It was afternoon, and the once bustling and peaceful Qinglong Town had become utterly transformed. Gone was the vibrant bustle of life, replaced only by the rampaging spirits and a murderous aura!
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the furious struggles and cries of millions of ghosts pleaded for mercy. Countless dark shadows of ghosts stalked the streets and alleys. Upon encountering any Qinglong Town residents who still had a shred of life left, they would rush forward without hesitation, tearing at their flesh and devouring their souls.
Ghosts, like demon spirits, are the weaker members of this world. Ghosts, who avoid reincarnation and survive for long periods of time, can only grasp the rudiments of spiritual cultivation. These are ghost spirits.
The same principle applies to demonic spirits. All creatures possess spirituality. Consciousness of the existence of heaven and earth leads to the potential for awakening spiritual intelligence. Mountain beasts, trees in the wind, and grains of sand in the ocean—once they perceive a glimmer of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, their intelligence escapes the chaos and gives rise to a glimmer of life—then they become demonic spirits.
This is similar to the telepathic connection achieved by human cultivators in the acquired realm, perceiving the existence of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. However, humans are inherently intelligent creatures, so the speed of achieving this state of telepathic connection is hundreds or even thousands of times greater than that of cultivating ghosts and demons.
The ghosts that appeared in Qinglong Town at this moment were clearly the work of demonic cultivators, using strange methods to forcibly capture these spirits, who were not supposed to appear in the human world, and command them.
Such methods are extremely cruel, and those who possess such secret techniques are generally demonic cultivators or masters of the demonic realm.
Although Ming Qi's strength was not high, he was knowledgeable about ghosts. From afar, Qinglong Town was teeming with ghosts, suffused with endless resentment. It was obvious that someone had secretly set up a massive formation to detain the spirits. Otherwise, even if there were ghosts in Qinglong Town, there wouldn't be so many.
"Who is so vicious as to risk the lives of the entire town to set up this formation?"
Ming Qi was furious, but he wasn't the type to blindly rush in when he saw someone oppressing the good. The longer he lived in this world, the more he realized the terrifying power of its powerful beings, and the need to carefully consider everything he did.
This world might not have advanced technology, but it did have gods!
Ming Qi was a Bible savvy reader, and he would even go to a church and confess for a long time after killing someone. While this was a bit silly, he took it very seriously.
But despite this, in his previous life, he had never seen an angel, Jesus, or any of the Jade Emperor's heavenly soldiers or generals.
But things were different here. He saw cultivators flying on air, and even sensed a powerful force capable of restraining the divine might of the Heavenly Officials.
This world has gods!
They exist when light is needed, and when heaven and earth are needed, heaven and earth are available!
Of course, he didn't believe that a god was behind the transformation of Qinglong Town into a tomb of the dead, but at least he couldn't afford to offend him at the moment.
After careful consideration, Ming Qi resolutely decided not to wade into this murky water.
However, things went against his will. Just as Ming Qi had made up his mind to take a detour, the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map, dormant deep within his mind, suddenly came to life.
And so, Ming Qi, having already taken a step, could no longer take the next step.
He had long since experienced the mystery of the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map.
During his nighttime foray into Wild Wolf Ridge, during his desperate battle with the Black-backed Gray Wolf, the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map vibrated, almost forcibly instilling in him the purest and most refined secrets of wolf nature, allowing him to quickly master the Peerless Wolf Fist.
Later, upon entering the Biyou Sect and entering Tianqi Court, while breaching the Heavenly Official Tower, the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map vibrated again, drawing forth the Heavenly Official Star Sword Qi and enabling a post-natal cultivator to unleash sword formations capable of only innate masters.
These two events fully demonstrated that each fluctuation of the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map brings with it a tremendous surprise.
This time, facing a menacing formation composed of countless ghostly spirits, what surprises would the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map bring?
Ming Qi pondered for less than two seconds before resolutely marching towards Qinglong Town.
To kill for money, to seek wealth and honor through risk, and by analogy, wasn't this also the case?
If he hadn't visited Qinglong Town, where the catastrophe had occurred, even a disturbance in the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map would have been of little consequence.
Ming Qi strived for 100% perfection in everything he did, but at the same time, he was also a true opportunist.
Entering Qinglong Town, the shocking scene shocked Ming Qi.
Staggering in all directions were corpses in bizarre shapes, all preserving their final forms, some in terror, some in despair, some in utter despair. All he saw was endless, futile struggles and bodies riddled with wounds.
A chilling wind blew, and ghosts howled incessantly. Qinglong Town, under the bright sky, was a living hell.
What puzzled Ming Qi was that even after entering Qinglong Town, the ferocious and rampaging spirits dared not approach within ten steps of him. Even at the mere presence of the spirits, they would flee frantically as if they had met their nemesis.
But he couldn't figure out why.
Walking slowly through the ghostly town of Qinglong Town, Ming Qi's silhouette loomed large.
A chilling wind whipped up dust from the ground, swirling and tumbling across his face, bringing with it waves of warmth mingled with the rich scent of blood, making him feel instantly uneasy.
"Swish!"
Even Ming Qi, accustomed to the sight of blood and corpses, felt the urge to vomit.
At that moment, a crack suddenly appeared on the corpses before him, and streams of blood formed into lines and flew up, shooting behind him.
"Meng Ling, you must not take human blood!"
Seeing this, Ming Qi knew it was Guqin Meng Ling, following behind him, who had once again resisted the temptation of blood.
"Oh."
Meng Ling simply uttered an "oh," and then saw the lines of blood that had soared into the air suddenly stop, then disperse, transforming into a bloody rain that fell to the ground.
Although it was just a simple word, Ming Qi knew that getting her to truly resist the temptation of human blood would be a truly difficult task.
"Meng Ling, transform into your true form."
At Ming Qi's command, Meng Ling's blood-red eyes flickered a few times, as if she were struggling mightily. Then, within a cloud of black and red mist, she transformed into the form of a guqin.
Ming Qi didn't hesitate. With a single wave of his hand, he tucked her into the ring.
Qinglong Town was littered with corpses and blood. If Meng Ling were left outside, she would inevitably succumb to the temptation of human blood and eventually consume it all.
Even if Ming Qi tried to stop her, he wouldn't be able to defeat her with his strength.
Meng Ling seemed remarkably obedient to Ming Qi's words. Despite a brief hesitation and struggle, she eventually transformed and was placed into the ring.
Having resolved this hidden danger, Ming Qi continued his boundless wanderings through Qinglong Town. He could sense the fluctuations of the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map growing stronger.
Qinglong Town was vast, and even exploring every area would take considerable time.
After walking for less than ten minutes, Ming Qi felt a powerful yin energy rising from behind a tall building and rapidly approaching him.
This yin energy was filled with an extremely violent and murderous aura, causing the very first contact to send the hairs of the body standing on end.
"Such a powerful evil spirit!"
Ming Qi's heart trembled, his hand tightening on his sword as he stepped back.
Sure enough, just as Ming Qi was on full alert, a strong gust of gloomy wind blew from behind the tall building, and immediately afterwards, a colossal monster, over ten feet tall, flew out from within the shrouded black mist.
This was a malevolent spirit. While most malevolent spirits were humans who committed heinous crimes before death, the massive spirit that now appeared before him, aside from its human form, was completely unrecognizable in its other features.
Through the black fog, Ming Qi could see the spirit's hideous head, a single sharp horn sprouting from its forehead. Its disproportionately shaped face was covered in pupils, each oozing a fluid that looked like blood.
Its overly long legs and arms were completely disproportionate to its body, and its entire body was covered in pitch-black spikes.
Those who have committed heinous crimes are not allowed to reincarnate after death, their only reason for existence being to compound their past sins.
The malevolent spirit that now appeared before Ming Qi was bizarre in appearance, brimming with malice and murderous intent. It must have been the one who had committed countless sins in his lifetime and escaped rebirth.
The evil spirit circumvented the tall building, its countless pupils quickly locking onto Ming Qi. A chilling sound, like the teeth of a saw cutting through limbs, emanated from its throat as it inched closer.
Ten steps, ten steps!
Ming Qi already knew that none of the spirits in Qinglong Town dared to approach within ten steps of him. He wanted to see if this seemingly much more powerful evil spirit could truly break that ten-step limit.
The evil spirit moved swiftly, reaching Ming Qi in the blink of an eye. Its massive frame stretched several steps for a normal human.
As expected, the moment the evil spirit broke through the ten-step limit, its massive body jolted violently, but it didn't collapse. As if instinctively fearing, it began to retreat.
But at that moment, Ming Qi suddenly sensed a subtle shift in his surroundings.
The shift was subtle, so subtle that he could only vaguely sense it, but couldn't pinpoint its location.
However, it was this slight change that made the evil spirit, which had originally intended to retreat, suddenly seem to gain an irresistible force. Countless pupils instantly turned scarlet, and the murderous aura around the body surged. It quickly broke through the ten-step limit and rushed forward!