Chapter 607: Ten Thousand Souls

The sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling filled the battlefield.

The ghost tide surged continuously, assaulting the White Paper Xiancheng!

The six Golden Core-level ghosts, including the Silent Ghost General, had long since left secretly midway. Sun Lingtong mingled with the main force and arrived under the White Paper Xiancheng, just in time to see this vast battlefield.

He saw thousands of Big-Headed Ghosts blowing rolling Yin winds, and Small-Headed Ghosts densely packed, constantly charging toward the city walls.

On the city walls, the city guards held talisman paper weapons, maintaining the formation line. Between the flashes of blades and swords, not a single Small-Headed Ghost could charge onto the wall.

Suddenly, hundreds of Lantern Ghosts gathered in groups and attacked the city gate.

They spewed out large amounts of ghost fire, attempting to burn the city gate, but the city gate erupted with layers of Yin light. In the radiance, black water surged, not only extinguishing the ghost fire but also sweeping up and slaughtering the Lantern Ghosts.

Fewer than twenty Lantern Ghosts remained, fleeing in panic.

However, the ghost tide remained massive. Large numbers of Small-Headed Ghosts and Big-Headed Ghosts were constantly being produced.

And the ones making this contribution were the Ghost Mothers.

These Ghost Mothers were all massive in size, lying on the open ground outside the city, constantly swallowing massive amounts of Yin Qi and continuously producing large numbers of new ghosts.

On the city walls, the city guard commander Tie Guzheng stared fixedly at these Ghost Mothers; he knew that to repel this wave of ghost tide, these Ghost Mothers must be eradicated.

He had the heart to lead a team to kill outside the city and trample these Ghost Mothers to death, but he gazed further at the Yin soldier army.

In the previous ghost tides, the Wangchuan Underworld had not dispatched troops, but this time they had dispatched an elite force!

Without a doubt, this brought greater defensive difficulty to Tie Guzheng.

Sun Lingtong was in the army, observing for a moment before clicking his tongue in secret: "The White Paper Xiancheng has such strong defenses!"

The ghost tide was massive and continuous, like rolling giant waves. The White Paper Xiancheng, however, remained as stable as Mount Tai, immovable; Tie Guzheng's defensive experience was far too rich!

Under his command, the city guards were busy but not chaotic, defending steadily. Even if there were occasional emergencies, Tie Guzheng quickly made correct instructions, and with practical execution, easily disintegrated the crisis in the formation line.

"As expected of an immortal city."

"Under these circumstances, even if the scale of the Yin army on my side were ten times larger, I fear it wouldn't be able to assault this city."

"But the Wangchuan Prefecture Lord won't send troops casually; he must have a backup plan."

Sun Lingtong had just thought of this when turmoil erupted inside the White Paper Xiancheng!

Large numbers of Water Ghosts emerged from the river channels inside the city, killing in all directions. The city residents were initially plunged into chaos, losing hundreds of lives. After reacting, they actively resisted.

However, the Water Ghosts were Yin soldiers, enjoying the blessings of military strategy and battle formations. Even if they were temporarily blocked, they kept killing, leaving heads rolling.

Hearing this movement, the flags of the Yin soldier army began to sway.

The Yin soldiers launched an attack quickly, charging toward the White Paper Xiancheng.

Led by a Hanged Ghost General, a group of Yin soldiers composed of Hanged Ghosts charged to the foot of the city wall, throwing out noose ropes, attempting to climb.

The city guards immediately split off a portion of their men, holding blades and axes, to hack and slash.

The Hanged Ghost General climbed while swinging his long tongue, attacking the city guards. He was powerful and fought bravely; several city guard cultivators were swept by his long tongue, some retreating with heavy injuries, while others were swept off the city wall and immediately torn to pieces by countless ghosts.

Tie Guzheng watched this Hanged Ghost General, who was about to be the first to climb the city wall, and let out a cold snort, activating the seal in his bosom.

Immediately, on that section of the wall, countless layers floated up on the surface of the wall bricks, and large amounts of talisman paper flew into the sky, turning into countless spells.

The spells were of various types; some greatly increased the defense of the city guards, while others killed large numbers of Hanged Ghosts. That Hanged Ghost General wanted to fight hard but was still smashed down by the spells.

Seeing this, the Yin soldier main general immediately issued a military order.

The military flag swayed a few times, and a Lantern Ghost General led his subordinates, the Lantern Ghosts, in a swarm toward another section of the city wall.

They did not kill their way onto the wall but instead crashed directly into the foot of the wall.

Boom, boom, boom...

A series of explosions made the city wall tremble continuously.

Subsequently, flames burned fiercely, surrounding the city wall, lasting for a long time, with crimson tongues of fire licking layers of wall paper.

Tie Guzheng finally changed his expression.

The Wangchuan Underworld army had come prepared; this fire-attacking method actually faintly countered the White Paper Xiancheng's city-building method!

But the next moment, Tie Guzheng let out a cold snort and activated his methods again.

Large amounts of black water reappeared, rushing into the flames.

Water and fire intersected, making a hissing sound, consuming each other intensely. The black water surged continuously, quickly extinguishing the crimson flames.

At the moment the flames were on the verge of extinction, they suddenly turned into a giant flame ghost, letting out a final miserable howl, before finally disappearing completely.

"Black Water Mountain, White Paper City..." Sun Lingtong murmured, gaining a deeper understanding of this widely spread name.

And having failed twice in his city-attacking methods, the main general's face was full of gravity.

After frowning and thinking, he made a difficult decision, ordering the entire army to slow down its offensive, and then cast a hopeful gaze toward the direction of the South City Gate.

He expected greater internal chaos in the city, indirectly helping him open up the situation.

The Silent Ghost General and the other five did not know that they were shouldering this layer of expectation; now, they were mainly thinking—how to escape from this damned Jade Chime Sound-True Formation!

They were covered in wounds, while Wen Ruanyu and Ning Zhuo, on the other hand, were light and airy, not even sweating a drop.

It was mainly a case of the prepared against the unprepared; the formation they had set up countered this group of people perfectly.

Wen Ruanyu presided over the formation, and Ning Zhuo stood by his side, occasionally casting his gaze toward the former.

"Wen Ruanyu is worthy of being a Golden Core true disciple of the Myriad Phenomena Sect!"

"He is a Confucian cultivator and should possess the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He had previously displayed his self-portrait, and the avatar was at the Golden Core level. And setting up and controlling this Jade Chime Sound-True Formation demonstrates his profound attainments in formation arts and musical arts."

Ning Zhuo praised secretly in his heart, gaining more understanding of Wen Ruanyu's combat strength.

If Wen Ruanyu were to fight alone, he could face off against three Golden Cores like the Talkative Ghost General, but would be at a disadvantage.

Once he was prepared, such as setting up a formation and controlling it, he could demonstrate even more powerful combat strength.

From the start of the battle until now, Ning Zhuo had almost not taken action, relying entirely on Wen Ruanyu to fight alone.

Relying on the formation, he fought one against six and firmly occupied the initiative.

Following this trend, Wen Ruanyu could even capture all six Golden Core ghost generals at once!

The Red-Haired Ghost General, besieged by the bronze Luan birds, suddenly roared to the sky, burning himself out to unleash his strongest strike in his life.

Boom!

The explosion and scorching flames directly knocked down a bronze pillar.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Peanut Ghost General unleashed a ghost technique—Nether Fate Soul Flower!

"Not good." Wen Ruanyu's expression changed slightly; he had to fully control the formation and strictly prevent it from collapsing.

But in doing so, he could only sit and watch the Peanut Ghost General's ghost technique take effect.

The Jade Chime rang continuously, resisting most of the ghost technique's power.

Even so, Ning Zhuo still suffered minor injuries.

His physical body was intact, but many flower buds had grown on his soul. These flower buds then bloomed, absorbing a massive amount of Ning Zhuo's soul power, making him dizzy and his state continuously declining.

Ning Zhuo hurriedly picked up the Soul-Martial Axe and swung it toward his soul. In his urgency, he did not hesitate to cut off the intact parts of his soul, just to cut off all the soul flowers as quickly as possible!

Relying on a ruthless streak, Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain of cutting his soul, cutting off the soul flowers in time.

"This kind of ghost technique bypasses normal defensive means and specifically attacks the soul."

"My soul cultivation is still too low."

Ning Zhuo firmly remembered this lesson.

At the same time, he paid even more attention to the Silent Ghost General.

"This ghost technique was unleashed suddenly; it wasn't that there was no pre-accumulation phase, but that it was bolstered by the 'No Sound' innate talent, which is why I didn't notice it."

"This innate talent is truly not bad, very practical!"

The counterattack of the Nether Fate Soul Flower could be considered the last hope of the six ghost generals.

Whether it was Wen Ruanyu or Ning Zhuo, they had resisted this wave of "desperate counterattack."

Not long after, five Golden Core ghost generals were captured alive by Wen Ruanyu, and the Red-Haired Ghost General died on the battlefield.

"After interrogation, can you gift this Silent Ghost General to me?" Ning Zhuo proposed a condition.

Wen Ruanyu immediately explained that he was not the one who could make that decision. These ghost generals would be personally interrogated by the City Lord's avatar, striving to torture out more valuable military intelligence.

After saying this, Wen Ruanyu comforted Ning Zhuo, stating that he had not only discovered the Qianmo Lamp but also provided key intelligence that contributed to this military merit, which would surely be rewarded further. However, because they were in a state of war, Wen Ruanyu told Ning Zhuo to return first and wait for further news, while he himself immediately went to escort the prisoners. City Lord's Mansion.

Ning Zhuo thought for a moment and shook his head slightly.

"I will stay here and take over from Senior Wen to control the Jade Chime Sound-True Formation."

"Although it's unlikely, if the enemy army has a second wave of attacking teams, the paper doll giant statue in the South City will be destroyed."

Wen Ruanyu pondered for a moment, then generously lent all the treasures used to suppress the formation to Ning Zhuo and took out a jade slip for Ning Zhuo to view.

One of the contents of the jade slip was the Jade Chime Sound-True Formation method.

Of course, Wen Ruanyu still placed his Golden Core-level portrait beside Ning Zhuo to act as surveillance.

Not to mention Wen Ruanyu taking the prisoners away, Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged in the air, controlling the formation and testing his methods while pondering his current predicament.

"This is the second time the Wangchuan Underworld has attacked here."

"The first time there were three Golden Cores; this time the number doubled, reaching six!"

"Next, will they attack here again? And what kind of lineup will it be?"

"Is this place very important?"

"Or is it because it hides Mother's arrangements, so it is deeply feared by the Wangchuan Underworld, which wants to get rid of it quickly?"

"Mother set up the Qianmo Lamp here; although the paper doll army is not her work, it created many channels to the Underworld world. What is her purpose in doing this?"

Ning Zhuo could not figure it out, nor was he anxious.

He knew he lacked more key intelligence, and he faintly had a premonition that he should be able to obtain this key intelligence!

Sun Lingtong secretly contacted him via the life-thread at this time.

Ning Zhuo then learned the true battle situation.

"The White Paper Xiancheng is indeed an immortal city; the front is temporarily worry-free."

"The key is the internal trouble. Even now, ghosts are frequently emerging from the river channels in the city, attacking everywhere."

"Sigh, who exactly is the traitor hiding among the high-level officials?"

Ning Zhuo was appointed by the City Lord to investigate the traitor in the city, but Ning Zhuo had self-knowledge and knew he had no talent for investigating cases. This time, discovering the Qianmo Lamp was just another plan, plus some coincidences.

Ning Zhuo quickly became familiar with the Jade Chime Sound-True Formation. After ensuring he could control the formation and resist the Golden Core ghost generals' attacks, he took out several treasures and began his soul cultivation.

In the battle just now, he had been hit by the Nether Fate Soul Flower technique, making him even more attentive to the cultivation of increasing soul foundation.

Ning Zhuo drank a large gulp of Cold Bone Moon Dew Wine; warmth like a hot spring started from his stomach, climbed along his spine, and exploded at the back of his neck into thousands of threads of cold mint scent.

Cold and heat circulated in his skull; his soul felt like it was soaked in a pine forest filled with morning mist, every ray of soul light covered in transparent frost dew.

The soul that had been cut by the soul flowers recovered rapidly along with this process.

Ning Zhuo raced against time, and while drinking, he lit the Nine Springs Rest Incense.

The fragrance permeated his lungs, filling his whole body and mind with an ancient peace.

The various chaotic emotions in Ning Zhuo's heart and the countless complex thoughts in his spiritual sea vanished along with the fragrance, and Ning Zhuo thus fell into a state of extreme peace.

Not long after, Ning Zhuo's soul recovered completely and had faintly improved.

He took out the three-legged, two-eared bronze cauldron—the Hungry Ghost Counter-Devouring Cauldron, and threw some ghosts into it.

These ghosts came from the Heavenly Ghost's storage bag.

After throwing them in, Ning Zhuo infused magic power into the cauldron.

The cauldron began to emit radiance, and the blurred images of the hundred ghosts devouring each other on the cauldron now revealed clearer patterns in the radiance.

The ghosts were limited by the cauldron and could not escape, and then under the cauldron's power, they fought and killed each other, with only one remaining in the end.

And this one was also quickly starved to death, turning into a ball of soul essence.

Ning Zhuo took out the soul essence and used it on himself, immediately causing his soul power to soar by a large margin.

He had previously broken through to a thousand-person soul, and now it immediately rose to sixteen hundred-person soul.

Ning Zhuo continued his efforts, using multiple pieces of soul essence, and soon pushed his soul cultivation to over five thousand.

Because the progress was too fast, Ning Zhuo's soul was no longer so clear, especially his facial features were much more blurred, and his entire soul body became bloated.

Ning Zhuo paused and took out the "Underworld Penal Code."

He opened this iron-skinned, iron-paged book and turned to the first page, seeing the oil pan punishment diagram engraved on the page.

Ning Zhuo infused magic power, and the penal code emitted mysterious light, covering Ning Zhuo's soul.

Ning Zhuo could not help but groan, feeling extreme pain that reached his bones! His soul felt like it had fallen into an oil pan, being miserably fried.

Oil pans, knife mountains, sword trees, seas of fire, ice mountains, iron beds, heart digging, tongue pulling, cow pits, millstones, saw cutting, stone pressing, iron trees, intestinal twisting, blood pools... the Underworld Penal Code recorded too many punishments.

Ning Zhuo only tried the third page before he could not bear it anymore.

His soul was severely damaged, not only a bloated fat man but also covered in multiple injuries, almost covered in scars.

Ning Zhuo endured the dizziness and used the Cold Bone Moon Dew Wine and Nine Springs Rest Incense to treat his soul body.

Soon, he recovered.

The recovered soul body not only lost its bloating, but its facial features were deep and clear, and it was surrounded by faint soul light, increasing its resistance to attacks such as scalding, hacking, and cutting.

After two rounds of this, Ning Zhuo's soul power officially broke through ten thousand people! ===== CHAPTER 608 =====