The Ghost Ancestor

Yan Yun thus began to lead the woman in circles, hoping to deter her from following.

She certainly could not bring the other party directly back to Wuyin Mountain.

Yet, Yan Yun had underestimated the woman’s patience; even after nearly an hour of circling, the woman still trailed behind her, neither too close nor too far.

The Xuanhui Sect female cultivator soon realized she had been exposed.

“Discovered, huh?”
“This little girl truly harbors a great secret.”
“Forget it, I’ll head back for now.”

With that, the female cultivator turned and departed.

As she turned to leave, Yan Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ah!”
“She’s finally gone.”
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how long I’d have to keep leading her around.”

Once certain that she was no longer being followed, Yan Yun soared towards the Wuyin Mountain range with the utmost speed.

Meanwhile, the Xuanhui Sect female cultivator, still flying, was suddenly struck by a powerful force, like a mountain descending from the heavens.

It pressed down heavily upon her, knocking her from the sky.

“Boom!”
The Xuanhui Sect female cultivator crashed to the ground, creating a crater and leaving her sprawled, unable to move.

“Who’s there?”
“Who ambushed me?”
The Xuanhui Sect female cultivator struggled to rise, her voice strained as she lifted her head to challenge the sky.

At her question, a dense, sinister black mist swirled from all directions, eventually coalescing above her into a mysterious black-robed figure.

“Jie jie jie jie…”

“Xuanhui Sect little girl, why are you so careless?”
“Allow this Old Ancestor to guide you to salvation, ha ha ha ha…”
An ominous, chilling laugh emanated from within the black robes, causing the female cultivator’s face to blanch.

She seemed to recognize the figure, blurting out in a moment of panic, “Ghost Soul Valley’s Ghost Soul Old Ancestor?”
“You, what do you want?”
“Are you declaring war on our Xuanhui Sect?”

The Xuanhui Sect female cultivator was consumed by terror.

This Ghost Soul Old Ancestor was the Divine Venerable Old Ancestor of the neighboring Ghost Soul Valley.

His cultivation was likely at the peak of the minor accomplishment Divine Venerable Realm, on the verge of breaking through to the major accomplishment Divine Venerable Realm.

The Ghost Soul Valley itself was a minor power, but it was a demonic cultivation force, notorious for committing heinous acts that truly offended the heavens.

Consequently, it was suppressed by the Xuanhui Sect, the Cui family, and four other major powers.

Regrettably, the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor was the strongest cultivator among these five forces, and his disciples were exceptionally elusive.

Even when besieged by four major powers, they proved difficult to completely eradicate.

The two sides were, in essence, archenemies.

“Little girl, what are you saying?”
“Haven’t our Ghost Soul Valley and your four families already been at war?”
“Jie jie jie jie…”
The Ghost Soul Old Ancestor chuckled sinisterly, his laughter unending.

After his laughter subsided, he extended a hand towards the Xuanhui Sect female cultivator, seizing her.

Streams of black mist enveloped her, and the female cultivator began to tremble uncontrollably.

A phantom spirit was forcibly ripped from her body by the black mist.

The cultivation technique of Ghost Soul Valley involved refining the souls of living beings, a method known in the Demonic Dao as the Soul Refining Technique.

“Let me go, let me go, Master, Master…”
The female cultivator’s face was etched with despair and horror.

Ultimately, her soul transformed into a streak of light, flying into the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor’s black robes, becoming nourishment for him.

Naturally, the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor would not waste her physical body either.

Meanwhile, the Xuanhui Holy Mother, who had been awaiting news, suddenly sensed something amiss.

She quickly retrieved a blue jade slip from her person, which instantly shattered upon its appearance.

“What?”
“Meng’er?”
Xuanhui Holy Mother cried out in alarm, then vanished from her spot in a flash.

Not long after, she appeared at the location where her Xuanhui Sect disciple had been killed.

She floated high above, gazing at the crater below, and closed her eyes to carefully sense the lingering aura.

“This?”
“Was that little girl responsible?”
“How could this be?”
“If she used a Divine Venerable expert’s methods, I should have detected even a faint energy fluctuation at this distance?”
Xuanhui Holy Mother was engulfed in a surge of fury.

Immediately after, other members of the Xuanhui Sect arrived by Xuanhui Holy Mother’s side, still unaware of what had transpired or why their Master had departed so urgently.

“What’s wrong, Master?”
“What happened?”
The current Sect Master of the Xuanhui Sect hastily inquired.

Xuanhui Holy Mother’s expression was exceedingly grim.

After a moment of silence, she replied, “Your Third Junior Sister was killed.”

Upon hearing this, the Xuanhui Sect disciples were struck as if by lightning.

They stood dumbfounded, their faces reflecting utter disbelief.

“How could this be?”
“Master, who did this?”
The women were all consumed by indignation.

Xuanhui Holy Mother shook her head.

“It’s hard to say, but besides Meng’er’s aura, there’s another residual presence here: that little girl with the spirit beast from earlier.”
“Meng’er was following her all the way.”

Seeing Xuanhui Holy Mother’s words, the women lost all composure.

A sister with whom they had spent centuries was now dead, her body even taken away.

How could they remain calm?

They immediately concluded that Yan Yun must have been responsible.

After all, Yan Yun’s origins were shrouded in mystery, and she possessed the protective power of a Divine Venerable cultivator.

It was entirely possible she had discovered someone tracking her and mercilessly retaliated.

Yan Yun, however, likely never imagined that trouble would find her while she was simply going about her business.

She had done nothing, yet was inexplicably saddled with blame.

Xuanhui Holy Mother found the matter rather suspicious, so she immediately led her people back to Qinghe City to seek out the Cui family’s Old Ancestor.

The Cui family’s Old Ancestor was still searching for clues, the previous matter unresolved, when this new trouble suddenly arrived.

“What?”
“Fairy Su Meng of your esteemed sect was attacked and killed by an unknown expert within our Cui family’s territory?”
“How can this be?”
“Fellow Daoist Xuanhui, this was not done by my Cui family.”
“The only one in the Cui family capable of silently killing a Divine Soul Realm cultivator is me, and I haven’t left Qinghe City.”
The Cui family’s Old Ancestor explained.

Xuanhui Holy Mother, of course, knew this.

“I understand, Old Freak Cui.”
“It seems someone truly is stirring trouble in the shadows.”
“I now believe that your Cui family isn’t responsible for this.”
Xuanhui Holy Mother sighed, her expression etched with sorrow.

Of course, she also blamed herself.

Had it not been for her curiosity, which led her to investigate Yan Yun’s identity and send disciples away from the main group, and had Su Meng not followed Yan Yun, this incident would never have occurred.

But who could have imagined that a Great Perfection Divine Soul Realm cultivator would die so silently?

“Is this an accident, or was it premeditated?”
“If it was premeditated, Fellow Daoist Xuanhui, which force do you think is behind it?”
The Cui family’s Old Ancestor asked, his brow furrowed.

Xuanhui Holy Mother immediately calmed herself, pondering deeply, and her expression changed drastically.

“Old Freak Cui, I’ve calculated the time.”
“It’s been a hundred years since we jointly severely injured Old Ghost Soul, hasn’t it?”
“Their Ghost Soul Valley has also been quiet for over a hundred years.”
“What if Old Ghost Soul has recovered?”
Xuanhui Holy Mother proposed a hypothesis.

This hypothesis unsettled the Cui family’s Old Ancestor as well.

Their four major forces had once attacked Ghost Soul Valley, severely injuring the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor and draining the valley’s vitality.

Now, a century later, if the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor had recovered and emerged, he might well be on the verge of breaking through to Great Perfection Divine Venerable.

Once he achieved that breakthrough, their four major forces would face grave trouble.

Linking this incident to the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor made everything fall into place.

Because in that case, her disciple might indeed have been cultivated by the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor.

The cultivation technique practiced by the Ghost Soul Valley’s Old Ancestor could silently kill a Divine Soul Realm cultivator without leaving a trace.

“Old Freak Cui, this is no small matter.”
“Quickly notify the other two families and have them come to Qinghe City.”

“Also, help me investigate this little girl.”
“She might also be connected to my disciple’s death.”
Xuanhui Holy Mother then used her power to manifest an image of Yan Yun.

The Cui family’s Old Ancestor did not refuse and immediately made the necessary arrangements.

As for Yan Yun, she had already returned to the Wuyin Mountain range.

By the time she arrived, the entire valley had been mostly cleared.

Wen Meng and the others had not yet returned, as their tasks for the day were quite numerous.

Upon her return, Yan Yun released the hundred newly recruited individuals.

“Alright, everyone, this is where you’ll be working,” Yan Yun announced to them.

Someone scanned their surroundings, noticing that a hundred people were already at work, and realized this was undoubtedly a massive undertaking.

“This?”
“Fairy, it looks like you’re constructing a faction stronghold, isn’t it?” someone inquired.

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”
“You just need to work.”
“You won’t be shorted a single cent on your pay.”
“However, without my command, you must not leave this valley.”
“I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
Yan Yun then began assigning their respective tasks.

Meanwhile, Xiao Leng approached the black wolf, subsequently transforming into her human form.

“You, stinky fox, what kind of mesmerizing spell did you cast on that woman?”
“She actually let you go?”
The wolf demon immediately flared up in anger upon seeing Xiao Leng free.

Xiao Leng offered a peculiar smile, then opened the iron cage and lifted the wolf demon by the scruff of its neck, pulling it out.

“Good puppy, good puppy,” Xiao Leng uttered with a straight face.

These words infuriated the wolf demon, causing it to go wild once more.

“Dead fox, stinky fox, slutty fox, I’m not done with you!”

On the other side, Yan Yun watched Xiao Leng tease the wolf, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Soon after, the group began their work.

Some went to quarry rocks and timber, while others, under Yan Yun’s guidance, began producing glass, cement, and rebar.

She also appointed two overseers for these individuals, giving them additional pay to supervise the rest.

However, Yan Yun’s luck remained less than stellar; having just arrived in Dao Alliance territory, she was already being drawn into its internal power struggles.

That evening, Wen Meng and the others returned.

This time, they brought back even more materials and had placed a large order with secular merchants, though these materials would need to be picked up every few days.

“Eh?”
“Sister Yan Yun, who is she?”
As soon as they returned, they noticed Xiao Leng forcefully playing with the wolf demon.

Yan Yun knew they would be surprised.

“Hehe, that’s the little fox.”
“We’ve become good friends.”

The four were somewhat taken aback.

“Tsk tsk, she’s cute even in human form, like a little sister next door,” Wen Meng chuckled.

The other three nodded in agreement.

Yan Yun then introduced the four to Xiao Leng, thus making their acquaintance.