Ghost Immortal

"Still want to fight?"

Lei Jian snorted coldly, flipped the Bagua mirror in his hand, and reflected it onto the tiger demon.

The pattern of the Eight Trigrams appeared on the Bagua mirror, and the eight trigrams rotated on the mirror surface, turning into a mirror with a diameter of more than ten feet in the blink of an eye.

"The Eight Trigrams of the Primordial Chaos, suppressing demons!"

Lei Jian exhaled and spoke, and the light mirror suddenly shot out a golden beam of light.

The pillar of light contained the demon-suppressing power of the Eight Trigrams, which shone directly onto the tiger demon's third vertical eye.

The tiger demon burned its demon core, releasing a dark golden demonic aura.

When illuminated by the golden beam of light, it was like snow meeting boiling water, hissing and dissipating.

The phantom tiger within the vortex of demonic energy immediately twisted and deformed within the pillar of light, then vaporized.

The tiger demon's massive body retreated, and its third vertical eye closed again.

This time the crack closed more completely than before; the skin and flesh at the edges of the crack shrank and dried up, like tree bark that had been drained of moisture.

Its legs buckled, and it collapsed to its knees, mouthfuls of dark red blood clots gushing from its mouth, mixed with tiny fragments of internal organs.

Seeing this, Hei Sandao's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he raised his sword to rush forward and deliver the final blow.

"Wait a minute."

Four-Eyebrow Taoist Master stepped forward, blocking Black Three Knives' path.

Black Three Knives stopped and squinted at Four-Eyebrows Daoist: "Four-Eyebrows Daoist, what do you mean by this? We, the Black Wind Bandits, surrounded this tiger demon first. According to the rules of the martial world, whoever surrounds the prey first gets to keep it."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows said calmly, "This tiger demon injured three of my disciples. My Maoshan Sect is going to take it back and deal with it. It's not your place to pick up the pieces."

Hei Sandao's face immediately darkened.

The bandits behind him gripped their weapons tightly, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The eyes of more than thirty bandits all turned to Hei Sandao, waiting for his command.

"Master Four Eyebrows, let's speak frankly."

Hei Sandao slung his ghost-head sword over his shoulder, the copper rings jingling.

"We Black Wind Bandits have been blocking this tiger demon here for quite some time now. A few days ago, dark energy drifted over from the western mountains, and this tiger demon was corrupted by it, making it even more violent than before."

"It even snatched several of our Black Wind Bandits' brothers. We've been watching it for half a month, waiting for the opportunity when it's injured and weak. It's unreasonable for you Maoshan Sect people to try and steal the spoils as soon as you arrive, isn't it?"

Lei Jian turned around, his gaze sweeping coldly over Hei Sandao and the bandits behind him.

"You Black Wind Bandits occupy Black Wind Ridge, robbing passing caravans, killing and plundering. The number of people on your hands may not be less than that of this tiger demon. The fact that my Maoshan Sect has not come to wipe you out is already an act of leniency because you and the tiger demon are mutually restraining each other."

"Today you have the nerve to take advantage of the chaos while our Maoshan disciples are fighting the tiger demon, and you still have the nerve to talk about the rules of the martial world?"

Black Three Knives' expression turned even uglier.

His right hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the hilt of the knife, causing the brass ring on the back of the blade to vibrate even more violently, emitting a low humming sound.

"Master Lei, those words are hurtful," Hei Sandao said in a low voice, suppressing his anger.

"Within dozens of miles of Black Wind Ridge, who doesn't know that I, Black Three Knives, do things according to the rules? As long as the passing caravans pay the toll, I, Black Three Knives, never harm anyone. The murder and robbery you mentioned were done by that group from Wild Wolf Gully in the west, and have nothing to do with us Black Wind Bandits."

Master Si Mei suddenly interjected: "Last December, Manager Wang of the Qingyan City Silk Shop was passing through the Black Wind Ridge official road with a cart of goods and three employees when all the people and goods disappeared."

"In March of this year, Li Chaofeng, the pawnshop owner in the west of the city, went to a neighboring county to collect debts. He disappeared in the Black Wind Ridge area, and his account books and banknotes were nowhere to be found. These things have nothing to do with you, Black Three Knives?"

Black Three Knife frowned, and the bandits behind him whispered among themselves, their murmurs growing louder and louder.

Hei Sandao said frankly, "I know about Manager Wang's matter. I robbed this batch of goods, but I didn't kill the people. I released them after I robbed the goods and let them return to Qingyan City by the same route. As for why they disappeared later, I don't know."

"You think you can just release them like that? Who can testify for you?" The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist priest pressed closer.

"I, Black Three Knives, don't need to testify to anyone when I do things." Black Three Knives' voice also turned cold.

"Master Four Eyebrows, I respect you as a master of the Maoshan Sect and will give you some face. But if you want to use this as an excuse to pressure me with these old stories, then don't blame me for turning my back on you."

He swung the demon-headed sword off his shoulder, the tip carving a deep mark on the ground in front of him.

The blade energy surged from the tip, spreading along the deep groove to both sides, carving a three-foot-long trench in the ground.

The soil at the edge of the ravine was charred black by the malevolent energy, emitting a pungent sulfurous smell.

This is a blatant provocation and a warning, showing that I, Black Three Knives, am not someone to be trifled with.

"The sword aura at the mid-stage of Qi Refining is indeed quite ingenious."

Lei Jian glanced at the knife marks on the ground, but his expression remained unchanged.

"But the unorthodox sword technique you practice has too much malevolent energy in its blade aura, and your meridians have long been corroded by it. Have you often felt numbness in your right arm these past few years, and have your Jianjing acupoint ache slightly on rainy days?"

"If you keep training like this, your right arm will be completely ruined in less than three years, and you won't even be able to lift a knife."

Hei Sandao's expression changed drastically.

He subconsciously moved his right wrist, a movement that betrayed him.

Lei Jian's words were indeed all true.

The unorthodox sword technique he practiced was indeed domineering and fierce, but the price he paid was extremely high.

Each time the malevolent energy within the sword aura is activated, it backfires on the meridians, and the higher one's cultivation level, the more severe the backfire becomes.

Over the years, he has sought medical treatment everywhere and tried all sorts of folk remedies, but he has never been able to cure the hidden injury on his right arm.

"Master Lei has exceptional insight; I admire him." Hei Sandao took a deep breath, his tone softening slightly.

"However, this is my own business of criticizing someone, and it's no need for Master Lei to worry about it."

Lei Jian said calmly, "I'm not worried about you. I'm just reminding you that in your current state, if you really want to fight us, your right arm can only slash three times at most. After that, the murderous energy will rush into your Jianjing acupoint, and your entire right arm will become stiff and numb. At that point, you'll be like a fish on a chopping board, completely at our mercy. Do you want to die?"

He looked at the thirty-odd bandits behind Hei Sandao and said threateningly, "As for your men, the Demon-Trapping Formation can trap a severely injured and dying tiger demon, but it can't trap four Maoshan Qi Refining stage Taoists. If you don't believe me, feel free to try."

Lei Jian spoke very calmly, as if stating a fact.

But it was precisely this ordinariness that sent a chill down Hei Sandao's spine.

He glanced back at his men, more than thirty of them, each carrying a knife.

Despite his impressive appearance, the only one who could truly pose a threat to a Qi Refining stage cultivator was himself.

Moreover, his right arm could indeed only deliver three strikes.

If he and his men fail to finish off their opponent after three strikes, they will be in dire straits.

A brief silence fell over the dense forest, and neither side made a move.

The tiger demon is still alive, but it is not far from death.

Hei Sandao suddenly laughed and said, "Since Daoist Lei has put it this way, I, Hei Sandao, am not one to be ungrateful. The tiger demon is yours, and I, Hei Fengdao, will withdraw from this competition, but I have one condition."

He changed the subject and looked at Li Feng.

"This young Taoist priest possessed ghost fire from the underworld. He burned dozens of the tiger demon's accomplices to death, and the demonic souls within the accomplices were all refined by his ghost fire."

"The Demon Soul is the essence of a tiger demon's three hundred years of cultivation. In terms of value, it's not much less than a demon core. Brothers, you've gone to so much trouble to come all this way, shouldn't you give us some? You eat meat, so you should at least give us some soup, right?"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows turned around and looked in the direction of his gaze.

Li Feng was seen leaning on Qiu Lan's shoulder, barely able to stand. His face was as pale as paper, and there was still blood on the corner of his mouth.

His Taoist robe was tattered, and blood was still seeping from the claw marks on his shoulders. He was so weak that he looked like he could be blown away by a gust of wind.

The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist priest angrily retorted, "My disciple burned his very spiritual essence to eliminate this tiger demon, and now his foundation is damaged. Whether he can recover is still uncertain. You're standing here talking to me about the ownership of a demon's soul? Where were you, Black Three Blades, when the tiger demon tried to kill my disciple?"

Hei Sandao looked embarrassed when asked the question.

"You led more than thirty men to ambush in the dense forest, waiting for the three Maoshan disciples and the tiger demon to fight to the death."

The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist's voice grew colder and colder: "You want to wait until the tiger demon and the others are both exhausted before cleaning up the mess, hoping to reap the benefits? You haven't put in any effort, yet you want a share of the spoils? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world!"