The phantom behind him stared at Ye Bufan with malice and unleashed a palm strike across the distance. Ye Bufan felt a surge of spiritual energy directed at him.
"Hmph!" Ye Bufan easily neutralized the spiritual energy attack with his own.
Ghost cultivators and true cultivators had different paths. Ghost cultivators were essentially souls. Most people couldn't see them. They cultivated soul power, which was the spiritual energy of true cultivators. At a certain level, they could materialize their true forms, and their soul power would take shape.
However, this ghost cultivator had not reached the stage of materialization. Ye Bufan's spiritual energy easily attached itself to the opponent. The ghost cultivator's strength was roughly equivalent to a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
"Brat, I advise you not to meddle," the phantom warned Ye Bufan through a telepathic message.
"And if I do, what will you do to me?" Ye Bufan retorted calmly.
"Nonsense! Naturally, I'll drain your spiritual energy, and you'll die horribly before these people's eyes. Your day of fame will be your day of death," the phantom replied.
"Is that so? Then you can try." Ye Bufan's spiritual energy surged, and a purple glow appeared in his eyes.
"Illusionary Sound Demonic Eyes!"
The phantom glanced at Ye Bufan and realized it was too late. As their gazes met, Li Bai began to falter. The phantom's vision turned black, filled with seas of blood and mountains of corpses – the deepest fears of its heart. It saw itself crawling out of this gruesome scene and encountering a black shadow that seemed to control its life and death.
Li Bai's body began to convulse uncontrollably. The phantom tried to control Li Bai but found its connection to him severed.
"Mental Art!"
The phantom quickly reacted, channeling all its soul power to resist and breaking free from Ye Bufan's Illusionary Sound Demonic Eyes.
"Bang—"
The moment Ye Bufan opened his eyes, he appeared before Li Bai and struck him with a palm. Li Bai was sent flying backward, and the palm strike also separated him completely from the phantom.
"Brat, you ruined my plans, you'll regret this!" With that, the phantom vanished, leaving Li Bai on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Ye Bufan glanced at Ji Feiyang. After Ye Bufan's palm strike, the malevolence on Li Bai's body had miraculously disappeared. Seeing Ye Bufan's gaze, Ji Feiyang waved his hand, summoning guards to take Li Bai away.
"Li Bai's qualification for the match is retained, and he has successfully defended his spot. We now invite the next Martial Venerable," Ji Feiyang announced to the crowd.
The Martial Arts Tournament continued. Ji Feiyang led Ye Bufan to a room arranged by the Tianxing Martial Arts Hall.
Inside the room, Li Bai sat on a chair, looking at Ye Bufan with resentment.
"Who was that person?" Ye Bufan asked first, taking the initiative before Li Bai could speak.
"Who? I don't know."
Li Bai was stunned for a moment and quickly denied it. Ji Feiyang looked at Ye Bufan with confusion, thinking he was talking nonsense.
"Brother Ye, who are you talking about? Wasn't it just Li Bai here?" Ji Feiyang asked.
"General Ji, this person must have gone mad and is talking nonsense," Li Bai said to Ji Feiyang. "I was just a bit too harsh in the fight and became bloodthirsty. I'm fine now."
Li Bai tried to excuse himself. Ye Bufan smiled coldly and asked, "If that's the case, can you use those killing moves you used earlier again? Or can you fight another match to show me your true strength?"
"You... I'm injured now, how can I possibly use my full strength?" Li Bai showed a flicker of panic, which Ji Feiyang noticed.
"Is that so?" Ye Bufan used a suction palm technique on Li Bai, and Li Bai was instantly pulled up. Then, Ye Bufan summoned several silver needles from his spatial jade pendant and inserted them into Li Bai.
"Tell me the truth!" Ye Bufan's voice entered Li Bai's ears. Combined with the acupuncture points, which were among the most painful in the human body, Li Bai endured the pain. His consciousness became unstable. Ye Bufan used his spiritual energy to place Li Bai's mind in a state of constant flux.
"Who was that person?" Ye Bufan's voice echoed again. Ji Feiyang heard a normal voice, but in Li Bai's consciousness, Ye Bufan's voice was irresistible and could not be refused.
In Li Bai's consciousness, there was submission to Ye Bufan. Li Bai's lips parted slightly, but his subconscious resisted. He couldn't speak.
"He... he is... an Onmyoji." Li Bai finally opened his mouth.
Ye Bufan got the answer he wanted, withdrew his spiritual energy, and turned to look at Ji Feiyang.
"Brother Ji, I don't know if you believe in ghosts and spirits. What I saw just now was a phantom, so you can think of it as a ghost. During the match, that phantom possessed Li Bai. When we went on stage, I fought that phantom, but it eventually escaped," Ye Bufan explained to Ji Feiyang.
Ji Feiyang remained silent but nodded. He had noticed the words "Onmyoji."
"This Onmyoji, is it from Ying Country?" Ji Feiyang asked Li Bai.
Li Bai gave a bitter laugh. "Forget it. Since it's already said, I'll just die."
"That Onmyoji called himself a 'ghost cultivator.' He was an Onmyoji from Ying Country who died fighting for our Great Xia over seventy years ago. He later became a ghost cultivator by chance," Li Bai said. "When I met him, he said he could help me become stronger and win the Martial Arts Tournament, provided I sold him my soul. From then on, he would be my master."
Upon hearing this, Ye Bufan's spiritual energy surged again, this time pouring directly into Li Bai's mind.
"As expected!"
Inside Li Bai's mind was a single mark, also known as a spiritual imprint. Ye Bufan had heard from Lin Xiaoyao that if this spiritual imprint was cultivated, it could enslave the other person, allowing them to know their every thought. Especially if the subordinate harbored killing intent, the spiritual imprint would explode, causing instant death.
The moment Ye Bufan detected the spiritual imprint, Li Bai convulsed violently. The spiritual imprint in his mind became very conspicuous, emitting a white light.
"Not good!" Ye Bufan's spiritual energy withdrew from Li Bai's mind. Li Bai instantly collapsed and died within seconds.
Ji Feiyang rushed forward in disbelief and examined Li Bai, looking at Ye Bufan with confusion.
"This is the work of that Onmyoji."