Fellow Daoist Entrusts His Child: Immortality Begins with Nurturing a Demoness

Chapter 22 A Girl's Rebellious Phase? Soul Collection

"Let's take one last look."

Two days later, at the county magistrate's residence, Luo Fanchen gently patted the back of Mo Xue's head. The girl pouted and turned her head away, her almond eyes showing no trace of affection.

He had gathered all the available resources and left a short letter detailing how the county magistrate had fallen into demonic possession and rid the people of harm.

The Qinghe Sect will send people to investigate later, which will provide an explanation.

"Let's go."

Luo Fanchen shook his head, made a spell, and shot out several balls of fire magic, burning the county government building to the ground.

The yamen runners were thrown into chaos, and the sounds of running water and screams filled the air. Taking advantage of the confusion, Luo Fanchen led Mo Xue away, their figures engulfed in flames and extinguished by the water.

On the way, Mo Xue lowered her eyes and slumped her shoulders.

Luo Fanchen would occasionally strike up a conversation, and the girl would simply nod slightly or reply with a simple "Mm".

Although well-behaved, there's a subtle sense of unease, as if wanting to distance oneself yet unable to let go.

Neither take the initiative nor refuse?
it's wired.
Luo Fanchen pursed his lips and pondered, unaware that there was anything wrong with his actions, and Mo Xue's admiration level was generally on the rise.

After all, it is my hometown where I have lived for more than ten years. It is normal to feel reluctant to leave now, as I may not be able to return for decades.
He failed to notice the complex look in the girl's eyes as she glanced at the soul banner.

"Master Luo."

As Luo Fanchen was pondering, Ling Moxue gently tugged at his sleeve and swayed it.

He looked down at Mo Xue. The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she hesitated for a moment before timidly saying, "I want to go back to the old Ling family residence."

"Okay, I'll take you there."

Luo Fanchen naturally wouldn't refuse. He led the girl and used the smoke and cloud escape technique to travel swiftly, soon appearing inside the Ling family mansion.

With a faint scent of blood still lingering around his nose, Luo Fanchen had expected Mo Xue to revisit the place, but the girl's face was cold. She mimicked his gestures, making hand seals and chanting incessantly, until a fireball condensed in front of her.

Fire spell?
He never taught Mo Xue, but Ling Youdao must have left behind some basic cultivation manuals in the county government. Presumably, the girl was self-taught and was indeed a born cultivator.

Amidst the blazing flames, Ling Moxue's pretty face remained calm.

After nearly two months of nourishing her with true essence, her skin became moist and fair, and she also showed signs of secondary growth. She had a delicate and charming appearance, like a girl from a humble family.

"Uncle Luo."

"how?"

"It's nothing. Take me with you."

Ling Moxue hesitated, her gaze lingering on a corner near the stables of the mansion.

There was a simple, cramped wooden hut, which held more than ten years of painful memories for her and was her only place to live.

In the vast darkness, a haven for self-numbing.

But now, she no longer needs that humble sense of security; where Master Luo and Qiu Yun are, is where she feels at peace.

They traveled in silence. Yanyun City was tens of thousands of miles away from Feiyun Workshop, and it would take more than a month to fly there using the Spirit Control Talisman.

Luo Fanchen was reluctant to part with so many talismans, nor did he want to waste his precious true essence, so the Soul Banner was put to use for the first time.

"I can take Master Luo and my sister flying through the air."

Under the scorching sun, Ling Qiuyun's jade feet floated in the air, and the soul banner on her head moved without wind, blocking out the sunlight so that she could appear in broad daylight.

She volunteered, her pretty face beaming with joy, happy that she could be of any use.

Qiu Yun made hand seals and chanted incantations, and her soul transformed into a stream of light that entered the banner. Instantly, a strong yin wind arose, and the soul banner expanded a hundredfold, transforming into a dark leather blanket.

Black and red blood clouds rose beneath Luo Fanchen's feet, quickly enveloping him and Mo Xue, then swirling around the soul banner and slowly ascending into the sky.

The surface of the Soul Banner is cold, and the black mist moves through the wind, making it feel comfortable. Moreover, the yin wind has its own illusion array effect, making it highly concealed.

It is a hundred times better than the Spirit Control Talisman, and its speed is three times that of the Spirit Control Talisman.

"Qiuyun is truly amazing."

Luo Fanchen clicked his tongue in amazement; even an ordinary first-grade low-level flying magic weapon was worth no less than ten spirit stones.

The Soul Banner is slightly superior to other flying magical artifacts of the same level in terms of air travel. In addition, he does not need to be distracted by controlling it. With Qiu Yun around, he can even take this opportunity to rest or practice breathing exercises.

If enough souls can be captured in the future, and the spirit-gathering array on the surface of the soul banner can be activated, the speed of flight and cultivation efficiency can be improved.

Of course, this is not without its drawbacks.

The Soul Banner has no souls to feed Qiu Yun, so tonight the young girl will probably have to sneak into his bed again.

As night deepened, the campfire rose, casting a hazy, dim light. Thanks to the Soul Banner, a day's journey could now cover the distance of three days.

Inside the cave, Mo Xue continued her cultivation until late into the night. Exhausted, she ate a midnight snack and fell asleep fully clothed. Luo Fanchen took the initiative to keep watch.

"This girl is a real quiet type."

Luo Fanchen raised an eyebrow slightly. Mo Xue maintained a subtle distance from him, occasionally hugging his arm and then letting go with a soft whimper.

The girl hardly spoke to him on the way, which puzzled Luo Fanchen, who thought that a woman's heart was like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

The evening breeze was slightly cool. Luo Fanchen wrapped himself tightly in the fur coat, feeling inexplicably chilly, and the fur coat began to move on its own.

After fiddling around for a while, a little head timidly peeked out, its autumn-like eyes blinking gently, its chin resting on his chest, its breath hot.

Her pretty face was flushed with peach pink, and her slightly pursed lips revealed tender red teeth marks as she spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

"Uncle Luo Luo, I'm sorry, I can't go on."

"Hey, just bear with it a little longer, Mo Xue just fell asleep."

Luo Fanchen was slightly taken aback. He gently pressed his palm against the girl's forehead, glancing guiltily at Mo Xue, who had her back to him and was breathing evenly.

"I can't wait any longer. My sister has been cultivating for three days straight and is exhausted. She should be asleep by now. Uncle Luo, please!"

"Alright, alright, just this once."

Luo Fanchen extended his thumb, but before he could cut the wound with his fingertip, Qiu Yun's scorching breath sprayed onto his collarbone.

"Hey, don't bite randomly, ouch, be gentle."

Luo Fanchen gasped for breath, a warm, damp, slightly stinging pain in his chest, making his little toes curl up awkwardly.

He covered his lips with his hand to avoid making a sound, and glanced at Mo Xue out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that she was breathing steadily and seemed unaware, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Ling Moxue had her back to Luo Fanchen, her almond-shaped eyes gazing intently at the rock wall, but there was nothing in them.

Her small face was expressionless, the sounds of rapid breathing and panting filled her ears. Her hands clenched and unclenched, and for a long, long time, she did not have the courage to get up. She could only close her eyes bitterly and let the panting assault her nerves.

The following day, Qiu Yun appeared full of spirit on the spirit banner.

Luo Fanchen and Mo Xue stayed up all night, and thick dark circles were visible under their eyes.

"No, we need to replenish our souls as soon as possible. Even a brute who has been training his body can't keep up with being attacked by this greedy girl at night."

Luo Fanchen murmured silently. Seeing Mo Xue's pale face, he wanted to show concern, but the girl just turned her head away silently without saying a word.

The distance between Mo Xue and him seemed to have increased even more?

Luo Fanchen was completely baffled. Mo Xue should have already passed her rebellious phase, right?
Luo Fanchen planned to find a time to talk to the girl alone after arriving at Feiyunfang. At this stage, the priority was to solve Qiuyun's food problem.

He changed his route while passing through villages, entered a village, and went directly to the village head.

"Are there any bandits or highway robbers around here?"

Luo Fanchen got straight to the point. The old man with the white beard was trembling with fear, thinking that the Qinghe Upper Sect had sent people to eliminate evil and restore order.

He immediately rattled off the names of more than ten bandit dens, each a local tyrant who terrorized the area.

"Ok?"

Luo Fanchen was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected that the banditry under the Qinghe Sect's rule was so severe. The bandits openly occupied the mountains and acted as kings. They were truly audacious.

But soon, he reacted again.

Some time ago, the secret realm opened, and a large number of rogue cultivators from Feiyunfang poured in, resulting in heavy casualties. As a result, many disciples of Qinghe Sect also perished.

The area around Feiyunfang is currently lacking in cultivators, and the bandits are cunning and adept at hiding, making them difficult to eradicate completely.

The cultivators go to great lengths to eliminate the evil, only to gain some worldly wealth, wasting their cultivation time and getting nothing in return.

Luo Fanchen, however, did not have this concern, as his soul banner was just missing a few malevolent spirits.

He wasn't so depraved as to use innocent mortals to forge banners, but he was still interested in forging banners for bandits, and quite a lot of them.

Luo Fanchen declined the village chief's offer to stay overnight. On his way back, he marked several bandit hideouts along the way, mounted the soul banner, and continued his flight. Along the way, Mo Xue, on the contrary, became more energetic, holding the wooden sword and eager to try it out. "Qiuyun, I'm leaving it to you."

The bandits were elusive, extremely adept at hiding, and possessed keen eyesight; Luo Fanchen had no time to search for them one by one.

Fortunately, there were many wandering ghosts in the valley, most of whom were kind people who had been brutally harmed by bandits. Luo Fanchen summoned Qiuyun and easily gathered these remnant souls into the soul banner. Then, he used the technique of controlling evil spirits to guide the remnant souls to find the main camp.

The effect was excellent, and in the latter half of the night, Luo Fanchen found the bandits' hideout.

The village is nestled in a ravine between two mountain ranges, close to a cliff, and is always shrouded in a thin mist, making it extremely secluded.

There is a one-way ladder outside the village; without the help of someone inside the village, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to cross the cliff.

"Qiuyun, this is a buffet, eat as much as you want."

With the woman's mournful cries echoing in his ears, Luo Fanchen, stepping on the Soul Banner, easily led Mo Xue across the chasm.

Qiu Yun caught a whiff of blood and murderous intent, her fragrant tongue licking her lips incessantly, itching for action.

She felt sorry for Uncle Luo, who only absorbed enough essence to barely keep his mind afloat each time, and was always in a half-full state. Today, she could finally enjoy it to her heart's content.

"Mo Xue, why don't you try it out too? Watch out for traps."

Luo Fanchen gently patted Mo Xue's back. The girl had been suppressing her emotions all the way and was eager to vent them.

The blood mist rose from the soul banner, and the cold wind howled, instantly covering the entire village in a thin fog.

Luo Fanchen guarded the exit and watched as the two women rushed into the village together. In just a moment, cries of agony and killing filled the air, and the dilapidated village was brightly lit.

"Such heavy karma."

Luo Fanchen narrowed his eyes. After refining the Soul Banner, he could see most of the soul spirits.

The village was struck by disaster, and countless remnants of ghosts and spirits gathered from the two mountain ranges toward it. Their senses were dulled, and they were extremely weak, driven only by their obsessions, and could dissipate at any moment.

Several bandits who managed to escape touched the remnant souls and entered a ghost wall, fleeing back to the village in the opposite direction, where they were killed on the spot by Mo Xue.

"He truly has the innate talent for swordsmanship."

Luo Fanchen was astonished. Mo Xue showed no discomfort at all during her first official killing. Instead, her face flushed with excitement, and she seemed quite pleased.

She moved like the wind, and even in terms of swordsmanship alone, Luo Fanchen was not confident of defeating the girl.

The bandits scattered, but could not escape the illusion array set up by the soul banner and the ghost wall formed by the remnant souls. Soon, the shouts of killing were drowned out by pleas for mercy and cries of pain, and in the end, only faint sobs remained.

With all his forces helpless, Luo Fanchen slowly stepped in, the blood already reaching his ankles.

He frowned slightly, and the blood beneath his feet was blocked by an invisible force, which pushed open a path for him on its own. It was Qiu Yun who cleared the way for him with her soul power.

"Master Luo."

Mo Xue's pretty face was beaming with joy. When she saw Luo Fanchen approaching, she immediately sheathed her sword and lowered her eyes, looking rather reserved.

She was secretly annoyed at herself for not being reserved enough, fearing that she would leave a bad impression on Master Luo.

"Well done, Mo Xue is indeed very talented in swordsmanship. I will find you a sword technique in the future."

"I just can't stand what the bandits are doing. Actually, I'm quite gentle too."

Mo Xue's cheeks flushed slightly, her eyes glancing at Qiu Yun and then at Luo Fanchen, her almond-shaped eyes filled with a hint of melancholy.

Master Luo has been spending most of his time with Qiu Yun lately, and has been neglecting her somewhat.

She also longed to open her heart to Master Luo and receive his tolerance and care, but every time she tried to speak, she couldn't help but feel inferior when compared to Qiu Yun's gentle and beautiful demeanor, fearing that Master Luo would get tired of her after comparing the two.

"Uncle Luo, what should we do with them?"

Her lips were moist and lustrous, her pretty face glowed with a rosy hue, and her skin was smooth and supple like solidified cream.

She wiped her lips and let out a long, comfortable sigh. In front of her, nearly a hundred women and children huddled together, weeping and trembling.

“Apart from the dozen or so innocent civilians who were abducted, I have already settled them. The rest are all relatives of the bandits.”

“Since you were the ones who did it, they are your spoils of war, and the decision is not mine.”

Luo Fanchen glanced casually at the trembling women and children. They were powerless, their expressions filled with fear, and they looked quite pitiful.

"They were not the main culprits; killing her husband's father is already a punishment."

Qiu Yun spoke softly, carefully observing Luo Fanchen's expression.

Luo Fanchen nodded slightly, quite satisfied. Qiu Yun had not been corrupted by evil thoughts after becoming a banner spirit, and still retained her kind heart.

Maintaining one's true nature is excellent; a young girl who stays kind will surely walk the right path.

In contrast, Mo Xue did not hesitate and simply uttered two words: "Kill them all."

It suits Mo Xue's personality perfectly. The two women complement each other. Qiu Yun can stop Mo Xue from killing indiscriminately when needed. With her around, Mo Xue has something to care about and will not fall into the demonic path.

At the same time, Mo Xue can also protect Qiu Yun, preventing her from being dragged down by kindness.

In the end, Luo Fanchen did not take the two women's advice. He made hand seals and chanted incantations, dispersing the ghostly wind of the soul banner and releasing the remnant souls surrounding the village.

"You both have valid points, so let's leave it to fate."

Luo Fanchen nodded, and the hundreds of remnant souls who were truly qualified to judge slowly gathered towards the women and children, their faces revealing a fierce expression.

If the lingering souls of those who died persecuted by bandits could forgive and let them go, he certainly wouldn't say anything more.

Unfortunately, in the end, not a single person survived.

"Uncle Luo, these remnant souls?"

"do you want to eat?"

As Qiu Yun took away the last wisp of the bandit's fierce spirit, he hesitated to speak. Luo Fanchen smiled and looked back, gently patting the girl's forehead.

He understood the girl's feelings perfectly.

Qiu Yun gently shook her head, pouting in disgust: "I won't eat them. These remnant souls are broken and their obsessions have faded. Eating them is like chewing candles."

"In that case, let's lend them a hand."

Luo Fanchen nodded. He made a hand seal to summon the Soul Banner and, with Qiu Yun's assistance, released the Soul-Hooking Technique in reverse.

The soul banner can bind spirits, but it can also disperse them.

A cold wind blows, as gentle and cool as a clear stream passing by, and wherever it passes, the lingering obsessions of the soul fade away.

The mottled souls corrupted by evil thoughts slowly disintegrated, revealing their appearance before birth. Their eyes were dull, yet they respectfully bowed to Luo Fanchen, their bows touching the ground, before finally being released from the world and awaiting reincarnation.

As the remnant soul dissipated, Luo Fanchen vaguely heard a few words of thanks. When he turned around again, several crystalline minerals appeared in front of him.

"Soul Cleansing Crystal?"

Luo Fanchen was slightly taken aback. This item was a low-grade first-tier spiritual material, which could be made into a spirit-nourishing jade to warm the spirit, or used as material for forging first-tier magic weapons.

The soul crystal in front of me has a rough surface and is not of high quality; its value is about one spirit dust.

“They are doing good deeds; this is their way of showing kindness.”

Luo Fanchen took the soul crystal and put it into his storage bag. He then handed a spirit dust to Mo Xue, who took it in a daze and carefully placed it in her bosom.

Spirit stones and spirit dust were both very precious to her, and she couldn't bear to waste even a single one.

Luo Fanchen gently patted Mo Xue's head, cast several fire spells to destroy the traces, and then the soul banner wrapped around more than ten kidnapped women before disappearing in a flash.

A few days later, several strange things happened in the surrounding villages.

The women who had been abducted from the village reappeared safely at the village entrance, seemingly dazed but in relatively good physical condition, and carrying a small amount of gold and silver jewelry.

No more merchants were robbed by bandits in the nearby mountains, and the rumors of ghosts haunting the mountains came to an end.

In the following month, Luo Fanchen followed the same pattern and destroyed four bandit strongholds in succession.

Although it took some time, at least we don't have to worry about food for Qiuyun anymore.

Human souls are fragile, and bandits, having taken evil paths and burdened with heavy karma, often have their souls taken away by heaven and earth when they are about to die, and they dissipate very quickly.

It was only through the efforts of more than 500 bandit souls that ten wretched ghosts were successfully forged, and not a single vengeful ghost was produced, which was quite regrettable.

"No wonder demonic cultivators prefer to use ordinary people to refine magical artifacts. Ordinary people do not have any karmic burdens, so the probability of them taking away a complete soul is much higher."

Luo Fanchen murmured, "A vengeful ghost needs to retain at least one soul, while a fierce ghost needs one soul and three spirits. This is the limit that mortals can retain their souls and spirits."

Further up the chain, cultivators would be needed, and the level of the Soul Banner would also need to be increased to accommodate them.

"Ahead lies Feiyunfang."

(End of this chapter)