"I'm overconfident?" Xie Shuangjun let out a laugh as if he had heard the greatest joke.
"I, a dignified fifth-rank异士, have no more than ten people who can defeat me in the seven provinces of East China. You, a mere brat, dare to say such things? You truly don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
In Xie Shuangjun's eyes, Ye Ling was just a young man in his twenties, and no matter how strong he was, he couldn't be that powerful.
Although Ye Ling held Lu Wende in his hand, Xie Shuangjun was more inclined to believe that Lu Wende had been defeated by Zhang Daoyuan, and Ye Ling had merely picked up the spoils.
Xie Shuangjun's ability to rise to the position of branch leader of the Jiangcheng branch in a wicked sect like the Ghost Gate, and to still hold sway over someone like Lu Wende, who possessed vast wealth in the secular world, meant he was not without his methods.
Xie Shuangjun immediately recognized Zhang Daoyuan as a fifth-rank 异士 and knew his strength was not to be underestimated.
As for Ye Ling, although Xie Shuangjun couldn't see through him, he still didn't take him seriously.
In this era, with the spiritual energy on Earth being scarce, fewer and fewer people were suited for cultivation. Even if someone was a cultivation genius, the resources on Earth now couldn't support such geniuses to cultivate and grow rapidly.
No matter how monstrous Ye Ling was, he could at most reach the fourth-rank cultivation.
However, it was not Xie Shuangjun's fault for having such thoughts, as he would never have imagined that Ye Ling was actually over sixty thousand years old.
At this moment, a gaunt man in his thirties, wearing a white shirt, walked out from among the guards and respectfully said to Xie Shuangjun, "Branch Leader, please leave this arrogant brat to me. Your disciple will surely rescue the Vice Branch Leader!"
Xie Shuangjun nodded upon seeing that Chen Xiuyan had volunteered, saying, "Xiuyan, you are the eldest disciple of my branch and have reached the third-rank. It is fitting for you to deal with that brat who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, so that I won't be accused of bullying the young."
In fact, Xie Shuangjun wanted to kill Ye Ling himself and feed Ye Ling's corpse to his evil spirits.
However, with Zhang Daoyuan lurking by Ye Ling's side, Xie Shuangjun had to be wary of Zhang Daoyuan and could not act rashly.
Chen Xiuyan's strength was just right for intervening at this moment.
In the Jiangcheng branch, apart from Xie Shuangjun and Lu Wende, Chen Xiuyan was the top expert.
It was a pity that Chen Xiuyan's talent was limited. Despite his diligent cultivation, he had not received appreciation from his superiors. After seven or eight years in the Ghost Gate, he was still just a branch disciple.
Even though Chen Xiuyan fed his evil spirits with living people every day, his cultivation was stuck at the peak of the third-rank, unable to break through.
Now that Lu Wende had fallen into enemy hands, as long as Chen Xiuyan rescued Lu Wende, with Lu Wende, the Vice Branch Leader, as his backer, he could soar in the Ghost Gate.
Moreover, Lu Wende was the head of the Lu family. Rescuing Lu Wende meant pleasing the Lu family, and he would also gain considerable wealth and connections in the secular world.
Chen Xiuyan's mind was racing with calculations. He walked up to Ye Ling, took out a wooden token from his pocket, and injected a faint spiritual energy into it.
A ferocious-looking evil spirit flew out of the wooden token. It had a sinister appearance, and its piercing screams made it hard to imagine what it had gone through in its life.
Chen Xiuyan summoned the evil spirit and sneered at Ye Ling, "Brat, quickly release the Vice Branch Leader, or my pet will show no mercy."
"You call this evil spirit a pet?"
Ye Ling looked at the evil spirit floating in front of Chen Xiuyan, with half its face missing, and said, "No matter which world it is, you ghost cultivators are the most disgusting.
"These spirits are controlled by scum like you and cannot be reincarnated. It's an act of kindness to help them find release.
"Don't you agree, Old Daoist Zhang?"
Suddenly hearing Ye Ling say this to him, Zhang Daoyuan trembled, knowing that Ye Ling was preparing to strike again.
Zhang Daoyuan chuckled awkwardly, "Indeed... Evil spirits are evil spirits precisely because they are infected by resentment. Many spirits did not intend to do these things.
"If young friend can help them find release, it is also a meritorious deed."
Although Zhang Daoyuan knew that Ye Ling didn't care about merit or karma, he still replied honestly.
"That's good. It's rare for me to do a good deed."
Ye Ling smiled lightly, tightened his fingers slightly, and in front of Xie Shuangjun and Chen Xiuyan, snapped Lu Wende's neck and threw him in front of Chen Xiuyan's evil spirit.
The evil spirit, as if smelling a delicacy, pounced on Lu Wende's corpse and began to devour it madly.
Chen Xiuyan: "..."
Xie Shuangjun: "..."
Chen Xiuyan and Xie Shuangjun watched in silence as the evil spirit devoured Lu Wende's corpse, unable to believe that Ye Ling had actually killed Lu Wende right in front of them!
The two were slow to react.
The Lu family, behind Lu Wende, possessed immense wealth and power in the secular world. These were also quite important to the Ghost Gate.
Even cultivators, before transcending, needed food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Moreover, the Ghost Gate was a wicked sect that couldn't operate in the open, like rats crossing the street. The sect needed funds to develop its disciples.
Lu Wende's death meant the Ghost Gate had lost its connection with the Lu family, which was an unimaginable blow to the entire Ghost Gate.
"You're courting death!"
Chen Xiuyan's expression became distorted. He gathered Yin energy in his palms and began to forcibly control the evil spirit to attack Ye Ling.
"I haven't even paid off my mortgage, and you killed my benefactor!!!"
Chen Xiuyan's face was contorted, and he was greatly stimulated, wishing he could tear Ye Ling into pieces immediately.
Looking at the charging evil spirit, Ye Ling's expression was calm. He simply raised his hand, and the resentment swirling around the charging evil spirit was instantly purified, its ferocious face becoming pure.
The next moment, tears welled up in the evil spirit's eyes. It opened its mouth and then dissipated.
Chen Xiuyan stopped in mid-air, staring blankly at the empty space ahead, his mind going blank.
What... what happened?
"Purified the evil spirit instantly?"
Xie Shuangjun's pupils also contracted. He realized he had misjudged and instinctively took two steps back.
Chen Xiuyan's evil spirit had the strength of a fourth-rank initial stage. Moreover, the evil spirit had just devoured Lu Wende's corpse, and its cultivation had increased significantly. Even a fifth-rank expert would need some effort to subdue Chen Xiuyan's evil spirit.
But Ye Ling had easily purified the evil spirit?
Xie Shuangjun didn't even know how Ye Ling had done it!
After a period of stunned silence, Chen Xiuyan finally reacted, his body trembling, and endless hatred welling up in his eyes.
"My evil spirit..."
Every Ghost Gate disciple, from the beginning of their cultivation, needed to find an evil spirit to nurture. The evil spirit would grow with the master's strength.
To obtain a powerful evil spirit, Chen Xiuyan personally tortured and killed his girlfriend, filling her with endless resentment, and finally turning her into an evil spirit for him to control.
Chen Xiuyan had put in a great deal of effort to cultivate his evil spirit, and had even been almost caught by righteous 异士s several times. He had finally managed to cultivate the evil spirit to the fourth-rank, and before he could even show it off for a few days, Ye Ling had purified and released it...
It was like working hard for most of his life, finally buying a house, only to have it destroyed by a fire before he could even move in...
In that instant, Chen Xiuyan broke down.
"You bastard, die!!!"
Chen Xiuyan roared hysterically and lunged at Ye Ling, shouting, "Yin Yuan Palm!!!"
Ye Ling looked at Chen Xiuyan calmly, raised his hand, and slapped down.
*Slap!*
A loud slap.
Chen Xiuyan flew backward.