Looking at Liu Ruyan's cowardly and timid appearance, Qin Hao found it truly difficult to connect the person before him with the legendary Fairy Miejue of the future.
"Soul Devouring Banner!"
Qin Hao opened his hand. In the next second, a pitch-black banner enveloped in a dark red demonic aura appeared in his grasp.
The banner fluttered without any wind, its surface covered with twisted, agonized ghostly faces. Desolate, despairing wails and the sobbing of sinister winds echoed from within, sending shivers down one's spine.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know what to do; I will teach you."
Before his voice faded, Qin Hao flicked his wrist. The Soul Devouring Banner expanded against the wind, instantly transforming into a giant banner ten zhang tall. It flapped wildly, and the ghostly faces on its surface seemed to come alive, letting out shrill roars.
A dense aura of death and yin energy spread out, and a massive black hole appeared in the sky.
"Devour!"
Qin Hao shouted loudly. In the next moment, the Soul Devouring Banner erupted with intense blood-red light. Countless blood-red threads shot toward the crowd below the altar like living creatures.
The threads shot from the banner were like chains from hell. Ignoring physical barriers, they directly pierced through these people's bodies, accurately stabbing into and entangling their fragile soul origins.
"Ah—"
With their souls forcibly extracted, everyone simultaneously let out shrill wails of extreme agony.
"Daoist, spare our lives! We know we were wrong! Please give us another chance!"
Faced with the threat of death, these people begged for mercy continuously. Qin Hao's expression remained unchanged; he merely sneered:
"Give you a chance? If I hadn't come today, would you have given her a chance? Even death is too good for you!"
Saying that, Qin Hao injected more spiritual energy into the Soul Devouring Banner. The bodies of these people began to twitch and twist violently.
Finally, their expressions froze in ultimate fear and pain. Their eyes bulged, and traces of black-red souls began to seep out from their seven orifices.
Drawn by the Soul Devouring Banner, these souls swiftly flowed back into the banner along the blood-red soul threads.
In the plaza, swaths of people fell like harvested straw. Their physical bodies did not perish immediately, but their divine souls had been forcibly extracted, leaving behind only slightly twitching empty shells.
Having absorbed thousands of people, the surface of the Soul Devouring Banner gained thousands of more agonizingly wailing ghostly faces. Qin Hao merely cast a cold glance before putting the banner away.
Liu Ruyan, who had witnessed the entire process from the side, shifted her gaze. She looked up at Qin Hao blankly:
"Are... are they all dead?"
Qin Hao chuckled lightly and rubbed Liu Ruyan's head:
"Those who bullied you, why keep them alive instead of killing them?"
Qin Hao's words made Liu Ruyan's heart suddenly constrict, as if something had gently bumped into it. It felt sour and astringent, yet carried an unfamiliar warmth that she almost dared not touch.
Her grandparents, who depended on her for survival, also loved her. But whenever trouble arose, they always told Liu Ruyan to endure it, not to cause trouble, because she could not afford to provoke anyone.
However, the man before her offered a protection that was so brutal, so unreasonable. Those who bullied you, why keep them alive instead of killing them?
This was a kind of absolutely biased care that she had never experienced before.
"Ruyan, remember this. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to treat others. Just wait and see how they treat you. If they are good to you, be good to them. The moment they show malice toward you, do not hesitate, use everything you have to kill them."
"Either you don't kill, or you pull up the weeds by the roots, killing them without leaving any hidden dangers behind. Do you understand?"
Liu Ruyan nodded blankly. In her eyes, Qin Hao was a rare good person, so whatever he said must be right.
Qin Hao probably never expected that an ignorant young girl, precisely under his teaching by words and deeds, would become the Fairy Miejue who reigned supreme across the Three Realms and Nine Heavens in the future.
Qin Hao took Liu Ruyan's hand, left the plaza, and walked toward the streets. Seeing that her tattered clothes really affected her temperament, he decided to buy her some new outfits.
The streets inside the city were wide, lined with shops and bustling with crowds, with the sounds of peddlers crying out their wares echoing endlessly.
Led by Qin Hao, Liu Ruyan walked on the bustling street, appearing exceptionally nervous and uneasy. She was used to hiding in the shadows, and being exposed to so many gazes made her instinctively want to shrink behind him.
Sensing her nervousness, Qin Hao squeezed her hand and said softly:
"Keep your head up and your chest out. From now on, you don't need to hide from anyone."
Qin Hao's figure was not large, but it carried a warm strength that made Liu Ruyan feel at ease. She took a deep breath and tried hard to do as he said. Although she still didn't dare to make eye contact with passersby, her back was finally a bit straighter.
"Isn't... isn't this that jinx from the Liu family? Weren't they supposed to execute her today? Who let her out?"
"Heavens! How is she not dead yet? What is the Liu family doing? They agreed to execute her, so why let her out to plague people?"
"This jinx who cursed her own parents to death and caused the spiritual energy of the entire Starfall City to deplete didn't just die properly. Why did she run out to harm people? Stay away from her, and absolutely do not get infected by her bad luck."
Upon seeing Liu Ruyan, voices of disdain immediately rang out all around. A few women dressed like noble ladies even exaggeratedly covered their mouths and noses, as if the air in the places she had been became filthy and unbearable.
The color instantly drained from Liu Ruyan's small face, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. That familiar malice and rejection, like maggots attached to the bone, enveloped her once again.
She instinctively wanted to pull her hand back from Qin Hao's palm, wanting to hide herself and escape these gazes.
Qin Hao's face darkened completely. He shot a cold glance at these people and then, without any unnecessary words.
"Soul Devouring Banner!"
With a flick of his wrist, in the next second, a sinister and terrifying Soul Devouring Banner appeared in his hand.
"Devour!"
Qin Hao swung it forcefully. In the next moment, everyone in the entire alley went black in the eyes and fell to the ground, and all of their divine souls were collected into the Soul Devouring Banner by Qin Hao.
After doing this, Qin Hao patted Liu Ruyan's shoulder:
"Don't always think about escaping. Whoever makes you uncomfortable, just kill them."
A flicker of light appeared in Liu Ruyan's hollow eyes. So, could things really be this simple?
"Just kill them? I'll remember that."
Qin Hao patted her small head in satisfaction. "That's the right way. I'll take you to change your clothes first, and then I'll teach you how to cultivate."
Qin Hao led Liu Ruyan straight toward the most imposing silk and clothing shop in the city.
This Neon Garment Pavilion had a massive storefront and exquisite decor. Various silks and satins shimmered with radiant colors, and the hanging ready-made clothes were of novel designs. Qin Hao was very satisfied.
Just as he was about to enter, he noticed that Liu Ruyan was still standing frozen in place:
"What's wrong?"
Liu Ruyan gently shook her head at Qin Hao. "This shop is too expensive. Let's... let's go to another one."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
