In the main residence's courtyard, a rich golden light filled every corner, and surging spiritual energy swept out in all directions like a raging storm.
A delayed rumble suddenly exploded, like rolling thunder, shaking the heart and soul.
After dozens of breaths, everything gradually calmed down, the strong golden light dimmed, and the violent spiritual energy finally dissipated.
"Immeasurable Heaven Venerate... Li Mufeng, I am your grandfather!"
Amidst the ruins of the courtyard, which had been blasted into a wasteland by the self-detonation of the talisman artifact, an angry curse suddenly rang out.
Ji Yuan slumped on the dirt-covered ground. Although he was not injured, his face was incredibly pale, and his vital energy had been completely depleted by the earlier onslaught of spiritual energy.
He looked heartache at the three copper coins beside him. Their spiritual light had dimmed, and the accumulated spiritual energy within was completely gone. It would take an unknown amount of time and effort to warm them up again.
This was not just a matter of accumulating spiritual energy again; it required purchasing many spiritual materials to nourish their depleted spirituality, costing an unimaginable amount of money.
He couldn't help but curse again. Ji Yuan carefully collected the three copper coins from the ground, and only then did he have the leisure to survey the surroundings.
The entire courtyard had been destroyed by the self-detonation of the talisman artifact. As far as the eye could see, it was a scene of ruin, with collapsed houses, broken bluestone bricks scattered everywhere, and yellow earth churned up.
Before long, his expression grew serious. His gaze swept over the unharmed old woman and finally settled on a shuttle at her feet.
The young Taoist priest fell silent, sighed after a long while, and walked over to a young Taoist, looking down at the pale man lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
"You are quite loyal and righteous."
Ji Yuan squatted down and said pointedly.
During the self-detonation of the talisman artifact, with this fellow's cultivation, if he had used the Cold Moon Shuttle to protect himself, although it would have consumed a lot of spiritual power, he would not have ended up in such a state.
But the other party deliberately did not do so, instead, he risked having his spiritual power almost completely depleted, his physical body almost destroyed by the spiritual energy impact, and even the Cold Moon Shuttle almost lost its spirituality, completely becoming a mortal object.
And all this was exchanged for the safety of a vengeful spirit.
"Grandma Zhang watched me grow up, served my family for three generations, and did not abandon me during the past upheaval. I will naturally protect her with all my might."
Song He exhaled a breath of turbid air. Although his injuries were severe, he could still speak fluently.
At this moment, the old woman, holding the Cold Moon Shuttle, knelt beside him, her head bowed in silence. It was likely that if she had a physical body, her face would be full of tears at this moment.
"Since it's already like this, why don't you tell us your story?"
Ji Yuan sat on the ground, took out some pills from his body and swallowed them, while looking at the person beside him.
Upon hearing this, Song He stared at the night sky and, after a long pause, slowly began to recount a forgotten past.
He was originally the legitimate son of a wealthy family, possessing good cultivation aptitude. After his parents passed away, he traveled the world with Grandma Zhang and a few household servants.
More than three hundred years ago, he brought his wife to Qianyu City and finally chose to build a mansion at Luohun Slope, living a life that surpassed that of immortals for a good period.
Until one day, nearly twenty powerful Qi Refiners gathered in Qianyu City and fought fiercely amongst themselves, destroying countless mountain peaks and diverting several rivers.
In fact, three hundred years ago, Qianyu City was even famous in a continent because it produced jade stones of excellent quality, which were indispensable for cultivators in forming arrays, crafting talismans, and even forging magical artifacts and treasures.
But in that grand battle of the powerful, not only was more than half of Qianyu City destroyed, but even the jade vein, which spanned a thousand miles, was shattered. The countless jade stones beneath the earth were beaten into mere spiritual energy, returning to heaven and earth.
Ji Yuan was actually aware of this history. Although it was not recorded in the local chronicles, it was widely circulated in Qianyu City.
Even the Taoist temple he belonged to was once famous throughout the Great Yu Dynasty, producing many powerful beings known as immortals. It was precisely because of the battle three hundred years ago that its heritage was almost completely severed.
However, although the heritage was not broken, it was merely a lingering existence. The senior Taoist priests in the temple perished one after another, and in recent years, it never recovered its former glory, becoming an obscure Taoist temple in a small county town with little incense.
"Actually, the thousand-mile jade vein beneath our feet was not destroyed by the battle of the powerful."
Song He sighed and slowly recounted the events of that year.
It turned out that much earlier, a rogue cultivator from the mountains and marshes had infiltrated the jade vein and operated there for over a hundred years, expending countless rare and precious materials, before finally excavating the entire thousand-mile jade vein.
Finally, this rogue cultivator used the thousand-mile jade vein and its ten-thousand-year-old jade marrow to forge an astonishing spiritual treasure.
However, the rogue cultivator did not know that although he had acted with great caution, his actions had already been discovered by various forces, and many powerful beings had already infiltrated the Qianyu City territory.
When the astonishing spiritual treasure was completely formed, nearly twenty powerful beings attacked simultaneously, leading to what happened afterward.
"Originally, our Song Manor had escaped this calamity and was not affected by this battle. But who knew that the astonishing spiritual treasure that the many powerful beings were fighting over would eventually quietly infiltrate the earth veins of Luohun Slope."
Song He shook his head. What he had originally thought was a great opportunity ultimately became their death warrant.
The earth veins of Luohun Slope were thrown into chaos by this spiritual treasure, with large amounts of spiritual energy and Yin energy converging. And because he harbored greed and wanted to possess this treasure, he ultimately set up a Grand Array of Nine Yin Soul Seizing.
However, it was this single thought that led to his family members being transformed into ghosts within the great array, and eventually being suppressed by the powerful beings who arrived after being alerted.
"At that time, some of the household servants ran out while I was setting up the array, which is why that powerful being appeared. Otherwise, we would have long since fallen into the evil path and harmed a region."
He felt both regret and infinite emotion about the events of that year. The word "greed" had not only buried himself and his wife but also implicated dozens of living lives, causing them to fall into the ghost path, with no chance of reincarnation and rebirth thereafter.
This was also why the Song family ancestral hall and genealogy had a deep accumulation of sin, obscuring the surname and names.
And that Li Mufeng was likely a descendant of those few household servants who escaped, thus knowing that a great treasure was hidden here, and eventually leading his junior brothers and sisters to seek opportunities.
"Then what about you now?"
Ji Yuan looked at Song He thoughtfully. In fact, he already had a general guess in his mind.
After what felt like the nth sigh, Song He said despondently, "This little fellow is considered my descendant, my only son who escaped the calamity, the bloodline that remained."
"By chance and fate, he was accepted into Mingyue Temple to cultivate. However, while he was ostensibly the disciple of the Abbot, he was actually treated as a cauldrons, waiting for the day when his cultivation would reach the stage of forming a pill."
The real Song He, after realizing that he was being used as a cauldrons by his respected master, committed suicide in his room. And he, who had become a vengeful spirit, coincidentally possessed this body.
This led to the subsequent slaughter of more than twenty people in the Mingyue Temple, including the Abbot, elders, and disciples.
Incidentally, this Mingyue Temple, which established its sect at Luohun Slope, was a pawn casually placed by the powerful cultivator who suppressed the Song Manor back then.