Ghost Lock, This Treasure is Fated for Me!

Generally speaking, Spirit Refinement Cultivators are mainly divided into three major schools.

Weapon Control, Spellcasting, and Demon Servants.

Among these, Weapon Control is the easiest to get started with. All one needs is a handy magical artifact or a sufficient number of talismans to fight others with the power of external objects – a true "item-based" approach.

Precisely because of this, the Weapon Control school often lacks growth potential. Once they hit a bottleneck, progress becomes extremely difficult.

However, nothing is absolute. If one can obtain a Supreme Treasure with astonishing power, then a Weapon Control cultivator's strength can soar, unleashing unimaginable terrifying might!

The 'Ninth Destiny' of the Evil King Pavilion that Gu Cheng is currently facing is a prime example.

Under the night sky, a chilling wind howled.

Ghosts and spirits surged like a tide, letting out mournful wails as they surrounded Gu Cheng.

"Interesting, she's using the chains as soul banners?"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Gu Cheng's eyes, but his expression remained calm.

As he spoke, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and an ancient, ink-black guqin materialized out of thin air – it was the 'Withered Wood Dragon's Roar'.

Gu Cheng took a deep breath and gently brushed the strings with his fingertips.

Zheng—

A clear, resonant guqin melody echoed through the night sky. Powerful divine sense, transformed into invisible blades by the music, charged towards the menacing ghosts, carrying a righteous aura.

Wherever the music passed, the cries of the ghosts were incessant. The eerie green ghost fire, like candles blown out by a fierce wind, was instantly extinguished.

The haunted night sky, cleansed by the guqin's melody, was instantly restored to clarity.

Gu Cheng put away the guqin, gripped the Pagoda Slayer Saber tightly in his hand, and with a flash of his figure, he darted towards the Ninth Destiny.

This woman's chain artifact is indeed troublesome, but most of her strength probably lies in her artifact.

As the saying goes, to catch a thief, first catch their king!

As long as the Ninth Destiny herself is dealt with, her bizarre chain artifact will naturally collapse on its own!

Swish—

The Blood Saber tore through the air, carrying a sharp killing intent, and slashed fiercely towards the Ninth Destiny's neck.

However, the female assassin was prepared. She slightly shifted her body, dodging the fatal blow.

Her slender fingers danced, and she chanted incantations. The Wuchang Ghost Lock, like a venomous snake hunting, madly coiled towards Gu Cheng with astonishing speed.

Gu Cheng let out a cold snort. With a flash of his saber, he severed the incoming black chains.

However, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The severed chains, like earthworms, surged with black energy at their broken ends. In an instant, they split into two and coiled towards Gu Cheng once more!

In the blink of an eye, Gu Cheng was tightly bound by the Wuchang Ghost Lock, suspended in mid-air.

The spirits on the chains let out sharp, piercing roars, lunging at Gu Cheng as if to tear him to shreds. The scene was particularly grim and terrifying.

"It's over."

The Ninth Destiny looked down from above, coldly gazing at the black-clothed youth trapped by the Wuchang Ghost Lock, her eyes devoid of emotion.

The spirits on her Wuchang Ghost Lock contained immense resentment and curses, which were like potent poison to living beings. Even Grandmasters of the Innate Realm found them difficult to resist.

Back then, those Innate Realm experts from the Demon Suppression Bureau in Chongshan City had met a similarly tragic end.

But soon, the Ninth Destiny would no longer be able to remain calm.

The black-clothed youth, bound by the chains, was not only not being corroded by the spirits but was also struggling fiercely, trying to break free from the Wuchang Ghost Lock's restraints.

A powerful force erupted from within him, causing the chains to emit a mournful groan as if they could no longer bear the strain.

"How is this possible?!"

The Ninth Destiny was slightly stunned and retreated rapidly, putting distance between herself and her opponent.

Is this guy not alive?

What kind of Body Refinement technique is he practicing? Why is his physical body completely immune to the corrosion of the spirits?

Seeing that Gu Cheng was about to break free from the chains' restraints.

A ruthless glint flashed in the Ninth Destiny's eyes. She clasped her hands together, and a malevolent light blazed in her eyes, clearly pushing the Wuchang Ghost Lock to its absolute limit.

"Buzz!"

The originally pitch-black chains instantly lit up with a dazzling, evil glow.

Then, like living creatures, they began to grow and coil wildly, wrapping Gu Cheng layer by layer until he was bound into a massive ball of chains.

"Soul Burn!"

The Ninth Destiny let out a cold command. The spirits on the chains were instantly ignited, and ethereal blue flames rose, dyeing the night sky with a strange hue.

The colossal fireball hung in mid-air, resembling a ghostly blue evil sun, emitting a heart-palpitating heat.

"I don't believe you can still survive this!"

Ninth Destiny gritted her teeth, the firelight reflected in her eyes, her aura somewhat weak. Clearly, that last move had consumed a lot of her energy.

However, just as she thought victory was within her grasp.

An extremely terrifying aura suddenly erupted from the deep blue fireball!

BOOM—

A deafening explosion resounded through heaven and earth. The massive fireball detonated, turning into countless fiery meteors, trailing long tails of flame as they shot out in all directions.

The once lush forest instantly became an ocean of fire, the soaring flames illuminating half the sky in an eerie blood-red hue.

Amidst the flames, a figure clad in dark red demonic armor, exuding boundless killing intent, slowly appeared before Ninth Destiny.

The demonic armor was terrifyingly grotesque in design, a blend of grandeur and evil, like an Asura returned from hell, radiating a chilling pressure!

"What... is this guy, human or demon?!"

Ninth Destiny gazed at the Asura-like figure, a rare trace of fear appearing in her eyes.

Just what kind of heaven-defying defense was this?

Her full-power strike hadn't even left a single scratch?!

Even the Spirit Sea Venerable from the Evil King Pavilion, who specialized in Body Refinement, probably wouldn't be any better than this!

As she was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

The fragments of the shattered chains bizarrely converged towards her, rapidly piecing and fusing together, restoring themselves to their original state in an instant.

However, the vengeful spirits entwined around the chains were now noticeably weaker, clearly having suffered considerable damage in the previous battle.

"Oh? This chain isn't broken yet? It really is a good treasure!"

Gu Cheng, clad in the Asura Demon Armor, looked at the restored black chain, a glint of fervor in his eyes:

"This treasure is fated to be mine!"

He smiled sinisterly, his Pagoda Slayer Saber stirring up a bloody windstorm as it swept towards Ninth Destiny.

Swish, swish, swish—

The sky was filled with crisscrossing Blood Saber energy, like a dense, inescapable net of death, enveloping the black-clad assassin.

Blade light flashed like lightning, blood shadows loomed.

Ninth Destiny could only desperately hold on with her movement techniques and the Wuchang Ghost Lock, a desire to retreat already blooming in her heart.

Encountering such a tireless monster with sky-high damage that couldn't be hurt, continuing the fight would only lead to death!

The shadow of despair enveloped her heart. Just as the female assassin was about to flee, the "trump card" the Gray-robed Holy Envoy had given her before leaving suddenly flashed in her mind.

Although her intuition told her this trump card was too sinister, she couldn't afford to be picky anymore!

Ninth Destiny gritted her teeth, a look of determination flashing in her eyes.

Clang—

The chains collided with the blade's edge, creating a piercing roar, sparks flying like exploding stardust.

Ninth Destiny retreated rapidly, flipping her palm at the same time.

A blood-red bead, the size of a dragon's eye, appeared in her fair palm.

The bead was crimson all over, as if condensed from the blood of countless living beings, emitting a heart-pounding scarlet glow. Faintly, the wails of countless resentful spirits could be heard.

"This is..."

Gu Cheng took a closer look, his expression subtly changing.

Although this bead was small, the aura it emitted was exactly the same as the sect-protecting treasure of the Blood Blade Sect!

"...the Blood Soul Bead?!"