Chapter 184: The Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, Seeking Opportunity in Chaos

Master Chi Lian, who had been secretly following Ximen Sheng’s team, was overjoyed when he saw this. He thought to himself, If I were to just kidnap Qin Haoxuan directly, it would surely attract Ximen Sheng’s attention, and he is no weakling. But how can I pull this off without anyone knowing? This place being filled with resentful energy, however, has given me an idea. If I were to unleash a Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts tonight, I could use its malevolent aura to create a chaotic scene, pretending to ambush the Purple Seed, Li Jing. That way, Ximen Sheng would surely have no time for the other disciples and would focus all his attention on protecting Li Jing. At that time, I can take advantage of the chaos to abduct Qin Haoxuan, and no one will notice anything amiss. But to cast the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, I will have to sacrifice a year of my lifespan…

Although this was not the territory of the Taichu Sect, Ximen Sheng, the Deputy Hall Master of the Jade Bamboo Hall, was not to be trifled with. Though Master Chi Lian was only targeting an insignificant weak seed, if he were to act openly, he would certainly attract Ximen Sheng’s attention, and his entire sinister plot would be for naught. Therefore, he had to devise a plan according to the circumstances. However, the version of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts he possessed was incomplete; to use it would cost him his own lifespan. This made him hesitate. He only had a few years left to begin with; to lose another one…

Master Chi Lian hesitated for a long time, muttering to himself, “That bastard Qin Haoxuan stole all of my Spirit Liquid. If I can get it back, I won’t have to worry about my lifespan. But if I can’t, then even if I don’t lose a single year, I won’t be able to break through to the Spirit Tree First-Cycle Realm. Without a breakthrough, I can’t gain more lifespan. To just linger for a few more years, the end result is still death. I might as well risk it all, kidnap Qin Haoxuan, and get back the Spirit Liquid that should have been mine. Then I can break through with peace of mind. And that kid has many secrets on him; maybe he has some other great treasure I can use. Perhaps he is the key to my breakthrough!”

After weighing the pros and cons, Master Chi Lian gritted his teeth and made his decision. He would sacrifice a year of his lifespan, unleash the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, and seize Qin Haoxuan in the ensuing chaos.

It was already getting late. Seeing that they had made camp, Master Chi Lian turned and left without hesitation. To unleash the Night Parade, he needed ghosts. He found a nearby village and slaughtered every man, woman, and child, over a hundred in total. After these ordinary people died unjust deaths, their bodies were filled with resentful energy and could be turned into fierce ghosts. Master Chi Lian looked on with great satisfaction and began to capture their souls. He took out two small black flags from his robes, upon which were inscribed strange and evil characters. A single glance at them was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

The moment the two small flags appeared, the sky above the small village immediately darkened, and a cloud the size of the village itself gathered, enshrouding it in a thick yin energy. Yin energy was the best catalyst and nutrient for ghosts. Black gas began to seep from the corpses on the ground—the resentful energy of the dead villagers. This energy gathered the nearby yin energy, and soon, indistinct, semi-transparent ghostly forms began to take shape. After they had condensed, they began to greedily absorb the yin energy. Soon, having absorbed enough, the ghosts let out savage howls. The entire village was a river of blood, filled with the wails of ghosts and the mournful cry of the yin wind. It was a terrifying sight.

Master Chi Lian watched them absorb the yin energy and smiled with satisfaction. “Absorb, absorb. The more yin energy you absorb, the stronger you will be, and the grander and more terrifying the scene tonight will be.”

Soon, the ghosts, having had their fill of yin energy, saw him—the murderer who had slaughtered them. They immediately swarmed towards him, preparing to tear him limb from limb. The hundred-plus ghosts floated over, and Master Chi Lian smiled sinisterly. “You don’t know what’s good for you.”

He began to wave the two small black flags in his hands. As they moved, a foul stench filled the air, and gusts of astral wind appeared out of nowhere. Violent streams of black energy flowed from the flags. With a single wave, the small village, which had only been filled with yin energy, was instantly transformed into a hellish landscape.

“Begin the soul refining,” he sneered. He infused the flags with his spiritual energy and, using the method of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, began to refine the souls, erasing their residual consciousness and making them completely obedient to his command, leaving only a heart full of resentment and a desire to devour the living. With his Spirit Tree Realm strength, refining a few ordinary fierce ghosts was a simple matter. Before long, he had finished and had absorbed all one hundred-plus of them into the two black flags.

The Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts was not a Taichu Sect art, but an evil technique he had secretly learned outside. After refining the ghosts, his spiritual energy was greatly depleted. The complete version of the art was extremely powerful. Once unleashed, it could instantly increase the strength of ordinary fierce ghosts many times over. While they were no match for a truly powerful cultivator, they were excellent for creating chaos. It was recorded in the manual that if one could refine tens of thousands or even millions of ghosts at once, the power would be considerable. Of course, Master Chi Lian had no such opportunity. This would be his first time using the art.

At night, Master Chi Lian quietly approached the Taichu disciples’ camp. He glanced at the elm forest in the distance. The fierce ghost within seemed to sense the righteous aura emanating from the camp and did not dare to come out and cause trouble.

He waited until the middle of the night, then could wait no longer and began to activate the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. As he waved the two small flags, they let out a rustling sound, like a deathly wail in the dead of night. The ghosts that had been stored within began to emerge. The clear, moonlit encampment was instantly shrouded in a thick yin energy. A dense cloud gathered overhead, and a yin wind that could penetrate the very soul blew through the tents, making them flap loudly.

Under Master Chi Lian’s command, the fierce ghosts swarmed the camp from all directions. A series of shrill, ghostly wails immediately attracted the attention of the patrolling disciples.

Two new disciples on the night watch saw the entire camp instantly enveloped in a yin wind, and ghostly, shadowy figures suddenly appeared among the tents. These ghosts all carried a ferocious, malevolent aura, as if they wanted to devour people and destroy the world. The yin wind howled, and the fierce ghosts pounced on anyone they saw. One of the unprepared Rooting stage patrol disciples was knocked to the ground, and immediately a dozen ghosts surrounded him, preparing to suck his yang energy and turn him into a desiccated corpse.

The other disciple, at the First-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, was also startled. Didn’t our Guiding Senior Brother say that fierce ghosts would avoid cultivators? How could he be so easily knocked down? Could these not be ordinary fierce ghosts? He instinctively blasted out a purely yang Daoist art. A dozen of the ghosts were sent flying, and at the same time, he shouted, “The camp is under attack by ghosts! A group of fierce ghosts is attacking the camp!” The dozen ghosts that had been sent flying were not even slightly injured; they immediately turned and charged back.

How could he possibly hold off so many on his own? The other disciple who had been knocked down had also recovered by this time and, without a second thought for the cost, threw out a spiritual talisman.

The disciples who had been sleeping in their tents heard the cries for help and immediately rushed out, only to find the camp filled with wailing ghosts and a sinister yin energy. A few of the weaker Rooting stage disciples who had just come out were immediately surrounded by a group of fierce ghosts and were forced to fight back in a panic. But there were too many of them, and the Taichu disciples were quickly pushed back.

These fierce ghosts were more than ten times stronger than ordinary ones, their attack power comparable to that of low-level Nether-Creatures. Even a senior disciple would have had a headache dealing with them, let alone these new disciples. Under the enhancement of the evil art, their power was greatly increased, and they were routing the Taichu disciples.

As Master Chi Lian was casting the art, he felt his life essence draining away, a sign that his lifespan had been reduced by a year. “Qin Haoxuan, oh, Qin Haoxuan,” he seethed, “after I capture you, I will make you pay back the eleven years of my life you have cost me, with interest!”

Although he hated him to the extreme, he knew he could not afford a single mistake now. He let the ghosts wreak havoc for a while and, seeing that the scene was utterly chaotic and the unprepared disciples were beginning to organize an effective defense under the leadership of their Guiding Senior Brothers, he quickly directed the ghosts to charge towards Li Jing’s tent, which he had located earlier.