Skyspring City.
This was a large human city of the Flame Yang Domain, now occupied by ghosts.
The sky was now eternally covered in dark clouds, and the ghost fog extended to the horizon.
Innumerable ghost soldiers were massed here, a vast sea that stretched into the distance.
A giant altar was being built in the center of the city.
This altar was a thousand feet tall and made entirely of gold, twinkling in the darkness. Ghost fog drifted from it, and gray ghost runes glowed on its surface.
On top of the altar was a blood-colored stone block, and crimson ripples would occasionally emerge from the stone.
Beneath the altar was a giant formation, its colors black and white and its form that of the Yin Yang diagram.
81 high-tier Ghost Kings were stationed at the formation eyes and pouring power into the formation. More than a thousand ghost generals and countless ghost soldiers were arrayed around the formation in a mighty force.
Standing in front of the altar was a peak Ghost King.
It wore armor made from condensed ghost energy and a tall crown. Its arms were spread out toward the heavens, and mutterings emerged from between its purple-black lips.
As this Ghost King muttered, the ghost fog spiraled into the form of a funnel, its tip pointed down, gradually turning as it descended. At the same time, the blood-colored block began to pulse faster and faster.
With this change in the ghost fog, the peak Ghost King shouted, “The rite begins! Cast the blood bait!”
Countless ghost soldiers below moved in unison, slicing at the humans before them, creating wounds from which blood gushed forth into channels excavated in the earth.
Blood rushed through the channels to gather at the altar, upon which the ripple from the block suddenly expanded into a giant blood ring.
Under the influence of this blood ring, the ghost fog funnel descended even more and began to glow, and its form shifted into that of a simple saber.
This was the Blade of Reincarnation.
The refining formation used copious amounts of blood to link to the Nether and draw out the projection of the Blade of Reincarnation to create Severing Hooks.
In this process, countless sacrificed humans were bound to run out of blood and die. They would not die instantly, but had to watch their life flow away with their blood, dying in the grips of immense fear.
Their despairing cries would gather in the air and create immense resentful energy, which would intensify the power of the Yellow Springs and hasten the formation of Severing Hooks.
As the refining formation had reached a critical point, the entire world was engulfed in the aura of death and despair.
At this moment, a band of light pierced through the darkness, rapidly approaching the city—a large force of human cultivators. They were led by Wei Tianchong, who had spotted the refining formation from a distance.
The sight of the bloodshed and the sound of the wails drew his fury. “These ghosts are inhuman, butchering humans like beasts!”
Meng Shixue commented, “They’re ghosts, so of course they can’t be human.”
Wei Tianchong angrily replied, “I was just cursing at them, okay? It has nothing to do with them actually being human or not. Save your comments for yourself if you don’t get what I mean.”
Meng Shixue sneered, “You don’t even know how to curse properly, and you have the nerve to say something like that?”
Wei Tianchong stomped his feet. “I’m cursing the ghosts for being inhumane!”
These two seemed to be a match made in hell, getting into squabbles at the drop of a hat. In the end, Qi Shaoming grunted and said, “Enough. You’re both centuries old, yet you have the tempers of children.”
Qi Shaoming had once led the Ritual Hall, which managed all rules and etiquette, and he himself was a very proper and upright person, so others all held a little fear for him. Thus, those two immediately fell silent.
Cai Junyang shouted, “What are you all blabbering about? Let’s hurry and save them!”
He swung his large sword downward.
As he swung the sword, it grew larger and larger, and by the time it crashed down into the ghosts, it was the size of a small mountain.
The ghosts below screeched in unison, and streams of black energy congregated into a massive black ocean to hold back Cai Junyang’s mountain-sized sword, blocking the divine sword of a Violet Palace True Lord.
In this land engulfed by the ghost fog of the Nether Domain, all ghosts would be empowered while all humans would be weakened. Moreover, there were Ghost Kings present to command their forces in combined tactics, so Cai Junyang’s full-strength slash was easily blocked.
That peak Ghost King below let out a howl, and the Ghost Kings and ghost generals attacked, sending various spell arts into the air. The cultivators in the sky also attacked with their art relics and Divine Connections.
While there were numerous ghosts, the human cultivators had brought along many human Titans of their own. Of Violet Palace experts alone, there were seven, and when they all attacked, the power of their Divine Connections rampaged through the world, tearing a hole through the sea of ghost fog. The furious flood of spell arts blasted through the attacks of the ghost army and obliterated numerous ghosts.
Once the ghosts were suppressed, beams of white light shot through the air, brimming with holy energy that spelled death for the ghosts. As the ghosts collapsed, screaming under this sacred light, the ordinary humans were all miraculously healed.
With the flow of blood stopped, the ghost fog vortex began to weaken, and the Severing Hook that had been taking form also began to fade.
“Awoooo!!!” The peak Ghost King howled in fury, and it abruptly turned around and fired a blast of energy, but his target was the ordinary humans, not the cultivators. This wave of ghost energy instantly swept up several hundred humans. The blood flowed once more, and this time, no holy light could save them.
The ghosts all began to howl and slaughter the mortals in the formation, clearly seeking to complete the ceremony no matter what.
“Bastard!” Cai Junyang’s enraged roar came from the heavens.
He had a chivalrous heart and a righteous nature, so he loathed the slaughter of mortals. As all these humans died at the hands of ghosts, their heads rolling and blood flowing, he took out a silver longsword, its long and slender form at complete odds with his usual style. But the moment the sword emerged, one beam of sword energy appeared after another.
These sword energies formed automatically, making the sound of ripping fabric as they flew through the air.
Cai Junyang thrust the sword down. “Go!”
The sword energies shot toward the ghosts, and even their numbers failed to stop them, so the hundreds of beams of sword energy effected a terrifying massacre.
This sword was called the Absolute Phantom Sword, and was a divine treasure Cai Junyang had discovered in a ruined palace on his travels.
Meanwhile, cultivators landed and used Universe-Holding Sleeve to sweep up the mortals, after which they flew off.
The peak Ghost King shrieked again and slapped the altar, upon which the Blade of Reincarnation floating above the altar fired off a ray of black energy that began to obliterate the beams of sword energy created by the Absolute Phantom Sword.
The black ray was as agile as a snake, flying into the bodies of cultivators, upon which they began to shriek, the faces contorting as if they had witnessed something terrifying. Their auras weakened, until they all became shriveled-up corpses.
As the power of the deceased cultivators faded, numerous mortals fell from the sky, letting out cries of terror. More people were forced to come to their rescue, and the ghosts converged.
Although the human force was powerful, they couldn’t go completely on the offensive because of the need to save people, and the black ray of energy from the altar further suppressed them.
Cai Junyang’s eyes glinted. “Leave the Blade of Reincarnation to me. Even though it’s a natural Dao armament, this is nothing more than a mere projection. Break!”
The Absolute Phantom Sword began to release a gray-black energy. It wasn’t particularly strong, but it instilled a sense of unprecedented terror that welled up from the depths of one’s heart.
A moment later, Cai Junyang swung the Absolute Phantom Sword at the Blade of Reincarnation’s projection.
Though it was only a projection, as Cai Junyang’s sword cut into it, it stirred up a shockwave of black energy.
There was a high-pitched screech, but it was not a sound that could be heard by the ears. It came from the depths of the soul and drove those who heard it to madness. And then the Blade of Reincarnation’s projection began to crumble away.
The peak Ghost King let out a cry of anger and despair, but no matter how it shouted, there was no changing the fact that the refining had failed.
“A Slaughter Dao Art, able to slay souls and kill minds.” In the distance, Tang Jie stood on a cloud, calmly observing the battle.
Cai Junyang’s attack just now was his Slaughter Dao Art.
Cai Junyang had a tenacious personality, and his combat style emphasized brute force over versatility. This made his attacks extremely lethal. Dao Arts depended on the person, so this Dao Art had inherited Cai Junyang’s personality. It was capable of slaughtering all existences, whether formed or formless, including souls. Although the Blade of Reincarnation was only a projection, it was still affected by Cai Junyang’s Dao Art and was dissipated into nothing.
Tang Jie felt deep admiration.
In the distance, Cai Junyang shouted, “Tang Jie, what do you think?”
Tang Jie smiled. “Not bad. Now see mine.”
He threw out the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace.
This item was made from 108 divine treasures, and Tang Jie shouldn’t have been able to control its peerless power at his current level. But he was its creator, so his mind was linked to it. Moreover, Tang Jie had also consumed the last Primal Astral Burst Pill, which had brought him to Heart Demon. This boost in cultivation finally allowed him to just barely control this treasure.
As the Myriad Yin Yang Furnace turned in the air, beams of divine light rained down, against which none of the ghosts could stand. In a flash, all the ghosts in the formation were obliterated.
With all those ghosts dead and the Blade of Reincarnation’s projection destroyed, the cultivators had a much easier time and were finally able to depart with the humans.
Cai Junyang stared at this sight in shock before finally squeezing out, “Shit, he’s only at Heart Demon and can already control such a treasure. He really is a freak.”
As he said this, the battle was over.