Under the stars and moon.

When returning to Liang City, Wen Yue only felt the dust of the journey but never truly considered the distance between Tong Pass and Liang City.

Today, as he led his personal guards into battle, he could distinctly feel the vastness of the journey.

It stretched endlessly before his eyes.

Heavy snow flew, making the path even harder to traverse.

Wen Yue dared not rest.

Under such high-intensity marching, let alone his personal guards being unable to endure, even Wen Yue himself felt his blood and Qi surging.

The turbid Qi layer from the Turtle Spirit Breath-Holding Technique receded, allowing the spiritual light within his body to emerge.

Wen Yue simply stopped concealing it. His spiritual power surged forth, forming a protective barrier in front of him.

He charged at the forefront, not only withstanding the wind and frost but also clearing a path for the personal guards behind him.

The faint spiritual light appeared particularly dazzling in the heavy snow.

Initially, nothing much happened.

But as soon as his spiritual power emerged, he immediately felt the surrounding gazes of lurking entities intensify.

Wen Yue could clearly feel those unclean things converging towards him.

Due to the spiritual light of a cultivator, the things attracted would only increase.

They were just waiting, waiting for him to be exhausted.

They also feared Qi Refiners, but they yearned exceptionally for the blood, flesh, and essence of Qi Refiners.

For ghosts and specters, there was nothing more nourishing than a Qi Refiner.

Ordinary people had low blood and Qi, completely unable to satisfy the malevolent spirits.

In the eyes of ghosts and specters, common folk were merely tiny specks of light, like fireflies. There was no need to expend too much effort preying on people with ordinary blood and Qi.

Moreover, large cities always had sect Qi cultivators stationed within them, and the Qi cultivators' flying swords were too sharp to provoke rashly.

It was the same now; they dared not rashly advance.

But for some unknown reason, the Qi Refiner before them was actually using spiritual power to resist the wind and frost.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

So they waited.

These entities were more cowardly than ordinary people, yet more cruel and more patient.

They gathered slowly, like a pack of wolves.

Wen Yue frowned but paid them no mind, continuing to lead the way.

It was not worth expending spiritual power to kill these specters that were merely hanging back.

If he was going to strike, it had to be a single, decisive blow, wiping them all out.

Wen Yue snorted coldly, ignoring these entities hidden in the darkness.

Along the way, some specters could keep up, while others, daring not to pursue further, sullenly departed.

However, whenever Wen Yue's spiritual power was significantly depleted, these entities would stir, yet none dared to step forward and court disaster, as if they were still waiting for something.

"Plop."

A head was thrown from afar.

It rolled across the snowy ground, instantly covered in white snow and mud, stained with blood, converging into foulness.

Wen Yue simultaneously reined in his warhorse and ordered his personal guards to form a military array.

Those things were finally going to make a move.

From afar, the sound of a suona horn carried, and gradually the approaching sounds of gongs and drums could be heard.

Amidst the swirling wind and snow, a large crowd of figures gathered.

The previously white snowflakes gradually turned red, and a sedan chair appeared before everyone.

The sedan bearers' faces were pale, their expressions vacant, and their rigid bodies seemed unable to bend, bouncing as they carried the sedan chair.

At a glance, at least dozens of Yin ghosts had gathered in the wedding procession before them, and even the robes on their bodies gradually turned red.

Wen Yue was already anxious, and his voice inevitably carried a harsh severity: "I am Wen Yue, the vanguard general of Tong Pass in Great Liang. Why do you obstruct my path?"

The hunched old ghost guarding the sedan chair grinned.

A wave of foul, fishy stench assaulted the senses, revealing a mouthful of jagged fangs.

"Our young lady has taken a fancy to the general and hopes the general will accompany her on the road to entertain her."

Wen Yue snorted coldly: "Courting death."

These things had not dared to approach and court death when he was at his peak, but they found him when his spiritual power was flagging.

However, it wasn't just these things waiting; Wen Yue was also giving them an opportunity.

Ghosts and specters lurked in the darkness.

It just so happened that he used his depleted spiritual power as bait, perfectly allowing him to net them all in one fell swoop.

This would prevent these things from constantly trailing behind him.

Tu Shanjun within the banner had long since found these things an eyesore.

They dared not attack openly, nor did they wish to leave.

They just lingered nearby, waiting to find a weakness to take a bite.

It was truly disgusting.

These filthy creatures from the gutters dared to covet a Qi Refiner; they truly courted death.

"Form ranks."

As Wen Yue called out the command to line up, his personal guards fearlessly formed their formation.

"Charge!"

The cavalry charged, trampling the ice and snow.

Wen Yue, at the very front, had spiritual power surging along the golden crescent blade.

Boom.

In just one round, the physically weaker ghosts were directly crushed by the spiritual power-infused blood and Qi.

The wedding procession was instantly scattered.

The sedan-carrying corpses tried to block, but were immediately cut in half by Wen Yue's golden blade.

The golden blade swept upwards.

One strike.

Bang.

The bridal sedan chair before him was directly cleaved in two, and a red-clad figure flew out from it.

It was actually a beautiful woman dressed in a gauze skirt.

Wen Yue showed no mercy whatsoever. He leaped from his warhorse and delivered a downward chop.

"Clang."

The woman's two hands transformed into grim, white bone swords, blocking the golden blade.

But Wen Yue's immense strength still slammed her heavily onto the ground.

"General, spare me."

The woman cried out in pain, her voice delicate.

A layer of her gauze dress had peeled away, revealing her graceful body.

Beneath the heavy snow, red gauze covered her face, exposing large patches of delicate, fair skin.

Unfortunately, Wen Yue's eyes showed not a hint of desire, only blazing fury: "My matter is urgent. How dare you ghosts obstruct me?"

"Not to mention you who is a ghost born from a withered bone, even a ghost king would die by my blade!"

Seeing Wen Yue's fury, the woman immediately understood that her charms were useless. She quickly brought out her backing: "Immortal Master, spare me. I am a concubine of the Great Ghost King of Qingwen Mountain. I hope Immortal Master will spare my life for my husband's sake."

"Die!"

Wen Yue, however, was too lazy to waste more words.

What he had just said was merely to vent his pent-up frustration.

Traveling day and night, his anger had been steadily rising, and he needed a good release.

Now that this skeletal ghost had become useless, it was better for it to die.

The skeletal woman saw that Wen Yue's expression didn't even waver and immediately understood that her backing couldn't deter the Qi Refining before her.

She immediately shed her skin and fled.

In the blink of an eye, she had flown several zhang away.

Wen Yue did not pursue. He joined his sword fingers, and the long sword behind him clanged as it unsheathed.

"Hurry!"

With a whoosh, it flew to catch up.

It directly severed the head of the skeletal beauty.

Wen Yue looked at his golden crescent blade. That last strike had chipped two gaps in it.

Mortal weapons were simply not good enough. Even with spiritual power added, they couldn't compare to a ghost's body.

Let alone being mentioned in the same breath as magical tools.

He cleaned up the corpses and collected the baleful energy.

Tu Shanjun observed the skeletal body; it was indeed a decent material for artifact refinement.

Itself in the shape of two bone swords, it could be considered a pseudo-magical tool, and its foundation seemed quite good.

With five horses per person, they traveled day and night.

Eating, drinking, and relieving themselves were mostly done on horseback.

The journey that would take a large army two months, Wen Yue and his personal guards completed in just six days.

Along the way, no more ghosts dared to block their path.

Any ghosts that sensed Wen Yue even avoided him from afar.

Braving the wind and frost, Wen Yue finally arrived at the great city of Tong Pass.

The Wen family's banner rustled in the wind.

Wen Yue roared: "I am Wen Yue!"

"Open the city gates!"

(Chapter End)