Soul-Detention Jar Shatters, the Suppressed Wraith

A roar exploded in the night, so loud it made the eardrums of Xu Zhi and the others ache.

Lu Xuan's pupils trembled violently, and the blood drained completely from his face.

The Soul-Detention Jar held hundreds of wraiths; it was the Longevity Cult's meticulous layout in Linchuan County over many years, and the key to helping the Scroll Fairy break her seal.

Once the jar was shattered, the wraiths within would lose all control, rendering years of painstaking effort futile. How could the Scroll Fairy break her seal and emerge then?

"Who?!"

"Who the hell is it?!"

Lu Xuan's eyes were splitting, staring fixedly in the direction of the stage.

His eyes were bloodshot, his expression twisted and ferocious, consumed by uncontrollable rage.

At this moment, he had no time to worry about Xu Zhi and the three Demon-Suppressing Guards; he had only one thought in his mind: to reach the stage as quickly as possible.

As long as he reached the stage, he could use the Soul-Detention Technique to briefly gather the escaping wraiths, and there would still be room to salvage the situation.

As for the person who destroyed the Soul-Detention Jar, they had to die.

No matter who that person was, no matter their cultivation level, he would skin them alive and pull out their tendons, making their soul scatter into nothingness!

"Consider yourselves lucky!"

Lu Xuan spat out these words, ignoring the ongoing slaughter between his cultists and the Demon-Suppressing Guards, and sped off toward the northwest of the county.

Xu Zhi was stunned, watching the figure disappear into the dark night, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

At the same time, several Longevity Cultists charged over with blades in hand.

"The protector has left! Kill these four lackeys of the Demon Suppression Bureau first!"

Xu Zhi's eyes turned cold; he sidestepped a blade and countered with a diagonal slash.

As the sword light flashed, a line of blood bloomed on the cultist's chest, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The other two Demon-Suppressing Guards also engaged their enemies, the sound of clashing steel echoing through the night.

"Lord Xu, why did that man surnamed Lu suddenly run away?" a young Demon-Suppressing Guard asked, forcing a cultist back with a strike.

"Could it be a ruse to lure the tiger away from the mountain? Does he want to lead us in that direction?" another guard panted.

Xu Zhi shook his head, kicked a cultist away, and glanced in the direction Lu Xuan had vanished.

"Whatever he's up to, now that Lu Xuan is gone, these small fries are easy to deal with."

"Kill them all first, then we'll go over to investigate."

The three guards nodded, stopped overthinking, and swung their blades into the fray.

At the northwest corner of Linchuan County.

The Soul-Detention Jar exploded, and the heavens and earth changed color within a hundred-foot radius.

Pitch-black yin energy erupted from the mouth of the jar like a volcanic eruption, shooting straight into the sky.

The yin energy was so dense it was nearly tangible; wherever it passed, stone and brick shattered, grass and trees turned to ash, and even the starlight in the sky was obscured.

Hundreds of wraiths were swept up in the yin energy, their shrieks and howls sharp and piercing, sounding like the wailing of countless night owls.

As the yin wind blew, the chirping of insects ceased, the barking of dogs stopped, and the lights in houses within a hundred-foot radius went out one by one.

They weren't blown out by people, but eroded by the yin energy.

Fortunately, the bizarre rumors of the night watchman performing plays for paper effigies had spread like wildfire, and most of the residents living in the northwest corner of the county had fled overnight.

Some sought refuge with relatives, some checked into inns, and others moved directly into the City God Temple to sleep on the floor.

There were a few brave souls who hid in their homes to tough it out, but after tonight, they would inevitably suffer from lingering illnesses and endless disasters.

Within that hundred-foot radius, the only living person left on the street was Lu Yuan.

The wraiths drifted in the air, and finding no other signs of life, they quickly turned their attention to the only figure on the stage.

Lu Yuan stood amidst the shattered stage boards, his feet planted on a plank that hadn't fully collapsed, looking up at the rolling black mist above his head.

Hundreds of wraiths drifted, hissed, and struggled around him, their gray-white spectral bodies leaving countless twisted trails of light in the night.

Then, they lunged.

Not one or two, but all of them.

The wraiths poured down from all directions like a burst dam.

They blotted out the sky and covered the stars and moon.

Their eyes were filled with bloodthirst and cruelty as they reached out with gray-white claws toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan did not retreat.

Instead, he smiled.

"Well come."

Crystal light flickered, and streaks of three-inch Crystal Spikes poured out from around his body like a torrential rain of pear blossoms.

Each Crystal Spike pierced a wraith with precision, pinning them in mid-air before they exploded into a sky full of light rain.

His movements were too fast to track; one could only see crystal light erupting from his hands like a shuttle on a loom, carving countless trajectories through the darkness.

[Killed Mortal Realm Wraith, obtained White Trait [Soul Thought]]

[Killed Mortal Realm Wraith, obtained White Trait [Soul Thought]]

There were too many Wraiths. As soon as one wave was slaughtered, another surged forward; no matter how fast the Crystal Spikes flew, they could not withstand the onslaught of hundreds of Wraiths attacking at once.

Three Wraiths pressed against his back, black yin energy coiling around his shoulders and waist. The bone-chilling cold felt as if it were trying to drag his soul right out of his body.

Lu Yuan frowned, and the spirit power within him erupted with a roar.

A vast, abyssal surge of spirit power burst forth, instantly repelling the three Wraiths. Their spectral bodies hissed as if being scorched.

"Come again!"

Lu Yuan shouted, refusing to stand his ground any longer, and charged ferociously into the swarm of Wraiths.

Spirit Crystals condensed into a Horizontal Saber in his hand, spirit power spitting from the blade, carving a cold arc of light through the grey-white mass of souls.

Three Wraiths were struck by the blade; their bodies were severed in two, the upper halves still clawing at the air while the lower halves dissipated.

Lu Yuan moved like lightning. With every slash, several Wraiths perished, while countless Crystal Spikes shot out from his other hand.

There were no tricks, and there was no wasted breath.

One Wraith after another exploded around him, the grey mist of their shattered forms splattering onto him, glowing with a faint, cold light.

Lu Yuan brushed the grey mist from his body, pointed his Horizontal Saber diagonally at the ground, and watched the remaining Wraiths with cold eyes.

Just then, an aura far more powerful than that of an ordinary Wraith surged out from the Black Pottery Jar.

The frenzied Wraiths seemed intimidated, scattering to clear a path.

A black shadow rose slowly from the jar.

Its form was twice the size of a normal Wraith, and instead of a translucent spectral body, it was as solid as a living person.

It wore blood-red robes, a broken sword hung at its waist, and ghostly green flames flickered in its eye sockets.

It looked at Lu Yuan, showing no signs of the bloodthirst or madness seen in the other Wraiths, only a condescending scrutiny.

"Demon Suppression Bureau?"

Its voice was deep, echoing like a bronze bell. "I am a former Red-Robed Protector of the Longevity Cult. I have guarded this Soul-Detention Jar for seven years since my death. You are the first to dare destroy it."

Lu Yuan flicked the grey mist off his blade. "So, you're someone of status."

The Wraith slowly drew the broken sword at its waist. "I killed seven Demon Suppression Captains while I was alive. You shall be the eighth."

As the words fell, thick yin energy surged from the broken sword. It flashed, appearing instantly before Lu Yuan, and brought the broken sword down in a vertical strike.

The sword light was shockingly fast, accompanied by the howling of yin winds.

Lu Yuan raised his Horizontal Saber to parry.

Sparks flew and yin energy exploded, sending the surrounding Wraiths flying.

Spirit power spewed from his Horizontal Saber, his blade technique fierce and peerless.

With one strike, the Wraith raised its sword to block, only to be forced onto one knee, its surrounding yin energy collapsing in large swathes.

"You killed Demon Suppression Captains while alive? Then this calamity is your due in death."

Lu Yuan shattered the broken sword with a single slash and decapitated the Wraith.

Under the pressure of his spirit power, the head disintegrated, and the headless spectral body erupted with hideous cracks as pitch-black yin energy poured out.

The Wraith tried to struggle, but the cracks spread rapidly.

Its spectral body crumbled, dissolving into grey mist in the blink of an eye.

[Killed Initial Realm Wraith, obtained Green Trait [Wandering Soul]]

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