85: Dealing with Wraiths

"Oh, Senior Brother Yang, you achieved a great victory this time!" As soon as Yang Kai entered the Ji Shi Pavilion, the Disciple on duty instantly lit up and rushed over to surround him.

Recently, Yang Kai had been sweeping through missions like a whirlwind, completing them frantically. His prominence within the Ji Shi Pavilion now surpassed even that of the Martial Arts Arena.

Since the Ji Shi Pavilion underwent a change in leadership, the new Hall of Relief Master, Rong Da, swept away the many malpractices left by his predecessor, revitalizing the Ji Shi Pavilion in a short period.

Previously, the reason the Flowing Cloud Sect was reluctant to accept missions was that the Ji Shi Pavilion relied on hiding mission information and exploiting Disciples, which not only increased the difficulty of the missions but also significantly reduced the rewards. The current rule implemented by the Ji Shi Pavilion is that as long as a mission is completed, the Disciple on duty who posted that mission can receive a certain amount of School contribution points. Now, everyone in the Ji Shi Pavilion is frantically promoting missions, sometimes even leaving the Ji Shi Pavilion with missions in hand, searching the entire Sect for people to post the missions to earn School contribution points.

The Ji Shi Pavilion is divided into seven floors. Low and medium-level missions are posted on the first floor. To accept high-level missions, one must ascend to the second floor of the Ji Shi Pavilion, where only cultivators who have reached the Core Formation Stage or elites among the Inner Sect Disciple are permitted to go.

Yang Kai's ability to easily solve medium-level missions made him seem like a cash cow in the eyes of these Disciples, which is why they surrounded him the moment they saw him.

Yang Kai frowned upon seeing this situation; he disliked such scenes. He scanned the crowd, spotted the Disciple who usually attended to him, and waved his hand. That person immediately stepped past the others, came to Yang Kai's side, and led him to sit down nearby, drawing envious glances from everyone.

"That Ding Fu really lucked out, finding such a big client. He must have earned hundreds of School contribution points following Yang Kai these days," everyone sighed, then dispersed and returned to their posts.

"Senior Brother Yang, you are truly amazing! How long ago did you take this mission? Wait, these people are actually still alive! Senior Brother Yang, you have performed a great service this time." Ding Fu started by complimenting Yang Kai, but as his gaze shifted to the captured Demonic Path cultivators nearby, his eyes seemed to sparkle with gold as if he were calculating how many School contribution points he could gain from this transaction.

Yang Kai leaned back lazily against the chair, waving his hand to signal Ding Fu to quickly process the mission handover for him.

Ding Fu knew Yang Kai's temperament, so he stopped talking, bowed slightly to him, and then hurried toward the inner section.

The Ji Shi Pavilion is divided into an outer section and an inner section. The outer section is where Disciples like Yang Kai accept missions, while the inner section has many Disciples constantly compiling intelligence on various missions, and Elders stand guard there daily.

After Ding Fu rushed into the inner section, he slowed his pace, afraid of making noise that might disturb others. He made his way to an Elder's side and bowed. Just as he was about to speak, the Elder suddenly opened its eyes and looked toward the outer section. Then, a faint smile appeared at its lips, and it vanished from the spot, taking Ding Fu with it.

Ding Fu only felt a spatial shift before he appeared in the outer section. After settling down, he felt weak in the knees and looked at the Elder beside him in astonishment.

"This is the first time I've seen this Elder. When did the Ji Shi Pavilion add a new Elder?" Ding Fu wondered internally, but at the moment, he could only suppress these questions and wait for the Elder to assess the mission results.

This was also the first time Yang Kai had encountered an Elder personally verifying the mission results. In the past, when he completed missions involving killing Yao Beasts, the verification was finished simply by handing over the Yao Beast corpses. Yang Kai still stood up and bowed to the Elder, appearing to be an excellent Disciple who respected the Dao and his teachers.

"For this mission, I still need to take these people back for interrogation. A Disciple from the Ji Shi Pavilion will notify you later to collect your School contribution points." The Elder sized up Yang Kai, took the captured Demonic Path cultivators bundled together from his hand, and prepared to leave.

"Elder, this Disciple has one more request." Seeing that the Elder was about to leave, Yang Kai quickly spoke to stop it. The Elder looked at him intently, waiting for him to continue.

"Elder, during this invasion, Demonic Path cultivators entered the heartland of my Flowing Cloud Sect and carried out a massive slaughter. One villager was transformed into this state by those Demonic Path bandits. Does the Elder know of a way to resolve this?" Yang Kai brought the lingering spirit nearby closer and showed it to the Elder.

The Elder first glanced at Yang Kai, then carefully observed the lingering spirit. Time passed slowly. Just as Yang Kai and Ding Fu were starting to feel impatient, the Elder suddenly spoke: "This is a resentful spirit cultivated by the Demonic Sect using malevolent Qi. This person's sentience has been devoured by hatred and resentment. If I dissipate this resentful Qi, he will only die immediately. I cannot undo this technique."

Yang Kai was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected that an Elder couldn't even dispel a technique used by a few Demonic Path cultivators in the Qi Refinement Stage. This Elder seemed somewhat incompetent.

Just as Yang Kai was thinking this, the Elder vanished from sight, taking the group of Demonic Path cultivators with it. Yang Kai didn't even have a chance to ask a few more questions.

"Senior Brother Yang, this thing looks truly ominous. We should destroy it while we can," Ding Fu said weakly, looking at the terrifying face of the resentful spirit.

"Who is this Elder? If it can't dispel this thing, it should have destroyed it! Why leave it in my hands?" Yang Kai was also confused and had no good idea how to deal with the resentful spirit.

With the matter concluded, Yang Kai bade farewell to Ding Fu and returned to his dwelling.

"I have now achieved one hundred consecutive victories in the Martial Arts Arena, and I have completed ten medium-level missions. I have finished two of the three assessments set by Sect Master Qing Xuanzi. All that remains is to pass the Inner Sect Disciple assessment three days from now, and then I can proceed to Foundation Establishment—Heavenly Foundation Establishment!" Yang Kai sat cross-legged, reviewing the recent events in his mind. His cultivation had also reached a Bottleneck. He planned to rest peacefully for the next few days and adjust his condition to its peak.

"How should I handle this resentful spirit?" Yang Kai shifted his gaze to the resentful spirit tightly bound beside him. The chains, formed by the two Dragons on its body, were now flickering, a clear sign that the spiritual power contained within them was almost depleted. Once unbound, the resentful spirit would once again begin attacking everything indiscriminately.

"This Elder is truly useless! If it couldn't dispel it, it should have destroyed the thing! What good is it doing leaving it here with me?!" Yang Kai felt overwhelmed and could only grit his teeth and research how to destroy the object.

"Boom!!!"

Yang Kai flicked his finger, and surging flames burst forth from his fingertip, engulfing the resentful spirit. A moment later, the flames dissipated, but the resentful spirit was completely unharmed. Currently, this type of Five Elements Spell had no effect on such a strange entity.