The black fire burned fiercely, and Liu Xin knelt on the ground, letting out a chilling howl.

His skin began to wither, his flesh shriveled, and under the scorching black fire, he slowly transformed into a skin-and-bones hungry ghost, his belly sunken inward.

The evaporated flesh and blood, his strength, his Qi-Blood, his Divine Soul power, all accompanied by the black smoke, faintly transformed into one face after another.

Those who died because of him, those followers who trusted him until death.

As Liu Xin completely turned into a pitch-black, skin-and-bones hungry ghost, the escaping black smoke, under the burning of the black fire, transformed into crows circling in the sky.

The ground beneath his feet rose into a Lonely Peak out of thin air.

Liu Xin's body, bound to the Lonely Peak, had to endure the erosion of the cold wind day and night.

And those crows circling mid-air approached in flocks, pecking his eyes blind, devouring his eyeballs, deafening his ears, consuming his nose, and then pecking and swallowing his tongue.

The black flame flew back to Yu Ziqing's fingertips.

Sensing the mysterious power growing weaker and rapidly declining, Yu Ziqing didn't hesitate, raised his right hand, and uttered his curse.

"This is your retribution,"

"This is also my curse,"

"Killing you outright is too lenient.

A sentence of one Yuan, after 129,600 years, if you are still alive, you will be set free as a hungry ghost."

Yu Ziqing retracted the black fire and pointed to those crows circling the Lonely Peak, which had already nested above it.

"See them? They were once your followers who gave you their trust.

You brainwashed them completely, stripped them of themselves, and even in death, they still trusted you.

Stop howling.

They are helping you, pecking your eyes blind every day, deafening your ears, devouring your nose and tongue, to help you reduce a day's sentence.

As a hungry ghost, I give you the right to consume food.

But every day, you can only eat the crows' foul, poisonous droppings.

If you don't eat, then feel the hunger that countless civilians once endured.

Eating them, even after the poison manifesting, gives you a day of peace.

A Yuan's time will pass quickly.

Thanks to the White Sun Holy Mother's blessing, my power at this moment can inflict upon you a curse for one Yuan's time, and you are the first to receive the retribution of the Evil Dao.

Consider yourself honored."

Yu Ziqing kindly explained to Liu Xin, lest he thought the crows were torturing him.

Those crows were devout followers who hadn't regained themselves even after death, sincerely helping him.

Look, those crows, after eating to their fill, deposit their feces at designated places, preserving them for Liu Xin.

When Liu Xin couldn't bear the hunger, they fed him to ease his suffering.

Sadly, by now, Liu Xin probably couldn't hear anymore.

He was howling, despairingly howling.

The strange power on Yu Ziqing also completely dissipated by now.

He landed on the ground, looking up at Liu Xin, bound to the Lonely Peak, with a slight smile.

This was the first hungry ghost Dao's Divine Skills he awakened.

A curse-type Divine Skill: Retribution.

He was very satisfied.

Very aligned with his simple belief.

These Evil Dao should indeed receive retribution.

Before, he always thought, dying completely was good.

Now he felt he was wrong, could not be so absolute.

Sometimes, being unable to die is retribution.

The White Sun Holy Mother must die completely; there's no choice, Yu Ziqing couldn't leave him alive.

But when it came to doing evil, High Priest Liu Xin truly was exceedingly guilty.

Every Evil Cult-related atrocity Yu Ziqing witnessed was led by Liu Xin.

The White Sun Holy Mother had long known Liu Xin just wanted to use him to gain cultivation benefits and accumulate Incense Fire Crystal.

Liu Xin had poor talent and weak foundation, this life had no chance anymore.

But should he cultivate to the Ninth Tier, even Tenth Tier, he'd have the opportunity to come again in another life, have a chance to make up for this life's regrets.

He feared death greatly, fled first at the slightest sign.

Now he got what he asked for, he wouldn't die for a very long time.

He would live far longer than an ordinary mortal.

Yu Ziqing waved his hand, retrieving the items that dropped after Liu Xin turned into a hungry ghost.

Besides the Storage Bag, there was a roll of emerald-green bamboo slip, a ring.

Opening the bamboo slip, it was indeed the White Sun Holy Scripture.

Only, its content remained just part of the White Sun Holy Scripture, with the latter half's sinister content all vanished.

Without those sinister contents, the current White Sun Holy Scripture was indeed a good Cultivation Technique, grand and bright, a true Dharma Method in every sense.

Its scope included Qi Refinement and Refining God content, Secret Techniques, Talismans, and Pill methods, all aspects were covered.

Calling it a holy scripture wasn't an exaggeration.

A fine Dharma Method, thus sullied by the Evil Dao.

Stowing away the bamboo slip, Yu Ziqing picked up the ring, wearing a slightly peculiar smile.

Seventh Floor Ring.

Another owner of a Seventh Floor Ring fell into his hands.

Recalling his judgment, Liu Xin must be No. 3, right?

Recalling the time when Yu Ziqing first entered the Seventh Floor, No. 3 had left him a message.

Information on Dazhen could be sought from him.

Back then, Yu Ziqing would have never thought Liu Xin was No. 3.

This snitch had another identity besides being a Seventh Floor member and High Priest of the White Sun Evil Cult.

Yu Ziqing, during reverse possession and tracing the past, saw the White Sun Holy Mother's memories.

This Liu Xin and King Xiang of Dazhen had quite the connection.

Even King Xiang's rebellion and Dazhen's current internal chaos were linked to Liu Xin.

That's why Yu Ziqing had said this person had to meet retribution.

In recent years, from the Wilderness to Dazhen and then to Dali.

Saying that half the civilians who died were because of him was an understatement.

Calling him the chief villain wasn't unjust in the least.

Letting him die a compensatory death would leave Yu Ziqing's mind unsettled.

Standing in place, Yu Ziqing put away all items, then his Qi Blood Power surged, touching the Death orifices on his left arm.

The Death Prohibition Rune didn't hinder him, and he could easily see what was inside.

His prepared Void Escape Scroll, pre-arranged Jade Scroll, prepared sweet rain, and other essential items.

Everything resided in the space of this Death orifice, enveloped and floating by his Qi Blood Power.

Yu Ziqing had meticulously honed and expanded this Death orifice into a treasure trove before.

Others were not to be spoken of, but the White Sun Holy Mother, even after possessing his body, couldn't glimpse what this Death orifice, sealed by the Death Prohibition Rune, contained.

Turning hands, taking out the rusty sword always carried by the White Sun Holy Mother for study, Yu Ziqing felt like laughing.

He hadn't given up, still thought there was something unique about this rusty sword.

The only unique thing was that the sword and sword scabbard had rusted solidly together, beyond saving.

Conveniently, Yu Ziqing had grown accustomed to it, finding a new tool to indicate judgment results wasn't easy.

Just as Yu Ziqing took out the Void Escape Scroll, preparing to leave, he glanced southward.

In a short while, Cece, bundled up and wearing a hat and scarf, came rushing with Wu Shuangge in tow.

"Cece sis, I told you, Young Master is definitely ahead, I can smell the scent, it's unmistakable."

Looking at the two, Cece appeared weary, and Wu Shuangge bore injuries, manifestly having suffered quite a bit on their journey across the south and north of Dazhen to get here.

Yu Ziqing put away the Void Escape Scroll, abandoning the thought of directly traversing the ten thousand li southward.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

Cece reached him first, drawing near while taking out the wooden bowl.

"Young Master, you must be hungry, drink some soup first."

Yu Ziqing smilingly accepted the empty wooden bowl, glanced at it, and immediately threads of sweet rain appeared within.

"Now, are you certain it's me?"

"Young Master, this is what you taught me before." Cece also heaved a sigh of relief.

The empty Holy Wood Bowl would only slowly manifest sweet rain in Yu Ziqing's hands.

If it was the rebounded White Sun Holy Mother, she'd be immediately rebuffed and couldn't even touch it.

"How long was I missing for?"

"Young Master, you've been missing for over a month, I didn't dare spread the news, the family didn't know either, and I didn't dare casually summon the hungry ghost."

"Over a month? It felt just like a few days, with Dazhen still in war, you both had a hard time crossing over here, didn't you?"

"We got caught by one of Dazhen's top experts." Cece's complexion became slightly grave.

"Half a month into Dazhen's territory, we encountered danger several times, but Wu blocked them back, those unmanageable, she escaped with me.

But later, someone took notice of Wu's Companion Magical Treasure and captured us."

"He didn't give you trouble, did he?"

"He recognized our identity but didn't trouble us, only borrowing Wu's Companion Magical Treasure for study.

Then today, for some reason, he gave us a bunch of stuff and sent us to a place a few hundred li from here.

He was notably courteous, saying he'd been eager to hunt before but had no malice.

Then even presented us with a Token, saying it'd be safer traveling in Dazhen."

Speaking, Cece took out a black Token, with faint strands of lightning swirling upon it, though one couldn't sense the lightning's power.

"Since it's gifted to you, keep it."

Yu Ziqing had a familiar feeling about the power on that Token, yet couldn't identify where he'd seen it.

He didn't think it was because of a forgetful memory, he certainly had encountered it.

After much thought, to evoke such a feeling, it had to be a Dazhen expert, yet he had no impression at all.

Seemed there was only one possibility.

Yu Ziqing had heard, when the King of Hungry Ghosts appeared, it seemed they beat up a Dazhen expert, adept in Thunder Manipulation.

If there were no surprises, if the Token wasn't theirs, then it belonged to a powerful practitioner who cultivated the same Dharma Method.

P.S.: Ten updates! Over thirty thousand words in total, please subscribe!