Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 355 Traces of the Demonic Sect
Yu Shenxing had indeed prepared a good place, a small pavilion in the mountains with excellent scenery.

This secluded pavilion is located beside a waterfall halfway up the mountain. The wind chimes hanging from the eaves are being caressed by the mountain mist, producing ethereal sounds that resonate with the sound of the water, making people feel relaxed and happy.

On the marble tabletop, a three-legged bronze incense burner was emitting wisps of smoke. Yu Shenxing picked up the teapot and personally poured tea for Chen Ye and the others.

It was quite natural at first, but Fang Hao's "Thank you, Uncle-Master" made Yu Shenxing's wrist tremble, and he almost spilled the tea.

Yu Shenxing could only awkwardly say to Chen Ye, "Come, try this 'Mist Green'. It's a tea tree I planted myself. It's not some kind of divine product, but the taste is pretty good."

Chen Ye took a bite and found the fragrance lingering in his mouth.

Chen Ye didn't know much about tea, only that it tasted good, but Fang Hao could taste its extraordinary qualities.

The tea tree must have been grafted from several kinds of spiritual roots. Fang Hao could taste the different varieties contained in the aroma. Grafting is not surprising, but to be able to blend the flavors so seamlessly must have required a great deal of effort to cultivate.

Fang Hao hadn't tasted this rare tea much when he was at the Incense Burning Sect.

In the past, Fang Hao would have praised the tea to the best of his knowledge, making the host feel proud. But now he was only Chen Ye's apprentice, and he couldn't steal his master's thunder in this regard, so he could only keep quiet and drink his tea in peace.

Chen Ye didn't have that skill, so he could only offer a few simple compliments like "good tea."

Without much formality, Yu Shenxing cut to the chase and asked, "Brother, has Fellow Daoist Fang truly joined the Yellow Springs Sect?"

Seeing Fang Hao nod in agreement, Yu Shenxing looked at Chen Ye, as if to ask, "Why did you take this person as your apprentice?"

Chen Ye laughed and said, "Brother, what's wrong? Are you so unwilling to be this senior master? Are you afraid that people will think you're too old?"

Yu Shenxing smiled wryly. It wasn't like he hadn't been a senior apprentice before, but Fang Hao's identity... he didn't know what to say. However, this was not his concern. Yu Shenxing just wanted to spread the word and see how others reacted.

"And what about Yu Xing?"

More than Fang Hao becoming an apprentice, Yu Shenxing was actually more concerned that the stubborn and obstinate Yu Xing had finally bowed his head. This person was clearly the kind of person who would remain defiant even when facing death.

Chen Yechao glanced at Mo Suixin and then said, "This matter started when our Elder Mo suddenly decided to have his fortune told."

Chen Ye was enjoying the trip immensely, as traveling the world was part of his original cultivation practice. He had never been to the Western Regions before, and this trip would naturally broaden his horizons.

Chen Ye had no idea that as soon as he entered the Western Territory, Mo Suixin casually cast a divination. She originally wanted to predict the fortune of this trip, but she got an unexpected result.

Along the way, they will encounter demonic cultivators who use spells to harm people.

Regardless of whether the divination results are true or false, they should be believed until confirmed. This is Pang Duoduo's principle, and also Mo Suixin's principle.

Chen Ye could not turn a blind eye to the demonic cultivators harming people, so he ordered Black Whirlwind to slow down and see if he could find any clues.

Mo Suixin's daily divination yields two out of three accurate predictions, with an astonishingly high accuracy rate.

As Chen Ye and his group passed over a mountain village, Fang Hao noticed traces of an array below.

Fang Hao's spiritual eyes are different from ordinary people; he can see many subtle traces of spiritual energy.

It's not surprising that there are cultivators in this remote village, but the fact that this formation is extremely well hidden, making it difficult for ordinary people to see through, is quite unusual.

The Western Region is considered part of the Yunlu Immortal Sect's territory. If it were an ordinary rogue cultivator, what would they have to fear about being seen?

Of course, this is just a suspicion.

Chen Ye ordered Black Whirlwind to stop some distance away, preparing to investigate personally.

Unexpectedly, Fang Hao volunteered, "Master, let me take care of this."

Chen Ye was also curious to see what his eldest disciple was capable of, so he advised, "Try not to alert the enemy."

Fang Hao humbly replied, "Your disciple understands."

Then Chen Ye witnessed an exquisite and unparalleled performance of magic.

Fang Hao stood in the shadows of the trees beside the mountain path, his fingertips lightly twirling a talisman, his sleeves moving without wind.

With a flick of his wrist, dozens of talismans glowing with spiritual light fluttered like butterflies, silently disintegrating in mid-air.

The paper talismans transformed into birds that fluttered their wings and swept towards the eaves of village houses, while green snakes snaked into the gaps in the grass, and insects and ants slithered along the cracks in the ground and burrowed into the earthen walls. Each one was lifelike, and even the sound of their wing membranes vibrating was indistinguishable from that of real creatures.

Chen Ye was quite surprised; this was not solely due to the talisman.

Chen Ye had also made ordinary Five Elements talisman paper before, but he only had a slight understanding of it.

Chen Ye could use a Wind-Summoning Talisman to create a strong wind, blowing up a sky full of fallen leaves, but that was all. However, in the hands of a talisman master, the same Wind-Summoning Talisman could transform those leaves into a piece of calligraphy. Fang Hao was clearly a master of this art, and with his obviously precious talisman paper, the snakes, insects, and rodents he conjured were completely flawless.

The village was unusually quiet.

Fang Hao closed his eyes and focused his mind, using the eye of the talisman beast to sneak into the mountain village. He originally thought it would take some effort to find the anomaly.

But as soon as Fang Hao entered the mountain village, he saw corpses; several villagers' bodies lay in bizarre positions by the roadside.

The corpses were all dry and withered, as if their blood had been forcibly drained from their bodies.

Fang Hao continued to control the talisman beasts to enter various parts of the mountain village, only to find that the village was almost completely wiped out, with corpses in almost every household, regardless of age or gender. Judging from the condition of the corpses, most of them had been dead for several days.

Continuing to investigate further, Fang Hao saw several cultivators wearing robes with animal patterns using human blood to inscribe formations.

However, Fang Hao didn't know much about the demonic sect's formations, and could only see that these demonic sect cultivators were dissecting the corpses and placing them in the formation to dissolve.

“Master, there are indeed demonic cultivators practicing their skills by killing people in this mountain village…” Fang Hao carefully told Chen Ye what he had seen, which made Chen Ye want to rush in and kill all those demonic cultivators.

However, to avoid alerting the enemy, Chen Ye still had Fang Hao carefully confirm the number of these demons, lest any of them be missed.

Before Fang Hao could continue his investigation, a loud shout came from outside the mountain village: "You audacious demon! How dare you slaughter mortals in broad daylight! Today I will act on behalf of Heaven! Come out and face your death!"

Chen Ye was far from the mountain village and couldn't hear the shout, but Fang Hao could hear and see it clearly.

Fang Hao quickly said, "Master, someone has alerted the enemy."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye casually remarked, "After all, this is the territory of the Yunlu Immortal Sect, so it's not surprising that righteous cultivators are passing by."

Fang Hao continued, "These demons are quite powerful, one of them is at the Profound Realm, and he has more than a dozen henchmen. Oh no, that person rushed into the mountain village without any warning and has already fallen into an ambush."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye frowned and said, "So reckless? Sigh, since we're fellow practitioners, we'll lend a hand. Do you know which sect or school you belong to, or are you just a rogue cultivator?"

Fang Hao continued, "It's Yu Xing from the Mirage School."

Chen Ye: ...

Maybe we should just wait for him to die.

These words had been brewing in Chen Ye's throat for a long time, but what he finally said was: "Sigh, let's save them."

Chen Ye took out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and summoned several city gods and thousands of ghost soldiers. In an instant, the area was filled with ghostly energy, turning the bright daylight into a gloomy scene.

Without Chen Ye giving any orders, the ghost soldiers rushed towards the mountain village.

Fang Hao followed closely behind, leading the way for the ghost soldiers, leaving only Chen Ye and Mo Suixin behind.

Mo Suixin smiled and said, "You're finally starting to act like a sect leader. You can't always be the one charging ahead."

Chen Ye also remarked, "It's not so bad to occasionally give orders to others."

Previously, the Yellow Springs Sect was short-handed, but now things are a bit easier.

A moment later, the light of a battle shone in the distance, but it soon subsided.

Although these demonic cultivators had the aid of formations, they were not particularly powerful figures, while Chen Ye had sent out a formidable lineup.

Not to mention Fang Hao, who is at the Nascent Soul stage, Lu Xingzhou's personal disciple is not comparable to an ordinary cultivator.

There were also thousands of Yin soldiers, Mo Ci, Chen Guang, and the White Bone Taoist... Faced with such opponents, Chen Ye could only run away as fast as he could.

The dark clouds loomed over Chen Ye once more.

Besides Yu Xing, who was already unconscious, there were also demonic cultivators wearing robes with animal patterns.

Their bodies were covered with dozens of talismans, sealing both their physical bodies and spiritual energy; they had been captured alive.

Hearing Chen Ye's story, Yu Shenxing asked curiously, "Did you get anything out of those demons?"

This is the Western Territory, the territory of the Yunlu Immortal Sect. These demons dare to slaughter mortals here to practice their skills; it's a slap in the face to the Yunlu Immortal Sect!

Chen Ye nodded and said, "This is exactly what I wanted to tell my brother. Although the one who reached the Tongxuan Realm escaped with his soul that day, the interrogation of the remaining few confirmed that they were all demons under Hu Chang. The mastermind behind the plague in the Western Region is this one."

(End of this chapter)