Senior Brother, Don't Go

In midair, the ghostly face formed from black clouds let out a hoarse roar. Then it scattered and gathered again, swiftly condensing into a one-zhang-tall black unicorn horse. Upon the black horse's back, a square-faced, bearded middle-aged man appeared out of thin air. He looked imposing even without anger, his Killing Intent dense and heavy...

The man rode the black horse through the air, charging over at incredible speed, no slower than Xu Shen's Divine Rainbow.

Before he even arrived, the clattering hoofbeats rang like war drums, resounding between heaven and earth. Though there was only one black horse, its momentum was like an army of thousands charging fearlessly ahead. Before the man arrived, he had already seized three parts of the momentum.

"Red-Haired Chicken Eyes, come die before your grandpa."

Just as the Dole Ghost King was about to arrive and his momentum had risen to its peak, a furious shout exploded.

At the entrance to the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, people and horses were thrown into chaos. Steward Qiu and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators all let out muffled groans, their faces turning deathly pale in an instant. For a moment, they each unleashed their methods, spiritual light spilling everywhere...

This was not resistance. This was escape...

Escape from the range of these two hot-tempered maniacs' battle.

A single furious shout had been enough to injure Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Qi Nourishing cultivators fared even worse; before they could even scream, a large swath of cultivators fell in unison like wheat beneath a scythe.

Every last one of them had been shaken unconscious...

"Dole brat, I've endured you for a long time now! Hahaha..."

Seeing the Dole Ghost King personally take the field, Elder Xu Shen was not angered but delighted. Laughing loudly, he charged forward to meet him...

With a flash of rainbow light, the fire dragon coiled around him abruptly expanded several hundredfold, turning into a colossal fire dragon over a thousand zhang long. Wrapped in a rainbow blaze and a sea of fire, it surged upward against the current, rushing straight at the Dole Ghost King.

Firelight and black light interwove in the sky. A sea of fire spanning ten li drifted overhead while black clouds churned. Lightning flickered where the two clashed, and spiritual power fluctuations raised a storm that affected at least a hundred li around them.

In only a short time, the weather across a hundred li became bizarre and unpredictable. One moment there was torrential rain, the next unbearable heat, and then black snow drifting down...

The people below craned their necks, but they had long since lost sight of those two.

"Elder Xu Shen and the Dole Ghost King have truly fought themselves into a fury. This probably won't end anytime soon. Let's go. Organize the men immediately. Those below Foundation Establishment shouldn't come join the excitement. Those above Foundation Establishment, go your separate ways and enter first." After swallowing a healing pill, Steward Qiu issued orders with a grim expression.

Then he glanced at the middle-aged man beside him, and his tone softened somewhat. "Brother So, come with me. You are proficient in formations and restrictions. Once we enter, we will have to rely on you. We must take the first step, or when the people from Boundless Dao Academy arrive, we may lose the initiative."

"You're too polite, Brother Qiu. I can only say that I'll do my best..." The middle-aged man surnamed So nodded, his expression calm.

Just as this side was launching a full-scale assault into the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, inside the Black Prison of Ghost City...

"Do you know who Red-Haired Chicken Eyes is?" Qin Yang raised his head to look at the ceiling, then asked.

"Heh, you don't even know that? That's Elder Xu Shen of Boundless Dao Academy. He and the Dole Ghost King are sworn enemies. Every few years, they have to fight once. I guessed it before—the Dole Ghost King beat up his disciple, so how could Elder Xu Shen possibly have no reaction? What a pity we can't see it. A battle between experts like that is hard to come by..." Little Fatty smacked his lips, his face full of regret...

Qin Yang continued looking upward, ears pricked to listen to the movements outside, ignoring Little Fatty's regret.

"Senior brother Qin?" Little Fatty's eyes rolled, and a hint of teasing appeared on his face. "Didn't you say you deliberately got caught and brought in? Isn't the timing perfect now?"

"No hurry. It's not time yet. They've only just started fighting." Qin Yang kept his ears trained on the sounds outside and paid no attention at all to Little Fatty's mockery.

"Hehe..." Little Fatty bared his teeth, wearing an expression that was more skin than smile.

Not long afterward, movement came from outside again. This time, it was much greater. Previously, they had only heard a few angry roars, but now, this was clearly the sound of a large force being mobilized...

Especially those slow, heavy footsteps. Each time they landed, they could feel the ground tremble faintly with them.

It had to be those four enormous Giant Spirit Ghosts moving.

Only after sensing this movement did Qin Yang reach into his robes and pull out a smooth piece of Blood Jade.

As he slowly poured True Essence into the Blood Jade, the dense, blood-vessel-like patterns within it rapidly faded away. Replacing them was the phantom of a Buddha wearing a tall hat.

Only the Buddha phantom's back could be seen. No matter how the Blood Jade was turned, its back was all that could ever be seen.

Yet as this Buddha phantom emerged, the aura emanating from the Blood Light became ancient, tranquil, and peaceful. Within that Blood Light was even a trace of Zen intent that stirred the heart and mind.

Holding the Blood Jade, Qin Yang slowly approached the thin mist that had formed the prison wall.

At once, ripples spread across the mist, which naturally parted to either side.

Qin Yang stepped out, and only then did the mist behind him return to normal.

"Blood Lama!"

Little Fatty in the neighboring cell cried out in shock, his eyes nearly popping from their sockets.

This Blood Jade was inauspicious. Most were Jade Plugs or Jade Cicadas, objects stuffed into a corpse's mouth. After becoming tainted with the final breath, they would seep into dead blood and absorb deathly Qi. Even living people could suffer harm from touching them, much less carrying them for long periods.

Yet among Blood Jade, there was one especially rare kind: the Jade Plug used by certain uncommon Buddhist cultivators. Buddhist cultivators held jade in their mouths as they passed away, seeking reincarnation and a return to this world.

These unorthodox Buddhist cultivators cared neither for life and death nor for the fleshly body. They only cultivated their next life. After death, their golden bodies decayed, their golden blood dried up, and the final breath of life from that existence poured into the Blood Jade, absorbing the essence left in the flesh from an entire lifetime of cultivation.

What ultimately formed was a Blood Lama.

It was a genuine Auspicious Jade. When worn, ten thousand evils could not invade, and all wickedness could not cling to it.

If such a treasure were sold, then used freely to purchase cultivation resources, it would be enough for Qin Yang to use for three years.

One sale, three years of food—this was absolutely no joke.

No matter what the black mist truly was, nor what invisible poisonous insects it contained, its fundamental level could not possibly be too high. Naturally, it would be suppressed completely by the Blood Lama.

There was no need to kill the poisonous insects in the black mist. Forcing them back would be easy enough.

Qin Yang stepped out and cast Little Fatty a sidelong glance. "You're quite knowledgeable."

"Senior brother Qin, my good senior brother, take me with you. I knew senior brother was wise and mighty, that you would never act without purpose. Even in Ghost City, senior brother can surely come and go as he pleases. If senior brother hadn't intended it, how could they possibly have captured you..."

"Hehe..."

"Senior Brother, don't! Don't go! Take me with you! I, Zhang Zhengyi, will look to Senior Brother as the head of the horse, and whatever I find will all go to Senior Brother. If Senior Brother is pleased, giving me one or two things as a reward would be enough. I, Zhang Zhengyi, swear to heaven that these are no empty words!"

"Hehe..."

"Senior Brother, come back! I really am useful. I've traveled north and south these past years. My strength may not be much, but I've seen a great deal..."