Xiao Lan's form, scattered by the lightning, recondensed. It was much dimmer, appearing extremely weak, as if it would dissipate with a gentle touch.
However, the fierce and violent aura had been dispersed by the tribulation lightning, and her consciousness had become much clearer.
"Second Sister, are you alright?"
Xiao Fei asked with concern, not entirely at ease.
"Xiao Fei, I'm fine. My current state is much better than before."
Xiao Lan had been in a daze for a long time, rarely lucid. Opportunities for them to converse clearly like this were few.
"After being struck by lightning, a bead condensed within me. Look!"
As Xiao Lan spoke, a bead as black as ink appeared in her hand.
The bead was only the size of a soybean, yet it emanated a terrifying, ferocious aura.
When Xiao Fei took the black bead, a surge of black malevolent energy immediately began to erode his skin.
Startled, he quickly circulated the "Body Tempering Art" cultivation technique to block the invasive spread.
"Second Sister, this should be a Ghost Bead. It is related to your cultivation and life. You must never show it to others casually from now on."
Xiao Fei returned the black bead to Xiao Lan and cautioned her with great care.
He knew little about ghost cultivators, only having seen sparse records in the sect's library.
According to his understanding, among ghost cultivators, there was another method of classifying realms.
When a fierce ghost grew to a certain stage, it would attract tribulation lightning. If it could survive the tribulation lightning, a Ghost Bead would condense within its body.
A ghost cultivator who experienced their first tribulation lightning and condensed a Ghost Bead had a strength comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage of humans, but among ghost cultivators, they were known as Ghost Generals.
For the sake of convenience, the cultivation world sometimes referred to them as Foundation Establishment Ghost Cultivators.
Similarly, the realms of Ghost Commander and Ghost King, which followed Ghost General, would be referred to by the cultivation world as Golden Core Ghost Cultivators and Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivators, respectively.
Xiao Fei informed Xiao Lan of all the information he knew, one by one.
As a ghost cultivator, Xiao Lan only now learned this knowledge related to ghost cultivation.
In fact, there were also some cultivation techniques specifically suitable for ghost cultivators. Unfortunately, the Danxin Sect was comprised entirely of living people, and no such techniques were found in the library.
At this moment, under the bright moon and sparse stars, one person and one ghost sat side-by-side under a crooked-necked tree, chatting about everything under the sun.
Since their family had been wandering outside, enduring all sorts of hardships, and their family members had continuously died, only this one person and one ghost remained from the original family of six.
Only today could the two communicate and interact in a normal manner.
"Second Sister, what are your plans now?"
Previously, it was out of necessity that Xiao Fei had kept Xiao Lan by his side.
Now that Xiao Lan had become a Ghost General, possessing Foundation Establishment strength and the ability to move independently, he naturally had to heed her own wishes.
"You are the only one left in our family, and I have nowhere else to go. I'll follow you for now. I can still help you out in critical moments."
The reason Xiao Lan's soul transformed into a fierce ghost after her death was largely due to her obsessions, the greatest of which was her only remaining relative, Xiao Fei.
Naturally, she would choose to stay with her family now.
"However, I need to leave for a while. Take the Soul Nurturing Pearl and find a place to hide.
The Soul Nurturing Pearl carries my aura. I will come find you later."
"Second Sister, are you going to seek revenge against the Lin family?"
Having grown up together, Xiao Fei could easily guess Xiao Lan's intentions.
Xiao Lan was not one to repay kindness with virtue.
When Xiao Fei was beaten by the landlord's son when they were young, Xiao Lan had secretly set fire to a woodpile at the landlord's house, burning down several rooms and nearly killing the landlord's son inside.
"Xiao Fei, don't get involved in this. I'll be back soon."
Xiao Lan did not want to implicate Xiao Fei and turned to fly away as black smoke.
"Second Sister, wait a moment. I have something to give you."
Xiao Fei quickly caught up and took out several large bottles from his embrace, handing them to Xiao Lan.
"These are the poisons I used earlier to kill the Lin family cultivators. They are very effective. Take them all."
Xiao Fei stuffed all these bottles into Xiao Lan's hands and told her how to use them.
The Lin family previously had three Foundation Establishment elders. Later, when Lin Yang successfully established his foundation, they had four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
After just killing the Third Elder, the Lin family still had three Foundation Establishment cultivators, as well as at least dozens of Qi Refining disciples.
This was a powerful force. Xiao Lan, fighting alone, could not gain any advantage by confronting them head-on.
However, ghost cultivators had more peculiar methods that were hard to guard against.
If some poison were added to the Lin family's well, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Xiao Fei had always wanted to add poison to the Lin family's well and granaries, but such noble families had strict defenses.
He lacked the ability and couldn't even get near the Lin family's gate.
"Alright, little brother. You hide yourself first. I'll be back soon."
Xiao Lan took the poison and left as a wisp of light smoke.
Xiao Fei had no intention of truly hiding. He planned to help out as much as he could.
Glancing at the more than ten desiccated corpses on the ground, he scanned them with his divine sense, picking up all valuable items. The remaining bodies were burned with fire.
These Lin family disciples, who went out to kill people, did not carry many valuable items on them. There were only a few magical artifacts, a few talismans, a dozen bottles of elixirs, and several hundred spirit stones.
However, the spiritual sword, the spiritual artifact of the Lin family's Third Elder, should fetch a good price. His robes, which were of good quality, were also stripped off.
The Third Elder also had a storage bag, which had a space of only one zhang. It was filled with many spiritual items and over three thousand spirit stones.
Xiao Fei collected all these items into his space and flew towards Star Moon City.
With the death of more than ten disciples, including the Third Elder, the Lin family would certainly not let this matter rest and would launch a fiercer retaliation.
This was also why Xiao Lan, having just undergone tribulation lightning and not yet recovered, went to seek revenge against the Lin family.
Before the Lin family could react, it was better to strike first and catch them off guard.
Xiao Lan transformed into a wisp of light smoke, flying silently past a team of Lin family night patrol cultivators, and casually scattered potent poison on the road.
This road was a necessary path for several Lin family night patrol squads, so Xiao Lan deposited a sufficiently large amount of poison.
After depositing the adequate amount of poison, she did not stop, continuing to fly to the next location.
The Lin family manor was too vast, with numerous residences and a large workload. Xiao Lan, transforming into light smoke, shuttled continuously through the Lin family manor.
Ghost cultivators did not have physical bodies; they were merely aggregates of special energy that could change their form at will.
The light smoke Xiao Lan transformed into was formless and traceless, emitting no sound, and could pass through walls and barriers unimpeded.
Without alerting anyone, she had already deposited poison in various critical locations within the Lin family manor. The poisonous gas gradually spread outwards, covering almost the entire Lin family manor.
It was now deep in the night, and many people were dreaming pleasant dreams. They just didn't realize that this sleep would be their last.
After completing all the arrangements, it was time to enjoy the feast.
Xiao Lan's figure vanished into thin air. At the same moment, countless blood-red threads spread throughout the Lin family manor.
Wherever the blood-red threads reached, fresh corpses instantly withered, becoming like aged cured meat.
...
Xiao Fei entered the city overnight and unhurriedly approached the Lin family manor outside Spirit Spring Mountain.
The Lin family manor was quiet, with no unusual signs.
Xiao Fei walked to the main gate and gently knocked on the Lin family manor's door, but there was no response for a long time.
Xiao Fei's divine sense penetrated the gate. He saw that the Lin family manor's gatekeeper was lying on the ground, with blood flowing from all seven orifices.
Seeing this, he no longer held back. He used his flying sword to sever the bolt, pushed open the gate, and walked in, closing the door behind him.
Just then, a pug wagged its tail and walked towards Xiao Fei. With a swift movement, Xiao Fei's blade severed the dog's head.
"Even a dog of the Lin family must not be spared!"