Chapter 71: What Is Mercy?
"If you don’t try, how will you know? Isn’t there a way to send a dream?" Xiao Mo suppressed a laugh and said. Since leaving Mi Shen’s body, he had drawn in a strand of energy, allowing him to easily pull the young man out of this "banner." However, doing so would also completely destroy the Nine-Sail Ghost Banner.
Mu Lichuan had no choice. He knew Xiao Mo was doing this on purpose, though the reason remained unclear for now. But he couldn’t rely on Xiao Mo to solve every danger for him. If that was the case, he might as well try.
In his sleep, Mi Shen saw Mu Lichuan sitting in a place filled with ghosts, asking to "borrow his luck"… Though he felt inexplicably strange, remembering how Mu Lichuan had helped him before, he agreed without hesitation…
Mu Lichuan had expected it to take a long time, but just as he began, a golden energy swept into the dark space, shining directly upon him.
The young man quickly formed hand seals - all under Xiao Mo’s guidance. Otherwise, with his current Foundation Establishment level, there was no way he could escape on his own.
With a pfft, the cultivator refining the Nine-Sail Ghost Banner suddenly spat out bright red blood, his face turning deathly pale. The next moment, a young man appeared before him.
"You—" This man was a demonic cultivator, but the dragon energy in the capital was too strong, making it impossible for demonic cultivators like him to thrive. He had only stumbled upon this banner by chance and discovered it could collect ghosts and even refine shadow souls, thus beginning his cultivation journey.
"Demonic cultivator?" Mu Lichuan stared at the disheveled old man before him. Aside from his blood-red eyes, his hair was a tangled mess, and his clothes looked like they hadn’t been changed in ages, nearly blending into the darkness.
"No, you’re an unorthodox cultivator." Before the old man could speak, Mu Lichuan corrected himself. The man’s demonic energy wasn’t particularly strong; instead, his yin energy was more pronounced. At first glance, Mu Lichuan had mistaken him for a demonic cultivator, but demonic cultivators had far more terrifying auras, whereas this man’s evil energy was comparatively weaker.
[Unorthodox Cultivator (异端修者): a practitioner who uses cruel, taboo, or unorthodox methods (e.g., ghost refinement, human sacrifice) but lacks the systematic demonic lineage of a demonic cultivator]
The old man stared at the banner he had painstakingly refined, now completely destroyed, his face twisted with hatred. "Give me back my ghost banner! I’ll make you pay with your life!" As he spoke, his hands rapidly formed seals, clearly intent on killing Mu Lichuan.
Mu Lichuan casually tossed out a high-grade talisman. With a series of pops, the old man collapsed again, his hair even catching fire as he writhed on the ground, completely immobilized.
"You vile unorthodox cultivator, using such things to harm people? Killing you would be too merciful." Mu Lichuan loomed over him, his voice cold.
This was a cave, yet it had modern lightbulbs, a small bed, and even some yellow talismans—likely purchased by the old man.
"You… who are you?" The old man had been peacefully cultivating, how had he provoked a righteous cultivator out of nowhere? The young man was only at Foundation Establishment, yet the talisman he had just used was at least Golden Core level, leaving him utterly defenseless.
Mu Lichuan found the question laughable. "Who am I? You nearly refined me, and now you ask who I am?" Was he pretending to be ignorant? How could he not know?
"You’re… human? The ghost banner couldn’t possibly refine a living person!" Though his mind had dulled from cultivation, the old man understood that this likely had something to do with his enemies. But he couldn’t fathom how a living person could enter the ghost banner, and even destroy it.
Hearing this, Mu Lichuan frowned. So, even this unorthodox cultivator didn’t know what was going on? "You… weren’t the one who trapped me inside?"
The old man immediately denied it. "A cultivator as strong as you? Who would dare refine you? Fellow Daoist, spare me! I haven’t done anything wrong, and the ghost banner is already destroyed. Please, show mercy."
The old man knew he had kicked an iron plate. One wrong move, and he’d lose both his life and his cultivation. He had spent years carefully preserving his life, rarely venturing near the capital. This cave was supposed to be his secluded cultivation spot, once he refined the ultimate yin ghost, he’d have nothing to fear. But man proposes, God disposes. Now, his plans were ruined, and the cultivator before him was shockingly young.
"Spare you?" Mu Lichuan’s mind raced. Aside from his grandfather and his past life’s Mu Xiaolin, he had never interacted with other cultivators.
Seeing the hesitation on his face, the old man pressed on. "Yes! I’ll help you investigate who’s really behind this."
Right now, his body was incapacitated, unable to attack. If he could just lull the young man into lowering his guard, he might find an opportunity to strike. An unorthodox cultivator like him would never submit to anyone.
Mu Lichuan sneered, then condensed spiritual energy into a blade and stabbed it straight into the old man’s dantian. The man’s eyes widened in disbelief, he had never expected to die like this.
"I thought you’d believe him?" Xiao Mo was surprised by Mu Lichuan’s actions. After all, the boy was only fifteen. No matter how capable, he lacked experience. (Of course, Xiao Mo conveniently forgot his earlier complaints about Mu Lichuan’s low intelligence.)
"I’m not a naive child," Mu Lichuan replied flatly before ransacking the cave. The old man was pathetically poor, aside from talismans, there was almost nothing of value.
"What’s this?" The young man picked up a stone, sensing the spiritual energy within. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was a spirit stone.
"A low-grade spirit stone. In the cultivation world, these are used as currency," Xiao Mo explained softly. "For the lower realms, even having something like this counts as wealth."
Mu Lichuan found five more spirit stones and stored them all in his spatial ring. Though he knew they were useful for cultivation, he wasn’t sure about the future. He wouldn’t stay here forever—eventually, he’d have to go to other worlds.
He knew nothing about the cultivation world beyond scattered rumors. Experience would be the best teacher.
After looting the cave, Mu Lichuan prepared to leave. But staring at the dense thicket of weeds, he felt a flock of crows metaphorically flying over his head, just how long had this place been neglected?
Elsewhere, a middle-aged man watched as a lantern’s flame snuffed out. His face twisted with fury. "Who? Who dares kill my sworn brother?!"
Though they were only oath brothers, the two had relied on each other since childhood. This time, they had separated to cultivate in peace, hoping to break through their bottlenecks.
Mu Lichuan couldn’t fly on a sword or burrow through the earth, so he had no choice but to hack through the weeds step by step. He had no idea where he was—only by reaching a road could he tell whether he was still near the capital or somewhere else entirely.
"Chop after chop, chop, chop…" Mu Lichuan cheered himself on. As for Xiao Mo? The guy had vanished into his spiritual sea again the moment he escaped the spatial trap, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Despite the grueling trek, not a single drop of sweat formed on his forehead. Three days and nights later, Mu Lichuan finally descended the mountain—though by then, he looked like a wild man.
His hair was a tangled mess, his face smeared with dirt, his clothes reduced to tatters, and his shoes barely recognizable.
"I’ll have to carry spare clothes from now on," Mu Lichuan muttered, acutely aware of his wretched state. Thankfully, his wallet and cards were still intact—once he found a store, he could buy new ones.
Cars were few and far between on this road. Whenever one passed, Mu Lichuan waved, but drivers sped up as if fleeing a monster.
Frustrated, Mu Lichuan reached a fork in the road with no idea which direction to take. His phone had long since died. Escaping alive this time had taken a considerable amount of luck.
When another car approached, Mu Lichuan stepped directly into its path. The driver had no choice but to stop the car. "Trying to get yourself killed? If you want to die, don’t drag others into it!"
Mu Lichuan studied the young man’s face, his darkened brow indicated impending disaster. "Sir, could you give me a ride?"
The driver eyed Mu Lichuan warily. A lone boy in broad daylight, in the middle of nowhere? It was downright eerie. But seeing his shadow confirmed he wasn’t a ghost.
Seeing the hesitation, Mu Lichuan added, "I really just ended up here by accident. It’s hard to explain, but I promise I’ll repay you. I’m a master, you know." To prove it, he took out a peace talisman. "Here, take this."
The young man, inexplicably drawn to the boy’s clear eyes, accepted the talisman and let him into the truck.
"Sir, you’ve been having a rough time lately. Be careful," Mu Lichuan said from the passenger seat. The man was driving a cargo truck, likely transporting goods.
The driver sighed. "Yeah, no one takes this road unless they have to. Once we reach Immortal Bridge, strange things always happen."
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