Chapter 598: Ten-Thousand-Person Soul |
The sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling filled the battlefield.
The ghost tide surged endlessly, crashing against the Lord of White Paper Immortal City!
The Silent Ghost General and the other five Golden Core–level Ghost Generals had already secretly withdrawn midway. Sun Lingtong blended into the main force and arrived beneath the Lord of White Paper Immortal City, just in time to witness this vast battlefield.
He saw several thousand Big-Head Ghosts blowing out rolling Yin winds, while Small-Head Ghosts packed densely together, continuously charging toward the top of the city walls.
On the walls, the City Guard Soldiers held talisman-paper weapons and maintained the defensive line. Amid flashing blades and clashing swords, not a single Small-Head Ghost managed to climb onto the wall.
Suddenly, several hundred Lantern Ghosts surged toward the city gate in groups.
They spewed out large amounts of ghost fire, attempting to burn the gate, but layers of Yin light burst forth from the gate. Within the radiance, black water surged outward, not only extinguishing the ghost fire but also sweeping up and slaughtering the Lantern Ghosts.
Fewer than twenty Lantern Ghosts survived and fled in panic.
However, the ghost tide still remained enormous. Large numbers of Small-Head Ghosts and Big-Head Ghosts continued to appear.
These Ghost Mothers were massive in size, lying on their backs in the open ground outside the city. At every moment they inhaled and exhaled vast amounts of Yin energy, continuously producing large numbers of new ghosts.
On the city wall, the commander of the City Guard Soldiers, Tie Guzheng, stared fixedly at those Ghost Mothers. He knew that to repel this wave of the ghost tide, those Ghost Mothers had to be eradicated.
He wanted to personally lead a squad out of the city and slaughter them. However, when he looked farther away, he saw the army of Yin Soldiers.
During previous ghost tides, the River of Forgetfulness Underworld had never dispatched troops. Yet this time they had sent an elite army!
Without a doubt, this greatly increased the defensive difficulty for Tie Guzheng.
Sun Lingtong, within the great army, observed for a moment before secretly clicking his tongue.
“The Lord of White Paper Immortal City truly has formidable defenses!”
The ghost tide was massive and endless, like towering waves. Yet the immortal city stood as steady as Mount Tai, completely unmoved. Tie Guzheng’s defensive experience was simply too rich.
Under his command, the City Guard Soldiers remained busy but orderly, holding the line steadily. Even when occasional emergencies arose, Tie Guzheng immediately issued the correct orders, and with proper execution the crisis in the formation was quickly resolved.
“As expected of an immortal city.”
“Even if the size of my Yin army were ten times larger, it probably still wouldn’t be able to break this city.”
“But the Prefecture Lord of the River of Forgetfulness wouldn’t send troops casually. He must have a follow-up plan.”
Just as Sun Lingtong thought this, turmoil suddenly erupted inside the Lord of White Paper Immortal City!
Large numbers of Water Ghosts emerged from the city’s waterways, attacking in all directions. The city’s residents initially fell into panic, losing several hundred lives. After reacting, they began resisting actively.
However, the Water Ghosts were Yin Soldiers. They received enhancements from military formations and battle techniques. Even when temporarily blocked, they continued slaughtering people relentlessly.
Upon hearing this commotion, the banners of the Yin Soldier army began to sway.
The Yin Soldiers quickly launched their assault and rushed toward the Lord of White Paper Immortal City.
Under the command of a Hanged Ghost General, a Yin army composed of Hanged Ghosts rushed beneath the city walls and threw out their hanging ropes, attempting to climb up.
The City Guard Soldiers immediately split off a portion of their forces, wielding blades and axes to chop them down.
While climbing, the Hanged Ghost General whipped his long tongue to attack the City Guard Soldiers. His strength was formidable and his fighting style fierce. Several City Guard cultivators were struck by his tongue. Some were severely injured and retreated, while others were swept off the wall entirely, only to be torn to pieces by countless ghosts below.
Watching the Hanged Ghost General about to be the first to climb onto the wall, Tie Guzheng snorted coldly and activated the seal in his arms.
Instantly, countless layered patterns emerged on the surface of that section of wall. Large amounts of talisman paper flew into the air and transformed into countless spells.
The spells varied widely. Some greatly enhanced the defense of the City Guard Soldiers, while others slaughtered large numbers of Hanged Ghosts. The Hanged Ghost General attempted to force his way through, but he was still smashed down by the spells.
Seeing this, the commander of the Yin army immediately issued a military order.
The army banner swayed several times, and a Lantern Ghost General led his subordinate Lantern Ghosts in a swarm toward another section of the city wall.
They did not attempt to climb the wall but instead slammed directly into its base.
Boom boom boom…
A chain of explosions erupted, shaking the city wall violently.
Afterward, blazing flames burned fiercely around the wall. Crimson tongues of fire licked layer after layer of the paper walls and continued burning without extinguishing.
Tie Guzheng’s expression finally changed.
The army of the River of Forgetfulness Underworld had clearly come prepared. This flaming siege method faintly countered the construction method of the Lord of White Paper Immortal City!
But in the next moment, Tie Guzheng snorted again and activated another method.
A great surge of black water reappeared and rushed into the flames.
Water and fire collided with hissing sounds as they fiercely consumed each other. The black water flowed endlessly and soon extinguished the crimson flames.
At the moment the flames were about to vanish, they suddenly transformed into a giant fire ghost, releasing one final wail before completely dissipating.
“Black Water Mountain White Paper City…” Sun Lingtong murmured softly, gaining a deeper understanding of this widely spread title.
After two consecutive siege attempts failed, the enemy commander’s face became grave.
After thinking for a moment, he made a difficult decision. He ordered the entire army to slow their offensive and cast hopeful eyes toward the direction of the south city gate.
He hoped that greater internal chaos would erupt inside the city to help open a breakthrough.
The Silent Ghost General and the other five were unaware that they carried such expectations. What they were currently thinking about was how to escape from this damned Jade Chime Resonance True Formation!
They were covered in wounds, while Wen Ruanyu and Ning Zhuo appeared calm and relaxed, without even a drop of sweat.
This was mainly because they had prepared in advance and the formation specifically restrained their group.
Wen Ruanyu presided over the formation while Ning Zhuo stood beside him, occasionally glancing toward him.
“Wen Ruanyu truly deserves to be a Golden Core True Inheritor of the Myriad Phenomena Sect!”
“He is a Confucian cultivator and should master the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Previously he displayed his self-portrait incarnation at the Golden Core level. And his arrangement and control of this Jade Chime Resonance True Formation shows his profound attainments in formation arts and musical arts.”
Ning Zhuo silently praised him, gaining a deeper understanding of Wen Ruanyu’s combat strength.
If Wen Ruanyu fought alone, he would be at a disadvantage against the three Golden Core Ghost Generals such as the Babbling Ghost General.
But once he had time to prepare—such as setting up a formation—he could unleash much stronger combat power.
Since the battle began, Ning Zhuo had hardly taken action at all. Wen Ruanyu had been fighting alone.
Relying on the formation, he faced six enemies by himself while firmly holding the initiative.
At this rate, Wen Ruanyu might even capture all six Golden Core Ghost Generals alive!
The Red-Haired Ghost General, who was surrounded by bronze luan birds, suddenly roared toward the sky and burned his own body, unleashing the strongest attack of his life.
Boom!
The explosion and scorching flames instantly destroyed one bronze pillar.
Seizing the opportunity, the Peanut Ghost General unleashed a Ghost Technique—Ghostly Fate Soul Flower!
“Not good.” Wen Ruanyu’s expression changed slightly as he had to focus fully on maintaining the formation to prevent it from collapsing.
But in doing so, he could only watch as the Peanut Ghost General carried out his Ghost Technique.
The jade chimes rang continuously, blocking most of the power of the Ghost Technique.
Even so, Ning Zhuo still suffered a minor injury.
His body remained completely intact, but numerous flower buds grew upon his soul. These buds quickly bloomed, absorbing large amounts of Ning Zhuo’s soul power, causing him dizziness and rapidly worsening condition.
Ning Zhuo immediately picked up a soul weapon axe and swung it at his own soul. In his urgency, he even cut away intact portions of his soul just to remove all the soul flowers as quickly as possible.
Relying on sheer ruthlessness, Ning Zhuo endured the agonizing pain of cutting his own soul and managed to remove all the soul flowers in time.
“This Ghost Technique bypasses normal defensive methods and directly attacks the soul.”
“My soul cultivation is still too weak.”
Ning Zhuo firmly remembered this lesson.
At the same time, he paid even more attention to the Silent Ghost General.
“This Ghost Technique suddenly appeared not because it lacked preparation, but because it was enhanced by the Silent and Soundless talent, preventing me from detecting it.”
“This talent is truly excellent and extremely practical!”
The Ghostly Fate Soul Flower counterattack was the final hope of the six Ghost Generals.
But both Wen Ruanyu and Ning Zhuo withstood this desperate counterattack.
Not long afterward, five Golden Core Ghost Generals were captured alive by Wen Ruanyu, while the Red-Haired Ghost General died in battle.
“After the interrogation, could you give the Silent Ghost General to me?” Ning Zhuo proposed a condition.
Wen Ruanyu immediately explained that he was not authorized to make that decision. These Ghost Generals would be personally interrogated by the City Lord Incarnation in hopes of extracting more valuable military intelligence.
After saying this, Wen Ruanyu comforted Ning Zhuo, explaining that Ning Zhuo had not only discovered the Field-Path Lamp but had also provided crucial intelligence. His contributions in this battle would certainly earn further rewards. However, since it was wartime, he asked Ning Zhuo to return and wait for further notice while he personally escorted the prisoners to the City Lord’s residence.
After thinking for a moment, Ning Zhuo shook his head slightly.
“I will stay here and take over from Senior Wen to control the Jade Chime Resonance True Formation.”
“Although the possibility is small, if the enemy sends a second strike team, the giant Paper Puppet statue at the southern city will be destroyed.”
After thinking briefly, Wen Ruanyu generously lent all the treasures used to stabilize the formation to Ning Zhuo and also gave him a jade slip to study.
One of the contents recorded in the jade slip was the Jade Chime Resonance True Formation.
Of course, Wen Ruanyu still placed his Golden Core–level portrait incarnation beside Ning Zhuo as a form of supervision.
Soon afterward, Wen Ruanyu departed with the prisoners. Ning Zhuo floated in the air, sitting cross-legged while controlling the formation and experimenting with its methods while contemplating his current situation.
“This is the second time the River of Forgetfulness Underworld has attacked here.”
“The previous time there were three Golden Core cultivators. This time it doubled to six!”
“Will they attack here again next? And with what scale of forces?”
“Is this place truly that important?”
“Or is it because Mother left arrangements here, making the River of Forgetfulness Underworld deeply wary and eager to eliminate it?”
“Mother placed the Field-Path Lamp here. Although the Paper Puppet army wasn’t her work, it still created many passages to the Underworld.”
“What exactly was her purpose in doing this?”
Ning Zhuo could not figure it out, but he was not anxious.
He knew he lacked crucial intelligence, yet he faintly had the intuition that he would eventually obtain it.
At that moment, Sun Lingtong secretly contacted him through the Hanging Thread of Life.
Thus Ning Zhuo learned the real battle situation.
“The Lord of White Paper Immortal City truly is an immortal city. The frontal battlefield is temporarily secure.”
“The key problem is internal trouble. Even now, ghosts are continuously pouring out from the city’s waterways and attacking everywhere.”
“Sigh… who exactly is the traitor hidden among the upper ranks?”
The City Lord had tasked Ning Zhuo with investigating the internal traitor, but Ning Zhuo knew his own limitations. He lacked investigative talent. Discovering the Field-Path Lamp earlier had been due to other calculations combined with some coincidence.
Ning Zhuo soon became familiar with the Jade Chime Resonance True Formation. After confirming he could control it well enough to withstand attacks from Golden Core Ghost Generals, he took out several treasures and began cultivating his soul.
The previous battle, where he had suffered the Ghostly Fate Soul Flower technique, made him even more determined to strengthen his soul foundation.
Ning Zhuo drank a large mouthful of Cold Bone Moon Dew Wine. A warm sensation like a hot spring spread from his stomach, climbed along his spine, and burst at the back of his neck into countless strands of icy mint fragrance.
Heat and cold circulated inside his skull. His soul seemed immersed in a pine forest filled with morning mist, each strand of soul light adorned with clear frost dew.
The parts of his soul he had cut away earlier while removing the soul flowers rapidly recovered during this process.
Ning Zhuo raced against time. While drinking the wine, he also lit the Nine Springs Repose Incense.
The incense permeated his lungs and organs, filling his entire being with an ancient tranquility.
The chaotic emotions in Ning Zhuo’s heart and the countless scattered thoughts in his mind gradually vanished with the fragrance, allowing him to enter an extremely peaceful state.
Before long, Ning Zhuo’s soul fully recovered and even improved slightly.
He then took out a three-legged, two-handled bronze cauldron—the Hungry Ghost Backlash Cauldron—and tossed several ghosts into it.
These ghosts had come from the Heavenly Ghost’s storage pouch.
After placing them inside, Ning Zhuo infused the cauldron with his magic power.
Radiance burst from the cauldron’s body. The previously blurred carvings of hundreds of ghosts devouring one another became clearer within the glow.
The ghosts were trapped inside the cauldron and unable to escape. Under its power they fought and slaughtered one another until only one remained.
That final ghost soon starved to death and transformed into a mass of Soul Essence.
Ning Zhuo took the Soul Essence and used it on himself, instantly causing his soul power to surge dramatically.
He had previously reached the level of a Thousand-Person Soul. Now it immediately rose to a One-Thousand-Six-Hundred-Person Soul.
Ning Zhuo continued relentlessly, using several more pieces of Soul Essence. Soon his soul cultivation rose to over five thousand.
Because the progress was too rapid, his soul became less clear. His facial features grew blurry and his entire soul body became bloated.
Ning Zhuo paused and took out the Book of Underworld Punishments.
Opening the iron-covered book, he turned to the first page and saw the engraved illustration of the Oil Cauldron Punishment.
After infusing magic power, the scripture emitted mysterious light that enveloped Ning Zhuo’s soul.
Ning Zhuo could not help but groan as he felt bone-piercing pain. His soul felt as if it had fallen into an oil cauldron and was being violently fried.
Oil Cauldron, Mountain of Blades, Sword Tree, Sea of Fire, Ice Mountain, Iron Bed, Heart Extraction, Tongue Pulling, Ox Pit, Grinding Millstone, Sawing Dismemberment, Stone Crushing, Iron Tree, Intestine Twisting, Blood Pool…
The Book of Underworld Punishments recorded far too many tortures.
Ning Zhuo only managed to endure until the third page before he could not continue.
His soul suffered severe damage. Not only was it bloated like a fat man, it was also covered in various injuries, nearly riddled with wounds.
Suppressing his dizziness, Ning Zhuo once again used Cold Bone Moon Dew Wine and Nine Springs Repose Incense to heal his soul.
Soon he recovered completely.
After the recovery, his soul body was no longer bloated. His facial features became sharp and clear, and faint soul light surrounded him, granting additional resistance to burning, chopping, and cutting attacks.
After repeating this process twice, Ning Zhuo’s soul power officially broke through ten thousand!
