Chapter 74

On the 15th of June, under the bright moon and clear wind, the full moon night was serene.

At the West City Market, when Aunt Xue brought Xun Yi to the market, a gust of cold wind hit them.

Inside the market, countless ghostly figures moved about, causing Xun Yi to frown deeply, feeling quite uneasy.

"This is the entrance to the City God's domain."

"That's right. This market has seen countless executions, and the accumulated resentment lingers. The other end leads to the Soul Guiding Tower in the City God's residence. It is the gathering place for the dead, where the City God sends the souls to the underworld twice a month."

Aunt Xue composed herself. If Zhao Ying could still be saved, then the living should strive for it. The woman stood beside Xun Yi: "Today is the full moon, and the yin energy in the market is even stronger, making it easier to open the passage to the Soul Guiding Tower."

"Is there no other place?" Xun Yi hesitated. He didn't mind his own mother, but the other spirits and ghosts...

He preferred to keep his distance.

"The other passage in the city is at the Prefect's Residence. Do you think it's appropriate to go and knock on the door of the Prefect's Residence now? Or go to the City God Temple, but with the City God's residence in chaos, that path is definitely sealed. The last path is at the mortuary, but with so many corpses there, I doubt Young Master would even enter."

Going to the mortuary would be worse than entering from the market.

"Then let's go in from here." Xun Yi shook his feather cloak, which emitted a golden light to protect him. Aunt Xue transformed into her celestial fox form, with several fluffy fox tails swaying behind her.

Xun Yi mounted her, and the celestial fox charged forward, her sharp claws tearing through space.

A chill hit Xun Yi, but the pure yang golden light from his feather cloak warmed him and illuminated the chaotic market and the surrounding terrifying spirits.

Xun Yi took a deep breath to calm himself, and with his left hand, he cast a spell: "Plum Blossom Drunken Spring."

Green peach petals, which dispel evil and subdue ghosts, fluttered and formed a ring, pushing back the surrounding spirits. The two smoothly entered the entrance of the passage.

At that moment, a sharp bird cry echoed in his ears, and a black shadow swooped down, its claws aiming for Xun Yi's head.

The claws struck, causing the space to violently tremble. The spatial gate that Aunt Xue had torn open distorted, and a different scene appeared around them.

In the bustling market, criminals knelt, and executioners raised their axes, severing heads with a single stroke.

Blood splattered everywhere. Even though it was an image from decades ago, Xun Yi still felt a sense of oppression and bloodiness. He stared at the scene, the smell of blood rushing into his brain.

"Master Xun Yi is still new to the divine path." Aunt Xue's tail swayed, and a white light enveloped Xun Yi, stabilizing his mind: "Young Master, this is a domain. I didn't expect this evil to have such origins."

Xun Yi collected his thoughts and looked at the attacker. The Ghost-headed Vulture stood on a wooden beam, glaring at Xun Yi.

"How could it be?" Xun Yi was surprised: "Aunt Xue, didn't you say you killed it in the underground chamber?"

"Yes, but because the root cause still exists, it has been reborn here." The celestial fox scanned the area, seeing black mist rising from the spirits to fill the Ghost-headed Vulture's body. "I didn't expect it to be a spirit born from Qinglong City. No wonder the barrier Master Xun Yi set up couldn't capture it."

Xun Yi had set up a spirit-suppressing barrier to confine the Ghost-headed Vulture, preventing it from leaving Qinglong City. He had also ordered several generals to search the city, but they found nothing.

The fake City God had lifted the seal, and the Ghost-headed Vulture had left the city to join its companions. But how did it avoid the search by the divine beings while in the city?

"There are two ways for spirits like us to obtain spiritual essence and cultivate. One is through self-cultivation, like the spirits in Chulu, who absorb the essence of the sun and moon to strengthen their spiritual nature. The other is through external means, like the Ghost-headed Vulture. If I'm not mistaken, it was born from the resentment of the executions in the market. Gathering the resentment of many people, it eventually transformed into a Ghost-headed Vulture. As long as the resentment in the market doesn't dissipate, it can keep rebirthing here."

Xun Yi felt this spirit seemed familiar, especially the domain, which resembled the one he used with divine power: "A divine being?"

"A simplified version of a divine being. Resentment, though a form of mental energy, is not as pure as the power of faith, so it cannot condense into divine essence and become a deity. It can only gradually elevate and accumulate as a spirit, or be called a malevolent spirit."

"Indeed, I am a malevolent spirit formed from the resentment of these spirits. My mission is to revive these spirits."

Like divine beings have their responsibilities and duties, malevolent spirits, due to their initial obsession, develop different habits.

The headless spirits long to find their heads, so the Ghost-headed Vulture enjoys eating human heads. And because they desire resurrection, the Ghost-headed Vulture acts according to this principle.

Xun Yi felt a pang of pain, thinking of his mother. Wasn't what he was doing also to revive his mother?

"Striving to revive the spirits after their death is admirable, but how do you justify harming innocent people?" The celestial fox saw Xun Yi deep in thought and asked the Ghost-headed Vulture.

"What does that have to do with me?" The Ghost-headed Vulture transformed into a human face and coldly said: "My mission is only to revive the spirits within me. The lives of others have nothing to do with me."

"I can sense that this boy has something inside him that can help me fully transform into a divine bird. Then I can use divine power to revive the spirits within me."

As if responding to his words, the surrounding spirits appeared as headless bodies, greedily staring at Xun Yi.

Xun Yi suddenly smiled and drew his wooden sword: "Aunt Xue, if we purify him along with the spirits, can we completely kill him?"

"Exactly."

Xun Yi's face turned cold, and he swung his wooden sword. The sword's spirit unleashed its power, and a spirit beside him disintegrated, leaving only a faint light that disappeared.

The Sword of Heaven, in the judgment of killing, is a heavenly execution. That one strike directly sent the spirit's true essence to the Soul Guiding Tower.

In the distance, Aunt Xue felt the direction the true essence took as it departed. Her fox claws tore through space, and the spatial gate reappeared in the market.

Seeing this, the Ghost-headed Vulture let out a sharp cry: "Stop them!" Black mist surged around it, and black birds and countless spirits surrounded them from all sides.

A silver light flashed, and a dragon-like figure appeared, a masked man in black. He used a divine spear to clear the way, sweeping away all the spirits.

"Go ahead," he said, blocking the spirits to give Xun Yi and Aunt Xue time.

Seeing this black-clothed man, Xun Yi, though he couldn't see his face, felt a sense of familiarity.

Aunt Xue's eyes flashed with a strange look, and she leaped, carrying Xun Yi into the passage.

The Ghost-headed Vulture pursued relentlessly, but the black-clothed man transformed into a human with a dragon tail. His golden dragon tail swept, and the surrounding spirits were illuminated by the golden light, vanishing into thin air.

"You said you wanted to revive these spirits, so you attacked the young master," the black-clothed man removed his mask, smiling faintly: "Is the Sacred Spirit Stone of our clan something you can covet?"

The true form of the Qixi clan was revealed, with purple eyes, even more powerful than the Qixi man Xun Yi had met before.

"Qixi clan," the Ghost-headed Vulture's voice trembled. The Qixi clan was the bane of spirits. It transformed into a bird and flew away, carrying the spirits with it, trying to escape.

"Chasing the Sun, Shining the Sky," the man weighed his divine spear and threw it upward. The spear, like a dragon, pierced the sky, radiating light like the sun. The pure yang power exploded in the market, and the surrounding residents could feel the strong light through their windows, as if it were daytime.

A pillar of light shot up, and the yin energy in the market was completely dispelled by the spear. The Ghost-headed Vulture and the spirits had no power to resist, turning to ashes in the sunlight, leaving only a few feathers on the ground.

Looking at the passage Xun Yi had entered, the man hesitated for a moment and then followed.

"For the sake of the Sacred Spirit Stone, the young master cannot be in danger now. But, young master, wouldn't it be better to live a simple life, and then I can take out the Sacred Spirit Stone, and we can live in harmony? Why must you walk the divine path? I'm afraid one day the clan will send a message to bring back the Sacred Spirit Stone, and then I'll have to kill you, or kill you..."

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