Chapter 187: 187. Chapter 187 Evil Specter Revival

187. Chapter 187 Evil Specter Revival

"Based on the previously obtained trail of Yin San Gongzi's activities, and being unable to intercept any caravans or scattered cultivators, this person is highly likely to come to Twin Peaks Ridge to wreak havoc."

Gu Zongyuan said.

In recent months, the Demon Sect Evil Cultivator Yin San Gongzi has been committing crimes frequently; although he dares not cause trouble inside Character: Liyang Immortal City, his actions have already severely affected the city's trade exchanges—outside cultivators cannot enter, and the city's cultivators do not dare to leave lightly.

Therefore, Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang were forced to act personally to try to eliminate him.

Speaking of this Yin San Gongzi, Su Wushuang had heard of his name back when she fought the Demon Sect Evil Cultivator in the Southwest Region of Da Yu.

Although his strength is not exceptionally great, he does have a considerable background.

Yin San Gongzi…

The title is not unfounded; it points to something specific.

He originally had two elder brothers, both extraordinarily gifted cultivators who would surpass him.

However, his second brother is already dead, while his eldest brother holds a very high position in the Demon Sect.

Not only is he an Evil Cultivator in the late stage of the Golden Core Realm, he is also a direct disciple of a Nascent Soul True Lord.

With that connection, Yin San Gongzi's status in the Demon Sect is also not low.

It is just unknown why he would act as a vanguard, breach the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, and reach the interior of Da Yu.

Moreover, he ran to the surroundings of Character: Liyang Immortal City, launched a massive slaughter, and collected cultivators' souls and essence blood.

It appears as if he is refining some evil divine skill, yet also as if he is completing an evil artifact like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner…

What puzzles people is that whether he is refining a divine skill or forging an artifact, he needs to slaughter cultivators, which could easily be done elsewhere, such as around the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. Yet he deliberately braves great risk, travels tens of thousands of li to Character: Liyang Immortal City, and commits his crimes right under the noses of several Golden Core cultivators who pose a mortal threat to him.

The logic is incomprehensible.

Regardless of his purpose, the safety of Baihua Valley and Character: Liyang Immortal City is now severely threatened, so they must certainly join forces to eliminate him and restore the surrounding calm and harmonious order.

"By the way, what's the situation of the war in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range? Didn't the senior members of Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect negotiate with the Demon Sect's senior members once, easing relations? Yet it feels like the number of Evil Cultivators crossing the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to cause trouble has increased this year," Xiao Zhangqing asked, puzzled.

Gu Zongyuan shook his head: "I always feel that Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect are hiding some secret, not wanting us to know. My master occasionally mentioned to me back then that the reasons behind the Demon Sect Evil Cultivator's invasion are not simple, they are resolute, and sooner or later there will be a genuine slaughter between them and our Da Yu Cultivation World; the current negotiations are merely delays… The Demon Sect will never be satisfied with staying only beyond the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. The reason they are so eager to seek a Nascent Soul opportunity and flee to foreign lands is that they sense turmoil is imminent; if they do not form a Nascent Soul before then, they will not be able to truly establish themselves in Da Yu."

Xiao Zhangqing turned his head and asked Su Wushuang: "Valley Master Su, you have been opposing the Demon Sect in Da Yu's Southwest Region for many years; have you discovered anything?"

Aside from Su Wushuang's attempt ten years ago to settle Baihua Valley within Character: Liyang Immortal City, this is the first time in ten years that the three of them have sat down for a casual chat.

Gu Zongyuan, hearing this, looked on curiously.

Among the three of them, Su Wushuang should know the Southwest battlefield best, perhaps even more than his master Character: Liyang Immortal knows.

Previously they didn't care much, because Character: Liyang Immortal City was too far from the front, having no impact, and with Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect bearing the burden, they only needed to cultivate properly.

Drink as usual, dance as usual.

Now the Demon Sect Evil Cultivator's activities have become increasingly frequent, even affecting Character: Liyang Immortal City, and they can no longer ignore it.

"As far as I know, the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Wilderness have experienced a massive outbreak of evil specters, with some powerful specters even surpassing the Golden Core Realm beginning to revive, making the entire Southern Wilderness unsuitable for cultivation and survival, so the Demon Sect Evil Cultivators had to shift toward Da Yu," Su Wushuang said coldly.

She indeed knows more.

After all, Baihua Valley was once on the front line of the battlefield, having slain and captured many Evil Cultivators, and the intelligence gathered was genuine.

"Evil Specter revival?" Xiao Zhangqing and Gu Zongyuan both jumped in shock at the news.

Although the Demon Sect is called Evil Cultivator, its origins are still human cultivators; only their methods and techniques are unorthodox, slaughtering the innocent.

Overall, the Demon Sect can be negotiated with, even at the most critical moments they can be coaxed and subdued! But evil specters are entirely different! They are even scarier than demonic beasts, erratic and bizarre, with massive destructive power and no discernible pattern; once tainted, they become like a nightmare. If they erupt on a large scale, the entire cultivation world could face annihilation! "Although during the years we fought the Demon Sect on the Southwest battlefield we never pushed into the Southern Wilderness's Ten Thousand Mountains to see real specter disturbances, the testimonies of several captured mid‑level Demon Sect members suggest this is true. The Southern Wilderness is now in a very dire state; even the Demon Sect cannot endure it and must migrate toward our Da Yu," Su Wushuang did not conceal.

She sneered, then continued: "Back then I reported to Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect that this situation differs from before; there can be no compromise. If we compromise, the Demon Sect Evil Cultivator will never be satisfied with just the Southwest Region and will eventually infiltrate the interior of Da Yu."

"Giving up the Southwest Region at most only halts the Demon Sect's advance for a few years; eventually they will press on. Unfortunately, Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect completely disregard the requests of Baihua Valley and Luoxia Sect, always deferring when difficulties arise. Now it seems my speculation was correct; in just over ten years, Golden Core Evil Cultivators have crossed the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to cause trouble in Da Yu, let's see how long Xingyue Palace and Seven Star Sword Sect can tolerate it."

Xiao Zhangqing was somewhat shocked by the news Su Wushuang brought.

The Demon Sect Evil Cultivator's invasion stems from the revival of evil specters? That's certainly not good news.

In Xiao Zhangqing's view, evil specters are too bizarre; he would rather deal with Evil Cultivators. Not indirectly or by hearsay, the only Evil Specter he truly dealt with was Mu Renjie, the head of the Mu family who was in a semi‑specter state during the South Mountain Workshop; looking back, Mu Renjie's strength was not great, but his ominous aura remains unforgettable.

"By the way, didn't evil specter traces appear around Character: Liyang Immortal City more than ten years ago?" Xiao Zhangqing suddenly turned to look at Gu Zongyuan.

Gu Zongyuan was startled for a moment, then recalled the incident: "That specter harmed several Foundation Establishment cultivators and then vanished. We investigated several times; even a false‑core cultivator rushed to the scene but found no trace. At the time I thought that specter had left…"

After a pause, Gu Zongyuan looked at Xiao Zhangqing, somewhat uncertain, and said: "Brother Xiao, are you suggesting that Yin San Gongzi traveled thousands of li deep into Da Yu's interior, came to Character: Liyang Immortal City, and his purpose might be related to that specter that appeared before?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out," Xiao Zhangqing nodded.

If their speculation is correct, Yin San Gongzi came to Character: Liyang Immortal City truly because of that specter that appeared more than ten years ago—what is his purpose? In the Southern Wilderness's Ten Thousand Mountains, the specters have revived to the point where the entire Demon Sect can no longer stay and must invade Da Yu. If the goal is to capture or study Evil Cultivators, there is no need to come near Character: Liyang Immortal City, right? Could it be that the specter near Character: Liyang Immortal City is somehow different? For a moment, the three fell silent.

If Yin San Gongzi truly came because of the specter, then even after dealing with him, an even greater trouble will likely await.

……

The ordinary folk of Jin Town naturally had no idea who the three at the inn were or what business they had there. Only a few, including the innkeeper, knew that that night a Late Stage of Qi Refining elder of the Jin Family arrived with an imposing demeanor, then fled in sheer terror.

What happened afterward even the innkeeper did not know, because the inn was temporarily closed to the public and guarded by Jin Family cultivators.

Only a very few senior members of the Jin Family knew that the Jin Patriarch, a Foundation Establishment elder, upon receiving the news, could not even close his cultivation, hurried down from Twin Peaks Ridge, waited respectfully outside the inn for an audience, and then slipped away quietly.

Thus several days passed.

It was a moonless, windy night.

Around Twin Peaks Ridge a hush prevailed; most of the Jin Family cultivators on the ridge were resting, and at the foot, Jin Town had only a few scattered lights.

Suddenly.

Inside the inn, Xiao Zhangqing and his two companions, having fully suppressed their aura, suddenly opened their eyes from meditation and looked toward the sky.

Ordinary people could not perceive it; even a Qi Refining Realm cultivator only sensed a slight shift in the world's spiritual energy, but could not tell why. Only the Jin Patriarch, a Foundation Establishment elder, might notice the anomaly and faintly feel unease.

In the sky above Twin Peaks Ridge, a man in white robes with a handsome appearance hovered in the air.

He looked like a righteous sect master.

In his left hand he held a folding fan, and in his right hand he grasped a dark‑red banner exuding an evil aura.

As his magical power surged, the dark‑red banner billowed in the wind, quickly growing to over three zhang tall, then splitting into nine streams of spiritual energy that flew in different directions, encircling Twin Peaks Ridge.

Each dark‑red banner was surrounded by black mist; this black mist was oddly strange—though black, it faintly reflected in the pitch‑black night! Within the black mist, countless demonic faces struggled, showing extreme expressions of pain.

Soon, the white‑clad man, gripping the magical seal, burst out the evil spirits trapped within the nine‑faced banner that encircled Shuangfeng Mountain, and rushed first toward the Jin family cultivators on Shuangfeng Ridge, like a vicious dog hunting.

Snort! Shuangfeng Ridge also has a mountain‑protecting formation, and it even reached a second‑tier middle‑grade, capable of withstanding attacks from mid Foundation Establishment cultivators.

That night, even though most clan members were resting, there were still Late Stage of Lian Qi elders on duty, constantly guarding the formation.

When hundreds of evil spirits swooped down from the sky and approached the formation, the duty Jin elder noticed the anomaly and quickly triggered the highest‑level alarm of the formation, warning the clan of a strong enemy's approach.

At the same time he hurriedly activated the mountain‑protecting formation, trying to block the countless evil spirits' advance.

But unfortunately, this second‑tier middle‑grade formation, under the relentless biting and slashing of the countless evil spirits, barely held for a breath or two, and with a crack! it collapsed completely.

The Jin duty elder's face showed a terrified yet heroic expression.

What level of existence is this?

The Jin family's mountain‑protecting formation was broken so easily? A single thought raced through his mind: Jin family, it's over! Yet at that moment, all the Jin clan members suddenly felt the world grow cold, as if winter had instantly arrived, and snowflakes seemed to fall in the pitch‑black night sky.

These snowflakes did not drift aimlessly with the wind; they drifted toward the swirling evil spirits.

These evil spirits were extremely powerful; even the weakest one could easily slaughter a Late Stage of Lian Qi Jin elder, comparable to a Foundation Establishment Initial Stage cultivator.

If there were several—three to five—such spirits, even the Jin family's Foundation Establishment ancestor would be swallowed with regret.

However, these mighty evil spirits moved much slower in the pervasive cold, as if frozen stiff.

Can evil spirits be frozen by the cold? The Jin duty elder could not comprehend the scene before him, unsure of what was happening.

He had already prepared to despairingly await death, being devoured by the evil spirits.

But in the next instant, he saw several evil spirits that were lunging at him struck by piece after piece of 'snowflakes'.

Then the already sluggish evil spirits became completely rigid, shattered into fragments, and dissolved into the world as wisps of debris.

"Saved?"

The Jin elder, surviving the calamity, looked on with surprise.

The Jin family hides such a powerful being, able to easily slay these evil spirits?

Could the Jin be some hidden great clan? Only the Jin Foundation Establishment ancestor knows that the three mysterious masters living at the foot of the mountain intervened.

Watching the endless stream of evil spirits pouring from the sky…

Fortunately, with those three present, otherwise the Jin family would have faced extermination tonight!

"Su Wushuang, you despicable woman again! Repeatedly causing trouble for the scoundrel, do you think I will wipe out all your Baihua Valley disciples and descendants!"

In the air, Yin San Gongzi, who was handling the banner, felt the icy killing aura and shouted furiously.

When he was in the Southwest Region, he suffered a considerable loss at Baihua Valley.

At that time he did not know Su Wushuang had already reached mid Golden Core cultivation, so he volunteered bravely and rashly charged. As a result, Baihua Valley suffered little loss, but he himself nearly perished inside; had it not been for his superb evasion technique and swift escape, he would have truly died.

He did not expect that after receiving the mission, he would delve deep into Da Yu Cultivation World, making the restless Seven Star Sword Sect and Xingyue Palace recognize his strength, and they obediently agreed to his terms.

Consequently, in Character: Liyang Immortal City, these past months have often had their good deeds ruined by Su Wushuang. (End of chapter)