Chapter 492: Annihilating the Grand Elder's Soul, Reforging the Ghost King's Consciousness?

In a word, faith is toxic, and merit is hard to come by.

This world was inherently incomplete; the specifics, Chen Chuyang was unclear on, but he could sense that this world was like a cave heaven—possessing certain rules, yet incomplete, perhaps formed from some kind of fragment.

Obtaining merit in this world was harder than ascending to heaven.

The Dao of Faith could still be put to use; the number of people was limited, unlike the outside world—but once in the outside world, the Dao of Faith didn't seem all that important; given a choice, no one would choose faith.

What wasn't yours would eventually be spat back out someday; Chen Chuyang was perfectly clear that only what you cultivated yourself was truly yours—not subject to backlash, nor a burden because of it.

Over-reliance on faith would ultimately lead to you yourself becoming part of the faith; moreover, this technique itself had a problem—once you cultivated it to fruition, you'd be like a fattened sheep, waiting to be slaughtered.

Chen Chuyang examined the Shadow Grand Elder's soul; he was clever and had not cultivated this "Ghost Dao Merit Art," only exploiting the technique's characteristics to earn merit—one had to admit, he was truly formidable.

He grafted the harm onto yin ghosts, making them take his place, while he himself obtained the merit and could still safeguard his own cultivation, neither beguiled by faith nor swallowed by it.

"You didn't cultivate this technique?"

The Shadow Grand Elder froze; his calculations, his plans, everything about him—seen through.

He couldn't help panicking, not knowing how to answer this question; he stared at Chen Chuyang for a long time, then silently nodded.

"Correct. This Merit Art has problems. This Elder did not cultivate it directly, but modified it to suit this Elder's use. As for the faith and merit within it, this Elder only obtains the merit and does not need the faith."

At this moment, he knew that continuing to hide things was useless; the person before him was cautious and careful.

Not so easily deceived—keeping up the act would only make things worse.

Chen Chuyang narrowed his eyes; seeing this, the Shadow Grand Elder immediately explained: "The 'Ghost Dao Merit Art' has no problems—this is a technique modified by me. Cultivating according to it is fine."

"Yin ghosts serve as substitutes, thereby eliminating negative effects; this Elder obtains the merit—each taking what they need, nothing more."

"Moreover, look at this Elder—I succeeded."

This was proof.

It showed he hadn't lied, nor... deceived Chen Chuyang.

Chen Chuyang lowered his eyes and said coolly, "Then why didn't you say so earlier?"

"..."

The next moment, lightning struck.

"Ahh!"

A scream rang out, echoing through the room; Chen Chuyang stood with arms folded, watching.

Half a shihou later.

The Shadow Grand Elder's screams gradually faded; his soul grew weak, flickering in and out of sight.

Alive once more, Chen Chuyang struck, controlling the force precisely—able to punish him well without letting him die.

This move, this level of control—truly formidable.

"Don't electrocute this Elder anymore! Whatever you want to know, this Elder will tell you everything."

"I hope so," Chen Chuyang threatened. "If you dare hide anything again, next time won't be so simple."

The Shadow Grand Elder nodded repeatedly, showing he understood.

Chen Chuyang then asked again, "What about the other techniques of the Yin Gui Sect?"

The Shadow Grand Elder, helpless, gritted his teeth and handed over his own technique.

A "Shadow Ghost Art"—the true technique he cultivated, his core technique.

The Shadow Grand Elder's title also came from this; the Shadow Ghost Art used shadows as its foundation, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.

Wherever there was shadow, there he was—inherently elusive, top-tier at escape. Unfortunately, he ran into the aberration that was Chen Chuyang, and since he had fused with Ghost King Zhuge Gui, he was pinned down.

The divine abilities he had previously cultivated were, at this moment, entirely useless.

After being captured, Chen Chuyang's seals prevented him from using any power; his body and soul were sealed separately, further sealed by the power of lightning—unable to escape, unable to act recklessly.

Life and death were no longer his own.

This feeling—the Shadow Grand Elder hadn't experienced it in a long time; he was afraid.

The second was the "Ghost King Sacrificial Grand Array"—how to set it up, how to refine a Ghost King, it was all in there.

"This is this Elder's method for refining a Ghost King; true or false, you can distinguish for yourself."

The facts were plain to see; nothing to discuss.

He didn't dare act recklessly, nor did he dare deceive Chen Chuyang—this person had killing intent toward him.

The obedient and sensible Grand Elder left Chen Chuyang very satisfied; this man was simply asking for it—without a thorough lesson, he wouldn't listen obediently.

Extracting a few things wasn't enough; this old fellow surely had plenty more good things in his hands.

His treasures, his techniques, the secrets he knew—Chen Chuyang wanted to know them all.

The Shadow Grand Elder wouldn't yield easily.

Chen Chuyang knew this; having obtained two techniques, he casually used thunder arts to form a coiling dragon, sealing the Shadow Grand Elder's soul and preventing him from returning to the Ghost King's body, just in case.

The Primordial Bell enveloped the elder's body—double insurance—then Chen Chuyang began studying these two techniques.

The "Shadow Ghost Art" was relatively simple, easy to learn but hard to master, and required a certain price.

Entering its threshold wasn't difficult either; you just needed to be able to endure the pain of flaying.

Flay your skin once a day for a hundred consecutive days, then soak yourself for another hundred days using even more ruthless methods, and you could enter its threshold.

A sinister technique; Chen Chuyang glanced at it a few times and had no desire to cultivate such an inhumane method.

The "Ghost King Sacrificial Grand Array" was somewhat better, though not by much.

"The refinement of a Ghost King was built upon the deaths of countless people, ideally the deaths of Strong Ones. To ensure a successful refinement, how many battles did the Shadow Grand Elder instigate, how many people did he kill, to gather the fresh blood needed for the Ghost King?"

"The blood of Wangdu was but one part; White Fox City also bore his shadow."

"There were also other towns in the Great Qi Dynasty—likely several had already fallen to him."

"The successful refinement of a Ghost King was cast with fresh blood and resentment."

Chen Chuyang shook his head; he had no fondness for this grand array and had no desire to use such an inhumane thing.

He could kill people, but slaughtering the innocent—especially laying hands on the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who lacked the strength to truss a chicken—he could not do.

The Shadow Grand Elder was truly ruthless. Anyone who could cultivate to this realm was a ruthless person to begin with.

Then, he once again studied the *Ghost Dao Merit Method*.

Once he began researching, five days passed.

Five days later, Chen Chuyang set aside all the cultivation methods—they were of little use to him.

The *Ghost King Sacrifice Grand Formation* could help him improve his Formation, so it was of slight use. The remaining effects were, to him, no different from trash. He could not use them, and would never use them.

A Ghost King, in his eyes, was nothing more than something he could seize at will.

It was not worth doing so. Putting the cart before the horse—how laughable.

The Shadow Grand Elder saw that look in Chen Chuyang's eyes and instinctively wanted to flee.

"Hmph, you've committed countless evils and still want to run."

"Refine."

The Primordial Bell spun and directly swallowed his soul.

"No!"

The Primordial Bell did not care who he was—it refined him directly.