Chapter 428

Chapter 428: Young Master? Sister-in-Law?

The sword came, and although it was still four to five zhang away from his body, Li Hui suddenly shattered, leaving behind a piece of the Celestial Tree covered in replacement talismans.

“Replacement? Useless!”

With a loud bang, Li Hui had barely appeared again when his body shattered a second time, truly a perplexing occurrence.

The Young Ghost King was cold with a smile, but the next moment, his expression changed drastically as yet another piece of the Celestial Tree with replacement talismans shattered, followed by a third Li Hui breaking apart.

After striking five segments of the Celestial Tree, the yin bone sword returned empty-handed. Li Hui gained a fresh insight into the ghost king’s methods, realizing that a single mistake could lead to his downfall even against the essence of calamity power. The Ghost Fox Sect had sent word that Cheng Yuyan had become the Yin Luo King, commanding eight hundred ghost kings—what a concept!

“Eight hundred ghost kings? If there were eight hundred of this type in front of me, my assets would seem a bit insufficient! But it’s fine; as long as it’s not eight hundred ghost kings attacking me, it won’t be easy for them to leave my External Transformation.”

The Young Ghost King suddenly flew back, sensing a hint of danger.

“Eh?” Li Hui withdrew his hand, ready to ensnare this fellow, but to his surprise, the young king’s senses were so acute that he dodged in advance.

When practitioners engage in battle, it’s a duel, not a brutal fight!

Having undergone life-and-death trials, every strike Li Hui made was a guaranteed kill, infused with a strong personal style that favored the control of talismans and domination. The battlefield was his domain, not his enemies’, and they only had one path to follow there: to lay dead at the scene or turn to ash.

The Young Ghost King evaded once but could not escape a second time. As he landed, the air behind him suddenly trembled; though the vibrations were minor, they were picked up by his ghostly ears, but he could not evade.

With a sharp sound, the handsome head rolled away, transforming into a red-haired ghostly head that glared fiercely at its body, eager to reattach itself.

Buddhist light radiated, incinerating the ghostly energy.

Li Hui retrieved his golden ring blade, noticing it stained with ghost blood. He took seven steps, each radiant, with lotuses blooming beneath his feet, leveling the ground around him.

While he had been using talismans, this External Transformation’s essence stemmed from the Buddhist path, enabling him to easily utilize ordinary Buddhist artifacts and treasures—even the holy ones—as though wielding this ring blade.

The ring blade was a blunt instrument, not sharp, but it displayed remarkable properties against the ghost kings, protecting all beings while slaying the ghost king in silent form.

The ninth Xuan Yin Pool was right in front of the great hall on the mountaintop, and Li Hui floated there, sinking the dark energy jar into the pool. He stood solidly next to it, his gaze piercing through layers of obstructions into the hall.

The ghost king in the hall glared furiously, shouting, “How outrageous! A mere Wutu practitioner dares to oppress Sleepy Moon Ridge to this extent! I will take you down today, even if I must provoke the Great Xia!”

Li Hui didn’t even look at him, instead fixing his eyes on the demon lair practitioners, specifically targeting one of the two leading young masters, whose expressions shifted repeatedly.

“What’s going on?” the demon cultivators were astonished as the young master suddenly turned pale upon seeing the little thief outside the hall, clutching his chest tightly, retreating step by step, then suddenly wanting to move forward again.

“Junior Brother Ji, what are you doing? Our master hasn’t even revealed his power; why are you in such a hurry to rush out?” The leading man from the demon lair blocked his junior, then bowed deeply towards the skeletal throne and said, “Your Majesty, let’s make a deal with this child. If Sleepy Moon Ridge can capture the practitioner outside the hall today, our demon lair will gladly ally with you.”

“Oh?” The ghost king was overjoyed, realizing that just when he thought negotiations had broken down, the demon lair practitioner had suddenly changed his stance. Could it be that they had a grudge against the practitioner outside? Regardless, this was a good thing—a tremendous opportunity!

“Big Sister…”

Li Hui was momentarily lost, watching the change in the other’s expression grow cold, feeling a pang of bitterness inside: “Have you forgotten? My sister-in-law was both like a sister and a mother to me; what kindness during those years was so precious! But how can she not remember me? How could we recognize each other?”

“Right, I need to grow stronger! I must become much stronger until I break through the calamity power blockade.”

At that moment, Li Hui clenched his fists, feeling the distance to his desires was but inches, the thirst for power reaching its peak—he wanted to break through; he wanted to compete.

Seeing their young master return to her usual cold demeanor, the demon cultivators felt a chill and dared not ponder further. They hadn’t noticed her nails digging into her palms, fresh blood trickling down her fingers, which she quickly concealed.

A hint of tenderness appeared in her eyes as she felt bittersweet to see the one she had longed for.

“Ah Hui has grown up; he has matured!”

“Becoming such a towering practitioner, not even the mountain of ghosts can harm him. Good, just to see him here satisfies me; I must not add to his burdens. I don’t know how many hardships have led him here, but he silently borne it all alone. Truly a great husband, upholding righteousness!”

The ghost king summoned the black banner, roaring: “Ghost kings of Sleepy Moon Ridge, I am from the Blood Demon Temple of Seventy-six Mountains! Wutu practitioners daring to enter my clan’s territory should come forth to assist!”

What to do if they couldn’t win? Call for reinforcements! Ghosts loved numbers. Although he, the ghost king from Seventy-six Mountains, had no authority to command the other ghost kings of Sleepy Moon Ridge, this black banner in his hand functioned like a decree, unleashing dark light and not allowing those ghost kings to delay, immediately dispatching powerful assistance.

Li Hui had thought he faced only the Ghost Fox Sect, but unexpectedly found himself embroiled in the vast ghostly realm of Sleepy Moon Ridge. He couldn’t care less about the intentions of these ghosts and demon lair practitioners, but seeing his big sister yet unable to recognize her ignited a surge of anger within him.

“Ghosts think they can descend into the mortal realm to disrupt the Yin-Yang balance, bringing chaos to the world—all must be killed!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Suddenly, Li Hui spun in place and leaped into the air, transforming into a Six-Armed Arhat. Six great hands grasped a demon-slaying staff, a golden relic pagoda, a golden ring blade, a great Buddha’s bone, a purple-gold Buddha bowl, and a night-blooming cereus lamp.

“Today, let me become the fierce Vajra and flatten this mountain!”

“Boom!” A colossal Buddhist power surged forth.

Earlier, the Jieyin relied on considerable merit to control the Arhat fruit effectively, but to pull Han Wu and Lü E into the Buddhist nation, he had exhausted the previous merit golden light.

Engaging in battle within the ghostly realm could yield some merit, but it was far inferior to slaying ghosts in the human realm. However, it didn’t matter; the Primitive Shell Symbol was the key to manifesting the Six-Armed Arhat.

Li Hui’s unwavering support for the Jieyin’s development of the miniature Buddhist nation stemmed from the fact that the nation wasn’t merely supported in the Buddha’s hands; it was built upon the Primitive Shell Symbol. How many treasures and resources had been invested into this? The count was beyond measure. Even without Han Wu and Lü E, it was almost equivalent to the Jade Symbol level; this was his greatest source of reliance.

“Annihilate! Annihilate! Annihilate!”

In an instant, a vast wave of light and shadow crushed outward, shattering the entrance and stone pillars of the open great hall and smashing through the charging ghosts. The Arhat fruit, suppressed by the golden shell, had to contribute its power to assist Li Hui in exterminating everything around him.

This momentum was comparable to the attacks of mid to late-stage Myriad Forms practitioners. Even facing the ghost kings, as long as they were not ancient ghosts accumulated over the years, they would quickly end up colored by a myriad of hues, turning to ash.

Li Hui’s actions suddenly drew out an ancient aura, and the sky darkly laughed: “Hehehe, little fellow, did you think that Sleepy Moon Ridge named itself after the dark moon? Have you roused me, not knowing the height of heaven and depth of earth? Come, show off in front of me and see if you can kill me!”