The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

As the crimson blade was about to fall, despair flashed in the old man's eyes.

Just then, a figure in cyan suddenly appeared in front of him.

Han Mu!

Instead of using his flying sword, he formed hand seals, and the Hundred Ghosts Soul Control Banner unfurled behind him. With a flick of the banner, three Foundation Establishment Level 3 ghosts roared out to meet the blood-red blade shadow. At the same time, ten more Foundation Establishment Level 1 and 2 ghosts surged out from the banner, attacking the surrounding Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

"Who goes there?!" The middle-aged man in the red robe was startled. His blood-red longsword clashed head-on with the three ghosts, but he was forced back three steps. His expression changed. These three ghosts were not weak, and their coordination was excellent, clearly indicating that they were being controlled by someone.

"Kill those who will kill you," Han Mu said calmly. The Soul Control Banner shook again, and ten more ghosts joined the battle. More than twenty Foundation Establishment stage ghosts instantly reversed the situation.

The old man in blue and the others were both surprised and delighted, and quickly retreated behind Han Mu. Although they did not recognize Han Mu, judging from the situation, he was a friend, not an enemy.

"Thank you for saving me, fellow Daoist!" the old man in blue said breathlessly.

"Step aside first." Han Mu didn't turn around, focusing all his attention on controlling the ghost. Facing more than ten Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators at the same time, including a middle-aged man in a red robe at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, he dared not be careless.

"Hmph, do you think you can turn the tide with these ghosts?" The middle-aged man in the red robe sneered, taking out a small blood-red flag. As soon as the flag was unfurled, a dense aura of bloodlust spread out, and the movements of the surrounding ghosts immediately froze, some even beginning to tremble.

"The Blood Fiend Banner?" Han Mu's eyes narrowed. This was the Ghost Spirit Sect's signature magical artifact, capable of suppressing ghosts. It seemed the other side had come prepared.

"Now you're scared?" The middle-aged man in red robes sneered. "My Blood Fiend Banner is the perfect counter to ghosts. Your Soul-Controlling Banner is nothing but scrap metal in front of me! Kill them!"

The morale of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators soared, and they activated their magical artifacts to fight the ghosts. With the Blood Fiend Banner suppressing them, the ghosts' strength was greatly reduced, and two Foundation Establishment level one ghosts were quickly killed.

Han Mu remained calm and composed. With a thought, the two strongest Foundation Establishment Level 3 ghosts within the Soul Control Banner suddenly merged, transforming into a giant ghost with an aura reaching the Foundation Establishment Level 4. This was the Soul Control Banner's hidden function—ghost fusion. Although the fusion lasted only a short time, its combat power increased dramatically.

The giant ghost roared and slammed its paw at the Blood Fiend Banner. The middle-aged man in red robes hurriedly urged the banner to defend, but the combined power of the ghost was too strong, and the Blood Fiend Banner was sent flying backward by the blow.

"How is this possible!" The middle-aged man in red robes exclaimed in shock. The Blood Fiend Banner could suppress ordinary ghosts, but its effect on powerful ghosts that had merged with it was limited.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Mu controlled the other ghosts to launch a fierce attack. Without the Blood Fiend Banner to suppress them, the ghosts regained their ferocity, and soon three more Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators died tragically.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Seeing the situation was dire, the middle-aged man in red robes turned and fled. But how could Han Mu let him go? The giant ghost took a step forward, blocking his way, and its ghostly claws slashed down.

"No—" the middle-aged man in red robes roared in despair, summoning several protective magical artifacts, but they were as fragile as paper before the fourth-level Foundation Establishment stage ghost. The ghostly claws pierced through the protective aura, grabbed into his chest, and ripped out his heart.

The middle-aged man in red robes fell dead. Seeing their leader dead, the remaining Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators lost all will to fight and scattered in all directions. Han Mu did not pursue them. Instead, he used his ghostly creatures to kill the few who were slower to escape, and then put away the Soul Control Banner.

The battle was over, and the ground was littered with corpses. The old man in blue and the others breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes filled with gratitude and awe as they looked at Han Mu.

"I am Zhou Qingshan, an elder of the Qingyang Sect. Thank you for saving my life, fellow Daoist!" The old man in blue stepped forward and bowed. The four people behind him also bowed.

Qingyang Sect? Han Mu's heart skipped a beat. This was a small sect in the Yue Kingdom, with only one Core Formation Ancestor. It was nothing compared to the Seven Great Sects. He hadn't expected them to come to Black Wind Ridge.

"I am Han Mu, a guest elder of Huangfeng Valley." Han Mu returned the greeting. "Elder Zhou, what brings you here? And why have you provoked the Ghost Spirit Sect?"

Zhou Qingshan smiled bitterly: "This is a long story. Our Qingyang Sect is four hundred miles away from Black Wind Ridge, and we have always lived in peace with the world. But a few months ago, our disciples discovered that the Yin energy of Black Wind Ridge was spreading and had already infected our sect's medicine garden. The sect leader sent us to investigate, but we did not expect to find that the Ghost Spirit Sect had set up an evil array here, intending to sacrifice 100,000 lives."

"We originally intended to destroy the formation, but our strength was insufficient, and we lost two junior brothers. Later, we were lucky enough to obtain a third-tier 'Formation-Breaking Talisman,' intending to use it to destroy the core of the formation, but the news leaked out, and we were chased here by the Ghost Spirit Sect." As Zhou Qingshan spoke, he took out a golden talisman from his bosom. The talisman was engraved with intricate array patterns and emitted a faint aura of destruction.

"This is the array-breaking talisman. It can destroy array nodes of the third rank and below. I originally intended to use it to destroy the core of the great array, but now it seems..." Zhou Qingshan shook his head and handed the array-breaking talisman to Han Mu. "Fellow Daoist Han saved our lives, so I will give this talisman to you. With your strength, you may be able to stop this calamity."

Han Mu accepted the formation-breaking talisman without hesitation. This was exactly what he needed. He examined the talisman carefully and confirmed that it was indeed a third-tier formation-breaking talisman, and the craftsmanship was exquisite, clearly the work of a master.

"Elder Zhou, do you know where the core of this great formation is? And how exactly to destroy it?" Han Mu asked.

"We don't know the exact location either, but it's roughly near the black hole," Zhou Qingshan said. "As for the method of destruction... it's said that you need to stick a breaking talisman on the 'array eye' at the core of the array and then inject spiritual power to activate it. But the array eye will definitely be heavily guarded, and there may be traps."

Han Mu nodded. This was roughly what he had guessed. He put away the formation-breaking talisman and asked, "Elder Zhou, what are your plans next?"

"We're preparing to leave," Zhou Qingshan said bitterly. "We came with seven people, but now only five remain, all of them injured. Black Wind Ridge is beyond our control. If Fellow Daoist Han has the opportunity, please inform the seven major sects of the situation here and ask them to intervene."

"The seven major sects already know and are discussing countermeasures," Han Mu said. "But time is of the essence, and we may not be able to wait for them. Elder Zhou, you should return to Qingyang Sect first and organize your members to evacuate. Once this great formation is activated, it will affect an area of ​​four hundred miles."

Zhou Qingshan's expression changed, and he said solemnly, "Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Han. We'll head back now. Take care, Fellow Daoist Han!"

The five people hurriedly left. Han Mu watched their retreating figures, lost in thought. Even a small sect like Qingyang Sect had sensed the danger; it seemed the Yin Sha Ghost King's actions were indeed too ambitious.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and began to deal with the battlefield. He searched the corpses of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators, obtaining some spirit stones, pills, and magical artifacts, but nothing of particular value. The red-robed middle-aged man's blood-red longsword and Blood Fiend Banner were quite good, but they were both Ghost Path magical artifacts, which Han Mu was not used to, so he planned to take them back to his family.

After dealing with the battlefield, Han Mu did not immediately head to the core area. Instead, he found a secluded cave and began to recuperate. Although the battle was brief, controlling more than twenty ghosts had taken a toll on him, especially fusing with them, which consumed thirty percent of his spiritual power.

"System, retrieve the current status."

[Host: Han Mu]

[Realm: Foundation Establishment Level 7 (True) / Foundation Establishment Level 1 (Surface)]

[Spiritual Power: 67% (Recovering)]

[Magic Artifact: Hundred Ghosts Soul Control Banner (Remaining Ghosts: 1 at Foundation Establishment Level 3, 2 at Foundation Establishment Level 2, 20 at Foundation Establishment Level 1)]

[Item: Tier 3 Formation Breaking Talisman x1]

[Mission: Destroy the core of the 100,000 Blood Fiend Array (In Progress)]

Three of the ghosts were lost, but the main force remains. With the formation-breaking talisman in hand, the next step is to find the formation's core and an opportunity to disrupt it.

An hour later, Han Mu's spiritual power had recovered to 80%. He stepped out of the cave and looked towards the black hole. There, the black mist was thickest, and crimson pillars of light could be faintly seen flashing intermittently, indicating that the formation was operating at an increasingly faster pace.

There was no time to wait. Han Mu took to the air on his sword and flew towards the black hole. This time, he didn't conceal himself but directly activated the Soul Control Banner, with more than twenty ghosts following behind him, like a ghost king on a procession.

He wanted to use this method to tell the Ghost Spirit Gate—I've arrived.

Sure enough, after flying less than ten miles, three streaks of light appeared ahead, all of them mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators, with the leader being a seventh-level Foundation Establishment cultivator. The three blocked their path, their auras locked onto Han Mu.

"Who are you, daring to trespass into the Ghost King's forbidden area?" the gray-robed elder at the head of the group said coldly. He was an elder of the Ghost Spirit Sect, with a cultivation level of the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, and his aura was profound.

"Han Mu, a guest elder of Huangfeng Valley, has come to pay a visit to the Yin Sha Ghost King." Han Mu stopped a hundred feet away, the Soul Control Banner fluttering behind him.

"Yellow Maple Valley?" The gray-robed elder's eyes turned cold. "It seems you were the one who sabotaged the node and killed my disciples. Now that you're here, you're not leaving. It just so happens that Lord Ghost King needs fresh blood; the essence blood of a seventh-level Foundation Establishment cultivator should satisfy him."

"Just the three of you?" Han Mu said calmly.

"Hmph, ignorant of their own limitations!" The gray-robed elder waved his hand, and the three attacked simultaneously. Instantly, ghostly wails and howls filled the air, accompanied by gusts of eerie wind.

Han Mu neither dodged nor evaded, but instead activated the Soul Control Banner at full power. More than twenty ghosts swarmed forward, while he himself rode his sword straight at the gray-robed old man.

War is imminent.