A Solo Challenge or a Group Beating?

Turning his head, Zheng Yi took a step and vanished from the inn room.

When he saw the light again, he had returned to that Apocalyptic World.

He was still in the same area, not far from the turn leading to the garage.

With a casual wave of the Soul Devouring Banner, black mist surged forth, revealing forty-nine Malevolent Ghosts.

Although Zheng Yi had escaped the underground garage last time with the protection of the Malevolent Ghosts within the Soul Devouring Banner, the Malevolent Ghosts that had been refined had merely had their forms scattered, turning back into ghostly qi and returning to the Soul Devouring Banner.

These ghost creatures could not be killed so easily.

Even if they died, so long as their Mental Imprints remained intact, these Malevolent Ghosts would still be reborn within the Soul Devouring Banner. It would merely consume a great deal of yin qi within the banner.

Perhaps because the Soul Devouring Banner had been refined into a Lifebound Artifact, the Malevolent Ghosts were now covered in black-and-red armor. They had originally fought only with their claws, but now they all wielded weapons.

The weapons condensed from Azure Profound Fiend were covered in strange dark-red patterns. There were sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks. Bladed weapons were naturally far more powerful than a pair of Ghost Claws.

When his cultivation had still been at Qi Refining Stage Three, Zheng Yi had never casually released all the Malevolent Ghosts from the Soul Devouring Banner during battle.

It was not that he was unwilling to do so, but that the consumption was simply too great. With his cultivation and spiritual power, he could not sustain such intense combat for long.

It was not unwillingness, but a willing heart without the strength to carry it out.

But after his Lifebound Artifact, the Soul Devouring Banner, had improved and his realm reached Qi Refining Stage Four, Zheng Yi could now summon all forty-nine Malevolent Ghosts at once, and the spiritual power in his body was enough to support it.

This time, Zheng Yi shook the Soul Devouring Banner. Beneath the shroud of massive black mist, gusts of yin wind blew.

Without Zheng Yi needing to control them, under the Red-Clothed Female Ghost's arrangements, the forty-nine Malevolent Ghosts split into three teams.

Each team had fifteen Malevolent Ghosts, while the other three most powerful old ghosts stood under the Red-Clothed Female Ghost's command, ready to provide support at any moment.

Perhaps because it had been refined into a Lifebound Artifact after the blood sacrifice, Zheng Yi discovered that the Red-Clothed Female Ghost seemed to have had her intelligence awakened. Seeing the way she deployed her forces, he could not help but feel somewhat astonished.

But this was all a good thing. No matter how the Malevolent Ghosts within the Soul Devouring Banner evolved, so long as his cultivation was strong enough, he could keep them firmly under his control.

After all, the lifebound imprints of these Malevolent Ghosts were all within the Soul Devouring Banner. Their life and death rested on a single thought of his.

Looking at the Soul Devouring Banner, which was already beginning to take shape, Zheng Yi nodded in satisfaction.

Then he stretched out his hand and recalled all the ghost creatures into the Soul Devouring Banner.

Fully prepared, ready to strike with all his strength.

But before that, he still had to keep something hidden, lest he startle the snake in the grass.

If he frightened off those three Hundred-Year Azure Ghosts, Zheng Yi would be truly depressed.

In the dim underground garage, when Zheng Yi stepped into this familiar place once more, he did not even need to lure them out. Three sharp, ear-piercing cries of ghosts and wails of spirits immediately rang out beside his ears.

"Screech!"

"Screech!"

"Screech!"

The shrill sounds pierced his eardrums and jolted his nerves, forming the Soul-Capturing Demonic Sound that struck at the soul.

However, Zheng Yi had refined the Lifebound Artifact, the Soul Devouring Banner. With this artifact guarding his Divine Soul, he did not fear a soul attack of this level at all.

Moreover, his cultivation had entered Qi Refining Stage Four. Though it was only a single realm higher, it represented officially stepping from the early Qi Refining stage into the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

His strength had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Previously, when faced with the threat of those three old ghosts, Zheng Yi had fled in a panic.

But a gentleman's revenge never waits past nightfall.

So now that he had turned the tables, Zheng Yi immediately came to take his revenge.

The threat posed by the demonic sound and Ghost Howl had already been greatly reduced.

Yin winds swept through the underground garage. Abandoned sedans lay scattered everywhere, their surfaces covered in thick dust.

Many of the cars were clearly from expensive brands, yet they had likewise become worthless in the great disaster, reduced to scrap metal.

Ordinary people were just that fragile. When true disaster descended, whether poor or wealthy, all were like ants—there was no difference.

Standing in the center of the garage, Zheng Yi raised a hand, and the Soul Devouring Banner, now transformed into his Lifebound Artifact, appeared in his grasp.

With a light wave, dense mist immediately shrouded Zheng Yi's figure.

At the same time, shadowy ghostly figures emerged, forming a massive encirclement that protected Zheng Yi at its very center.

Then, almost instantly, he felt a fierce impact sweep toward him.

The temperature in the abandoned underground garage immediately dropped from normal indoor warmth to below freezing.

Amid the howling yin wind, three Evil Ghosts with green faces and fangs appeared once more, glaring viciously at Zheng Yi.

Yet they also looked warily at the Soul Devouring Banner in his palm.

"Hello..."

Looking at the three green-faced, fang-toothed evil ghosts, Zheng Yi nodded at them and said with a light laugh.

"Looks like enemies really do meet on a narrow road."

"We meet again, three old ghosts. I've come for revenge..."

Though they had no idea what Zheng Yi was saying, judging from his expression, it was probably nothing good.

The three evil ghosts floated in midair, their faces savage. Together, they opened their fang-filled maws at Zheng Yi and let out furious roars.

"Roar!"

The stronger assault on his soul made Zheng Yi frown.

But with the protection of his Lifebound Artifact, the Soul Devouring Banner, although he felt his mind being struck, it was still within his limits.

Yet passively taking hits without striking back was not Zheng Yi's style.

He cursed with a grin.

"To return no courtesy for a courtesy is against propriety. You lot should try this move of mine too."

"After all, I'm a demonic cultivator!!"

Just as the three old ghosts roared viciously and prepared to charge at him—

The Soul Devouring Banner in Zheng Yi's hand floated above his palm. Strange streaks of blood spread outward, forming a massive formation.

Within the dense black mist, ghostly figures crowded together. Under the command of the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, all the Malevolent Ghosts shot out at high speed, surrounding the three century-old ghosts instead and trapping them in the center.

"Now, you have two choices: a one-on-one fight, or a group beating?"

"A one-on-one fight means you three old ghosts fight my whole group of subordinates."

"And a group beating means my whole group of subordinates beats up you three..."

"Either choice is fine. We're very democratic over here."

A look of certain victory appeared on Zheng Yi's face.

Screech!

Screech...

Unable to understand Zheng Yi's words, the three Green-Faced Old Ghosts were nevertheless provoked by his taunting expression. They let out piercing shrieks and rushed toward him.

Zheng Yi retreated, waved the Soul Devouring Banner, and shouted.

"Go, my little ones!"

Piercing Ghost Howls rose and fell one after another. The three old ghosts moved like flashes of lightning, their skin iron-blue. With a single swipe of their claws, they tore the evil ghosts from the Soul Devouring Banner in half.

But with the Red-Clothed Female Ghost serving as the formation's main soul, Zheng Yi casually waved the Soul Devouring Banner, and an endless supply of yin energy immediately replenished them. The ghosts swiftly fused back together and charged onto the battlefield once more.