How did I, who just ascended to heaven, become an evil spirit?

Seeing this, Li Hu pulled Yan Yang, the only mortal on the field, behind him, drew his iron sword and assumed a defensive stance, glancing at Qi Yuehong from time to time to observe his reaction.

A cold, strange wind blew out, and frost quickly formed on Qi Yuehong's eyebrows as he stood in front, but he remained calm, only tightly gripping the Moon Pearl in his hand.

It seemed the situation was still under control, and Li Hu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But the other evil spirits on the field don't think so.

In the midst of the panic, in just a few breaths, the moon had grown several times larger.

And it's still getting bigger.

It keeps getting bigger.

Such an extraordinary phenomenon had never occurred to them before.

Li Hu's gaze was fixed on the moon, whose unique patterns and craters were already clearly visible, and it was gradually becoming as huge as a wheel.

Immediately, a terrifying thought flashed through Li Hu's mind: Could the moon be about to fall...?

Li Hu narrowed his eyes, feeling the cool, oppressive aura, his internal energy surging.

His doubts were quickly answered. As the moon continued to grow larger, it crashed onto the altar like a giant rock.

The entire moon was about five meters in diameter, like a strange ball. After bouncing on the ground once, it barely managed to eliminate the force of the rebound and hovered steadily half a meter above the altar.

The sphere is a cold white color, made of rock, with many familiar patterns on it, such as craters, ravines and ridges, just like the images taken by telescopes in popular science magazines, but its diameter is only five meters.

Li Hu looked up at the sky again, but it was completely empty; he didn't see anything.

moon.

It really fell.

And then it appeared on this altar, right in front of me.

Li Hu felt his breath catch in his throat, and his mind was almost unable to think. Putting aside the question of why he fell, he couldn't understand why the moon was only five meters in size.

The Earth's moon shouldn't look like this.

The temperature inside had dropped to its lowest point, even colder than the coldest winter in the Limb Dismemberment Camp. Qi Yuehong gritted his teeth and finally gave his first order:

"Kill them on the spot!"

"Yes, sir!"

The evil spirits bowed in agreement, perhaps out of stupidity, but they weren't particularly panicked. They grabbed their weapons and charged forward, like robbers blinded by greed chasing after treasure.

The surging evil spirits surrounded the moon, and when someone first struck the moon with their sword, they only scraped off a large patch of fine feathers before the weapon was deflected.

But then an even more robust bear spirit used a broadsword to cut a gash in the moon.

Li Hu then discovered that the craters, ravines, and hills on the moon's surface were actually composed of fine feathers and white down of varying lengths.

The entire moon is actually a giant fleshy ball wrapped in feathers!

Immediately, a thick, bright red liquid gushed out, accompanied by a piercing, painful scream that exploded in everyone's ears. This forced Yan Yang to not only curl up to keep warm, but also to cover his ears with his hands.

It is clear that the moon is injured and is emitting a sharp, mournful cry.

Li Hu was still somewhat surprised and uncertain. He did not rush forward, but instead leaned on his sword and watched from a distance with Qi Yuehong, frowning as he tried to understand the puzzling scene before him.

Amidst the flurry of blades, several gashes were quickly slashed across the moon's body, and crimson blood flowed onto the ground, starkly contrasting against its snow-white, rocky form.

Several times during this period, it clearly tried to take off and escape the encirclement of the evil spirits, and it almost succeeded.

But soon a large, malevolent spirit jumped up, pinned her down, and slammed her back to the ground.

The rock's outer layer was peeled off and fell to the ground, revealing the flesh and blood inside.

The moon, which had been relatively pure white, now resembled a helpless woman in a war, being greedily slashed at by evil spirits, who stuffed slices of bloody food into their mouths.

The atmosphere on the field then became completely chaotic.

What started as a daring attempt to probe the dangers gradually evolved into a desire for every evil spirit to go up and carve out a piece of flesh to share in the spoils.

The blood and food on Yuexian's body were something they had never tasted before; judging from their expressions, it was as if it were the most exquisite flavor in the world.

"You can't eat this! You can't eat this! You'll die!"

Yuan Sou seemed to know something. He was one of the few evil spirits present who still retained his rationality. He climbed up the flagpole with both hands and feet, shouting loudly, trying to persuade these greedy evil spirits to leave.

"Stop eating! Bai Yujing won't let us get away with this. If a fight breaks out, none of us will escape!"

His tone was urgent and his voice trembled, but not a single evil spirit in the arena paid him any attention. At this moment, the evil spirits, who were immersed in the delicious taste of the immortal flesh, probably couldn't be stopped even if their own parents came.

Qi Yuehong stood with her hands behind her back. Upon seeing this scene, she immediately frowned and glared at the flagpole. "Old Yuan, you have repeatedly disappointed me. I am willing to give you one last bit of face out of consideration for your advanced age and the difficulty of your cultivation."

"If you continue to disrupt the morale of the army, you will be used as a sacrifice for the flag in the next 'Execution of Immortals' event."

Qi Yuehong's tone wasn't particularly cold, but it made Yuan Sou's hair stand on end.

He slunk down from the flagpole, silently came behind Li Hu, and lowered his head.

Seeing that Yuexian had no chance of resisting, and the atmosphere on the field gradually warming up, Qi Yuehong finally smiled.

"Old Yuan is timid; you must be ashamed of him."

He took Li Hu's hand, pointed to the sky, and continued...

"Look, even the immortals of Baiyujing are nothing more than this, and the immortals are nothing but clay chickens and earthen dogs."

"I have long harbored the ambition to overturn the world; Brother Li, would you be willing to lend me a hand?"

Li Hu didn't answer him immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky in the direction Qi Yuehong was pointing. The sky was empty, and he couldn't see the moon anywhere. It seemed as if the evil spirits had truly devoured it all.

"The moon is really gone," Li Hu murmured to himself.

"Brother Li, there's no need to worry about these things," Qi Yuehong said with a smile.

"Although the Moon Immortal is dead, other Moon Immortals will become immortals in the future. Tomorrow, other Moon Immortals will naturally be hanging in the sky. At that time, everything will be as usual, and no one will notice. It will just be irrelevant to us."

"That's excellent," Li Hu replied.

Qi Yuehong assumed that Li Hu had accepted his invitation and looked quite satisfied.

At this moment, the altar had been completely disrupted by the battle; the offering table was trampled to pieces, and blood-stained offerings of fruit and flowers were scattered all over the ground.

The Moon Fairy was completely dissected, and the evil spirits pounced on her body, tearing at her like a pack of hyenas on the savanna devouring a dying elephant.

Those evil spirits with weak strength who couldn't squeeze in and rush to the front to devour the prey could only stick their buttocks out and lick the blood flowing from afar from the ground, squeezed between the gaps.

Soon, some sharp-eyed evil spirits noticed that a light suddenly shone from within the remains of the Moon Fairy.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a bright, moon-like pearl, encased deep within flesh and blood.

If the evil spirits hadn't been enjoying it so much, the bead wouldn't have been so easily discovered. Once exposed, the bead instantly illuminated the entire forest camp, shining even brighter than the moon itself on a typical night.

"Mine, mine!"

The riot instantly erupted once again among the evil spirits.

Although we don't know what the use of this bead is, anything from an immortal must be a treasure, especially since it's so deeply encased in flesh and blood, which further indicates that it's an extremely rare treasure.

The evil spirits instantly displayed an even more exaggerated enthusiasm than when they were fighting for food. They rushed forward to snatch the food, almost disregarding the casualties of their allies, only to be kicked away by the loyal followers of Qi Yuehong.

Taking advantage of the chaos, a clever bear spirit grabbed the exposed luminous pearl, rushed to Qi Yuehong in three quick steps, and presented the pearl with both hands.

This bead is about two inches in diameter, just the right size to hold and play with in your hand.

Qi Yuehong nodded and took it, pinching it between her thumb and forefinger, examining it closely for a moment, then took Li Hu's hand and placed the Moon Pearl into his hand.

"I also have one of these little gadgets, so I'll give this one to Brother Li."

"This bead is the essence of the moon's cultivation. If a mortal takes it, he will probably freeze to death on the spot. But if Brother Li carries it on his person, it can keep this body intact for ten thousand years. It is a hundred times better than the emergency youth-preserving pill he took during the day."

"Thank you, Brother Qi. You are older than me, so you can just call me your younger brother." Li Hu took the luminous pearl in his hand and, amidst the envious gazes of the evil spirits, tucked it into his chest pocket.

"Haha, my good brother, we were lucky today, killing a Moon Immortal was effortless. But do you know there's another piece of good news?"

Qi Yuehong asked with a smile.

"Brother Qi, please speak," Li Hu said.

Qi Yuehong turned around to face the group of evil spirits, raised Li Hu's right hand, and said loudly, "From this day forward, my virtuous brother Li Hu is the second-in-command of my Broken Limbs Gang. Seeing him is seeing me. Do you understand?"

The evil spirits wiped the bloodstains left on the corners of their mouths and were momentarily stunned.

"Why aren't you paying homage to your deputy commander? If it weren't for him, would you be enjoying this divine delicacy today?!" Qi Yuehong frowned slightly, seemingly displeased.

"Greetings, Deputy Commander!"

The evil spirits suddenly realized what was happening and knelt down in unison, creating a deafening roar.

"Greetings, Deputy Commander!"

After bowing three times, Qi Yuehong gestured for silence, then asked Li Hu with a smile, "Brother, how does it feel to be the leader?"

"Very good, very good." Li Hu felt as if everything had been a dream. He was still a little unaccustomed to the ups and downs of the past few days.

However, he hadn't forgotten the most important thing. After pondering for a moment, he forced a smile and asked Qi Yuehong, "The matter of Yuexian has been settled. Now, we still need Brother Qi's help with the matter of Jianxian."

"No problem."

Qi Yuehong smiled faintly, "The brothers have just had a hearty meal and are in top form, making it the perfect time to kill the Sword Immortal."

"Brother, don't worry, I'll arrange it right now."

Li Hu cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Brother Qi."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Things had been progressing incredibly smoothly so far, like a fish in water. If he could complete this final step, he would have no worries at all.

After helping Yan Yang avenge himself, teaching him a few sword moves, and repaying his debt of gratitude, he had nothing left to worry about or fret about, which was even more carefree than becoming an immortal.

After all, if all immortals were like the Moon Immortal, who looked like a fleshy ball, then it would be hard to say what the Jade Palace was. Li Hu no longer had any obsession with ascension, nor did he think it was a place that people longed for.

He was even somewhat relieved that he had become an evil spirit, at least he could retain a human form and a human heart.

"Clean it up! Set up a new altar!"

With a flick of her red sleeves, Qi Yue directed the 108 evil spirits to continue their work.

Having learned from the previous successful example of killing Yue Xian, the evil spirits are now much more conscientious in their work.

Everyone rushed to help, clearly regarding the sword immortal as their next meal.

However, Yan Yang was already quite tired. What he had just witnessed was terrifying. Even though he hadn't exercised much, his clothes were still soaked with sweat, and his heart was still pounding.

Fortunately, killing the sword immortal was precisely his purpose in coming here.

Thinking of the soon-to-be-empty altar, he patted the frost that had just formed on his body, mustered his spirits, and forced himself to get up to set up the altar and prepare for the next ceremony.

The offering table that was brought out this time was a grand and dignified eight-immortal table, no longer the dilapidated wooden table from before. On it, self-aware evil spirits had already arranged offerings of fruits, flowers, and candles.

Seeing this, Yan Yang tightened the rope around his waist, strode forward, knelt down and bowed three times to the east, then picked up three incense sticks, lit them and inserted them one by one into the incense burner.

He had disheveled hair and carried a sword, his eyes filled with a fierce desire for enlightenment. With a flick of his sword, he attached a talisman, muttering incantations:

"We humbly acknowledge that Heaven and Earth are the profound origins and the root of all things. Now, a believer humbly seeks to enter the gate of the Mysterious Realm."

"With this three-foot-long sword, I present it to the heavens; with this burning passion, I appeal to the gods."

"Western Taibai, Jinde Zhenjun, Nine Heavens Sword Ancestor, Sword Sect of All Generations."

"A stick of incense flies to the Purple Court, across ten thousand miles of clouds and sky, to invite the true spirit to descend."

Yan Yang stepped onto the Big Dipper, lit the talisman paper on the tip of his sword with a candle, and as before, with each swing of his sword, the burning talisman paper rose into the air.

"Please summon the true spirit!"

Yan Yang shouted sternly.

At this moment, all the evil spirits, including Li Hu, looked up at the talisman that had floated into the sky.

Logically, it should be burned to ashes within a breath, and then after a few more breaths, the Sword Immortal should emerge, just like when the Moon Immortal emerged.

Li Hu gripped a found iron sword tightly, his energy coursing through his body, veins bulging on his arms.

When the time came, he was more nervous than anyone else.

Sa—

Suddenly, a gust of sword wind blew from nowhere, causing the surrounding tree branches to sway uncontrollably. It cut the still-burning talisman in half, precisely removing the burning part, leaving only a small half of the talisman to fall from the sky, not completely burned.

"Huh? What...what...what does this mean?"

The evil spirits watching were completely bewildered and immediately began to cause a commotion.

"What's going on? Where did that sword wind come from!" Qi Yuehong rushed over and asked in astonishment.

"This... I don't know either," Yan Yang said, somewhat flustered.

"I burned the petition and presented it to the Heavenly Court. As long as it is burned clean, the Jade Palace will definitely receive my petition. According to the procedure, there is no reason why the Sword Immortal will not come down."

Yan Yang had considered that the sword immortal might not come down, and he had also considered that if he came down, he would kill all the evil spirits and himself, but he never expected this outcome.

"Unless, unless the sword immortal defies orders and cuts off the petition himself, interrupting my ritual!"