21, Slaying a Man

"How dare you!"

Li Qingfeng barked.

Hadn't this man just been kneeling on the ground begging for his life? How could he turn around and try to kill him the moment he saw him stumble?

He had already been swayed.

The scales in his heart had tipped toward giving them a chance to reform.

"Clang."

The sound of metal striking stone rang out.

A cyan ghost-hand blocked the long blade, then pierced through Big Guy's head and yanked out his Living Soul.

The Green-Faced Fiend opened its gaping maw and sucked in sharply.

Big Guy's body withered on the spot, his flesh turning pale and ashen, crumbling like a wall of dried mud.

With a crash, he collapsed into a heap of scattered bone ash on the ground.

The Red-Haired Fiend stretched his frame, his previously haggard expression recovering somewhat.

Li Qingfeng stared wide-eyed at the Red-Haired Fiend, his voice trembling, barely able to contain his excitement: "I'm not dreaming, Brother Ghost... you're alive."

The Red-Haired Fiend was none other than Tu Shan Jun.

He tilted his head slightly, his crimson ghost-eyes glancing at Li Qingfeng, but he said nothing.

As one with the Soul Banner, he was both the Main Soul and the banner itself.

As long as the banner was not destroyed, the fiend would not perish.

Still, the battle with that young man had left him severely injured. He couldn't even use Dream Entry and had to recuperate inside the banner.

He never expected that a Living Soul rich with killing intent would deliver itself to his doorstep.

When Li Qingfeng shook the Soul Banner and absorbed Little Guy's bandit Living Soul, the supplement of Living Soul killing intent roused Tu Shan Jun from his slumber.

And when Li Qingfeng channeled his spiritual power, Tu Shan Jun used it to manifest his body.

Because he had sensed Li Qingfeng's hesitation.

People cannot be reformed.

Uprooting the weeds is the only proper way.

Just like now.

As Li Qingfeng weakened, the bandit had once again entertained thoughts of killing him and seizing the artifact.

Tu Shan Jun's expression was indifferent as he extracted the remaining bandits' Living Souls, condensing their blood and qi into killing intent and absorbing it all.

His previously somewhat ethereal form grew noticeably more solid.

Zhao Shixian had refined them using the great formation, but Tu Shan Jun, having obtained the seed of the Blood Fiend Art (Comprehensive), could do the work himself.

Still, these shades were clearly not as strong as those refined by the formation.

Within the formation, killing intent was dense and resentment surged. The weaker Living Souls shattered on impact; only the strong ones survived, even evolving on the spot into Yin Ghosts.

Though they were unranked Yin Ghosts, they were still stronger than ordinary shades that had experienced nothing.

Now conditions were poor, so he had to make do—using the banner's killing intent to forge Living Souls into Yin Ghosts.

Li Qingfeng called out joyfully: "Brother Ghost, you're alive."

He scrambled up from the ground, hurried over to Tu Shan Jun, his eyes glistening.

"I thought you were dead."

Tu Shan Jun was visibly moved, even a little at a loss.

He would not die. As long as the Soul Banner remained in Li Qingfeng's hands, he would not die.

But he hadn't expected his appearance to make Li Qingfeng so elated and excited.

"I am not alone."

Tu Shan Jun heard his own whisper in his heart.

Yes, in this unfamiliar world, he was no longer alone.

Li Qingfeng's talent was poor, but he had great perseverance, and he wasn't a mindless fool.

He often had a soft heart—and that was precisely what made him real.

Poor talent didn't matter; the Soul Banner was the greatest opportunity.

Tu Shan Jun didn't believe the banner's abilities were limited to this.

As he advanced, new means would appear. In time, there would surely be abilities to change a person's talent and accelerate their cultivation.

All in all, Li Qingfeng was undoubtedly a banner master who satisfied Tu Shan Jun.

If possible, there was still a long road ahead.

A moment passed.

Tu Shan Jun absorbed and condensed the blood Sha from the four corpses.

He walked over to Li Qingfeng and patted him on the shoulder.

He took out the two Storage Talismans hidden in Li Qingfeng's collar.

He swallowed Hou Boxu's talisman, then handed Zhao Shixian's Storage Talisman to Li Qingfeng.

Li Qingfeng stared at the worn Storage Talisman in Tu Shan Jun's palm, somewhat dazed, and asked tentatively, "For me?"

Tu Shan Jun nodded and stuffed the Storage Talisman into Li Qingfeng's hand.

He couldn't touch Hou Boxu's belongings—he had promised Hou Boxu to send them back to the Hou Family in Sun City—but the other Storage Talisman was no problem at all, so he might as well give it to Li Qingfeng.

Li Qingfeng took the Storage Talisman, thinking it was like the talisman that had made him so fast. He activated it with his mana, and the talisman opened to reveal a small space inside.

It was filled with odds and ends.

"A Sumeru Ring Space?" Li Qingfeng was stunned.

Inside lay a beast hide, bottles and jars, three glowing, neatly cut cyan stones, a hairpin, and some other miscellaneous items.

Li Qingfeng pulled out the beast hide and examined it. Recorded on it were the techniques, mental cultivation method, and breathing method of the Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist.

The beast hide was ancient, tough, and unassuming—a divine object that concealed its own brilliance. Though it looked as simple as ordinary leather, Li Qingfeng felt it must be a fine treasure.

"What's this?" Li Qingfeng took out the cyan stones.

These neatly cut cyan stones were only as thick as a thumb, but they contained vast amounts of natural spiritual energy. Clearly, they were good things.

"All for me?"

Li Qingfeng was still obviously in a daze. These were all treasures, and Brother Ghost was giving them to him.

Tu Shan Jun nodded. Giving these things to Li Qingfeng would let them play a greater role. He was a Soul Banner and had no use for them.

Tu Shan Jun picked out the silver from the clutter, pointed at the silver, then at the Spirit Stones, and placed them together.

"Brother Ghost, you mean this is immortal money?" Li Qingfeng realized.

The comprehensive section within the skill seed had imparted Zhao Shixian's general knowledge of cultivation to Tu Shan Jun, so he naturally recognized most things related to Qi Refiners.

Li Qingfeng then brought the hairpin up to his eyes for a closer look.

It seemed like an ordinary hairpin, nothing special about it.

Tu Shan Jun could only point at the hairpin, then at the Soul Banner, and put them together.

Li Qingfeng immediately understood Tu Shan Jun's meaning.

"A magical artifact?"

He then infused a thread of mana into it.

The hairpin shimmered with spiritual light and transformed into a three-foot-long sword that circled around Li Qingfeng.

The sword hummed with a clear, metallic ring, a sharp and pleasing sound.

"Wow."

"It's a flying sword!"

Li Qingfeng was like a child with a new toy, unable to put the flying sword down.

No one could resist being both cultured and martial.

And no Qi Refiner could resist the temptation of a flying sword.

Though Li Qingfeng already had the Soul Banner as a magical artifact, he had still secretly fantasized about a flying sword cutting off heads from a thousand miles away.

Li Qingfeng tied up his long hair with the Sword Hairpin, satisfied, and adjusted his head with a nod.

Tu Shan Jun felt like laughing.

In the end, young people were just like this.

When they got something good, they couldn't help but wear it or hold it in their hands.

Seeing that his mana was insufficient to sustain his ghostly form, Tu Shan Jun dispersed into mist and returned to the Soul Banner.

With the supplement of five bandits' Living Souls and Sha, his injuries had stabilized. From now on, as long as he kept collecting Sha and Living Souls, he could heal his wounds and grow stronger.

Zhang Gui's soul was actually at the third layer of Qi Refining—Tu Shan Jun hadn't expected that.

But even at the third layer, he was still no match for Tu Shan Jun.

With this soul's supplement, Tu Shan Jun had already reached the fourth layer. As long as he had enough Living Souls and Sha, he would soon step into the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Li Qingfeng was overjoyed.

Not just because he had gotten a flying sword and a Storage Talisman, but most importantly, Brother Ghost hadn't died.

Even if he had gotten nothing, as long as Brother Ghost was alive, he would have been happy.

All his earlier disappointment was swept away, and his fighting spirit surged anew.