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Unexpectedly accepting Lin Xiao as a disciple and bringing along three children, Li Hong thought it was time to pick up his eldest disciple, Yue Ting, so he headed south to Quanzhou.
With four ordinary people, the Eight Formation Flag's travel speed was slower, and it took Li Hong four full days to reach Quanzhou. After arriving in Quanzhou, Li Hong rented a carriage to take Lin Xiao and the four others to the countryside.
During these four days, Li Hong imparted some basic knowledge of the Cultivation World. With Fire Spirit roots, Lin Xiao and the three companions underwent a significant transformation in temperament within just four days. They were no longer the naive and ordinary children they once were; an indescribable air of elegance and detachment emanated from them, setting them apart from typical children.
By the afternoon, the Yue Family was already in sight. Li Hong instructed the driver to head straight to the entrance. Upon jumping down from the carriage, he immediately spotted a young man in a brown robe striding out of the gate. Their eyes met, and the young man seemed struck by lightning, his eyes turning red instantly.
Li Hong approached him with a smile and said, "Yue Ting, your master has come to pick you up."
Yue Ting dropped to his knees with a thud and choked out, "Master, it's been over ten years since we last met; I’ve missed you so much!"
"Ha ha, your master is here now," Li Hong said as he helped him up. After more than ten years apart, Yue Ting had grown into a sturdy figure resembling a black tower, having reached the late stage of Qi Refinement. Since Li Hong laid his foundation back then, it had taken nearly twenty years for Yue Ting to reach this stage, which was not considered much progress. However, he had been cultivating independently all this time, demonstrating remarkable perseverance and a steadfast heart.
As Li Hong examined Yue Ting's condition, members of the Yue Family rushed out. Upon seeing Li Hong, Yue Ting's elder brother, Yue Lei, was overjoyed. "The Celestial Master has finally arrived! Fifth brother has been clamoring to go up the mountain every day. We tried hard to persuade him that if it turned out like last time and he missed you again, it would be terrible! That’s why we managed to keep him here. Now that you're here, please take him away; we can't keep him any longer!"
His words made everyone laugh heartily. Yue Ting bashfully scratched his head and smiled; at that moment, he noticed Lin Xiao and the other three children and asked curiously, "Who are these four?"
"Ha ha, these are my second disciples and your junior sisters and brothers. This is Lin Xiao; her Dao name is Chongxiao," Li Hong said while pointing at Lin Xiao and then at the other three children. "They will also be your fellow disciples in the future."
The three children included one girl and two boys. Li Hong had already planned for Chuming and Chuxuan to take them as disciples.
Upon hearing this, Yue Ting was delighted and laughed as he ushered the four junior siblings inside. His elder brother Yue Lei then called for someone to slaughter pigs and sheep for a feast with Li Hong.
The banquet was incredibly enjoyable; after several rounds of drinks as night fell, Yue Lei ordered servants to light lamps and bring out new dishes and wine. He also invited his wife and two younger siblings to bring their children over to bow to Li Hong.
Except for Yue Ting, all three of Yue Lei's family members were married. Since they settled down only after being assigned to Lingnan, Yue Lei was in his forties but had only an eleven or twelve-year-old eldest child.
At a glance, Li Hong noticed that Yue Lei's eldest son also possessed Fire Spirit roots. He felt intrigued and smiled as he said, "Your eldest son has quite a talent for cultivation; if you're willing, I could take him in as well so he can accompany Xiao'er and the others. What do you think? Are you willing?"
Yue Lei pondered for a moment before nodding heavily. "Alright! From now on, my Yue Family will no longer serve in the government. If there is hope for the immortal path, that would be even better. Yue Ling, bow to the Celestial Master. Tomorrow, you will go into the mountains with the Celestial Master and your Uncle Five to learn the way. You won't be able to come out and see your father until you succeed in your cultivation!"
Although Yue Ling was young, he had long admired his Uncle Five, Yue Ting, who possessed celestial abilities. Hearing this made him overjoyed. The boy suppressed his excitement and knelt before Li Hong to bow. However, Li Hong waved his sleeve, and Yue Ling found himself unable to kneel. The boy immediately began to worry, his concerns clearly written on his face.
Li Hong smiled and said, "I have accepted your Uncle Five as my disciple. If I were to take you as my disciple as well, it would confuse the hierarchy. Come with me into the mountains, and I will have my Eighth Disciple take you as a disciple."
"Thank you, Shibo!" Yue Ling was quite clever and quickly changed his address.
With another promising cultivator in hand, Li Hong was very pleased. Moreover, since Yue Lei, Yue Lin, and Yue Zhen were all generous individuals, their spirits were even higher during this feast. Yue Ting stood respectfully behind his master and stepped forward to pour more wine for Li Hong when he saw that Li Hong's cup was empty, making sure Li Hong felt comfortable.
As they drank late into the night, finishing five large jars of wine, Yue Lei and the others became intoxicated. Everyone was drunk except for Li Hong, who remained sober.
At that moment, Li Hong remembered something and immediately stood up. "Yue Ting, I will step out for a while."
With a slight buzz from the alcohol, Li Hong walked out of the house and disappeared into the night sky in an instant, heading towards Dayu Ridge.
In less than half a moment, he arrived at his destination. Below him lay desolate mountains and waters devoid of human presence. After thinking for a moment, Li Hong changed direction towards the southwest. Around midnight, he spotted his target.
This was deep within the Deep Mountain Forest, where ten high ridges formed a winding dragon shape. At its deepest point lay an extremely deep ravine. He could see the water reflecting light below—dark and deep—emitting visible waves of ominous energy.
This was it.
Years ago, Yue Ting had been taken by these Evil Spirits. He had promised to avenge him but had been busy with various matters over the years without fulfilling that promise. Tonight was just right; he had both time and interest. No matter what it was, he would ensure they were utterly destroyed to relieve Yue Ting's grievances from back then!
With this thought in mind, Li Hong completely ignored the thick ghostly energy below him. He took a deep breath in the clouds, formed a hand seal, and recited an incantation: "Heaven and Earth, All Things Have Spirits; grant me form from chaos; let heaven revolve and earth turn as my spirit wanders through the purest realm; may evil spirits be subdued and demons be vanquished! Swiftly!"
This was a Summoning Technique he hadn't used in a long time. Regardless of whether it was the Demon Emperor or not, Li Hong now possessed Yu Ying Period cultivation—far beyond that inexperienced novice from back then—and he would summon them first!
An invisible powerful force field suddenly expanded outward from Li Hong as its center, enveloping an area of one hundred miles within his Divine Consciousness range. Even a small blade of grass swaying in the night wind was clearly "seen" by Li Hong; let alone the targeted area he had locked onto.
In the deep chasm below, black smoke billowed, and the creature could not withstand the disturbance caused by Li Hong, feeling both angry and fearful as it rushed out from the depths.
The creature rose higher in the black smoke, soon appearing before Li Hong.
Having consumed alcohol and filled with hot blood, Li Hong was still startled by this Evil Spirit.
Resembling a Thunder God and a crab at the same time, it was small in stature, with bones seemingly jutting out all over its body, covered in hard barbed spikes. Its eyes glowed green, opening and closing like flashes of lightning.
Li Hong stared in disbelief, wondering what on earth this thing was.
Taking advantage of Li Hong's momentary distraction, the Evil Spirit had already grown furious. Suddenly, it shook its form to break free from the Summoning Technique. The black smoke rolled in place, and suddenly seventeen or eighteen bone spikes shot out towards Li Hong's face.
Even from such a close distance, a Golden Core Stage cultivator would have fallen victim to it. However, Li Hong happened to be a Primordial Infant Old Monster and the unique Elder Ghost of the Nascent Soul in the world.
With a thought, the Void Flame Armor emerged around him, and at the same time, his Awareness expanded outward, forming an additional layer of transparent Mind Shield outside the Void Flame Armor. The Demon Spike penetrated the Mind Shield just slightly before it could go no further, stopping at the surface of Li Hong's Void Flame Armor.
The Evil Spirit was taken aback and turned to flee.
Li Hong would not allow it to escape. He activated the Summoning Technique once more, this time adding the Soul Searching Technique. The Evil Spirit felt its ghostly power boiling over as if it were being boiled alive, experiencing indescribable pain throughout its body, with its head feeling as if it would explode. It writhed in agony, but its body began to dissolve like snow melting in fire.
Li Hong swiftly glimpsed into its memories.
This Evil Spirit surprisingly possessed intelligence. Many years ago, it had merely been a Wandering Soul drifting in this Deep Mountain Forest. Later on, it discovered that staying at the bottom of the chasm was particularly comfortable and began to self-learn the Ghost Path. There it opened a Ghost Cave to absorb moonlight essence, gradually condensing into its current form. It had been cultivating here for two thousand years; if Ji Lingzi from Golden Lantern Gorge was at the level of a Ghost King, then this creature was at least a Demon Emperor. In this area spanning thousands of miles, all Evil Spirits and shadows obeyed its command.
It captured children like Yue Ting for the sake of cultivation.
The highest realm of the Ghost Path is to refine into a physical form capable of moving about under midday sunlight while retaining all Ghost Path abilities. After that, one can cultivate just like human cultivators without needing to establish a foundation; they can directly begin their cultivation. If everything goes smoothly, they can still form a Golden Core and achieve Nascent Soul status before ultimately ascending. Thus, the final goal of the Ghost Path is also ascension to immortality.
This Evil Spirit had cultivated for two thousand years and had already condensed into a physical form capable of moving during the day but still feared the midday sun's direct rays. To overcome this fear completely during noon sunlight, it needed to absorb enough heart blood from one thousand boys who had not yet lost their original yang essence. Ideally, these boys should possess Fire Spirit bodies for even greater yang energy.
Yue Ting perfectly met the requirements. However, for the Evil Spirits, finding a boy with the Fire Spirit's pure yang intact was quite difficult. Its territory was the vast Deep Mountain Forest, and it dared not venture outside. The area was sparsely populated, making it even harder to find suitable boys. Therefore, it took care of the few boys it managed to find, only absorbing ten drops of their blood each time. Afterward, it would nurture them a bit more so that they could produce a little more blood. This way, it could absorb as much as possible. When it encountered obedient and bold boys, the Evil Spirits would slightly nourish them after each blood extraction. This was why Yue Ting had survived until Shui Qingzi and the others arrived.
Now, this Evil Spirit knew that disaster was imminent. It felt everything about itself exposed under the gaze of the "immortal." Unable to speak, its Divine Consciousness was desperately pleading for mercy, "Please, great immortal, Old Ghost has worked hard to cultivate to this point. I beg you, spare me and let me live! Old Ghost is willing to serve you as a slave for eternity!"
Originally, Li Hong had made up his mind to take revenge on Yue Ting for this deep grievance, but upon hearing this, he suddenly had a change of heart.
With so many matters at hand and Lin Xiaoyue's five children being too young, he couldn't possibly let Yue Ting enter the Mountain Gate only to act as a caretaker for them. If he took in this Old Ghost as a servant to look after the five children, it would indeed be beneficial and save him a lot of trouble!
Thinking this way, Li Hong immediately felt invigorated but maintained a colder demeanor. He slowly raised his hand; his palm, as crystal clear as jade and infused with immense power, pressed against Old Ghost's crown.
"Hmph!" Li Hong snorted heavily; his voice coalesced into a thread that pierced deep into Old Ghost's consciousness.
Old Ghost cried out in pain with a "Ah!" Just as the cry fell, its body turned into a puddle of mud.
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