After returning to the Li Family, Lin Bei had not yet returned. Chu Liang sat cross-legged and prepared to reward himself during this time.

He came to the White Tower and saw a faint golden ghost shadow imprisoned inside.

Chu Liang had previously wondered if the White Tower was an evil tool for refining souls in exchange for treasures. Later, he found that it was not, as the White Tower did not interfere with the dissipation and reincarnation of souls. The golden virtual shadow it extracted seemed more like a mark, just used to prove that he had indeed slain such a demon.

The most direct evidence was the skin-painting ghost in front of him and the cat spirit from before. They were both ghosts transformed from souls. If the White Tower extracted their souls, their form inside the tower should not be different from their outside form. However, this was not the case. There was only a soulless golden virtual shadow in the White Tower.

So, this was just a positive White Tower that encouraged oneself to slay demons.

Thinking about it, he casually pressed the “refine” character.

Boom!

After the light dissipated, he caught the treasure in his hand and found it to be a translucent white jade talisman.

[Soul Exchange Spell]:

Can temporarily exchange your soul with another body’s soul, lasting for three breaths. It is recommended to use it on the same species, as entering a different species will not be a good experience. The duration of three breaths is short, but sometimes it is enough.

Chu Liang curled his lips, feeling somewhat disappointed with this reward.

Strictly speaking, this jade talisman was not a talisman, but a stored spell.

A cultivator could save one of their own magical abilities in a complex way and store it in such a jade talisman. The higher the grade of the jade talisman, the better the storage effect. For example, this white jade talisman could retain at least eighty percent of its power.

Sometimes, this type of jade talisman could have miraculous effects, such as achieving instant casting of complex spells or storing defensive spells for younger generations.

However, this method had many limitations, and the cost of consumption was very high, so it was not very common.

Like this jade talisman that stored a useless spell…

Chu Liang couldn’t see much use for it. It was better to give an empty white jade talisman. This rare material could be sold for a lot of sword coins at the Sword Sect.

But this white jade talisman that stored useless spells was not as valuable.

Just as the reward ended, Lin Bei returned from outside.

“How did it go?” Lin Bei asked.

“Very smoothly. The skin-painting ghost has been eliminated,” Chu Liang replied.

“That’s good. My side went smoothly too. Yan Xiaohu has recognized me as his sworn elder brother, and he vowed to reform and start anew from now on,” Lin Bei said with a smile.

Chu Liang nodded.

Then he told Lin Bei about the specific process.

“But it’s strange…” After listening to Chu Liang’s account and understanding the whole story, Lin Bei was a little puzzled. “They were all people who bullied her. Why did Sutu Yan not have any grievances against Yan Xiaohu? He was scared for a long time, but Yan Xiaohu was not even on the revenge list.”

“It’s possible… that it’s because Yan Xiaohu did not discriminate against her because of her appearance,” Chu Liang pondered. “Although he asked Sutu Yan for money, he also asked others for it, and he asked for the same amount. In this regard, he was impartial. It was those who treated her differently that caused harm to Sutu Yan…”

“That makes sense. Sigh…” Lin Bei nodded, then sighed deeply.

…

Late at night, it should have been a quiet night.

Song Qingyi returned to the South Mountain Academy and practiced cultivation for a while before lying down to rest.In the world of cultivation, even cultivators need to rest to nourish their spirits until they reach the peak of the God realm and their essence, energy, and spirit are perfect. Only then can they replace sleep with cultivation. However, the experience is still not as comfortable as getting a good night’s sleep.

Not long after, nearing dawn, she was suddenly awakened by a sobbing sound.

“Hmm?” Song Qingyi sat up and confirmed that a faint crying sound was coming in from the window.

She got up and put on her clothes, then flew outside the window.

This was the residence arranged by the Nanshan Academy specifically for her, quite far from the other teachers’ residences, and there were no people nearby.

Who is crying?

She followed the sound and soon saw a small figure curled up in the corner, with double buns on her head, crying with her back to her.

“Little kid?” Song Qingyi hurried over. “What’s wrong?”

At this point, the incident with the painted skin ghost had already ended, and she was not very vigilant. However, at the moment the child turned around, a strong yin energy almost invaded her face. Song Qingyi’s heart tightened, and she flew back!

But it was still a little late.

She still saw the child’s face, black, terrifying, with twisted and broken blood vessels like a rotten watermelon. In her mind, there was a clang, like a heavy hammer hitting her soul.

Although her reaction was very fast, she still didn’t expect this attack and froze in place for a moment.

At this moment, there were several bone hands with knobby joints and long black nails that broke through the ground and grabbed her ankles!

Song Qingyi bit her tongue to regain her consciousness, flipped her hand and took out her sword, ready to cut off these ghostly hands.

But there was a bone-chilling cold behind her!

She could only feel the extreme coldness and her body stiffened and unable to move.

But if someone looked from the side, they would see a white-clothed female ghost with long hair covering her face already attached to her back, holding onto her shoulder blades.

“Who is it?”

Song Qingyi was controlled, but she was not panicked, but asked calmly. With so many ghosts appearing at the same time, it couldn’t be a coincidence.

It must be someone manipulating them from behind.

“Hehe, it turns out to be the little girl from Junzi Hall…” A hoarse and unpleasant voice sounded from the side.

A tall figure in a black robe with a hood slowly walked out. The voice sounded very old, but the body and posture did not look like an old man, rather eerie.

“You should not have touched the painted skin ghost that I worked so hard to refine.” The man in the black robe still had resentment in his tone. “I promised her that she could kill three enemies here and then focus on collecting souls for me. But who knew… just when it was about to end, you killed her…”

“I am very angry…”

“You must pay the price…”

The black-robed man’s gloomy tone made people shudder in the darkness before dawn.

Song Qingyi didn’t say much, but suddenly lifted a finger on her left hand, and a golden light floated up into the sky. It was the half-page golden book.

The half-page golden book rose into the air and shed a clear light, instantly releasing all the black smoke that entangled the ghostly hands that had restrained Song Qingyi! The sound of sizzling and screaming suddenly rang out.

“Ah–“

The ghostly hands and the white-clothed female ghost retreated one after another, and Song Qingyi immediately regained her freedom. She did not attempt to attack the black-robed man because the previous battle had already proved that his cultivation was far superior to hers, at least at the level of the Golden Core realm… and he was a strange demonic cultivator.

Escaping was the most important thing right now.She flipped over and flew towards the back, but the black-robed man did not chase after her. He just smiled strangely and took out a huge black iron slingshot from his pocket.

He held the slingshot in his right hand and pulled it taut, then lightly shouted, “Go!”

Whoosh…

A bolt of lightning cut through the long night.

Ssssh…

Song Qingyi’s body shook in mid-air and made a sound as if she had been struck by a sharp weapon, but there was no visible wound. She suddenly stiffened and then fell heavily to the ground.

Bang!

After she hit the ground, she felt extremely cold and stiff all over her body. It was difficult for her to even move her fingers. A name suddenly flashed through her mind.

Soul-piercing Nail.

It was a demonic artifact of the Dark Emperor Sect that could stab a person’s soul. Once the soul was pierced, the person would be immobilized.

The footsteps behind her were getting closer and closer. The black-robed man walked slowly towards her, then hooked his finger. As if there were invisible threads pulling her, Song Qingyi’s body involuntarily stood up straight.

“Come with me.”

The black-robed man chuckled and walked forward. Song Qingyi, who was very stiff, followed behind him as if she could not escape.

However…

In a corner where no one was paying attention, the half-page golden book that had protected Song Qingyi had quietly disappeared…