So this is what real cultivator combat looks like… If she really used those techniques, Xiaoyue Jushi definitely wouldn’t get any funding from the Association— and might even end up in jail.
“So, you want me to act like a Taoist priest?” I got the idea.
“Exactly! That’s it!”
“Alright. Where is it?”
“The fight probably isn’t over yet. I’ll take you there!”
……
Shihe Town, the abandoned Tengda Shopping Mall.
A group of Spirit Masters in mismatched outfits had gathered at the main entrance, the air heavy with tension.
“Old Li, if I don’t make it back… take care of Yuzhen Sect for me.”
“Daoist Yuzhen! How can you say that?! We will make it back! We will win! For the sake of the world!”
“…”
The group of Taoists wore grim expressions.
Looking closely, they were all dressed differently.
None of them wore traditional Taoist priest robes. Instead, their outfits had the flair of fantasy drama costumes— elaborate and ornate.
Each belonged to a self-founded sect, rather than following traditional schools like Zhengyi, Lüshan, Quanzhen, or Maoshan.
They called their sects things like “Qingyun Sect,” “Yuzhen Sect,” and “Qianji Sect.”
About sixty percent of their spirit beasts were various kinds of cranes.
The remaining forty percent were made up of green oxen, horned snakes, white tigers, firebirds, giant turtles, and some antlered deer that looked like low-budget versions of Qilin or baize.
Their spirits all radiated the ethereal aura of Daoist cultivation.
I couldn’t help but think of the “Mingen Sect” I’d encountered before. They seemed to share a similar obsession.
The difference was that the Daoist Arts Association was actually out here fighting malevolent spirits in the city, while the “Mingen Sect” just used the pretense of exorcism to bully children.
“Looks like seventeen years ago, it wasn’t just spirit beasts that awakened— so did everyone’s inner edgelord.”
Xiaoyue Jushi fully agreed with my observation.
“People love to label themselves, and then band together with others who share the same label to form groups. After the awakening, spirit beasts became everyone’s identity tag.”
As a professional, Xiaoyue Jushi analyzed:
“These labels include ‘strong’ and ‘weak,’ ‘good’ and ‘evil,’ ‘bird’ and ‘beast,’ even ‘fantasy’ and ‘xianxia’… See? This is clearly a gathering spot for xianxia fans.”
.
“Monster! Take my Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect!”
A female Daoist formed a qi blade around her arm, shaped like the wing of a crane.
With a heavy sweep of the wing, countless feather-like blades burst forth, a flurry of sharp white slicing through the air toward the black misty spirit at the mall entrance.
The ghost was speechless.
Lady, I’m a ghost.
You keep hitting me with this physical stuff— sure, it looks cool, but what’s the point?
So many of you have tried already. Can’t a single one of you use your brain and stop wasting energy? Can’t you see this move doesn’t work on me?
Also, what “Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect”? Isn’t that just a basic spirit skill— Featherblade Slash?
Honestly, the Daoists weren’t entirely to blame.
Cranes and green oxen were physical-type spirit beasts, and most of their spirit skills were physical-based.
Even if they wanted to use a different attack type, they simply couldn’t.
“Don’t waste your energy, Fellow Daoist Qingyue. We should find a way to break inside.”
The Daoists huddled together.
“This ghost is guarding the building so fiercely, there must be something important to it inside. Probably the corpse it’s attached to. If we want to destroy it, the only way is to destroy the body.”
“Fellow Daoist Yuzhen speaks wisely. We should focus on breaking in and finding the ghost’s corpse to burn it.”
“Then next, everyone use your Manifestation Forms— block the ghost with your Four Symbol Avatars.
Then, those with crane or ox Avatars break in during the distraction to search for the ghost’s body!
Finally, the Qilin Avatar will unleash thunder magic to destroy the ghost corpse once and for all!”
Pfft.
Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in.
So you guys use Avatars too, huh?
What a coincidence.
That little laugh drew annoyed looks from the Daoists.
“Xiaoyue, you came back? Didn’t get beat up enough just now?”
Facing the hostile stares, Xiaoyue Jushi glanced at me.
Instantly emboldened, she put her hands on her hips and declared, “No offense, but your Daoist arts? Total garbage.”
Whoa there, sister. That’s a bit much.
What if the ghost doesn’t even need to attack and these Daoists just beat us up instead?
I’m fine with fighting ghosts, but going toe-to-toe with high-level Spirit Masters?
That’s a different story… I can’t actually use “real cultivator techniques” and send them all off to reincarnate, right?
Luckily, the Daoists present were all pretty composed.
“Humans and ghosts walk different paths. As a ghost cultivator, Daoist techniques were never suited for you.” Daoist Yuzhen shook his head. “Go back. This is a dangerous place. Not where little ghosts like you should be.”
“Do you know what your behavior is called in textbooks?” Xiaoyue Jushi shot back. “Identity confusion. You’re clearly using spirit skills, yet you insist on calling them Daoist arts. That’s just self-deception.
You’ve never even seen what real Daoist techniques look like!”
“Oh yeah? So what does ‘real’ Daoist technique look like — your little show earlier with the Five Thunders of Shenxiao?”
Daoist Yuzhen’s snide remark hit hard, and Xiaoyue Jushi flushed red and went speechless.
She admitted — yeah, she had looked pretty pathetic earlier.
Fine, really pathetic.
“Alright, stop wasting time on her. We need to move fast. If we don’t drive out this ghost soon, the mall can’t open, and it’ll be a huge inconvenience for everyone.”
“Alright, let’s go ahead with the plan and launch the full assault on the building!”
The Daoists ignored Xiaoyue Jushi completely.
As discussed, the so-called “Four Symbols” who could use elemental attacks would serve as a distraction, while those with crane, ox, and “Qilin” spirit beasts would take the opportunity to infiltrate.
“They’re so infuriating!” Xiaoyue Jushi fumed, leaning close to my ear. “Xiao Luo Xian, show them what you’re made of already!”
“Don’t rush.” I maintained my mysterious composure like some unfathomable master. “Let’s go in and take a look first.”
This ghost was acting oddly.
It seemed to be blocking anyone from entering but wasn’t actually hurting them.
For a ghost that doesn’t harm people, you usually wouldn’t use lightning techniques.
One strike from that, and it’s complete obliteration— body and soul.
And this one doesn’t deserve that… Killing it would damage your karmic merit.
“You have to be cautious with ghosts. It’s actually very rare for souls to linger after death — most disperse quickly. If a ghost forms, it’s either out of deep resentment or an unfulfilled wish… Destroying it without understanding its reason hurts your karma.” I whispered to Xiaoyue Jushi.
“Karma? Does that kind of thing really exist? Who decides the rules?”
“Ha, it’s not some divine or religious value system,” I explained with a smile. “It’s just your own Dao heart.
Like, say this ghost is actually good — it’s guarding this place because the building is about to collapse, so it’s trying to stop people from going in. And you just go and destroy it…
Then the building collapses, a bunch of people die inside.
Naturally, you’d feel guilty, which disrupts your Dao heart, clouds your mind, and increases inner turmoil.
That’s what karmic impact really means.”
Xiaoyue Jushi looked thoughtful. “So by that logic, karma only affects people with a conscience. If I never feel guilty, wouldn’t my Dao heart always be clear? Basically, good people are just asking to be taken advantage of?”
“Exactly. That’s why giving up and turning evil as a demonic cultivator is so satisfying.”
“…”
.
Whoosh~
The Daoists had begun bombarding the ghost with elemental attacks.
The ghost was temporarily pushed back.
“Now’s the time! Everyone, move in!”
Just as planned, the other Daoists rushed through the entrance.
I started walking.
“Let’s go. We’re going in too.”
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