Appearing

"Madam!"

Seeing the middle-aged woman die, Steward Zhang cried out in shock. The middle-aged woman was Steward Zhang's wife.

After draining Steward Zhang's wife dry, the apparition's aura grew much stronger. If its aura had previously only been comparable to that of a Bone Forging Realm martial artist, it was now comparable to that of an Inner Strength Realm martial artist.

The massive fireball slammed directly into the apparition. Like flame meeting solid ice, the apparition was melted away in part, its body shrinking by a full circle.

"Ah!"

The apparition let out a shrill cry of pain. From its voice, Bi Changsheng could tell that it was female.

"It's actually a Vengeful Spirit. This is troublesome."

Seeing the apparition rapidly grow stronger after killing Steward Zhang's wife, the Daoist muttered to himself. The old Daoist took another talisman from his robes and activated it, sending another massive fireball shooting toward the apparition.

Unfortunately, this time the apparition did not stupidly remain where it was and allow the fireball to strike it. Instead, it flashed aside at high speed, causing the fireball to miss and blast into the ground nearby, leaving behind a scorched crater.

After dodging the fireball, the apparition did not stop. It lunged at Steward Zhang, and the old Daoist hurriedly activated another Fireball Talisman to force it back.

That move scared Steward Zhang half to death. He hurriedly ran to the old Daoist's side and, like the old Daoist's disciple, clung closely behind him.

Unable to get near Steward Zhang, the apparition could only charge at the others. No one else could stop it, and before long, several more people were killed by the apparition.

The more people it killed, the stronger the apparition's aura became. However, it did not experience the same leap in strength it had gained from killing Steward Zhang's wife.

Bi Changsheng, who had been observing from the shadows, also noticed that as it killed more people, its aura grew stronger while the resentment surrounding it became increasingly dense.

"We can't let it keep killing like this, or no one will be able to stop it later."

After several more fireballs missed, the old Daoist shouted.

"Daoist, quickly think of something!"

Steward Zhang, who had been hiding at the old Daoist's side all along, said anxiously. During that time, the apparition had tried several more times to pounce on him, clearly paying Steward Zhang special attention.

"This demon is too nimble. We need someone to hold it down so that I can deal with it."

After some thought, the old Daoist said this to Steward Zhang. He had a pounding headache as well. He had originally thought this was an insignificant apparition that would be easy to handle, but he had not expected matters to become so thorny.

"Master Liu, I must trouble you to lead some men in holding back that apparition so the Daoist can deal with it. If this is accomplished, you will be handsomely rewarded."

Steward Zhang spoke to the Middle-aged Man beside him. This was Liu He, the martial artist Steward Zhang kept in his employ. He possessed Bone Forging Realm cultivation, and he had been personally protecting Steward Zhang these past few days, which was why Steward Zhang had remained safe and sound.

"Alright."

After carefully considering it, Liu He agreed. First, because of the reward Steward Zhang had promised, and second, because he trusted the old Daoist. After all, this was a legendary immortal cultivator.

What Liu He did not know was that the old Daoist he trusted was feeling the few remaining talismans in his robes and was not confident either. He had even begun considering whether he should run.

"You lot, come with me."

Having made his decision, Liu He called upon the guards of Steward Zhang's household and led them forward to restrain the apparition.

Even with Liu He joining them, they were still no match for the apparition. They retreated step by step under its assault, clearly unable to hold out for long.

However, the apparition's speed was noticeably slowed.

"Now!"

At the instant the apparition was restrained by Liu He, the old Daoist seized the opportunity and activated two talismans in succession. Two massive fireballs blasted straight toward the apparition.

"It's done."

The old Daoist's timing was exceedingly precise this time. Watching the two fireballs streak rapidly toward the apparition, while the apparition had only just broken free of Liu He's restraint and clearly could not dodge them, he secretly rejoiced.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, a sudden change arose. The apparition actually split itself down the middle, turning into two masses that scattered to either side. The two fireballs passed directly through the gap between them, missing once again and blasting down the wall behind them.

"Division!"

At this sight, the old Daoist could no longer hold back his cry of alarm. Division was a gifted spell that only fully formed Vengeful Spirits could master, yet this Vengeful Spirit had somehow grasped it ahead of time.

He secretly groaned inwardly, knowing that the situation had turned bad.

After evading the two fireballs, the two masses of apparition merged together again and charged at Liu He and the others. Liu He and his men were already at the end of their strength and could no longer stop it. All of them were slain by the apparition.

After killing Liu He and the others, the apparition grew stronger again. Its aura had now reached the level of the Late Inner Strength Realm. Yet as the apparition strengthened, the resentment around it also grew ever denser.

At this point, the apparition seemed to have completely lost its reason. It no longer paid any attention to the remaining people and charged at Steward Zhang once more.

"This time, I've truly suffered a huge loss. I might even end up leaving my life here."

"Stand close to me."

Seeing the apparition lunge toward them again, the old Daoist first spoke to his young disciple and Steward Zhang. Then, with an expression of intense pain, he drew out a talisman from his robes and activated it. This time, after the talisman shattered, it did not turn into a fireball. Instead, it became an oval light screen one meter across, enveloping the three of them.

This talisman had not been drawn by the old Daoist himself. It was a Body Protection Talisman he had spent a great price purchasing from someone else.

Only after adding a layer of protection for himself did the old Daoist use his last wisp of spiritual power to activate a Fireball Talisman.

This time, the apparition had completely lost its mind. It neither dodged nor evaded the fireball, taking it head-on. The price it paid was merely another shriek and a slightly more illusory body. It then continued charging at Steward Zhang and crashed into the protective light screen.

When the apparition struck the Body Protection Talisman's light screen, ripples spread across it. Though it successfully knocked the apparition back, the light screen dimmed by several degrees, clearly unable to last much longer.

Sure enough, after being flung back, the apparition still refused to give up and continued battering the light screen. After three consecutive impacts, the light screen could no longer hold on and shattered with a thunderous crash.

The others had already scattered to flee for their lives. In the front courtyard, only Steward Zhang, the old Daoist, and his disciple remained, completely exposed before the apparition.

"Spare me!"

This situation scared Steward Zhang out of his wits, and he began begging the apparition for mercy. Though the old Daoist was also filled with despair, he had gathered from the apparition's behavior just now that it had completely lost its reason. Begging would have no effect whatsoever.

Just as the old Daoist had expected, the apparition turned a deaf ear to Steward Zhang's pleas and charged forward again.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared before the three of them. With a slash of the longsword in his hand, he sent a streak of Blood Qi Sword Qi cleaving into the apparition.

"Pain!"

The apparition let out a heart-rending cry, and its pale-red body became far more illusory from that single strike.

The person who had suddenly appeared was clearly Bi Changsheng, who had been hiding nearby and observing all along. To be honest, both the apparition's and the old Daoist's performances had left Bi Changsheng feeling somewhat disappointed. The supposedly powerful apparitions and immortal cultivators of legend were actually this weak.

But Bi Changsheng also considered that perhaps his misunderstanding stemmed from not knowing enough about apparitions and immortal cultivators. So he decided to save the old Daoist first, then pry some information about immortal cultivators from him.

Bi Changsheng's sudden appearance startled the old Daoist and the other two. They had never imagined that tiny Qingshan Town would harbor such an expert.

Seeing that his first slash had failed to kill the apparition, Bi Changsheng remained unmoved. He only needed to give it another strike.

"Young Hero, show mercy!"

Just as Bi Changsheng was about to finish the apparition with a single sword stroke, a voice rang out from the entrance of Steward Zhang's residence.