Something Bad

"What exactly happened?" Li Qingfeng forced himself to remain calm, though his voice trembled as he stared at Sun Adviser in disbelief.

Even with a Five Spirit Root, once one became a cultivator, one would not die as easily as an ordinary person.

Sun Adviser's expression flickered.

The ghost-headed saber suddenly came down, chopping squarely into the desk before him.

It scared Sun Adviser into another shudder, and the words he had swallowed hurriedly came back up.

"This matter has to start half a year ago."

"The Prefect's only son returned from the battlefield, gravely wounded, with his foundation damaged."

"To treat Young Master Zhang Gui's injuries, the Prefect found a prescription from who knew where. It required an immortal master's spiritual foundation as medicine."

"That would restore Young Master Zhang Gui's foundation and heal his wounds."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingfeng's eyes filled with shock.

The Prefect had actually used people as medicine.

Thinking of Meng Zhen being refined, Li Qingfeng felt a chill crawl down his spine, followed by rage surging straight to his head.

Using living people as medicine was unheard of.

"But those immortal masters usually came and went like divine dragons, their heads seen but never their tails. How could one speak of hunting immortal masters to obtain spiritual foundations?"

"So the Prefect decided to raise immortal masters himself."

"It just so happened that the date for the Prefecture City's resident immortal master to select candidates was drawing near. To avoid delaying Young Master Zhang Gui's treatment, the Prefect even spent spiritual treasures to have the resident immortal master begin the test a month early."

Sun Adviser recounted the entire affair in detail.

"Thus, after the immortal master selected his candidates, there were naturally unqualified people who failed."

"The Prefect ordered me to lure them to the Prefectural Governor's Mansion with Immortal Cultivation Techniques, then take the opportunity to control them."

"Once they became immortal masters, we would cut open their bellies and take their spirits, using their spiritual foundations as medicine."

"That is all I know." Sun Adviser spoke for the time it took an incense stick to burn, beginning from the start and recounting everything in detail without leaving anything out.

Li Qingfeng had already recovered from his shock and remained silent.

He too possessed a Five Spirit Root. If he had not obtained the Blood Fiend Art and the Soul Banner, would he likewise have been targeted after failing the selection?

At that time, he would have clutched desperately at any straw.

Especially since the Prefectural Governor's Mansion truly did provide cultivation techniques.

Meng Zhen must have regarded the Prefectural Governor's Mansion as his only hope.

No matter how poor one's aptitude was, becoming an immortal master meant breaking free from mortality.

For anyone capable of cultivation, it was an irresistible temptation.

No one could resist it.

It was the final straw for a drowning man.

Unfortunately, it was not hope at all, but a vicious conspiratorial trap, a scheme meant to harm others.

Tu Shan Jun suddenly remembered why those Black Armor Soldiers had looked familiar.

Back then, a squad of Black Armor Cavalry had escorted a carriage as it sped away.

He had even lamented that it was a pity no one had discovered him. Otherwise, he would never have lacked Living Souls and baleful intent upon entering the battlefield.

"Where is the body?"

After a long while, Li Qingfeng raised his head. His eyes were already bloodshot as he glared furiously and demanded the answer from Sun Adviser.

Sun Adviser gritted his teeth, shrinking back and avoiding his gaze.

"It was used as medicine. Nothing was left behind."

Having said everything, Sun Adviser collapsed limply onto the floor and cautiously watched Li Qingfeng's reaction.

Li Qingfeng's face twisted uncontrollably.

"Where is Zhang Wanlong?"

As though he had suddenly thought of something, Sun Adviser stared at Li Qingfeng in terror. The emotions he had only just calmed surged anew. "You... what do you want to do?"

"I'm asking you, where are Zhang Wanlong and his son?" Li Qingfeng was like a beast, his eyes revealing savage ferocity.

Meng Zhen had been his friend for ten years. They had grown up playing together.

Now Meng Zhen was dead.

Refined into pills and swallowed into someone's stomach, leaving not even bones behind.

He could not simply let it go.

The moment Li Qingfeng asked where Zhang Wanlong and his son lived, Tu Shan Jun knew what he intended to do, but he did not stop him.

A life for a life, a debt repaid with money—it was the law of heaven and earth.

To stop someone from taking revenge was to make an enemy of him.

Few people could remain calm in such circumstances, and persuasion would be useless.

It was better to strike first and gain the upper hand.

Expecting villains to turn over a new leaf and become decent people again was a fantasy beyond the heavens.

The only solution was to send them off to become people again in their next lives.

When Zhao Shixian had slain him, Tu Shan Jun had come to understand this truth deeply.

Evil men would never voluntarily lay down their butcher's blades.

This time, Meng Zhen had been injured and killed. Who could say Li Qingfeng would not be targeted next time?

Because he too was a Qi Refiner and possessed spiritual radiance.

Tu Shan Jun's gaze grew deep as he silently stood to one side.

"Prefect Zhang lives in the small courtyard behind the government office. Its door knocker is a copper ring."

"Zhang Gui also lives in the rear offices. His courtyard is only two courtyards away from the one with the copper-ring knocker."

Sun Adviser ultimately pointed out the way.

Although Zhang Wanlong had recognized his talent and given him an opportunity, under the threat of an evil ghost, he could only compromise.

More importantly, he had to survive the Black-Cloaked Man's hands first.

"Please, immortal master, in consideration of how truthfully I have told you everything, spare my life."

Li Qingfeng nodded at Tu Shan Jun.

Cloud and mist swirled.

After Li Qingfeng disappeared.

Tu Shan Jun in the dream raised the ghost-headed saber in his hand without hesitation.

The blade came down, clean and decisive.

Sun Adviser was somewhat startled by Li Qingfeng vanishing before his eyes. Then he felt as though his vision had begun to spin.

The next moment, heaven and earth spun.

His withered head rolled across the desk.

His body twitched unconsciously a few times, then fell silent forever.

Li Qingfeng woke atop the roof beam, touched the Soul Banner in his robes, and flipped away from the side hall.

He simply did not yet know that another Living Soul had been added to the Soul Banner.

The night was vast and dark.

Black clouds at the horizon covered the moon and blocked its hazy light.

Yet more than half of the Prefectural Governor's Mansion remained brightly lit.

Black Armor Soldiers patrolled carefully back and forth.

Ordinary people truly could not enter this heavily guarded Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

Li Qingfeng did not linger. In a few leaps, he reached the rear offices.

There were not many courtyards in the rear offices, and only one had a copper-ring door knocker.

Unlike the lion-head ring knockers of ordinary households, the copper ring on this courtyard's door looked like a small clenched fist gripping the ring tightly.

Perhaps, in the Prefect's eyes, it symbolized power held firmly in his hand.

With the emperor far away and the sky high above, Zhang Wanlong, as the parent-official of an entire prefecture, truly held great power in his grasp.

The armored soldiers guarding the entrance did not notice Li Qingfeng's intrusion.

Having found the courtyard where his target resided, the rest became much easier.

Li Qingfeng pressed close to the wall and entered the inner courtyard.

He had assumed Zhang Wanlong had already retired, but the side room inside was instead brightly illuminated.

As he drew near the window, he could hear faint sounds coming from within.

"This last one has not yet developed spiritual radiance, so he cannot be used as medicine."

"Deal with him in a day or two. Keeping him around will eventually become a disaster."

"The fighting in the north is pressing. You still have to go back."

Li Qingfeng could recognize Zhang Wanlong's voice.

"Father, I only just picked up my life again from the battlefield."

"If I had not used that Foundation Fusion Art, my injuries would have left lasting complications."

"I have to say, this method truly is quite useful."

The young man did not say much before changing the subject.

"Besides, Great Liang has suffered defeat after defeat. Perhaps once Sword Gate is breached, the dynasty's fate will be finished."

A younger voice sounded from within again, full and vigorous. There was no trace of injury in it.

Crouching outside, Li Qingfeng leaned against the wall and adjusted his breathing, rage rising in his heart. "Good. Before I even went looking for Zhang Gui, the two of them came together. Heaven truly has eyes."

"They ought to repay Meng Zhen with their lives."

Li Qingfeng clenched the Soul Banner, about to use the same trick to pull the two into a dream.

"Who is it?!"

The voices inside abruptly stopped, followed by a cold shout.

Li Qingfeng's eyes suddenly widened, surprise flashing across his face.

He had not expected the young man inside to be so sharp.

He had actually detected him.

Li Qingfeng hesitated no longer.

When a common man flew into a rage, blood would splash five paces away.

He was a Qi Refiner, and he had the Soul Banner in hand. Dealing with two ordinary men should have been as easy as turning over his hand.

He slammed through the window and attacked boldly.

Spiritual power flashed as the Spirit Official Dharma Eye opened at once.

Yet Li Qingfeng looked as if he had seen a ghost. Shock, confusion, and disbelief all appeared on his face.

Not only had Zhang Gui completely recovered from his injuries, he even possessed spiritual radiance.

That spiritual radiance was abundant, far stronger than Li Qingfeng's.

Tu Shan Jun's expression darkened within the Soul Banner. "Something bad happened."

Both of them had overlooked one thing: what if Zhang Wanlong or his son was a Qi Refiner?

Even if neither father nor son was one, what if they had a Qi Refiner Attendant?

It was not as though they had never considered it, but Li Qingfeng had seen Zhang Wanlong before, and he possessed no spiritual radiance.

If Zhang Gui had possessed the aptitude for cultivation, he would surely have followed an immortal master to an immortal sect long ago. How could he possibly have remained in the mortal world?

Yet they had forgotten one possibility: what if Zhang Gui was also an unqualified candidate with a False Spirit Root?