When he struck, he held nothing back.

He had no idea about the cultivation level or techniques of the skulking figure hidden behind the ripple.

He simultaneously activated the Moon Xuan Sword’s innate Forbidden Technique, Moonlight Crystal Burst. The sky above Cyan Bull Valley lit up as if the moon itself had crashed to the ground, with watery moonlight spreading for miles in a faint glow.

A single glance was enough to send a chill down one’s spine, to say nothing of direct contact.

This Tier Four Flying Sword normally absorbed Taiyin Star Power. Every 365 days, once the Star Power had condensed, it could unleash Moonlight Crystal Burst one time, freezing the Divine Soul and making it impossible to defend against.

The Moon Xuan Sword had been without a master for tens of thousands of years. Even though it had been in the Sword Tomb Secret Realm and could barely receive any Taiyin Star Power, some wisps had still managed to seep in.

The Taiyin Star Power within the sword had long since overflowed. Activated at this moment, the Forbidden Technique’s power was even greater than usual.

The faint ripples were washed away by the moonlight, revealing a middle-aged man in a black-and-white robe. His face was ashen, and he held a Mourning Stick, his expression one of utter shock and disbelief.

Relying on an Exotic Treasure obtained from a Secret Realm, which could block all Magical Power fluctuations and Divine Sense probes, even a Core Formation Perfection cultivator couldn’t have possibly discovered him at this distance.

Back then, relying on this Exotic Treasure, he had gotten within a hundred zhang of Master Ge Cang before being discovered.

It was simply that their combined strength had been lacking. Even by ganging up on Ge Cang, they had still failed to defeat him.

’So it’s Daoist Hex... Since you’ve come, you don’t have to leave!’

The man behind the ripple revealed a Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivation. If it had been any other Core Formation Cultivator, Bai Zichen might not have recognized him, but he remembered the key figures from the Ghost Spirit Sect perfectly.

He never imagined that Daoist Hex—whose strength in the Ghost Spirit Sect was second only to White Bone True Man’s—had used an Exotic Treasure of concealment to sneak into Black Mountain and tail the reclamation forces all this way.

Fortunately, Bai Zichen had remained highly vigilant until the very last moment and had not revealed any openings.

Otherwise, if he hadn’t detected the anomaly through his Sword Heart Clarity, Daoist Hex might have truly found an opportunity to seriously wound him or Wei Dao.

Moonlight Crystal Burst was a Forbidden Technique attached to a Tier Four Flying Sword. Furthermore, Daoist Hex never expected anyone to be able to discover him and had put up no defenses whatsoever.

When the Taiyin Star Power washed over his body, it was already too late to mount a defense. Only a Bone Chain on his wrist exploded on its own, neutralizing a portion of the force.

At the same time, black and white Demon Light shot out from his robe, forming a chaotic Yin and Yang pattern that further blocked the Moonlight.

But the remaining half of the Taiyin Star Power still slammed directly into Daoist Hex’s body, freezing him in place, his eyes glazed and vacant.

The Divine Soul freeze was very brief, lasting perhaps less than a single breath.

In the next instant, a Demon Sound erupted from the Mourning Stick in Daoist Hex’s hand as strips of white burial cloth flew out to blot out the sky.

But for a Sword Cultivator like Bai Zichen, a single breath was far too long.

Especially for a strike he had long prepared, one that focused his entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit. It followed the Moonlight Crystal Burst without the slightest pause.

The Moonlight Sword Light didn’t look world-shakingly powerful, but like an inverted Milky Way, it was an omnipresent strike. Its speed was countless times faster than any Flying Sword he had ever used before.

The seemingly gentle moonlight directly sliced the Mourning Stick in two and, before Daoist Hex’s terrified eyes, sent his head flying into the sky.

The headless body, along with the two pieces of the Mourning Stick, fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Junior Brother Bai, what’s going on?"

Wei Dao flew over, his expression grim. He had just successfully slain the demon beast and hadn’t had time to react before his Junior Brother Bai unleashed a fearsome sword strike, killing a Core Formation Cultivator who looked vaguely familiar.

"Daoist Hex! How did he appear here, and you killed him, Junior Brother!"

The black-and-white robe and the Mourning Stick were too iconic; Wei Dao recognized the man at a glance.

’A Mid-Stage Core Formation Demon Cultivator, famous for years, was instantly killed by Junior Brother Bai with a single strike?’

Wei Dao felt his perception of reality had been severely shaken. When did Junior Brother Bai, who had only reached Core Formation a few years ago, gain such strength!

"This person was lying in ambush, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack. I simply discovered him..."

Bai Zichen didn’t lower his guard. The Moonlight spread out rapidly, revealing everything in detail within his Sword Heart.

Possession was a specialty of Nascent Soul Cultivators. Only a Nascent Soul entering a body could withstand the impact of a foreign soul colliding and merging while retaining normal memories.

Below the Nascent Soul realm, attempting possession had almost no chance of success.

Even if the two Divine Souls merged into one, the Sea of Consciousness would become chaotic. With no guarantee of who was in control, the result would be a muddle-headed idiot. Naturally, that couldn’t be called a successful possession.

But Demon Cultivators were treacherous, and they excelled in matters concerning souls, Ghost Cultivators, and the like. Bai Zichen was afraid that Daoist Hex had some other trick up his sleeve and wasn’t completely dead.

He had finally managed to kill a Core Formation Cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect. It would be a great pity if he let the man escape and become a future threat.

Wherever the moonlight reached, everything was As Clear as Daylight.

Bai Zichen soon discovered a blurry black shadow moving rapidly along the ground, its speed approaching that of the Seeking Truth Ship.

’To think he really has a way to survive and move as a Divine Soul after his physical body was destroyed...’

Merging with the Moon Xuan Sword, his moonlight instantly caught up. A True Essence Giant Hand reached out, attempting to capture the black shadow to interrogate it with the Taiwu Soul Searching and Soul Cutting Technique and see if he could extract some secrets about the Ghost Spirit Sect.

But the black shadow was extremely agile. It dodged the True Essence Giant Hand’s grabs several times in a row and even increased the distance between them.

This made Bai Zichen turn ruthless. He no longer cared about capturing it alive, lest more complications arise.

The moonlight swept over, enveloping the black shadow from all directions and trapping it inside.

Even the Divine Soul of a Core Formation True Man was still incredibly fragile. Upon contact with the Sword Light of a Tier Four Flying Sword, it was like the first snow under a scorching sun. It let out a shrill scream and rapidly melted away.

Thus, a mighty Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivator died an ignominious death.

Bai Zichen searched again, confirming that Daoist Hex was deader than dead, before finally returning to Cyan Bull Valley.

"Senior Brother Wei, I have slain this man, and his Divine Soul is annihilated... This will be one less opponent when we destroy the Ghost Spirit Sect in the future."

Bai Zichen threw out a Fire Serpent, burning Daoist Hex’s corpse to ashes. He only retrieved the two halves of the broken Mourning Stick and two ink-black storage bags.

"Good, good! Junior Brother Bai, you have truly rendered a great service to the Sect... This bastard injured many of our Qingfeng Sect disciples during the last Sect war. He was also one of the people who besieged Ancestor Yang."

Wei Dao, still in shock, said fiercely through gritted teeth.

"In that case, the Ghost Spirit Sect only has three Core Formation Cultivators left... As long as Brother Ge makes another breakthrough, the great enemy that has plagued our Sect for hundreds of years might really be finished off by our hands, leaving a peaceful environment for future disciples!"

Hearing Bai Zichen speak of exterminating the Ghost Spirit Sect in such a calm tone, Wei Dao was stunned for a moment, but then he realized that it might not be impossible.

With the strength Junior Brother Bai had displayed, one could only say he was truly worthy of being a peerless Sword Dao genius favored by a Tier Four Flying Sword that came to him of its own volition. His strength was likely no longer weaker than White Bone True Man’s.

Given some time, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could take on the Ghost Spirit Sect’s three remaining Core Formation Cultivators all by himself with just his sword. Naturally, he had the confidence to say such things.

Wei Dao reckoned that his own strength surpassed that of Fairy Taohua, the weakest of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Core Formation Cultivators, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

And Master Ge Cang had been able to defeat four opponents at once back then. Now that his cultivation has advanced further, he wouldn’t even need to reach Nascent Soul. As long as he has a Perfect Core Formation Cultivation...

If the three of them were to attack the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Mountain Gate, the mere Ten Thousand Ghosts Fierce Soul Formation might not be able to stop them.

Of course, actually carrying it out would certainly not be that simple.

Whether the Ghost Spirit Sect would have reinforcements, whether the Sect possessed any hidden trump-card Secret Treasures, whether someone would take advantage of the Qingfeng Sect’s undefended rear to launch a sneak attack...

These were all factors that needed to be considered. Exterminating a Sect was no joke.

Although the Ghost Spirit Sect had never produced a top-tier expert, they had Core Formation True Men in every generation, without fail.

In this generation, they even had five Core Formation True Men coexisting.

If not for the sudden appearance of Blood God True Man, the Ghost Spirit Sect would surely have been the leader of the Demon Path in Liang Country.

Of course, without a top-tier powerhouse, the Demon Path Alliance Army would certainly have a hard time dealing with the Righteous Alliance’s offensive. They would be lucky to just defend their original territory.

While the Demon Path had Blood God True Man, the Qingfeng Sect, their neighbor one county over, had produced Ge Cang, a veritable God of Slaughter.

His Cultivation speed was far faster than the Ghost Spirit Sect had anticipated, and he had already become an existence they simply couldn’t handle.

And Blood God True Man, who had been their pillar of support, had since disappeared.

Now, with the addition of Bai Zichen, the Ghost Spirit Sect’s future would only become increasingly difficult.

In Cyan Bull Valley, the disciples of the Qingfeng Sect and the Black Mountain Cultivators erupted into even more fervent cheers after learning that Master Bai had slain Daoist Hex of the Ghost Spirit Sect with his sword.

The Kui Ox Demon King had been executed, and the remaining Demon Beasts were all slaughtered. As Cyan Bull Valley was fully occupied by the reclamation army, another Tier Three Spirit Vein was transferred from the Demon Beasts to the Qingfeng Sect.

This reclamation war, which lasted four years, had come to a close.

...

In a dark Earth Palace, tens of thousands of Yin Candles flickered around a giant coffin at the very center.

Before the coffin were four Ghost-Faced Nether Flowers. One of them instantly withered and died, its very roots rotting away.

"Junior Brother Hex!"

White Bone True Man cried out in alarm, the two balls of ghostly fire in his hollow eye sockets flickering violently.

His five skeletal fingers snatched at the withered fragments of the Ghost-Faced Nether Flower, but all he ended up with was a handful of cold Nether Soil.

"How could Junior Brother Hex have fallen... He had the Mystical Immortal Gauze and was always the most cautious. Unless he stumbled right in front of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, who could possibly have discovered him?"

Granny Ghost and Fairy Taohua had also arrived in the Earth Palace at some point. They had both sensed a Ghost-Faced Nether Flower withering and had rushed over immediately.

"Could he have run into Ge Cang?"

Granny Ghost’s voice trembled. She was already deeply traumatized by Master Ge Cang.

"Impossible. Before he left, Junior Brother Hex told me that his sources informed him Ge Cang was in seclusion and wouldn’t leave easily. That’s why he went to Black Mountain to investigate... If he had really run into Ge Cang, with his personality, he would have stayed far away. He never would have gotten close."

In the past, White Bone True Man had only refined his four limbs into bone; his torso was still that of a normal person.

Now, he was almost a complete skeleton, with only a robe draped over him.

"Have the sect disciples use all their resources to investigate! I want to know exactly how Junior Brother Hex died!"

"I’ll give the order right away. They are to find out at any cost."

Fairy Taohua nodded and said. In recent years, with White Bone True Man in seclusion seeking a breakthrough and Granny Ghost still recovering from her injuries, she, as the Core Formation True Man with the least seniority, had been responsible for most of the Sect’s affairs.