Day of Ascension

Within the willow forest, Xu Ying extended his divine sense and opened his Third Eye. Finally, he saw the true nature of the Ghosts of Impermanence.

To his surprise, many of them were impostors!

The Third Eye made the differences obvious. The key lay in their souls.

Ghosts of Impermanence were peculiar underworld beings who possessed physical bodies. Their creation was the result of a complex process. The resentment of spirits that had perished in the Underworld clung to corpses resting in lands saturated with yin energy, giving rise to their existence. Yet, rather than fear them, mortals worshipped them as gods.

Viewed through the Third Eye, the souls of genuine Ghosts of Impermanence appeared scattered and unformed, clumped in irregular patches throughout their bodies. Yet hidden among them were impostors.

Ghost of Impermanence masks had altered their appearances by stretching and reshaping their human skeletons into their current form. Along the edges of their faces, faint seams remained visible. They were likely traces left by the countless fleshy tendrils that grew from within the masks and burrowed into their faces, fusing with their muscles.

Most importantly, their souls were human! They were Exorcists disguised as Ghosts of Impermanence!

Yuan Weiyang noticed it as well and whispered, "There are Exorcists among them, disguised as Ghosts of Impermanence."

Xu Ying's heart stirred. She clearly possessed a unique way of using divine sense and could see through their disguise.

Uncle Xiao's expression darkened. "Young Master, those people mingling among the ghost gods seem rather suspicious. They don't look like decent folk. We'd best leave while we can."

Yuan Weiyang shook her head. "Now that we’ve discovered their scheme, I'm afraid they won't even allow us to leave alive, let alone return to the mortal realm."

Several impostors drifted toward them. Their feet hovered above the ground, making them indistinguishable from genuine Ghosts of Impermanence.

Yuanqi looked bewildered. "Just because we discovered them gathering qi, we can’t leave? Earlier, those little ghosts were gathering qi from me, too. They almost drained me dry."

Xu Ying sped up to break through the encirclement before it was fully locked. If they fought the impostors and attracted the attention of the real Ghosts of Impermanence, they would almost certainly join the hunt.

"They're acting in secret because they don't want anyone discovering the truth," he whispered. "Now that we've stumbled upon their operation, they'll kill us to prevent any future complications."

Yuanqi gasped. "Humans are far too evil."

Suddenly, an impostor leveled its mourning staff. With a sharp hiss, the white cloth strips wrapped around it swelled and shot toward Xu Ying and the others.

These strips appeared to be woven from some kind of rotten hemp and exuded a chilling, ghostly aura. They writhed through the air like living tentacles. The staff was obviously no ordinary artifact. One strip pierced Yuanqi with a hiss, wrapped around his soul, and began dragging it out.

Yuanqi’s physique dwarfed that of ordinary demons. His vital energy was hundreds, even thousands of times greater. When he fought, his techniques carried earth-shattering power. Yet no matter how much strength he unleashed now, he could not stop the hemp strips in the slightest.

Seeing that Yuanqi’s soul was about to be dragged out of his body, Uncle Xiao stepped forward. His primordial qi surged as he reached for the coarse hemp strips and barked, “How brazen!”

Yuanqi was deeply moved. Uncle Xiao is usually cold as ice, but he has a warm heart after all. He really does care about me.

However, the coarse hemp strips were made of a special material designed specifically to target souls; flesh and blood could not grasp them at all. Although Uncle Xiao was a Great Exorcist who had opened five grotto-heavens in the Yellow Court Secret Trove, even he struggled to seize them.

Uncle Xiao roared and pushed himself to the limit. Only then did his fingers finally close around the strip. He was deeply shocked. “What Exorcist artifact is this? It's unbelievably troublesome!”

Suddenly, with a whoosh, another impostor drifted in. They thrust out their mourning staff, and a fresh wave of coarse hemp strips lashed outward, whistling as they pierced Uncle Xiao and bound his soul before trying to drag it out!

Uncle Xiao laughed in furious rage. “You brats are underestimating a Great Exorcist! You think this is enough to bind my soul and make me surrender? Let go!”

Yuanqi immediately cheered. "Well said, Uncle Xiao!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The impostors raised their hands in succession, brandishing their mourning staves. In an instant, coarse hemp strips filled the air. Yuanqi hurriedly looked over and saw that the strips had enveloped Uncle Xiao. They bound his soul so tightly that not a single gap remained.

Yuanqi was startled as he saw Uncle Xiao’s soul being forcibly dragged out!

The old man may look intimidating, but his soul doesn’t seem as strong as mine, thought Yuanqi.

Yuanqi's soul had grown extraordinarily strong after he consumed a Myriad-Spirit Pill. The impostors had bound it, yet they couldn’t pull it out.

Few Exorcists specialized in cultivating the soul. Though Uncle Xiao was a Great Exorcist of the Yuan clan and had inherited the clan's teachings, his soul was far from exceptional. As his soul was dragged out of him, a chill swept through his heart.

I'm finished...

A sudden flash of sword qi lit up the air. Streaks of sword light slithered through the sky like living serpents and swept toward the impostors.

The attack had come from Yuan Weiyang. His attainment in the sword was comparable to Xu Ying's. He had also comprehended sword intent outside the Water Entrance Temple, though the sword intent and swordsmanship he developed differed somewhat from his. His swordsmanship focused more on variation and adaptability.

When she struck, her sword qi spread across the battlefield, targeting all enemies simultaneously. Yet to each opponent, it felt as though they alone stood before her blade. The sensation was so overwhelming that none dared hold back, fearing that the slightest mistake would prove fatal.

The impostors hastily swung their mourning staves to intercept the sword qi. Though they managed to block the attack, the impact left their vital energy churning.

Yuanqi and Uncle Xiao were no longer in immediate danger. Yuanqi was overjoyed. “I see the flaw now! Let them play to their strengths; we'll play to ours. As long as we strike first and kill them, we’ll be safe.”

These impostors specialized in soul-attacking exorcism arts, but their mastery of other exorcist techniques was mediocre. While trying to withstand Yuan Weiyang's attack, they had inadvertently revealed their greatest weakness: their soul arts were difficult to guard against, yet they were equally poor at defending against conventional attacks.

Uncle Xiao also

noticed it and quietly relaxed. But the relief lasted only an instant before his expression darkened once more.

More Ghosts of Impermanence drifted toward them, radiating an overwhelming, murderous aura. These were real Ghosts of Impermanence. Floating high in the air, they activated their staves from afar. Hemp strips shot through the air with a shrill howl, twisting and weaving like serpents as they lashed toward Xu Ying and the others.

The Ghosts of Impermanence shared a strong sense of camaraderie. Believing the impostors to be their own kind, they rushed over to reinforce them the moment the battle began.

Seeing their allies arrive, the impostors broke into smiles and immediately activated their own mourning staves. More hemp strips unfurled and swept toward the group from all directions.

Faced with such an assault, even Yuan Weiyang's expression changed. The Ghosts of Impermanence possessed formidable physical bodies. They were protected by incense qi and were genuine underworld deities. To them, capturing souls and seizing spirits was effortless.

She could handle one or two Ghosts of Impermanence, but even she was at a loss now. Uncle Xiao and Yuanqi fared even worse. Against such opponents, they were little more than helpless targets.

Suddenly, Xu Ying stepped in front of the group. Countless strips rushed toward him, sinking into his body and wrapping tightly around his soul. The Ghosts of Impermanence, real and fake, raised their arms in unison and tried to drag his soul out of his body.

Whoosh—

Xu Ying was dragged into the air and pulled straight toward them. His soul never left his body. Instead, the soul brought its supposedly “insignificant” fleshly cage.

After consuming more than a dozen Myriad-Spirit Pills, Xu Ying had refined his soul into an Eternal True Spirit, which was far stronger than his physical body.

Hurtling through the air beside him was Dazhong. More than ten zhang tall even while lying on his side, he descended upon the crowd like a small mountain.

The attackers numbered in the hundreds, yet even they could not help but feel a chill at the sight. They raised their mourning staves and moved to intercept him.

Clang!

The violent reverberation echoed through the vast willow forest of the underworld. The surrounding attackers staggered backward, barely managing to withstand Dazhong's crushing force.

Xu Ying hit the ground and thrust out a hand. His primordial qi took the form of a gigantic Ba Snake, which lunged forward and clamped its jaws around a Ghost of Impermanence.

He then drew back his hand, and the Ghost of Impermanence was dragged helplessly through the air toward him. As it reached his side, his palm gripped its face and pinned it down.

Seeing this, the surrounding Ghosts of Impermanence and impostors all sent forth their mourning staves. The mottled white-and-green willow staves shot through the air with shrill whistles, trailing fluttering strips of cloth as they slammed toward Xu Ying.

A series of explosive bangs rang out in rapid succession. After being struck six or seven times by the mourning staves, Xu Ying's soul was finally knocked out of his body, revealing itself for all to see.

In the dim willow grove, a boundless divine radiance suddenly erupted and soared into the sky. Brilliant light illuminated the entire grove. Willow branches swayed beneath the radiance, casting shifting shadows across the forest floor.

The mourning staves trembled violently and came to an abrupt halt midair. Hundreds of genuine Ghosts of Impermanence stared at Xu Ying's soul, feeling a crushing pressure akin to that of a Ghost King. They immediately stopped attacking and no longer dared strike him.

The impostors, however, paid no heed. Their mourning staves continued toward Xu Ying.

Xu Ying's hand remained clamped onto the face of an impostor. As the attacks drove him backward, he tore the mask from the impostor's face.

The impostor had originally stood over a zhang tall. The instant the Exorcist ghost mask came off, its power poured away. Its frame rapidly shrank, and the ghostly aura surrounding it dissipated. Within moments, the towering Ghost of Impermanence had reverted to a gaunt middle-aged man with sharp eyes and deeply sunken sockets.

The Exorcist frantically touched his face, panic flooding his face. He turned and ran toward the other impostors. “Senior Brother, save me!”

But before he could reach them, countless cloth strips shot pierced him. The middle-aged Exorcist froze. His soul was dragged out and torn to pieces.

A deep voice sounded from among the impostors. “Once your identity is exposed, death is the only outcome. Kill them all quickly, don't delay the real task.”

The mourning staves continued to fly toward Xu Ying's soul. Xu Ying suddenly turned around, making the mountain-sized great bell sweep across the battlefield with a roar.

Dazhong crushed everything in his path. Trees toppled, and the earth shook. The impostors roared in defiance, summoning every ounce of their strength to resist, but the impact sent them flying while blood sprayed from their mouths.

Xu Ying's soul returned to his physical body, and he sprang into the air, weaving between the impostors to snatch their masks. As soon as the masks left them, they reverted to human form. Panic filled their faces before cloth strips suddenly pierced them and shredded their souls.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a pair of palms blocked the great bell, bringing its momentum to an abrupt halt. Xu Ying stopped at the same instant. He and Dazhong acted as one, their movements perfectly synchronized.

When he moved, the bell moved; when he stopped, the bell stopped. But the reverse was equally true. If the bell stopped, he stopped as well.

Against ordinary enemies, swinging the great bell around and smashing everything in sight was a spectacular sight. When an enemy was powerful enough to stop it—or worse, grab it and swing him around—the situation became far less pleasant.

Uncle Xiao rushed forward, “Demon King Xu, be careful! There's a Great Exorcist among them!”

The moment he stopped the great bell, the Great Exorcist sensed the connection between the bell and Xu Ying. Sneering, he said, “You're courting death.”

Just as he was about to attack, Xu Ying formed a sword seal. Sword light flashed around him. Suddenly, he soared into the sky, bringing the great bell with him.

The Great Exorcist's expression changed dramatically. “Run!”

High above, the dazzling sword light descended with the absurdly enormous Dazhong. Just before the sword light struck the ground, it suddenly curved and skimmed across the earth. Behind it, the great bell crashed down violently. More than a dozen impostors were squashed.

The Great Exorcist did all he could to defend, yet the impact made him cough up blood and nailed him deep into the earth. He looked up and saw Xu Ying soaring skyward once more with the bell. A wave of absolute despair washed over him.

Uncle Xiao charged to the scene just as Xu Ying dove down once more. With another thunderous clang, the Great Exorcist was pulverized, leaving behind a mangled mass of flesh and blood. Uncle Xiao was horrified.

The remaining impostors scrambled to flee, and the willow grove soon stood empty. Amidst the chaos, a voice cried out, "The enemy is too strong! He’s killed Uncle-Master Qiu! Retreat to the sect at once!"

Xu Ying descended, dispersed his sword qi, and tossed a Ghost of Impermanence mask to Uncle Xiao. “Put it on.”

Uncle Xiao was taken aback, but then he watched as Xu Ying handed Yuan Weiyang another Ghost of Impermanence mask. She put it on without being told.

This young man is sharper than I am. Well, if he wants me to wear it, then I’ll wear it, thought Uncle Xiao to himself.

The moment he donned the mask, a strange and sinister power surged from within it, altering his body's structure. His height rapidly increased until he stood over two zhang tall, transformed into a white-faced Ghost of Impermanence with a long crimson tongue hanging from his mouth.

Yuan Weiyang underwent the same transformation, though she was slightly shorter.

Xu Ying jumped onto Yuanqi's head and tried fitting a mask onto the giant snake's face. Yuanqi protested, “Ah Ying, I'm this big and the mask is that small. Will it even work?”

The moment the mask touched the snake's cheek, countless fleshy tendrils burst forth and burrowed beneath his scales. After a short while, Yuanqi twisted and dropped to the ground. To everyone's surprise, limbs slowly grew from him, transforming him into a snake-faced monster.

“Hey! Hey! I've also become a Ghost of Impermanence!” Yuanqi cried.

An impostor skimmed low across the ground at high speed. Suddenly, a Ghost of Impermanence drifted up alongside him. The impostor breathed a sigh of relief. “Senior Brother, you escaped too? That was terrifying just now... Hm? Where did that bell toll come from?”

Another Ghost of Impermanence drifted up on his other side. Behind it loomed a mountain-sized great bell.

He slowly turned around. A third Ghost of Impermanence floated behind him, an unusually tall one. Behind that one crawled a snake-faced Ghost of Impermanence more than twenty zhang long, slithering across the ground like a serpent.

The impostor's face twitched violently. Trapped between the two Ghosts of Impermanence, he began trembling uncontrollably.

A sinister voice whispered into his ear. "If you don't want to die, lead us out of here."

The impostor nodded frantically, as though pecking grain like a chicken.