Chapter 202: The Perilous Practice of the Yin Gathering Ghost God

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After Su Wu dismissed his troops, Qin Haoxuan, seeing that the enemy army had also immediately withdrawn and that their cultivator had no intention of challenging him, returned to his own tent. He had expended a great deal of spiritual energy and, after instructing that he was not to be disturbed, had Xing stand guard while he began to activate the Qi-Circulating Pill in his body to recover his power. After all, there was still another cultivator in the enemy camp. He had to recover his strength as quickly as possible. What if that cultivator was even stronger than Hao Xiu, and possessed an even more powerful Talisman Beast?

Having transformed back from armor to his demonic form, Xing was very displeased. He pouted and said, “Your ghost soldier can eat cultivators. Why can’t I?”

“If you get addicted, one day will you eat me too?” Qin Haoxuan knew that he absolutely could not agree to let him eat cultivators. Once this creature got a taste, he would surely be unable to stop.

“Bullshit! I would eat you?” Xing retorted. “If I wanted you dead, I could have just patted my ass and left. Do I need to stay here and face death with you? It’s not me that Master Chi Lian wants to kill…”

Qin Haoxuan was momentarily speechless. He stared at Xing, and Xing stared back. After a long moment of mutual glaring, his tone softened. “In any case, I just don’t want you to eat people.”

Xing’s body trembled slightly. He could understand what Qin Haoxuan meant. If he were to eat someone, although Qin Haoxuan wouldn’t blame him, he would still feel uncomfortable in his heart. In a way, he was trying to protect their friendship. Of course, if he really did eat a cultivator, it would be much easier for his identity to be exposed in the future.

“Then you can at least give me spirit stones, right?” Xing’s tone also softened.

Qin Haoxuan was quite straightforward. He took out a considerable number of spirit stones and tossed them to him. “Eat up…”

“I don’t need that many. My appetite hasn’t been good these past few days,” Xing said, taking only one low-grade spirit stone and swallowing it. “You don’t have many left either. If we run into that old fellow Chi Lian, we’ll need them to escape. We should save them…”

Qin Haoxuan said no more. He sat down cross-legged and activated the pill in his body. The surrounding spiritual energy, like a torrential river, rushed into his tent, so thick that it condensed into a mist that enveloped the entire area.

In the enemy camp, eight li away, Perfected Man Hulu sensed the fluctuation of spiritual energy. He walked outside and was instantly stunned. Is… is that a blessed land? If not, how could the spiritual energy be so dense? So thick it has turned into a mist! This is unheard of! With such dense spiritual energy, he could imagine that the enemy cultivator was meditating and recovering.

Perfected Man Hulu licked his lips. Despite having witnessed Qin Haoxuan’s combat strength, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of greed. He was certain that Qin Haoxuan had many treasures on him. If he could obtain even one or two, his status in the Tongtian Temple would surely soar.

This was a good opportunity for a sneak attack, but seeing such a dense concentration of spiritual energy, he completely abandoned the idea. To think that his own Sixteenth-Leaf cultivation was no match for the Feilian Talisman Beast, and yet that mere Fourth-Leaf brat possessed a ghost soldier that could shatter it. And to think of his terrifying speed of absorbing spiritual energy… For a moment, Perfected Man Hulu could barely breathe.

It was no matter. He couldn’t defeat him alone, but he still had the Tongtian Temple, and his fellow disciples, to rely on. If he could invite a few of the more powerful cultivators from the temple, or his own brothers-in-arms, to help him kill this strange and powerful Taichu disciple, then they could split the spoils.

While General Chang was in a state of panic, he was also secretly glad for his arbitrary decision three days ago. If not for inviting another High Immortal, he would have been a dead man after Hao Xiu’s death. But he was still uneasy. After all, Hao Xiu had defeated Perfected Man Hulu before. If even he was no match for the enemy, then Hulu, who had lost to him, was surely even less of a match.

Just as he was lost in these thoughts, Perfected Man Hulu had him brought in. “General Chang,” he said with a calm and composed air, “you came back and knelt at my door. If you have something to say, say it.”

“High Immortal,” the general said, “High Immortal Hao was defeated in battle today, and our army’s morale is in turmoil. If not for you, we would have been routed. What should we do now? Should we fight or retreat? Please give your command.”

Perfected Man Hulu stroked his beard, his expression serious. “Whether you fight or flee is your business. But this seat already has a way to deal with them. We will certainly fight to the end.” Hearing his words, General Chang’s face lit up with joy.

After the general had left, thinking of Qin Haoxuan’s methods, Perfected Man Hulu’s brow furrowed, and his face grew even more grave. He thought for a long time. Although that kid’s treasures are good, even Hao Xiu’s powerful Feilian was no match for him. I can’t take him on alone. If I report this to the Tongtian Temple, the Temple Master himself might come. At that point, never mind taking the spoils for myself, I probably won’t even get a sip of the soup. The only option is to invite my four brothers-in-arms to help. Although they are also greedy, at least I know them well… yes, that’s it. I must notify them as quickly as possible.

His master had been a rogue cultivator and had taken five apprentices in total. He was the third. He had one senior brother, one senior sister, and two junior brothers. Each of them had their own unique skills. If he could invite all of them here, no matter how powerful the enemy cultivator’s artifacts were, they would surely be no match for them.

As for whether he could persuade them to come, he had no worries at all. He knew their personalities very well. As long as he told them the situation, appealing to both emotion and reason, they would surely come running. He took out four precious paper cranes from his robes, his heart aching at the cost. He quickly wrote down the situation, telling them there was a fat sheep from the Taichu Sect here, only at the Fourth-Leaf, but who had killed the Fifteenth-Leaf Hao Xiu, who had possessed the ancient Feilian Talisman Beast. And when he cultivated, the spiritual energy turned to mist. He must have a great treasure on him. After writing this, he added that if they came to help, all the benefits would be split evenly.

He then sent the four cranes flying off in four different directions.

While he was busy finding reinforcements, Qin Haoxuan was not idle. He knew his combat methods were limited. The Formless Sword and the Advent of the Ghost God were his greatest assets, and both consumed a huge amount of spiritual energy. If the enemy cultivator brought in more powerful reinforcements, he would be in danger. He had to increase his strength, and the fastest way was to cultivate the Advent of the Ghost God and strengthen his ghost soldier.

Seeing him pacing back and forth with a grave expression, Xing asked, “What are you doing?”

“Do you remember that there’s a method in the Advent of the Ghost God to rapidly increase the strength of a ghost soldier?” he asked, his expression serious.

Xing’s face changed, and he said in horror, “You… you mean the Yin Gathering Art, which draws a large number of resentful souls and yin energy into one’s body?” Even for a genius demon from the Netherworld like him, who had experienced all sorts of dangers, the mere mention of this art made him turn pale.

After the first level of the Advent of the Ghost God was successfully cultivated, and the ghost soldier was refined and sealed into the body, increasing its strength was quite troublesome. Besides the slow growth that came with the master’s own cultivation, the only way to rapidly increase its strength was to practice the Yin Gathering Art.