Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 34 Even a Soft Rice Can Be Eaten Hard
To be honest, Chen Ye doesn't want to see his colleagues.

Good people always hope that everyone in the world is good, and bad people think the same way.

If everyone were a gentleman, and I were the only hypocrite, life would be so much more comfortable.

But it was just a beautiful fantasy. There are always countless evil people in the world, and Chen Ye has now encountered one.

Chen Ye asked the Myriad Soul Banner, "Master, how do you break this charm spell again?"

Chen Ye's cultivation time was ultimately too short; he hadn't really studied this charm technique in detail. Although both affect the soul, their principles are different from the Myriad Soul Banner.

Mo Ci's face appeared on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. He carefully observed the scarred man and then said, "What a vicious method. This bewitching technique seems to be an incomplete version. It is extremely harmful to people. Those who are affected by the technique will lose at least thirty years of their lifespan."

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Master, I asked about the solution. Why are you concerned about other people's lives and deaths?"

Mo Ci said helplessly, "As I said, this charm technique is an incomplete version, probably figured out by himself, so it is extremely damaged... Therefore, I don't know how to unravel it."

Chen Ye: ...

This master is always useless at crucial moments. It's really embarrassing for a centuries-old demon.

Helpless, Chen Ye could only figure it out on his own.

Amid the scarred man's hoarse screams, Chen Ye worked for quite some time, but ultimately failed to figure out how to break the charm spell.

But it's not a big problem, because the charm spell was eventually dispelled.

Because the torment of the Thorn Hell caused the scarred man endless pain, under such extreme stimulation, the shackles of the charm spell were broken by his own will.

Should we say he has a strong will or a weak will?
Chen Ye didn't know how to evaluate it.

However, it's always a good thing that the charm has been broken. The scarred man, who was just moments ago so proud and unyielding, was now crying like a newly castrated wild dog, only able to whimper for mercy.

Now it's just a matter of answering whatever is asked.

The so-called number one handsome man in the martial arts world was just a figure who had emerged in recent years. Upon learning that this scarred man was a notorious bandit in the surrounding area, known for his ruthlessness, he went to ask for an audience.

The scarred man had met him once, and somehow he had fallen for Young Master Jiang's "good looks" and become Young Master Jiang's loyal dog.

He was still committing the same evil deeds of robbery, murder, and arson, only now all the profits went into the hands of this Young Master Jiang. He outwardly pretended to have seen the light, claiming he was influenced by Jiang Shiyue and would henceforth become a good person.

This young master Jiang also made a name for himself in the martial arts world by "reforming evildoers". Coupled with his charm, he earned the title of the most handsome man in the martial arts world.

Originally, this group of people were thousands of miles away, but for some reason, Young Master Jiang suddenly decided to come to Cui County.

Upon arriving in this place, he colluded with the county magistrate, and his underlings were sent to Hengdao Inn, where he wove a trap to lure and kill those who were truly chivalrous.

Chen Ye repeatedly asked other people and got roughly the same results.

The other martial arts figures were in a similar situation. They were already wicked and deeply sinful people, but after being bewitched by Jiang Shiyue, they became people who did evil for him.

Seeing him weeping and repenting, Chen Ye figured that he knew he was going to die and therefore had not disappointed him.

Once the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls is drawn back, the most heinous souls are collected into it.

Originally, he wanted to find someone who didn't deserve to die to send out a messenger, but after interrogation, he found that none of them were worthy of Chen Ye's leniency.

Even though the waiters at Hengdao Inn weren't bewitched by Jiang Shiyue, they all looked like they'd rather have a quick death under the torment of the Thorn Hell.

The pain of this thorny hell is related to sin; if one commits fewer sins, one will not suffer a fate worse than death.

This is understandable, after all, Hengdao Inn is a black shop that cooperates with corrupt officials. If you want to work here, you have to show your loyalty. Naturally, they are all people who deserve to die.

Chen Ye could only lament, "The quality of this generation of martial arts practitioners is simply too low."

Although the interrogation process went relatively smoothly, Chen Ye did not obtain much useful information.

These martial arts practitioners are nothing more than puppets controlled by demonic cultivators. They could not possibly know the truth. The only information that could be considered intelligence is that Young Master Jiang has only been in Cui County for a couple of days.

No wonder Su Chunyi couldn't find this Young Master Jiang after so many days of investigation; he wasn't even here before.

"Now that the demon has revealed himself, what do you plan to do? Wait for Su Chun to return, and then borrow her sword to slay this demon?"

Mo Ci's voice came from the white banner.

Just now, when Chen Ye was interrogating Mo Ci, he seemed to be asleep and remained motionless, but now he suddenly spoke.

Chen Ye asked doubtfully, "Master, are you afraid I won't be able to win?"

Mo Ci reminded him, "This demon's cultivation level should be higher than yours."

Although they had never met, the bewitching technique was not easy to execute. Chen Ye's cultivation level was currently at the bottom of the cultivation world, and he was probably inferior to that demon.

Chen Ye understood this principle, but he shook his head and said, "To be on the safe side, we should indeed wait for Miss Su to return before dealing with it slowly. But I have already alerted him. I think that Young Master Jiang will soon find out that his puppet has been killed. Even if I don't cause him trouble, he won't let me off the hook."

Mo Ci asked, "You little rascal, what kind of wicked idea do you have now?" "Master, formations are very useful. In the cultivation world, the weak often win against the strong by setting up formations in advance. I heard that back then, even the Demon Lord who was at the Dao Integration Realm was killed by a cultivator two realms lower in cultivation using a formation."

Mo Ci sneered, "It is true, but in order to kill a Demon Lord in the Dao Integration Realm, three Void Returning Realm cultivators, eighteen Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and thousands of cultivators above the Profound Realm died. Moreover, all of them had to be fearless and lay the foundation for the formation with their flesh and blood and their life's cultivation, and then be presided over by a true formation master, in order to seize the only opportunity. You kid, don't be delusional."

Mo Ci was referring to Wu Jiu, the Demon Lord, who was ranked second among the eighteen Demon Lords and was also the first to die a violent death.

This was the first counterattack by the righteous path. Not only was the cover-up done very secretly, but a grand show was also arranged so that the five remaining leaders of the righteous path appeared in another place, ensuring that they had no chance to take action.

The Demon Lord is dead, and the leaders of the righteous sects have alibis. So who is the murderer?

The eighteen demon lords harbored considerable hatred for each other.

The death of Demon Lord Wujiu sparked mutual suspicion among the powerful figures of the Demonic Sect, and old grudges that had been temporarily shelved were unearthed again. At first, it was just a quarrel, but soon someone thought of "striking first".

Then came the internal strife within the Demonic Sect, which even shattered the heavens.

Once the Demon Lords fell one after another, the favorable situation began to reverse.

The big and small villains all knew they had been tricked, but they were powerless to stop it. They were all selfish, self-serving, and suspicious of each other; even knowing they were wrong, they would only perpetuate the mistake.

You just killed my disciple and stole my sect's most precious treasure. Now you're telling me to stop?

Why are people unwilling to spit out the benefits they've already ingested?
Then you might as well just die.

It can be said that the death of Demon Lord Wujiu was the first brick in the collapse of the Demonic Sect. Ironically, the body of Demon Lord Wujiu has not yet been completely extinguished, and is now sealed in a forbidden area called Green Coffin Mountain, suppressed by the Incense Burning Sect, one of the five major righteous sects.

The first Demon Lord to die survived, though it was no different from being dead. Compared to those Demon Lords who vanished without a trace, Wujiu Demon Lord was the luckiest.

However legendary the story may be, it has nothing to do with Chen Ye.

Mo Ci reminded him, "Array formations can indeed allow cultivators to overcome stronger opponents, but setting up powerful array formations not only takes time, but also requires many rare and precious materials. Where are you going to find them?"

Chen Ye said, "Master, don't discourage us. This Young Master Jiang we're dealing with isn't the Demon Lord. Besides, what's wrong with giving it a try? Do you think I won't be hunted down if I do nothing?"

Mo Ci asked, "What kind of formation are you planning to set up?"

Chen Ye asked, "Although the Bitter Monk's soul is weak, he is still at the Transcendent Realm. Do you think that if he were to detonate his entire body's essence and blood, he could kill someone at the Transcendent Realm?"

Mo Ci shook his head and said, "Impossible, absolutely impossible. He is so weak now that even his soul is incomplete, and he doesn't even have a physical body. What can he possibly do? At most, he can only fart silently in someone's face."

"He's missing a physical body, we'll find him one."

Chen Ye looked at the martial arts practitioners he had just killed. They were all strong and healthy, with excellent physical bodies. To demonic cultivators, these were all valuable assets.

Mo Ci exclaimed in shock, "Are you out of your mind? What makes you think you can do this? Can you even control him? What makes you think you can make a Transcendent Realm cultivator commit suicide?"

Chen Ye laughed and said, "Why not give it a try? If we're going to do it, we might as well be decisive."

Mo Ci thought about it. Now that the monk Ku'e was powerless to resist, given the boy's research on the soul, it wasn't entirely impossible.

But there is another crucial point to this matter.

“You unfilial disciple, you may not have that much time to prepare.”

Chen Ye did not refute this; it was indeed the biggest problem. Whether it was refining a physical body to control the Bitter Monk or setting up an array, both would require a great deal of time.

But news of the vandalism at Hengdao Inn has probably already spread, and who knows if the other party has any means of tracking them down.

Chen Ye said, "Let's take a gamble. I don't know if that demon has any advanced escape techniques. Even if I run away with all my might now, I might not be able to escape. It's better to use the formation to save our lives. If all else fails, I still have a sword talisman, which can save my life in a critical moment."

"Moreover, I have a way to delay things a bit."

After Chen Ye finished speaking, he waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, collecting all the remaining Yin energy into it, ensuring that not a single wisp of remnant soul could escape.

Then he lightly patted the sword box on his back, and several sword lights flew out, carving a line of large characters under Chen Ye's control: "Chen Ye, an outer disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect, has captured the villain here. Those who wish to seek revenge, settle your scores at the nameless lonely peak a hundred miles south of the city at dusk seven days later."

After leaving behind sword marks and inscriptions, Chen Ye hung the jade plaque given to him by Su Chunyi in a conspicuous place.

Seeing Chen Ye's actions, Mo Ci exclaimed in surprise, "This jade pendant is genuine! You're using it to deceive people?"

Chen Ye replied, "If we're going to put on an act, we have to go all the way. Otherwise, how can we fool the devil? Besides, when we see Miss Su again, we can just ask her for another piece."

Mo Ci retorted, "Easy for you to say. You're killing people to refine souls and preparing to refine corpses—all of these are demonic methods. Aren't you afraid that if your Miss Su finds out, she'll chop off your head?"

Chen Ye said calmly, "Master, I have my own principles. Those who commit heinous crimes deserve no pity and can be killed without consequence. Although the Qinghe Sword Sect holds a high position, I am also a cultivator and do not need to be so humble. Besides, Miss Su is asking for my help now, so why should I lower myself and be subservient?"

Mo Ci: ...

She's shameless to be so shameless as to live off a woman.

(End of this chapter)