Ghost Immortal

As soon as he said that, the whole courtyard fell silent.

All the Taoist priests were looking at Li Feng.

The Qi Refining stage is not weak, is it?

Among the disciples of the Zhi generation in the Maoshan Sect, only five or six have reached the Qi Refining stage.

Which of these people didn't cultivate for more than ten or even twenty years before breaking through?

Even Lei Jian, who had the best talent, took eleven years to break through from the Spirit Root stage to the Qi Refining stage.

Master Si Mei himself didn't break through until he was twenty-eight years old.

Li Feng had only been a disciple of the Maoshan Sect for less than a month.

He only joined the sect a month ago, and now he's jumped directly to the Qi Refining stage?

This is simply monstrous!

"Yes, disciple has managed to break through by sheer luck."

Li Feng did not deny it, nor could he deny it.

The spiritual energy fluctuations during the Qi Refining stage are completely different from those during the Spirit Root stage. Every one of these old Taoist priests present is a shrewd person; even if he uses the Concealing Breath Technique to suppress it, he can't hide it.

He took out the jade box from his arms and handed it to the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist with both hands: "Master, there are two of excellent quality flowers sealed in the jade box. Senior Brother Qiusheng also has one."

Master Si Mei took the jade box, but did not open it immediately.

He looked at Li Feng and asked curiously, "What exactly did you encounter in Tengteng Town?"

Li Feng said that he accidentally ate a coffin fungus and suddenly broke through his limits.

Of course, he didn't mention a word about his spiritual root breaking through from nine inches to ten inches.

He only said that he originally had a six-inch spiritual root, which grew to eight inches under the impact of the coffin fungus's origin, and his cultivation also broke through to the Qi Refining stage.

As for the Netherworld Ghost Fire, he only said it was a supernatural power that he awakened on his own when he broke through to the Qi Refining stage.

He had to keep the secret of the ten-inch spiritual root to himself.

If word gets out about his Heavenly Grade Spiritual Root, not only will the Maoshan Sect be shaken, but all sorts of powerful forces from all walks of life will be watching him. At that point, he won't be able to cultivate, and even his survival will be in question.

Even so, there was still a lot of shocked discussion in the courtyard.

"The essence of coffin fungus is the condensed corpse energy of zombies over hundreds of years. An ordinary person would lose three years of lifespan if they came into contact with just one drop. How could you swallow it and still be alive?"

"Netherworld Ghost Fire is a punishment fire that only the Emperor of the Underworld can wield! You, a junior who has just broken through to the Qi Refining stage, have suddenly awakened such a supernatural power. Could you be the illegitimate son of some Emperor of the Underworld?"

"Breaking through from the Spirit Root stage to the Qi Refining stage in just one month—this cultivation speed is something that the Maoshan Sect has never seen in its hundreds of years of existence. I think this kid should be sent back to the sect so that the patriarch can personally teach him."

The Taoist priests chattered amongst themselves, each looking at Li Feng with a different expression.

There were surprised, doubtful, and jealous people, but there were also those who were genuinely happy for him.

The Taoist priest in green was genuinely happy for him.

He walked up to Li Feng, put his hand on his shoulder, and a gentle spiritual energy flowed into his meridians.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand, a sincere look of admiration on his face: "It is indeed the Qi Refining stage. The foundation is solid, the spiritual power is pure, without any impurities or superficiality. Junior Brother Four Eyebrows, you have truly made this disciple of yours proud."

A smile also appeared on the face of the Taoist priest with four eyebrows.

He patted Li Feng on the shoulder, unsure of what to say.

Qiu Sheng is always causing trouble and lacks talent, making him unsuitable for important tasks. This young apprentice may be the true successor.

He's not only bold, but also lucky and talented; he's practically blessed with natural talent.

A natural-born cultivator!

"Go and rest first, and take care of your wound."

Master Four Eyebrows said gently, "I will discuss the matter of the coffin fungus with my eldest brother. After you have rested, I will give you an even more important task."

Li Feng nodded and was about to go to the side room with Qiu Sheng to treat his wounds when he heard Qiu Lan's voice from behind.

"Junior brother!"

Qiulan ran out of the side room, carrying a medicine box in her hand.

Her eyes were a little red, clearly she hadn't slept well last night.

Seeing the five bluish-black claw marks on Li Feng's shoulder, her lips trembled and her eyes reddened even more.

"How did you get injured again! Last time it was a Gu Master, this time it's a female zombie, next time are you going to fight the King of Hell directly?" Qiu Lan complained as she opened the medicine box and took out glutinous rice and ointment.

"Don't worry, senior sister, it's just a superficial injury, nothing serious." Li Feng smiled and didn't dodge her bandaging.

Qiu Sheng muttered sourly, "I'm injured too. I got several scratches on my back, why didn't anyone bandage me up..."

Qiulan retorted without turning her head, "You asked for it! Who told you to provoke the female zombie? You even said the female zombie had a crush on you, but I think you just went after her yourself!"

"I sacrificed myself to protect my junior brother, okay!" Qiu Sheng said, looking aggrieved.

"Besides, the female zombie is indeed quite beautiful, but it's a pity she's a bit cold; she feels like an ice cube to the touch..."

"Who cares about you?" Qiu Lan didn't care at all; she only had eyes for Li Feng.

Compared to the rough and lecherous Qiu Sheng, the fair-skinned and handsome Li Feng was naturally more attractive to girls.

Qiu Sheng said smugly, "Tch, you may not say it, but you must be really jealous inside."

"Get out!" Qiu Lan grabbed the bag of glutinous rice from the table and threw it at Qiu Sheng.

Master Si Mei walked over from the direction of the hall, interrupting the farce.

His expression was more serious than before as he strode up to the three of them.

"Qiusheng, Qiulan, Lifeng, come in with me."

The three immediately stopped smiling and followed the Taoist priest with four eyebrows into the hall.

In the hall, all the disciples of the Zhi generation had already gathered.

A dozen or so people stood in a circle around the statue of the Three Pure Ones.

Lei Jian stood in the very center, holding a Bagua mirror in his hand.

The mirror surface shimmered with light, reflecting the entire map of Qingyan City.

"Everyone has arrived."

Lei Jian looked at the four-browed master and apprentice who walked in and said calmly.

"Now that we have the coffin fungus, we have a way to control the ghost puppet. The next step is to complete it within three days."

He raised the Bagua mirror high, and the map on the mirror began to rotate, revealing a dense array of light spots.

Most of the light spots were concentrated in the area around Qingyan City, with only a few drifting into the distance.

"These points of light are the wandering ghosts and spirits that we detected last night using the Innate Bagua Array."

Lei Jian pointed to the spots of light on the mirror and said, "The Ghost Festival has passed, but the gates of hell are not completely closed yet. Of the thirty-four ghosts that escaped, the Primordial Eight Trigrams Formation has already locked the positions of twenty-eight of them."

He ran his finger across the mirror, and the lights around Qingyan City immediately lit up.

The remaining six or seven points of light were scattered around the perimeter, with a few drifting to the desolate mountains west of the city.

Two drifted to the abandoned blacksmith shop in the east of the city, and the other two drifted the farthest, reaching the Black Wind Ridge area.

"The coverage area of ​​the Innate Eight Trigrams Formation is only twenty miles in radius. The ghosts in the city and the ghosts in the suburbs are all within the range of the formation and can be directly recalled by the formation. However, the formation cannot reach the ghosts that drift more than twenty miles away, and we must send someone to capture them in person."

Lei Jian looked directly at Li Feng.

"The two ghosts from Black Wind Ridge have drifted the farthest and are the hardest to catch. Moreover, when we used the Bagua Formation to probe earlier, we found that the Yin energy in Black Wind Ridge was unusually heavy. Originally, there was only a few scattered demonic energy, but in the past few months, after the dark energy drifted over, everything in the mountains has become restless."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows frowned and said, "Black Wind Ridge is the territory of the Black Wind Bandits; it's very dangerous."

Lei Jian nodded: "The leader of the Black Wind Bandits is called Black Three Knives. He has a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation level and has dozens of desperate men under his command. They have been entrenched in Black Wind Ridge for more than ten years."

"This person practices unorthodox sword techniques. It is said that he bought a fragment from a certain evil cultivator. The murderous aura of his sword can break through the protective spells of the Daoist sects."

The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist added, "However, the Black Wind Bandits usually only rob passing caravans and will not actively provoke cultivators. Your purpose on this trip is to capture ghosts, not to exterminate bandits."

"As long as you don't initiate a conflict with the Black Wind Bandits, they won't rashly attack the Maoshan Sect. If they really want to fight, the two of you at the Qi Refining stage plus one at the Spirit Root stage might not be afraid of them."

Qiu Sheng's legs went weak at the mere mention of the Black Wind Bandits. He muttered under his breath, "Why is it us again? We just finished fighting the Zombie King, and now we have to fight the Mountain Bandit King."

"Who told you to let the ghost escape? Of course you have to go and catch it yourself. Do you expect someone else to clean up your mess?" Lei Jian gave him a cold look.

Qiu Sheng immediately shut up and dared not say another word.