Chapter 10: Spiritual Power
Tu Shanjun wore a grave expression.
He wasn’t sure just how powerful the ghost within the scroll was.
Worse still, the current state of the Banner Master was dire.
At a glance, once the scroll fully unfurled, all five people had already collapsed limply to the floor.
Even Li Qingfeng, who had just entered the first stage of Qi Refining, was no exception.
It was useless for Tu Shanjun to try to alert him.
The Revered Soul Banner only trembled slightly.
Without spiritual power to support it, there was no way to take action, he could only watch helplessly.
A faint pink mist wafted from the scroll.
As the five fell unconscious, the figure in the painting began to stir.
First, the eyeballs moved. They rolled with life, vivid and animate. Then the head guided the body, slowly extending its limbs. As if unwilling to remain trapped in the painting, the figure reached out.
A pale arm abruptly lifted, stretching out of the scroll, crimson nails gleaming like they could drip blood.
White thighs swayed.
The toes searched the air before settling gently on the floor of the private room.
Crimson toenails against snow-white feet made for a strangely seductive contrast.
In just a few moments, the female ghost had stepped out of the scroll entirely.
Tu Shanjun kept trying to rouse Li Qingfeng, but the man slept like the dead, impossible to awaken.
Still, it didn’t matter as long as even a sliver of spiritual power entered the Revered Soul Banner, he could strike.
If that failed, then at least channeling spiritual power might help Li Qingfeng awaken from the ghostly haze.
But it seemed that to this very moment, Li Qingfeng had yet to realize he should be circulating his qi to resist the ghost’s enchantment.
Tu Shanjun could only stew in frustration.
It was no use.
The cold of the Revered Soul Banner couldn't wake Li Qingfeng.
“I just got my hands on a Banner Master, and before I’ve even had time to break him in, a ghost’s going to take him out?” Tu Shanjun’s brows knit tight with anxiety.
When the Banner Master could just sense qi, he was still relaxed, he could at least punch around a bit.
But now, things had escalated to the point of life and death.
The naked woman looked around, eyes finally settling on the five collapsed figures sprawled across the floor.
Her beautiful face suddenly split open with three jagged tears, peeling back like a zipper with a gruesome creak.
Until she had completely shed the alluring guise of a woman.
Tu Shanjun murmured, “A Painted Skin ghost? Doesn’t seem like it.”
She resembled one, yet the creature beneath the skin wasn’t the usual green-eyed, fang-toothed demon.
Instead, its body was covered in fine fur.
A ghost face atop a humanoid body, dragging a thick, black tail, hunched like an aged, hairless monkey.
“Not like a mountain ape spirit, more like a mountain ape ghost,” Tu Shanjun recognized the beast, it was a mountain ape but one that had died.
In death, it had become a ghostly entity, clinging to this scroll.
That layer of human skin was likely a disguise it had crafted.
The ghostly ape stretched its body, eyes gleaming as it fixed its gaze on the unconscious Li Qingfeng, like spotting a rare and delicious meal.
The other four didn’t even register in its eyes.
Yet it also hesitated, fear flickering in its movements, unwilling to get too close too quickly.
A savage glint appeared on Tu Shanjun’s ghostly face. This beast dared to covet the seedling he had nurtured, if only he had a shred of spiritual power to spare, he would’ve leapt out and torn it to shreds.
Li Qingfeng had entered the first layer of Qi Refining; his body had been cleansed by spiritual power, turbid qi expelled and spiritual aura retained.
It made sense that such a ghost would lust after Li Qingfeng’s blood and essence.
After all, devouring a Qi Refining cultivator would grant far more progress than slowly feeding on mortal yang energy.
To the ghost, Li Qingfeng was the perfect spiritual tonic.
Its fear, however, stemmed from Li Qingfeng’s identity as a cultivator.
The qi stored in his dantian was spiritual power, something ghosts and monsters naturally feared.
Tu Shanjun watched as the ghostly ape inched closer.
Its elongated ghostly hand gleamed with razor-sharp nails, glinting like blades.
The claws moved ever nearer to Li Qingfeng’s throat.
So sharp were they that Li Qingfeng’s body had already begun to react, fine hairs on his neck standing on end.
Within the Revered Soul Banner, Tu Shanjun rallied the forty-five ghostly spirits.
“This is it.”
“Stir things up!”
All forty-five spirits erupted in a frenzy. Among them was Zhao Shixian, who had reached the third layer of Qi Refining, and the unknown ghost at the first layer. Including Tu Shanjun himself, the primary spirit at the fourth layer-
Forty-six ghosts in total surged within the banner.
Each exerted their full power.
The banner trembled, sliding from Li Qingfeng’s chest to touch his neck.
A wave of icy chill surged forth.
Li Qingfeng abruptly opened his eyes from his stupor.
“What is that? So cold…”
As he turned, he immediately saw the ghostly ape, its claw reaching out to grab him.
“A monster!”
Eyes wide, he instinctively gripped the Revered Soul Banner tight.
The soul-soothing chill calmed the panic in his heart, helping him steady himself.
The ghostly ape, now revealed, was startled that Li Qingfeng had awakened from its dream-inducing mist. But it was too late, there was no turning back.
Once it devoured Li Qingfeng, it could flee.
Seeing that Li Qingfeng still hadn’t activated his spiritual power, the ghost was emboldened. It lunged, claw grasping for his throat.
It opened its mouth wide, jagged teeth like saw blades, aiming for his neck.
Li Qingfeng was just a scholar. He had never faced such a terrifying scene, his only response was to shut his eyes in terror.
Within the Revered Soul Banner, Tu Shanjun, poised to strike, could only condense all his fury into a single curse:
“F**k!”
Was this really the time to close your eyes and wait for death?
Fortunately, although Li Qingfeng had shut his eyes, he instinctively raised the Revered Soul Banner to shield his head, coincidentally blocking the ghost’s bite.
Li Qingfeng instantly realized the artifact’s power.
It could withstand a strike from a ghostly beast!
Plus, after undergoing the Qi Refining process, his body had been reforged. Even among martial artists, he would be considered above innate level.
He didn’t know a thing, but he could still take a few hits.
His face flushed red, turning slightly purple.
Li Qingfeng made a desperate gamble.
“Divine artifact, save me!”
His spiritual power surged into the Revered Soul Banner.
The banner greedily devoured every last shred of his first-stage qi, not a drop was left.
Li Qingfeng cursed inwardly. He had only thought of survival, forgetting whether his meager cultivation was enough to activate the banner.
It drained him like a pump.
Color drained from his face, replaced by a pale weakness.
The ghostly ape moved again.
But the Revered Soul Banner roared to life, suddenly unfurling to its full length of one zhang.
A massive, green arm burst from the banner’s surface.
It clamped down on the ghost’s head.
The hulking hand held its skull like gripping a ripe apple.
Li Qingfeng, weakened and stumbling two steps back, saw the scene more clearly than ever.
Eyes wide with shock, he couldn’t even speak.
A hulking, demonic ghost leapt from the banner and pinned the creature.
With a face like a demon, fangs, crimson wild hair, and a murderous aura, it was a terrifying sight.
Its back was broad and muscled, standing between Li Qingfeng and the beast.
It turned slightly.
A crimson eye glanced back at Li Qingfeng.
Then, with a kick, it booted the human skin back into the scroll and dragged the ghostly ape into the Revered Soul Banner.
The banner, as if spent, shrank back to its foot-long form.
Li Qingfeng, trembling, dropped it to the ground.
He collapsed, vision spinning.
Tu Shanjun sighed.
This scholar’s nerves definitely needed training.
That ghost had only just stepped into the spiritual tier, even without the banner, pure spiritual power would have sufficed to win.
With the capture of this ghostly ape, the Revered Soul Banner grew deeper and darker in aura.
Moreover, Tu Shanjun had already used Soul Inquiry on the ghost, acquiring a skill seed: Dream Infiltration.
(Chapter End)