The sudden change shocked everyone, but they found that what Hua Xiaomei summoned was not the soul of Master Black Hawk, but a pale evil spirit with a ferocious look.
The evil spirit has a ferocious face, messy hair like fluffy straw, and sharp and slender nails that flash with a cold light like a blade, which is chilling.
"That breath... Not good, that evil spirit devoured the soul of Master Black Hawk and actually broke through to the early stage of the third level of the Ox and Horse Realm." Ye Jie was horrified and looked terrified.
Hua Xiaomei's preparations were not in vain. The thick black fog covering the mummy's face moved in front of the pale evil spirit's eyes, as if a dense black cloth was covering her face, making it impossible for her to see the things around her. She could only wave her claws around, leaving deep scratches on the wall of the cave.
Ye Jie raised his hand, and his spiritual power flowed rapidly. A huge black arrow condensed in his palm and shot towards the pale evil spirit, making a dull sound of breaking through the air.
The pale evil spirit sensed something and twisted its body, avoiding the soul-breaking arrow even though it was blind.
Ye Jie's shot missed. The Soul-Breaking Arrow, which was at the advanced stage, hit the cave wall behind the evil spirit in vain. Not only did it fail to hurt it at all, but it also allowed her to lock onto Ye Jie's position based on the source of the sound.
A dull gust of wind blew towards him, and the pale evil spirit with bared fangs and claws crossed a distance of dozens of steps in an instant and pounced towards Ye Jie, letting out a shrill scream.
Ye Jie looked painful, covering his ears with his hands. His body was unable to move due to the threat of the scream. His soul was completely stiff as if it had fallen into an ice cellar. He could only watch the evil spirit getting closer and closer.
At the critical moment, a swish sound was heard in her ears. Fuling waved her folding fan and stepped forward to fight against the attacking evil spirit.
The fan bones and sharp claws collided repeatedly, making a series of crisp sounds of metal clashing. Facing the evil spirit's fierce attacks, Fuling felt the pressure and broke out in a cold sweat. If the evil spirit regained its sight, she was afraid that within two moves, she would be completely defeated.
A pitch-black rope was thrown over at this time and accurately caught the body of the evil spirit. Under the restraint of the soul-binding rope, the evil spirit's body was restricted and unable to move.
At the other end of the noose, Nan Linghe was pulling the rope hard. She bit her lips tightly. Her eyes, which were usually a little confused, were now extremely focused. The soul-binding rope that she had just learned not long ago came in handy now.
"You did a great job, Nan Linghe!"
Taking advantage of this brief break, Ye Jie recovered from the shock of the scream, raised his hand, and condensed it, shooting a pitch-black arrow straight at the evil spirit bound in place. The power of the Soul-Breaking Arrow at the Great Perfection stage was extraordinary. As long as it could hit the evil spirit, even if she was at the early stage of the third level, she would have to drink a pot of water.
Fuling also seized this hard-won opportunity, flew forward, and waved the folding fan as sharp as a blade, slashing at the evil spirit's head.
Seeing that the attack was about to work, the evil spirit raised its head and let out a thunderous roar, which echoed in the cave. In an instant, a black mist surged around the evil spirit, and its body rose from the ground to more than eight feet. Along with the roar, there was also a loud cry like a baby.
The soul-breaking arrow accurately hit the evil spirit's chest, but only made her retreat half a step. She shook hard and broke free from the soul-binding rope thrown by Nan Linghe. Her sharp claws swept across, and Fuling was swept away, cracking the cave wall. Like Hua Xiaomei who collapsed on the ground, she lost her ability to fight.
"Is that a Dharma body? She just entered the third level and she has already cultivated a Dharma body?" Ye Jie was shocked. If it weren't for the fact that the effect of the cloud covering the eyes was still maintained, no one would be able to survive a few moves at the hands of the pale evil spirit that had unfolded its Dharma body.
Seeing that the evil spirit was about to pounce on the motionless Fuling, Ye Jie, who was quick-eyed and quick-handed, hurriedly picked up a stone from the ground and threw it towards the wall of the cave.
“Pah…”
The crisp sound of stones colliding with the cave wall immediately attracted the evil spirit's full attention. She was blind and almost brushed past Ye Jie's body. In an instant, she rushed to the front of the cave wall, sweeping her sharp claws across, leaving several horrifying claw marks on the cave wall.
Ye Jie didn't dare to breathe. At the same time, he glanced at Nan Linghe beside him and made a hushing gesture to her.
Nan Linghe immediately understood what Ye Jie meant and nodded repeatedly.
The evil spirit's attack missed, and it looked around vigilantly. Suddenly, its expression became determined, and it was facing the direction where Ye Jie was standing. This shocked Ye Jie, and he could only stand there like a piece of wood, not daring to move.
“Pah…”
Another crisp sound was heard. Seeing Ye Jie in trouble, Nan Linghe imitated him and threw stones at the cave wall.
The evil spirit suddenly leaped up, dashing towards the cave wall hit by the stone at an unparalleled speed. With a sweep of its claws, the cave wall collapsed, scattering debris everywhere. However, behind the broken cave wall, a mysterious hidden passage was revealed. Deep in the passage, a candlestick with a perpetual light, just like the one in the cave, was hung.
"Wait, that can't be..."
Seeing this, Ye Jie opened his mouth wide. He didn't expect that Nan Linghe had accidentally uncovered the secret hidden in the cave.
The pale evil spirit turned around, and the black clouds that blocked her sight dissipated. There was a chilling chill in her eyes, and endless rage was hidden in them. When she recovered her strength, there would be no good ending waiting for everyone.
Seeing the pale evil spirit set its sights on Nan Linghe, Ye Jie immediately raised his hand and shot out a huge black arrow.
When the evil spirit was blinded by the cloud, it could rely on instinct to avoid the soul-breaking arrows. Now that her vision has been restored, it is impossible for it to hit her. She dodged the soul-breaking arrow with a nimble move.
Ye Jie's action immediately attracted the evil spirit's full attention. Seeing her fixed her eyes on him, Ye Jie quickly squatted down and shouted across the air: "Hurry up and take them away using the Earth Shrinking Stone. I'll be there soon."
Nan Linghe obeyed and did as he was told, and hurried to the two seriously injured people. As the sound of black stone hitting the ground spread, the figures of several people disappeared in an instant.
The pale evil spirit let out a sharp scream and pounced towards Ye Jie again. Ye Jie had expected this and hit the ground with the black stone first. With a shake of his body, the two of them actually switched positions. The pale evil spirit missed, while Ye Jie moved to the front of the hidden passage.
"Perhaps this is a bit risky, but for the sake of my apprentice, I have no choice but to give it a try."
Ye Jie made up his mind and hit the ground with the black stone again, moving towards the inside of the passage.
Of course, the evil spirit would not let Ye Jie go just like that. She made a move to rush into the passage, but the huge black arrow shot from inside the passage made her slow down. By the time she entered the passage, Ye Jie had disappeared.
The shrill screams coming from behind made Ye Jie uneasy. Now he was racing with the evil spirit with his life as a bet. If he fell into the hands of the evil spirit, he would have no other possibility except to be torn to pieces.
In front of the passage, the spiritual energy became increasingly dense, and dots of light fell into Ye Jie's eyes. On the stone platform in front, a group of spiritual stones were neatly arranged, with at least dozens of them.
Ye Jie's gaze never lingered on the sparkling spirit stone. He quickly scanned the surroundings, searching for the most important goal of this trip, the manual on body movements used by Master Black Hawk.
"Where is the book on the Mysterious Shadow Step? Hmm? That is..."
Ye Jie waved his sleeve to sweep away the scattered spirit stones on the stone platform. He was stunned. What appeared before his eyes was not the fascinating martial arts book, but something he had never expected.
Accompanied by a roar that tore through the silence, the pale evil spirit arrived in time, its cold and fierce eyes fixed on Ye Jie, and then it pounced on him with its fangs and claws.
Ye Jie stretched out his hand and lifted the object on the stone platform in front of him. Seeing this object, the evil spirit's swift movements suddenly slowed down, and a trace of fear flashed in his eyes.
What Ye Jie held up was a string of palm-sized golden bells. The bells were simple and exquisite, but the aura emanating from them evoked painful memories in the evil spirit's heart. In the end, it could only stand where it was, hesitating and not daring to attack, growling unwillingly at Ye Jie.
"Ding-ling-ling..."
Of course Ye Jie would not miss this opportunity. He took a step forward and shook his wrist. A crisp and pleasant ringing sound came out from the rapidly shaking golden bell.
The crisp ringing sounded like a devil's voice to the pale evil spirit. She knelt on the ground in pain and covered her ears with her hands. However, the penetrating ringing sound still penetrated into her ears, like a sharp knife constantly stirring in her mind. Even her Dharma body could not be maintained, and her body was forced to return to its original shape, emitting painful wails.
Ye Jie seized the opportunity, condensed a pitch-black rope, bound the pale evil spirit, and walked around her several times until she was tied up tightly, then he stopped the shaking of the golden bell.
When the bell stopped ringing, the evil spirit suddenly became unruly and prepared to break free from the ropes. Seeing this, Ye Jie raised the golden bell again, and there was a hint of silent threat in his calm eyes.
The evil spirit was intimidated by his actions and had to stay where it was, not daring to resist anymore.
Seeing that this method worked, Ye Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I know you can understand what I'm saying." Ye Jie raised the golden bell again and warned, "Don't act rashly. Doing so will only bring you trouble."
The pale evil spirit took a deep breath, his chest heaving, and his eyes filled with deep hatred as he looked at Ye Jie.
After calming the evil spirit, Ye Jie searched around and soon found two books with black covers, a scroll, a blood-stained knife, a black token, and a total of nineteen spirit stones from under the stone platform.
Opening the thinner book, Ye Jie's face suddenly showed joy:
"This is the Xuanying Step technique manual. Great! Once Xia Wei learns this lower-level Earth-rank technique, even if she can't defeat the Hengshan Bandit, she'll at least be able to escape from him..."
Putting the Xuanyingbu book into his arms, Ye Jie's gaze fell on another book: "I wonder what kind of skills are recorded in this book?"
Flipping through another thicker book, Ye Jie's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Not long after, he put the book down and picked up a note on the side. After reading it, he couldn't help but gasp.
The classics record a low-grade, human-level technique called the Soul Purification Technique, specifically designed to refine the souls of others. Once refined, the spirit can be contained within a spirit-summoning banner, becoming a puppet under the master's control. A refined spirit cannot disobey its master's orders, and will meticulously carry them out, even if ordered to die.
The souls that can be refined by the Soul Purification Technique are limited to souls of lower rank than itself. For example, Master Black Hawk, who is in the late second stage, cannot completely refine the pale evil soul of the peak second stage.
For those souls that cannot be refined, the Soul Purification Technique also provides methods to subdue them.
As long as the initial refining can be completed with special sacrifices, the fear of the sound of the golden bell can be completely implanted deep in the soul's heart. As long as the soul hears the sound of the golden bell, it will feel the soul trembling and unbearable pain, and ultimately can only obey the master's orders.
The notebook next to it records the method of making the soul-calling banner, and also contains many insights left by Master Black Hawk.
The notes mentioned that in order to increase the power of the soul-calling flag, the cloth must be sewn with human skin, the flagpole must be spliced with human bones, and the stronger the person, the better.
Master Black Hawk's previous soul-calling banner was only a ninth-grade magic weapon, which could only accommodate fifty souls at most. However, those high-grade soul-calling banners had a world of their own inside, which could not only accommodate tens of thousands of ghosts, but also constantly nourish the souls inside, invisibly improving their realm.
Putting away the tome and the journal, Ye Jie turned his gaze back to the pale evil spirit not far away. Seeing her grimacing, as if she wanted to devour him alive with her eyes, he pulled out a scrap of paper from his bosom and said slowly, "Let me see what you did in your lifetime."
"Luo Bei, in the spring of the ninth year of Daye, was born in a family in Ankang."
"In the autumn of the fourth year of the Zhenguan reign, my purse was stolen by a servant. After the thief's identity was discovered, he was not held accountable and his crime was pardoned, earning me ninety Yin De."
"In the spring of the seventh year of the Zhenguan reign, I offered incense to the City God Temple for five consecutive years and gained fifty Yin De."
"In the summer of the tenth year of the Zhenguan reign, I married and built a new house. During the hottest days of summer, I rewarded my servants with iced tea, earning forty merits."
"In the winter of the twelfth year of the Zhenguan reign, she was pregnant for ten months and gave birth to a son and a daughter, earning her one hundred Yin De."
"In the winter of the twelfth year of the Zhenguan reign, he had a conflict with someone. He was so eager to protect his son that he died with resentment at the age of twenty-five."
"In my life, I have always treated people and things in accordance with the Way of Heaven. I have gained 260 Yin De through trivial actions. I have 1,500 Yin De left over from my previous life."
"A total of 2,140 Yin De."
Putting away the fragments, Ye Jie glanced at Luo Bei and said with feeling, "You have done a lot of good deeds in your life. As a ghost messenger, I will not make things difficult for you. You can rest assured."
Luo Bei didn't believe it. He stared at the golden bell held in Ye Jie's other hand with his cold pupils, and a sarcastic sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Ye Jie coughed dryly and said, "I won't refine your soul like Master Black Hawk did. I will send you to the Naihe Bridge and help you with your next reincarnation. Don't worry, you will soon be able to forget the painful experiences of the past and reincarnate again."
After hearing what Ye Jie said, Luo Bei struggled like a madman, growling miserably. Even the soul-binding rope could not restrain her.
In the new year, I would like to thank all my book friends for their continued support. I wish you all a happy new year and good luck in the Year of the Dragon!