Soul-Slaying Ghost Devourer

At dawn, the sun had yet to rise completely, and the mountain forest was still shrouded in mist.

In this setting, Qiusheng helped the old woman, who had just been slumped on the ground, onto his bicycle.

He himself held the bicycle steady and slowly headed toward the place where he saw the wooden house.

However, once he got a little closer, the wooden house's true form was revealed before him.

It was a lone grave mound, with a roll of joss paper beside it.

Seeing this, Qiusheng immediately understood. It seemed this old woman truly had not been dead for long. He just did not know why she had lured him here. Was she planning to drag someone down with her before she died?

As his thoughts ran wild, Qiusheng's eyelid suddenly twitched.

What did he see? Beside the old woman's grave mound, he actually saw another version of himself wandering about alone, muttering something as he paced.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me."

Hearing his own wandering soul continuously repeat those words, Qiusheng's body trembled slightly, and he immediately understood the other party's true identity.

It seemed this wandering ghost was the original owner of this body.

For some unknown reason, the original owner's soul had actually left this body, allowing him to take over the magpie's nest. Flesh and soul had perfectly merged into a new Qiusheng.

Even Uncle Nine, a master of the Daoist arts, had failed to notice that his eldest disciple's soul had long since been replaced.

As those thoughts surfaced, a chilling killing intent rose in his heart.

At the same time, a gust of yin wind came from the old woman beside him.

"Young man, help this old woman into the house."

As the yin wind brushed over him, Qiusheng felt as though his soul was about to float out of his body!

Yet at this most critical moment, the faint mana within him came through once more.

It directly suppressed his somewhat restless soul again. Then, he stopped putting on an act and shouted loudly.

"Bold demon! You dare harm people in broad daylight? Die!"

With a furious roar, Qiusheng did not hesitate in the slightest, slamming a Palm Thunder onto the old woman before him.

"Ah!"

"How is this possible? You clearly revived through a borrowed corpse. How can you cultivate mana?"

Amid those shrill cries, the old ghost that could blow a person's soul out of their body vanished into ashes.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing one special spirit ghost. You have obtained 150 Exorcism Points."

Hearing the system notification by his ear, Qiusheng turned his gaze toward the original owner's soul.

He truly had no idea how to deal with this fellow.

The best solution, naturally, would be to smash the fellow's soul to pieces.

Then this unregistered outsider would truly have an identity in this world and be able to establish himself firmly.

But for some reason, a faint voice in Qiusheng's heart was warning him that he absolutely could not disperse this soul.

Of course, it was not because his morals were so noble. Rather, somewhere deep down, he felt there should be a better choice than destroying this soul completely.

As his thoughts churned, the system notification sounded by Qiusheng's ear again.

"Ding! Detected the remnant soul of the host's projection in a parallel plane beside the host. Does the host wish to devour the remnant soul before him?"

"Ding! Friendly reminder: after the host devours this remnant soul, it will be equivalent to completely replacing all of this remnant soul's karmic connections in this parallel world. Please proceed with caution."

Hearing the system's prompt, Qiusheng instantly relaxed. That's more like it. Just as I thought—devouring it is the best choice.

"Begin devouring it."

Qiusheng silently said in his heart.

The moment those words left his mind, the system notification sounded by his ear again.

"Ding! The host has begun devouring the remnant soul of the host's projection in this parallel world. This devouring will consume 100 Exorcism Points. Upon successful devouring, the host's talent and comprehension will increase once again."

"Hm? Devouring it actually costs 100 Exorcism Points? That really is rather expensive."

"Still, it is all worth it. After this, I will be the real Qiusheng."

With a faint smile on his lips, he spread his arms and tilted his head up toward the sky as he waited.

He did not know how much time had passed. Perhaps it was a quarter of an hour, or perhaps only an instant. Then the system notification sounded by Qiusheng's ear once again.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host. The remnant soul has been successfully devoured."

As the system prompt sounded, Qiusheng slowly opened his eyes. The mana within his body began circulating on its own, and as it did, streams of spiritual energy were directly drawn from heaven and earth into his body.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host. Comprehension has increased. The cultivation progress of the Shangqing Dongxuan Record has increased once more and is now Intermediate!"

Qiusheng's eyes shone brightly, and he felt more refreshed than ever. Full of delight, he opened his attribute panel again.

Character: Qiusheng (inner disciple of the Maoshan Sect).

Cultivation: Occultist+ (mid-stage).

Exorcism Points: 60.

Daoist Arts: Talisman Crafting+ (beginner), Shangqing Dongxuan Record (intermediate), Maoshan Basic Martial Arts+ (intermediate), Palm Thunder+ (beginner), Lightning Bolt Fist+ (beginner).

Lifespan: 60+.

Seeing that the Shangqing Dongxuan Record had reached the intermediate level, Qiusheng was overjoyed. He then tapped the plus sign beside his cultivation level.

"Ding! The host has consumed 40 Exorcism Points and raised their cultivation to the late stage of Occultist."

By the time he had finished all this, the sky was already bright with sunlight. The gentle rays fell upon him, bringing joy to both body and mind.

Who could have expected that this trip out would bring him such tremendous fortune? Not only had it completely resolved the matter of his identity, but it had also increased his talent and comprehension!

Overjoyed, Qiusheng mounted the bicycle beside him and headed toward the Public Mortuary while humming a tune.

There were no further mishaps along the way, and he arrived at the Public Mortuary without incident.

When Qiusheng arrived at the Public Mortuary, he parked his bicycle and glanced into the courtyard. He immediately saw his junior brother Wencai being fiercely scolded by Uncle Nine.

"Wencai, what am I supposed to say about you? I taught you Pacing the Dipper all morning, yet why can't you learn it?"

"Master, it really isn't my fault. Pacing the Dipper is just too difficult. If you don't believe me, wait until Qiusheng gets here and teach him. See whether he can learn it."

"Wencai, you can't learn it yourself, so you drag me into getting scolded with you? You're really something!"

Having just entered the courtyard, Qiusheng immediately flew into a rage when he heard Wencai's words.