Chapter 103: Is This the End?

“The Thousand Soul Banner?”

The name struck Sun Ju and Su Shan like a physical blow, draining the blood from their faces.

“You are a cultivator of the Ghost Spirit Sect?” Sun Ju demanded, his voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and dread.

The Ghost Spirit Sect was a nightmare from the borderlands. How could one of their vile practitioners exist this deep within the heart of the State of Zhao? And to have established a vitality-draining array right under everyone’s noses at Sunset Glow Mountain… the implications were terrifying.

“State your name! I do not kill nameless nobodies!” Sun Ju shouted, trying to project authority he did not feel.

The black-robed cultivator didn’t even deign to look at him. His gaze drifted dismissively toward the four Joyous Union Sect disciples scrambling through the ruined temple below.

“Hmph. Insects,” he sneered.

With a flick of his wrist, the Thousand Soul Banner unfurled, snapping in the wind like a shroud.

“Go. Devour their souls.”

The dark clouds above churned violently. With a sound like tearing silk, countless Vengeful Spirits broke free from the mist. They poured from the sky, a torrent of wailing, translucent nightmares, hungry for the warmth of the living.

“Not good! Spirits!”

On the ground, Qian Wen’s face turned ashen. “Run! Get to the air!”

The four disciples summoned their flying swords, shooting upward in a desperate bid for escape. But Vengeful Spirits were creatures of wind and hate; their formless bodies moved with a speed that far outstripped a mere Qi Condensation cultivator.

In less than ten breaths, the ghosts were upon them.

The young Dao Companion pair, closest to the rear, fought back frantically.

“Fireball Art!”

Spheres of flame erupted from their hands, blasting into the pursuing swarm. The explosions tore holes in the spectral ranks, but for every spirit destroyed, three more took its place.

The female disciple gritted her teeth and slapped her storage pouch. A bronze mirror flew out, hovering before her chest.

“Reflect!”

A beam of pure, golden light shot from the mirror’s surface, cutting a swath through the darkness. The spirits caught in the beam shrieked, their essence boiling away into nothingness. Beside her, the male disciple deployed a shield artifact that orbited them rapidly, batting away the ghosts that tried to flank them.

Seeing the swarm thicken, Qian Wen made a ruthless calculation.

“Junior Brother, Junior Sister! Split up!” he yelled over the howling wind. “We can’t cover each other!”

The bond between Dao Companions was insular; in a crisis, they would prioritize each other above all else. Trying to coordinate a defense with them would only get everyone killed.

“Junior Sister Hua, with me!”

Qian Wen banked hard to the left, pulling Hua Biying with him toward the dense forest.

“Senior Brother, what do we do?” Hua Biying cried, firing off a volley of fireballs to cover their retreat.

Qian Wen glanced back at the sky, where flashes of lightning and green fire marked the battle between the Foundation Establishment seniors and the black-robed cultist.

“We survive,” Qian Wen gritted out. “Our lives depend on Senior Uncle Sun and Senior Aunt Su now. If they win, we live. If they fall…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Their fate was no longer in their own hands.

“Ah! Senior Brother, save me!”

A shrill, blood-curdling scream pierced the air from the east.

Hua Biying’s head snapped around just in time to see the distant flash of golden light extinguish. The female disciple’s “Treasure Light Mirror” had shattered.

The swarm descended. In moments, she was buried under a writhing mass of shadows. Her Dao Companion could do nothing but watch, paralyzed by horror, as her screams were cut short and her lifeless body plummeted into the dark canopy below.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!”

The surviving male disciple let out a roar that sounded more beast than human. Grief snapped the last thread of his sanity.

He didn’t run. Instead, he stopped his flight and began to form a rapid series of forbidden seals. His eyes turned blood-red, and his skin began to crack like parched earth, leaking blinding rays of spiritual light.

“NO!” Hua Biying whispered.

BOOM!

A catastrophic explosion of dual-colored light lit up the night. The shockwave flattened the trees below, and the violent surge of chaotic spiritual power vaporized every Vengeful Spirit within a hundred zhang.

The disciple had self-detonated—a final, agonizing act of defiance.

Hua Biying felt a cold pit open in her stomach. Self-detonation was an excruciating way to die, the soul torn apart along with the body.

“Don’t look! Focus!” Qian Wen shouted, his voice cutting through her shock.

He swept his sleeve, using a telekinetic grip to yank her closer. With his other hand, he slapped a storage pouch. A golden talisman flew out and adhered to his back.

“Golden Shield, activate!”

A shimmering, translucent golden dome sprang into existence around them. The Vengeful Spirits that dove at them rebounded off the barrier, shrieking as the holy light singed their essence.

Qian Wen didn’t wait. He dove toward the forest floor, crashing through the branches and landing heavily in a small clearing.

“Junior Sister, check your inventory. How many Golden Shield Talismans do you have?”

Hua Biying’s hands trembled as she scanned her pouch with her Divine Sense. “I… I have two left.”

They were gifts from Senior Brother Li Meng. For years, they had kept them safe, too precious to use. Now, they were the only thing standing between them and a gruesome death.

Hua Biying looked up. The golden dome flickered under the assault of the spirits circling above like vultures.

In this moment of despair, her mind drifted to the old man who had given them these lifelines.

Senior Brother Li…

He was in seclusion, attempting the impossible breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. With his age and Five Spirit Roots, everyone said his chances were zero. A fool’s errand.

But as she stared death in the face, she found herself praying. Please, let him succeed. Even if it’s one in ten thousand… please.

“Senior Brother…” Her voice was small, barely audible over the howling ghosts. “Are we going to die?”

She gripped Qian Wen’s robes, her knuckles white. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to see the world from the heights of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. She was so close.

Qian Wen didn’t answer immediately. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. She stiffened for a moment, then melted against his chest, seeking warmth in the freezing night.

“Junior Sister,” Qian Wen murmured, his chin resting on her hair. “Whether we live or die… I will walk that path with you. You will not be alone.”

Hua Biying fell silent.

She didn’t want to die. But if the end was truly here… dying in Qian Wen’s arms was not the worst fate she could imagine.