novelnext Chapter 260 : ：Spirit Perception Realm Ghost Servant
Chapter 260 : ：Spirit Perception Realm Ghost Servant
Cloud Emperor City, Inspector-General’s Residence.Shen Yue pulled his wooden sword from the corpse of the Four-Armed Old Man. His entire body was drenched in blood, his robe torn to shreds, and a ghastly wound split across the left side of his waist. Yet his expression remained cold and stern.
The Four-Armed Old Man lay in a pool of blood. The bloodstained cloth that once covered his eyes had long since vanished. With difficulty, he opened his blood-red eyes and stared at Shen Yue, his voice trembling as he asked, “This was… something you comprehended… on the spot?”
Shen Yue looked down at him and replied, “Yes. You forced me into a desperate situation, and so I gained insight.”
“Desperate situation? Heh…”
The Four-Armed Old Man let out a self-mocking laugh. He did not believe Shen Yue at all.
From the moment Shen Yue had refused Li Qingqiu’s assistance, he had known Shen Yue possessed absolute confidence in defeating him.
He had simply never expected to be defeated by a swordsman at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm. At this moment, his heart held both shame and an indescribable sense of relief.
“Young one, you defeated this old man—the Sword God of the Northern Court. In the future, you may also call yourself Sword God…” the Four-Armed Old Man said with great difficulty, his voice growing weaker.
Shen Yue’s face remained expressionless. “I have long been the Sword God—not by my own claim, but because the world calls me so.”
The Four-Armed Old Man revealed a look of astonishment. Then he seemed to accept it.
Whoosh—
A cold wind swept through. The Four-Armed Old Man’s body turned to ash and scattered with the wind.
Shen Yue finally let out a long breath of relief. He then half-knelt, gripping his sword with one hand while clutching his waist with the other, his face twisting in pain.
Looking up, he could still see distant figures of other disciples fighting. Yet the earlier clamor within Cloud Emperor City had already faded.
It seemed they had won this battle.
Shen Yue recalled that sword which had turned heaven and earth into daylight. His emotions were complicated.
Would he truly be able to catch up to Li Qingqiu in this lifetime?
Adjusting his posture, he sat cross-legged and began circulating his cultivation to heal his wounds.
After a while, five disciples of the Clear Sky Sect descended around him. One female disciple immediately used the Ghostly Immortal Needle of Rejuvenation on him and asked about his condition, while the other four stood guard.
“How is the situation now?” Shen Yue opened his eyes and asked.
A male disciple answered, “Elder Jiang has already slain one evil ghost. Senior Brother Zhao Zhen and Senior Brother Li Yang are leading dozens of disciples to encircle another. Aside from that, there are still two evil ghosts fighting us.”
Shen Yue was not surprised that Jiang Zhaoxia had slain an evil ghost.
What surprised him was that Zhao Zhen had begun bearing such pressure. Clearly, without Zhao Zhen, the disciples would have been incapable of surrounding an evil ghost.
A faint smile appeared on Shen Yue’s face. He could sense the rising strength of the Clear Sky Sect’s next generation.
Only by personally fighting the evil ghosts of Ghost King Ridge could one understand the immense pressure.
When he thought of how many more such evil ghosts remained within Ghost King Ridge, he felt the weight upon his shoulders grow heavier.
He had to reach the Spirit Perception Realm as soon as possible. Otherwise, being gravely injured at every turn—how could he live up to the name Sword God?
……
By the time Li Qingqiu returned to Cloud Emperor City, the sounds of battle had already ceased. Snow still fell beneath the night sky, yet compared to before the battle, the cold was no longer so piercing.
He walked along the streets. Chu Jing carried the ghost infant and followed closely behind. Along the way, they saw soldiers resting and pools of rotten flesh littering the ground. A foul stench filled the city.
Xiao Wuqing descended beside him and reported the situation.
Twelve disciples had died. One hundred and thirty-four were injured.
Li Qingqiu nodded without expression and said, “Have the disciples gather around the Inspector-General’s Residence.”
“Yes!”
Xiao Wuqing immediately went to relay the order, while Li Qingqiu headed in another direction.
[Since this is your first time leading your Dao Lineage to defeat a Ghostly Path force head-on and achieving a great victory, removing hidden dangers for your Dao Lineage’s development, you have received one Divine Art inheritance reward.]
Seeing the prompt before him, Li Qingqiu finally felt complete relief.
Though not entirely eradicated, with Great Demon Luo dead, this calamity had temporarily passed. The remaining evil ghosts, even if they committed evil, would have to tuck their tails and hide in the shadows.
He quickened his pace and arrived at a dim district of the city.
Landing upon a broken wall, he looked ahead. Within a ruined courtyard lay a Ghost Flood Dragon over ten zhang long. After being ravaged by Heavenly Thunder, it had lost the ability to move and was barely clinging to life.
Li Qingqiu directly cast the Soul Restraining Curse upon it, seizing its memories.
Gravely wounded, the Ghost Flood Dragon had no strength to resist and could only allow Li Qingqiu to ravage its ghost soul.
Chu Jing stood guard nearby with the ghost infant.
Figures descended from the sky and landed among the ruins. At their head was Yun Cai.
Upon seeing that Li Qingqiu was unharmed, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She did not approach but instead stood guard with Chu Jing, scanning the surroundings.
From time to time, their gazes were drawn to the Ghost Flood Dragon. Its enormous body was simply too horrifying.
After a long while—
Li Qingqiu’s eyes returned to normal, and a meaningful expression appeared on his face.
Unlike the other evil ghosts, this Ghost Flood Dragon did not possess that strange Split Soul ability. Its demonic body was one of flesh and blood. Its ghost soul could not leave that body—if it did, it would scatter completely.
Because of this, among the sixteen evil ghosts, its strength ranked at the bottom.
The reason Great Demon Luo had valued it was because it possessed spells akin to summoning wind and rain. It could even inject its emotions into wind and rain, influencing living beings.
The heavy snow earlier had been its doing. It caused Liu Jing’s army of three hundred thousand to be unable to endure the soul-piercing cold, disturbed their minds, affected Qin Ye’s judgment, and threw the army into chaos.
“Please… senior… spare…”
The Ghost Flood Dragon opened its eyes and spoke weakly.
Li Qingqiu hesitated somewhat. In life, this Ghost Flood Dragon had been an auspicious creature and had never harmed anyone. It had been hunted into Ghost King Ridge by greedy martial artists, then corrupted by the curse within Ghost King Ridge, degenerating into its present state.
Within Ghost King Ridge, it had suffered humiliation. Only after submitting to Great Demon Luo had its situation improved.
After escaping with Great Demon Luo, it had served him continuously. Though it harbored resentment toward mortals, unlike the other evil ghosts, it did not delight in devouring living humans. This was also why its strength ranked at the bottom.
After weighing the matter, Li Qingqiu decided its spells were highly useful, and its sins were not too grave. He chose to spare its life.
Using the Soul Restraining Curse, Li Qingqiu branded a Yin Soul imprint upon its soul body, turning it into his Ghost Servant.
Thus, Li Qingqiu gained another Ghost Servant.
A Ghost Servant at the Spirit Perception Realm.
Moreover, the Ghost Flood Dragon possessed its own fleshly body and could operate independently of Li Qingqiu for extended periods.
Once the master-recognition imprint was completed, the Ghost Flood Dragon let out a wail. Its massive body rapidly shrank, flying toward Li Qingqiu and landing upon the back of his right hand, forming a black dragon pattern.
Li Qingqiu touched it with his left hand. It felt like a lump of flesh.
This transformation was unrelated to the Soul Restraining Curse—it was the Ghost Flood Dragon’s own spell.
Though called an evil ghost, it was in fact a demon cultivating the Ghostly Path. Through it, Li Qingqiu learned that auspicious creatures awaken innate spells upon reaching adulthood. The Ghost Flood Dragon’s wind-and-rain summoning had been inborn, taught by no one.
He could not help but wonder—when Prison Qilin reached adulthood, what spell would it awaken?
Yun Cai and the others widened their eyes as they watched the ten-zhang Ghost Flood Dragon shrink into Li Qingqiu’s hand.
After finishing, Li Qingqiu led Chu Jing and Yun Cai back toward the Inspector-General’s Residence.
At that moment, the ghost infant in Chu Jing’s arms opened its eyes and suddenly leapt onto Li Qingqiu’s shoulder, drawing sideways glances from the others.
“Success?” Li Qingqiu asked curiously.
The gains from this journey had been immense. First, he obtained a Spirit Perception Realm Ghost Servant. Second, Lin Chuan gained the mysterious ghost infant body.
He could sense the terrifying power contained within that body, though it remained to be seen how much Lin Chuan could wield.
Without question, Lin Chuan would become one of Li Qingqiu’s important combat forces in the future.
“Not yet used to it,” Lin Chuan said, tilting his head.
Li Qingqiu raised his hand and rubbed the small head, asking no further. He would study it carefully after returning.
When Li Qingqiu arrived before the Inspector-General’s Residence, the disciples of the Clear Sky Sect had already gathered. Jiang Zhaoxia and Qin Ye were conversing.
Li Qingqiu noticed Shen Yue’s miserable state. That old fellow truly loved to push himself.
Seeing Li Qingqiu arrive, the disciples raised their hands in salute. Those sitting cross-legged in nearby streets cast excited gazes toward him.
In this battle, every Clear Sky Sect disciple had fought. The strength of the evil ghosts had left lingering fear in their hearts. Now that the great battle had ended, they felt an immense release.
Of course, they could not forget the dazzling white light from outside the city earlier. They had heard it was the Sect Master’s sword light. While healing, they discussed just how powerful their Sect Master truly was.
The countless Corpse Ghosts had suddenly collapsed into pools of rotten flesh—clearly, the mastermind behind them had been slain by the Sect Master.
Without the Sect Master swiftly slaying that powerful evil ghost, the outcome would have been far more tragic.
“Rest in the city tonight,” Li Qingqiu instructed.
No one objected. Xiao Wuqing immediately relayed the order.
Li Qingqiu looked at Jiang Zhaoxia, who promptly recounted the general situation of the battle.
The actual casualties of the Clear Sky Sect were slightly higher than Xiao Wuqing had reported earlier. As for Liu Jing’s army, Li Qingqiu did not concern himself with their losses.
Of the sixteen evil ghosts plus Great Demon Luo, nine had died.
Aside from the Ghost Flood Dragon, six evil ghosts remained to plague the mortal world. There was little to be done about that.
After Jiang Zhaoxia finished speaking, Qin Ye hesitated before stepping forward.
“Master, a member of the Li Clan was used by the evil ghosts. Though forced, he did set the trap. How should this be handled?”
Li Qingqiu looked at Qin Ye, whom he had not seen for many years. He could clearly sense the distance between master and disciple had grown.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “Mortal affairs should be handled by mortals. Escort him to Liu Jing and let Liu Jing decide his life or death.”
“Yes!”
Qin Ye clasped his fists and stepped back.
Li Qingqiu looked at him again and asked, “When will you return to Clear Sky Mountain?”
Though he had originally taken Qin Ye as a disciple for the benefits the Qin Family provided to the Clear Sky Sect, having the reality of master and disciple, Li Qingqiu would not ignore him.
Upon hearing his Master’s question, Qin Ye grew visibly moved.
“When all under heaven is unified, I will lay down my armor and return to the mountain to cultivate.”
Tonight’s battle had shown him that the Clear Sky Sect had produced far more geniuses than he had imagined. Many disciples surpassed him. He felt almost ashamed to admit he was the Sect Master’s disciple.
Once more, the yearning for immortal cultivation ignited within his heart.