Chapter 124 - 104: Advent of the Ghost King
Chapter 124: Chapter 104: Advent of the Ghost King
The youth expertly pried a Ghost Stone from the Ghost Corpse’s head.
He continued onward.
But perhaps he sensed something, for he suddenly opened his eyes. In the pitch-black darkness, he saw a scarlet pillar of light erupt from the ground on the distant horizon. A long moment passed before he scratched the back of his head.
"The Blood Sacrifice Grand Array..."
"Looks like another Ghost King has broken through."
"Hmm... looks like Jiangbei is a no-go. So where to? The rainy seasons in Jiangnan, Jiangdong, and Jiangxi are all about to start. Where can I find a place without a rainy season to kill Ghost Objects..."
"Such a headache."
...
"Jiangbei Old Demon, what is that?"
In the inn.
Gongyang Gao’s daughter leaned against the window, her eyes full of curiosity as she gazed at the scarlet pillar of light outside.
"..."
The green-robed man standing beside her remained silent for a long time before speaking softly. "That is the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. Many people in Jiangbei will die tonight. A Ghost Object has used this array to break through to the level of Ghost King."
"A Ghost King... is it very strong?" the girl asked, tilting her head.
"Very strong."
"How strong?"
"A human Level 10 Cultivator is called a ’Martial King.’ Breaking through to become a Ghost King is what people commonly refer to as a Level 5 Ghost Object."
"Hmm..."
After thinking seriously for a moment, the girl said, "Then it sounds much weaker than you, Jiangbei Old Demon. Daddy said you’re a Level 9 Cultivator, and you’re about to break through and become a Martial King."
"Hah."
The Jiangbei Old Demon let out a self-deprecating laugh. "One Ghost King can take on three Martial Kings."
"When it comes to individual combat power, humans are far inferior to Ghost Objects. Cultivators aren’t the dominant force in this world. Let me be blunt: if this Ghost King were to launch a night raid on your Sheep Race, your Hidden City would no longer exist by morning."
The girl finally realized the gravity of the situation. "Are we still going to Jiangbei, then?"
"No. We’ll wait for the rainy season in Jiangnan to end. By then, this new Ghost King in Jiangbei will have probably moved on. We’ll go to Jiangbei after that."
"But..." The girl sounded indignant. "That doesn’t sound fair. Why does a human have to reach Level 10 to be called a ’Martial King’ when a Ghost is a ’Ghost King’ at just Level 5? It sounds like the Ghost King’s Cultivation breakthrough is much faster than a human’s."
"It isn’t fair. That’s why your father was right. The Eternal Night Continent has already fallen to the Ghost Objects."
...
The Blood Sacrifice Grand Array had appeared.
A Ghost King had broken through.
The event instantly drew the attention of numerous powers, throwing many of their plans into disarray.
’The Blood Sacrifice Grand Array?’
In Jiangbei City, within the Jiangbei Chen Family estate, Chen Quan’s mother was sitting in her chambers. Her expression changed in an instant when she saw the scene outside her window. ’I planned for everything, but I never anticipated this.’ This meant Jiangbei would face a massacre at the hands of the Ghost King tonight.
Not even she...
...would be able to survive.
Death was certain.
The City Wall in the core area of the Jiangbei Chen Family estate was a Level 3 City Wall, but even that wouldn’t hold for long against a Ghost King.
’How could this be happening!’
’Why would a Ghost King choose to break through here?’
...
「Jiangbei Wilderness, Nameless Mountain.」
"They’re here."
Chen Fan said softly, his expression calm as he stood on the City Wall. He could feel it—the unmanned outposts and his old camp outside the canyon were being rapidly destroyed. The enemy was fast approaching the canyon itself.
So the old camp was finally destroyed.
But if it was destroyed, it was destroyed. The rainy season was over, and he no longer had any use for that Direction of Qualitative Upgrade for the time being.
Only a few dozen seconds passed.
He saw them.
He saw a Ghost Object, humanoid and clad in Armor, emerge from the canyon’s darkness holding a bone-framed umbrella. It slowly stepped into the confines of the Celestial Pit encampment, which was shrouded in Ghost Fire.
One, two, three.
Their numbers grew and grew.
More and more Ghost Objects, holding bone-framed umbrellas, emerged from the canyon’s darkness in orderly ranks.
Seeing this, he was suddenly reminded of the lines Qiu Kui had written.
-
"A sudden clatter of umbrella ribs resounds across the land,"
"The Ghost Tide swells upon the Desolate, forming its ranks."
"An old friend comes treading through the rain,"
"But we meet as strangers, faces pale as snow."
-
The Ghost King had arrived.
There was no warning.
He hadn’t seen the Ghost King appear at all. There was no exchange of threats between them.
The instant the Ghost Objects stepped into the encampment.
The Level 5 Cannon Towers embedded in the City Wall all lit up in unison. Beams of incandescent white light shot through the rain, melting one Ghost Object after another, while chain lightning arced outward, rapidly slaughtering the intruders within the Celestial Pit.
The Level 3 City Wall at the cave entrance slowly rose, activating its full "turtle shell" defensive mode.
Chen Fan and his men retreated from the City Wall.
Instead of heading to the high vantage point on the cliff face via the Meat Grinder Passage to watch the battle, Chen Fan looked to the Eternal Night Lord panel deep within his soul. He had built a number of Level 3 Wooden Houses recently, choosing the Shadow Array as their Upgrade Direction.
He had dismantled their Array Plates and hidden them around the Celestial Pit and on the surrounding cliffs.
They now served as his surveillance system.
The canyon was shrouded in darkness, preventing him from seeing inside, but he could clearly see the number of Ghost Objects in the Celestial Pit steadily increasing. The eight Level 5 Cannon Towers on the City Wall were slowly being overwhelmed.
More and more Ghost Objects swarmed the base of the City Wall before Cave No. 1, beginning their assault.
’I still haven’t seen any sign of the Ghost King,’
Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed. ’It’s just as I suspected. Before Qian Hu died, he must have sent back information on my camp’s layout. If so, the Ghost King must know about the cannon towers I’ve positioned on the cliffs around the Celestial Pit.’
’It’s staying back out of caution, not yet entering the Celestial Pit.’
’In that case, it’s time to reveal a little more of my hand.’
"Meat Grinder, Phase One: Activate."
In the next moment—
The City Walls masking the entrances to 38 caves high on the cliffs around the Celestial Pit vanished, revealing 38 Level 5 Cannon Towers that activated simultaneously. A new City Wall instantly rose at the junction where the Celestial Pit met the canyon, completely sealing it off.
The Ghost Objects inside the Celestial Pit were cut off from their source, with no more reinforcements able to pour in.
In that instant,
beams of scorching light rained down like a torrential storm from various angles and heights along the cliffs.
The rate at which the Ghost Objects were being annihilated accelerated dramatically.
But then!
BOOM!!
A scarlet blast erupted in the canyon. The Level 2 City Wall he had raised at the junction of the Celestial Pit and the canyon lasted for only a few seconds before it utterly collapsed into a pile of rubble in the rainy night.
The Ghost Objects from the canyon flooded back into the Celestial Pit like a tidal wave.
And amidst the Ghost Tide,
a Ghost King in a black cloak slowly strode into the Celestial Pit. It gazed at the Level 3 City Wall before Cave No. 1, then glanced up at the cannon towers embedded high on the surrounding cliffs. The scarlet triangles in its pupils rotated slowly. Its voice, as frigid as thousand-year-old ice, held a chilling hint of a smile as it spoke.
"Is this the source of your confidence?"
"You little mouse, hiding behind your City Wall."
The next instant!
The scarlet triangles in the Ghost King’s eyes abruptly spun faster. Scarlet beams shot from its pupils, and in the blink of an eye, the 38 Level 5 Cannon Towers set into the walls were mostly destroyed.
Like a tide, the Ghost Objects behind it streamed past on either side, charging madly toward the City Wall.
The Ghost King turned its gaze back to the City Wall.
Scarlet beams continued to shoot from its pupils. Each blast gouged a crater nearly a meter deep into the Level 3 City Wall, but the damage was repaired almost instantly.
"A little interesting."
The Ghost King laughed. "Much sturdier than an ordinary Level 3 City Wall, and with powerful regenerative abilities, too. But I wonder... how many waves of my Ghost Tide army can you possibly withstand?"
An ever-increasing number of Ghost Objects charged out of the canyon, crashing against the City Wall.
...
’That should be enough.’
Hidden inside the cave, Chen Fan glanced at the three altars arranged in the corner. Worried that a single altar’s supply rate would be insufficient against the Ghost King’s assault, he had deliberately built two more.
’It looks like that was the right decision.’
’Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have been able to hold on.’
’But the Ghost Stones are being consumed too quickly. I can’t hold out for long.’
’I need to go on the offensive.’
He took a deep breath, feeling the cave tremble around him. He looked up toward the City Wall, his gaze seeming to pierce through the stone and meet the eyes of the Ghost King, and whispered softly.
"Meat Grinder, Phase Two: Activate."
The instant he spoke,
cold-white Ghost Fire surged through the Copper Pipes.
twenty Ghost Fire devices buried beneath the canyon floor ignited almost simultaneously. The Ghost King seemed to sense something, instinctively glancing behind it. The thousand-meter-long canyon at its back, which had been shrouded in darkness, was now...
...instantly illuminated.
The light from the Ghost Fire bathed the entire thousand-meter canyon, revealing the vast number of Ghost Objects within.