Mo Jian moved swiftly between the trees and shrubs. His steps were as light as feathers while the strong wind blew heavily against his ears.
He held his breath, his sharp gaze moving quickly. With a hand on the hilt of his sword, he stood on a tree branch and looked into the distance.
In the distance, hundreds of vengeful spirits had gathered, letting out eerie cries.
"I can't avoid them..." he muttered and unsheathed his sword.
He jumped down from the tree branch without making a sound and dashed toward the vengeful wisps.
Before he could reach the vengeful spirits, he was discovered. Quickly, the vengeful wisps floated toward him, letting out an ear-piercing wail.
Besides, the temperature dropped drastically.
A sharp cold bit into his skin.
Looking at the blue, vengeful wisps, Mo Jian tightened his grip on his sword. To say he was not afraid would be a lie, but he had already made up his mind.
"Thunderstrike Slash!" He swung his sword in an arc.
A faint phantom of thunder appeared and struck the incoming vengeful wisps.
The vengeful wisps trembled and wailed in agony. Most of them dissolved into smoke.
Furious, they pounced on Mo Jian from all sides. However, the first fight had boosted Mo Jian's confidence.
Without hesitation, he moved closer and swung his sword. With each strike, the essence of the Thunderstrike Slash was on full display.
The vengeful wisps desperately tried to weaken Mo Jian's soul, but each strike severed them in two.
Quickly, they attempted to escape after realizing their target was powerful, but how could Mo Jian allow that?
He closed the distance and finished off the remaining wisps.
Looking at the now-quiet forest, Mo Jian took a deep breath.
A smile crept up his face.
"Now, I don't have to fear the vengeful wisps."
As the adrenaline wore off, he recovered and headed deeper into the Vengeful Wisp zone.
Along the way, he encountered hundreds of vengeful wisps, but he disposed of them easily. With each battle, he refined his fighting style.
After killing the last vengeful wisp he encountered, he arrived at an abandoned village. Staring ahead, he saw thousands of vengeful wisps lurking within.
"This is going to be difficult," he muttered.
His destination lay beyond the village, and there was no way around it. Taking a deep breath, he dashed toward the village.
With swift steps, he jumped over the wooden fence.
Mo Jian was stunned. Standing a couple of feet from him was a horde of vengeful wisps.
Noticing the intruder, they let out eerie cries that made Mo Jian's hair stand on end.
"Shit!" He cursed and unsheathed his sword, sidestepping to evade a wisp's claw.
The wisp took the form of an old man weeping.
Realizing its first attempt had failed, it blinked and appeared before Mo Jian, ready to feast on its prey.
Mo Jian's sword cleaved the vengeful wisp in two. In a smooth motion, he evaded the incoming horde and struck again.
In a blink, his sword moved dozens of times, cutting down one vengeful wisp after another.
However, the vengeful wisps kept coming, trying to overwhelm him with their sheer numbers.
"Flowing River Fist Strike!"
Ducking to the left, he threw a powerful punch, shattering a vengeful wisp into pieces. But that didn't make him lower his guard.
He was surrounded by vengeful spirits. Looking at them, his fighting spirit burned.
He dashed forward, hacking down one wisp after another. Before long, his forehead was covered in beads of sweat.
He panted heavily and raised his head. A short distance away, another horde of vengeful wisps was rushing toward him.
"I need to escape," he muttered.
Without hesitation, he jumped onto the nearest building and fled at his fastest speed.
'When I return to the sect, I need to learn movement skills,' he thought as he escaped.
After fleeing the village, he arrived at his destination without encountering any more vengeful wisps.
It was a hill covered in shrubs and vines, but all of them had withered under the extreme yin energy.
Quickly, he searched the hill for the Ember Flame. Unfortunately, after searching for half an hour, he failed to find it.
Shaking his head in disappointment, he left the hill.
"My next destination should be north," he mused and dashed toward it.
As he got closer, he noticed that there were fewer vengeful wisps, which made him frown.
Just then, he heard the sounds of battle. Frowning, he turned his head in the direction of the fight.
"Should I check it out?" he contemplated.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he headed toward the battle. After moving for ten minutes, he arrived closer to the battlefield.
"Zou Mei?" He widened his eyes in shock.
Zou Mei was fighting a Restless Phantom. Compared to the vengeful wisps, the Restless Phantom appeared lifeless, emanating a strong yin energy.
Apart from that, Mo Jian could hear various whispers. He shuddered and shook his head, frightened.
While Mo Jian was unsettled by the Restless Phantom's ability, Zou Mei suddenly felt a gaze on her. She turned in his direction.
Under the cover of night and with Mo Jian's dark costume, it was difficult for her to make out his face.
She snorted and raised her guard as she continued battling.
As for Mo Jian, he retreated. With his current strength, he didn't want to meddle with such a powerful spirit.
He headed deeper into the forest, killing every vengeful spirit along his path. And when they became too much for him, he escaped immediately.
Unbeknownst to him, he had journeyed deeper into the vengeful spirit zone. He had long left all the elders and disciples behind.
Suddenly, a male inner disciple jumped in front of him.
Startled, Mo Jian quickly unsheathed his sword, ready to cut down his enemy. But when he noticed the Dust Valley inner robe on the figure, he halted.
He frowned slightly and asked, "Why did you do that? You scared the hell out of me."
"Kekeke... S-Sorry...." The inner disciple grinned.
Mo Jian squinted when he heard the inner disciple's voice.
'Why does it sound so strange?'
Still, he asked, "What are you doing all alone? And what happened to you?"
"I-I..." The disciple paused for a moment before adding, "I...I'm lost. Can... y-you take me back?"
Mo Jian did not respond.
His nerves were tense as he glared at the inner disciple.
Without uttering a word, he swung his sword.
"Thunderstrike Slash!"
Like roaring thunder, his sword struck the inner disciple and cut him in two.
A vengeful spirit burst out of the inner disciple's body— a Restless Phantom.
Looking at it, Mo Jian felt every hair on his body stand on end. Cold sweat drenched his back.
He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his sword. He knew this would be a life-or-death battle.
"Kekeke..." The Restless Phantom laughed eerily.
AN: Can we get 100 power stones and 2 golden tickets before this week runs out?