17, Ruined

"What exactly is going on?" Li Qingfeng forced himself to stay calm, but his voice trembled as he stared at Sun Adviser in disbelief.

Even with five spiritual roots, once someone became a cultivator, they wouldn't die as easily as a mortal.

Sun Adviser's expression flickered.

The ghost-headed blade suddenly fell, slamming straight into the desk in front of him.

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

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

"The Prefectural Governor's only son returned from the battlefield, severely wounded, his foundation damaged."

"To treat Young Master Zhang Gui's injuries, the Prefectural Governor somehow found a prescription that required a cultivator's spiritual base as medicine."

"That way, Zhang Gui's foundation and wounds could be repaired."

Hearing this, Li Qingfeng's eyes were already filled with shock.

The Prefectural Governor was actually using people as medicine.

Thinking of Meng Zhen being refined, Li Qingfeng felt a chill run down his spine, followed by a surge of rage rushing to his head.

Using living people as medicine—unheard of.

"But those cultivators are usually as elusive as dragons, let alone hunting them down to harvest their spiritual bases."

"So the Prefectural Governor decided to cultivate his own cultivators."

"Just as the handover date for the city's garrison cultivator was approaching, to avoid delaying Young Master Zhang Gui's condition, the Prefectural Governor even spent spiritual items to have the garrison cultivator open the test a month early."

Sun Adviser detailed the whole affair from beginning to end.

"So after the cultivator selected his candidates, there were naturally those who failed."

"The Prefectural Governor ordered me to lure them to the Prefectural Governor's Mansion with cultivation techniques, then seize control of them."

"Once they became cultivators, we'd cut open their bellies to extract the spiritual base and use it as medicine."

"That's all I know." Sun Adviser spoke for a full incense stick's time, starting from the beginning, recounting everything in detail without missing a thing.

Li Qingfeng had already snapped out of his shock and remained silent.

He too had five spiritual roots. If he hadn't obtained the Blood Fiend Art and the Soul Banner, would he have been targeted after failing the selection?

At that time, anyone would have clung to even a straw.

Let alone the fact that the Prefectural Governor's Mansion had indeed provided cultivation techniques.

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

No matter how poor one's talent, becoming a cultivator meant leaving mortality behind.

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

No one could resist.

It was the last straw for a drowning man.

But it wasn't hope—it was a vicious trap, a deadly scheme.

Tu Shanjun recalled why those Black Armor Soldiers looked familiar.

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

He had even lamented that if he hadn't been discovered, entering the battlefield would have yielded no shortage of Living Souls and killing intent.

"Where are the bodies?"

After a long pause, when Li Qingfeng looked up, his eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Sun Adviser and demanded harshly.

Sun Adviser gritted his teeth, shrinking back.

"Used as medicine. Nothing was left."

Having said everything, Sun Adviser collapsed onto the ground, carefully watching Li Qingfeng's reaction.

Li Qingfeng's face twisted uncontrollably with rage.

"Where is Zhang Wanlong?"

Sun Adviser seemed to suddenly think of something, staring at Li Qingfeng in terror. His barely calmed emotions stirred again: "You... what are you planning?"

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

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

Now Meng Zhen was dead.

Refined into a pill and eaten, leaving not even bones behind.

He couldn't just let it go.

When Li Qingfeng asked about Zhang Wanlong and his son's residence, Tu Shanjun knew what he intended to do, but he didn't stop him.

A life for a life, a debt repaid—it was only natural.

Stopping someone from taking revenge was the same as making an enemy of them.

Few people could stay calm in such a situation, and reasoning was useless.

Better to strike first and seize the initiative.

Expecting a villain to turn over a new leaf and become a good person was a fantasy.

The only way was to send them off to start anew in their next life.

Back when he was slain by Zhao Shixian, Tu Shanjun had understood this truth deeply.

An evil man would never willingly put down his butcher's knife.

This time, the one who died from the injury was Meng Zhen—there was no guarantee the next target wouldn't be Li Qingfeng.

Because he too was a Qi Refiner, bearing spiritual radiance.

Tu Shanjun's gaze was profound as he stood silently to the side.

"Prefectural Governor Zhang lives in the small courtyard behind the government hall's rear quarters; the door handle is a brass ring."

"Zhang Gui also lives in the rear offices, separated from that brass-ring-handle courtyard by only two courtyards."

Sun Adviser finally pointed out the direction.

Even though Zhang Wanlong had shown him kindness as a patron, under the threat of the evil ghost, he had no choice but to compromise.

More importantly, he had to survive this black-clad man's hands first.

"I beg the Immortal Master, in light of my truthful account, to spare my life."

Li Qingfeng nodded at Tu Shanjun.

The mist swirled.

After Li Qingfeng vanished.

In the dream, Tu Shanjun did not hesitate for a moment as he raised the ghost-headed blade in his hand.

He swung the blade down, clean and decisive.

Sun Adviser was somewhat startled by Li Qingfeng's disappearance before him, then felt as though his vision was spinning.

The world turned upside down.

His withered head rolled with a thud onto the desk.

His body twitched a few times unconsciously, then fell still.

Li Qingfeng woke up on the roof beam, felt the Soul Banner tucked in his robes, and turned to leave this side hall.

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

The night was vast and dark.

The clouds at the horizon covered the moon, blocking the hazy moonlight.

Yet most of the Prefectural Governor's Mansion was brightly lit.

Black Armor Soldiers patrolled back and forth with vigilance.

An ordinary person 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.

The rear offices had few courtyards, and only one had a brass ring on its door.

Unlike the usual lion-head knockers of common homes, the brass ring handle of this small courtyard looked like a tiny clenched fist gripping the ring.

Perhaps, in the Prefectural Governor's view, this symbolized holding great power in hand.

With the emperor far away and the sky high, Zhang Wanlong, as the parent-official of an entire commandery, could indeed be said to hold great authority.

The armored guards stationed at the gate did not notice Li Qingfeng's intrusion.

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

Li Qingfeng hugged the wall as he slipped into the inner courtyard.

He had assumed Zhang Wanlong was already resting, but instead, the inner chamber's lights were bright.

Pressing close to the windowsill, he could hear faint sounds coming from inside.

"That last one hasn't yet given birth to spiritual radiance, so it can't be used as medicine."

"Take care of him tomorrow. Keeping him around will only be trouble in the end."

"The fighting in the north is intense; you still need to go back."

Li Qingfeng recognized that voice—it was Zhang Wanlong's.

"Father, I barely escaped with my life from the battlefield."

"If I hadn't used that Foundation Fusion Art, my injuries would have left a lasting root."

"Not to mention, this technique really is quite useful."

The young man didn't elaborate further, instead shifting the topic.

"Besides, I think Great Liang is losing battle after battle now. It's possible that once the Sword Sect falls, the dynasty itself will be finished."

A younger voice rang out from inside the room, full of vigor, with no trace of injury whatsoever.

Li Qingfeng crouched outside, leaning against the wall as he steadied his breathing. Rage surged in his heart: "Good. I hadn't even gone looking for Zhang Gui, and the two of them are together. Heaven truly has eyes."

"This is the time to avenge Meng Zhen."

Li Qingfeng clenched the Soul Banner, ready to repeat his trick and drag both men into a dream.

"Who?!"

The voices inside cut off abruptly, a cold shout demanding an answer.

Li Qingfeng's eyes flew wide open, a flicker of shock passing through them.

He hadn't expected the young man inside to be so sharp.

He'd actually been detected.

Li Qingfeng hesitated no longer.

A commoner's fury spills blood within five paces.

He was a Qi Refiner, and with the Soul Banner in hand, dealing with two mortals would be a trivial matter.

He slammed through the window, striking out without restraint.

Spiritual power flashed, and the Spirit Official Dharma Eye activated instantly.

But then, Li Qingfeng looked as if he'd seen a ghost—shock, confusion, disbelief—all written across his face.

Zhang Gui wasn't just completely healed; he even radiated spiritual light.

The spiritual light was abundant, far stronger than his own.

Inside the Soul Banner, Tu Shanjun's expression darkened: "This is bad."

Both of them had overlooked one thing—what if one of the Zhang Wanlong father and son pair was a Qi Refiner?

Even if the two of them weren't, what if they had a Qi Refiner as a retainer?

They'd considered it at first, but Li Qingfeng had seen Zhang Wanlong before, and the man possessed no spiritual light.

If Zhang Gui had the aptitude for cultivation, he would surely have followed an immortal master to a sect long ago, not remained in the mortal world.

But they'd forgotten one thing: what if Zhang Gui was also a failed candidate with a false spiritual root?