Chapter 160: Netherworld Among Men

"Looking for death? You're the one looking for death!"

Mu Yi sneered as he watched the vague silhouettes in the black smoke, few in number but capable of flight, apparently a bit stronger than the red-haired zombies, roughly at the level of flying corpses.

According to the Underworld's classification, these guys should be considered ghost generals.

The last time fighting red-haired zombies was so hard, yet now facing more and stronger foes, Mu Yi shows no hint of fear.

Times have changed; last time he had no troops, this time he'll let you see what a Military Strategist's spear looks like.

"Formation, meet the enemy!"

At Mu Yi's single command, three thousand ghost soldiers quickly took their positions, completing the army formation in a flash, and dense Cloud Energy rose instantly, enveloping the surroundings.

The whole area had been fully infiltrated by shadow soldiers; Mu Yi easily isolated this sector, creating a positional advantage.

The few figures shrouded in Cloud Energy fell toward the ground like birds with broken wings.

"Throw spears!"

The sluggish ghost generals suddenly opened their huge mouths, a strange suction emanating as if to tear souls, confronting Mu Yi on a soul level.

Understanding roughly what abilities these ghost generals possess, Mu Yi was too lazy to keep probing and directly manipulated the Cloud Energy to exert force.

You cannot reason with a cold machine; all civilization is built on the premise of communication.

Watching the ghost generals bound by chains, crawling like caterpillars, Mu Yi waved his hand, and shadow soldiers immediately approached with shackles of shadow envoys, fastening them onto the ghost generals.

Even these ants lacked any hint of timidity or fear; instead their eyes burned with combat intent toward him.

They should be puppets controlled just like his red-haired zombies.

"You guys are looking for death!"

As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official before the prime minister; the Underworld's shadow soldiers may not be highly cultivated, but they've seen strong ones aplenty, so a mere mountain-claiming ghost king could never frighten them.

The previously unformed Hungry Ghost Path began to coalesce bit by bit; suppressing countless evil spirits had been a tough task, and the Ghost Gate's phantom filled that gap.

Hundreds of spears condensed from netherworld energy were hurled toward the black smoke's impact point.

However, it was only a resemblance; Mu Yi could easily sense the emptiness of that massive silhouette, likely just an illusion to set the mood.

With no subordinates, he had to act himself.

The more he bluffed, the more his own weakness was exposed.

The instant the massive silhouette rose, denser ominous qi mingled with various evil auras burst forth, a terrifying scene like a volcanic eruption, reminding Mu Yi of his greatest remembered foe—the Legend Demon.

The Cloud Energy turned into several massive chains, latching onto the roaring ghost kings.

Mu Yi sneered briefly, feeling the ripples of the isolated conviction zone; such a tactic is like shaking an army formation, better left to daydreams.

An angry roar rang out, the ground suddenly trembled, and fierce rumbling echoed from abyss-like fissures.

"Puppets?" Mu Yi glanced at the sluggish ghost kings.

"Ah!"

Under the shackles' suppression, the ghost generals that could still struggle instantly fell silent; even fully sentient ghost generals are helpless when bound by these shackles.

What remains lacking is a multitude of evil spirits.

"Suppress!"

Not only Mu Yi remained unmoved, but the shadow soldiers showed no sign of wavering.

"Legion attack, prepare!"

He absorbed these ghost generals into the Hungry Ghost Path, then produced fragments of the Ghost Gate, summoning its phantom into the Six Paths Barrier.

Two ethereal figures emerged from the Ghost Gate; the divinity of the Heavenly Mortal Path seeped into the two phantom silhouettes, instantly radiating boundless divine might that enveloped the entire Hungry Ghost Path space.

Amid the earth's rumble, a huge, dark, terrifying giant silhouette seemed to rise from the ground, its massive shadow sweeping over Mu Yi and his party.

"Ghost Gate! Suppress!"

Looking at the ghost generals he had detained, Mu Yi nodded with satisfaction, this task truly came at the right moment.

Moreover, they are now merely controlled puppets, making them even easier to bind.

Because the Hungry Ghost Path, not yet formed and connected to the other Five Paths, was abruptly sealed by a flashing great gate, the ghost generals, shackled, were sent into the Hungry Ghost Path space.

"Huo, still a big fellow!" Mu Yi squinted.

Seeing Mu Yi and his group unmoved, the towering silhouette hesitated for a moment; the ghost king blinked its massive eyes, looking down at them, and no trace of fear could be read on their faces.

A creature without intelligence, combined with formidable power and its killing instinct, becomes even more troublesome.

It wore full-body armor, its expression blank, appearing to lack a complete consciousness.

Produced by the Underworld, quality guaranteed; unless it's a special wandering soul, most can be perfectly restrained.

The detained ghost generals were pressed firmly in place, unable to move.

To prepare for any eventuality, Mu Yi has an even better method!

The three thousand shadow soldiers appeared tiny and humble before the massive silhouette, like ants.

Sentient beings have joy, anger, sorrow, and fear; they can be coaxed, intimidated, or bluff, but a creature without intelligence cannot use any of those.

Boom!

Black dense fog exploded, and within the blast several figures quickly took shape, towering nearly three meters tall, creating an intense pressure.

That gaze made it seem as if it were the tiny ant.

As Mu Yi thought, if it truly possessed such a kilometer-scale formation, unifying the netherworld would be trivial, let alone being trapped in a tiny space.

Seeing Mu Yi slice through his subordinate ghost kings like cutting fruit, it felt a vague fear, but in this nether realm, showing weakness signals vulnerability to be bullied.

It could only exhaust its whole life's power to create a terrifying scene, hoping to scare Mu Yi away.

Yet at this moment Mu Yi also bluffed, causing it to waver.

While it hesitated, Mu Yi and his group moved.

A massive blade flash erupted from the ground, cleaving the huge silhouette to pieces, revealing the bluffing ghost king on the surface.

At this moment, it finally understood why those ants could not see fear.

Being large doesn't mean stronger; it is now the weaker side.

"Yo, I didn't expect the true form to be so peculiar."

Mu Yi watched as the giant, several kilometers tall, collapsed into a little demon only 1.2 meters tall; this extreme contrast made him want to laugh a bit.

Seeing the Ghost King's dazed expression, Mu Yi raised his hand, gathered Cloud Energy, and dealt it a frenzied blow.

Boom!

Accompanied by a violent roar, the Ghost King's figure was directly blown away.

The Ghost King, having no time to react, only managed to shield his whole body with yin killing energy, then was smeared on the face by the legion's attack and blown away.

Slash!

Taking advantage of his sickness and aiming for his life, Mu Yi awaited the enemy's reaction, then again gathered Cloud Energy, using the formation blade and Lightning Lock in his hand, and eagerly swung another blade.

Lightning flashed, and rolling lightning illuminated the four directions as if it were daytime.

Boom—!!!

The previous slash, the dwarf ghost king could barely resist, but this time the thunder attack left him only able to wail amidst the lightning.

After the lightning faded, the dwarf ghost king glared at Mu Yi with resentful eyes, raised his hand, and took out the treasure he had refined—a soul banner forged from countless souls.

The reason he has only a few ghost generals on his territory is that he has extracted the souls of all the monsters and demons on his land to forge this treasure.

As the dwarf ghost king waved the soul banner in his hand, gloomy winds suddenly rose everywhere, filling the air with the sounds of ghostly wails and wolf howls, making listeners feel vexed and restless.

Accompanied by a thick yin killing energy pouring from the soul banner, large numbers of vicious spirits and evil ghosts bared their teeth and claws, charging at Mu Yi and his companions, emitting howls like threats.

But what greeted them was indeed an unsparing blade edge.

Mu Yi swung his formation blade.

"Front three, Heavenly Gang thrust!"

The ghost soldiers immediately changed formation, with shield after shield formed from condensed netherworld qi linking into a line, creating a shield wall.

All‑sky yin killing energy attacked first, but upon hitting the shield wall it was instantly blocked by Cloud Energy, and the ghost soldiers in the formation remained steadfast.

The wonder of the formation lies in linking essence, energy, and spirit into a whole—like gathering sand into a tower or dripping water wearing stone—more people mean greater strength; as long as the formation holds, they become a single entity.

Arrows fell like rain, spear shadows flitted up and down, and blade light stretched continuously.

All the ghost soldiers moved freely within the formation, and under Mu Yi's guidance from the independent belief zone, they clearly knew what to do and how to coordinate with the other ghost soldiers beside them.

The formation of three thousand ghost soldiers was like a meat grinder, easily mincing the surging vicious spirits and evil ghosts into fragments.

Such vicious spirits and evil ghosts, stripped of their intellect and like a rabble, are no match for the three thousand ghost soldiers.

Just as the vicious spirits and evil ghosts were about to be completely wiped out by the three thousand ghost soldiers,

A blade of light shot out from the melee, and the dwarf ghost king instinctively used the soul banner to resist the blade; the soul banner is dual‑purpose, able to gather vicious spirits and evil ghosts and also serve as a weapon.

However, the blade light sliced through the soul banner as smoothly as a hot knife through butter, cutting it in two with one stroke, and without losing power it struck the dwarf ghost king's head.

The head flew high, then fell back onto the dwarf ghost king's head.

As if the blade light splitting the head were merely an illusion, Mu Yi furrowed his brow; earlier, he had used Cloud Energy to fuse sword intent into the outward‑released sword gang, and indeed he had truly cut off the opponent's head with one strike.

He was still quite confident in his sword intent that could cut through all things, yet this dwarf ghost king seemed completely unharmed.

Was it some secret technique that let him dodge, or some other reason?

Looking at the broken soul banner in his hand and feeling his own neck that had just been severed, the dwarf ghost king had no more illusions and clearly understood that his opponent was stronger than him.

The dwarf ghost king, trembling with fear, immediately abandoned all notions of honor and shame, burrowing underground to flee.

Territory, face—nothing mattered; the frightened dwarf ghost king only wanted to escape with his life.

Yet how could Mu Yi possibly let go of this reincarnation material he had at hand?

"Soul‑hook!"

Accompanying Mu Yi's command, several soul‑hook chains burrowed underground and wound toward the dwarf ghost king.

The moment the soul‑hook chains wrapped around him, the dwarf ghost king felt his five senses rapidly fading, his true spirit firmly locked within his body, unable to break free.

"Pull him out!"

Among the ghost soldiers, hundreds controlled a chain, like a tug‑of‑war, exerting force together to pull the dwarf ghost king, who had already burrowed underground, out of the ground.

Before the dwarf ghost king pulled to the surface could even see what lay ahead, a gleaming blade of light flashed into his view.

With one strike, the world spun!

However, even after his head was chopped off, the dwarf ghost king's body did not cease struggling; the severed head turned into a wisp of yin energy that re‑condensed onto his body.

"So hard to kill?" Mu Yi furrowed his brow; he could also relate to the feeling of those enemies besieged by Asura warriors.

This time, being close, he clearly felt the feedback from the blade's edge.

He could feel that his previous strike had indeed inflicted damage on the dwarf ghost king, weakening his aura a bit, but the injury was not fatal—or perhaps the opponent simply had no mortal weak point?

To kill him, one must wear down his existence strike by strike.

Could it be that this is the significance of the existence of the Eighteen Levels of Hell?

Mu Yi pondered, then unfolded the Reincarnation Barrier, dragging the dwarf ghost king into the Hungry Ghost Path; the dwarf ghost king, who had been desperately struggling, trembled under the awe of the two gate deities, and then was suppressed by the Ghost Gate Pass, lying on the ground like a clay‑wood puppet.

Mu Yi also did not let go of the fragments of the departed spirits and evil ghosts forged from the soul banner; he dragged them all into the Hell Path to serve as fuel, turning them into pure power to charge the Reincarnation Barrier.

Although it seemed like only a drop in the bucket compared to the energy the whole Reincarnation Barrier needed, even a mosquito is still meat; leaving it unused is still leaving it unused, so Mu Yi simply dumped it all into the Hell Path and burned it all away for convenience.

Having disposed of the dwarf ghost king, Mu Yi also gained a foothold.

Curious, Mu Yi led the three thousand ghost soldiers to the mountains where the dwarf ghost king had appeared.

This guy had taken over this place; surely there must be something miraculous about it.

Upon arriving, what appeared before Mu Yi's eyes was a deep pit, like a bottomless abyss, with no visible bottom.

"Is this the human realm?"

Mu Yi, watching the netherworld qi constantly spewing from the pit, finally understood why his previous feeling of discomfort came from.

Although they had landed in the human realm, how could the human realm look like this ghostly state?

They looked up at the almost pitch‑black night sky, then listened again to the faint, snarling screams of vicious souls and evil ghosts coming from the bottomless abyss.

Mu Yi, who had just emerged from the Underworld of Jiuzhou, could not see at all that this was a scene of the mortal world; it looked entirely like a ghostly labyrinth.

Realizing how chaotic this world truly was, Mu Yi's mouth twitched slightly, "This pit seems a bit big…"

The deep pit was pitch‑black, and endless nether qi surged from it, like a great chimney shrouded in black mist.

However, this nether qi does not bring scorching heat; instead it is bone‑chilling cold.

If gods, immortals, Buddhas, or humans were exposed to this nether qi, it would affect them; the weak‑minded might instantly be reduced to idiots by the massive influx, becoming walking corpses.

But for Mu Yi, who bears the wheel of reincarnation and a divine position in the Underworld, and for the shadow soldiers behind him, this nether qi is like water to a fish, as if returning home; no wonder the Heavenly Court passed this matter to the Underworld to handle.

When nether calamities plague the mortal realm, handing them to the Underworld to deal with is indeed the most appropriate solution.