Yan Tianhen looked surprised, but he all of a sudden nodded in understanding, “Don’t worry, Dage, I’m not in a hurry. When he gets more familiar with me, he’ll be more willing to come out.”

　　After another thought, he sighed regretfully, “I was just thinking of bringing Ah Gu in to keep him company. After all, one is a corpse puppet while another is a soul. Maybe they’ll have a lot of things to share together.”

　　“Ah Hen is right. It might not be too difficult for them to communicate.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at Ling Chigu, who was standing by the window with his head lowered, and wondered what he was thinking about. Then he heard the roar of the soul plate–

　　“Who told you to speak nonsense? When did this master become too shy to see anyone? If it weren’t for you, you little brat, for imprisoning me in the barrier of your sea of knowledge, how could this master not come out?”

　　After cursing for a long time, the soul panel added, “Then there’s that little rabbit outside. What could I discuss with a dead man? Your uncle’s # $… *!”

　　After cursing for half a day, Lin Xuanzhi asked, “Is that all?”

　　Soul Plate, “No!”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said, “But I’ve heard enough.”

　　Soul Plate, “….”

　　As a result, Soul Plate was temporarily locked in the small black room.

　　Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t help but think. Although there was a bit of soul in the soul plate, it had absorbed a lot of spiritual Qi over time and could condense a human form. Even if it couldn’t last long, it was still a complete man’s body.

　　The soul plate liked to stay in his human form and run around within the space.

　　However, his human form was undressed and naked, which was too self-indulgent.

　　If it frightened his family’s Ah Hen, it wouldn’t be good.

　　That night, the two did not return to Profound Sky Sect but stayed in the courtyard for now.

　　Ling Chigu was a corpse puppet, so he didn’t need to sleep at night. Yan Tianhen had asked him to look after the house outside.

　　Ling Chigu planned on standing under the pine and cypress trees beside the gate all night long, silently waiting for their late-night visitors.

　　In the middle of the night when the moon was shrouded a bit by dark clouds, someone suddenly appeared above the door. One by one they quietly entered the house.

　　Ling Chigu’s eyes turned pitch black, and under the dim moonlight, they issued a subtle light as he looked at the invaders silently.

　　“Why do I feel like something is staring at us?” A killer asked.    

　　“My back is getting chills.” Another killer rubbed his arms, “Don’t you think the Yin Qi in this place is too much?”

　　“Yin Qi?” The leader sneered, “Don’t scare yourself here. Even if there is Yin Qi, this place is on the edge of Profound City, and there’s a mass burial site at the back not far from here. I don’t know how many worthless wretches have died, but it’s normal to have a little Yin Qi in them.”

　　“Yeah, don’t think about what-ifs. Go kill those two already and take their heads to get the money. This Lin Xuanzhi is a troublesome fellow. After we take the money, we have to flee for our lives, otherwise…”

　　Just then, the killer’s voice stopped.

　　In front of him, he saw his four associates in front running towards the inner courtyard, while the remaining fellow should have been keeping watch at the entrance of the alley.

　　But how was there a hand on his shoulder?

　　The killer tried to move his shoulder and found that the hand’s strength was like the weight of a thousand gold, keeping him immobile.

　　The people in front had already climbed over the wall and entered the inner courtyard. Naturally, they didn’t know what was happening behind them.

　　Ling Chigu pressed on the man’s shoulder and just by moving his fingers, he crushed the man’s throat with one hand.

　　He absorbed the small amount of spiritual Qi from the human into his body, then turned his eyes and quietly flew over the inner wall like a ghost to kill the remaining four people.

　　However, there was no need for Ling Chigu to take action. The four men had already met Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen, who were dressed neatly.

　　Yan Tianhen looked at the four killers who were obviously frightened by them and smiled, “I didn’t expect you to come here. When my Dage told me about this in the evening, I didn’t believe it. But it seems that my Dage was right indeed.” It turned out that when Lin Xuanzhi saw the killers who followed Shi Yongtai during the day, he had already guessed that the old man would act in a hurry. Knowing his impatience, he would surely let these people attack him as soon as possible. In fact, on the way back to the courtyard, Lin Xuanzhi had noticed that someone was following them, which made him more certain that something would happen tonight. It could be said that Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen were welcoming them by waiting for them to show up.

　　The four killers’ faces immediately turned serious. After a moment of silence, the leader showed a ferocious look, “Haha, it seems that you’re not afraid of death. Since we’ve been found out, then we won’t be polite. It’s your own fault for offending the wrong people. Brothers, kill them!”

　　In the courtyard, the sudden clash of swords flashed like thunder and lightning.

　　Lin Xuanzhi had already prepared himself, but he didn’t use Lianlian which had been eager to get out of his sheath. Instead, he took out four thunder bombs and threw them out at the same time.

　　The bombs exploded at the same time, stopping the four men’s tracks for a moment.

　　Ling Chigu moved at the right time and started slaughtering. He dragged his heavy steps towards the man nearest to him. The man sensed the incoming danger and reflexively turned around to chop the person down. However, he felt pain, and watched with his own eyes as his entire right arm was cut off from his shoulder by a Yin fire.

　　“Ahhh!” A scream resounded throughout the whole yard and the other three men twisted their heads, only to see Ling Chigu coming at them with a bloody glint in his eyes, an evil aura shrouding his body, and the Yin fire representing the corpse puppet between his hands.

　　“Hiss“

　　No one knew who gasped as they all just wanted to escape but Yan Tianhen released his Yin Flame Palm to shoot, turning one of them into ashes.

　　Yan Tianhen looked at his palm and thought it was somewhat unbelievable, but he soon returned to his senses and continued forming hand seals to attack the next person.

　　Demonic cultivator!

　　The two men were greatly shocked. They didn’t know how the situation became like this.

　　Of the two remaining killers, one of them saw the situation was wrong, so he took the opportunity to push his other partner toward Yan Tianhen. Then he turned around and ran outside with a life-saving magic treasure. His speed was extremely fast. Yan Tianhen couldn’t stop himself in time and beat the poor wretch who had been thrown over as a scapegoat to death.

　　Speaking of which, Yan Tianhen’s cultivation was absolutely below theirs. However, when they saw his demonic cultivation, it gave birth to a new meaning of fear. Even the intent to battle no longer existed as they could only wait for death.

　　The guy who had betrayed his partner crashed into something invisible just as he left the house and fell straight down.

　　Lin Xuanzhi followed him like a grim reaper and slightly curled his lips, “You seem to forget that I’m a craftsman. Using such low-level instruments in front of me is like walking into a trap.”

　　Then Lin Xuanzhi took out the Yin Ghost Banner he’d taken from Huangfu Jin’s hands, eyes cold as he waved it at the man.

　　The Yin Ghost Banner had seventy-nine bells hanging on it with inscriptions engraved on them. They collided with each other in the dark night, like hundreds of ghosts laughing in high and low pitches. The person who heard it was horrified.

　　The man’s Dao attainments weren’t high enough; his cultivation was at most at Primary Realm, while the Yin Ghost Banner was an extreme Yin object. It was unknown how many ghosts were hidden in it. When Lin Xuanzhi urged it with a shake, a ghost floated out of it and dragged the only living creature except for Lin Xuanzhi into the Yin Ghost Banner with a creepy smile.

　　When Yan Tianhen arrived, he saw this scene.

　　Yan Tianhen gasped, “Dage, what are you doing?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked with a blank expression at the dead body that had its soul swallowed up. He crouched to the ground and closed the cold eyes staring at nothing, then he turned around and looked at the disbelief on Yan Tianhen’s face, “If you take the soul directly, you can preserve the cultivation of the body. You can decide for yourself whether to swallow his cultivation or keep them as a corpse puppet.”

　　Yan Tianhen was stunned. He looked at Lin Xuanzhi, who seemed like a stranger to him at this moment, and was involuntarily terrified of the Yin Ghost Banner.

　　“Dage …”

　　He couldn’t understand Lin Xuanzhi’s intention.

　　However, Lin Xuanzhi smiled faintly.

　　He didn’t know how many ghosts slept in the Yin Ghost Banner. They were awakened again after many years and looked particularly excited, but the seal was still there. Lin Xuanzhi was also suppressing them so hard that the rest of them couldn’t show their heads except for those released by Lin Xuanzhi.

　　However, even so, the Yin Qi was still so abundant and overwhelming with all kinds of evil spirits and ghosts that it made the wind all around them tremble. The leaves seemed to be moving on their own, rustling and brushing, as the ghosts in their graves called out with their unique voices one after the other. For a while, a chilly wind blew like hundreds of ghosts traveling at night.

　　Yan Tianhen stood three meters away from Lin Xuanzhi and stared at him.

　　He and Lin Xuanzhi looked at each other while the other held the Yin Ghost Banner in his hand. His face looked like both a ghost and an immortal, eliciting a hair-raising feeling.

　　Lin Xuanzhi said flatly, “A so-called cultivator is one who fights for their life against the heavens. All Daoist techniques, no matter good or evil, are worthy of cultivating as long as one can protect their own life without violating their conscience.”

　　Yan Tianhen opened his mouth, but he was speechless.

　　Lin Xuanzhi went on, “You always had misgivings about the path of demonic cultivation. You are also afraid that I will abandon you one day because of it. What’s more, you’re afraid that you will become addicted to demonic cultivation and become a human killing machine. People all say that I am of noble character and that I’m a Star of Salvation, but they don’t know that I’m also a selfish person. I also have evil influence in my heart and countless dark thoughts.”

　　Yan Tianhen took a deep breath and shook his head, “Dage, don’t say such words. You don’t have to say such demeaning words for me.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi collected the banner, “It’s just a matter of telling the truth. If Ah Hen doesn’t want to listen, I won’t say anything.”

　　“I didn’t mean that,” Yan Tianhen replied.

　　Lin Xuanzhi curled his lips, “I know. I also hope you can understand what I mean.”

　　Yan Tianhen was silent for a moment, then nodded and whispered, “I understand.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said this in the hopes that he would put down his shackles and apprehension, and cultivate with ease.

　　Yan Tianhen’s heart was in a chaotic mix.

　　Yan Tianhen looked at the fallen corpse and thought for a moment, “Dage, I don’t really want to use this body. I have Ah Gu, that’s enough.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi answered, “It’s true that Ling Chigu’s ability is much better than his, but this corpse can’t be wasted.”

　　—

　　Sarah: wow things just got scary for a moment there o_o