East Continent, Tidal Bay.

A middle-aged man dressed in a white robe and white shoes stood by the bay’s current, looking down at his reflection in the water, arranging the two strands of dragon whiskers in front of his forehead.

He was clearly quite unremarkable in appearance, yet he watched himself as if captivated, lost in his own beauty.

But soon, Jiang Zhi frowned slightly.

“Why has Chu Huaixu descended from the mountain?”

Because they both possess the Power of Origin, as long as they are not too far apart, he could accurately sense the other’s location with his strength.

However, since Chu Huaixu was only at the Third Realm, he could not sense the positions of these great cultivation giants, unless they were very close.

“The world below the mountain has not been peaceful lately.” Jiang Zhi felt a bit worried.

He had been descending the mountain to vanquish demons for five days already.

Recently, the Daoist Sect area has seen the presence of evil cultivators, not just some low-tier riffraff.

In just these few days, he had slain six evil cultivators of the Fifth Realm.

He even killed one at the Sixth Realm yesterday!

“What exactly are these people searching for on behalf of that damned Black Moon Sect Leader?”

“Moreover, can they truly believe that all the promises made to them will be fulfilled once they find what they’re looking for?”

“To make these evil cultivators so tempted, to the point of disregarding life and death, that sect leader must have some true abilities.”

This made him feel a bit uneasy, thinking that if Chu Huaixu encountered any danger after descending the mountain, it would be quite troublesome.

The higher-ups in the Daoist Sect have always been a bit conflicted about Chu Huaixu.

They know well that without being carved and polished, jade won’t become an artifact.

The growth of a cultivator cannot happen without experience.

But Chu Huaixu is too special; he is currently the only one in the world capable of handling the Primordial Spirit.

Thus, he cannot afford any losses.

Even Xu Ziqing, the Dao Ancestor’s chosen savior, along with the Daoist Ancestor Sword on the mountain, had already become alternatives for Chu Huaixu.

“Xiang Yan and Lu Pan should make some arrangements.” Jiang Zhi thought to himself.

But after pondering a bit, he still decided to go there himself to take a look.

Just as he was preparing to fly, he suddenly stopped.

Jiang Zhi let out a cold snort, then extended his hand to strike backward with his palm.

The space distorted slightly, and his Palm Force was engulfed in those distortions.

“Show yourself.”

“To be able to set up a Grand Array before I noticed, there’s some skill indeed.”

A figure draped in a long black cloak emerged; he wore a bronze mask, concealing his appearance.

But this person was tall, at least half a head higher than Jiang Zhi.

This made the Daoist Junior Martial Uncle frown even deeper.

This person, I don’t like at all!

The man in the black robe with the bronze mask laughed and said, “As expected of the Daoist Junior Martial Uncle, your reaction is swift. It seems the rumors of you falling into a demon and falling realm are false; you must have willingly fallen out of the realm yourself?”

“Enough of the nonsense, you must be the Black Moon Sect Leader? Trapping me here, do you intend to chat with me idly?”

Jiang Zhi snorted again, and his figure immediately vanished, reaching out to grab the man in the black robe.

——[Qi Locking Seal]!

In the black-robed man’s hand, a black banner appeared instantly.

With a casual wave, eerie ghostly energy swept forward, and in the thick black mist, numerous fierce evil spirits manifested their outlines, as if trying to break free from the black mist to envelop the approaching Jiang Zhi.

Jiang Zhi, in his white robe, looked at the hundreds of evil spirits, and a sneer appeared on his face.

“Ghostly tricks!”

The thing he despised most was these so-called evil spirits and resentful spirits!

Because within his Sword Domain [Killing Field], he didn’t even know how many were trapped!

Every time he unleashed the Sword Domain, tens of thousands of evil spirits and resentful souls would appear behind him. They stretched out their hands, desperately trying to drag him into the Eternal Hell, into the Death Abyss.

“Begone!” he shouted.

Spiritual Power surged within, like words becoming law, and the hundreds of evil spirits were instantly repelled, the black mist dispersed.

The black-robed man with the bronze mask looked at him with curiosity and said, “It seems that although you willingly fell out of the realm, your strength is not what it was in the Ninth Realm before.”

“Ordinary Eighth Realm cultivators cannot match you, but any Ninth Realm cultivator can slay you.”

“Let me guess, what are you planning?”

Jiang Zhi raised his eyebrows and coldly replied, “Noisy!”

He spread his hand wide, and the Sword Domain [Killing Field] unfolded around him, enveloping the entire Grand Array.

“Oh, starting to get serious?” the man with the bronze mask laughed, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

“Then let this monarch witness your Sword Domain that seeks the Dao through killing!”

With a fierce wave of his black banner, a large number of evil spirits appeared from it.

Every evil spirit had at least Fifth Realm cultivation before death.

Some were even at the Seventh Realm, Eighth Realm!

If it were just like this, Jiang Zhi, who had seen much of the world, would not be too surprised.

These Banner Spirits do not retain their former strength. Even if they once had the cultivation of the Eighth Realm, after being refined into Banner Spirits, keeping half of their power would still be difficult!

Moreover, they cannot use Divine Techniques and are unable to manifest Intent or Domain.

It’s just that their numbers are relatively large.

What truly surprised him was that he detected several forces among these Banner Spirits that did not belong to the Profound Yellow Realm!

Those were the Divine Souls of cultivators, imprisoned within this Black Banner and refined into Banner Spirits!

“How is this possible!”

“And where did he find these Divine Souls?”

“Could it be, he refined all the Primordial Spirits hidden within the Profound Yellow Realm into Banner Spirits?”

“This evil artifact… no, this treasure has such an effect!”

With this thought, Jiang Zhi’s gaze suddenly changed.

His eyes, which fell upon this Black Banner, instantly transformed, beginning to carry a hint of… fervor!

——This Banner, I shall have it!

Facing Jiang Zhi’s gaze, the black-clad figure wearing a Bronze Mask couldn’t help but show some surprise in his eyes.

“He actually wants to snatch away my Ten Thousand Souls Banner?”

This Leader of the Black Moon Sect began to somewhat admire the other’s way of thinking.

“Go!” With a command, hundreds of Banner Spirits surged forward.

Jiang Zhi stood within the Sword Domain of Killing, his body emanating a towering intent to kill that began to spread all around.

In an instant, this place seemed transformed into a Human Purgatory.

Faintly, one could hear the cries of ghosts and the howls of wolves around.

In Jiang Zhi’s eyes, lines began to appear one after another.

These lines were produced from the bodies of these Banner Spirits.

Or rather, these were streams of Qi, waves of power.

In the Sword Domain of Killing, nothing of theirs could remain hidden.

Jiang Zhi merely needed to sever these gray lines to slaughter them all!

Through these lines of Qi, he could accurately find their Vital Points.

A majestic Sword Qi began to form at his fingertips.

Upon the Sword Qi, tens of thousands of black lines entwined!

These black lines came from tens of thousands of Resentful Spirits within the Killing domain behind him!

They converged into a Human Purgatory, all struggling, all pulling at Jiang Zhi!

Before him lay endless killing intent, behind him, overwhelming malevolence and resentment!

Yet, the killing intent surpassed even the malevolence and resentment!

The towering killing intent overshadowed everything behind him.

In his eyes, there was only kill, kill, kill!

It seemed that in his eyes, the backlash of this malevolence and resentment could not hinder his path of proving the Dao through killing.

Still not enough, still not enough, not enough killing yet!

Jiang Zhi stepped forward fiercely and then swung a seemingly ordinary sword.

One by one, the gray lines were severed under this sword, and one by one, the Banner Spirits dissipated into the world with distorted faces.

The Banner Spirits before him dwindled with each sword stroke.

Behind Jiang Zhi, the Resentful Spirits wanting to drag him into hell increased.

Before long, all the gray lines produced by these Banner Spirits were severed by him.

His robe remained unstained, and even the soles of his white shoes were clean, untouched by dust.

Carrying the title of Purifying Monarch, Jiang Zhi seemed to sweep away all the world’s filth behind him.

Kill, kill, kill!

Until this world returns to a… bright and clear sky!

And now, with all the gray lines cut down, only one line remained.

In the Sword Domain of Killing, this line came from the black-clad man.

He held the Black Banner, and the line extended from his right hand holding the Banner, spreading outwards.

Clearly, the Black Banner was both his reliance and his Vital Point!

But the color of this line was strange, a kaleidoscope of colors, an eclectic mix, emitting a faint glow.

Jiang Zhi’s eyes grew colder and more severe, his expression stoic, yet within his heart, waves of astonishment surged.

“You are…”

“A cultivator!?”

….

(ps: Second update, asking for monthly ticket!

Going to an award ceremony for a writing competition, hence less time for writing, other authors suggest taking leave, hah! I choose to stay up tonight and build up a draft~)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep