Lord of the Demon Sect

ently explained to him, “Although our Ghostly Slaughter Sect has fallen a bit now, the Sect Leader said that we used to be quite glorious, so we have a relatively complete collection of various spells and martial skills among second-rate sects! Which one do you want to learn?”

“Which one is more powerful?” Jiang Chen asked eagerly.

He had a jade slip in his storage bag that introduced some basic spells and martial skills, but it mostly just scratched the surface, and he had no idea which ones were stronger.

“Junior Brother Jiang, our Ghostly Slaughter Sect has no less than a thousand kinds of spells, and there are hundreds of spells suitable for qi refinement disciples to practice. However, as the saying goes, too much of a good thing spoils the broth. Since you are just starting your cultivation, it’s best to choose a spell that suits you to study and delve into,” Zhang Pang elaborated.

After a pause, he seemed to remember something and quickly reminded, “In addition, our Ghostly Slaughter Sect has a rule. That is, new disciples can learn their first spell or martial skill for free. But starting from the second one, you’ll have to use your contribution points to exchange for it.”

Jiang Chen nodded, gaining some understanding. From Zhang Pang’s words, he realized it was very important to choose a powerful spell or martial skill that was suitable for him.

“By the way, I wonder which spells the senior brothers usually choose?” Jiang Chen cautiously asked.

He wasn’t sure which spells were powerful, but the senior brothers who had been in the sect for years surely knew which ones were better.

Zhang Pang scratched the back of his head and said, “It varies from person to person. It’s largely related to personal preference and comprehension. For example, my brother Zhang Fei likes to scare people using the hundred souls banner, so he specializes in the spirit control technique. Senior Sister Lin likes to use a sword, so she focuses on the ghostly slaughter sword technique. As for me, I’m a bit lazy, so I chose to learn the Jiangshi control technique!”

“The Jiangshi control technique? Is it the kind that lets you carry a Jiangshi around and have it help attack your enemies?” Jiang Chen asked. He remembered it was mentioned in the jade slip.

In fact, he was quite interested in this kind of spell; imagining leading a Jiangshi down the street would surely scare a fair number of beautiful young women.

Zhang Pang nodded, “Exactly! The Jiangshi control technique is the easiest to learn compared to other spells, and it’s also the most worry-free. However, not many people choose it as their main focus. I plan to switch to another spell once I reach the seventh layer of qi refinement.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Jiang Chen asked curiously.

Zhang Pang let out a sigh and then gave Jiang Chen a detailed explanation.

It turned out that in the vicinity of the Ghostly Slaughter Sect, Jiangshi were quite easy to find; there were many in cemeteries, graveyards, mass burial sites, and battlefields, making them readily available for capture. Moreover, once subjected to control through essence blood and spiritual sense, Jiangshi would not betray their master and could become loyal assistants.

Jiangshi were divided into two types: those with awakened intelligence and those without.

Jiangshi that hadn’t awakened their intelligence were quite low-level, relying solely on instinct to consume corpse energy and feed on flesh and blood, resulting in poor combat capabilities. Such Jiangshi generally did not attract the interest of any cultivators.

The other type was the Jiangshi with awakened intelligence; they often had entered the ghost path and could cultivate through ghostly methods to improve their cultivation levels. Furthermore, this type of Jiangshi tended to be smarter-the stronger their cultivation, the higher their intelligence. If a Jiangshi reached the golden core stage or higher, its intelligence would often be indistinguishable from that of a normal person.

However, with every advantage comes a disadvantage. While Jiangshi have their benefits, the drawbacks are also quite apparent. Raising a Jiangshi is akin to taking on an additional cultivator, and in the environment of the Shenzhou Continent, it’s difficult to cultivate Jiangshi to high levels. Not to mention the Ghostly Slaughter Sect; even among the top six sects of the Demon Sect, there are few cultivators with high-level Jiangshi servants.

The reason behind this is rather frustrating-because a Jiangshi’s cultivation largely depends on consuming the flesh and blood of cultivators and spirit beasts to enhance their levels, while merely feeding on corpse energy can only barely sustain their existence.

This rationale has deterred many cultivators from pursuing Jiangshi. Who would dare to raise a pet that relies on consuming cultivators and spirit beasts? And who could afford to do so?

Historically, the Demon Sect has produced many malevolent cultivators who harm others for their own gain and indiscriminately slaughter the innocent. Yet, no matter how high their cultivation levels, they were ultimately exterminated by the various sects united against them. The reason is that the Demon Sect cannot act without restraint; even high-level cultivators must abide by some constraints. Otherwise, how would low-level cultivators grow? Where would new blood for the Demon Sect come from, and how could they compete against righteous sects?

If one wishes to cultivate a Jiangshi to the golden core stage, the amount of flesh and blood it consumes from cultivators and spirit beasts… uh, it could definitely lead the elder council of the Demon Sect to issue numerous bounty orders for pursuit.

Thus, the Jiangshi control technique became a spell that high-level cultivators rarely cared about; only low-level cultivators from the qi refinement stage, particularly those ranging from the first to the sixth layer, still practiced it. They were impoverished during this period and had limited resources for cultivation. A Jiangshi with awakened intelligence was equivalent to a qi refinement stage cultivator; although it couldn’t significantly increase in cultivation level, it could accompany them through the lowest and most difficult stages of their journey.

At this moment, Zhang Pang glanced at Jiang Chen and said, “Junior Brother Jiang, do you understand now? It’s precisely because of this reason that many, including myself, learned the jiangshi control technique when our cultivation levels were low to get by. By the time we reach the late stage of qi refining, we often switch to other spells.”

After pausing for a moment, he continued, “I think you, Junior Brother Jiang, are likely in a similar situation. Not hailing from a cultivation family and lacking any significant backing, it would be a good choice for you to learn the jiangshi control technique first. This way, you can manage until you reach the seventh layer of qi refinement before switching to a more powerful spell!”

After hearing Zhang Pang’s analysis, Jiang Chen clearly understood the pros and cons of the jiangshi control technique. Weighing his options, he realized that he indeed had no choice but to learn it.

As for the spirit control technique, he didn’t even have a hundred souls banner. Zhang Pang mentioned that such a spiritual artifact wasn’t cheap, and anyway, his own brother waited until he reached the fifth layer of qi refinement before he had saved enough contribution points to exchange for one from a steward elder.

Regarding the ghostly slaughter sword technique, although he had heard it was a powerful martial skill, it required a sufficiently good sword. The black long sword distributed by his sect was almost identical to an ordinary sword and could hardly unleash the full power of the ghostly slaughter sword technique.

As for spells like fireball technique, ice bullet technique, or earth spike technique-traditional five-element spells-they seemed less practical than the jiangshi control technique. After all, summoning a Jiangshi to fight was still a quantity advantage.

With this in mind, Jiang Chen nodded and said, “Then I will follow Senior Brother Zhang’s advice and learn the jiangshi control technique first!”

Zhang Pang was genuinely a warm-hearted person, likely due to the fact that Ghost Mist Peak lagged behind the other six peaks in strength, which made it difficult for others to join, leading to a sparse population. He had struggled to find a like-minded friend until he met Jiang Chen, who spoke in such harmony with him. It instantly made him feel like he had found a good buddy.

So, he eagerly volunteered to take Jiang Chen to the Cultivation Hall on the main peak to select the jiangshi control technique manual.