Falling Out

P.S.: Sorry, I overslept.

Hu Donghan had refused time and again, and now he was even making as if to turn and leave, filling Wang Linshu with rage.

With a flash, Wang Linshu darted forward and blocked Hu Donghan's path. Holding the Hundred Ghost Banner, his face frosty, he said with a chilling air, "Junior Brother Hu, I have invited you again and again, yet you have continually refused. What exactly do you mean by this? Could it be that you look down on me in your heart?"

"Ah..."

Hu Donghan's strength was still insufficient, and he had originally not wanted to completely fall out with Wang Linshu. When one lacked strength, one had to endure. The strong devoured the weak—this was the naked law of nature.

However, though Hu Donghan had yielded again and again, Wang Linshu refused to give an inch, pressing forward step by step. Hu Donghan had already been driven into a corner—if he did not resist now, was he really supposed to travel with Wang Linshu as Wang Linshu said? Once he truly traveled with Wang Linshu, no matter how capable Hu Donghan was, he would be restrained by Wang Linshu.

"Senior Brother Wang, there has never been any grudge between us. Why must you humiliate yourself?"

Since he could endure no longer, there was no need to endure anymore. Once he turned hostile, Hu Donghan would not leave even a sliver of room for retreat.

When he spoke again, his words carried a cold chill, while a mad glint shone from within his seemingly placid eyes...

Hu Donghan recalled the days of his childhood in his previous life, when he had fought mad dogs for food. That frenzied look in his eyes made even Wang Linshu's heart palpitate.

After his heart trembled, Wang Linshu quickly came back to his senses. This little piece of trash before him was merely at Qi Refining First Layer—what was there to fear? Moreover, Hu Donghan's words, "humiliate yourself," deeply stung Wang Linshu. What did this little trash mean? Was I a clown in his eyes?

Wang Linshu took two steps forward, nearly pressing against Hu Donghan. The aura of Late Qi Refining Realm bore down directly upon Hu Donghan. "Little trash, what did you say?" At this moment, the killing intent Wang Linshu had previously concealed was revealed without the slightest reservation. Even several Yin Souls within the Hundred Ghost Banner in his hand manifested themselves, breathing out yin energy back and forth before Hu Donghan.

Had Hu Donghan truly been an ordinary Qi Refining First Layer cultivator, Wang Linshu's aura might well have suppressed him. But in his previous life, Hu Donghan had cultivated the Ghost Way and forcibly suppressed the resistance of five Evil Ghosts, three Zombies, and two skeletons. How powerful was his will?

After merely blanking out for an instant, he recovered from Wang Linshu's suppression and said calmly, "Nothing more than this!"

After a pause, Hu Donghan said again, "If you have the guts, kill me now. If you do not, then get lost!" From Wang Linshu's aura just now, Hu Donghan had already determined that this man had developed killing intent. Faced with an enemy, Hu Donghan naturally had no pleasant words to offer.

With that, Hu Donghan walked forward directly, circling around Wang Linshu. As he passed Wang Linshu, Hu Donghan deliberately flashed the jade talisman for requesting aid that the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator at the Lonely Soul Ridge outpost had given him. Its meaning needed no explanation.

Within the Yin Soul Sect, private fighting was punished by whipping; killing a fellow sect disciple was punishable by death!

This was an iron law within the Yin Soul Sect. Even the sect patriarchs could not violate it!

After all, disciples were the foundation of a sect. If cultivators of the same sect could casually slaughter one another, the sect's foundation would be gone. How could such a sect possibly endure for long?

Wang Linshu indeed possessed the strength to kill Hu Donghan. In fact, if he wanted to kill Hu Donghan, Hu Donghan would not even have the strength to resist. But did Wang Linshu have the nerve?

Wang Linshu did not dare! He absolutely did not have that courage! He was one of the few outer sect disciples who had seen the Enforcement Hall's Bloodbone Peak and returned alive. The terrifying, hellish sight of Bloodbone Peak still appeared in his dreams. He had personally seen a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator howling in agony at the foot of Bloodbone Peak.

Thus, Wang Linshu could only grit his teeth and watch Hu Donghan pass by him. Killing intent flickered in his eyes, yet he did not dare strike and kill him.

Seeing that Wang Linshu had not acted at first, Hu Donghan finally let out the breath he had been holding in his throat. He mounted his bone horse and gradually rode away.

Only after Hu Donghan had gone far away did Wang Linshu roar in fury. As spiritual power coursed through him, the Hundred Ghost Banner in his hand was instantly enveloped in yin energy. Over a hundred Yin Souls surged out from the Hundred Ghost Banner, shrieking as they devoured everything around them. A few breaths later, the surrounding area had been plowed over by those hundred-plus Yin Souls, leaving behind utter devastation.

"Damn it! One day, I will kill you!" After roaring furiously, Wang Linshu mounted the Hundred Ghost Banner and flew toward the inner region of Lonely Soul Ridge.

In the distance, Hu Donghan heard Wang Linshu's furious roar and breathed a sigh of relief:

Judging by Wang Linshu's attitude, he probably will not have the face to come trouble me again anytime soon. Petty men are like ghosts—those words really are true. If I had shown weakness before Wang Linshu, I fear it would have been difficult to get away this time. But once I hardened my stance, he did not even dare stop me.

However, this time I have provoked Wang Linshu as well. From now on, we are bound to be enemies unto death, with no chance of reconciliation. So be it if we are enemies unto death! Since he has developed killing intent toward me, even if he does not come looking for me in the future, I will find an opportunity to kill him and be done with it.

Today's encounter was ultimately because my strength is too weak! If I were stronger than him, how could he possibly come before me to strut and show off? And that Mu Zhengfeng—how would he dare leap about before me like a clown? Everything comes down to one thing: only increasing one's strength is the true path!

After completing the entrance trial mission, my most urgent task will be to first obtain a Ghost Wraith. With a Ghost Wraith's assistance, I can also test whether the methods recorded in the "True Exposition of the Ghost Path" are truly effective. If the Ghost-Summoning Technique and the Ghost-Nurturing Art from the "True Exposition of the Ghost Path" can work together...

Thoughts churned chaotically through Hu Donghan's mind until he encountered another Yin Soul, at which point he became serious once more.

During the day, he hunted ghosts; at night, he returned to the outpost to rest.

Before he knew it, more than half a month had passed.

On average, Hu Donghan had hunted eight or nine Yin Souls every day during this period.

The entrance trial mission had been completed on the second day. During the remaining time, Hu Donghan continued hunting Yin Souls solely to find a Ghost Wraith among them.

Whether it was the Ghost-Summoning Technique or the "True Exposition of the Ghost Path," both required a Ghost Wraith to be used.

Within Lonely Soul Ridge, many souls had gradually grown under the nourishment of yin energy. The number and strength of the Yin Souls were both increasing rapidly.

Several days earlier, Hu Donghan had already discovered solitary mid-stage Qi Refining Yin Souls and groups of more than ten Qi Refinement Early Stage Yin Souls in the outer region of Lonely Soul Ridge. Lonely Soul Ridge had now become somewhat dangerous for Hu Donghan.

(End of Chapter)