Best Young Master
Chapter 533 - 475 Prelude to Playing with Fire

Chapter 533: Chapter 475 Prelude to Playing with Fire

The night deepened, and Yanjing City was brightly lit. Seen from high above, towering buildings soared into the sky, piercing through the clouds and shimmering with enchanting halos in the dark; cars zipped along the interconnected streets, an endless stream, the entire city brimming with the air of modernization.

At some point, this modernized breath began to violently erode the historical heritage of the Emperor City. Today, its heritage has become increasingly faint.

But—

As the capital of Huaxia, it still represents the nation’s fate, hence some have proclaimed the slogan, "Huaxia will not decline, Yanjing will forever prosper."

Fate is something invisible, untouchable. Some believe in it, some do not.

Wu Mu, the Sect Leader of Ghost Sect and a supreme strongman in the Gang Qi realm, was one who believed in the concept of fate.

Because he believed in fate, he had ostensibly bonded with the Bai Family in the name of repaying kindness, but in reality, he wanted to glean a share of the Bai Family’s fate to grow stronger with its aid and make Ghost Sect the most prominent sect in Huaxia.

Because he believed in fate, ever since he connected with the Bai Family, he seldom left Yanjing and mostly cultivated on Yanjing West Mountain, attempting to divide the fate of this ancient capital in this manner.

Midnight.

This was the time of transition between yin and yang, and also when yin energy was at its most abundant in the day.

In the past, during this time, Wu Mu would always enter meditation to absorb the Evil Yin Qi between heaven and earth.

Today was an exception.

He didn’t meditate. Instead, he stood on a peak in West Mountain, gazing down at the dazzling lights of Yanjing City.

Bathed in moonlight, one could see that the swollen handprint Chu Xuanji had slapped on his face had vanished without a trace, his withered face filled with a cold fury and, more importantly, rage!

As a supreme strongman in the Gang Qi realm, being slapped away by someone was a humiliation beyond what others could possibly imagine for Wu Mu!

Especially since the man who slapped him was his nemesis, Chu Xuanji!

That rage had become his obsession, and if not dispelled, would eventually turn into a heart demon.

If that happened, not only would he no longer progress in his cultivation, but he might also be troubled by the heart demon during cultivation, leading to madness!

This was the outcome he did not wish to see.

So, instead of cultivating as usual when Evil Yin Qi was at its strongest, he planned to wait until the obsession was gone, his rage vented, and then focus entirely on cultivation.

Time passed unknowingly until a cold aura approached Wu Mu from afar, growing closer.

The owner of the aura was a middle-aged man in a black robe, not tall, with narrow cheeks and deep-set, vacant, and cold eyes. At first glance, he seemed like an evil ghost, giving off a chilling presence.

If Ye Fan were there, he would certainly recognize the middle-aged man.

He was none other than Ku Rong, Wu Mu’s senior disciple!

Back when Ye Fan and Chu Ji attended the annual auction of the cultivation world, they had seen Ku Rong in the auction hall and Ye Fan clearly felt the cold killing intent in Ku Rong’s eyes.

"Master."

Soon, Ku Rong, with his cold aura, arrived behind Wu Mu and bowed in greeting.

"Your aura is stable, and your consciousness is steadfast. It seems you have thoroughly consolidated the Innate Great Perfection realm," Wu Mu turned around, glancing casually at Ku Rong and commented lightly.

"If it were not for the Plant Essence provided by Master for this disciple, I would not have been able to step into the Innate Great Perfection realm, let alone consolidate it," Ku Rong replied with gratitude.

At the time of his encounter with Ye Fan, he had only been at the peak stage of Innate as a Magician, but after taking the Plant Essence given by Wu Mu, he achieved a breakthrough to the Innate Great Perfection realm and consolidated it through arduous cultivation over time.

"The reason I went to great lengths to find Plant Essence for you, to increase your power, is because I wish you to shine brightly in the Qing bang competition and kill that old dog Chu Xuanji’s disciple," Wu Mu said coldly.

"Your disciple understands."

Ku Rong nodded. Not only was Ye Fan the personal disciple of Wu Mu’s arch-enemy, Chu Xuanji, he also had killed Ku Rong’s fellow disciple, Duanmu, cementing a deadly feud with the Ghost Sect.

"However, we will have to act ahead of time now," Wu Mu suddenly said.

"Ahead of time?" Ku Rong, taken aback, asked, "Master, do you mean to have me kill Ye Fan now?"

"Hmm."

Wu Mu nodded bluntly.

Ku Rong’s eyebrows rose in concern.

Although unaware of the details behind Ye Fan’s killing of a half-step Gang Qi realm master, he had heard about the incident where Ye Fan wiped out Nanqinghong and the Hongwu Sect.

And according to the information he previously held, Tong He, the Hongwu Sect Leader, was in the Innate Great Perfection realm.

This clearly indicated that Ye Fan had the power to kill someone in the Innate Great Perfection realm.

Therefore, with Ku Rong’s abilities, it might not be possible to defeat Ye Fan.

Furthermore, even if he could manage to kill Ye Fan, he would face reprisal from Chu Xuanji and the Ye Family, as well as punishment from the Yanhuang Organization!

Whereas, if he killed Ye Fan during the Qing bang competition, it would be different—according to the rules of the competition, life and death were in the hands of fate, and should any accident occur, no faction could seek revenge, or else the Yanhuang Organization would severely punish them!

"Are you afraid?"

Wu Mu’s tone carried a sense of gravity, and Ku Rong’s shifting expressions did not escape his notice.

"Master has commanded, and I am bound by duty to climb the mountain of blades or descend into the sea of flames!" All traces of worry vanished from Ku Rong’s face, leaving only resoluteness.

"Very good!"

Wu Mu, seemingly satisfied with Ku Rong’s attitude, praised him and then said, "I know what you’re worried and afraid of. Rest assured, since I have asked you to slaughter that boy, naturally I have made arrangements in advance and will not let you act rashly."

"Sigh~"

Upon hearing this, Ku Rong put his mind at ease and said, "I will follow Master’s arrangements!"

"That young beast managed to bloodbath both Nanqinghong and Hongwu Sect with the power of the Peak stage of Innate, not just because he practices both magic and martial arts, which greatly augments his combat ability, but also because he has two mid-level magic artifacts in his possession. One of them is the Ghostly Gourd that I once had your brother Duanmu craft, and the other is the Xuanye Flying Blade that he had the Yanhuang Organization help craft using the Taiyin Xuanmen Sword as the main material."

Wu Mu spoke again, "If he didn’t have those two mid-level magic artifacts, with your strength, defeating him wouldn’t be too difficult."

"Indeed."

Ku Rong nodded, not disguising his fear of Ye Fan—Wu Mu had long since seen through it.

"To ensure that you can kill that young beast with absolute certainty, I plan to craft a Soul Summoning Banner for you," Wu Mu said with a heavy voice.

A Soul Summoning Banner?!

Ku Rong’s heart was shocked, and then he was ecstatic.

He had once read about the ’Soul Summoning Banner’ in ancient books.

Unlike ordinary magic artifacts, the Soul Summoning Banner is an evil weapon that requires gathering a large amount of resentful energy and even resentful spirits to craft. The more resentful energy and spirits gathered, the higher the quality.

During the most prosperous times in the ancient cultivation world, the leader of the Demon Path took the ’Soul Summoning Banner’ as his life-bound artifact, which was a top-grade high-level magical artifact. During battle, one could summon the resentful spirits from within the banner with their mind, allowing these spirits to gather into terrifying evil beings whose sole purpose was to annihilate their opponent’s souls, possessing unmatched power.

"Master, according to the ancient books, once the Soul Summoning Banner is crafted, it will be at least a mid-level magical artifact, but it requires gathering a vast amount of resentful energy and even spirits."

After the initial wave of ecstasy, Ku Rong felt slightly puzzled, "Where will we go to absorb such resentful energy and spirits?"

"The Northeast."

"The Northeast?" Ku Rong was puzzled.

"The ancestral treasure sword of the Northeast Nalan Family was the sidearm of the first clan leader of the Nalan Family. Back when the Manchu invaded, the first clan leader of the Nalan Family took the lead, his treasure sword steeped in countless blood, and also absorbed the resentment of the deceased, eventually forming a resentful spirit within the sword, becoming a top-grade magical treasure sword!"

Wu Mu explained, "As long as I take you to the Nalan Family and secure their ancestral treasure sword, extracting the resentful spirit within it, we can then craft the Soul Summoning Banner!"

"Master is truly wise!"

Ku Rong was thrilled, not bothering to consider how Wu Mu was going to convince the Nalan Family to hand over their ancestral treasure sword. All he knew was that once he got the ancestral treasure sword of the Nalan Family and extracted the resentful spirit to make the Soul Summoning Banner, then the banner would be a top-grade mid-level magical artifact!

Top-grade mid-level magical artifact...

Such items were exceedingly rare even when looking at the global cultivation world!

"This is only the first step of your master’s plan."

Seeing his reaction, Wu Mu smirked coldly, "After we obtain the ancestral sword of the Nalan Family, I will take you to the North Korea Special Zone."

"The North Korea Special Zone?"

Ku Rong’s heart stirred, instantly understanding Wu Mu’s intention.

In the fifties of the last century, the Huaxia leader who led the peasants to become their own masters, with a view to the long term, led his troops to the Northeast, crossing the Yalu River, and helped North Korea at that time defeat the Alliance Army led by the American Empire.

That war was horrifically bloody, with both sides suffering deaths exceeding a million, all buried in North Korea, today’s Huaxia North Korea Special Zone!

And the best way to craft a Soul Summoning Banner was to head to the battlefield to collect resentful energy and spirits.

It was self-explanatory why Wu Mu would be heading to the North Korea Special Zone!

"Master, if you can collect the resentful energy and spirits of a few hundred thousand or even over a million dead in the North Korea Special Zone, then the Soul Summoning Banner might very well become a top-grade high-level magical artifact!" Ku Rong was slightly excited and at the same time a little shocked—Wu Mu was planning big!

"Heh, with your strength and holding a top-grade high-level magical artifact, killing that young beast will be like slaughtering a chicken!"

Wu Mu’s reply was chillingly off-topic, "As for the Yanhuang Organization, you have nothing to worry about—that young beast is always arrogant. If you challenge him, he will surely accept the fight!"

"You are right, that kid is too arrogant! But... Master, going to the North Korea Special Zone to absorb the resentful energy and spirits from the battlefield is also against the rules of the Yanhuang Organization!" Ku Rong was very excited, but suddenly he remembered something and felt a bit worried.

"Although North Korea is connected to the South Korea of the American Alliance, there are few cultivators there, and it’s the place where the Yanhuang Organization’s oversight is the weakest. With the strength of the members of the Yanhuang Organization there, it’s impossible for them to detect our actions."

Wu Mu chuckled coldly, "As for after the Soul Summoning Banner is successfully crafted, even if the Yanhuang Organization comes asking, we can just make up any location!"

"You’ve thought of everything, Master!" Ku Rong was fully reassured.

"Chu Xuanji, you dare to slap me across the face, I dare to ensure your disciple has no grave to lay in!"

Wu Mu caressed the place where Chu Xuanji had struck him, his expression ghastly and horrifying, "When the time comes, even if you seek revenge, with the top-grade high-level magical artifact Soul Summoning Banner in my hand, I will not fear you!"

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and Monthly Tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)