Deeper into the Plains

In another direction, Qing Lei Jiang's group had dispersed as a large purple cloud covered the area.

It seems that they had just defeated their own wraith.

"Hmm, that's the sixth one. It seems that we're going in the right direction, they're growing stronger. Hai Tian, Ru Gao, we should rest for the night. Let's set up camp", Lei Jiang instructed his two other group members.

They nodded in agreement and started to work. Hai Tian, a young man who carried a broadsword, started placing small flags in a small formation. Chanting a short incantation, the flags gave off a white glow as the bloody aura was warded off, cleansing the area. Ru Gao set up a small campfire, using his own energy, he lit it up quickly and started working on tonight's dinner, cooking some stew. Lei Jiang set up tents and organized their supplies. Both Lei Jiang and Hai Tian finished quickly and sat by the fire, enjoying the warmth and the smells that came Ru Gao's cooking.

His cooking skill was something that surprised many. Ru Gao was somewhat intimidating, a tall and lanky man who used a quarterstaff. Yet now, he hummed a little tune while tending to his stew, a hearty dish made of good quality meat and a number of vegetables and herbs.

"It's finished!" he announced and ladled three portions for the group.

Everyone ate slowly, enjoying their meal.

"How far do we have?" asked Lei Jiang, looking at Hao Tian.

Hai Tian answered without much thought, "Several more kilometers, then we will have reached the point where the wraiths will be strong enough. By then, we should all be somewhat accustomed to fighting them. We may also encounter a Revenant, that I would like to avoid."

"I see", Lei Jiang went into deep thought. "We should rest for the night and begin again when the sun rises."

Deep into the night, when everyone else was asleep, the group of Clear Spring Mountain disciples moved about in the night. In their hands, they held golden lamps, strange treasures that seemed to absorb the red aura of the Bloody Plains. It sucked in the aura, turning it into a golden color and cleansing it.

At the front was Jing Hai who leaded the group deeper into the plains.

"Come on, the faster we finish absorbing this cursed aura the earlier we can get out of here" she said.

The others were visibly tired, having walked in this miasma for a full day, it was starting to wear them down. Not to mention, they were moving closer to the center where the aura continued to grow thicker.

No one but them know of the lamp's purpose, but whatever it may be, it seemed quite strange.

Some distance away from them was the young master and his group, tailing the disciples. The young master watched with curiosity while his servant and the guards had worried expressions on their faces.

The old servant looked at him, practically begging him to stop.

"Young Master, please! Any further and none of us will be able to protect you!" he gave a rushed whisper.

But the young master did not listen and continued to follow them. He had wanted to teach them a lesson but their strange actions had piqued his curiosity.

"What could they be doing?" he thought.

Following these two groups was a pair of eyes, ghastly and frightening, there was no shine in its pupils as it stared at them. Who these eyes belonged to was a mystery, but it was one that very few would dare to find out.

As the day came along, Ming Yue and her group woke up quite early. Unlike Lei Jiang's group, they did not bring any formation or treasure to clear the bloodthirsty aura. After all, they were only here to collect some materials from the fiends and imps. Only Ming Yue and Xuan Yin ventured towards the center of the plains.

One day, two days, three, the bloodthirsty aura slowly grew in strength. At this point, the both of them did not need to travel far before finding a suitable opponent.

Fighting over ten of these wraiths, Ming Yue gained a fair bit of insight with her techniques, how to strengthen it and make them much more efficient. She could feel herself at the cusp of breaking through to the seventh level. If she played her cards right, she might be able to break past the seventh and onto the eighth.

Xuan Yin had reached the Earth Realm not too long ago, while the Six Pillars varied as their focus was in crafting. Compared to those in her generation, she was lagging behind those like Bing Yun Zhi and Lei Jiang who were well within the Earth Realm. Even Yu Yao Xian was attempting to break through to the Earth Realm.

She needed to catch up. With nothing in her way, she needed to reach the pinnacle, to stand among the stars.

Presently, she had spotted her next wraith to kill. This one's body was made of a much thicker mist than the spear-wielding wraith. Its gender-less figure carried a pair of swords, both of which were quite lengthy. These swords were four feet in length and quite broad.

It sensed her and looked her way. Holding its swords, it sent of a wave of red, attempting to gauge her strength. She dealt with it quickly and went into her stance, as did the wraith.

Lunging forward, their blades crossed in the middle. The wraith's strike carried a bit of weight, slightly suppressing her.

Ming Yue pushed back, sending him off by several feet. The wraith closed the distance by running forward before sidestepping and sending both of his swords towards her waist. She blocked the strike and parried, taking advantage of the small window take out her dagger and throw it. It deflected the dagger wit one of its swords before pointing the other towards her. Three crimson spears of wind formed and flew towards her.

She slashed upward, creating a gust of wind that send the spears up towards the sky. Afterwards, she got close to the wraith and decided to test something out.

She attacked the wraith and kept the fight to a standstill, both were locked in this clash. Rather than create something like lances or spears of wind, she created small needles instead. They shot forward faster than the eyes could track. At this pace, they could pierce through stone like it was paper.

These wind needles were small but they spun at such a pace that there was a faint whistle as they flew by.

Surprisingly enough, the wraith backed off, avoiding all but one of the needles which tore through its left shoulder. As purple fumes began to leave the wound, the wraith began to retreat. Apparently, strong enough to have formed its own consciousness, it did not want to disappear today. But how could Ming Yue let it leave so easily?

She ran after it, creating more of those wind needles and sent them coursing through the air. The wraith must've sensed them for it leaped to the side, stabbing into the ground.

Ming Yue instinctively jumped forward, the ground beneath her erupted with earthen spikes, which were colored red from like the wraith's body.

Seeing as she dodged, the wraith made a stand and attacked with all it had. A barrage of spears and sword waves pummeled Ming Yue's location. But Ming Yue moved quickly, getting behind the wraith and stabbing it in the back. She sent her inner force coursing through Drifting Sky and the sword began to reverberate, causing mayhem inside of the wraith's body.

She pulled out the sword and ran out of the way, creating wall of wind that protected her as the wraith's body exploded into a violet cloud. The cloud slowly disappeared, getting reabsorbed into the land.

While waiting for this gas to dissipate, she began thinking about the small wind needles.

"Quite powerful", she muttered, "but too hard to control."

As strong as these needles were, they were quite difficult to maintain. Not to mention, its speed and piercing power, it was just too hard to use it with precise aim.

Still, she though that this was a potential technique and made note of it.

From a distance, she heard a shrill scream in the direction of the plains center.

"I wonder what happened?" she thought.