Kill Them Again!

Black smoke flowed from the mouths and noses of the prisoners of the Ghost Mother Sect. The smoke was heavier than the air and did not rise, but gurgled down, like a layer of viscous black oil spreading on the bottom of the ship.

Witnessing the soldiers' hands wither and shrink along with the prisoners of war, the closest Martial Master masters rushed to jump into the river, fearing they might be tainted by bad luck.

Among the many who fled, only Liang Qu went against the black smoke, grabbed the believers by the collar, and threw them into the water, unafraid of the eerie black smoke.

And that was indeed the case. The eerie black smoke had no effect on Liang Qu. It melted like ice and snow the moment it touched him, making a crackling sound, and only caused a slight burning sensation in his palm.

It's become lighter.

There was nothing unusual about throwing the first believer, but when Liang Qu threw the last few prisoners of war, their weight was completely unlike that of a normal Martial Master.

It's at least one-third lighter.

After all the dozen or so prisoners of war were thrown into the water, the river turned black.

The Martial Master who had jumped off the boat hurriedly swam to the other side, climbed back up, their bodies dripping wet.

"Torch! Torch!"

Xiang Fangsu stretched out his hand and roared.

Several soldiers who were further away reacted quickly, using tinderboxes to light the torches soaked in kerosene, and the flames burst into flames.

Xiang Fangsu took the torch, stood at the bow of the boat, and raised it high, the orange flame illuminating the surroundings.

As the source was cut off, the black smoke from the bottom of the boat quickly faded, and instead a viscous Black Water emanated from the water, as if someone had poured a large amount of ink into it.

The ink, invisible, spread in all directions, except when it came within three feet of the Broad-bellied Ark, it dispersed into a clear, transparent ring, as if something invisibly prevented the Black Mist from spreading.

Without a doubt, it was Liang Qu's doing.

The Martial Master on the boat were safe, but the finless River Dolphin that had been clinging to the boat were in big trouble. They let out dissatisfied howls and swam to a more distant place to avoid the spread of the Black Mist.

The two small boats next to them were not so lucky. Without Liang Qu's help, the Martial Master had to jump into the water.

At this moment, the entire ship was filled with Black Mist, which overflowed and flowed down the hull, like a pot of hot water being poured outdoors in winter.

"A Shui!"

Xiang Fangsu called out.

Liang Qu has actually cultivated a Evil-Warding Method, and it seems he has achieved some success. This is truly rare for someone his age.

"Clear."

Liang Qu understood immediately.

He leaped onto the other two ships, tossing the lifeless prisoners of war far away.

At this moment, the difference in feel became even more obvious; the weight had decreased by half, and something had flowed away from the bodies of the Ghost Mother Sect members along with the Black Mist.

The Black Mist on the ship stopped spreading and gradually dissipated over time, and the Martial Master around them clung to the ship's edge and returned inside.

The ominous Black Mist had no effect on the other party whatsoever, and a strange sense of awe appeared in everyone's eyes.

Liang Qu stepped back along the edge of the boat and asked what the black smoke was.

"The 'residue' after the death of the Martial Saint"

Xiang Fangsu.

"Evil?"

Liang Qu recalled what Ran Zhongshi had once said to him.

The realm of Martial Saint is profound and mysterious. Even if the physical body is destroyed, it is still possible to leave behind a will to prolong life. However, the will that has lost its physical body is easily disturbed by external things, and the strange things that are eventually formed are collectively called 'evil'! Ran Zhongshi nodded upon hearing this. "The effect and intensity of evil are mostly related to the strength and obsession of the person in life."

The evil influence of the Ghost Mother Sect is widespread, encompassing almost all its followers, though it remains hidden in ordinary times.

We previously thought the reason was that a certain key condition hadn't been triggered.

"The key condition..." Liang Qu gazed at the island under the night sky, "True Image or Hunting Tiger?"

Ran Zhongshi nodded in agreement, clearly indicating that ordinary believers were not enough to trigger the special conditions.

Xiang Fangsu took a pole, nudged the corpses of the Ghost Mother Sect members floating on the water, and with a forceful thrust, flipped one of them over.

His face was withered, his cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were shrunken and shriveled, completely devoid of moisture, as if they had been sucked dry.

He then grasped the hand of the soldier who had first come into contact with the believers; it was dry, cracked, and wrinkled, without a trace of oiliness.

If you didn't look at his thick beard, he would look like an old man, at least seventy or eighty years old.

"His Qi and Blood are very weak; the vitality in his hands has been drained."

A fine layer of oily sweat appeared on the soldier's forehead; his vitality had been drained, which was not a good sign.

Xiang Fangsu waved her hand. "It's nothing. I'll send you two bottles of Qi and Blood Pill when we get back, and you'll recover. It didn't cause any serious damage."

The people who were deeply involved with the Ghost Mother Sect were severely affected, and some even died.

The soldiers, however, only needed to take some Healing Medicine and rest properly after getting slightly infected. It wouldn't be difficult for them to recover their strength. They estimated that they would be fully recovered in a little over a month.

Ran Zhongshi rested his chin on his hand. "Such a large-scale draining of life force must have flowed to other places..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ship trembled, ripples spread across the water, and a violent roar came from the island chain again, confirming Ran Zhongshi's conjecture.

The battle isn't over! "Will my Master and the others be alright?"

Xiang Fangsu patted Liang Qu on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, we borrowed the Martial Saint Profound Weapon precisely because we were prepared for unforeseen circumstances. No matter how bizarre the remaining 'evil' of the Ghost Mother Sect is, its wielder is at most Grandmaster, and the qualitative difference is insurmountable!"

A powerful force once again swept across the night sky, and the tremors lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

Previously, as a participant, I only felt like a single flower in a surging tide. Now, as an observer, I can feel the overwhelming power of the surging waves, and the invisible wall of air makes it hard for everyone to breathe.

The island returned to calm.

"Row the boat over there!"

Xiang Fangsu stood at the bow of the boat, raised a torch, and gave the order. Several Wide Belly Boat, maneuvered by soldiers, headed towards the other side of the island.

As the long oars rocked, the ink-black waves were churned away, and the entire area around the island looked as if it had been polluted by oil, with the water turning completely blackish-brown.

As Liang Qu traveled along the island, he saw many Martial Master encountering the same situation.

The ship was filled with the corpses of prisoners of war, and black smoke was billowing out. The entire ship was in ruins.

They weren't so lucky; they didn't have a "demon-slaying" Martial Master like Liang Qu, who was currently submerged in water.

Only a few places finished late and didn't have time to clean up the battlefield, thus escaping the disaster and hiding on the ship.

"Ke Wenbin, what happened to you? You're soaked to the bone!"

Xiang Fangsu stood at the bow of the boat and mocked Ke Wenbin in the water.

Ke Wenbin spat out a mouthful of water, swam to the side of the boat, grabbed the edge, flipped himself onto the boat, wrung out the water from his hair, and said with disheveled hair, "Damn it, how come you're all alright? Didn't you bring any prisoners of war on board?"

Ran Zhongshi pointed to Liang Qu beside him. "A Shui."

Seeing the impenetrable Black Water around him, Ke Wenbin quickly realized what was going on and slapped his thigh in frustration.

"Damn, I should have put A Shui on my team!"

There are very few Cultivation Method with the attribute of warding off evil spirits, and even those that exist are extremely difficult to master.

The most crucial point is that the training is not cost-effective. Who would want to deal with the "remnants" of Grandmaster and Martial Saint all day long?

But it is especially important when needed.

Right now, Liang Qu is simply the most dazzling star in the whole scene, a torch illuminating the darkness, and a hot commodity.

Everyone wanted to get close to him to avoid being tainted by that eerie black aura.

After everyone had brought the Martial Master had fallen into the water, the fleet expanded to twelve ships and finally arrived at the mountainside of the entire island chain, where they witnessed an extremely spectacular scene.

The black cliffs plunge straight into the Great Marsh, with waves crashing against them and then cascading back down.

A straight passageway, wide enough for a boat to pass, suddenly appeared in the center of the island. The cliffs on both sides were as smooth as mirrors, with wisps of black mist occasionally drifting down.

Countless broken logs floated on the water, being knocked aside by the group's fleet of boats.

Liang Qu looked up at both sides. "Was this passage always there?"

Xiang Fangsu took out a map from her waist, thought for a moment, then put it away without unfolding it.

With such a striking shape, he was certain it wasn't on the previous map.

In other words, it has just appeared.

After the ship entered the passage for a distance, Xu Yuelong and the other eight Hunting Tiger Great Martial Master stood on the cliff in a rather disheveled state. Five were standing and three were lying down, all of whom still retained some vital energy.

When Liang Qu saw Yang Dongxiong among them, he was covered in blood and his hair was disheveled, but he was standing, and Liang Qu breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not a big deal if you just lie down.

Upon seeing Liang Qu on the small boat, Xu Yuelong and his companions leaped onto the boat, while Wei Lin and the others waited a moment before jumping onto another boat.

"Damn it, what bad luck! Those two Grandmaster were supposed to be dead, but somehow they've come back to life!"

Sui Hongyan, the deputy commander of the Demon Subduing Division, took off his blood-stained clothes, revealing his muscular upper body, and leaned against the edge of the boat, panting and grumbling.

A resurrection? Everyone present gasped in shock.

Xiang Fangsu Ran Zhongshi hurriedly asked, "And then?"

"We had no choice but to kill them all over again."

Xu Yuelong cursed and swore.