Thousand Ghosts Daoist

"Young man, this old man knows it has not been easy for you to cultivate," Thousand Ghosts Daoist said, his hoarse voice like sandpaper scraping against stone, every word carrying bone-piercing chill. "Today, you need only willingly enter my Yellow Springs Path and become one of its inhabitants. I can preserve your consciousness and allow you to continue seeking the path to immortality in the body of a ghost."

Before his words had even faded, the round bowl erupted with blinding black light. A vortex composed of countless ghastly white arms spun wildly at its mouth, and a thick stench of decay rushed forth. The vortex's surface was densely covered in writhing human faces, their whimpers enough to make one's teeth ache.

Zhang Tie's icy gaze swept over the sinister vortex, and a contemptuous curve touched his lips. "You sure do talk a lot of shit!"

"Good, good, good!" Thousand Ghosts Daoist said "good" three times in a row. Several ghost lamps appeared around him, only to abruptly explode in the next instant and transform into countless black butterflies fluttering through the air.

Thousand Ghosts Daoist suddenly formed a hand seal with his left hand. A pitch-black altar, three zhang high, emerged in the air. A blood-red sky lantern floated above its center, its wick formed from countless condensed vengeful spirits. "In a moment, I will extract your soul and refine your spirit, casting your soul into the sky lantern to suffer day and night, tortured eternally and forever denied reincarnation! Your flesh will be refined into a puppet to serve my every command without rest, day and night."

As his sinister words rang out, the bronze round bowl slowly rose into the air. A grim Yellow Springs gate appeared above the vortex of white arms at its mouth, and