Prefectural City was built nestled against mountain and water.

Thirteen passes, three facing the plains, the others all relying on the mountains and waters.

Previously, the External Affairs Envoy of Shanhe Martial Arts Hall, Hong Juguang, said the barbarians wouldn't attack through the other ten passes. He was right, but also wrong.

The "proper" barbarians indeed would not, but the Ghost Servants would.

Ghost Servants, neither hungry nor thirsty, found traversing mountains and valleys trivial.

Thus, guarding those ten passes by the Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple wasn't pointless—it was on another battlefield.

A battlefield that humans must face.

Now, the sky had darkened, and the stars were like water.

After Song Cheng and Lady Zhushan alighted from their sedan, four attendants quickly ran away, seemingly very afraid of the lady.

The two of them chose a forest to briefly hide in, then quietly waited.

Song Cheng watched the entrance of the valley, and about half a two-hour period later, more than ten figures glowing with a bloody hue formed a line, coming from afar under the moonlight, revealing rows of eerie pale lines.

The highest data read 120~186, while the smallest was also between 80~120.

The appearances of these people varied greatly: some dressed as robust barbarians, some as lean and nimble figures from the Martial Arts World, others looked like Martial Artists employed by the Government Office—an entire mix of characters from north to south.

In life, these people were adversaries; as Ghost Servants, they had unexpectedly united.

They weren't this powerful in life; perhaps they were merely Martial Artists of the Force Realm, but having turned into Ghost Servants, their strength had doubled.

Undoubtedly, they were all Ghost Servants born during the previous Ghost Tide.

And the more powerful the Ghost Servant, it seemed the longer their creation took; otherwise, all eighteen counties of Hanping Prefecture would have been breached.

Lady Zhushan fixed her gaze on the distance, timing herself. As the line of figures reached the opposite side of the official road, she suddenly shed her earthen, heavy robe, revealing her perfectly covered form in a red gauze.

Her shoes were long gone, her small feet touching the ground.

In Song Cheng's eyes, every time she touched the ground, it was like ripples expanding in the Ink River.

The ripples expanded very quickly, covering a large area in just a few steps, enveloping the ten or so Ghost Servants.

The Ghost Servants felt it, like drowning persons beginning to struggle violently.

Lady Zhushan, lines of gray, then began to twist her delicate body.

She was dancing.

With her movements, the expanding ink-colored ripples also began to rise, billow out, dispersing into the air, turning into tiny black dots, and then... in Song Cheng's Heart's Eye, they formed into a blurry, giant dark fox.

This Ghostly Fox was more than ten times the size of Lady Zhushan, its head bowed, overlooking the ten or so Ghost Servants.

"Heehee."

With a grin on its fox lips, an ethereal, bell-like laugh resonated through the air.

The ten or so Ghost Servants, still struggling, suddenly became motionless, sinking into some strange and terrifying Illusionary Realm.

But Song Cheng was not affected.

He raised his hand and drew his sword.

The sword gleamed like violet lightning and green frost, sweeping through with a fierce wind. Amidst the still Ghost Servants, he charged here and there, the electrifying light twisting, the sword carrying the force of ten thousand jun, whoever it touched died.

However, each slash had different results.

Some Ghost Servants burst like punctured skin bags, emitting a sharp sound similar to air escaping a balloon, followed by a skin falling to the ground...

Others were entirely sliced in two, but inside was not organs, but dirt mixed with flesh—the soil appeared like graveyard dirt...

Some turned out to be entire wax figures...

And some, after being slashed, had wounds that spewed foul-smelling pus...

The ten or so Ghost Servants, unexpectedly divided into four types!

Song Cheng was fast, but his expression grew increasingly serious.

These taboos might... indeed have some consciousness. The Ghost Servants they created could even collaborate.

However, he still hadn't seen any Ghost Servants with traits possibly belonging to the Drowning Ghost.

As quickly as it's said, the young man swept like the wind, the Ghost Servants falling one after another.

The disappearance of each figure meant none of them had fortunately survived.

"It's done."

Song Cheng spoke, returning to Lady Zhushan's side.

Lady Zhushan stopped dancing.

Song Cheng slightly turned his head and watched as the giant Ghostly Fox behind him, laughing like silver bells, dispersed like fireworks and vanished without a trace.

This made him think of his own Nether Pagoda.

The hues of both presences were quite similar, both dark and obscure.

Thus, this Ghostly Fox was very likely the Visualization object of Lady Zhushan.

And Lady Zhushan, too, had employed Trickery Technique through this Ghostly Fox.

However, he didn't know whether his "Nether Pagoda" or "Ghostly Fox" was stronger or weaker.

"Song, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Lady Zhushan nodded slightly, then from a distance made a cursory inspection, only to find there was nothing to check, as every Ghost Servant had been cleanly chopped up and definitely thoroughly killed.

Therefore, she offered praise, "Well done, cough cough..."

Her complexion appeared somewhat poor.

Song Cheng also asked, "Senior, are you all right?"

Lady Zhushan no longer responded; she seemed not to want to discuss this and merely said, "You are my partner only because your wife requested it; don't forget. So, you shouldn't ask such concerned questions."

Song Cheng: ...

He recalled what Madam Tong had said a few days ago, and roughly understood that this lady was sharp-tongued and also certainly harbored some sort of mental distress, which explained her behavior. He didn't take it to heart but simply responded with a "Hmm."

Soon after, Da and four other attendants came carrying a sedan from afar.

And behind the mountain, some who were clearly from Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple emerged.

Why "clearly"?

Because those who came out were all "in pairs."

One had extremely low stats, while the other was a Form Realm existence, though the Form Realm's stats were not high.

This partnership was that of a Soul Trainer and a Medicinal Human.

Among them, Song Cheng also saw a familiar face with an affection level of 80.

That was Hua Wen, the clerk from the second floor of Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

Hua Wen waved at him friendly, then together with the Medicinal Human, orderly walked towards the corpses of the Ghost Servants.

Song Cheng faintly saw the group seemingly dissecting the corpses of the Ghost Servants and methodically storing them in various jars and bottles.

While watching, the sedan had already stopped beside the two men; after they entered, it quickly sped away, transforming into a fluctuating trail among the mountain ridges.

"Senior, are the corpses of the Ghost Servants not used as ingredients to make soul-type Pills?" Song Cheng thought about the Soul Strengthening Pills he had consumed, feeling somewhat peculiar.

Lady Zhushan didn't speak at all but just leaned in one corner of the sedan, resting.

Yet Song Cheng suddenly noticed that the grey hue within Lady Zhushan's outline seemed to have intensified a bit.

Not much.

But... his Heart's Eye could discern it.

After a while, Lady Zhushan coughed heavily a few times, then took a pill from her chest and tossed it into her mouth, taking several deep breaths.

The intensified grey hue then receded back down.

'There are side effects.' Song Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly behind the black cloth, unable to help contrasting his own Nether Pagoda and Trickery Technique.

His Dark Heaven targeted only a single individual.

Whereas Lady Zhushan's Fox Dance could target a group.

His Dark Heaven merely made one invisible.

Lady Zhushan's Fox Dance, on the other hand, directly rendered the Ghost Servants immobile.

Perhaps his Trickery Technique was too weak, which is why it had no side effects?

Upon careful thought, he actually found it to be quite lackluster...

Lady Zhushan was involved in Soul Cultivation, Alchemy, building forces, and also capable of using some mysterious artifacts; she was truly versatile.

While he, utterly unrelated to versatility, was merely a fighter.

Song Cheng leaned back slightly against the sedan wall, contemplated for a moment, and figured that specializing in one area wasn't too bad, letting others handle miscellaneous tasks for now.

Thus, he began pondering over the "True Form of Xuanwu."

Having achieved Nine Forces perfection and reached the Xuanwu Body, with vigor as if housing nine, what then?

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