Lord of the Demon Sect

Jiang Chen knew that with his strength at the first layer of qi refinement, even with Xiao Qian’s help, if he angered the opposing party, he would likely be dead more often than alive. Therefore, he could only stay put and not move.

However, when the other party arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief; it turned out to be the Zhang brothers-Zhang Fei and Zhang Pang-along with Lin Yushang.

“Senior Sister Lin, Senior Brother Zhang, it’s you! You scared me to death!” Jiang Chen exhaled deeply.

Seeing him there, Zhang Pang happily exclaimed, “Junior Brother Jiang, we were just discussing how difficult it is to capture that foundation establishment stage ghost with only three of us. If you are here, we can set up the soul-devouring formation that Senior Sister talked about and trap that ghost!”

Jiang Chen quickly stepped forward and bowed slightly. Zhang Fei, seeing this was his brother’s friend, merely nodded. Lin Yushang, however, walked up to him with a charming smile, gently caressing his face before beaming, “Junior Brother Jiang, thanks to you, ever since we brought you into the sect, our luck has been fantastic! We’ve recruited two new disciples this past month. We’ve finally completed the sect’s task for recruiting disciples, so we won’t have to worry about being punished anymore!”

Jiang Chen thought to himself, those two must also have been forced into joining like I was. You and Zhang Fei, one so fierce and bloodthirsty; the other so alluring and flirtatious with men-what ordinary man could resist such temptation?

Of course, he didn’t dare to voice these thoughts in front of them.

“By the way, Senior Sister Lin, what did Senior Brother Zhang mean about the soul-devouring formation?” Jiang Chen asked curiously.

At this moment, Lin Yushang finally restrained her alluring smile and said seriously, “Junior Brother Jiang, you are someone that both Zhang Fei and I brought into the sect, and we are all fellow disciples from Ghost Mist Peak. From now on, we must act together, share resources, and stand by each other through difficulties!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course! But what exactly do you need my help with, Senior Sister?” Jiang Chen replied with a wry smile. Hearing her words, he knew there must be some trouble brewing.

Lin Yushang sighed and began to explain in detail.

It turned out that the soul-devouring formation required four people to activate simultaneously, which could reduce a ghost’s movement speed and attack power. However, it consumed a significant amount of spirit stones. The need for this formation arose because Zhang Fei had discovered a foundation establishment stage ghost nearby. If they could injure it and trap it in the hundred souls banner, it would greatly enhance the banner’s capabilities. Zhang Fei intended to use this ghost as the main soul for his hundred souls banner.

“Junior Brother Jiang, if you can help me successfully capture this ghost, I’ll reward you with fifty spirit stones. If you add a little more spirit stones, you can buy a skeleton horse,” Zhang Fei said generously.

Fifty spirit stones weren’t a huge amount for Jiang Chen at this point. However, since Zhang Fei was the brother of his good friend Zhang Pang and had even gifted him a Jiangshi raising bag, he felt obligated to help him out in return.

With that in mind, Jiang Chen patted his chest confidently and said, “No problem! I’ll definitely help Senior Brother Zhang! As for the spirit stones, you don’t need to reward me! Aren’t we brothers? There’s no need for such formalities between us!”

He understood well that he was only familiar with Zhang Fei, Zhang Pang, and Lin Yushang within the Ghostly Slaughter Sect. Moreover, cultivation couldn’t be done alone; even the strongest heroes needed support from their friends. He considered this an investment in their friendship.

Hearing this, both Zhang Fei and Zhang Pang were overjoyed. Zhang Pang turned to his brother and said, “See? I told you Jiang Chen is a true brother!”

Zhang Fei, with his round, chubby face, unexpectedly showed a friendly smile and said with a chuckle, “Great!” Then, the four of them headed off together toward the location of the ghost.

The site of the ghost was only a few miles away from where they were, and as they walked, they shared insights about their cultivation. Lin Yushang briefly explained how to set up the soul-devouring formation and clarified their respective roles and tasks.

After discussing everything, they finally arrived at the site of the ghost.

Before them was an abandoned grave, its tomb had been dug out with a large hole. It was unclear whether the corpse inside had become an autonomous Jiangshi with its own spiritual awareness or if it had been disturbed by grave robbers.

The area was filled with chilling winds, and some eerie green ghost fires danced around them. The occasional howls of restless spirits sent shivers down their spines.

“Let’s go! It’s in there!” Zhang Fei led the way inside.

Once Zhang Fei entered, Zhang Pang followed closely behind as the second. Jiang Chen was instructed to walk in third, while Lin Yushang, who was the most powerful among them, having reached the peak of the seventh layer of qi refinement, took the rear to provide support.

The terrain ahead was rugged and uneven, indicating that no one had ventured in for a long time. The ground was littered with bones and flickering ghost fires, creating a particularly sinister atmosphere.

The four of them pressed on for a while and were ambushed by a few ghosts. However, these ghosts were of relatively low strength, only at the second or third layer of qi refinement. While they posed some threat to Jiang Chen, they were pretty easy for Zhang Fei, who had already reached the seventh layer of qi refinement.

What puzzled Jiang Chen, though, was that Zhang Fei chose to kill these ghosts rather than capture them with his hundred souls banner.

Curious, he asked Zhang Fei about it and learned that not all ghosts are beneficial to have in the hundred souls banner. The banner required a cultivator’s spiritual sense to control the spirits. The more spirits there were, the higher the level of spiritual sense needed to manage them. Currently, the number of ghosts in the hundred souls banner had already reached Zhang Fei’s control limit. To take in any more would be impossible. So now, he needed to focus on the quality of the ghosts rather than the quantity.

“Junior Brother Jiang, if you want to practice with the hundred souls banner in the future, you must focus on collecting high-level spirits, preferably those of recently deceased cultivators and demon beasts. Such souls are the easiest to sacrifice refine into the hundred souls banner. Ghosts wandering in the wild are usually just fodder and lack significant power. Occasionally, we might encounter one or two with real strength-like the one we’re about to face-that have gained spiritual awareness and even reached the foundation establishment stage! Capturing it as the main soul for my hundred souls banner will take considerable effort!” Zhang Fei sighed.

Jiang Chen made a mental note of what he said, realizing how important this knowledge would be for his future cultivation.

As they ventured deeper, they encountered increasingly powerful ghosts, including one that was at the seventh layer of qi refinement. This ghost had gained spiritual awareness and was particularly difficult to deal with. It dodged the attacks of both Zhang Fei and Lin Yushang, specifically targeting Zhang Pang and Jiang Chen, who were in the middle and had the lowest strength. This left them in quite a predicament.

Ultimately, Zhang Fei was still able to capture the seventh-layer ghost into his hundred souls banner. He was certainly interested in such a ghost.

Jiang Chen witnessed the entire process of the hundred souls banner sacrificing the spirit.

Zhang Fei waved his hand, generating a green light, which drew out a semi-transparent ghost-the weakest spirit-from his hundred souls banner. With a sudden strike of his right palm, he shattered it to dust.

Moments later, he used his spiritual power to summon the previously captured seventh-layer ghost into his hundred souls banner.

The ghost seemed to realize that if it was absorbed into the banner, it would lose its autonomy and become a spirit bound to obey the master of the hundred souls banner. It struggled desperately to escape.

Unfortunately for the ghost, Zhang Fei was experienced in such matters. His fingers danced in the air as he deftly maneuvered. Anytime the ghost tried to flee, he would mercilessly shoot a hellfire bullet at it, causing the ghost immense pain.

After a brief struggle, the ghost could no longer resist the pull of the hundred souls banner and was drawn inside. For a moment, the banner seemed to glow faintly with a green light before dimming down once more.

“Let’s go! We should be getting close! The fact that we’re encountering ghosts at the seventh layer of qi refinement means we can’t be far from the foundation establishment stage ghost!” Zhang Fei said calmly after finishing the sacrifice refinement.

Jiang Chen understood that a ghost with spiritual awareness had intelligence comparable to a spirit beast of the same level. Naturally, it possessed a sense of teamwork, knowing that banding together would enhance their strength and help avoid danger. It wasn’t unusual for a primary foundation establishment ghost to be accompanied by a seventh layer of qi refinement ghost.

Knowing they were about to face a powerful enemy, they slowed their pace, remaining vigilant as they cautiously moved forward.

Zhang Fei sent out a few low-level ghosts from his hundred souls banner to float at the forefront, circling and scouting the area. Jiang Chen and Zhang Pang walked in the middle, alert and wielding their spiritual artifacts. Bringing up the rear was Lin Yushang, who was proficient in the ghostly slaughter sword technique. She held her sword with a solemn expression, carefully observing any movement behind them.

With the help of the scouting ghosts, many aggressive mid- to low-level spirits were detected early and either driven off or destroyed. They no longer encountered any high-level ghosts like the one from earlier.

As they turned around a wide ravine that measured several dozen meters across, dust settled on their faces. Jiang Chen thought to himself that this crypt was indeed deep and unfathomable; he wondered how Zhang Fei knew there was a primary foundation establishment stage ghost here.

Suddenly, a ghostly wail echoed from more than ten feet ahead, sharp and low. Zhang Fei, having formed a connection with the ghosts, immediately understood that one of them had spotted an enemy. This wail was markedly different from the previous encounters, both urgent and heavy, indicating that it had detected a powerful foe.

“Everyone be careful; this could very well be the foundation establishment stage ghost we’re looking for. Get ready to set up the soul-devouring formation!” Zhang Fei warned. Just as his voice fell, a ghost emerged unexpectedly from behind a mound of bones, approximately ten feet long, wielding a gleaming cleaver, its body semi-transparent.

“This is the target we’re after! A foundation establishment ghost can form a physical shape, so it can crystallize its ghostly power into a cleaver for slicing! Everyone, be on high alert!” Zhang Pang shouted.