Lord of the Demon Sect

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a heart-wrenching scream from his junior brother behind him…

Zhan Ming was startled and turned around, only to see a woman in pink clothes, pale-faced and delicately beautiful, holding a green sword. She had just chopped off the head of his junior brother, a disciple at the sixth layer of qi refinement, spraying blood everywhere…

It served the guy right for his misfortune; he was fully focused on guarding against Zhang Pang and hadn’t anticipated an enemy attacking from behind. By the time he felt the chill of the air, his head had already fallen.

Jiang Chen hadn’t expected Xiao Qian to strike successfully either. Her attack speed was incredibly fast. Although the victim hadn’t noticed the movement behind him, and the Jiangshi’s strength and physical toughness were superior to those of cultivators of the same level, Xiao Qian’s speed was so rapid that it didn’t even allow the disciple at the sixth layer to react, much to his surprise.

“Everyone, attack!” Lin Yushang saw Jiang Chen’s successful sneak attack and was overjoyed.

Zhang Fei, who had been impatient to act, also launched his netherworld ghost claw, targeting Zhan Ming. The ghosts in his hundred souls banner had depleted in number, making the netherworld ghost claw a stronger attack choice.

Lin Yushang also maximized her spiritual power, channeling it through her sword to form a two-foot-long sword energy, which she thrust into Zhan Ming’s chest like lightning.

Meanwhile, Zhang Pang and his Jiangshi servant were entangling another enemy at the seventh layer of qi refinement. Although Zhang Pang was far from being a match for his opponent, with the assistance of a Jiangshi at the fifth layer, it wasn’t easy for the enemy to kill him quickly.

At that moment, Jiang Chen assessed the situation and decisively decided to join Lin Yushang and Zhang Fei in killing Zhan Ming.

With a thought, Xiao Qian swung her sword again at Zhan Ming.

Seeing three enemies and a Jiangshi all attacking him, and witnessing his junior brother’s tragic death, Zhan Ming was already frightened before the fight even started.

His face pale with panic, he chose to run instead of resisting.

But the three of them had already committed to killing him; there was no way they would let him escape.

“Where do you think you’re running to!”

A fierce light flashed in Zhang Fei’s eyes as he swung his left hand, releasing three iron claws at once!

Zhan Ming had only run a few steps when Zhang Fei’s netherworld ghost claw caught his trouser leg, pulling him down to the ground.

Lin Yushang clenched her teeth, showing no mercy this time. She threw her green sword, which, with its fierce sword energy and a faint glow, pierced through Zhan Ming’s back…

Zhan Ming screamed as the green ghost flame sword entered his back, pinning him firmly to the ground until the hilt disappeared. His hands desperately clawed at the ground, his body convulsed a few times, and then he was no more.

At this moment, the only surviving enemy, seeing that all his companions had been killed, felt his heart drop in fear. When he noticed Lin Yushang, Zhang Fei, Zhang Pang, and Jiang Chen closing in on him, along with two Jiangshi, he couldn’t help but plead for mercy, saying, “Senior brothers and sisters, considering we are all fellow disciples, please spare me just this once! The idea to seize your souls was all Zhan Ming’s; I was only forced into this…”

Zhang Fei and Lin Yushang sneered. At this point, would they dare let him go? With their netherworld ghost claws and the ghostly slaughter sword technique unleashed, the disciple fought for a moment but was quickly overpowered. In no time, Lin Yushang’s sword cut through his throat, leading him to his untimely demise.

The entire battle process lasted only a few breaths. Yet, it was fraught with danger. Especially considering that the opponent at the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Stage should have considerable fighting strength, likely far superior to Jiang Chen and Zhang Pang. If he had fully unleashed his combat power, it could very well have been Jiang Chen’s side that suffered casualties.

As the four disciples reflected on the encounter, cold sweat trickled down their backs. They could see a glimmer of relief in each other’s eyes, thankful to be alive. During the fight, they had been decisive in their killings and thought little of it. But now, looking back, they felt a sense of dread creeping over them.

After resting for a moment, Zhang Fei stored the Yin spirits of the foundation establishment stage along with the three deceased into his hundred souls banner. Although the number wasn’t as large as those they’d lost, it was still a worthwhile supplement.

Xiao Qian and the Jiangshi controlled by Zhang Pang also mercilessly devoured the three corpses. The flesh and blood of the deceased cultivators were significant supplements for them.

Lin Yushang then sighed, “It’s time to divide the spoils of war…”

The four began to collaborate, counting the possessions of the three enemies. The two remaining adversaries, aside from Zhan Ming, were clearly not much wealthier than they were. Apart from some low-grade spiritual artifacts and a few jade slips, they had only over four hundred spiritual stones and two bottles of gathering qi powder. However, when they opened the bottles, there were only two pills inside.

Then they turned to loot Zhan Ming’s belongings.

Yet when they opened the storage bag and dumped its contents out, the four were astounded to see over a thousand spiritual stones, including four medium-grade spiritual stones. One medium-grade spiritual stone was worth a hundred low-grade spiritual stones and was often hard to come by. It would take around a hundred and twenty low-grade ones just to acquire one.

Moreover, the other items were quite impressive. He possessed a hundred souls banner that was identical to Zhang Fei’s, but it appeared to be made of better craftsmanship and materials.

Zhang Fei examined the hundred souls banner with his spiritual sense and his eyes lit up with excitement. “It seems we’ve struck gold! This guy must have just acquired the hundred souls banner not long ago, and the sacrifice refinement isn’t very deep. With some effort, we can erase his mark and re-refine it for ourselves.”

After saying this, he glanced at his own hundred souls banner and sighed slightly, “It’s a pity I already have one, and it even contains a main soul in the foundation establishment stage. Otherwise, I could have swapped it!”

In addition to the hundred souls banner, Zhan Ming also possessed a bright red hellfire sword. Lin Yushang took it into her hands and, after carefully examining it for a while, inhaled sharply. “This is actually a medium-grade spiritual artifact! Oh my, have we just taken down an inner sect disciple?”

Everyone understood the significance of her words. Outer sect disciples like them usually only had low-grade spiritual artifacts. Medium-grade artifacts were extremely expensive; purchasing one with spiritual stones would cost over a thousand, and if they were exchanged for sect contribution points, it would be at least one or two thousand. For poor disciples like them, owning such an item was entirely out of reach.

Upon hearing this, both Zhang Fei and Zhang Pang gasped in shock. Disciples who could afford medium-grade artifacts were likely not ordinary disciples like them struggling to get by. Given Zhan Ming’s arrogance and wealth, it was highly probable he was some privileged disciple from Dark Ghost Peak.

“This matter must not be shared with anyone outside our group! Otherwise, if word gets out, our lives could be in jeopardy!” Lin Yushang, being the oldest and most experienced among the four, immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.

Jiang Chen and the other two quickly understood as well.

“Right! After all, they were in the wrong, and we’ve already taken action! The deed is done! As long as we act as though nothing happened, no one will know it was us. Do they really expect the people from Dark Ghost Peak to interrogate everyone in the sect?” Zhang Fei said, his worries dissipating as he cracked a wide grin and laughed heartily.

After some discussion, the four finally agreed on the distribution of the spoils.

It was decided that Zhang Fei would take the four medium-grade spiritual stones, since they were lent to him to serve as the core of the soul-devouring formation, and he would need to return them.

The medium-grade spiritual artifact-the red hellfire sword-was assigned to Lin Yushang. This was not only due to her significant contributions in capturing the Yin spirits and fighting alongside the others against Zhan Ming, but also because she was the most accomplished cultivator among them. Additionally, as a practitioner of the ghostly slaughter sword technique, using the sword suited her perfectly.

The hundred souls banner ended up in Jiang Chen’s hands, as Zhang Pang had already decided to focus on the blood killing palm technique. This way, he could coordinate with his brother Zhang Fei, one handling long-range attacks and the other engaging in close combat. Thus, the hundred souls banner was somewhat redundant for Zhang Pang.

Since Jiang Chen’s cultivation level was still quite low, he was unable to erase Zhan Ming’s mark on it, and it naturally fell to Zhang Fei to assist with this task.

After Zhang Fei removed Zhan Ming’s mark from the hundred souls banner, he reluctantly handed it over to Jiang Chen, saying, “This hundred souls banner is actually a bit better than mine, but since he only just acquired it, it contains fewer souls-only about twenty. Given your spiritual sense, you should be able to manage it, albeit with some difficulty.”

He then proceeded to advise Jiang Chen on some important points regarding the use of the hundred souls banner.

It turned out that the hundred souls banner could be developed in two different directions. One approach focused on quality, containing only a few powerful souls, each capable of rivaling a Spiritual Pet. The other approach prioritized quantity, filling the banner with a great number of low-level ghosts. During battles, these ghosts could swarm out, overwhelming the enemy in sheer numbers like ants attacking an elephant.

However, the second option placed higher demands on a cultivator’s spiritual sense. Controlling a larger number of ghosts, while each individual low-level ghost required comparatively less spiritual energy, could quickly become taxing when the numbers increased. Moreover, refining many low-level Yin spirits into the hundred souls banner had its downsides.

If faced with a tough battle, the ghosts within the banner could suffer heavy losses because those low-level ghosts were much more likely to perish. This meant that the cultivator might need to frequently refine new Yin spirits or even live souls to replenish their ranks. Otherwise, if the number of ghosts fell too low, the banner’s efficacy would greatly diminish. In contrast, if strong ghosts were utilized, they would not be so easily defeated.

So when using the hundred souls banner, whether one chose low-level or high-level Yin spirits each carried its own pros and cons. The former could unleash the banner’s full power but would demand more from the cultivator’s spiritual sense, along with significant losses during intense battles, requiring considerable time for replenishment. The latter, however, decreased ghost losses significantly, though it lacked the overwhelming force provided by swarming lower-level ghosts. Ultimately, the effectiveness depended on how the owner of the hundred souls banner chose to develop their spirit control technique.

Jiang Chen expressed his gratitude repeatedly, realizing that although Zhang Fei had a fierce appearance and a reputation for being ruthless, he was truly caring and protective of those he considered family, much like Zhang Pang. Of the seniors he had come to know, including Lin Yushang, they were all genuinely decent people. In the malevolent environment of the Ghostly Slaughter Sect, he considered himself rather fortunate.