Complete Victory

Chen Ye had been cultivating for a short time and had very little experience in actual combat.

Previously, he had managed to take down two Tongxuan Realm Old Devils in succession, but that was only because their lifespans were exhausted and their souls were left for him to manipulate.

This was the first time Chen Ye had faced a cultivator with a fully intact body.

Mo Ci had always worried that Chen Ye was too soft-hearted, but Chen Ye actually drew a very clear line between when to show benevolence and when to be utterly ruthless.

Now that it was a life-or-death struggle, Chen Ye had no intention of holding back.

The ghosts released by the Ten Thousand Soul Banner obscured the sword light from the Sword Box. The sword light split into four directions, avoiding Jiang Shiyue's notice, while the Immobilization Technique—which he had only just begun to learn but had already gained some insight into—gradually took shape.

Chen Ye attacked without defending, completely unafraid of Jiang Shiyue trying to take him down together.

It looked reckless, but in reality, he was confident.

Because Princess Hongyu had mentioned that Jiang Shiyue was afraid of death; even though he had reached the point where he should have been tempering his body with Gangsha, he had given up simply because he feared the pain. Such a person was rarely ruthless. Faced with a life-or-death crisis, his first instinct would be to hide and save his own skin, lacking the courage to perish alongside Chen Ye.

Since that was the case, there was no need to hold back.

Chen Ye's guess was correct.

Facing such a fierce offensive, Jiang Shiyue's expression changed drastically. Both were demonic cultivators, and an expert could tell the level of a technique at a glance. The Ten Thousand Soul Banner in Chen Ye's hand was no ordinary item; it was a high-quality magic treasure that no common rogue cultivator could ever produce. Although those vengeful spirits didn't possess overwhelming malice, the sheer, overwhelming swarm of them was something Jiang Shiyue could not withstand.

Not to mention the sword light hidden within; Jiang Shiyue didn't know how powerful it was, but he certainly didn't dare to take it head-on.

Therefore, Jiang Shiyue used his most reliable skill.

His body transformed into a cloud of pink mist, dissipating into an intangible form.

The vengeful spirits lunged at empty air, and three of the four sword beams missed, but the final one successfully struck home, passing through the mist and drawing a miserable shriek from Jiang Shiyue.

However, his spell was quite miraculous; despite the scream, he didn't revert to his original form, instead maintaining the mist state as he flew toward Chen Ye.

Chen Ye didn't know if this stuff was poisonous, so he naturally didn't dare to touch it.

The Immobilization Technique on his right hand had already taken shape, and his left hand held a talisman; with a surge of spiritual energy, he ignited it, summoning a gust of wind.

The five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were the most basic forms of spiritual energy, and Chen Ye was best at mastering the basics.

When he set up the formation in front of the corpse pit earlier, he had easily used wood to draw fire, creating a wall of flames to block the Evil Buddha's golden light.

The talisman in his hand wasn't particularly useful either; it was just a common "Wind Call" spell, capable of summoning a gust of wind strong enough to blow an umbrella out of someone's hand if they were caught off guard, but nothing more.

In addition to the wind talisman, Chen Ye had also prepared other minor trick talismans like fire-starting and mist-raising.

Combined with the information he had gathered from Princess Hongyu about Jiang Shiyue's techniques, knowing he could transform into mist, he had prepared several extra "Wind Call" talismans.

All things in the world have their mutual generation and restraint; even if this talisman couldn't hurt a mortal, it had miraculous effects at critical moments.

Jiang Shiyue never expected Chen Ye to happen to have a "Wind Call" talisman, and the pink mist was unable to advance once hit by the wind.

Although he wasn't injured, the opportunity for a counterattack was lost in vain.

Unable to get close, the vengeful spirits that had missed earlier swarmed back. They didn't care if the mist was poisonous or if they could actually hurt him; they simply lunged forward, biting and devouring frantically, crashing into the pink mist until it couldn't maintain its form.

By now, Chen Ye had raised his hand to cast the Immobilization Technique, but unfortunately, the spell made of spiritual energy dissipated as soon as it was cast. After all, his practice time was too short; it worked fine when he slapped it onto someone directly, but he couldn't yet project it to hit a distant enemy.

Although the spell failed, Chen Ye didn't mind. He tapped his toes to create distance, then channeled his internal spiritual energy into the Sword Box to brew another sword light.

The magic treasures of the Qinghe Sword Sect were truly formidable; even a body in mist form could be injured.

Once another sword light was stored in the Sword Box, Chen Ye didn't release it immediately, but instead spoke, "Surrender quickly, enter my Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and repent for your sins."

Jiang Shiyue was unwilling, but the vengeful spirits gave him no chance. The pink mist was constantly stirred and scattered, unable to reform, and he couldn't escape even if he wanted to.

He might be holding on for now, but the spell was constantly consuming his spiritual energy, and if this stalemate continued, he would be in trouble.

But he truly had no other means.

Not every rogue cultivator was like Chen Ye, who had mastered two high-quality magic treasures while only in the Qi Sea Realm. Jiang Shiyue had cultivated for so long and couldn't even refine a decent Ten Thousand Soul Banner; he only had two signature spells.

The first was the Charm Technique, which could control a mortal's mind, but it required a calm and focused state, ensuring the target couldn't move before it could be cast. The second was the mist transformation, a very powerful spell; the pink mist was not only poisonous, but he was also immune to ordinary attacks while in it, allowing him to strike or flee at will.

Who could have guessed that this foolproof spell would fail to withstand Chen Ye's sword light?

The moment the mist touched the sword light, Jiang Shiyue felt a piece of his flesh vanish, a pain that truly pierced his heart.

As someone who was already so afraid of pain that he dared not cultivate properly, he was now panicked and desperate to escape.

With the thought of fleeing, Jiang Shiyue dared not counterattack even more, choosing to sacrifice some limbs to force the bulk of the mist out of the encirclement of the vengeful spirits.

This was like a gecko shedding its tail; he would leave behind his hands or feet to save his core body and escape the area.

However, just as the large mass of mist was about to slip into a crack in the wall, Chen Ye released the sword light he had just prepared.

"I knew you would run."

Chen Ye's confident strike pierced the pink mist once more. Jiang Shiyue could no longer maintain the mist state and collapsed to the ground, wailing as he reformed.

Jiang Shiyue was now missing an arm and a leg, his lower waist was drenched in blood, and he was severely wounded. So much for being the most handsome man in the pugilistic world; he now looked like a pile of rotting meat.

"Spare me, I surrender, spare me! I still have hidden magic treasures and pills, I can..."

Jiang Shiyue wailed, hoping for a glimmer of survival, but Chen Ye didn't hesitate to let the vengeful spirits swarm forward, tearing Jiang Shiyue's mangled body to pieces and pulling his soul directly into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

What a fool; once he was inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, he would have to cough up his treasures anyway.

Chen Ye showed no mercy when dealing with a fiend like this.

Chen Ye had originally worried that Su Chunyi might be displeased to see him harvest a soul into his banner, but when he turned back, he saw her explaining things to Lan Shi.

"This fiend looks young, but his brows are knotted and his spiritual light is dim; one look tells you he is using pills to maintain his appearance, when in reality, he is nearing the end of his lifespan. Those in the Qi Sea Realm generally live to be over two hundred, and while the master is not even twenty this year, this fiend could not last three moves against him. Do you truly think you can keep up with the master's pace of cultivation?"

Lan Shi lowered her head at Su Chunyi's words. Although she had only watched the spectacle without understanding the mysteries of the battle, it had indeed been a victory without any suspense. Lan Shi had witnessed Jiang Shiyue's abilities and knew how easily he could manipulate mortals, yet she had not expected Chen Ye to handle Jiang Shiyue with equal ease.

Thinking of it this way, she truly had no qualifications to remain by Chen Ye's side.

Su Chunyi patted Lan Shi on the head and said to her, "Come with me to Qinghe. If you can find the meaning of cultivation, there will surely be a day when you can meet again."

Lan Shi looked toward Chen Ye, and Chen Ye quickly gave the young girl an encouraging look.

After thinking for a long time, Lan Shi finally nodded.

"Fairy sister, I will go to Qinghe with you."