Backlash

The young cultivator's expression shifted in astonishment. How had this Demon Cultivator, whom he had not seen for only a few days, grown so much stronger?

It was as though he were a completely different person.

What should have been a six-to-four fight had suddenly become evenly matched.

He even vaguely felt that he was being suppressed by this Qi Refining Third Layer Demon Cultivator before him.

His three-foot flying sword was wielded to its fullest, his strength at its peak, yet he could not break through the Demon Cultivator's defenses.

That ten-foot ghost-faced banner was surely no ordinary artifact either; it was at least a Mid-grade Artifact.

Thinking of those two utterly deserted villages, the young man immediately understood where the fiend's Soul Banner had come from.

He must have sacrificed the blood-fiend baleful energy of three or four hundred people to refine a Mid-grade Artifact.

"Demon, I cannot let you live!"

A sharp gleam flashed in the young man's eyes as he roared sternly.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together into a sword gesture, bit them open, and flung out a spirit talisman from his pouch. His blood-stained sword fingers tapped the talisman.

With a whoosh, smoke and fire coiled through the air.

The flames wove themselves into a great net, sealing off Zhao Shixian's path forward.

Seeing the flaming net descend, Zhao Shixian did not panic in the slightest. He sneered. "A low-grade talisman. Nothing but a childish trick."

"Break!"

Spiritual power surged into the Soul Banner, and the enormous banner cloth, which had been wrapped around its shaft, burst open.

It snapped and fluttered in the wind.

The evil ghost painted upon the banner seemed lifelike. The Red-Haired Fiend, with its blue face and fangs, opened its mouth and spat black mist that wrapped around the Soul Banner.

In Zhao Shixian's hands, the Soul Banner carried an unstoppable might.

With only a few sweeps, it tore apart the flaming net before him.

The young man's expression turned grave and dark.

The Soul Banner in this Blood Fiend Sect fiend's hand possessed considerable power. Even with his Qi Refining Fourth Layer spiritual power empowering his flying sword and talismans, he could not break its techniques and had instead fallen into a disadvantage.

If this dragged on, he might well be suppressed.

"Then I can only risk my life."

"Spirit-Light Sword!"

His sword fingers drew together, guiding the three-foot spirit sword into his hand.

With a puff, he sprayed a mouthful of blood from the tip of his tongue onto the blade. The spirit sword, previously somewhat dim, immediately flashed with sword light and shone with renewed vigor.

The young man's face went pale. His left hand slid over his waist, and a neat azure stone block fell into his grasp.

A trace of color returned to his pale face.

With the spirit sword in hand, the young man stopped retreating.

His swordsmanship was watertight.

Light flickered; as he moved, flying sand and rolling stones filled the air, and spiritual radiance flashed.

Driven by spiritual power, the spirit sword was like a divine weapon. The earthen walls and withered trees around them were all reduced to ruins beneath its edge.

Tu Shan Jun held back without striking, remaining ready at all times as he waited for the right opportunity.

A Yin soul ghost creature at Qi Refining Third Layer would be suppressed by cultivators of the same level. If he rashly confronted Zhao Shixian, he might be able to hold him off, but he would not be a match for him.

That was why Tu Shan Jun had been waiting. Even if he could not secure victory, he had to create an opportunity for that righteous young man to kill Zhao Shixian.

Tu Shan Jun was not particularly fixated on who would obtain the Soul Banner in the future. As long as Zhao Shixian could be killed, he could borrow anyone's strength.

Even if he faced a righteous immortal master at the Qi Refining stage, so long as he revealed a little of the Soul Banner's marvels, for the sake of their immortal path, this righteous young man would carry the Soul Banner and cultivate alongside it.

This world did not have only killing as a way to seize souls. There were plenty of places where one could obtain Baleful Intent and Living Souls.

The battle between the two grew increasingly fierce. The neat azure stone blocks shattered one after another, and both the young man and Zhao Shixian were beginning to falter.

Hidden within the Soul Banner, Tu Shan Jun could see sweat soaking through Zhao Shixian's outer robe.

His hair hung loose and disheveled, leaving him in a miserable state.

Both men panted like oxen, gulping down air in great mouthfuls, without the slightest trace of an immortal master's bearing.

A vicious glint flashed through Zhao Shixian's triangular eyes. Taking advantage of the righteous young man's lapse in attention, he flung the three daggers at his waist the instant his spiritual power flashed.

The young man's expression hardened as he prepared to block them.

"Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!"

Tu Shan Jun's expression changed drastically at once. Not good!

Zhao Shixian was using the three daggers to draw the young man's attention before unleashing his hidden move, Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, directly against his divine soul.

Though Tu Shan Jun was only at Qi Refining Third Layer now, there were forty ordinary Living Souls inside, as well as one Qi Refining First Layer Living Soul.

They would certainly inflict enormous damage upon the exhausted young man.

They might even succeed in one stroke.

Shrill ghostly howls and roars filled the air.

Forty Living Souls condensed into a blue-faced, fanged Red-Haired Fiend that leaped fiercely from the Soul Banner, baring its claws and fangs as it pounced at the young man.

The young man was not frightened. A flicker of surprise crossed his face.

Even as he remained vigilant, spiritual power surged forth.

"I had long been guarding against your hidden move."

"Go!"

The young man formed a seal before his dantian with both hands. His hands turned into claws and moved about, while the Spirit-Light Sword spun rapidly between his palms.

A piercing sound, like a dragon's roar and a sword's cry, tore through the air.

The flying sword shot straight toward Zhao Shixian, who was wielding the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun roared, "Perfect timing!"

"Backlash!"

Just as Zhao Shixian was about to swing the Soul Banner to block, his face suddenly twisted with fury and shock.

His body could not move.

An evil ghost drilled out from the Soul Banner and passed directly through his head.

The evil ghost did not leave. Instead, it immediately burrowed into his sea of consciousness, intending to destroy his awareness and soul outright.

"Beast, how dare you backlash against me!" Zhao Shixian shouted.

Vaguely, an immense aura seemed to gather into a beastly roar.

Under that roar, Tu Shan Jun, transformed into a ghost, stiffened for a moment. His vicious ghostly face was filled with rage and hatred. "You are the one I'm here to kill."

Zhao Shixian's face drained of color. "It's you?!"

"You still retained your consciousness?"

"Die!"

A shrill ghostly howl rang out.

Tu Shan Jun did not dare delay. He had no idea why Zhao Shixian's soul carried such crushing pressure, so he had to kill him while Zhao Shixian was distracted.

Within the sea of consciousness, Tu Shan Jun at Qi Refining Third Layer rose like a green onion pulled from dry earth. His two ghost claws seized Zhao Shixian's Living Soul in one grab.

Zhao Shixian had no time to react. In merely a flash, Tu Shan Jun dragged Zhao Shixian's Living Soul from his sea of consciousness and clutched it in his hand.

"Shnk."

At the same time, the flying sword pierced Zhao Shixian's heart.

Zhao Shixian's face twisted grotesquely as he fell straight backward.

He died with his eyes still open.

Even in death, he still gripped the Soul Banner tightly. His eyes were filled with unwillingness and fury as he stared blankly at the sky.

Tu Shan Jun carried Zhao Shixian's Living Soul back into the Soul Banner.

With his great vengeance avenged, Tu Shan Jun threw back his head and laughed heartily.

Ghostly howls echoed within the Soul Banner.

Like striking water midstream, they rolled on without end.

Moreover, Zhao Shixian was dead now. That righteous young man would survive, and Tu Shan Jun could finally step onto the immortal path.

The exhilaration of holding his head high and venting his frustrations filled Tu Shan Jun with immense delight.

From this day on, he had escaped the cage. The sky was high for birds to fly, the sea wide for fish to swim—he would compose a song of...

The moment he remembered that he was already dead, and had even been refined into a soul banner to become its Main Soul, the towering ambition that had just risen within him vanished at once.

He should just take things one step at a time.

There were forty-five Yin soul ghosts stored within the Soul Banner.

Zhao Shixian at Qi Refining Third Layer, and an unidentified ghost creature at Qi Refining First Layer.

The remaining forty-three were villagers, all Yin soul ghost creatures formed from resentment within the Blood Sacrifice Array.

Tu Shan Jun had also used Zhao Shixian, at the peak of Qi Refining Third Layer, to break through the Third Layer in one stroke and reach the strength of Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Had Zhao Shixian not been the banner's master, the Soul Banner might not have been able to subdue this Qi Refining Third Layer Living Soul, much less use the Yin souls to reach an even greater height.

A clash of souls was truly perilous.

Tu Shan Jun had seized the initiative and launched a sneak attack, catching Zhao Shixian when he was wholly focused on dealing with the righteous young man. Only then had he settled the battle in a single stroke.

As his ghostly body grew stronger, the blue tint of Tu Shan Jun's skin instead faded considerably, recovering some of its whiteness.

His two fangs seemed to have grown longer again. They now resembled a great serpent's fangs and could fold away.

The evil ghost illustration on the Soul Banner had become even more intricate.

Satisfied.

Abundant power, as though inexhaustible, surged from his body.

After backlashing against Zhao Shixian, Tu Shan Jun felt even more powerful.

Perhaps, for a ghost creature, that meant becoming sturdier.

Successfully backlashed against the initial banner master.

Learned skill: Soul Inquiry

Opening the scarlet attribute panel, Tu Shan Jun fixed his gaze upon the newly appeared skill.