Chapter 126: Ghost General

Meng Yifan pointed his Ghost Head Blade, and as his True Qi surged, a strange suction force appeared once more, enveloping Zhang Chao's corpse, and soon pulled Zhang Chao's soul out from within.

Taking advantage of the moment Zhang Chao's body suffered heavy damage, Zhang Butou's Yin Soul devoured half of Zhang Chao's Divine Soul Origin, which also caused Zhang Chao's Yin Soul to be incomplete at this moment, like a candle in the wind, liable to vanish into thin air at any time.

"Hand over the Condensing Qi into Steel Secret Technique, and I will permit you to become a Ghost General under my command," Meng Yifan said in a loud, clear voice.

After Meng Yifan entered the Third Grade Martial Artist realm, he further mastered some of the powers of the Ghost Head Blade; the Artifact Spirit of the Ghost Head Blade had already told Meng Yifan that with his current strength, he could possess at most two Ghost Generals and one hundred Ghost Soldiers.

Ghost Generals can devour Yin Souls to continuously increase their strength, but they cannot exceed Meng Yifan's own strength.

Those Ghost Soldiers can also devour Yin Souls to increase their strength, but their strength can grow to at most one major realm lower than a Ghost General.

That is to say, if Zhang Butou becomes a Ghost General comparable to a Third Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist, these Ghost Soldiers can at most evolve into Ghost Soldiers comparable to a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist.

Upon receiving this news, Meng Yifan was overjoyed; two Ghost Generals and one hundred Ghost Soldiers, as long as they were used well, would also be a very formidable force.

Ghost Generals are formed by refining a martial artist's Yin Soul through the Ghost Head Blade; the stronger the martial artist's strength during their lifetime, the greater their potential after becoming a Ghost General.

Zhang Butou was a Third Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist during his lifetime, so his Yin Soul was much stronger than the Yin Souls of those First Grade and Second Grade constables, which is why Meng Yifan chose him to be the first Ghost General.

Wang Zhanbiao was a Third Grade Intermediate Martial Artist; logically speaking, his Yin Soul could also be cultivated as a Ghost General.

But at that time, Zhang Chao had already charged over with murderous intent, and Meng Yifan had no time to refine a Ghost General.

Furthermore, Wang Zhanbiao's Divine Soul Origin had been devoured significantly by Zhang Butou's Yin Soul, so his cultivation value was relatively low, and thus Meng Yifan let Wang Zhanbiao's soul scatter.

Meng Yifan still had one Ghost General vacancy, and he prepared to give it to Zhang Chao's Yin Soul, depending on whether Zhang Chao agreed or not.

Zhang Chao's Yin Soul cursed loudly: "Bah! This official is a court-appointed official; how could I become a subordinate to a rebel like you? Just wait, the imperial court will soon send a great army to encircle and suppress you; let's see how long you can remain arrogant."

Meng Yifan's expression turned gloomy, and he shouted: "Since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, Zhang Butou, lead the Ghost Soldiers and devour him."

At Meng Yifan's command, Zhang Butou and that group of Ghost Soldiers swarmed forward, enjoying this gluttonous feast, and soon Zhang Chao's Yin Soul was torn to pieces and devoured bit by bit.

After devouring Zhang Chao's soul, those Ghost Soldiers had Yin Qi swirling around their bodies, and their previously incomplete ghost bodies began to heal rapidly.

Some Ghost Soldiers even used Yin Qi to condense armor on the exterior of their bodies, which greatly increased their defensive power; even under the scorching sun, they dared to manifest in the daytime and would not be immediately scattered by the sun's rays.

Zhang Butou's change was the most obvious; his originally flickering, indistinct body had completely condensed into form, with a suit of pitch-black armor covering his entire body, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes; if one did not look at his eyes, ordinary people would not be able to tell at all that he was a Yin Soul entity.

Both Ghost Generals and Ghost Soldiers are formed by the convergence of Yin Attribute energy; they are suited for action at night, as the daytime has vigorous Yang energy, and wind and sun exposure would cause harm to the Ghost Generals and Ghost Soldiers.

This time, Meng Yifan had released the Ghost Soldiers led by Zhang Butou into the Artifact Shield, which was how they avoided the damage from the sunlight.

With a thought from Meng Yifan, Zhang Butou led the Ghost Soldiers back into the mysterious space of the Ghost Head Blade, waiting to fight for Meng Yifan next time.

Meng Yifan picked up that Artifact Shield, looking at the crack on it with some regret.

This crack was very small, located in the very center of the Artifact Shield, and was pierced by the tip of the Ghost Head Blade.

This Artifact Shield had powerful functions; after inputting True Qi, it could be enlarged, and it could also change shape, extending into a hemispherical shape to provide the holder with all-around protection; it was a rare defensive Dharma Artifact.

It was a pity that there was now a gap, which created a weak point in its defense; when encountering a strong enemy, it would be easy for someone to take advantage of the opening.

"Wang Dachui is a veteran blacksmith; I don't know if he knows how to repair Dharma Artifacts. I'll ask him when the battle is over." Meng Yifan slung the Artifact Shield onto his back and looked at the situation on the battlefield.

While Meng Yifan was battling Zhang Chao and Wang Zhanbiao, Meng Dayong was leading the troops to intercept the Second-grade Experts of the Divine Machine Battalion, and both sides were fighting with roaring cannons and intense fervor.

The Divine Machine Battalion had many experts, and Meng Dayong's side had fierce firepower; the two sides were deadlocked, and neither had an overwhelming advantage.

Meng Yifan held the heads of Zhang Chao and Wang Zhanbiao, jumped to a high point, and shouted loudly: "The Commander and Vice Thousand-Man Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion are dead! Surrender immediately, and you may be spared!"

Those Second-grade Experts of the Divine Machine Battalion were shocked; they turned their heads to look and discovered that they were truly the heads of Zhang Chao and Wang Zhanbiao, and they were all so frightened they didn't know what to do.

"It's over, the Thousand-Man Commander is dead; this battle cannot be fought, let's run."

"Run, everyone scatter and run, run back to Dongchuan Prefecture and report to the Prefect."

"The rebels are fierce, everyone run!"

These Second Grade Martial Artists of the Divine Machine Battalion scattered and fled, which caused the remaining four or five hundred soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion to fall into chaos, and they all began to flee.

The five hundred-plus men were defeated like a collapsing mountain, fleeing in different directions; even if Meng Yifan had three heads and six arms, he could not stop them all.

"These are all elite experience monsters; I can't let them run away."

Meng Yifan wanted to improve his strength quickly and needed a large amount of Experience Value; he also wanted to improve the strength of Meng Dayong, Meng Qingshan, and other Dead Loyal Subjects whose Loyalty exceeded 90 points; all of this required a large amount of Experience Value, so he naturally could not watch the enemies all run away.

"All soldiers, listen to my order! Everyone, take your squads as units, the whole army attacks, beat the dogs in the water!" Meng Yifan sank his Qi into his dantian and shouted, his voice spreading across the entire battlefield.

Because Zhang Shagen trained diligently and knew some martial arts, he had long been appointed as a Squad Leader, managing ten people; at this moment, hearing Meng Yifan's order, he hugged his Elm Cannon and rushed out of the trench, shouting: "Brothers, kill!"

Xu Le was also promoted to Squad Leader; he also hugged an Elm Cannon and led the soldiers to launch a charge.

The vast majority of Meng Yifan's soldiers were just ordinary people, while the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion were at least First Grade Martial Artists; if it were a fair duel, one Divine Machine Battalion soldier could fight at least ten ordinary people.

Unfortunately, the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion had already been scared out of their wits and only cared about fleeing in panic; they abandoned their heavy Shenwu Great General Cannons and even threw away their fine Bird Guns, knowing only to flee toward the distance.

Meng Yifan carried the Rocket Launcher, his speed as fast as a gust of wind, rushing to the front to block the escape of the Divine Machine Battalion soldiers.

Meng Yifan's soldiers followed behind, chasing and killing all the way, continuously firing Bird Guns and Elm Cannons, reaping the lives of the Divine Machine Battalion soldiers.