After learning what this place was, the group fell into a long silence.

They finally understood why the compasses and tracking talismans were useless, and their worry for their senior brothers’ safety only intensified.

“Cultivator Yin, you’ll help us find our senior brothers, won’t you?” Jing Qian forced down his burning anxiety and turned his gaze to the delicate, fragile-looking young woman.

The Guiyuan Sect disciples harbored no good will toward ghost cultivators, but for the sake of their senior brothers, they were willing to temporarily set aside their prejudice.

They had no idea.

The disappearance of their three senior brothers, Zheng Yiming, Yin Buyu, and He Lanxu was directly connected to the seemingly frail and ethereal young woman before them.

Yin Miaomiao replied, “Of course.”

Of course, she sneered inwardly. Beneath her lowered eyelashes, her eyes flashed with displeasure.

She cared only for Qin Xun and found this group an insufferable nuisance. She decided that once she found the Supreme Treasure, she would devour the cultivation of Qin Xun’s eyesore of a fiancée, the one who had exposed her presence, Yu Jinghan and this entire lot of Guiyuan Sect disciples.

“Then how do we get in?” Jing Qian asked again, his temper as gentle as ever. He lacked strength, but his mind was sharp.

Yu Jinghan had already questioned Qin Xun twice: Why are you holding a female ghost? And why is she telling you to abandon these “stinking cultivators” and help her seek revenge and treasure?

One ghost had revealed the Liuli Sect to everyone, and another had explicitly told them that Qin Xun and the young woman might have made a private pact to find treasure.

They must have a way out of the mist.

These stinking cultivators!

How dare they order me around!

Yin Miaomiao seethed with resentment inside, but her face remained pitifully delicate.

“Follow me.”

Meanwhile, within the Guiyuan Sect, the disciple tending to the Soul Lamps was chanting a spell for his senior brothers, trying to stabilize the lamps’ flames.

Suddenly, he discovered with joy that all three lamps had flared to life, no longer flickering like dying campfires in the wild.

“Master, Master! The three Senior Brothers are safe!” He rushed to report the news. The Elder was overjoyed. He performed a divination and found that a mere whim of the Heavenly Dao had caused the mist surrounding the three disciples to disperse like clouds before the sun, altering their fates completely.

The Heavenly Dao is truly merciful!

Far away, the human cub suddenly sneezed, drawing the attention of many. Tang Xi’s expression turned anxious. “Qingqing! Have you caught a chill? Put on another layer of clothes, quickly! The clothes are in the first row, third slot of your Storage Bag, and the boots are in the third row, sixth slot.”

How could Ye Qing, a human cub, the future of the Cultivation World possibly catch a chill!

Tang Xi couldn’t help but worry.

After all, a common cold could be fatal sometimes!

“But I’m not cold,” Ye Qing said softly. Before he could even finish, Yu Jinghan had already taken the Storage Bag, pulled out a pair of small deerskin boots and a cloak, and forced them onto the human cub, ignoring his protests.

The bamboo grove remained shrouded in mist and eerie, ghostly energy, blocking out the bright moonlight.

Seeing the young woman being bullied by his senior brothers, Qin Xun felt terrible and grew even more protective of her.

He seized the opportunity to say, “Senior Brother, Miaomiao is willing to guide us. We can just go in ourselves. The rest is an internal matter for our Guiyuan Sect, so it’s best for outsiders to excuse themselves.”

He couldn’t resist glancing at Yu Jinghan, his words clearly aimed at him.

Yu Jinghan’s dark eyes remained ripple-less, his attitude completely indifferent.

Whether the people of the Guiyuan Sect lived or died was none of his business.

This attitude made Qin Xun’s teeth itch with frustration, and he grew to despise him even more.

Jing Qian shook his head, his tone disapproving. “Brother Yu is just a step away from Foundation Establishment. We don’t know the situation in the Soul Refining Hall, it could be fraught with danger. The more, the merrier.”

“More people, more power.” This was Jing Qian’s favorite saying, and it perfectly summed up his approach to life.

When they heard Yu Jinghan was just a step away from Foundation Establishment, the Guiyuan Sect disciples’ eyes widened.

Their astonishment was mixed with a hint of envy. With the Heavenly Dao as witness, what extraordinary talent is this? they marveled.

He’s about to reach Foundation Establishment without even being admitted to a sect! Once he joins one, won’t he just soar to the heavens?

“I hear you haven’t joined a sect yet, Brother Yu?” Jing Qian’s eyes shone with enthusiasm, his face lit up with joy.

Ye Qing recognized that look, he’d seen it countless times when Jing Qian was hawking wares in Yunzhou City.

Yu Jinghan gave a cool, indifferent “mm.”

The next second, Jing Qian’s voice boomed with passion: “Junior Brother Yu!”

Yu Jinghan: ???

“Junior Brother Yu, please don’t find this too abrupt! Our Guiyuan Sect is the Number One Sect Under Heaven. Though we have many disciples, we all get along harmoniously, just like one big family. We are a warm and welcoming sect. Our sect even allows disciples to bring their family members along to cultivate. Whenever anyone is in trouble, the entire sect mobilizes to help. Our Master, Immortal Lord Lingxiao, is a peerless Sword Cultivator, just one step away from Tribulation Transcendence, and he can protect an entire region. Our sect’s mission is to harbor grand ambitions and protect all living beings. Our greatest wish is to slay the demon Pei Xuan and restore peace and justice to the Cultivation World!”

Jing Qian had poured his heart and soul into his long-winded pitch, genuinely hoping to recruit Yu Jinghan.

But the very last point was a dealbreaker for Yu Jinghan.

Ye Qing, however, was completely swayed. He clenched his small fists and slapped his own thighs in excitement.

A major sect is the way to go! he thought. It’s so much easier to thrive in the shade of a great tree! If we join the Guiyuan Sect, we won’t have to fear Pei Xuan anymore!

Every Guiyuan Sect disciple he’d met had been wonderful. When Yin Buyu went missing, the Guiyuan Sect disciples had searched for him for nearly a full day and night. So many junior brothers and sisters had swollen, tear-streaked eyes.

The saying “when one member is in trouble, the entire sect mobilizes” was no exaggeration at all.

“Brother, join them!” The human cub’s eyes twinkled like the stars in the sky.

Tang Xi: “???”

The Guiyuan Sect was the Number One Sect Under Heaven, the paramount immortal sect. With Yu Jinghan’s impure bloodline, how could he possibly join them? He was destined for a small, struggling sect, where he would spend his life amidst cutthroat infighting and power struggles.

Don’t ask why, this was simply the fate of the Son of a Half-Demon.

He heard the remnant soul’s objection.

A flicker of dullness crossed Yu Jinghan’s eyes. The demonic blood coursing through half his body served as a constant reminder of his vile and filthy origin: the son of a demonic cultivator with an unknown father, yet forced to live among the orthodox immortal sects.

Other than the love of a human child and the Kirin Blood Jade left by his mother, he deserved nothing else.

Why should I even be alive?

Perhaps the abuse and punishment from Yu Manor are my true destiny.

A wave of excruciating pain surged through his entire body, flooding his already numb heart. Yu Jinghan’s dark pupils filled with gloom.

If anyone were to look at him now, they would surely be struck with terror.

He radiated an aura of despair, cold, weary, lonely, and self-loathing.

He seemed less like a living person and more like a puppet in the darkness, faintly shimmering with a ghostly light.

Look! Yu Jinghan’s demonic qi is spiraling out of control again! The child of demonic blood is truly a reclusive and cold-hearted brute, gloomy and wildly arrogant, completely unable to control his instincts!

Tang Xi’s suspicions were confirmed. Just as he was about to shout, “Qingqing, run!”—

Realizing that Yu Jinghan was an impenetrable block of ten-thousand-year-old ice, Jing Qian crouched down and tried a different approach. “Qingqing, you think your brother should join the Guiyuan Sect too, right?”

He grasped Ye Qing’s tiny hand.

Wow, a child’s hand is so small, so soft and squishy, Jing Qian thought, momentarily distracted. He gestured with his own palm and realized the little human’s hand was barely a third of the size of his!

“Right!” Ye Qing nodded earnestly, his small hand still held.

“My brother is super awesome! And his personality is super good, too. The Guiyuan Sect definitely won’t lose out by taking him in as a disciple!”

He’s a fallen-from-grace, broken-engagement-trope Dragon Aotian! Jing Qian thought. A temporary setback is nothing. If he’s going to join a sect, it has to be a major one so he can slap faces all the way to the top!

“Then at the Immortal Destiny Assembly, bring your brother to sign up,” Jing Qian said, smiling.

“Okay, okay! Where is it?”

The man and the child had reached a harmonious agreement.

My brother is super awesome… his personality is super good… your Guiyuan Sect definitely won’t lose out by taking him in as a disciple.

Yu Jinghan’s heart had long been a desolate wasteland, but amidst that desolation, the child’s clear, cheerful voice, brimming with certainty and pride, suddenly awakened him.

Just when he believed his bloodline was too vile to even be considered by a major sect, the little human had declared without hesitation that he should go.

The child was only three years old, innocent and naive; he probably didn’t even know what a demonic cultivator was. To him, as long as Yu Jinghan treated him well, Yu Jinghan was the best person in the world.

How could he bear to let the demonic qi within his body spiral out of control and shatter the innocence in the child’s eyes?

Yu Jinghan lowered his gaze, his long lashes casting shadows over his eyes. A warm glow kindled in his heart.

Drawing strength from the dim shadows of the bamboo grove, he suppressed the demonic qi, masking the shifting light and dark on his face until only a frost-like coldness remained.

Yet, it wasn’t that cold.

At least, when Ye Qing took his hand again, there was no hint of frostbite.

“Junior Brother, what do you think?” Jing Qian addressed him as Junior Brother again. This time, Yu Jinghan showed no reaction. He simply stared back with an expressionless face, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

The Guiyuan Sect party was overjoyed. What did this mean? It meant he had tacitly accepted!

What a truly taciturn Junior Brother, they thought.

Qin Xun nearly spat blood. He had only hinted that outsiders should not interfere in this operation, yet Senior Brother Jing Qian had acted so decisively and familiarly, turning an outsider into an insider in an instant!

He had always disliked Yu Jinghan, and now he had truly shot himself in the foot.

He grew anxious. “Senior Brother Jing Qian, Yu Jinghan has not yet undergone the aptitude test at the Immortal Destiny Assembly. We do not know if his roots and bones are good or bad. How can we casually admit him into the sect?”

Jing Qian beamed with confidence. “It’s not arbitrary at all! Junior Brother Yu is only sixteen and already on the verge of Foundation Establishment. His talent is plain for all to see, it’s bound to be exceptional. Besides, he’s Junior Sister Feixue’s cousin. We all trust the reputation of the Yu Family.”

Qin Xun fell silent, unable to find a single point to argue. He could only swallow his pride and seethe in silence.

The group celebrated their new junior brother for a while, but their moods soon soured as they remembered their three senior brothers, still trapped somewhere unknown.

With Yin Miaomiao leading the way, they wound through the eerie, ghost-infested bamboo forest.

As they emerged, the cultivators present immediately sensed a chilling, ominous black mist lurking nearby, churning like a violent undercurrent.

The frailest among them, Yu Feixue, instinctively tightened her fox-fur cloak. Tang Xi felt a wave of relief that he had made the young girl wear an extra layer of clothing.

Just then, Yin Miaomiao shouted, “Run!”

The group reacted a beat too late, only then realizing the scene unfolding before them.

A dense, suffocating Black Fiend Qi churned with thick white fog. From within the mist, the faint, drifting sound of bells echoed as a vast army of Fierce Ghosts materialized.

They marched like Ghost Soldiers and Demon Generals, numbering at least a hundred.

At their head stood a young man, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, dressed in a purple robe. He carried himself with exceptional grace, a finely crafted bone flute hanging from his waist.

Looking closer, the young man had pale, cold skin and thin, crimson lips, as if he had never seen the sun in his life. His features were exquisitely refined, yet his eyes, red as agate, radiated a demonic aura.

With every step he took, the surrounding plants and creatures rapidly withered, dissolving into black mist.

He turned his gaze toward them, his casual glance brimming with overwhelming power.

It was as if an invisible hand had seized everyone’s hearts, nearly stealing the breath and heartbeats of the Guiyuan Sect disciples, threatening to tear their souls from their bodies.

A hundred ghosts ran rampant, their malevolent aura soaring.

For miles around, the wails and playful shrieks of ghosts echoed, transforming the area into a ghost realm.

“What is this?” Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Guiyuan Sect disciples gritted their teeth and took to their swords, fleeing for their lives.

The old man with the jade pendant also urged, “Run! You’ve stumbled upon the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, those are over a hundred of Demon Lord Jiyuan’s children!”

“What?!” Qin Xun gasped, his breath hitching for two seconds.

The old man with the jade pendant said, “This is a matter of the Demon Realm. The Demon Lord is dead, and his eldest son, Yan Chili, has inherited his position, taking the title of Ghost Crown Prince. That Ghost Crown Prince Yan Chili is extremely vicious in nature and cruel in his methods. He has built up immense prestige and awe in the Demon Realm, and his status is second only to Pei Xuan. Yin Miaomiao deceived you. What ‘Supreme Treasure of the Liuli Sect’? She wants you to go and deal with her more than one hundred older brothers and sisters. You are only at the Foundation Establishment Stage now; you don’t even have a fraction of the Ghost Crown Prince’s power!”

“Do you know what day today is?”

As if struck violently by an iron hammer, Qin Xun’s mind reeled. Amidst the Hundred Ghosts Pressure, if he hadn’t gripped his flying sword tightly in time, his soul would have almost scattered.

He gritted his teeth and forced out the words, “…I know.”

“It is the Qingming Festival, and the Soul Refining Hall is wide open. These ghosts are communicating with the deceased, likely here to pay respects to the dead Demon Lord. You came to disrupt the occasion; the Ghost Crown Prince could crush you all with a single hand, and it wouldn’t be a slightest problem.”

Qin Xun’s mind cleared. He naturally believed the old man with the jade pendant.

He was the Son of Salvation, destined to save the Cultivation World. How could he die among a bunch of ghosts!

Yu Jinghan acted swiftly. Before Ye Qing could even see clearly, he was already being pulled onto the flying sword.