69novels Chapter 328 - 265: Kill Them All
Chapter 328 - 265: Kill Them All
In front of the deserted island, Fang Qingyuan stood alone, facing more than a dozen Cultivators. Yet, when it came to sheer presence, his was the more overwhelming.
"Soul Hall? Please forgive my ignorance, but I’ve never heard of it. Fellow Daoist Xiao, you are being quite aggressive. It seems you’re very confident in your strength. Here in the Outer Sea, strength earns respect. If you can make us submit, then we will naturally obey your orders. Otherwise, don’t even think about leaving this place today."
The one who spoke was one of the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the opposing group. He looked to be about forty years old and had a gourd tied to his waist.
The other Foundation Establishment Cultivator was younger, but his expression was somber, and he carried an aura of ghostly energy.
Most of the Cultivators who holed up on this deserted island were not good people. While they weren’t pirates, they would occasionally moonlight as Tribulation Cultivators when they came across a vulnerable island.
Fang Qingyuan’s gaze swept over them. His immense soul power generated a tangible pressure. Under its influence, only the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators dared to meet his eyes. The other Qi Refining Cultivators all lowered their heads, unable to face him.
"You have a point. Come at me together. I’m in a hurry."
Fang Qingyuan spoke with arrogance. To maintain his persona as an Elder of the fictitious Soul Hall, he decided to unleash the full power of his Soul Daoist Techniques.
In all the years since he began cultivating Soul Daoist Techniques, he had never openly used their full power against an enemy. Now, here in the Outer Sea, he no longer had any scruples.
Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s tone, the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators opposite him didn’t get angry. Instead, their expressions grew even more grim.
Someone like Fang Qingyuan, who showed up and issued a challenge out of the blue, was either a madman or truly powerful. And a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was clearly no madman.
The two exchanged a look, each understanding the other’s intent: they had to go all out from the very start.
"Forgive the offense."
The middle-aged Foundation Establishment Cultivator offered a word of warning before reaching down to untie the gourd at his waist. He pulled out the stopper, and in an instant, countless fire crows burst out, swarming to surround Fang Qingyuan.
As the sky filled with attacking fire crows, the somber-faced young Cultivator began chanting an incantation. His eyes snapped shut and his body trembled violently. A moment later, a sinister wind swept by, and a phantom figure in court robes emerged from his body.
’Three Thousand Fire Crows Technique? God Sacrifice and Ghost Impeachment Skill?’
Watching the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators display their respective techniques, Fang Qingyuan raised an eyebrow. ’As expected of those who make their way in the Outer Sea,’ he thought. ’They all have a few tricks up their sleeves.’
The Three Thousand Fire Crows Technique was a Fire Daoist Skill even more powerful than a Nine Radiance-level technique. The fire gourd nurtured the spirits of three thousand fire crows. Each one was comparable to a Qi Refining Cultivator, and there were even elite leaders among them. Once released, they could blot out the sun and were virtually unstoppable.
This gourd couldn’t be kept in a storage bag; it required constant nourishment from a Cultivator’s Magical Power. Each fire crow within it was refined from a hundred crow souls. Who knew how many innocent crows had to die for the ones currently in the air.
The Three Thousand Fire Crows formed the main assault, and the massive spectacle they created concealed the ghost technique deployed by the somber Cultivator.
God Sacrifice and Ghost Impeachment was an extremely dangerous, unorthodox Secret Technique. A practitioner had to sacrifice a piece of their own flesh and blood to the summoned ghost-god for the chance to form a contract with it.
The ghost-god would then live as a parasite within the Cultivator, feeding on their offerings. In return, its power would be a full realm higher than its host’s.
Fang Qingyuan sensed that the ghostly figure this man had released clearly possessed the power of a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
The fire crows and the ghost, one overt and one covert, were perfectly coordinated. Though they were just the techniques of two Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, their combined might was comparable, if not superior, to that of a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Southern Border’s White Mountain.
But before Fang Qingyuan, these two techniques were merely the work of amateurs.
Never mind Fang Qingyuan’s soul, which was stronger than a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s; the Yindu Black Law Soul-Binding Curse he now cultivated was a powerful counter to this very situation.
Only when the three thousand fire crows were nearly upon him did Fang Qingyuan finally give a cold snort and speak.
"Petty parlor tricks. Watch me shatter them."
Before his voice had faded, a series of dull, rattling clanks echoed around Fang Qingyuan—the sound of stretching chains. Like muffled thunder, the noise resonated in the hearts of every Cultivator present.
Streaks of pitch-black chains, wreathed in leaping black flames, suddenly fanned out from behind Fang Qingyuan like a peacock’s tail. They spread instantly, shooting out for hundreds of feet in a flash.
Over a thousand finger-thick Black Flame Chains lunged like Spiritual Serpents toward the incoming fire crows.
The fire crows were essentially soul-forms. Against the Soul-Hooking Chains, which specialized in countering such beings, they were clearly outmatched. As the chains swept through, all but a few of the larger crows were pierced through the body by the Black Flame Chains.
Seeing this, the onlooking Cultivators were aghast. The Three Thousand Fire Crows Divine Technique was their leader’s trump card, the very reason he held sway here. It could even hold its own against a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet now it had been broken in a single move.
But the shock of the Qi Refining subordinates was nothing compared to what the middle-aged Cultivator who cast the Fire Crow Technique felt.
The three thousand fire crows were spiritually linked to him. Each time a Black Flame Chain pierced one, he felt as if he himself had been stabbed.
The pain was magnified more than tenfold when the black flames on the chains began to sear the fire crows’ souls.
Instantly, the man’s face turned white as a sheet. He commanded the remaining fire crows to retreat, not daring to advance. They could only keep a great distance from Fang Qingyuan, weaving about to dodge the sweeping chains.
His Three Thousand Fire Crows Technique had been crippled the moment he used it. Fear of Fang Qingyuan flooded the man’s heart.
’This man is unbeatable in a direct confrontation! Those Black Flame Chains are just too powerful. And from the look of it, he isn’t even breaking a sweat. This clearly isn’t his limit.’
Fang Qingyuan narrowed his eyes, his attention no longer on the fire crows. For all intents and purposes, the flock was now useless.
His focus was on the somber Cultivator and the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment ghost he had unleashed.
In this realm, ghosts were rare, and every last one was a troublesome opponent. This one seemed to be no different.
But against Fang Qingyuan’s Soul Dao cultivation, a creature like a ghost was naturally suppressed.
A spectral image appeared behind Fang Qingyuan—it was the Foundation Establishment Ghost’s Shadow Escape technique. A Netherworld Ghost Claw immediately reached for his throat.
The claw had a sinister, cold gleam, having already solidified into a physical object. Ghosts could shift between corporeal and incorporeal states, putting most Cultivators at a severe disadvantage.
But in the next instant, the sound of chains whipping through the air intensified, and a Black Flame Chain as thick as a child’s arm shot out to meet the claw.
’By my decree, bind the soul!’
Fang Qingyuan’s spiritual will flared. As various soul-binding techniques flowed through his mind, he directed the Black Flame Chain. With a single twist, it passed through the ghost’s body in an instant, locking onto its very core.
The moment the chain made contact, the ghost claw disintegrated. Only then did Fang Qingyuan get a clear look at the creature’s face.
It was a middle-aged man in a scholar’s robe. His hair was unbound and he wore no cap. Even though he had been reduced to a ghost and lost his mind, he didn’t look particularly vicious.
Once caught by the Black Flame Chain, the ghost fell silent, no longer responding no matter how the somber Cultivator tried to command it.
Fang Qingyuan’s current Soul Cultivation was stronger than that of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Dealing with a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment ghost, especially using techniques that were its natural counter, was child’s play. But the moment he captured it, Fang Qingyuan felt a pang of regret.
A ghost in a scholar’s robe... this was a slap in the face to the Great Zhou Academy. If the Academy ever found out, they would hunt the person responsible to the ends of the earth.
At this thought, Fang Qingyuan’s eyes turned cold. He pointed a finger at the somber Cultivator in the distance, who had slumped in despair. In the next instant, the Ghost Cultivator’s eyes widened in disbelief. Then, all life drained from him, and he plummeted toward the sea below.
A single Godslaying Needle, costing Fang Qingyuan ten years of his Innate Primordial Qi, had instantly killed the Early-stage Foundation Establishment Ghost Cultivator from thousands of feet away.
After its master was killed, the ghost instinctively went berserk. But with a mere shake of the chain from Fang Qingyuan, the scholar-robed ghost obediently fell still.
Fang Qingyuan took out a piece of Tier Two Soul Nourishing Wood and sealed the ghost inside. It didn’t dare to resist.
Fang Qingyuan then flew before the group of stunned Cultivators. The Black Flame Chains danced through the air, slaughtering the bewildered Qi Refining Cultivators.
As for the Foundation Establishment Cultivator with the Three Thousand Fire Crows Technique, he saw that things had gone terribly wrong. He didn’t understand why this newcomer had suddenly gone on a killing spree, but that didn’t stop him from making a run for it.
The remaining fire crows flew back to surround him, and he transformed into a streak of fire, speeding off into the distance.
As for his Qi Refining companions, in his mind, they were already dead.
But just as he had flown several miles and was breathing a sigh of relief that Fang Qingyuan wasn’t in pursuit, he saw a strange, large, black-and-white bear waiting up ahead, its head cocked to one side.
The black-and-white Spirit Beast let out a roar and charged.
...
A long while later, Fang Qingyuan looked at the bodies scattered across the sea and spoke gently to the sole surviving Qi Refining Cultivator.
"When I kill, I always leave one person alive to tell the tale. After you leave here, I want you to spread my name. Do you understand?"
The surviving Qi Refining Cultivator looked terrified. He nodded furiously, afraid that if he were a second too slow, the Demon before him would swat him dead.
Seeing the man so terrified of him, Fang Qingyuan shook his head.
’I had originally planned to recruit some subordinates, but things went sideways. To avoid getting implicated, I had to kill them all to silence them and keep myself clean.’
’The Confucian Family has never believed in ghosts or deities. If they were to discover that one of their own was refined into a ghost and enslaved, all hell would break loose.’
’The Outer Sea may be lawless, but that’s only because the Great Zhou Academy can’t be bothered to intervene. If they ever decided to get serious... well, the fate of the Demon Sect is a cautionary tale.’
Just then, Fang Qingyuan sensed Jinbao approaching with the captured Foundation Establishment Cultivator in tow. He waved his hand, dismissing the Qi Refining Cultivator.
Once the lucky survivor was a good distance away, Jinbao flew to Fang Qingyuan’s side and presented the Foundation Establishment Cultivator in its paws as if offering a prize.
Looking at the unconscious middle-aged Cultivator, whose limbs had been shattered, Fang Qingyuan sighed. He reached out, touched the man’s forehead, and sent him on his way.
After prying the fire gourd from the man’s tight grip, Fang Qingyuan buried him, along with the other corpses, in his Immortal Mansion.
In less than ten days, their bodies would be absorbed by the black soil of the Immortal Mansion, becoming its nutrients.
Gazing at the pile of storage bags and various Magical Artifacts he had plundered, Fang Qingyuan sighed deeply. ’Killing you all really wasn’t my intention.’
Jinbao watched from the side, dumbfounded. ’My master is acting strange,’ it thought. ’Why is he sighing after he killed them?’
He put Jinbao back in the Immortal Mansion, then took out his sea chart. After finding a new destination and getting his bearings, he quickly flew away.
’There was nothing wrong with the original plan, just a slight deviation in its execution,’ he mused. ’But it doesn’t matter. The Outer Sea is full of Loose Cultivators like these. With my current strength, as long as I don’t run into a Golden Core Cultivator, no one can stand in my way.’