Slay the Demon Daoist, Destroy the Yin Altar, Break the Demonic Art!

In Rubble Stone Forest.

Below the cliff cave.

Chen Jichuan pointed upward and said to Ban Zhua beside him, "That man is up there. Once we go in, don't give him any chance. Strike with all your strength and kill him, then destroy the Yin Altar, and his demonic art will break on its own!"

Five-Ghost Daoist himself was only Level Six.

Before Mother Ban had been harmed, she had been Level Seven.

It seemed like a difference of only one level.

But Chen Jichuan knew that this was the gap between Later-Heaven and Innate Realm, Hidden Force and Transformative Force Realm, Visualization and Spirit Projection.

Like a suspended river.

The reason Five-Ghost Daoist had been able to torment Mother Ban into such a miserable state was precisely because his demonic art was strange and difficult to guard against or detect.

And he had hidden in the shadows, with ample time to prepare and cast it.

Naturally, he was formidable.

But once someone found his hiding place, if he had no other backup plans, then caught off guard, he could only be left to the butcher's knife.

Chen Jichuan had tracked him down.

The rest was left to Ban Zhua.

"Alright."

"I'll go now."

Hatred surged through Ban Zhua's heart like towering waves, and his killing intent soared. With a leap, he borrowed the jagged rocks for footholds, flashing upward several times before reaching the cave entrance.

The moment he appeared.

He revealed his true form—

"Roar!"

Chen Jichuan remained below. He heard only a tiger's roar, then with Far-Sight, he saw Five-Ghost Daoist panic inside the cave. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, tiger claws tore him in two.

Only one exchange.

Five-Ghost Daoist died.

"Impressive!"

Chen Jichuan's Far-Sight swept everywhere. This was not his first time seeing a Level Seven expert act, but Ban Zhua's clean and decisive killing of Five-Ghost Daoist still startled him.

A Level Six figure.

In the Great Yan World, he would already have been a peerless master.

Yet in the Liang World, before a Level Seven expert, he was still like fish on the chopping block, at another's mercy and unable to resist.

"Level Six."

"Level Seven."

"In this life, my goal is to cross this threshold. Only then, in reality, will I truly possess the strength to protect myself."

Chen Jichuan turned the thought over in his mind.

He did not dwell on it.

With a movement of his feet, he climbed into the cave as well.

Seeing Chen Jichuan.

Ban Zhua transformed into human form and came forward. "Master Chen, the demon Daoist is dead."

"Well done."

Chen Jichuan praised him.

He took two steps inside and focused his gaze.

There, atop the Yin Altar, Five-Ghost Daoist had been split in two. Blood covered the altar, while organs and intestines lay scattered everywhere, nauseating to behold.

One was a Daoist who harmed others from behind the scenes.

The other was a fierce tiger charging head-on.

When the two collided.

They met point against point.

Even if Ban Zhua had possessed only the strength of Level Four or Five, he might still have been able to kill Five-Ghost Daoist, let alone a Level Seven fighting a Level Six.

This result could only be called expected.

Unfazed by the bloodiness.

Chen Jichuan stepped past Five-Ghost Daoist's corpse and looked toward the Yin Altar.

The Yin Altar was divided into five sections, covered with many yellow talismans. Each section held a dead person's head. Every head had been painted one of five colors—green, red, white, black, and yellow—then wrapped in burial cloth of a matching color, with yellow talismans pasted all over them.

In the east, south, west, north, and center.

A command banner had been planted in each direction.

They were—

The eastern green-faced Ghost-Head Command Banner.

The southern red-faced Ghost-Head Command Banner.

The western white-faced Ghost-Head Command Banner.

The northern black-faced Ghost-Head Command Banner.

The central yellow-faced Ghost-Head Command Banner.

They corresponded to the colors of the dead heads and burial cloth. They swayed gently in the wind, giving off an exceedingly eerie feeling.

"Master Chen."

"This Yin Altar—"

Ban Zhua had intended to destroy the Yin Altar, but seeing Chen Jichuan stare at it without pause, he hesitated.

"Leave the yellow talismans and command banners."

"Destroy everything else."

Chen Jichuan did not dare touch the command banners himself, so he told Ban Zhua.

Having slain his enemy, Ban Zhua trusted Chen Jichuan to the utmost and did not question him in the slightest. He leaped forward and transformed into a fierce tiger—

Swish, swish, swish!

His claws danced wildly, and within a few strokes, he shredded the Yin Altar of wooden stakes and packed earth into complete disarray.

The Yin Altar broke.

With nothing left to suppress them.

Whooo, whooo, whooo!

The resentful ghosts and demonic evils within immediately burst out, turning into streams of smoke as they rushed toward Ban Zhua.

"Roar!"

Ban Zhua let out a tiger's roar.

It scattered every resentful ghost and demonic evil. The gray smoke vanished, and the cave became clear at once.

"Evil-Exorcising Technique."

"Five-Ghost Daoist must have taken advantage of Ban Zhua's absence to command ghosts into Mother Ban's body. Otherwise, no ghosts or evil things could have approached her beneath Ban Zhua's very eyes."

Chen Jichuan watched Ban Zhua display his might and disperse the ghostly mist.

After a long while.

There was no further movement.

Only then did he step forward, pick up a dry branch, and rummage through Five-Ghost Daoist's bloody corpse.

Before long, he found five scrolls of scriptures. They were all wrapped in cowhide, impervious to water and fire. Besides the scriptures, there was a pouch of yellow talismans kept close to the body, as well as a bronze mirror the size of a human face hanging from his waist.

Chen Jichuan collected them one by one.

With Ban Zhua guarding him, he searched around the cave again.

He discovered quite a few materials and tools for the Talisman-Making Art, such as prepared cinnabar, fine talisman brushes, several stacks of yellow ritual paper cut to size, and various other miscellaneous items.

Chen Jichuan did not pick and choose. He packed everything up and took it with him.

Once he saw that the cave was empty.

He followed the anxious Ban Zhua and hurried back toward Golden Wind Mountain.

Back in the mountains, just as they reached the house.

Ban Ya, who had heard the commotion, ran out, both startled and delighted. "Not long ago, five little ghosts emerged from Mother's body, all panicked and flustered. I swallowed them in one bite!"

As he spoke.

Ban Ya let out a full belch, unable to suppress the joy on his face.

"It must be because Master Chen and I killed the demon Daoist, destroyed the Yin Altar, and broke his demonic art!"

Ban Zhua had been deeply uneasy the entire way back. Only upon hearing Ban Ya's words did his heart finally settle, and joy leaped onto his face as well. With no time to explain anything to Ban Ya, he hurriedly asked, "How is Mother?"

"She took some nourishing, calming medicine and went back to sleep."

"But her vitality and spirit are much better."

Ban Ya grinned nonstop. Then he suddenly came to his senses and dropped to his knees before Chen Jichuan with a thump. "Master Chen's great kindness and immense virtue shall never be forgotten by Ban Ya, not for all eternity!"

"Master Chen—"

Seeing this, Ban Zhua beside him also intended to kneel.

If not for this Master Chen of Precious Fungus Grove coming to their aid out of righteousness, the two brothers could only have watched helplessly as their old mother was harmed to death, without even knowing why.

This debt of gratitude.

Was truly too great.

"Don't!"

Chen Jichuan reacted quickly and reached out to stop them. Worried that he might hurt him, Ban Zhua did not dare force himself down.

"You two are far too formal."

"I only found the demon Daoist's whereabouts. Ban Zhua was the one who killed him. You are truly giving Chen far more credit than he deserves."

Chen Jichuan held Ban Zhua back with one hand and helped Ban Ya up with the other as he spoke.

The two brothers rose.

They looked at Chen Jichuan, their hearts still filled with gratitude. They knew Chen Jichuan made it sound easy, but amid the vast mountains, how could it have been easy to find a demon Daoist secretly causing trouble?

Thinking back on it now.

Master Chen disappeared for a time every so often. He had likely been searching everywhere for the demon Daoist's trail.

It had taken an entire year to find him.

The hardship involved needed no asking to be known.

At that thought, the brothers exchanged glances, even more moved than before.

Chen Jichuan did not know what the two brothers were thinking. Worried that they might grow careless in their delight, he reminded them, "Killing the demon Daoist and breaking the demonic art are both causes for celebration. But the old madam was possessed by ghosts, and her vital essence has been damaged. In the days ahead, she must take more medicine to replenish her qi and blood, soothe her nerves, and calm her spirit. She must recuperate properly. Before her vital essence has been restored, she must not circulate her power or cultivate, or she will only injure herself instead."

Mother Ban was nearly a hundred years old.

Based on her original cultivation, like an Innate Realm or Transformative Force Realm expert, living to one hundred twenty or even one hundred forty or fifty would have been possible.

But after being tormented for an entire year this time, her vital essence had suffered grievous damage. There was little hope of recovering her strength, and at most, she had only another ten years left to live.

But regardless.

At least her life had been saved.

"Thank you, Master Chen."

"We will certainly remember."

Ban Zhua's expression turned solemn as he hurriedly thanked him.

Chen Jichuan waved his hand.

He went inside to take Mother Ban's pulse and wrote two prescriptions. Then he had Ban Ya escort him back to the county seat.

This trip had killed the demon Daoist and saved Mother Ban. To the two brothers, it was the greatest good news imaginable.

But to Chen Jichuan.

Killing the demon Daoist.

Saving Mother Ban.

Including gaining the true friendship of the two brothers.

Those were all merely side branches.

His greatest gains were still the "inheritance" Five-Ghost Daoist had hidden on his person and in the cave!

Chen Jichuan's heart brimmed with anticipation.

He parted from Ban Ya outside the city, entered the city, and headed straight for Precious Fungus Grove.

He could no longer wait.