Chapter 162: Yasha and Rakshasa

Mu Yi used the Reincarnation Barrier to transport ten thousand people away, bringing them into the Nether Realm.

The East Dao Prefecture Master is dependable; the ten thousand he supplied are all elite.

Their average class level is roughly 13–14, all elite soldiers who have just survived a battle against the demon barbarians.

Although they cannot live long in the Nether Realm, forming formations to resist its erosion is still easy.

Mu Yi also discovered a fact: the Elite Talent thing is not the more the better for ordinary people.

Someone like him, who possesses several Elite Talents, is an exception; ordinary elite soldiers usually specialize in two, which can be combined into Military Strategist secret techniques.

The East Dao Prefecture troops have two Elite Talents: Iron Body and Stored Rebound.

They can boost their own resistance and defense while converting received damage into stored power for a burst counterattack.

Equipped with heavy armor, large shields, powerful crossbows, long spears, long swords, etc., it is said that the East Dao Prefecture Master once had the fortune to study under the Military Strategist sub‑saint Wu Qi, becoming a disciple of the War God; the East Dao Prefecture soldiers were reformed from the Wei Wu troops' training methods, adapted to local conditions.

Mu Yi roughly estimated that his three thousand Shadow Soldiers fighting an equal number of enemy troops would be outmatched on the mortal plane, but could win in the Nether Realm.

With ten thousand troops at his command, Mu Yi easily wiped out a mountain's Ghost King—far stronger than the Dwarf Ghost King—but when faced with the suppression of the Great Army Cloud, it had no resistance; in a few blows Mu Yi seized it and threw it into the Hungry Ghost Path for suppression.

In the Nether Realm mountain range, the most abundant are the domineering vicious souls and evil ghosts; the closer to the center of the Ghost Nation, the more frequent they are, even a mountain where two groups of Ghost Kings squat.

Curious, Mu Yi hastened his actions, ordering the three thousand Shadow Soldiers to gather the battlefield's monster wreckage, and using the dual‑sacrifice Elite Talent to directly sacrifice these items, tossing them into the Hell Path as fuel.

For these vicious souls and evil ghosts, unless they are truly desperate, they would not choose to go to the mortal world, since the Nether Realm Qi is thin there and they would have to face attacks from heavenly soldiers and generals.

With more manpower, Mu Yi did not rush to attack the Ghost Nation; military strategy values using strength over weakness, creating local situations where many beat few, strong beat weak—the essence of strategy, which is essentially what command is.

Mu Yi vaguely understood that when Bai Qi told him how vast the world is, he meant it cannot be handled by a single person's strength.

He sighed, folded the barrier, and followed the messenger East Dao Prefecture soldier into a mountain tunnel.

"Is this the mortal world?" As he passed through the tunnel, Mu Yi suddenly felt a slight dizziness and saw Lin Xuan, eyes wide with fury.

The vicious souls and evil ghosts he had slain along the way numbered not ten thousand but eight thousand, yet he couldn't even fill half the progress bar—truly despairing.

Turning his head, he saw a deep pit similar to the one near the Dwarf Ghost King; above the pit, Nether Realm Qi wafted, and the wailing of lost souls echoed.

The logic of sustainable development still has some market in the Nether Realm.

Zongwang Prompt: Sacrifice activation successful; you sacrificed soul fragments and Nether Realm Qi, the Hell Path prototype draws the sacrificial power and is growing (34%)…

Except for lucky ones like the Dwarf Ghost King, most ghosts and monsters that roam the mortal world are those who cannot survive in the Nether Realm, or have been sent by self‑proclaimed ghost deities to scour the surface for living beings.

Moreover, this is the East Dao Prefecture soldier's first combat in the Nether Realm; he plans to find an opponent first so these troops can adapt.

"Got it, I'm heading over now!"

Zongwang Prompt: You are suppressing the evil ghost within the Hungry Ghost Path; the Hungry Ghost Path prototype is forming, current progress 14%…

The scopes of the two applications belong to entirely different domains: the East Dao Prefecture soldier's opponents are the demon‑barbarian type with extraordinary physical qualities, whereas the Shadow Soldiers face mostly vicious souls and evil ghosts; the focus differs, as do the abilities they can display.

Of course, perhaps they also worry about being too absolute and angering the heavens; those who can storm into the Nether Realm and claim kingship are not mindless fools—higher status brings more knowledge, making them even more cautious.

"Colonel Mu, Colonel Lin requests you to go over…" the East Dao Prefecture soldier relayed.

Glancing at the data on his retina, Mu Yi could only sigh that he still has a long way to go; the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier's maturation is painfully slow.

Only those desperate ghosts would commit village‑ or city‑level massacres, only to be seized by heavenly soldiers and generals and blasted to oblivion.

Countless corpses piled together formed, atop the deep pit, a bone tower resembling a pagoda.

Every few dozen breaths, the Bone Tower pulses like a heartbeat, completely absorbing the Nether Realm Qi that drifts out of the deep pit.

The Nether Realm Qi is continuously drawn into the Bone Tower, refining day and night the Treasure Pearl at its apex.

Hundreds of beings hang from the Bone Tower—humans, animals, ordinary souls, and malicious ghosts—while the Nether Realm Qi corrodes and torments them.

This torment not only drives these beings toward becoming vicious souls and evil ghosts, but also feeds the Bone Tower with pain and resentment, making its structure tougher and able to absorb more Nether Realm Qi.

"Is there any hope for these people?"

Lin Xuan's suppressed roar of anger nearly shattered the heavens; the horrific scene before him made him furious—if not for that one‑in‑ten‑thousand sliver of hope, he would have already shattered the Bone Tower with a single shot.

"No hope!" Mu Yi sighed, crushing Lin Xuan's final illusion.

These beings have long been tormented to death; now only their lingering souls remain. At best, Mu Yi cannot rescue them—he can only perform a rite to release them before they commit further sins.

Just as Lin Xuan gripped his spear, ready to shatter the Bone Tower with a single thrust, Mu Yi reached out and stopped him.

"If this tower is shattered, Nether Realm Qi will gush out, turning the entire area into a ghostly abyss!"

Mu Yi chuckled wryly, noting the irony: he cannot contain the leaking Nether Realm Qi, yet those mountain‑ruling Ghost Kings know how to handle it.

In truth, Mu Yi has already sensed the hidden mastermind behind this world.

If something is a coincidence, but Rakshasa, Buddhist stupa, and Sarira are piled together, calling it coincidence would be self‑deception.

However… this is not something Mu Yi can handle.

Every chaotic world's path from disorder to peace and prosperity involves the power struggles of various factions.

Honestly, what Mu Yi can discern, he doesn't believe the Underworld folk can see.

His mission zone is precisely this Ghost Nation; its implications are far too complex.

Mu Yi feels that after this mission, he absolutely cannot take on any Underworld tasks for a while; the Shadow Commander title has him on the grill.

Before he can become a player rather than a pawn, Mu Yi can only grow stronger.

Nonetheless, before that, he can collect some interest.

Mu Yi ripped all the hanging souls from the Bone Tower, tossed them into the Hell Path, used the Hell Path to strip away all malice and chaos, then returned the still‑intact souls to the Reincarnation Barrier.

He then plucked the Sarira atop the Bone Tower; since the tower must remain to absorb Nether Realm Qi, the Sarira need not stay.

Nether Realm Treasure Pearl

Item Level: 15

Item Quality: Blue (Excellent)

Description: Can absorb Nether Realm Qi, used to suppress wandering souls..

PS: Born in the Nether Realm, thrives in the Nether Realm, used for the Nether Realm—Nether Realm Patriarch

Glancing at the pearl's stats, Mu Yi threw it into the Hungry Ghost Path; the pearl, as if drawn by a magnet, was immediately embedded into the phantom of the Ghost Gate.

"Let's go, Brother Lin, we still have many things to do!"

Mu Yi called out to Lin Xuan, and Lin Xuan, unwilling, gripped his spear tightly, then could only sigh helplessly.

He indeed wanted to shatter this thing with a single spear thrust, but he had no alternative; the consequences of letting nether qi surge into the mortal world, though he had never seen, he could still imagine.

After sweeping several hilltops in succession, Mu Yi finally completed the coordination with his soldiers.

After all, he could not directly command the Eastern Province troops; he had to issue orders through Lin Xuan. Such a dual command, without proper coordination, cannot achieve smooth control.

Fortunately, Lin Xuan was highly cooperative and trusted Mu Yi, allowing Mu Yi to complete the coordination with little effort.

Mu Yi led his army back near the Ghost Nation; his plan was simple: lure the snake out of its den and first annihilate the enemy's living forces.

"Go!"

Mu Yi summoned Asura warriors and sent them in a suicide‑style charge toward the city wall.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The high‑pitched alarm bells rang atop the wall.

"What happened?" A towering ghost general snatched a ghost soldier from the wall.

"Sir, a small enemy force is lurking beneath the wall!" the ghost soldier hurriedly explained.

The ghost general tossed the ghost soldier aside, stepped to the wall's edge, and stared at the Asura soldiers below.

"Come out with me; we can offer them to the Rakshasa King!" the ghost general, excited, turned into a wisp of black smoke atop the wall and leapt down.

Where there is intelligence, there is conflict; the Ghost Nation, a gathering of spirits, is no exception.

They were not particularly puzzled; in the nether, foolish ghosts often act mindlessly.

This is why the Ghost Nation erected walls on its outer side—to prevent vicious spirits from disrupting the ceremonies inside.

Yet before the ghost general could land, the Asura warriors, on Mu Yi's order, rushed back in a single surge.

The ghost general produced a relic, levitating above his head, and pursued with hundreds of ghost soldiers behind him.

"What is this?" Mu Yi frowned, watching the aura where the ghost general and his trailing soldiers merged under the relic's glow.

A vague phantom emanated from the relic, and it was this phantom that integrated the ghost general with his soldiers.

Though different from a battle formation, the opponent unquestionably also unified its power into everything; this novel organizational pattern was Mu Yi's first encounter.

Watching the ghost general and his soldiers step into the encirclement he had designed, Mu Yi drew his bow and fired an arrow at the floating relic.

The arrow struck the relic precisely, then was inexplicably rebounded by a force.

Yet with his Transcendent sight, Mu Yi clearly saw a crack spreading across the relic and sensed the once‑unified, now chaotic, aura of the ghost general and his soldiers.

"Only holy damage can affect this thing?" Mu Yi mused, lowering his head.

The ghost general on the ground chased the Asura soldiers, just turned a corner, and before he could react, an arrow shot from the shadows, wounding his own prized unit.

Before his grief could settle, heavy Cloud Energy rose, and three thousand shadow troops surged from all directions; the fleeing Asura warriors turned and lunged at them.

Arrows condensed with nether qi fell like raindrops from the sky, and the ghost soldiers trailing the ghost general fell one after another, as if being reaped.

A combo of punches instantly stunned the over‑eager ghost general.

When he recovered, more than half of the ghost soldiers behind him were already dead.

The ghost general tried to flee, but after only a few steps, several Underworld ghost generals rushed to his side; two fists could not match four hands, and he was no match for them.

Moreover, the Cloud Energy gathered by tens of thousands exerted massive suppression on him; after barely a few resistances, an Underworld ghost general shackled him with a soul‑snaring chain, making him a captive.

Mu Yi sacrificed the ground‑level ghost soldiers using Elite Talent, and instead of channeling them into the Hell Path, he transferred the sacrificed power to the three thousand shadow troops.

Clear reward and punishment is a basic principle of command; even with a tiger tally in hand, the three thousand shadow troops would not resist at all and would obey every order, yet Mu Yi still insisted on upholding this principle.

For sentient beings, exercising proactive agency yields more objective combat effectiveness than passively following orders.

With little effort, Mu Yi obtained the information he wanted from the captive ghost general's mouth.

The Rakshasa King and the Buddhist Sect are inseparably linked; within the Ghost Nation there are hundreds of Buddhist pagodas where countless spirits live under their protection, worshipping several Yakshas Mu Yi has never heard of.

Yaksha is one of the Eight Heavenly Dragons, a common "guardian deity" in Buddhist scriptures, while the Rakshasa is a type of evil spirit in Buddhism, also a Yaksha race and a Buddhist guardian deity.

The effect of a Buddhist pagoda is essentially the same as the Bone Towers he has seen, or perhaps those Bone Towers were built by nearby ghost kings using pagoda designs.

The relic used by the ghost general is also forged by the pagoda; visualizing the phantom within the relic can boost strength and integrate power during combat.

Mu Yi scratched his head; although Yaksha as a "guardian deity" sounds impressive, no matter how impressive, they are still guardian deities, at least demi‑gods or pseudo‑gods in stature.

This practice of building the Ghost Nation and enticing spirits through visualization is undeniably a method of gathering faith.

Mu Yi threw the ghost general into the Hungry Ghost Path for suppression, sighing, realizing his mission was far from tranquil.