Chapter 295: Merit flows like water, courting death, the Ghost King

Seeing the woman in white appear to open a path for them, the old Daoist was filled with worry: "Oh no! The master of this place has actually appeared!"

Xiao Yu was also surprised: "I didn't expect the Ghost King to be such a gentle woman... Old Daoist, the Ghost King appeared to suppress these demons; she doesn't seem like someone unreasonable. Why do you say it's bad?"

"It is precisely because she is too reasonable that it is bad!" the old Daoist said solemnly.

"Those people from the great clans are as greedy as tigers and as cunning as wolves. If one shows even the slightest weakness before them, they will be stripped of their skin and bones and devoured. If she hadn't appeared, relying on this 'Prison-Sacrificing Dragon' formation, the General General Xuehe Funeral, and even the astonishing arrangement of ghost skins covering the trees, no one would have dared to provoke her."

"But now that she has appeared..."

"Those old monsters have lived for so many years and can see through many things. There isn't a trace of malevolent qi on her. Let alone the terror of skinning those evil ghosts alive, I fear she hasn't even killed many people in her entire life."

"The arrangements here were definitely not made by her own hand."

"And her cultivation is merely Core Formation!"

"How is that possible?" Xiao Yu exclaimed in surprise: "The six Earth Immortals here should all be on par with each other. We have seen the General strike; let alone Core Formation, even a great Yin Spirit cultivator would be suppressed and killed. If her cultivation is weaker, how could she have snatched this place from that senior who practices the Taiyin Refining Form?"

"Having enough prestige is enough!" the old Daoist whispered: "She must have a very powerful backer, and one who is a Yin Official ghost deity. These ghost-skin-covered trees and the grand 'Prison-Sacrificing Dragon' formation were all arranged for her by that ghost deity."

"To bestow such fortune and gift her the title of the weakest Ghost King—the relationship between that ghost deity and her must be very intimate." The old Daoist sighed: "I can see this, so how could those old monsters from the great clans not know? They can definitely see much more than I can."

Xiao Yu said solemnly: "Even if this female Ghost King is not a cruel and tyrannical person, with such a powerful backer, there must be arrangements within the tomb. Those people from the great clans have suffered enough losses; they should have learned their lesson by now!"

The old Daoist sneered: "Men die for wealth, birds die for food. It is precisely because this place is mysterious and unfathomable that, upon encountering a soft persimmon, they will force the secrets of this place out of her. Do you think they won't die if they continue to push forward?"

"And they will never let go of such a great fortune!"

"What fortune?" Xiao Yu asked, surprised.

The old Daoist glanced at him: "Previously, people would accumulate three hundred units of Yin merit just for a common piece of geomantic treasure land. A single 'Ox-Sleeping Land' is enough to make the great clans drool. As for this burial ground she occupies, it swallows the momentum of the 'Prison-Sacrificing Dragon,' with ten thousand corpses bowing in worship, a blood river for a funeral, and countless life-forces sacrificed. Don't look at her as just a Ghost King now; buried in this place, her Yin lifespan is endless. When her Ghost King Golden Body undergoes metamorphosis, she will be a natural-born divine maiden, living a life without tribulation and possessing endless merit."

"She is the most supreme of pure immortals, a goddess of compassion."

"The ghost deity who arranged this place sees it clearly. Her nature is gentle and kind, which is naturally a flaw in the path of immortal cultivation. But if she walks the Divine Path, being a compassionate goddess is not a bad thing."

"As long as she accumulates merit, she will naturally be protected by great beings. When that time comes, whether it is the Earth Emperor bestowing a divine register or the Heavenly Court of the higher realm conferring a title, who would dare touch a single hair on her head?"

"Can the great clans not fight for such fortune?" The old Daoist sneered: "And that old ancestor of the Jin family is nearing the end of his lifespan. This place is the most suitable burial ground for him!"

As they were speaking, Jin Zhong of the Jin family changed his expression several times. Finally, he made up his mind, cupped his hands toward the woman in white, and said: "Miss, this place is extremely evil. Someone has used geomancy and Yin-Yang arts to steal the life-force of three spiritual acupoints to seize the fortune of heaven and earth. Ten thousand corpses bow in worship, evil ghosts are skinned alive and hung on trees as sacrifices, and human bones are used as trees with bronze as coffins."

"Such actions are truly evil."

"I wonder if these arrangements have anything to do with you, Miss?"

The old Daoist whispered with a sneer: "He learned my stuff just to show off?"

Xiao Yu also laughed: "Learning and selling on the spot, that's quite fresh!"

The woman in white sighed, her eyes filled with nostalgia as she looked into the distance and whispered: "These were all arranged by my brother. You should leave quickly! Do not anger my brother..."

Jin Zhong sneered: "Is your brother a Ghost King?"

"You ghost creatures have set up such evil arrangements and harmed so many living beings. How can we sit idly by? If you have the heart to repent, let us destroy these evil arrangements here..."

A flash of urgency and greed crossed Jin Zhong's eyes. The old Daoist noticed this and frowned, thinking to himself: "This shouldn't be! This person still has plenty of lifespan and hasn't become a demon yet; how could his Dao heart be so shallow and his performance so unsightly?"

Xiao Yu also wore a mocking smile: "Isn't the face of the great clans always like this? Holding up the banner of righteousness while doing things to line their own pockets. The arrangements here are grand and the spirit is astonishing, but it doesn't count as harming living beings. They keep saying they want to destroy it, but perhaps they will turn around and bury their own ancestors here."

The woman in white frowned slightly, but still patiently said: "Although the geomantic situation here has the suspicion of stealing the fortune of heaven and earth, it is within a demon cave and has nothing to do with the outside world. It will not harm living beings."

"If it doesn't harm living beings, then where did this blood river and those million zombies come from?" Jin Zhong pressed.

Lei Yu also coughed lightly and said: "There are indeed too many horrors and oddities within the demon cave; at least several million people have died. If you know the inside story, Miss, can we discuss it?"

"They all died because of the demon tribulation. A senior of the Dao Sect pitied their plight and set up this formation to repair their souls. The reason those zombies bow to me is also because I use the Divine Path to save them, allowing them to accumulate Yin merit. This is the karma of the Divine Path's belief and protection; it is not that I forcibly detained them here!" Zhong Ling said honestly.

Except for the many secrets regarding Qian Chen opening the demon cave, she told them everything else honestly, just wanting them to know the severity of the situation and leave quickly, otherwise... this place would soon be flowing with blood.

The blood river flowed quietly beneath the bone tree, watching this grand formation of the ages.

"Ten thousand corpses worship the moon, the grand formation of a hundred ghosts' reincarnation!" The old Daoist looked horrified: "There is actually this layer of mystery. This earth-aperture spans eight commanderies. If the resentful souls that die around here have too much resentment, I fear they will be attracted to the demon cave and become demons after being stained with demonic qi!"

"This blood river is likely formed because of this. Those resentful souls will ride the blood river into the Nine Heavens to cultivate as demons. The senior who set up this grand formation here allowed those resentful souls to pass through this place, and the female Ghost King buried within could protect and save them, allowing their resentment to be relieved and their souls repaired with divine power before returning to reincarnation."

"And the zombies here can also worship the Ghost King and use divine power to undergo metamorphosis and reincarnate."

"No wonder!" The old Daoist said with a trembling voice: "Buried in a grave, Yin merit comes from heaven. Being buried in this place not only accumulates life-force and transforms the golden body, but also accumulates Yin merit. After a long time of saving endless resentful souls, when the day comes for the Ghost King to turn toward the Yang, that endless Yin merit will naturally transform into Divine Path merit, and she will be instantly conferred a title by heaven and earth."

The old Daoist guessed this far, then frowned: "But why are there no resentful ghosts or fierce spirits seen in this blood river?"

"Eh?" Qian Chen was a bit surprised: "To be able to see through my layout of the blood river assembly line and the automatic merit-saving machine, this little Daoist has some imagination! If his Dao foundation hadn't been destroyed, he might have become a true disciple of the Yin-Yang School, and now he even has hopes of achieving a supreme-rank Core Formation!"

"This blood river has only been open for a few days, and the underground Yin river hasn't been connected yet, so of course there are no resentful ghosts. I thought no one would guess my rebellious idea of farming Yin merit! That's why I didn't bother to cover it up."

This was a flaw, big or small, but Qian Chen didn't care. Even if the old Daoist guessed it, would he dare to say it out loud?

If he said it, would anyone believe him?

Jin Zhong said coldly: "Miss, you say so, but you need us to believe it too. Can you open the coffin and let me take a look?"

Opening the coffin to inspect the corpse, and inspecting the golden body of a young female Ghost King at that.

Qian Chen sighed: If Lord Zhong Kui were here, he would let you know what cruelty is.

Given the friendship between Qian Chen and Lord Zhong Kui, he naturally wouldn't let Zhong Ling suffer such humiliation again, so he sent a voice transmission to Zhong Ling, telling her to go back first.

Zhong Ling looked at the crowd with pity and whispered to Qian Chen via voice transmission: "Brother Qian, when the arrangements left by my brother are activated, please leave a way out for the others! Do not commit too much slaughter."

Zhong Ling shook her head slightly, and her white figure drifted backward, wanting to return to the coffin wrapped by the bronze sacred tree. Seeing Zhong Ling about to leave, a ferocious look appeared on Jin Zhong's face, and he roared: "What else do you have to say!"

"Ghost creature, I can tell at a glance that you are not a good person!"

"Brother Lei, don't make a move. Watch me take her down and force the truth of this ghost's conspiracy out of her!"

Jin Zhong intercepted her, stretching out his hands to pull out a string of golden rings in front of him.

With a thought, many identical golden rings were born, flying into the void like flowers scattered by a heavenly maiden.

As he activated the magic treasure, the golden rings transformed and became denser, opening a tightly interlocking net on the bone tree, trying to block Zhong Ling from leaving.

Zhong Ling stopped, and the surrounding golden rings gathered toward her. These golden rings contained powerful seals, capable of capturing people and objects, and allowed Jin Zhong to shuttle back and forth through every ring. They could even be tied into a rope, capable of binding even monsters with strong physical bodies.

The disciples of the Jin family also followed their family head and attacked!

"This Ghost King Earth Immortal of this place is nothing more than this! Let's see who can save you today!" a Jin family disciple said coldly, as a golden awl shot straight at Zhong Ling's heart.

A golden light spun and flew away.

The countless ghost skins drifting on the bone tree suddenly opened their eyes in unison, and shouted in anger: "Who dares to touch my sister, Lord Zhong Kui?"

Countless shouts overlapped, a roar that struck directly at everyone's souls, causing everyone's spiritual sense to go blank for an instant.

And the Jin family members who faced this roar directly, some exploded into a mist of blood with a 'Boom!', falling toward the blood river beneath the tree.

Under the shout, several members of the Jin family were like being hit head-on by a giant hammer, instantly shattering like ragdolls. Their broken bones mixed with flesh and blood, flying outward, attracting the demons in the blood river below to swarm up and tear at them.

But soon, those demons fled in all directions at a speed ten times faster than they had swarmed up.

Those thousands of ghost skins moved in unison, gathering from all directions toward where Zhong Ling was trapped.

Outside the golden rings, they connected into a single piece, transforming into a giant painted skin that covered the sky and blocked the sun. The strange talismans behind the human skin connected into one, revealing itself to be a massive scroll.

On the scroll, a ferocious and ugly Ghost King glared, devouring fierce ghosts in his mouth.

Lord Zhong Kui Catching Ghosts Painting!

"I entrusted my sister to you, and you just watched the fun from the sidelines?" Lord Zhong Kui roared.

Qian Chen was helpless: "You sister-complex, with you here, would I have had the chance to act?"

A faint layer of blood light appeared on Zhong Ling's body, pushing the golden rings apart. Qian Chen had already acted, but before he could make his next move, Lord Zhong Kui had already appeared through the painting. This painting was imprinted with his incense golden body, equivalent to an avatar of Lord Zhong Kui, possessing forty percent of Lord Zhong Kui's power.

To refine this golden body, he didn't know how much wish-power and incense had been consumed.

It was only because Lord Zhong Kui had been the City God of Chang'an for nearly a thousand years that he could have such an accumulation. He had broken his heart for this only sister of his.

"Big Brother, kill fewer people!" Zhong Ling advised.

Lord Zhong Kui was furious: "Don't stop me, anyone who touched my sister today must die!"

The green ox pulled and dragged the tail of the Tao family disciple, and began to run wildly without looking back. Tao Kan only had time to call out: "Spirit Venerable!" The green ox didn't look back, flicking its tongue and saying: "I originally wanted to teach that bastard who dared to use the Ox-Sleeping Land as a sacrifice a lesson..."

"But now it seems, he is indeed a bastard, but a super ruthless bastard!"

"This person's cultivation is too terrifying, even I am not as good! He is a True God of the second rank, only a hair's breadth away from the Primordial Spirit. Just this incense golden body of his is enough to worship a third-rank deity!"

"This opponent is too tough; if he wants to kill you, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop him... Run! Don't look back!"

"Boom!" Amidst the shaking of the earth and mountains, Lord Zhong Kui's ghost body of several hundred zhang went berserk. The giant iron hook smashed down, and the speed of the strike in an instant was like the transformation of the Kunpeng, so fast that their escape lights didn't even have time to rise. The iron hook was as big as a small mountain, weighing ten thousand jun, and smashed down, causing the entire bone tree to shake.

A powerful vibration spread out, and wherever it passed, everyone standing was flattened into meat patties.

"Ah!"

Only two Core Formation old monsters had the chance to let out a scream, and then they saw a ripple of wrinkles sweep across the air, twisting their bodies into noodles. Blood burst out, and their entire bodies shattered instantly.

Their bodies and even their magic treasures were all shattered under the smash of Lord Zhong Kui's iron hook and the stomp of his ghost body.

The weight of billions of jun was pure violence.

It shattered all spells and divine abilities.

The golden rings that had formed a net in the air collapsed instantly. Countless golden rings fell like rain, and the rings kept breaking. Even the main ring with thirty layers of Heavenly Gang seals let out a mournful cry and fell down.

Jin Zhong's pores were spraying blood, and he was covered in cold sweat, his heart filled with shock and terror. Lei Yu, whose physical body was as strong as a martial cultivator, didn't even care about his own son and fled frantically without a word.

To refine a ghost body as illusory as this into a mass as heavy as a mountain, what realm is this?

The last Ghost King this powerful was called the Heishan Old Demon.

Now he is a Primordial Spirit Ghost Emperor occupying a country overseas, having opened the Heishan Ghost Kingdom. In the eyes of the Heishan Ghost Kingdom, what Jin family, Lei family, or even Tao family are no bigger than ants.

Even if the Heavenly Master who controls the Three Mountains came, he wouldn't easily provoke the Heishan Ghost Emperor.

"You, deserve to die!" Lord Zhong Kui stared at Jin Zhong, making him feel despair in his heart. Lord Zhong Kui stood in the canyon, the bone tree only reaching his waist, his two legs straddling the two banks of the blood river, his eyes wide open, like the sun and moon of this place.

A faint sound of Buddhist chanting rose in the distance, and the crowd was instantly overjoyed.

This was the Zen sound that had saved them twice!

Lord Zhong Kui roared: "Shut up, dead monk!"

The Zen chanting stopped instantly.

"Kill!" Jin Zhong felt a chill down his spine and roared. A strange shadow emerged from his body, and Jin Zhong's aura instantly broke through a limit. Half of his face turned old and withered, revealing an expression completely different from his own.

That person spoke: "I have no intention of offending the Ghost King; everyone else here can be disposed of by the Ghost King!"

"Zangshan Laozu of the Jin family!" Tao Kan turned his head in surprise: "I didn't expect that old ancestor of the Jin family, whose lifespan is exhausted, to have followed as well, hiding inside Jin Zhong's body!"

The old Daoist also sighed while running: "I said why the head of the Jin family, who clearly still has lifespan, performed so poorly; it turns out he was possessed by a Longevity Demon!"

Xiao Yu asked loudly: "What is a Longevity Demon?"

"A Longevity Demon is not a demon, but it is more terrifying than a demon. It is a cultivator whose lifespan is nearing its end, and if they refuse to accept their fate, they become recklessly crazy!" The old Daoist couldn't help but shiver when he said this: "This kind of person is a ghost, a demon, a madman. When you see such an existence, it's best to run far away. Or strike first and send him to the west..."

"Another old immortal possessing a descendant!"

Lord Zhong Kui sneered: "What I hate most is you old immortals. Why don't you just go die honestly? You're the old monster who covets my sister's burial ground, right!"

That aged face snorted coldly: "I'm not afraid of you. Don't forget, you are just an incense golden body. You might not be able to take me down. If..."

"Nonsense!" Lord Zhong Kui snorted coldly.

Lord Zhong Kui's dharma body extended its hook, and the giant iron hook shot out, but it reached out toward everyone below at the same time. The hook was neither illusory nor real, exuding an aura that hooked souls and seized spirits, shaking people's hearts. In everyone's eyes, the hook was aimed at themselves.

Xiao Yu's eyes also reflected that hook.

He didn't know how big it was, only that it filled his vision. In an instant, countless voices were interrogating...

You are guilty!

You are guilty!

Countless voices overlapped, as if the masters of the tombs he had robbed were questioning him. Xiao Yu's Dao heart and will had been tempered by the Yin wind of the Nine Heavens, but it still almost collapsed, and his entire soul was almost hooked away.

Fortunately, the deity in his heart suppressed his unstable soul, which allowed him to escape that hook.

Xiao Yu turned his head and saw that the big guy had already woken up. There was a slight guilt on his face, but compared to Xiao Yu's lost soul, he was much better. However, the old Daoist, who had the most experience and the firmest Dao heart among the three, fell to his knees with a thud.

The old Daoist kowtowed: "I am guilty!"

"Because of hatred, I harmed many people. I am sorry to you all! I am sorry to my master, I am sorry to my mistress, I want to avenge you! I want to destroy the Yin-Yang Monitoring Sect, I want to kill the entire sect of the Sect Master!"

"I want to... kill, kill, kill, kill!"

Xiao Yu watched in horror as the old Daoist's soul was hooked out of his body by the hook and was about to be dragged toward Lord Zhong Kui. Xiao Yu saw that the hook had hooked the souls of more than ten people out of their bodies, and those souls, wailing, screaming, and terrified, were swallowed by a giant black hole in Lord Zhong Kui's abdomen.

Even the mysterious and unfathomable Great Elder of the Xin family had his soul hooked away by the iron hook, and his body fell on the road.

Xiao Yu desperately forced out a stick of incense from his heart, the fragrance wrapped around the old Daoist's soul, and the big guy also rushed over, slapping the old Daoist's soul back into his body with one palm.

Strange to say, under the big guy's slap, a faint glimmer of light wrapped around the old Daoist's soul.

The iron hook that had been entangled with him actually loosened just like that.

The crowd who had luckily escaped under the iron hook were terrified and ran wildly toward the opposite side of the canyon. Jin Zhong was pierced through the body by a large iron hook; he was the only one facing a solid iron hook, and his golden rings slid helplessly from his hands.

He was dragged over by Lord Zhong Kui, and Jin Zhong was terrified, screaming: "Zangshan Laozu save me, Zangshan Laozu save me!"

But at this moment, blood fire burned on his body, and that shadow, the Yin Spirit of the Jin family's Zangshan Laozu, actually burned his physical body, transforming into a streak of blood light that wrapped around the Yin Spirit and fled at an extremely fast speed.

Lord Zhong Kui watched coldly, reached out to pick up the golden rings, and turned to Zhong Ling: "Sister, do you think this golden bracelet looks good? Big brother snatched it for you..."

"Brother!" Zhong Ling acted like a spoiled child.

"Alright, for those whose sins aren't too deep, big brother won't kill them! As for the direction that old monster fled! Hehe... Brother Qian will always give me an explanation. By then, he will know that being eaten by me is his best ending."

The remaining people finally escaped this stretch of road and arrived at the opposite side of the canyon. Qian Chen had been waiting for them here for a long time. Everyone looked back at the ghost king's dharma body, which was like a mountain, and all revealed an indescribable terror.

They ran for who knows how long, until Lord Zhong Kui's towering dharma body shrank to the height of a normal person, and a forest of pagodas appeared in front of them, before someone stopped their steps. ===== CHAPTER 296 =====