Ghostly Howls in the Yin Wind, Pursuing

"These corpses have been dead for less than an hour, yet their blood has already turned black."

"This is highly abnormal; it seems there is some sort of problem here."

Wen Taiquan, standing to the side, felt his brow twitch upon hearing this.

A trace of shock flickered in his eyes; he seemed to have realized something.

With a grave expression, he said, "Do not make a scene. I will report this matter quietly."

"I fear there is a major problem lurking within."

Li Qing nodded. "Will I receive merit for this?"

Wen Taiquan rolled his eyes at him. "Rest assured, the Demon Extermination Hall never treats its meritorious servants unfairly."

"If there is truly a problem here, your merit will certainly not be lacking."

The three continued their work of burying the bodies, Li Qing and Wen Taiquan moving past the corpses as if by chance.

They were secretly observing the bodies, and the more they looked, the more alarmed they became.

The blood of every corpse had turned black, and the process had been far too rapid; it was clear that the vital essence within had been drained dry.

The more he observed, the deeper Li Qing's frown became. Could it be the Blood Demon Sect again?

The Blood Demon Sect favored draining vital essence directly from the human body; the blackening of the blood was the result of such essence being lost.

Normally, this process would take an entire day, yet now it had been completed in less than an hour.

Ying Taihua had not noticed this at all; only Li Qing and Wen Taiquan were aware of it.

The sky was approaching dusk, and the bodies were nearly all buried.

As the final corpse was laid to rest, the task seemed to be coming to an end.

Suddenly, a cold, ghostly wind blew from the distance.

Everyone shivered, and the sound of a ghost wailing slowly began to rise.

"Woo... woo..."

The sound seemed to be carried within the wind. The gravediggers turned pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Ying Taihua's face darkened, and he let out a sharp shout, "Why are you still standing there? Move, now!"

Startled by his shout, the group of gravediggers snapped out of their stupor, hurriedly pushing their carts and rushing toward the main road.

They fled in a panic, not daring to linger for even a second.

Ying Taihua, Li Qing, and Wen Taiquan followed behind them, guarding their retreat with vigilance.

All three stared silently toward the rear, ready to strike at the first sign of danger.

Perhaps it was their strength in numbers, but although the ghost wailing continued to echo in the wind, no Anomaly ultimately appeared.

Finally, they successfully retreated to the main road and made haste toward Jade City.

Before the sun had completely set, they safely entered Jade City, and only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Wen Taiquan patted Li Qing on the shoulder and said, "I am going to report this immediately. Once the situation is clarified, your merit should be processed."

Li Qing nodded slightly. "Good."

He was currently in dire need of merit. According to the catalog, he still needed to exchange for at least four more techniques regarding the cultivation of vital essence in organs to complete the Humanity's Overview Technique.

Only then could he cover every type of organ in his body.

Of course, the most important thing was to see if the Jade Tablet would display it as perfect.

His "golden finger" was powerful, but it was not intelligent.

For instance, it did not show him which techniques were still required to fully perfect this comprehensive cultivation method.

Sigh, I suppose I can only rely on myself to perfect it bit by bit.

I hope it doesn't take too long.

Li Qing headed in the direction of the Escort Agency.

As he passed through the main street and entered a small alley, a strange, eerie wailing suddenly rang in his ears.

"Woo, woo, woo."

His scalp tingled. Li Qing instantly activated his Shadow Art, his entire body dissolving into the shadows.

He looked around cautiously. A mass of shadow had appeared, he knew not when, at a distance of ten feet behind him.

That shadow was wearing a black Funeral Shroud.

The eerie wailing was emanating continuously from its mouth.

The sound circled his ears, and Li Qing felt as if countless people were chanting sutras inside his head.

A sensation of dizziness and lightheadedness began to wash over him.

This is bad. This sound seems capable of disrupting the mind.

A fierce glint appeared in his eyes. He stomped against the ground and lunged toward the figure in a flash.

The black figure watched Li Qing charging toward it and slowly raised its head.

It was a ghastly white face without a single feature, not even a mouth, yet a bizarre voice rang out incessantly.

The eerie figure flickered and lunged at Li Qing, its speed as fast as a bolt of light.

Instinctively, Li Qing raised his hand and struck out with a ball of Burning Blood Flame.

The Burning Blood Flame blanketed the space ahead, but the moment it was about to touch the shadow, the opponent suddenly vanished, and a hair-raising sensation crept up his spine.

A pair of ice-cold hands rested silently upon Li Qing's shoulders.

A boundless chill surged straight to his brain, and in that instant, his entire body seemed to stiffen.

A freezing aura bore down on the back of his head, and the scent of death enveloped him.

Li Qing felt as if a mouth were descending upon the back of his skull, intent on digging out his brains.

An unprecedented premonition of death froze his entire body, leaving him unable to move a muscle.

I was careless!

Infinite essence surged instantly, pouring frantically into the Spirit Summoning Tablet he had been clutching in his left hand.

A sound like the roar of a dragon erupted.

The phantom of a Flood Dragon burst forth from the Spirit Summoning Tablet and instantly clamped its jaws onto the figure that had grabbed him from behind.

"Kee-kee-kee!"

The eerie screeching sounded, the icy hands fell away from his shoulders, and in that moment, Li Qing regained his freedom.

He spun around and struck out with a sheet of Burning Blood Flame toward his back.

There, a figure was being held fast by the Flood Dragon's phantom; it was none other than the Faceless Ghost Shadow clad in burial clothes.

The ghost and the Flood Dragon tore at each other frantically. The ghost's hands were wreathed in sharp claws, carving bloody gashes into the body of the Flood Dragon's phantom.

Meanwhile, the Flood Dragon's sharp jaws were locked onto the ghost's neck, tearing wildly and leaving behind countless wounds of its own.

The blood-colored flame, driven by Li Qing's palm, was driven deep into the figure's body.

In an instant, the figure turned blood-red from the inside out.

The illusory Flood Dragon phantom detached itself from the opponent and flashed back into the Spirit Summoning Tablet.

Li Qing's gaze fell upon the Spirit Summoning Tablet; the Flood Dragon phantom upon it now bore many scars.

Li Qing frowned immediately. "Can this Flood Dragon phantom actually be injured?"

"Kee-kee-kee..."

The bizarre phantom shrieked miserably, eventually burning away into nothingness within the blood-colored flames.

An Essence Stone fell to the ground, and Li Qing walked over to pick it up.

The Jade Tablet trembled slightly, and the essence within the Essence Stone was instantly swept away.

Immediately following, a stream of pure essence flowed into his body.

The essence within his bloodline circulated naturally, and after roughly a few breaths, his total essence had risen to 4/5 of his bloodline capacity.

"With one more Essence Stone, my Spirit Blood Art will be perfected."

"If I continue, it will be Body Strengthening, where the essence overflows from the bloodline to radiate through every organ in my body."