Zhang Banshan spent the first half of his life wandering the martial arts world, encountering all sorts of demons and monsters, and possessed a wealth of combat experience.
The emerging ghostly creature had a body as black as iron and a pair of crimson eyes; it was clearly Sixth Rank Ghost Soldier.
The power of ghosts lies in their ability to appear and disappear without a trace, and to transform between the real and the illusory.
In a direct confrontation, the difference between ghosts and warriors is vast. Let alone a Sixth Rank Ghost Soldier, he is confident he could cleave Fifth Rank Ghost General in two strikes.
The Flying Tiger Saber in his hand was also a specially forged fine blade, containing the essence of Pure Yang Xuan Gold, which was not only sharp but also able to suppress evil spirits and ghosts.
Zhang Banshan knew that the Sixth Rank Ghost Soldier were not a threat; the truly terrifying ones were the Devil Cultivator hiding behind them and controlling the Ghost Soldier.
The Flying Tiger Saber appeared to strike with overwhelming force, but Zhang Banshan only used seven-tenths of his strength.
To his surprise, the black-clad Ghost Soldier actually raised both palms to block his Flying Tiger Saber.
Zhang Banshan had dealt with ghosts quite a bit. Even ghosts controlled by cultivators of the Heavenly Ghost Sect were ultimately subject to various limitations and could not be controlled as freely as martial artists wield weapons.
How can a Ghost Soldier, who doesn't rely on his innate ability to shift between reality and illusion, possibly compete with him in martial arts?
Fifty-five-year-old Zhang Banshan sneered inwardly. He had practiced his swordsmanship diligently for nearly fifty years; it would be a joke if he could still be caught by a ghost!
Just as the Ghost Soldier clasped his hands together to trap the goose-feather blade, Zhang Banshan twisted and turned his Flying Tiger Saber. This was a basic variation in swordsmanship, but he had practiced it for decades and had mastered it to perfection.
The twisting and turning movements were exceptionally smooth and swift, with the forces of the twisting and turning alternating between positive and negative. They possessed both the powerful and swift strength of flesh, muscles, and bones, and the profound and steady Primordial True Qi.
With his Flying Tiger Saber being a fine blade, he was confident he could shred the Ghost Soldier to pieces.
The Ghost Soldier pressed his palms together against the spine of the blade, but they twisted and turned along with the Flying Tiger Saber, making his palms seem glued to the long sword.
Zhang Banshan felt the longsword become heavy, sticky, and icy cold, as if it were enveloped by some dense, sinister power, which completely swallowed up the power he had added to the sword.
This change sent a chill down Zhang Banshan's spine; something was wrong with these Ghost Soldier!
He immediately activated his Primordial True Qi again, stirring up his own Qi and Blood. The extreme yang energy of the Flying Tiger Saber in his hand was aroused, emitting a bright blade light.
The power of Sixth Rank martial artist was fully unleashed at this moment.
The Ghost Soldier opposite him had black energy rising from his hands, and his solid, iron-like body slowly began to etherealize.
Zhang Banshan knew that this was a ghost being suppressed by the extreme yang energy, so he didn't hesitate to draw his sword and charge in.
Mingyao's blade pierced directly through the Ghost Soldier's chest. He twisted his wrist, intending to tear the Ghost Soldier to shreds, but suddenly a patch of cyan-gold appeared on the Ghost Soldier's body.
The Flying Tiger Saber that pierced through the Ghost Soldier was locked in place by the Ghost Soldier's blue-gold body.
Zhang Banshan didn't know what this was, but he reacted quickly and immediately activated the power of the Heart Tiger, turning his skin crimson. He then slammed his left palm down on the hilt of the knife.
With his mind sharpened like a tiger, his martial arts spirit, honed over many years, burst forth like a tiger. This palm strike landed on the hilt of the sword, allowing the longsword to transfer all his ferocious power to the Ghost Soldier.
The longsword gleamed with intense light and emitted a loud hum. The Ghost Soldier clasped his hands together again, and his cold, dense True Qi, like an icy sea, swallowed up all the power unleashed by the longsword.
Zhang Banshan immediately sensed something was wrong. This Ghost Soldier actually knew how to use True Qi? And the level of his True Qi was much stronger than his.
He hadn't expected a Ghost Soldier to be so troublesome, and made a series of wrong judgments.
Now that the two sides were exchanging True Qi through the Flying Tiger Saber, he was caught off guard and suffered a great loss.
Even more terrifying, the sinister and dense True Qi had already penetrated into his body, freezing his intense and fiery Qi and Blood and completely suppressing his profound Primordial True Qi.
His whole body was now ice-cold, as if he were frozen in ice.
The Ghost Soldier, however, advanced straight forward along the long sword, his hands, as black as iron, thrust forward and struck Zhang Banshan's chest.
Zhang Banshan barely managed to raise both palms to defend himself. When the four palms collided, Zhang Banshan couldn't withstand the opponent's hard and sinister palm force, and his palms were swung to the sides.
The Ghost Soldier then seized the opportunity to strike Zhang Banshan's chest with both palms, the eerie and icy force penetrating straight into Zhang Banshan's internal organs.
Even if Zhang Banshan's muscles and internal organs were as pure as ever, he couldn't withstand such a heavy blow.
It felt as if his internal organs were pierced by thousands of ice spikes, rendering him powerless.
Zhang Banshan was about to unleash his full power when the Ghost Soldier's palm pressed against his lower Dantian, the sinister force of which completely shattered the True Qi that had been gathered in his Qi Sea.
The continuous heavy blows left Zhang Banshan powerless to resist, and the black Ghost Soldier burrowed into Zhang Banshan's body like black smoke.
In an instant, Zhang Banshan's internal organs were permeated and corroded by the ghostly energy, turning into a pile of rotten flesh and taking away all of Zhang Banshan's life force.
Zhang Yunfeng, who had just arrived, was horrified to see her third uncle possessed by Ghost Soldier.
He knew that Zhang Banshan was a master of martial arts, ten times stronger than him.
How could such a powerful figure be harmed by Ghost Soldier? What should he do?
Zhang Yunfeng had a smooth and successful life, never encountering any dangers. In this critical moment, he was actually a little stunned.
Logically, he should have gone to save his third uncle, but even his third uncle couldn't stop the Ghost Soldier, so how could he? He had no way to save him either.
Turning around and running away like that would be letting down Uncle Three, since he and Zhang Banshan had always had a close relationship.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yunfeng thought of calling for help. He reached into his waistband, pulled out a specially made rocket, and threw it into the air.
The rocket ignited from friction in the air, exploding into a seven-colored flame more than ten feet above the ground, the explosion echoing throughout half of Yunyang City.
A warning rocket was fired. Zhang Yunfeng drew her knife and was about to make a move when a black shadow appeared behind Zhang Yunfeng and pressed a palm against Zhang Yunfeng back.
The sinister palm strike pierced straight through Zhang Yunfeng's body, draining all his life force.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yunfeng's face had turned deathly pale, her skin was covered in wrinkles, and she had shrunk to almost a quarter of her original size.
As the Ghost Soldier disappeared, Zhang Yunfeng collapsed to the ground. As the light in his eyes gradually faded, he saw a white figure slowly walk in.
Zhang Yunfeng tried hard to open her eyes wide to see the other person, but all she could see was that the other person was wearing a bamboo hat and had a white linen cloth covering their face.
But he saw the other person's eyes, so dark and bright they seemed to have a sharp edge, yet their gaze was unusually calm.
" Zhou Wuji!"
On her deathbed, Zhang Yunfeng suddenly recognized those eyes and knew who the person was.
Knowing he had died at Zhou Wuji's hands, his mind raced. The missing Zhang Xinhu, the vanished Yin Yang Dao Fang Boxiong, Wu Di killed by Jin Chuan, and Cui Wancheng, whom he had just met, must have also been killed. Zhou Wuji had connected all these people!
Zhang Yunfeng suddenly realized that Zhou Wuji had been plotting the murders behind the scenes, but he still couldn't understand how Zhou Wuji could be so powerful and how his actions could be so mysterious and unpredictable.
He recalled Cui Wancheng's words: Zhou Wuji might have obtained Divine Artifact artifact...
"Could it be that Zhou Wuji is truly ordained by Heaven, and all of us are merely stepping stones for him...?"
The thought suddenly popped into Zhang Yunfeng's head. He tried to say something, but everything went dark, and his consciousness rapidly faded away...
Zhou Wuji only glanced at Zhang Yunfeng, and when their eyes met, he confirmed the sudden realization that flashed in Zhang Yunfeng's eyes.
But that doesn't matter.
Zhou Wuji glanced at the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment and confirmed that Zhang Yunfeng and Zhang Banshan were both dead.
They then quickly checked Zhang Yunfeng and Zhang Banshan, finding nothing unusual on them except some silver coins.
He didn't touch the money, not for any other reason than that the Ironclad Guard's money was often marked with special symbols, making it very troublesome.
Zhang Banshan's knife is excellent, but it's easy for him to make mistakes when he handles it.
This matter concerns Seventh Rank centurion; whether Zhang Banshan lives or dies is not so important.
Zhou Wuji thought for a moment and then took the goose-feather knife. He left Yunyang City and came to the riverbank, where he destroyed the soul-summoning banner, and the Ghost Soldier was transformed into Origin Profound Qi.
The six-foot-long spear and the goose-feather saber were both thrown into the river.
The river is at least twenty or thirty feet deep, and unless the river changes course, there is no chance that a sword or spear will ever see the light of day again.
I don't know when that happened...
The Pacification Office carried torches, illuminating the alleyway brightly.
People who had come to watch the commotion scattered as soon as they saw a group of barbarians arriving on horseback.
The guards didn't hold back; they grabbed a few bystanders who were watching the commotion and made them kneel to the side to await their fate.
Several idlers, their faces contorted in pain, knelt on the ground, both in agony and fear, yet dared not utter a sound.
The person who yelled the loudest just now had more than ten teeth knocked out. He was lying on the ground, covering his mouth, but he didn't dare to utter another sound.
About fifteen minutes later, a few bystanders saw another group of foreigners arrive.
The leading man, wearing a gauze hat and a blue brocade robe, rode a tall, fine horse slowly, accompanied by a large group of foreigners who protected him.
Idlers love a good show and are generally quite knowledgeable; they could tell from the appearance of the leading man that he was a commander of a thousand households, the highest-ranking Pacification Office.
The few bystanders dared not look any longer and quickly lowered their heads, no longer daring to look.
Commander Zhai Jun of the Pacification Office glanced at the few bystanders, and a guard beside him hurriedly came over to report, "They're just a few onlookers, they might know something, detain them first."
Zhai Jun waved his hand. "Take him back for detailed questioning."
A group of guards obeyed the order and quickly handcuffed the few idlers, taking them all away.
Zhai Jun then dismounted and approached the two corpses. He looked at them for a while. The two corpses had their facial features contorted and their skin was black, making them look like mummies dug out of the ground.
But he knew Zhang Banshan and Zhang Yunfeng, and had even spoken with Zhang Yunfeng during the day.
He didn't like Zhang Yunfeng; this scion of the Aristocratic Clan was arrogant and conceited, and had mediocre abilities.
Fortunately, she was sensible enough to behave herself in front of him, so he ignored her.
After all, the Zhang Household is powerful, and having someone who can contact Zhang Household makes things easier.
I never expected Zhang Yunfeng to die like this! And I never expected Zhang Banshan to die too!
Zhang Yunfeng's abilities were mediocre; she wouldn't stand out among Seventh-Rank Martial Artist. Zhang Banshan, however, was different; he was Principal Sixth Rank True Qi martial artist.
In the vast Yunyang City, there are countless people who can kill Zhang Yunfeng, but only a handful who can kill Zhang Banshan.
Zhai Jun looked at Li Fei, a very capable subordinate, and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Fei bowed and clasped his hands in a fist salute. "This subordinate can only tell that it was the work of Devil Cultivator."
"Anyone capable of killing Zhang Banshan must be Fifth Rank Devil Cultivator."
"As to the specifics of how the two died, we'll need to consult the experts from the Lower Court and the Golden Leaf Temple..."
"Um."
Zhai Jun felt that this approach was quite prudent; Devil Cultivator capable of killing Sixth Rank martial artist should not be underestimated.
In the dead of night, it's even less likely that they'll be able to find any trace of the other party.
Li Fei added, "There were also experts fighting in the west of the city, which caused some damage to the shantytown. No one was injured or killed, but some debris was burned."
According to the local residents, they saw a blinding white light, as if it were dawn.
"Are these two things related?" Zhai Jun asked.
"The distance is no more than a thousand steps, so there should be some connection." Li Fei didn't dare to draw a conclusion rashly and could only speak vaguely.
"What are Zhang Banshan and Zhang Yunfeng doing here so late at night?"
Zhai Jun said, "Go and investigate this thoroughly."
He thought for a moment and said, "Take the body back first, and send it to the Zhang Household tomorrow after the examination..."