Chapter 353: I Am Timid; Do Not Scare Me

A youth in green robes hovered in the sky, silently watching the chunks of gray flesh and blood falling in waves amidst the sword qi.

This was his strongest state.

He condensed all his magic power into a single point, unwilling even to maintain the basic invisibility spell, wanting to pour out all his strength and turn it entirely into an attack.

"The Ghost Dao is strange, perilous, and eerie, yet it does have its merits."

Jiang Ding looked toward a patch of void.

Transparent and hazy, an old man in black robes appeared, his left arm severed at the root, turned gray, his face deathly pale, skin stretched tight over bone, his body half-transparent, and the many ghostly figures within had unknowingly vanished completely.

His chest cavity was empty, containing nothing at all.

"Who are you..."

"Disciple Seven Feathers!"

Bai Gui Laozu roared in venomous rage, yet froze, looking at the youth in green robes before him with disbelief, comparing him over and over, confirming he was indeed the one from the intelligence reports.

"Foundation Establishment Mid-Tier!"

He swept with his divine sense, and his heart churned like a stormy sea, giving birth to countless scattered thoughts.

"Greetings, Bai Gui Laozu."

"Eighteen years have passed, yet you remain as magnificent as ever."

Jiang Ding smiled slightly: "Recalling the time at the Nine Heavens Ruins, you told me you looked forward to the scene of our next meeting; it feels like just yesterday."

Boom!

Magnetic field sensations covering the sky and earth appeared as faint lines of array patterns, spreading in all directions, while a deep blue flying sword emerged within the array patterns, serving as its absolute central master.

Under the influence of the magnetic field and the Ampere force of the electric current, amidst a deafening roar, the flying sword's speed was boosted to its limit, vanishing beyond the range of divine sense.

Terrifying destructive sword intent permeated all directions, locking onto the soul and spirit.

"This flying sword..."

Bai Gui Laozu felt waves of terror in his heart, unable to believe such a flying sword belonged to a Foundation Establishment Mid-Tier cultivator; he spoke in angry shame, "Youngster, you know not life or death! Do you think you have completely bested this Old Ancestor?!"

"Black Soul Banner!"

He spat from his mouth, and a black banner palm-sized in size flew out, expanding to ten zhang in size; the pitch-black flag unfurled, and a torrent of fierce ghosts covering the sky and earth flew out from within, the weakest being at the Late Qi Refining stage, with Foundation Establishment levels appearing frequently, while cold array patterns filled the sky, each spreading out.

Among them, the most terrifying were four Ghost Kings radiating the aura of Jin Dan Early Stage!

Each stood about a zhang tall, with green faces and fangs, each holding one of the four ghost weapons: spear, axe, battle-axe, and halberd; with every movement, they drew upon the power of the crowds of Foundation Establishment ghost generals and ghost soldiers under their command, smashing entire regions with a single strike, obliterating all living beings, tearing and enslaving souls, making reincarnation impossible.

"Kill them all!"

Bai Gui Laozu waved the ten-zhang-long banner like a commander of ten thousand armies, possessing the peerless bearing of a supreme general seated behind the command flag, watching his sons take the heads of enemy generals.

Roar!

The four Ghost Kings roared in unison, their voices shaking heaven and earth; their spears, axes, battle-axes, and halberds expanded to over ten zhang in size, and together with their subordinate ghost generals and ghost soldiers, waves of blade light and sword shadows crashed down fiercely toward a single point at the center.

Ding!

A deep blue flying sword suddenly appeared in the empty void, always charging so straight, colliding with the spears, axes, battle-axes, and halberds of the four ghost generals.

Sparks flew in all directions, spiritual light shattered!

A sharp metallic tremor spread in all directions, enough to pierce the eardrums of Qi Refining cultivators.

"What tremendous force!"

The auras of the four Ghost Kings suddenly dropped a notch, and terror showed in their huge pupils.

Looking down, they saw that their massive, pillar-like ghost weapons of spear, axe, battle-axe, and halberd all bore a thumb-sized Kong Dong, pierced clean through, held up only by the thickness and sturdiness of the ghost weapons.

Moreover, a sword qi imbued with destructive intent swept over; they dispersed it to the surroundings, and hundreds of Qi Refining ghost soldiers caught in its wake screamed once, turning gray and vanishing completely.

"Not bad."

"The four Ghost Kings joining forces through the military formation to strike once; even among Jin Dan Mid-Tier cultivators, this counts as strength. Had you, Bai Gui Laozu, not been severely injured, it might have been even stronger."

Jiang Ding offered a word of praise.

"It seems my senior brothers are not weaklings either."

Divine sense and sword intent were constantly deployed, sealing and blocking all divine sense signals entering or leaving within a six-kilometer radius, while simulating the Great Yin Sword Intent to shield the six senses of over ten thousand common people below.

"Hmph!"

Bai Gui Laozu snorted coldly: "If not for those two cowardly turtles relying on the advantage of magical treasures, they would have been defeated by my sect long ago; how could we have been locked in stalemate for so long?"

"You are Foundation Establishment Mid-Tier, yet possess such strength; you must have a great secret and are qualified to become my fifth Ghost King."

A trace of greed appeared in his eyes.

"Die!"

Roar!

The four Ghost Kings and the ten thousand ghost generals and ghost soldiers all set down the weapons in their hands, letting them hover before them, formed their fists with both hands, and frantically pounded their chests, roaring without cease.

Roar, roar, roar...

Waves of visible sound waves roared and rippled from their mouths, flowing through the dense black array pattern nodes, converging into the mouths of the four Ghost Kings, finally gathering into a cone-shaped sonic spear, carrying a terrible howl as it pierced toward the youth in green robes' skull.

Sound-Splitting Needle!

This was one of the killing moves of the Bai Gui branch of the Xuetudian, gathering the power of ten thousand fierce ghosts, and also extremely concealed; even a Late Jin Dan cultivator would suffer severe injury if caught off guard.

"Go."

Jiang Ding's expression did not change; he pointed with his finger, the magnetic sensation interlaced patterns on his brow flickered, and the deep blue flying sword, carrying pure power and speed, vanished in an air explosion.

When it reappeared, needle tip against wheat awn, the one-zhang-long deep blue flying sword pierced straight toward the sharpest point of the sonic cone, with no possibility of retreating even a fraction.

Ding!

The deep blue spiritual light and the transparent sound wave ripples exploded and shattered separately; the residual waves shattered the space within several kilometers, Bai Yun was swept clean, the sky became clear and bright, and ten thousand li were without clouds.

The sound waves dissipated without a trace.

The deep blue flying sword stood proudly, ringing with a clanging sound, completely undamaged.

Boom!

The azure flying sword vanished, only to reappear before the forehead of the Halberd Ghost King, piercing through with a killing intent that spread destruction in all directions.

"Smash it!"

Bai Gui Laozu's face paled in shock as he violently waved the ten-zhang-high banner.

Roar!

The four Ghost Kings roared in unison, each wielding a weapon as thick as a massive pillar—spear, axe, halberd, or blade over ten zhang long—and channeling the tsunami-like power of their ghost generals and soldiers to smash down upon the inch-long azure flying sword.

The wind from the weapons whistled for miles, thick with killing intent.

Even a mountain standing here would be instantly smashed to pieces!

Boom!

The four massive ghost weapons struck the empty space, splashing up a sky full of spiritual light, yet found nothing, missing their target completely.

A hint of confusion appeared in the huge pupils of the four Ghost Kings.

Whoosh!

The azure sword light vanished in the explosion, only to reappear and land on the head of an utterly ordinary Qi Refining ghost soldier, slicing him into fragments.

It was merely an ordinary ghost soldier, insignificant and easily replaced the moment he died.

A hint of unease appeared in Bai Gui Laozu's eyes.

Yet, at the very moment the ghost soldier died, the aura of a large group of nearby ghost generals and soldiers trembled; the array patterns constantly surrounding them became chaotic, clearly suffering a backlash from the formation.

Dozens of pale blue sword qi exploded, whizzing through and piercing the skulls of thirty-two ghost generals whose auras were in disarray, causing their bodies to collapse; the surrounding array instantly crumbled completely, and the Halberd Ghost King's aura plummeted.

"How did you find the node of my formation?"

Bai Gui Laozu looked at the youth in green robes with shock and rage.

The nodes of the formation determine the composition of the military array; they are not fixed but change every single moment. Not to mention outsiders, even he himself could not instantly strike this array node amidst such instantaneous changes!

"Naturally, I saw it."

"It is merely a mid-grade Third-Rank formation; did you really think it was some precious treasure?"

Jiang Ding said calmly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The Taqing Flying Sword wove through the horde of ghosts, beheading ghost generals one by one; waves of spiritual light scattered, and within just a few breaths, over seventy ghost generals had died by its hand, causing the aura of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Great Array to drop significantly.

"Kill him!"

Bai Gui Laozu's heart bled as he pointed at the youth in green robes.

If they continued to die like this, the formation would collapse on its own!

Roar, roar!

The four Ghost Kings no longer futilely chased the Taqing Flying Sword; roaring loudly, each wielding a pillar-like long weapon, they took a single step, crossing several kilometers to charge at one of the youths.

"The Ancestor is losing his cool."

Jiang Ding shook his head.

Boom!

Dense, faint, magnetic-field-assisted array patterns appeared around the Taqing Flying Sword, unleashing extreme speed; it vanished from the range of spiritual sense, its destructive sword intent spreading and locking onto the soul.

"No good!"

Bai Gui Laozu's expression changed; he barely mustered his remaining magic power and spat out a mouthful of chilling Yin energy, forming a low-grade magic treasure bone shield to block in front of him.

Creak!

Amidst the grating sound of metal shattering, the low-grade magic treasure white bone shield was slashed with a deep groove; its spiritual light plummeted, and its aura withered.

The azure flying sword pierced through its edge, breaking through the Third-Rank spell shield that was barely holding together, and landed on Bai Gui Laozu's brow.

"Turn!"

Terrified, Bai Gui Laozu roared uncontrollably; his body became translucent and hazy, a ripple of spatial fluctuation passed, and in an instant, he swapped positions with the Great Halberd Ghost King.

Roar!

The Great Halberd Ghost King, unwilling, struggled frantically, trying to break free from the restriction, but it was a vain hope; he could only watch helplessly as his form changed position.

An azure flying sword carrying destructive sword intent descended.

There was no space to dodge.

"No!"

The Great Halberd Ghost King felt only a chill at his brow, followed by a sharp pain, and lost all consciousness.

A corpse several zhang in size, with a hole in its brow, fell limply; clear blue sword qi was visible at the wound, and as it fell halfway through the air, it collapsed into a sky full of dark blue spiritual light, leaving behind only a ghost pearl.

"A fine substitute-death spell."

Jiang Ding praised.

"Pity, but he still must die."

Boom!

The Taqing Flying Sword vanished amidst the explosion and the dense array patterns of magnetic field spiritual energy gathering for the kill.

Only one sword strike,

and only this one sword strike was needed.

No change was required.

"All of you, attack!"

Bai Gui Laozu's soul trembled and shivered, sensing something; he bit his tongue, spraying hot essence blood onto the surface of the dark black soul banner, and violently waved the flagpole, causing a vast expanse of black-red spiritual light to spread to the surrounding Ghost Kings, ghost generals, and ghost soldiers.

Roar! Roar, roar!

The three great ghost generals' eyes turned blood-red and frenzied; gathering the power of their ghost armies, they each wielded their massive spear, massive axe, and massive halberd, smashing violently into the void ahead.

Boom!

Amid the explosion of spiritual light that filled the sky, an azure flying sword was intercepted. Dense, dashed-line patterns flickered across its body, and azure-blue substance flowed along the blade.

Within this confined space, the Ampere force formed by magnetic fields and electric currents erupted with extreme speed, slashing at the surrounding spears, axes, and great halberds.

The giant ghost-treasure hacked down.

The azure flying sword chopped down.

The spiritual light collapsed and scattered. A few grey-black metal fragments fell from the sky, blasting several deep pits into the ground.

Lord Lord Dingding ding ding ding…

Again and again.

Needle against awn, never yielding an inch. The sharp clangs of metal never ceased, merging into one continuous din. Between every breath, both sides hacked and slashed dozens to hundreds of times, never once pausing.

"Damn it…"

Magic power surged forth like a tidal wave, but the fear on Bai Gui Laozu's face only grew thicker, with no joy at having held his ground.

Ding!

This single note was especially clear and long-drawn.

Crack!

Under Bai Gui Laozu's terrified gaze, three ghost-treasures—giant spears, giant axes, and giant halberds, each over ten zhang tall—were forcibly chopped clean in half!

Six broken pillars with jagged fracture-faces plummeted from the sky, their spiritual light utterly gone, reduced to dead objects.

Puh!

The three great Ghost Kings vomited great mouthfuls of dark, ghostly essence-blood. Their auras plummeted off a cliff, their bodies turned translucent and hazy, and the madness and bloodlust vanished from their eyes without a trace. They fled in all directions, shrieking: "My lord, spare us! We were only driven by others…"

Whoosh!

An azure flying sword arrived in an instant, passing in turn through the hearts of the three great Ghost Kings, leaving behind three stiff, towering ghost-corpses with no breath of life remaining.

Then,

the sword-light turned,

piercing through the brow of a black-robed elder who was burning his essence-blood and fleeing madly. Brain matter splattered.

The black-robed elder's body stiffened for a moment, yet still carried by its tremendous momentum, it flew forward several hundred more meters before finally crashing down from the sky, slamming into the ground and becoming a paste of minced meat.

"You see,"

in the sky, a youth in blue robes revealed a smile.

An azure flying sword circled and danced merrily at his side, trailing comet-like tails of flame.

"I told you not to frighten people—it's impolite. Your avatar just wouldn't listen. Not only did it try to scare me once, it even threatened me, saying it was looking forward to meeting me."

"Well, now you've met."

(End of this chapter)