The small black flag instantly grew larger, transforming into a half-meter-high banner that fluttered without wind, emitting a howling sound.
Immediately afterwards, the blood-stained flag began to release bursts of black mist, within which were countless ghostly figures!
It turns out that the old man had transformed all the souls in the cemetery into evil spirits for the Hundred Ghost Banner!
He set up a Yin-gathering array, leading his clansmen to establish rules for burying their ancestors in the ancestral graves. He transformed the corpses of the dead into zombies and the souls of the dead into evil spirits. Most of these people were related to him by blood, so their resentment was naturally stronger and their attack power was greater. He bound them to the Hundred Ghost Banner, making them his most powerful weapon.
And his carefully selected strong body will one day perfectly match his soul through bloodline.
His wishful thinking ultimately harmed the entire clan.
Xu Zifan's face was icy cold. He unfurled his Xuan Iron Fan and flew into the black mist. Each swing severely injured a demon, and another slash annihilated its soul. These demons had been refined into puppets, devoid of their minds, and there was no possibility of salvation; they could only be destroyed!
Jiang Tianxin couldn't see the black mist or the evil spirits; she only felt a chilling coldness. Looking at Xu Zifan's actions, it wasn't hard to guess the meaning of the Hundred Ghosts Banner. She remembered Xu Zifan saying that twin swords were incredibly effective against evil spirits, so she immediately slashed down a zombie and turned to wield her twin swords with impenetrable speed. The black cat, its fur standing on end, also engaged several evil spirits, scratching and biting, growing stronger with each battle.
The third uncle's confident expression shattered as he watched the two people and the cat frantically slaughtering his evil spirits. His heart was breaking, and he suddenly swung his sword to stab the weakest of them, Jiang Tianxin!
Just then, a zombie came right in front of Jiang Tianxin. She hurriedly slashed at it, narrowly dodging her third uncle's soft sword. The sword grazed her armor, leaving no mark.
Third Uncle was stunned for a moment, then his face instantly turned greedy. "What kind of treasure is this? Who are you? Speak! Who sent you to deal with me by bringing these magical treasures?!"
Jiang Tianxin snorted coldly, advancing instead of retreating, raising her twin swords above her head and forcefully slashing down at her third uncle's head! Her third uncle blocked with his sword, feeling the soft blade tremble slightly, as if a divine weapon had encountered an ancient divine weapon and felt fear. He was greatly shocked, and struck Jiang Tianxin with his palm, but his hand was violently knocked back several meters when it landed on her armor.
The Third Uncle was overjoyed. This girl was a treasure from head to toe, an ancient magical artifact he had never seen before in his life. If he could obtain it, wouldn't he be invincible in the world of metaphysics?
Just as Third Uncle was about to attack, Xu Zifan had already flown over, grabbed Jiang Tianxin's shoulder, and casually tossed her into the black mist. "First destroy the evil spirits, then destroy the Hundred Ghost Banner. Black Cat, go too. This is a good opportunity for you to accumulate merit."
The man and the cat responded loudly, and with renewed vigor, they fought bravely in the black mist. Seeing more and more zombies leaping towards them, Jiang Tianxin shouted, "Black Cat, lure the evil spirits outside the formation!"
The zombies cannot escape the binding formation. They can not only kill evil spirits at the edge of the formation, but also occasionally kill a zombie.
The black cat ran behind Jiang Tianxin and stood back to back with her. At this moment, it didn't care that she had a lot of yang energy, which would make it easier for them to kill enemies.
Seeing that they were basically safe, Xu Zifan had no more scruples. He threw out his black iron fan, which spun rapidly and slashed at the neck of his third uncle. The third uncle hurriedly tried to block it, but Xu Zifan then had two bronze hammers with chains in his hands. He swung them up and down, attacking the third uncle's face and groin at the same time.
Third Uncle swung his sword to block the hammer blow from below, and with his other hand, he quickly pulled out a protective mirror to shield himself. The hammer slammed heavily onto the mirror, and Third Uncle narrowly escaped death, but the mirror shattered instantly, clearly a one-time use defensive magic item. Meanwhile, his soft sword became entangled in the chains of the hammer, which Xu Zifan pulled hard, simultaneously throwing out his Xuan Iron Fan.
To avoid the Xuan Tie Fan, Third Uncle had no choice but to let go and drop his soft sword. He angrily cursed, "We have no grudge against each other, why are you trying to kill me? Who sent you? Was it Changsheng?"
Xu Zifan paused, tossed the soft sword into his spatial storage, and struck again with his hammer, taking the opportunity to probe for information, "Do you still remember the Old Daoist Changsheng?"
After asking so many questions, Third Uncle finally got this one response, and since Xu Zifan had essentially admitted his guess, he was furious. He pulled out talismans from his side pockets and threw them at Xu Zifan, cursing, "That old man Changsheng is utterly shameless! We agreed to a fair fight, with no interference between us, yet he dared to send you to ambush me! Does he know I'm about to achieve great things and become immortal before him? You even took my treasure! Are you so eager to snatch the bet because you think I'll lose today?!"
Third Uncle sneered, "He underestimates me too much. Since you dare to come, then leave your lives behind. I should thank him for sending me such a perfect body! Hahahaha—"
Third Uncle retreated to a grave and slammed his palm on the ground. A spirit-trapping array appeared around Xu Zifan, from which no living being could escape.
But just as he was about to attack Xu Zifan fiercely, he saw Xu Zifan smash the array's core with a heavy hammer, shattering it into pieces and instantly destroying the array.
Third Uncle's expression turned to astonishment. "How is that possible? The old man's array formations are utterly incompetent. You're not his disciple, so who are you?"
Xu Zifan had already gotten the information out of the old man: he wanted to compete with the Immortal Daoist to see who could achieve immortality first, and whoever won would receive all of the other's treasures. Naturally, he had no interest in responding further and silently swung his twin hammers at the old man. His Xuan Tie Fan, in perfect harmony with Xu Zifan's will, circled around the old man again and again, attacking him and shooting out poisonous needles, slashing him whenever it found an opening. In no time, the old man was covered in blood and looked utterly wretched.
Third Uncle gritted his teeth, blew his silver whistle, and commanded all the zombies besieged Xu Zifan, finally giving him a brief respite. He had intended to protect the zombies as much as possible so that he could command them when he became the Zombie King, but seeing Xu Zifan acquiring magical artifacts one by one, he was already overwhelmed and had to use them, even at the cost of losing zombies.
Uncle San was breathing heavily, squinting at Xu Zifan. He searched Xu Zifan's entire body but couldn't find anywhere to hide anything. His soft sword was gone, and he had suddenly produced two large hammers; he must possess a powerful treasure for storing things. These were wondrous treasures only recorded in ancient books, yet they actually existed in this world!
Third Uncle stared greedily at Xu Zifan and Jiang Tianxin, then suddenly made up his mind and ran to the grave in the center of the formation. He tore off the sealing talisman on the back of the tombstone, and the strongest zombie inside instantly broke out of the coffin, landing in front of him at Third Uncle's silver whistle command. Third Uncle sneered and flew away with the zombie.
Xu Zifan figured that the old man had brought out his most important zombies, and that he had probably revealed most of his trump cards. He immediately took out a dozen immobilization talismans he had drawn that afternoon and slapped one on the forehead of each zombie. All the zombies immediately froze. He quietly followed behind the old man, and with the concealment talisman, the old man was completely unaware.
They followed him all the way to the cave he had seen in the clip. Xu Zifan had taken precautions for Jiang Tianxin and kept her away from the old man, so the old man probably wouldn't have a chance to capture her. The situation in the clip had changed.
Now that the old man wants to be resurrected and has come to this cave, this must be his last stronghold.
He heard the old man muttering incantations, summoning the Hundred Ghost Banner back to protect him. He then took out an array plate and pressed it to the ground, instantly creating a high-level spirit-trapping array around the cave. He added a few spirit stones, creating a zombie-binding array outside the spirit-trapping array. Neither the old man nor the zombie could escape unless they could break his array.
However, his mastery of formations is among the best in the cultivation world, and even the old man with his cultivation level probably couldn't see through it.
Third Uncle realized he was trapped and ran to the cave entrance, only to find Xu Zifan there. He was both shocked and furious. He couldn't understand how Xu Zifan could escape so quickly from being surrounded by dozens of zombies, and he couldn't figure out where Xu Zifan had learned such an advanced formation. He couldn't see through the formation's core and was completely unable to break it.
Fortunately, he managed to summon the Hundred Demon Banner back.
He unleashed the Hundred Ghosts Banner to deal with Xu Zifan, then hid in the cave, sat cross-legged beside the zombie, and began to transfer his soul. This was not a suitable time for such a transfer, but he had no other choice.
In his youth, he was ambushed while fighting against the immortal Taoist, and could no longer maintain his youthful appearance. His body had aged, and he had been struggling to hold on for so long, suffering considerable injuries. He was no longer able to continue fighting and was now trapped here, so he could only give it a try.
Xu Zifan had seen sects that practiced corpse refining in the cultivation world, and he had even wiped out the more powerful ones. The most powerful zombie here had only been nurtured for ten years and was not worth fearing. Therefore, he did not interrupt the old man at all, and he did not even move the evil ghosts that pounced on him. He just kept dodging.
After a short wait, a frantic cry rang out, "Master! Master, where are you?"
He saw Jiang Tianxin rushing over, smiled as he emerged from the black mist, closed his Xuan Iron Fan, and put his hands behind his back, saying, "It's up to you now. Practice well."
Jiang Tianxin breathed a sigh of relief, quickly looked him over, and saw that he was spotless and looked completely unharmed. She then ran to the chilly area and began to wield her twin swords.
She was just slaying evil spirits when the Hundred Ghosts Banner suddenly rolled up and flew away. She quickly instructed the black cat to deal with the zombies from the air, and then she hurriedly ran after the direction of the Hundred Ghosts Banner, afraid that Xu Zifan was in danger.
Looking back now, it was all for nothing. My master is so cunning and shrewd, how could anything possibly happen to him?
Xu Zifan watched leisurely from the sidelines with his hands behind his back, occasionally offering pointers, telling Jiang Tianxin not to just focus on using the twin swords, but also to practice exorcism magic. He even taught Jiang Tianxin two exorcism methods on the spot, letting her practice on the old man's evil spirits.
The third uncle heard their conversation clearly from inside the cave. The sound of the evil spirits crying and being destroyed disturbed his mind. When he performed the ritual, his brows were furrowed and his forehead was covered with sweat.
Xu Zifan instructed Shao Hua to keep an eye on the old man, and when he saw that the time was right, he grinned wickedly and said, "I'll teach you how to destroy the Hundred Ghost Banner!"
Third Uncle opened his eyes instantly, and for the first time, a look of terror appeared on his face.
The next second, Xu Zifan darted behind Jiang Tianxin, grabbed her hands, and together they slashed at the Hundred Ghost Banner. He channeled his spiritual energy, unleashing a spell; the moment his twin blades struck the banner, it shattered into countless fragments. Meanwhile, his Xuan Iron Fan spun rapidly around them, quickly eliminating any fleeing evil spirits.
Third Uncle felt a sudden tightness in his chest and coughed up a mouthful of blood!
That was his natal magic weapon! Those two brats deserve to die a thousand deaths!!