Scholar Knows Sorcery, Female Ghost Can't Block!

Since Yan Chixia unleashed his ultimate technique, that massive Demon God phantom had barely lasted a moment before it shattered under the onslaught of ten thousand swords, dissolving into countless fragments of Zhenyuan that scattered and vanished in midair.

And to sustain that enormous Demon God phantom, the three Demonic Cultivators had already burned through their last reserves, nine-tenths of their blood sacrificed, their lives flickering like candles in the wind.

Facing two formidable foes, the three Demonic Cultivators abandoned their final struggle, and Xiao Han, charging in to claim the kills, lopped off their heads with a single stroke of his sword.

Then, with practiced ease, Xiao Han began patting down the three headless corpses.

He expected to find nothing, but to his surprise, this habitual rummaging actually turned up something.

Xiao Han peeled open the lead Demonic Cultivator's robes and pulled out a blue-covered, black-lettered manual.

He took a closer look and saw three ancient characters written on the cover.

"Heavenly Demon Manual? Damn, why not call it the Eternal Life Technique instead?"

Staring at the all-too-familiar name, Xiao Han felt a twinge of speechless exasperation.

Though the name was identical, the content was certainly not the martial skill manual recording the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art that he remembered from his own world.

Flipping through it for a quick browse, Xiao Han understood—despite its imposing title, the Heavenly Demon Manual was nothing more than a collection of heretical tricks. Aside from the most basic Demonic Cultivator techniques, it contained methods for crafting sinister treasures like Sex Puppets, which turned Xiao Han's stomach.

But the demonic manual wasn't entirely without merit; some knowledge on tempering Spiritual Sense at least gave Xiao Han a fresh perspective.

Just then, Yan Chixia walked over, snatched the manual from Xiao Han's hands, flipped through it, and tossed it back. "Trash! Only those Demonic Cultivators would treasure something like this. But if you're interested, A Han, keep it safe—don't let this harmful manual spread. And don't touch those evil techniques in there; they're all crooked paths that lead nowhere."

"Hero Yan, this world isn't simply black and white. Though this is a demonic text, some of its finer points can't be matched even by the orthodox methods of the Mysterious Sect." Xiao Han tucked away the Heavenly Demon Manual with a smile.

"You've got a point, but I still hate this stuff. Too unlucky. Look how many innocent young girls died because of that broken demonic cultivation method." Yan Chixia was referring to the Sex Puppets Xiao Han had blasted into smithereens.

"Ah—"

Xiao Han gazed at the vengeful spirits of those girls, along with the souls of the clients who'd been sacrificed by the three Demonic Cultivators for their lust, and let out a soft sigh. "Hero Yan, do you know the Rebirth Mantra? Could you teach it to me?"

"Kid, you've got a good heart."

Yan Chixia laughed and tapped a finger against Xiao Han's forehead, and the scripture of the Rebirth Mantra was quickly learned by Xiao Han.

The old and young Taoist Priests chanted the Rebirth Mantra together, performing the rites to send these vengeful spirits ascending to heaven.

One could imagine the brutal torment those three Demonic Cultivators had inflicted on those girls. Even with Xiao Han and Yan Chixia's profound cultivation, it took them over an hour to purify all the souls and send them into reincarnation.

When the ruins once again became a place of peace, Xiao Han nodded to Yan Chixia. "Let's go. Ning Caichen is probably getting impatient."

"Ah—let's go. I'm getting old; I hate dealing with this kind of thing." Yan Chixia loosened his aching lower back, hefted the Xuanyuan Sword, and led Xiao Han away, leaving behind a crowd of terrified onlookers who had watched the demon-slaying battle from afar, along with a few clients who had narrowly brushed past the gates of hell.

Many years later, a tale of a peerless Sword Immortal battling a Blood-Red Demon God still circulated in this place, and because of that legend, the brothels here never managed to thrive...

And so, the two of them, accompanied by a frail scholar, continued their journey toward Guobei County.

During this time, Xiao Han and Yan Chixia never hid their demon-subduing and ghost-exorcising activities from Ning Caichen. The dazzling displays of divine techniques and Daoist magic left Ning Caichen stunned again and again, but his sense of security grew immensely.

With two such overpowering companions by his side, what need was there to fear bandits on the road?

After witnessing Xiao Han draw his sword and cut down dozens of fierce ghosts in one go, Ning Caichen went from fear to shock, then to getting used to it, and finally to watching monsters charge at them to eat people only to be one-shot by Xiao Han without batting an eye—he had become fearless.

After all, if anyone had two ruthless experts by their side who could swat demons and monsters like garlic cloves, they'd grow numb to it after a while.

Since Xiao Han was intent on hunting demons and evil spirits, he deliberately took remote paths along the way, dragging out the journey by at least a week.

But Ning Caichen wasn't in a hurry; he had set out early, and the deadline for collecting debts was still far off.

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded among the three travelers.

A teenage boy charged ahead at full speed, slaying demons and exorcising spirits with unprecedented Daoist techniques and sword arts, sending every Evil Spirit fleeing in terror.

Behind the boy walked a scholar reading a book as he strolled along.

No matter how terrifying the monsters' howls, the scholar remained unfazed, focused on reviewing his lessons. Since the scholar was covered in exorcism talismans, even though he was a weakling without the strength to truss a chicken, no demon dared approach him.

At the rear of the group was an old drunkard carrying a Wine Gourd, leisurely bringing up the back. Whenever some monster mistook him for an easy target and attacked, a flash of sword light would instantly cut it down!

"Myriad Swords! Wind, rain, thunder, lightning! By the urgent decree of the law! Thunder transforms into ten thousand swords!"

With a series of fierce shouts, countless bolts of Heavenly Thunder from the sky condensed into one Thunder Immortal Sword after another, shooting out from the thunderclouds!

This was a new technique Xiao Han had created over these past days, combining the Summoning Thunder Technique with the sword intent in his heart, then blending it with the Sword Control Technique—shooting his sword intent into the thunderclouds, then chanting the Lightning Technique incantation to absorb the sword intent and transform it into thunderous sword light!

Heavenly Thunder was the purest and most yang force, the bane of all evil under heaven!

The already fearsome power of thunder, infused with Xiao Han's sword intent and the divine might to split heaven and earth, crashed down heavily, annihilating every Evil Spirit!

In response, Xiao Han had once again successfully created a technique inspired by an anime.

Lightning Release: Kirin: Σ(°△°|||)︴?

The only difference was that the thunderous Kirin had become a thunderous Immortal Sword instead~

Boom! Crash!!!

A stench of scorched flesh wafted through the air. The culprit behind the long-standing case of missing children in this area—a Century-old Giant Spider Demon—along with all its offspring, vanished from the world under the relentless bombardment of Heavenly Thunder sword light.

By the time Xiao Han and the others led their horses out of the Dense Forest, night had fallen, and it was no longer suitable for travel.

So Xiao Han set up camp on the spot and began discussing Sword Dao with Yan Chixia.

During these days by their side, Ning Caichen had picked up some knowledge of martial skills and Daoist arts through constant exposure. Whenever Xiao Han and the other discussed the Way, he couldn't resist eavesdropping out of curiosity.

Xiao Han's Soul Power was so formidable—how could he fail to notice Ning Caichen's little tricks? Yan Chixia was the same, but he simply didn't bother taking the eavesdropping to heart.

After dinner, Xiao Han called Ning Caichen aside and laid his cards on the table: "Brother Ning, you seem quite interested in the martial and Daoist arts that Hero Yan and I have been discussing lately?"

"Ah, this—my sincerest apologies! ...These past days, I simply couldn't curb my curiosity. Since the two of you never avoided me during your discussions, I couldn't help but eavesdrop and commit such a rude act. I'm sorry—I won't do it again."

Hearing this, Ning Caichen's face twisted with extreme embarrassment. In ancient times, without formally becoming a disciple, eavesdropping on another's inherited techniques was a grave taboo.

Xiao Han shook his head at this and said with a smile, "Hero Yan and I aren't the type to be bound by master-disciple traditions. After spending these days together, I can see you're no great villain, Brother Ning. If you truly wish to learn, I'm not opposed to teaching you—no need to become a disciple or anything like that~"

"This... how could I presume?"

Lowering his head in embarrassment, Ning Caichen blushed. "And at my age, if I start cultivating now, is it really not too late?"

"That's not hard to manage."

Xiao Han chuckled. "As long as you have the will, I happen to have a pill here that can grant a preliminary Washing Marrow and Cutting Bone. Eat it, and your innate talent will no longer be a limitation."

Ning Caichen's eyes lit up at this: "Is that true?"

Xiao Han rolled his eyes, flicked his finger, and shot the so-called "Marrow Cleansing Pill"—which he'd somehow produced without warning—straight into Ning Caichen's mouth.

Then, Xiao Han slapped Ning Caichen's body to dissolve the medicinal power. Threads of Zhenyuan condensed from his hand, flowing along Ning Caichen's pulse gate into his body, forcing out the impurities within.

As for the so-called "Marrow Cleansing Pill" just eaten, it was merely a pill to stimulate the body. The real marrow cleansing came from the technique Xiao Han had learned from the Danyuan Technique. As for a pill that could truly wash marrow and cut bone—he wanted one himself!

The process lasted a full ten minutes. Countless impurities were expelled through Ning Caichen's Pores, rapidly staining his body black and reeking horribly.

Xiao Han pinched his nose in disgust, pulled a bucket of clean water from his Storage Ring, heated it to just the right temperature with his Fire Attribute Zhenyuan, and dumped it over Ning Caichen's head.

At the same time, Xiao Han pressed his right hand against Ning Caichen's head, Zhenyuan swiftly spreading through his Meridians to every part of his body. Xiao Han narrowed his eyes, gave a slight tremor of his Zhenyuan, and blasted away Ning Caichen's clothes along with the filthy impurities.

After that single rinse, the once filthy and stinking Ning Caichen seemed like a different person—washed clean of all dross.

Fair-skinned and clean, with a pert backside and a face as handsome as Leslie Cheung's—if he ever ended up in prison, his virtue would definitely be in danger.

Opening his eyes, Ning Caichen felt the changes in his body and was overjoyed. Before he could react, Xiao Han pressed a finger to his brow.

A vast torrent of information was injected into him by Xiao Han.

The Danyuan Technique, Sword Flying Technique, Myriad Swords Technique, Cloud Crushing Swordplay, and those few Yellow-rank low-level combat skills—all were poured into Ning Caichen's mind.

Watching Ning Caichen faint from being unable to bear the influx, Xiao Han let out a few lecherous chuckles.

A Chinese Ghost Story tells the tale of a scholar and a female ghost. Now, though—when those two meet, will Nie Xiaoqian be chopped down by Ning Caichen at first sight? How amusing~ Hehehe~