as even a thread of mana flowed into the Soul Banner, he could act.

At the very least, if Li Qingfeng circulated his mana, he would most likely awaken from the painting ghost's dream-inducing mist.

Yet Li Qingfeng seemed not to have realized, even now, that he should circulate his mana and resist the ghost's tricks.

Tu Shan Jun could only fret helplessly.

It was useless.

The chill of the Soul Banner could not wake Li Qingfeng.

"Have I barely gotten my hands on this banner master, only for him to be harmed by a ghost before I've even warmed him up?" Tu Shan Jun frowned tightly, anxiety coiling between his brows.

When the banner master had been sensing qi, he could still throw a few punches.

Though he had not been confident, he had remained calm enough.

But now it was different. The new banner master's life was at stake.

The naked woman surveyed her surroundings before fixing her gaze on the five people sprawled across the floor.

Three gashes suddenly split across her beautiful face, forming a triangle. Flesh peeled back with a shrill zipping sound, as though a zipper had been drawn open.

Until she had completely shed that lovely female skin.

Tu Shan Jun pondered. "A painted-skin ghost? Doesn't look like one."

If she was a painted-skin ghost, then beneath the skin should have been a blue-green fiend with round eyes and chiseled teeth.

Instead, her body was covered in fine fur.

A ghostly face atop a human body, dragging a thick black tail, she resembled a hunched old monkey.

"Not quite a Mountain Goblin, more like a Mountain Goblin ghost." Tu Shan Jun recognized the creature. It was indeed a mountain goblin, except this one should have been dead.

After death, it had turned into a ghost and attached itself to this painting scroll.

The layer of human skin on the scroll was likely its disguise.

The goblin ghost stretched its body and stared at Li Qingfeng, collapsed on the ground, with shining eyes, as though it had spotted a delectable feast.

The other four did not even catch its eye.

But it was somewhat afraid and did not dare approach, only shuffling forward timidly.

A savage aura emerged on Tu Shan Jun's ghostly face. This beast actually coveted the fruit he had cultivated. If not for the lack of mana, he would have leaped out long ago and torn this goblin ghost apart.

Li Qingfeng had entered Qi Refining First Layer. His body had been cleansed by qi, turbid impurities expelled while spiritual radiance remained.

It was only natural that this thing coveted Li Qingfeng's flesh, blood, and vital essence.

After all, if it devoured Li Qingfeng, a Qi Refiner at Qi Refining First Layer, this goblin ghost could advance another step. That was far quicker than consuming the yang energy of mortals.

In the goblin ghost's eyes, Li Qingfeng was the most delicious tonic imaginable.

As for why it feared him—

It feared Li Qingfeng's status as a Qi Refiner.

The qi stored in the dantian was mana, and ghosts and spirits were innately afraid of such grand, righteous energy.

Tu Shan Jun watched as the goblin ghost shuffled closer step by step.

Its long ghostly hand extended, revealing sharp nails keen as blades.

The ghost claw drew closer and closer to Li Qingfeng's neck.

Because the claw was too sharp, Li Qingfeng's body had already reacted, every hair on his neck standing on end.

Within the Soul Banner, Tu Shan Jun commanded the forty-five ghostly spirits inside.

"Whether this works depends on this one move."

"Get moving, all of you."

All forty-five ghostly spirits stirred together. The ghost formed from Zhao Shixian was at Qi Refining Third Layer, and there was also an unidentified ghost at Qi Refining First Layer. Adding Tu Shan Jun himself, the Main Soul at Qi Refining Fourth Layer—

A total of forty-six ghosts stirred within the Soul Banner.

All of them used every trick they had.

The Soul Banner shook, slipping out from Li Qingfeng's chest and touching his neck.

The chill rushed to his head.

The unconscious Li Qingfeng abruptly opened his eyes.

"What is this? So cold?"

As he rolled over, he immediately saw the goblin ghost's outstretched claw reaching to seize him.

"Monster!"

His eyes widened as he clenched the Soul Banner tightly.

The penetrating chill eased the panic in his heart, allowing him to settle down somewhat.

The goblin ghost had already revealed itself, and when it saw Li Qingfeng awaken from the dream-inducing mist it had created, it was startled as well. But the arrow was already on the string; it had to be loosed.

Once it devoured Li Qingfeng's body, which contained spiritual radiance, it could simply leave.

Seeing that Li Qingfeng had not yet used his mana, it would not let such an opportunity pass. Its ghostly hand seized Li Qingfeng by the throat.

It opened its maw, revealing teeth like jagged sawblades, and bit toward Li Qingfeng's neck.

Li Qingfeng was merely a scholar. How had he ever seen such a scene? He was so frightened that he actually shut his eyes.

Tu Shan Jun, who had been poised to strike within the Soul Banner, condensed a thousand words into one curse.

"Fuck!"

At a life-or-death moment like this, was this the time to close his eyes and wait for death?

Fortunately, although Li Qingfeng had closed his eyes, he also raised the Soul Banner above his head. By a stroke of blind luck, he blocked the goblin ghost's bite.

How could Li Qingfeng not realize the power of this divine artifact now?

It could actually withstand a spirit creature's bite.

Moreover, after entering qi refinement, his body had been washed by mana and shed its turbid impurities. Even in the martial world, he would count as an expert above the Innate realm.

Though he understood nothing, he could still withstand several blows simply by brute force.

His face flushed red, even turning purple.

Li Qingfeng decided to gamble.

"Divine artifact, save me!"

Mana poured into the Soul Banner.

The Soul Banner absorbed all of Li Qingfeng's mana at Qi Refining First Layer in one go, not leaving behind even a tiny scrap.

Li Qingfeng inwardly cried that things were bad. He had only thought of making the divine artifact save his life, without knowing whether the mana of Qi Refining First Layer was enough to wield the Soul Banner.

Like a water pump, it swept everything clean.

A weak pallor appeared on Li Qingfeng's purple face.

The goblin ghost moved to attack again.

The Soul Banner in Li Qingfeng's hand burst open with a boom, instantly returning to a length of over three meters.

A thick blue-green arm stretched out from the banner's surface.

It seized the goblin ghost's head.

That enormous ghostly hand gripped the goblin ghost's head as though clutching a round apple.

Li Qingfeng gripped the Soul Banner tightly. With his mana exhausted, his body weakened and he staggered back two steps, yet he saw even more clearly.

Beyond his terror, he had already lost his voice.

He could not say a word at all.

A burly evil ghost leaped from the Soul Banner and pinned down the spirit creature.

Blue face, protruding fangs, wild crimson hair, its vicious aura crashed over him head-on.

The evil ghost had its back to him, its broad silhouette making its knotted muscles stand out all the more.

It turned its head slightly.

Scarlet ghostly eyes glanced at him.

Then it kicked the human skin back into the painting scroll before grabbing the Mountain Goblin and returning to the Soul Banner.

As though its mana had been exhausted, the Soul Banner shrank from over three meters back to a foot in length.

Li Qingfeng was so frightened that he threw the Soul Banner onto the floor.

He collapsed onto the ground, dizzy for a long while.

Tu Shan Jun sighed. This scholar's mental fortitude still needed improving.

This had only been a goblin ghost that had just entered the ranks. Even without using the Soul Banner, Li Qingfeng could have won if he had merely fought it with mana.

With this goblin ghost obtained, the Soul Banner became somewhat deeper again.

Moreover, after capturing the goblin ghost, Tu Shan Jun used Soul Interrogation and obtained a skill seed: 'Dream Entry.'