The realm of the Ghoul Lord.
Lin Zhao stepped into the realm of the Ghoul Lord for the second time, following Lin Wanhua's lingering aura, and searched among the mountains for a full two hours. Afterwards, he arrived at a barren land ravaged by yellow sand. The ground was filled with the sound of drums, and countless spectral cavalry, ghouls, and monstrous ghoul soldiers surged eastward like a tide. To the east, dust swirled in the sky, and beneath the sandstorm, a Ghoul army stood in formation. There were mutated ghouls with six legs, ethereal soul sorcerers, and Ghoul cavalry with deep blue luminescence shimmering all over their bodies, riding bone horses. Behind this army, a Ghoul King clad in golden armor, wielding a long spear, stood proudly.
The Yellow Sand Ghoul King, whose real name was Sha Tongtian, was originally a wandering hero in the realm of the Ghoul Lord. He had been refined into a puppet by a mid-stage Five Realms ghoul cultivator for many years. Later, he found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to betray the mid-stage Five Realms ghoul cultivator and become his own master. He gradually cultivated himself to the current eleventh realm, nearing the Desolate Great Dao, and refined countless flying sands to become the Yellow Sand Ghoul King before them.
"Tan Xin!"
The Yellow Sand Ghoul King roared in a low voice, "You flattened the territory of Volcano Flame Duke, and now you intend to set your sights on my Yellow Sand Ghoul Realm. Do you truly believe you have the means to unite this realm that has been in chaos for thousands of years?"
"How will we know if we don't try?"
In the distance, Tan Xin, who was sitting on a coffin, suddenly stood up. A blood-red Dharma image, thousands of meters tall, shot out from her head, condensing into an even larger figure of Tan Xin in the sky. With a ferocious smile, her hands turned into blood-red claws, and she said, "Attack! Flatten the Yellow Sand Ghoul Realm, and every one of you will have meat to eat!"
The spectral cavalry, ghouls, monstrous ghoul soldiers, and coffin bearers charged madly into the ranks of the Yellow Sand Ghoul Realm.
"Slay them all!"
The Yellow Sand Ghoul King roared, and he too unleashed an eleventh realm Dharma image. Spreading his arms, endless yellow sand mixed with fierce winds rolled forward. However, his eleventh realm was ultimately weaker and could not compare to Tan Xin's.
"Seeking death?!"
Tan Xin dashed forward, and her massive Dharma image slammed down a palm at the opponent. The Yellow Sand Ghoul King raised his spear and blocked her ghoul claws. Ghostly energy erupted from both of them, and for a time, it was difficult to determine a victor.
"Hurry, as the law commands!"
Just as the Yellow Sand Ghoul King was focused on fighting Tan Xin, a chilling voice suddenly came from behind him. A young Daoist priest, riding on a beam of talisman light, was rapidly approaching. He held a profound Daoist talisman in each hand, a smile on his lips, and said, "Vajra manifest quickly, all you ghosts and spirits, return to the mountains and forests!"
Instantly, dozens of Daoist talismans imbued with the oppressive power of the Heavenly Dao adhered to the Yellow Sand Ghoul King's body from all directions, sealing his Dharma image immovably. Then, the young Daoist priest soared into the sky, drew a long sword inscribed with the Bagua pattern from his back, and brought it down towards the back of the Yellow Sand Ghoul King's head.
"Pfft!"
The sword light tore through his skull, and countless ghostly figures emerged from the gushing blood, lunging at the young Daoist priest. The scene was extremely bizarre. The young Daoist priest, however, did not panic. As he retreated rapidly through the air, he laughed and said, "Cheap goods, if not now, when will you act to suppress him?"
In the wind, a female Sword Immortal in a blue dress swept over, her entire body enveloped in vast sword intent. Countless sword qi erupted, "Chit-chit-chit," shredding all the ghostly figures. Then, her life-bound flying sword attacked, "Puff," piercing through the back of his head and erupting from his forehead, directly shattering the Yellow Sand Ghoul King's cultivation foundation.
"Good!"
In the wind, Tan Xin laughed heartily and brought down a palm, turning the corpse of the Yellow Sand Ghoul King, who had already perished, into countless dust and ashes. Then, she opened her mouth wide and inhaled deeply. In an instant, all the ghoul essence of the Yellow Sand Ghoul King was devoured by Tan Xin. At the next moment, the blood-red mark between Tan Xin's eyebrows became even more intense, and the "squeaking" sound within her body was incessant, breaking open the constraining porcelain bottle. At this moment, she had truly become a twelfth realm coffin bearer.
For thousands of years, she was the first!
The moment she stepped into the twelfth realm, Tan Xin felt as if she had truly ascended a peak that no one had ever reached. Standing at the summit, she surveyed the scenery of the coffin bearer lineage. Things she had not understood or seen through before now naturally became her foundation. At this moment, she had truly surpassed her master.
"Hmm?"
Tan Xin looked up at the distant clouds. Lin Zhao was quite far away and had suppressed his aura, so only Tan Xin, with her highest realm, was the first to detect Lin Zhao's presence in the clouds. However, Tan Xin did not want to act. She had just entered the twelfth realm, and the scenery on the mountain peak was so abundant. She did not want to miss any detail. Acting now would inevitably cause her to lose some things.
"Leave him to me."
Qi Lian Dao stepped into the wind, laughing heartily, "Lin Zhao, are you an unkillable fly?"
In the clouds, Lin Zhao watched Tan Xin enter the twelfth realm, his heart filled with immense shock. When Qi Lian Dao turned to look at him, he was already retreating on his flying sword. However, it was too late. In an instant, a snow-white brilliance flashed by. It was the life-bound flying sword of an eleventh realm female Sword Immortal. With a "puff," it directly pierced Lin Zhao's heart!
"99732!"
This time, not only was Lin Zhao left with low health, but he also suffered a debuff –
"Ding!"
Combat Prompt: Please note, you have been hit in a vital spot by the life-bound flying sword of [Shu Fan], losing 99732 health points and falling into the [Severely Wounded] state for 30 minutes! Under the severely wounded state, all attributes are reduced to 50%!
...
In an instant, after taking that sword strike, Lin Zhao felt as if his Nascent Soul realm was about to become unstable. His spiritual sea trembled, and his flying swords Mingyue, Haoran, as well as the five immortal swords and twelve ancient desolate swords, all hummed and vibrated, emitting sword qi to protect him. If not for these flying swords, Lin Zhao would have likely fallen in realm.
Shu Fan's swordsmanship was too fierce!
Without thinking, he immediately activated his invincibility skill again. Seeing Qi Lian Dao, with Daoist talismans spinning around him, flying towards him, Lin Zhao directly crushed a return scroll. In the next moment, he had left the realm of the Ghoul Lord and returned to White Emperor City.
"Hmph!"
Qi Lian Dao lunged at empty air, a sneer appearing on his lips, "Cowardly rat, you only know how to flee!"
...
Snowy Domain Heavenly Pool, evening.
Tong Yu, along with Zhang Luobai and Zhuang Yirong, walked out of the academy. As they passed a fortune-telling stall, she kept her promise and stayed behind. She took out a handful of five-spice peanuts from her storage bag and placed them on the table, smiling, "Old sir, it's time to tell your story about a Daoist priest catching ghosts. If it's exciting enough, these peanuts are yours."
"Oh!?"
Old Dao Wang's eyes were immediately drawn to the peanuts, his gaze filled with confidence. These peanuts would surely be his!
Therefore, he cleared his throat and pointed to the stool in front of him, "Everyone, please be seated and listen!"
Instantly, Tong Yu, Zhang Luobai, and Zhuang Yirong sat on a long stool, their hands placed on their laps, their bodies straight, listening to the old Daoist tell stories with great respect.
"It is said!"
Old Dao Wang held a piece of broken wood as a gavel and struck it lightly, saying, "Many years ago, in the countryside outside the royal city, there were two houses close together. One house was occupied by a monk, and the other by a Daoist priest. The two were at odds with each other's beliefs and often fought fiercely. Later, a caravan arrived outside the village, escorting a golden coffin from the imperial court. Inside the coffin lay a member of the royal family. The Daoist priest immediately recognized something was amiss with the corpse; it was a zombie. The monk gave the escorts a bad idea: to remove the sunshade, claiming that the zombie in the coffin would absorb sunlight and reduce its corpse qi. After that..."
He suddenly struck the gavel again, startling the three youngsters so much that goosebumps rose on their skin, "That night, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and rain poured down. The coffin was left uncovered in the woods. The rain washed away the ink and chicken blood from the Daoist ink strings wrapped around the coffin. Then, a 'dong dong dong' sound came from within the coffin. Someone was pushing the lid!"
The three youngsters were so scared their hair stood on end!
The old Daoist grinned, "With a 'whoosh,' the coffin lid was blown open, and a green-haired old zombie emerged, biting and killing all the escorting Daoist priests and soldiers. The soldiers who had been bitten but had not yet turned into zombies ran back to the village for help. The Daoist priest and the monk knew that something had gone terribly wrong. They did not panic, but instead, like Lin Baiyi of the Snowy Domain Heavenly Pool, they set up the most powerful Nine-Nine Grand Return Array around their houses. Finally, they stuffed a highly poisonous viper into the mouth of the green-haired old zombie, and with the oppressive power of heaven and earth, they killed it. The old zombie's head was blown off!"
"Ah..."
Zhang Luobai's mouth twitched, "Amazing... truly amazing..."
Tong Yu also widened her eyes, "Alright, alright. Your story is indeed a little more exciting than Su Shanjun's 'Little Girl Selling Nuclear Bombs.' Old sir, these peanuts are yours."
"Great!"
Old Dao Wang grabbed the peanuts and stuffed them into his sleeve. Then, he took them out one by one, peeled them, and ate them with great relish.
...
In his sleeve, Lin Wanhua looked at the peanuts in her palm. These were personally cooked by her precious disciple, Tong Yu. So, she tasted them. The taste was indeed good, much more flavorful than the bar snacks from those broken taverns on Fusu Great Wall Street.
Old Dao Wang stood up and busied himself with packing up his stall.
"Fellow Daoist."
Zhang Luobai looked at the money bag hanging from the old Daoist's waist. He could hear the clinking of copper coins inside, and he smiled, "Fellow Daoist, you've scammed quite a bit today!"
"Pah!"
The old Daoist chuckled indignantly, "I, an old man, earn a living by my skills. How can I be like you, Zhang Jianxian, who is ignorant and useless?"
Zhang Luobai grumbled. The old Daoist was right; he had hit his sore spot.
Zhang Luobai feared nothing else, but he was afraid of his master, Lin Zhao, being disappointed in him, thinking he was not diligent enough, thinking he was ignorant and useless. If he truly felt that way, Zhang Luobai would be very sad.
Eight chapters completed, brothers, vote!!!