The Ghost Sculptor Shapes His Own Transformation

This scenario, this situation, is already quite obvious.

Yun Zihai his calligraphy brush, ready to make his move.

But just then, Xu Bai stopped him, telling him not to do anything for the time being.

"This whole area is completely bare, and they seem to have never seen us. Don't you find that strange?"

The surrounding trees had all been cut down, leaving only stumps standing in the soil. In this scene, the visibility was extremely high, yet the other party seemed not to see them at all.

This is very abnormal.

Yun Zihai put down his brush and fell into deep thought.

"This is a smokescreen."

Xu Bai nodded and said, "Or rather, it's a change in the formation, enough to fool people who don't understand this field."

"Do you understand?" Qing Xue asked curiously.

Xu Bai spoke with such conviction just now, which aroused her doubts. In her opinion, Xu Bai should be a martial artist.

"I know a little bit," Xu Bai said modestly.

The Four-Directional Step Technique is not just a movement technique; it also incorporates the Four Xun Array Formation. Furthermore, the combination of the two complements each other, producing a powerful effect that reaches the third level.

To put it simply, Xu Bai is quite knowledgeable about formations.

As the saying goes, you can learn one thing and apply it to other situations.

"Xu Bai, you are exceptionally talented and strong. Your talent in martial arts far surpasses that of ordinary people. I don't recommend that you distract yourself by learning other things," Qing Xue reminded him.

Out of good intentions, she still felt that this matter needed to be explained, since many people think they are geniuses and choose to cultivate in multiple ways at the same time, resulting in nothing being accomplished.

This kind of thing has been very common throughout history, even numerous.

Although there are many examples before us, there are always some geniuses who are arrogant and think they can control their talents, so they ignore the advice of others and forcibly pursue more knowledge.

The result was a blatant slap in the face to them; only after one attempt after another did this conclusion finally come to fruition.

The time cost of cultivating multiple skills is far greater than cultivating a single ability. For families like the Zhou Family, their main focus is still on martial arts.

If you try to consider everything, the end result will be that you become just another ordinary person.

Therefore, Qing Xue felt it was necessary to give a reminder, not wanting to see Xu Bai follow that old path.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Xu Bai nodded and said.

After saying that, he slowly lifted his foot and walked towards the group of people.

"Brother Xu, be careful," Yun Zihai.

Xu Bai did not answer, but stared intently at the bare open space in front of him.

The moment he stepped into the area, everything before him became incredibly magical.

The surrounding air began to distort, as if he had fallen into a hallucinogenic place, which constantly swirled before his eyes, trying to guide his thoughts.

Xu Bai closed his eyes and began to walk erratically.

With each step he took, the surrounding air twisted more violently, and at the same time, a faint golden light appeared from his feet.

The True Yuan Power, combined with the Four-Directional Step Technique, is disrupting the formation from different directions.

From the outside, in the eyes of Yun Zihai and others, Xu Bai did not appear to be acting strangely.

They only saw Xu Bai moving around erratically, but they couldn't see the distorted air at all, because they hadn't stepped into the formation's range.

Following this pattern, it took Xu Bai about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before everything returned to normal.

The distorted air disappeared, and the senses that had been constantly misleading him were gone, but in their place came a change in the surrounding scenery.

The tree stumps on the ground seemed to have never appeared, disappearing from everyone's sight. Then, one tree after another suddenly appeared, and the open space turned into a new forest.

The dense woods appeared very tranquil under the moonlight.

Because the forest suddenly appeared, the man in black in front of them disappeared.

It is obvious that this is indeed a smokescreen.

"It's broken." Xu Bai opened his eyes and said to Yun Zihai and the others.

Yun Zihai and Qing Xue exchanged a glance and prepared to walk towards the woods.

Now that the formation has been broken, it's time to go find their target.

"Wait, everyone, don't go in yet." Zhou Qing hadn't moved. He stared at the woods in front of him for a while before slowly speaking.

Just as they were about to head to Yun Zihai, Qing Xue stopped. Xu Bai, who was standing in front of the woods, also frowned, and their eyes were focused on Zhou Qing.

Now that everyone has temporarily formed a team, we should respect everyone's opinions. Zhou Qing is obviously busy, so they are not in a hurry.

"There's a trap," Zhou Qing said seriously.

As a gravedigger, Zhou Qing chose the profession that interested him most.

His main profession was martial arts, but within the gravedigger trade, he was most interested in things related to mechanisms.

Those terrifying tombs are full of traps and mechanisms, which pose a huge challenge to grave robbers.

The saying goes, "Learn by analogy." Zhou Qing was able to see the intricacies of mechanisms, even those not inside tombs.

After Xu Bai broke the formation in front of him, Zhou Qing quickly realized that something was wrong.

He hadn't noticed the formation blocking his way earlier, but now that he did, he certainly couldn't let Xu Bai and the others blindly continue forward.

No matter how strong one is, those who roam the martial world must be wary of some underhanded tricks.

For example, poison, for example, beauty, or for example, elaborate traps.

There are countless examples of martial arts practitioners being killed by underhanded tricks, which has served as a warning to many.

"Everyone, follow behind me. I'll lead the way," Zhou Qing said.

Xu Bai said, "Okay."

Since Xu Bai had already agreed, Yun Zihai and Qing Xue didn't say anything. They lined up in a long queue and walked behind Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing didn't hesitate and, as the leader, went into the woods first.

He hadn't taken two steps when he stopped and gently tapped a tree next to him.

A semi-transparent thread bounces up from the ground; if you can't see it clearly, you'll definitely trip over it.

Zhou Qing squatted down and gently plucked the silk thread. Immediately afterwards, a huge iron plate fell from the top of the forest, covered with sharp Iron Thorn.

The Iron Thorn also had a color that didn't belong to metal; in Xu Bai's current understanding, this was poisonous.

"Phew..." Zhou Qing let out a long breath and turned to say, "Let's continue."

The group nodded and continued to follow behind.

Next, they encountered countless traps along the way, but Zhou Qing overcame them all one by one.

In fact, these mechanisms do not pose a threat to Xu Bai. As long as the Vajra Heart Demon Body is activated, the mechanisms will be blocked.

Whether it will work for others, however, is unknown.

With Zhou Qing leading the way, they walked steadily. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the woods ahead finally opened up, giving them a feeling of "a new lease on life after a long and difficult journey."

This time it was a real open space. Although the open space was not large, there were more than a dozen men in black standing in the middle of it.

The group of men in black were all masked, making it impossible to see their faces, but they were blocking the way, clearly not wanting Xu Bai and his group to pass.

"Kill them."

Among the men in black, one was clearly the leader and spoke first.

There was no communication, no pleasantries; the meeting was a battle about to begin.

The man in black charged forward without hesitation, his aura menacing.

Xu Bai discerned the pattern of their footwork and formation.

"A formation, a four-person group formation." Xu Bai recognized it at a glance, drew his Ghost-Head Saber, and charged forward, his body radiating bursts of dark light.

The group of men in black were divided into four groups, and they attacked the four of them from different directions.

Each of them is quite powerful and also possesses a unique formation.

Xu Bai and his group were engaged in battle.

As Xu Bai stepped out and rushed to the four men in black, the scenery before him suddenly changed.

The ground shifted, and in the blink of an eye, it had changed location.

"It's a secret mechanism!"

Three words reached my ears—it was Zhou Qing's voice. But in the blink of an eye, Zhou Qing's voice faded into the distance and gradually disappeared.

Xu Bai was quite certain that in that instant, he had moved a great distance, as if the soil beneath his feet had undergone a tremendous change.

"The art of mechanisms is truly wondrous; it seems I'll have to make a book about it someday," he thought to himself.

But clearly, now was not the time to think about such things. The wind around him grew even stronger, and the four of them were attacking him all at once.

The four of them moved in a strange formation, coordinating their movements with exquisite skill, and their power was immense.

"Kid, you dare to come here at this time? Do you really think we wouldn't dare to kill you?" one of the men in black said disdainfully.

They all recognized Xu Bai, after all, the Eighth Prince had sent people to assassinate him before. If the Eighth Prince hadn't said that there was no need to carry out assassinations again, they might have fought with Xu Bai.

Their thinking about assassinating Xu Bai was simple: the people they had sent out before were all incompetent.

Even the so-called Thousand-Faced Poison Lord, once his poison is restrained, is nothing special.

But these four are different; each of them is a genuine seventh-grade cultivator.

When the four of them unite as one, with the added advantage of the formation, even a sixth-rank cultivator would have to avoid their sharp edge.

Killing the Jianghu man in front of him was simply a piece of cake.

As I was thinking this, the attack arrived.

All four were martial artists, but one of them had also studied formations.

The dozen or so men in black were divided into four groups, each accompanied by someone who was also a practitioner of formations.

Thanks to the enhancement from the formation, their attacks were much more powerful when they came at once.

but...

It has to be said that sometimes being too confident isn't a good thing.

Xu Bai didn't even draw his Ghost-Head Saber; instead, a burst of dark light rose from his body, blocking all four attacks.

A series of metallic clanging sounds rang out, and the four felt a powerful recoil, causing them to take a step back in unison.

"His defense is very strong, everyone be careful, slowly wear him down with the array." The man in black said to his three companions.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xu Bai's voice came from behind him.

"How do the four of you compare to the Thousand-Faced Poison Lord in terms of strength?" Xu Bai asked mysteriously.

"What do you mean?" The man in black frowned.

"Your formation can improve your attack, defense, and speed, making it possible for you to defeat stronger opponents, but your inherent abilities remain the same." Xu Bai reached out and rummaged through his belt, quickly pulling out a small porcelain bottle.

Upon seeing Xu Bai's actions, the man in black felt a sense of foreboding, but it was too late.

Xu Bai opened the bottle cap, sending up a cloud of powder.

Immediately afterwards, with his True Yuan Power surging, he drew the Ghost-Head Saber from his waist and slashed fiercely at the four people.

This was a strike delivered mid-air, but thanks to the enhancement of True Yuan Power, it generated a powerful gust of wind that swept the powder in front of it toward the four men in black.

The formation, combined with their own strength, can defend and dodge, but this is powder. The air contains powder, so it can't dodge the air, can it?

The Thousand-Faced Poison Lord specifically chose Great Wind day to make his move, which shows the importance of wind.

The poison, carried by the wind, suddenly becomes more potent.

In an instant, the powder of the Hundred Blazing Poison had adhered to the man in black.

In less than a breath, the four men in black suddenly felt a sharp pain in their skin, a pain that spread from their skin into their bodies and raged around inside them.

They could no longer control themselves and rolled around on the ground, screaming in agony as they did so.

Hundred Blazing Poison; even a seventh-grade person will die upon contact with it.

This is a top-tier move from the max-level Hundred Poisons True Explanation, not a half-baked poison used by someone like the Thousand-Faced Poison Lord.

Pain followed them relentlessly, and then the group of men in black died completely, leaving no trace.

The corpse's face was covered in blood, which had soaked through the black cloth covering it, leaving a large wet patch.

Xu Bai had no intention of using any special techniques like "Cosmic Shift." He needed to conserve the True Yuan Power in his kidneys for unforeseen circumstances. It seemed that the Hundred Blazing Poison was the best way to break the deadlock.

After all this was done, silence fell once again.

Xu Bai raised his head and looked at the moonlight in the sky.

After what had just happened, they had gotten separated and were now in the woods, so he could no longer tell where he was.

After all, dense forests are the easiest places for a person to get lost, where one's sense of direction is greatly weakened.

But... it's not a big problem.

When a person gets lost in the wild, it is easy to find their way out as long as they find landmarks.

Before entering this mechanism, Xu Bai had already determined his position from the moon in the sky. Now he was a little east of the full moon, and all he needed to do was walk back to his original position.

With that in mind, Xu Bai drew his Ghost-Head Saber, determined his location, and then took the simplest and most direct approach, walking in a straight line.

If there are trees in the way, just cut them down with one stroke.

Along the way, there were broken trees everywhere, and Xu Bai had cut a path through them.

On the other side.

Yun Zihai, Qing Xue, and Zhou Qing were also isolated and caught up in the battle.

The simplest and easiest way to break the deadlock was through Yun Zihai.

After all, he was a true sixth-rank expert. After easily breaking the formation, he was also a smart man and used the same method as Xu Bai to head back to the original location.

Aside from Yun Zihai, Zhou Qing wasn't too difficult either.

Layers of white mist appeared around Zhou Qing, completely blocking the view of the surrounding area.

The Soaring Cloud Hand, a martial art of the Zhou Family, is quite insidious.

This martial art severely restricts sensory perception; it's not a hard-hitting style at all, but rather a style that strikes unexpectedly.

The senses are not just sight, but also hearing and touch.

Enveloped in layers of white mist, the four people opposite them found themselves with no opportunity to use their skills.

Their senses were blocked, so they didn't even know where the other was, wasting the power of the formation.

Immediately afterwards, a series of sounds came from within the white mist. When the mist slowly dissipated, the four men in black had already turned into corpses.

Zhou Qing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the deep, bone-revealing wound on his arm, and let out a long sigh.

"We almost got caught here, but luckily I managed to restrain you."

Thinking of this, he quickly took out a medicine bottle from his pocket and sprinkled the medicine on the wound.

The bleeding stopped, and the wound began to heal slowly. This medicine was much better than the medicine from Shadow Courier Station.

After doing all this, he tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his clothes and used it to tie up the wound to prevent it from reopening.

Next, he used a method similar to Xu Bai's, using the full moon in the sky as a reference point to head back to his original location.

All three of them were out of danger, except for Qing Xue, whose situation was different.

Qing Xue is already in crisis.

The four men in black in front of them, when used together in that formation, were able to fight against a sixth-rank expert, while Qing Xue was only a seventh-rank expert.

She didn't possess the superior strength of Xu Bai and Yun Zihai, nor did she have Zhou Qing's ability to specifically counter formations; she simply confronted them head-on.

But it was precisely this confrontational approach that made her increasingly vulnerable.

The battle became intense, with Qing Xue holding a pair of Silver Thorn and constantly on the defensive.

At first, she could attack, but as time went on, she could only defend.

However, relying solely on defense is the beginning of falling into a disadvantageous position, and once a mistake is made, there will be no way out.

Cold sweat appeared on Qing Xue's forehead.

She had been momentarily distracted and almost fell into the other party's trap. If she hadn't reacted quickly and turned back in time, she would probably be a corpse by now.

"If this continues, I'll really be buried here." Qing Xue lowered her head, looking at the Silver Thorn in her left hand.

There was a pair of Silver Thorn, one in each hand.

The assassination techniques she learned were obtained from the royal family.

But few people know that this stabbing technique has a unique skill.

"Just one," Qing Xue thought.

In the current situation, there is really no question of whether or not to give up; survival is the priority.

Thinking of this, Qing Xue took a step back slightly to dodge the opponent's attack. Then, she raised her left hand Silver Thorn while rotating her wrist.

As she rotated her wrist, the Silver Thorn on her left hand suddenly burst open, and countless tiny silver needles, as fine as cow hair, shot out like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

These Silver Thorn are actually made of silver needles.

A deluge of tiny, silvery needles filled the sky.

The four black men who were attacking quickly defended themselves.

But there were just too many needles. In just a short while, the four men in black were pierced by the countless silver needles and fell to the ground.

Qing Xue breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the silver needles scattered on the ground, and gave a wry smile.

Once Silver Thorn uses its silver needles, they cannot be retrieved; she now only has Silver Thorn left.

Actually, before she arrived, when she encountered the Yun Family's assassination attempt, she had planned to use this ultimate move, but then she thought better of it.

Because the assassin from the Yun Family was skilled in concealed weapon techniques, and the Silver Thorn, after spinning, transformed into a silver needle, which was also launched using a concealed weapon technique, only with a mechanism as the carrier.

At the time, she wasn't sure if she could handle it; she just wanted to try running away first. Unexpectedly, she succeeded in escaping, so she didn't have to use this tactic.

In retrospect, this tactic was successful.

"I have to find them. If we're scattered like this, they'll definitely be defeated one by one," Qing Xue thought to herself.

Thinking this, she looked up at the circle in the sky, using the full moon as a reference point, and hurried back to her original position.

She didn't have Xu Bai's destructive power, and when passing some obstacles, she could only choose to go around them to save energy.

Fortunately, with the full moon in the sky as a reference, we were getting closer and closer to our destination.

The four were heading back to their original location, and not far from them, in an open space, a man in black was standing there with his eyes closed.

In front of the man in black was an earthenware pot filled with yellowish-brown soil.

The earthenware pot was very tall, probably over a meter high.

"They're all dead." The Ghost Sculptor looked at the soil in the bamboo basket and sighed, "Good riddance."

Strange words came out of his mouth, and without any visible movement, he simply stretched out his hands and took the soil out of the earthenware pot.

The soil seemed to come alive in his hands, and as he continued to knead it, sixteen little figures appeared on the ground in the blink of an eye.

These little figures are sculpted very crudely, and some don't even have facial features. If it weren't for their human-like shape, you might not be able to tell them apart.

The Ghost Sculptor looked at the clay figure on the ground, stood up, bowed in one direction, and said, "Your Eighth Prince, I will repay the kindness of that day. If I die, I hope that Your Highness will remember me in the future and offer me a stick of incense."

Not far away, the Eighth Prince and the Thousand-Faced Fox exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.

"If you die, but my grand plan succeeds, I will honor you as a hero of history."

"That would be best," said the Ghost Sculptor. "I entrust my daughter to the care of the Eighth Prince."

The Eighth Prince nodded again, indicating that there was no problem.

After receiving the answer, the Ghost Sculptor said no more, picked up the earthenware pot and the sixteen clay figures in front of him, and walked towards Xu Bai and the others.

As he walked further and further away until his figure disappeared, Thousand-Faced Fox couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"What's so funny?" the Eighth Prince asked, frowning.

"I'm just laughing. He was kept in the dark by you until the very end." Thousand-Faced Fox laughed. "You were the one who killed his whole family that day, and you were also the one who saved his daughter. What a brilliant plan, you got a loyal person in return. It's a pity that he still doesn't know that his daughter is already in her coffin."

"This is the true art of emperors. If one is not ruthless, how can one accomplish anything?" The Eighth Prince's tone was calm and even.

"What a fine imperial strategy! I originally thought the emperor was too cruel to your royal family members, but at least he still cared about the people. You, on the other hand, once you become emperor, I'm afraid all the common people will suffer because of you." Thousand-Faced Fox's tone was full of sarcasm.

"Isn't this exactly what you demons want?" the Eighth Prince retorted sarcastically.

The Thousand-Faced Fox didn't want to say any more here and quickly told him to get ready.

Seeing that the Thousand-Faced Fox was not arguing with him, the Eighth Prince felt particularly bored. He looked up at the full moon in the sky and waited for the time to come.

In the woods.

Xu Bai met up with the other three, and only after confirming that no one was injured except for Zhou Qing, did he feel somewhat relieved.

Especially when he saw that Qing Xue only had a Silver Thorn at her waist, he gave her a look that said, "You really did have a backup plan."

"Let's keep going." Qing Xue stretched out her slender, fair fingers and rubbed her forehead.

She also understood Xu Bai's personality; he could be quite eccentric at times, so she didn't want to steer the conversation away from this point.

Xu Bai didn't chat idly; he just made a joke. After hearing Qing Xue's reply, he looked at the woods ahead.

"It shouldn't be too far now, right?"

This was said to Yun Zihai.

Yun Zihai recalled the descriptions of the place in the history of Sheng County, pointed ahead, and said, "This is the direction. After walking for about half an incense stick's time, we will reach our destination."

"Let's go then. Once we find that guy, we'll show him what he's made of." Xu Bai withdrew his gaze and prepared to move in that direction.

But at that moment, a series of sounds rang out from all around.

"Splash... splash... splash..."

The sound came from all directions, like the rustling of someone walking in the woods.

"Be careful." Xu Bai placed his hand on the hilt of the Ghost-Head Saber and narrowed his eyes.

Yun Zihai and the others did not hesitate and immediately assumed a defensive posture, looking around.

The strange noises only lasted for a moment, and after a while, they stopped, and the person who made the noises appeared in front of them.

Sixteen men in black, no more, no less, were the same people who had fought them separately earlier.

These men in black were lifeless, corpses, but they still retained human-like movements.

Around their necks hung a clay figure, threaded with red string, which swayed from side to side as they moved.

After the men in black appeared, they stopped in their tracks and surrounded the four of them.

After a while, a voice rang out.

"It seems you may not be able to leave."

The Ghost Sculptor, carrying a clay pot, emerged from the darkness.

At this moment, the Ghost Sculptor had changed his appearance.

He was no longer clean; instead, a thick layer of mud covered his body. The earthenware pot in his hand was empty; the soil inside had been removed.

"The Ghost Sculptor!" Yun Zihai frowned as he saw the soil and thought of the man in front of him.

"Smack!"

The Ghost Sculptor didn't even want to say another word. He raised the earthenware pot in his hand and smashed it hard on the ground with a loud crack.

With a cracking sound, the earthenware pot shattered into pieces, exploding on the ground.

At that moment, the corpses of the men in black began to move.

The clay figures hanging around their necks are melting.

The melted clay figure merged into the body of the corpse, covering the corpse's chest.

In just a few moments, a thick layer of mud had formed over their hearts.

A sinister aura emanated from the corpse, sending chills down one's spine.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king!"

Xu Bai wouldn't wait for the opponent's ultimate move's animation to start. He reached into his money bag, grabbed a handful of copper coins, and used the "Maple Leaves Like Rain" technique.

The copper coin, enveloped in a dark light, pierced directly through the entire body of the Ghost Sculptor.

Blood flowed down, staining the mud on his body.

The next moment, Xu Bai took two steps forward and beheaded the Ghost Sculptor with a single stroke.

Everything happened too fast. In the blink of an eye, the Ghost Sculptor had already fallen to the ground, lifeless.

The headless corpse was bleeding, while the head rolled around, a strange smile on its face.

It was quick and easy.

But all of this happened so easily that Xu Bai frowned, sensing that something was amiss.

Everything has a sequence and a clear hierarchy.

This person appeared later than the group of men in black at the beginning, and was obviously stronger, but now his head was easily chopped off. All of this is too abnormal.

Sure enough, the moment he had this thought, the headless corpse on the ground began to move.

Blood and dirt mingled together, detaching from the headless corpse and surging across the ground as if alive.

Immediately afterwards, the corpses of the men in black also began to move, but instead of attacking Xu Bai and the others, they collided with each other.

After the initial changes, the bodies of these men in black became extremely fragile, like ceramics.

After the violent collision, clumps of soil emanated from the cracks, then, as if alive, they coalesced and surged rapidly toward the headless corpse.

It all happened so fast; from the moment the movement began to merge, it took less than a breath.

In the blink of an eye, a giant clay sculpture, three meters tall, appeared.

"Be careful! The Ghost Sculptor's Life Exchange Method will keep killing the life in front of him until he runs out of soil!" Yun Zihai shouted.

He has read many books and knows a lot, so he naturally understands what is happening in front of him.

The so-called "Life Exchange Method" is a way to drag the enemy down with you when facing a desperate situation.

The Ghost Sculptor is dead.

But they live in another way, and that is the secret of the Ghost Sculptor.

This kind of secret method is extremely rare nowadays.

Only in truly life-or-death situations, when there is no chance to escape, will the Ghost Sculptor use this secret technique to perish together with the enemy.

"So, you'd rather die than not show your respect upon meeting me?" Xu Bai clicked his tongue and said, "Looks like he's quite loyal."

Once the enemy, over three meters tall, took shape, an immense pressure rolled down on them like a tidal wave, weighing heavily on their hearts.

This is a clay figure formed by combining the strength of all the men in black, and even the power of the Ghost Sculptor in his previous life.

At this moment, the strength of this clay figure is increasing at an extremely terrifying speed.

Ninth rank... Eighth rank... Seventh rank... Sixth rank! Sixth rank is the pinnacle.

This is genuine peak sixth-grade strength, not something cobbled together haphazardly using so-called formations.

"Everyone, stop hiding anything and give it your all," Yun Zihai.

Even with Yun Zihai's sixth-rank strength, he felt an immense pressure sweeping over him.

Yun Zihai tossed the book in his hand into the air, and the pages circled around him.

Qing Xue pulled out the Silver Thorn, adopting a defensive posture.

Zhou Qing raised his hands, and wisps of mist surrounded his entire body.

Xu Bai circulated his True Yuan Power, and dark light emerged from his body, pushing his Vajra Heart Demon Body to its limit.

He looked around and slowly said, "Go!"