‘Damn it. If I hadn’t been sleeping for so long due to that stupid seal in the graveyard, I wouldn’t be this weak,’ the ghost general thought to himself. Being knocked back by this little rascal that was still at the First Stage was somewhat humiliating for him.

　　Song Shuhang secretly shook his fist; that thing was quite hard! Even if it was weakened, the body of the ghost general could be compared to that of a cultivator of the Second Stage. If one were to compare it to a shield, its hardness wouldn’t be any less than that of the steel door that Song Shuhang had tried to destroy when recovering True Monarch White’s statue.

　　After stabilizing itself, the ghost general angrily howled at Song Shuhang, “Kid, do you really want to be our enemy?”

　　“Haha,” Song Shuhang laughed. His hand turned into a dragon claw, and the Basic Fist Number Three exploded toward the ghost general at full power.

　　“You brat! Are you not afraid that we’ll kill the villagers?” The ghost general seemed to be an experienced fighter. His form flashed several times, and he evaded Song Shuhang’s powerful attack. At the same time, he started to flutter, putting up some distance between him and Song Shuhang.

　　Song Shuhang thought to himself, I would be an idiot if I admitted that I care about the villagers. Isn’t it the same as telling the enemy about your weaknesses, giving them a considerable advantage?

　　“What does that have to do with me?” Song Shuhang decided to assume a cut-throat appearance and said disdainfully, “If you want to kill them, go ahead. I’m only interested in you guys.”

　　At this time, he had an indifferent expression, not showing a hint of weakness.

　　The ghost general was stunned.

　　Song Shuhang took advantage of the situation and dashed forward with the ❮Virtuous Man’s Ten Thousand Mile Walk❯. He seemed both fast and slow as he punched at the ghost general.

　　Faced with Song Shuhang’s sudden attack, the ghost general grinned fiendishly.

　　Did he really think that I was distracted?

　　In the end, a cultivator of the First Stage doesn’t have too much battle experience. He was easily led by the nose.

　　“You’re just a puny cultivator of the First Stage. Do you really consider yourself to be someone great? You’ve brought about your own destruction!” The ghost general’s armor exploded, changing into a huge cloak that tried to engulf Song Shuhang.

　　This cloak was an innate magical technique of the ghost general. Once it covered someone, they would be weakened. At the same time, their essence and blood would be continuously sucked out.

　　“If I suck out every bit of qi and blood in your body, I’ll be able to recover around 40% of my strength. Hehe. At first, we were thinking of keeping a low profile and avoid conflicts with cultivators. But who would have thought that you would come to annoy us on your own initiative! Don’t blame me for what’s about to happen!” The ghost general laughed madly.

　　The black cloak engulfed Song Shuhang. At the same time, the ghost general took a deep breath and activated his technique. He wanted to absorb Song Shuhang’s qi and blood forcefully.

　　However, the expression of the ghost general suddenly changed.

　　Thunder and lightning rose from the black cloak.

　　“Crack, crack, crack!”

　　“Lightning Palm!” Song Shuhang’s voice echoed from within the black cloak.

　　It was a basic lightning-type technique—the Lightning Palm. Earlier, when he was talking on the phone, he had secretly drawn the 雷 character on his palm. This way, he could immediately use the Lightning Palm if he needed to.

　　When the ghost general was sure of his victory, he would use the ‘Lightning Palm’ to turn the tables.

　　The Lightning Palm mercilessly hit the ghost general.

　　The ghost general’s overall defense had been drastically reduced due to the black cloak it had created.

　　“Boom!”

　　Half of his body was reduced to dust by the lightning technique. That black cloak he was so proud of was also shredded to pieces.

　　“H-how can you use the Lightning Palm?!” The upper half of the ghost general crashed into the wall. He was looking at Song Shuhang with his eyes wide open.

　　“Hm? Is it that strange?” Song Shuhang asked, somewhat puzzled. “I thought every cultivator of the First Stage could learn the Lightning Palm… and the current situation is indeed strange. Since you’re a ghost, why didn’t you guard against the Lightning Palm?”

　　Song Shuhang was really confused. This ghost general had actually covered him with the black cloak, giving him all the time he needed to use the Lightning Palm.

　　A technique that every cultivator of the First Stage can learn? Learn your sister! —the ghost general inwardly roared— If the Lightning Palm was so easy to learn, would there still be ghosts left in this world?!

　　If a random cultivator of the First Stage could learn the Lightning Palm, which had the power to kill or seriously injure a ghost general that was equivalent to a cultivator of the Second Stage, how could ghosts even still exist?

　　Song Shuhang was moved. He looked at the lightning dancing on his palm… Is this Senior White’s custom-made Lightning Palm?

　　Alright, the only thing that matters right now is that I can properly use it! I can thank Senior White later.

　　Right now, I have to deal with this ghost general!

　　Song Shuhang conveniently took out an evil-warding talisman.

　　“Tell me, where are the guys controlling you hiding? Or rather, where are Altar Master’s underlings hiding? I know that this place is their HQ,” Song Shuhang smiled and pointed the evil-warding talisman in his hand toward the ghost general.

　　The ghost general looked terrified at the talisman—he could feel the baleful aura it was emitting. In his current state, he had no chance of resisting the power of the talisman.

　　“If you tell me the truth, I’ll let you live,” Song Shuhang wasn’t lying this time. This ghost general was quite valuable. He wanted to take him away with him.

　　“You’re looking for Altar Master’s underlings?” The remaining part of the ghost general shrunk a bit, trying to hide from the scary talisman. Then, he continued, “If they are your objective, there is even less of a need for us to fight. Altar Master’s underlings are already dead.”

　　“Dead?” Song Shuhang froze for a moment.

　　Then, he immediately thought of a possibility—when Altar Master established the small organization known as ‘Three Claw Marks Beast Head Medallion’, aside from ghost spirits, they were also looking for resentful ghosts, evil ghosts, and so on. He had gained this knowledge from his dreams.

　　When he was still alive, Altar Master certainly knew how to keep ghosts sealed and under control. He would choose the most fitting ghost for each duty. However, if his underlings recklessly tried to undo the seal after his death, then…

　　“So, you killed all of them?” Song Shuhang smiled thinly.

　　“Yes.” The ghost general swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

　　Song Shuhang heaved a sigh. He was looking for Altar Master’s underlings because he wanted to ask them about the branch Cultivator Sunflower belonged to.

　　Song Shuhang had no means to deal with a massive organization like the Limitless Demon Sect on his own, but he could still pass the information to Senior Seven. However, Altar Master’s underlings were all dead now!

　　As the saying goes, the plan of man cannot compare to the plans of heaven.

　　At this time, he had more or less guessed why the ghosts were absorbing qi and blood from the villagers. After being sealed, they were in a weak state. Hence, they decided to secretly accumulate some qi and blood to strengthen themselves. Moreover, it seemed that they were planning to absorb only small quantities of it and flee from this place afterward.

　　“One last question. Altar Master’s underlings were recently collaborating with a certain ‘Cultivator Sunflower’. Do you know about his background?” Song Shuhang asked in a grave tone.

　　The ghost general shook his head. After they came out of the seal, they killed all the underlings. In addition, they tricked the members that were out carrying missions and made them return, finishing them off as soon as they came back.

　　The ghost general had no idea with whom these underlings had collaborated recently.

　　Song Shuhang frowned. After pondering for a moment, he took out his phone and started to write a string of characters.

　　Nine Provinces Number One Group.

　　Stressed by a Mountain of Books: “Is there any senior online? I just captured a ghost general and wanted to know how to seal or restrain it.”

　　“You need to use a ghost-seizing tool. Something like the hundred ghosts streamer, the ghost ring, or the ghost-seizing jar will do,” Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman replied. Lately, after teaching new words to the natives on the small Pacific Island, he was wondering how he should teach them about their proper usage.

　　For example, the natives would often improperly use characters like 的, 地, 得 since they had similar pronunciations. But let alone the natives, even Song Shuhang would often mix them up.

　　Therefore, Palace Master was frequently online to ask help from his friends.

　　“Does my spirit-binding ice bead work?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　“That’s used to seal ghost spirits. Ghost spirits are different from your average ghost general ?” Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman replied.

　　Song Shuhang asked, “Are there other ways?”

　　“You can usually use a sealing technique, but it’s impossible for the current you to use one,” Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman replied.

　　“This means I can’t keep it?” Song Shuhang said depressed. He had already thought of this possibility. However, he still hoped to have some luck. Maybe some senior in the group could have helped him.

　　Since it’s impossible to subdue the ghost general… should I kill it? However, he would have to take some precautions before killing this ghost general. At least, he needed to prevent the other ghosts from going on a rampage in the village.

　　Then, how should I proceed? Song Shuhang frowned as he was thinking of a solution.

　　But as soon as the idea of killing the ghost general flashed through his mind, the ghost spirit in his Heart Aperture came out as if it had received an order.

　　That’s right. The ghost spirit had indeed taken it as an order. Its synchronization with Song Shuhang was not complete. Therefore, they could only share their consciousness intermittently.

　　Hence, the ghost spirit only understood the part where Song Shuhang was pondering about killing the ghost general, missing the part afterward.

　　“Roar!” When the ghost spirit appeared, it was wielding a golden short sword. This was the new innate ability it had gained after returning to the middle-rank. A sword to attack and a shield to defend.

　　The golden short sword rose and slashed down, cutting the now weak and seriously injured ghost general.

　　“Nooooo! If you kill me, you’ll suffer the retaliation of my companions! Not only you, but the entire village will also be destroyed!” The ghost general angrily howled before dying.

　　Even if he was weakened, the ghost general thought he could run away from a small cultivator of the First Stage if he were at a disadvantage. But never would he have expected that this small cultivator had so many means. He had powerful talismans and a scary ghost spirit. Was he the illegitimate son of a powerful sect master?

　　“Slurp!” The ghost spirit opened its mouth and slurped, swallowing down the remnants of the ghost general. Afterward, it burped and returned to Song Shuhang’s Heart Aperture.

　　Song Shuhang’s hand that was holding the evil-warding talisman stiffened…

　　Mr. Paladin, there is something wrong with this development!

　　What now? If numerous resentful ghosts were to attack the village, what should he do?

　　He was alone and could at most protect a single place. He surely couldn’t protect a whole village!

　　This time, did I royally screw up?