Chapter 60: The Mourning Banner Waves to Guide Immortal Souls; The Yang Spirit Emerges as the Yin Spirit Appears

Whoosh—

In an instant, surges of baleful black energy roiled through the air. The majority of the Hu family’s Tian-generation and the younger Wan-generation members had their souls instantly forced out of their bodies, possessing a group of Gao family descendants as they confronted the ancestor figures of the other four great families.

Meanwhile, the group of Hu family’s Da-generation and Xiao-generation foxes—originally deployed to intercept Zhang Lingyu and his senior brother—swiftly entangled Xiao Zizai as well. In their eyes, this fellow absolutely had to be stopped to prevent any unexpected complications.

At this moment, upon seeing this unfold, the various Tian-generation immortal spirits immediately grasped the situation and could not help but let out cold huffs:

"Hmph! I kept wondering what that brat Gao Lian was planning by making such a huge commotion this time and refusing to let even the spirit-mediums of the other families enter. As expected, not a single one of you stinking foxes has good intentions!"

"Still, I must say, the Company is intervening this time. Aren't you afraid that this Gao family brat—who has finally climbed to such a high position—will just come crashing down like this?"

Immediately after, an ancestor of the Huang family attempted to sow discord.

"Heh, as a spirit-medium, isn't it only natural for him to give his utmost for us? Besides, it’s just a Company position. Even if he truly loses it, what of it? Can it possibly compare to this great fortuitous opportunity?" A Gao family descendant, already possessed by a Tian-generation fox immortal, sneered.

From their perspective, this statement was entirely logical. After all, compared to the thousands of years of life possessed by these immortal spirits, a mere company established a little over twenty years ago was truly beneath their notice. Besides, hadn't they been looking after the medium families for so long precisely so they could be of use at critical moments?

"..."

To these words, the various immortal spirits really had no retort. After all, if they were in the same position, they would make the exact same choice, leaving them with no grounds for criticism.

Regardless, seeing that the fortuitous opportunity was about to be monopolized by the Hu family, they were certainly not going to sit idly by. They all channeled the True Qi within their bodies, preparing to deal with these possessed Gao family descendants first.

Yet, right at this very moment...

"Wuwuwuwuwu—"

All around the immortal spirits, a chorus of weeping suddenly echoed. Ethereal and desolate, the sound caused every immortal spirit to freeze, and they immediately began searching for the source of the noise.

Then, the next second...

"Stop fighting, stop fighting! Someone's gonna get killed soon, wuwuwuwuwu—!"

A figure holding a Soul-Guiding Banner and wearing a mask emerged right in the center of the two factions. Both sides managed to make out the pattern on the mask, which unexpectedly turned out to be the visage of a crying ghost-god!

"This fellow... is he in cahoots with that freak?!"

Upon seeing this mask, the immortal spirits immediately realized that this third party consisted of more than just one person, and a sense of bewilderment washed over them.

"This fellow showing up at a time like this... what on earth is he trying to do?!"

Very soon, they learned the answer. They watched as Xue Fan waved the soul-recalling banner in his hand, causing a surge of black energy to instantly rise. It instantly enveloped the possessed Gao family mediums, and the sound of wailing exploded through the air!

"Return, oh souls—"

"Come forth, souls!"

Whoosh!

The next instant, a scene that shocked all the immortal spirits and practitioners present unfolded before their eyes. The souls of the immortal spirits that had originally possessed the Gao family descendants were actually yanked right out, uncontrollably merging into the black energy unleashed by the Soul-Guiding Banner!

"What... what is the meaning of this?!"

Not only that, but everyone and every immortal present could see that those yanked-out souls merely resisted for a brief moment before going completely still. Their consciousness seemed suppressed, leaving only lifeless, dull souls drifting aimlessly with the black energy.

"Could this be... Lüling Qijiang (Puppetry of the Spirits)?!"

Following that, the immortal spirits perceived the clue. In their understanding, only the "Eight Extraordinary Techniques," specifically "Puppetry of the Spirits," could accomplish such a feat. This was precisely why, ever since the rise of the Feng family, the spirit-mediums of the Northeast rarely ventured outside the region.

"No, that doesn't quite look right..."

However, they quickly sensed something was amiss. They felt that the technique wielded by the fellow before them differed from the "Puppetry of the Spirits" they had witnessed in the past, making it difficult to identify for the moment, and they raised their guards in unison.

"Wuwuwu—"

Meanwhile, Xue Fan's weeping continued—this was his assigned mission: to hook away the out-of-body souls of these immortal spirits, and then utilize the power of these souls to obstruct the remaining immortal spirits.

Initially, he had worried that the Tian-generation spirits wouldn't make an appearance, and that relying solely on the souls of the younger generation might prove somewhat difficult. But seeing the Hu family's Tian-generation and Wan-generation members deploy simultaneously, his mind was instantly put at ease.

Whoosh!

The next moment, before the immortal spirits could even react, the Soul-Guiding Banner in Xue Fan's hand swept through the air once more. The newly hooked souls of the Hu family immortals abruptly widened their mouths, baring vicious fangs as they charged directly at the immortals of the other four families.

As for these immortal spirits, competing for fortuitous opportunities was one thing—that relied on individual capability—but actual, mutual life-or-death slaughter was out of the question. Consequently, they became instantly entangled, struggling to find a way to break free.

"Hmm?"

"Where on earth did these two freaks pop out from?"

Meanwhile, Gao Erzhuang, who had been observing the situation from the peak of the mountain all along, narrowed her eyes. She stared intently at the two suddenly appearing figures, a look of puzzlement crossing her face.

One had to know, she possessed the most absolute "God's-eye view" among all the people and immortals present, capable of perceiving the entire situation. Yet, even she had received no intelligence or information indicating that two such bizarre characters would suddenly descend.

"Still, perhaps this is a good thing; it can completely extricate the Gao family from this storm..." she thought, her mind shifting as a plan began to take shape.

She had originally been considering how to sever the Gao family's ties to this mess. Now, two ready-made scapegoats had delivered themselves to her doorstep. Besides, calling them mere "scapegoats" wasn't entirely accurate, since these two fellows clearly harbored their own objectives in coming here, making it a perfectly viable strategy!

And so...

Swish!

With that thought, Gao Erzhuang immediately circulated her Qi. Her soul instantly left her body, merging into the valley's radio frequencies in the blink of an eye as she began imitating her father's voice to tamper with the commands within the Company employees' communications:

"Attention everyone, anyone available immediately go and reinforce the Gao family descendants' side. Fox immortals have crossed the defense line from over there, and a mysterious individual has appeared!"

She could see that on the defense line on the other side of the Gao family descendants, Hu Tianbiao and a few younger fox immortals had already been covertly let through. To ensure everything went smoothly, Gao Lian had initially arranged the Company employees and the Gao family descendants on separate sides, with neither interfering with the other.

However, before the Company employees could even react...

Swish!

The silhouette of the previously motionless "monster" arrived in a flash, blocking directly in front of the several fox immortals:

"Apologies, this path is blocked."

"Eh? This fellow is actually going to block the fox immortals? And he isn't even approaching that Liu family immortal... What on earth are they trying to do?" Seeing this, Gao Erzhuang felt a mix of bewilderment and curiosity.

Curiosity aside, however, urgent matters still had to be handled first. After transmitting the false command, she temporarily blocked the Company's wireless communications. Her soul body re-condensed, peeling away from the radio waves...

Yet, right at that very moment, a cyan-faced, fanged "evil ghost" mask suddenly intruded into her vision, giving her a massive fright. It was a soul body condensed from black energy, and the pitch-black eyes beneath the mask were observing her with total indifference as a deep voice murmured to itself:

"A soul capable of merging into radio waves..."

"Hmm, a subject worthy of study..."