11: The power of the dead, the might of the ghost arrows!

Several attack Talismans exploded, blocking Lu Can and Qian Zheng's path.

The spiritual light of the two's protective Magical Artifacts flickered wildly.

But in the end, they managed to block Su Ling's wave of attacks.

"Su Ling! I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Lu Can roared, ignoring his slightly charred body as he continuously condensed two Wind Blades and shot them at the retreating Su Ling.

With his strength at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, combined with the hastily activated armguard Magical Artifact, a single explosive flame talisman wasn't enough to make him lose his combat effectiveness.

The sense of humiliation from being blindsided by Su Ling's scheme due to his own carelessness made Lu Can fly into a rage.

Just a mere Seventh Level of Qi Refining, and he dared to defy him!

As the Wind Blades approached, Su Ling wanted to dodge, but Qian Zheng's spike Magical Artifact clung to him relentlessly.

Giving him no chance to dodge at all.

With danger imminent, Su Ling quickly threw out the corpse of a Mountain Drilling Beast.

*Ding! Ding! Ding!*

The massive Mountain Drilling Beast corpse blocked the attacks of the spike Magical Artifact and the Wind Blades almost simultaneously.

An Eighth Layer of Qi Refining Mountain Drilling Beast possessed extremely impressive defensive power in its scales.

If the Ghost Soul Arrow didn't strike the Soul directly, naturally countering Yao Beasts with high physical defense like the Mountain Drilling Beast, then let alone Su Ling, even a duo like Qian Zheng and Lu Can wouldn't choose to fight it.

The cost-effectiveness was simply too low.

The sudden appearance of the Yao Beast corpse momentarily stunned Qian Zheng and Lu Can.

The massive Mountain Drilling Beast blocked their line of sight, and taking advantage of this, Su Ling rapidly fled several dozen feet away.

Four spiritual power phantoms appeared together and lunged toward the opposite side.

With the Vajra Talisman applied to his body and the white bone bow in hand.

In the blink of an eye, Su Ling had completed all of this.

Drawing the bow and pulling the string, countless glimmers of ghostly light seemed to converge from the Void Realm.

Even though Su Ling had anticipated this, he couldn't help but feel quite surprised at this moment.

They were only a few miles from the Sect; although the white bones around them weren't as dense as at the city gate, there were still many.

The Ghost Soul Arrow used the Soul as a guide, absorbing the power of the Wandering Souls scattered around.

Some time ago, Su Ling had witnessed this ability, where it nearly killed a Bloodfang Ghost Bat comparable to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in a single shot.

Now, a power of Wandering Souls several times larger than before was frantically converging onto the Ghost Soul Arrow.

Watching Qian Zheng smash through the phantoms and appear before him, a sharp light flashed in Su Ling's eyes.

The white bone bow in his hand remained perfectly still as it continued to absorb the power of the Wandering Souls.

Meeting Su Ling's gaze, alarm bells rang loudly in Qian Zheng's heart.

The white bone bow, the ghostly light arrow, and the dots of ghostly light that continued to gather.

An extremely cold sensation transmitted through his Divine Sense.

An unprecedented crisis of life and death instantly surged into Qian Zheng's heart.

In a flash, Qian Zheng subconsciously manipulated his spike Magical Artifact to lunge frantically toward Su Ling's heart.

His shield-type protective Magical Artifact erupted with light, while his body dodged to the side.

On the other side, Lu Can, who was unfamiliar with the Phantom Shadow Technique, shattered an illusion with a sword strike and turned his head just in time to see Su Ling standing with his bow.

One breath!

The entire process took no more than the time of a single breath.

In the next moment, Su Ling was struck hard in the chest by the spike Magical Artifact and sent flying backward.

*Ding!*

Strangely, a crisp sound echoed through the area.

At the same time, Su Ling's fingers loosened, and the ready Ghost Soul Arrow shot straight toward Qian Zheng with a whoosh.

Even though Qian Zheng had already moved several feet to the side, the arrow took a turn mid-air and continued toward his chest.

He had originally hoped that his shield-type Magical Artifact could block this arrow.

However, the arrow emitting ghostly light penetrated the shield-type Magical Artifact without any resistance and sank into his chest.

Qian Zheng's movements stiffened, and the horror in his eyes froze.

His Soul had already been crushed by the violent power of the Wandering Souls.

"Qian... Senior Brother Qian?!"

Seeing Qian Zheng's frozen figure, Lu Can couldn't help but ask in a low, trembling voice.

He had also felt the terror of that arrow.

It wasn't that the spiritual power was particularly surging, but that bone-chilling cold that seemed to soak into the Soul made Lu Can tremble involuntarily.

"Cough, cough cough."

Su Ling clutched his chest with a pained expression, slowly climbed up from the ground, and drew the white bone bow once more.

However, there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

Without a doubt, the spike Magical Artifact had indeed struck his heart.

The reason Su Ling was unharmed was only that his internal organs had suffered a violent shock.

This was all thanks to the scale he had hidden over his heart beforehand.

[Low Grade Magic Treasure: jade bone armor, Component]

With Qian Zheng's Ninth Layer of Qi Refining strength, the dark spike he used was at most a mid-grade magical artifact.

Magic Treasures were the protective items of Cultivators at or above the Core Formation Stage.

Not a single person in the entire Xuanming Sect could be found who possessed a Magic Treasure during the Foundation Establishment Stage; most used only Medium Grade or High Grade Magical Artifacts.

Even if the jade bone armor scale was low on spiritual power, it was still a component of a Low Grade defensive Magic Treasure.

How could its material be breached by someone like Qian Zheng using a mere mid-grade magical artifact?

So, Su Ling was gambling when he was charging the Ghost Soul Arrow.

He was betting that the jade bone armor scale could block the attack of the spike Magical Artifact.

As it turned out, he had indeed bet correctly!

Qian Zheng's spike Magical Artifact did not kill Su Ling.

But Su Ling's Ghost Soul Arrow, carrying an unprecedented power of Wandering Souls, crushed Qian Zheng's Divine Soul in one shot.

"Senior Brother Qian?!"

Noticing Qian Zheng's blank expression and his fading eyes.

Lu Can was instantly scared out of his wits.

He's dead!

Qian Zheng, at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, had been killed in one shot by Su Ling, who was only at the Seventh Level of Qi Refining!

Boundless fear surged into his heart.

Seeing Su Ling draw his bow, and that Soul-snatching ghostly light brighten once more.

Lu Can let out a terrified scream and fled recklessly toward the Sect, "Elder, save me!"

He wished he could fly to the Sect entrance immediately.

Only one thought remained in his mind: at this moment, perhaps only a Core Formation Deacon Elder could save his life!

Unfortunately, in all his time Cultivating, Lu Can had never trained in any movement techniques.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

From the speed at which the power of Wandering Souls condensed, it was clear that the previous arrow had consumed most of the remaining power of Wandering Souls in the vicinity.

To ensure he could kill Lu Can in one shot, Su Ling charged this Ghost Soul Arrow for a full three breaths.

*Whoosh!*

The Ghost Soul Arrow let out a Soul-snatching screech and sank into the back of the frantically fleeing Lu Can.

In the next instant, he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Although he believed that with the power of the Ghost Soul Arrow, Qian Zheng and Lu Can were thoroughly dead.

But to be safe, Su Ling still shot two sharp arrows, piercing through their skulls.

Without any hesitation, he quickly put the two Magical Artifacts—the spike and the armguard—along with the Mountain Drilling Beast corpse into his Storage Pouch.

Then, grabbing the two corpses, he activated the Flowing Wind Technique and Phantom Shadow Technique, turning and sprinting madly back the way he came... A moment later, a powerful Divine Sense swept across the area, and a human puppet crashed onto the ground.

"Hmm? Soul Refining Spells... could it be a newly recruited Disciple of some Junior Martial Uncle?"

Scanning the two small pools of blood in the dust, a stiff, cruel smile appeared on the human puppet's lips. "The battlefield was cleaned up well enough, but it's still a bit amateurish."

Surging Divine Sense poured out, but after several breaths, a hint of doubt flashed in the human puppet's dull eyes.

"Nothing?"

"Hehe, interesting, truly interesting."

The human puppet stiffly turned its head, looking toward the shadowy forest in the distance.

The residual spiritual power fluctuations here showed it was just internal strife among a few Qi Refinement Stage Disciples.

But with his Core Formation Stage Divine Sense power, he actually failed to discover the other party's tracks.

The little fellow's methods and potential have truly exceeded his expectations.

However, the person behind the human puppet didn't care too much.

Sect Disciples without any tricks would have been devoured long ago.

How would they dare to kill their fellow Sect members here and even destroy the evidence?

Furthermore, Soul Refining Spells belong to the orthodox heritage of the Xuanming Sect.

Aside from True Disciples at or above the Core Formation Stage, only those Disciples valued by a Nascent Soul Elder could possibly be taught them.

Although the Xuanming Sect is a Demonic Path Sect, it still pays attention to worldly wisdom and social relations.

It is not convenient to delve deeper into this matter.

With a playful smile, the human puppet took to the air again and flew toward the Sect.