"My path is complete."
Huang Bai slowly exhaled those four words. His voice was not loud, yet it carried an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
The Corpse Liberation Technique had succeeded. His physical body had been reborn.
What surprised him even more was that the symptoms of Jade Eyes and Square Pupils in his body had vanished as well, leaving only his soul with that strange appearance.
The pill poison that had plagued him day and night had been completely washed away with the blooming of the Flower of the Other Shore. He no longer had to worry about his body collapsing before anything else.
He opened his mouth and gently exhaled.
A black-gold Inner Elixir flew from his mouth and hovered in midair, spinning rapidly. Black light and pale gold intertwined across its surface, faintly giving off an agile, spiritual aura.
Huang Bai raised his eyes to the pill, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
"It has become mine."
This was indeed an unexpected delight.
The External Elixir had transformed into an Inner Elixir, and the Inner Elixir was no longer merely medicine. It had truly become connected to his vital aura and turned into a part of his body.
Huang Bai beckoned with one hand, and the Inner Elixir slowly fell back into his palm.
"This is better. I won't need to first draw upon medicinal power when casting spells. I can just activate the Inner Elixir directly. Much more convenient."
He calmed himself and began sorting through the changes after Corpse Liberation.
According to ancient texts, an ordinary Corpse-Liberated Immortal cast off the physical shell and retained only the soul, gaining three hundred and sixty-five years of Yin Lifespan. Once that Yin Lifespan ran out, one either scattered into nothingness or entered reincarnation and started over.
But he was different.
Huang Bai lowered his head to glance at his palm and slowly clenched his fist.
"My soul's lifespan is bound to my physical body."
As long as his body lived, his soul could live.
He had given up a separate Yin Lifespan in exchange for a path of Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life.
His soul could leave his body, yet his body had not become useless. That was what he truly wanted.
After testing it for a while longer, Huang Bai quickly reached a conclusion.
"My soul can remain outside my body for two incense sticks, roughly half an hour. That is enough."
Half an hour might not sound long, but in a life-or-death battle, it was enough to decide many things.
A soul outside the body had no form and no substance. It feared no bullets and could still cast spells as usual.
For Huang Bai, that was enough.
What he had always feared most was never Vicious Ghosts, but the guns and cannons of this world. Now that his greatest weakness had been covered, the situation was immediately different.
Huang Bai picked up his phone and looked over the messages Huang Yaozu and the others had sent.
Before splitting up, they had agreed that no matter where they were, they would each send their coordinates once, so that if something truly happened, they would not even be unable to find one another.
Huang Bai compared them against the map, roughly confirmed their location, then turned and walked out of the cave.
"Time to find them."
In the countryside outside Chiang Mai, at a village beneath the mountain.
The van jolted all the way toward the village.
The guide sat in front, his mouth never stopping.
"This place is called Seven Graves. Legend says seven ancient high monks are buried beneath it, each with power reaching the heavens. The most formidable master here now is King Tongtian."
Huang Yaozu, Zhi Gang, and Li Guoqiang sat in the back row. None of them showed much expression, only nodding perfunctorily from time to time.
"King Tongtian is very famous in Thailand. People from across the strait and the three regions come specifically to worship him. Quite a few of those big bosses and important figures in Hong Kong associate with him too. You are lucky to have come this time."
They had fled all the way to Thailand, yet their pursuers had never stopped. Those able to chase them here were either ghosts or dogs raised by ghosts.
But precisely because of that, they had followed the trail to a clue. King Tongtian here had deep ties with Hong Kong.
Before long, a Buddhist temple with pointed roofs appeared in the distance.
The temple's eaves curled high. Multi-headed Naga Snake God statues stood on either side of the gates, their serpent bodies coiled and their heads raised as if ready to fly. They looked magnificent, yet they also exuded a sinister aura.
Tourists arriving from all directions came in an endless stream, and the incense offerings were flourishing.
Zhi Gang felt uncomfortable after only one glance.
He had always felt that some Thai temples looked prosperous with incense, yet deep down, they always carried an indescribable Yin aura.
The three pretended to worship the statues. From afar, they spotted an old monk in orange robes standing beneath the corridor, preaching to worshippers.
Zhi Gang narrowed his eyes, studied him for a while, and whispered, "That old bastard is a ghost."
"Settle in first," Huang Yaozu said quietly. "We move tonight."
The three paid to stay at the temple.
After night fell, the wind gradually rose, and the entire temple became eerily quiet.
The three changed into night clothes, carried ritual swords on their backs, tucked pistols at their waists, and silently crept toward the depths of the temple.
Layer upon layer of covered corridors wound through the complex, sandalwood incense lingering beneath their eaves.
The moment they passed a corner, footsteps suddenly sounded beside them.
Zhi Gang immediately gave them a signal.
Without the slightest hesitation, Huang Yaozu lunged forward, covered the other person's mouth and nose, and slashed the dagger across his neck, cutting his throat open.
The man did not even have time to struggle before his body went limp and collapsed to the ground.
Huang Yaozu was no longer the policeman he had once been. The long flight had forced ruthlessness out of him. When it was time to act, he was swifter than anyone.
Not long after, the three reached the rear hall.
The instant they entered, a heavy stench of blood hit them in the face.
By the dim light, they saw what was inside, and all three men's expressions changed.
Stone tables filled the hall.
Women's corpses lay atop them all, their abdomens bearing bloody wounds.
Even Huang Yaozu, who had seen countless murder scenes, felt his scalp go numb at the sight.
Zhi Gang clenched his teeth.
"These beasts..."
He had long heard that some Southeast Asian dark arts liked using women and children for rituals, but seeing such a scene with his own eyes was still horrifying beyond measure.
These ghosts, along with the people who worked for them, all deserved to die.
Just then, the lights abruptly blazed on.
Bang!
Hidden doors on both sides opened at once, and gunmen poured out in a swarm.
"It's an ambush!" Huang Yaozu reacted first, throwing the other two aside. "Find cover!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Muzzle flashes erupted wildly. Bullets swept past the three men's heads, striking the stone pillars and spraying sparks everywhere.
Using the shadows and obstacles, the three quickly scattered and narrowly avoided the barrage.
Deep within the rear hall, several men in suits stood beside King Tongtian, every one of them wearing a cold expression.
King Tongtian folded his hands in his sleeves and spoke unhurriedly. "What a pity. You nearly caught them. You were too impatient."
The ghost leading them sneered. "It does not matter. They cannot escape. Ghost King has already given the order. Even if we have to chase them to the ends of the earth, we must chop these people to pieces."
The moment he finished speaking, a roar came from outside the temple.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Several helicopters had already risen into the air, their searchlights sweeping back and forth. In the distance, more and more headlights lit up as a large force pressed toward them.
"Let us go." King Tongtian shook out his sleeves. "This old monk shall go watch the excitement too."
With that, he and the Vicious Ghost leader boarded a helicopter together.
Hundreds of gunmen began advancing through the mountain forest, the encirclement tightening by the moment.
Zhi Gang and the other two charged into the mountains, only to find flames and footsteps in every direction. There was nowhere left to go.
Inside the helicopter, the leader grabbed a loudspeaker and shouted into the forest:
"Huang Bai, Huang Yaozu, you are already rats crossing the street. I will give you one last chance. Hand over the secret and come out obediently to die."
"Otherwise, not only will you die, we will nail you to the pillar of shame. From now on, everyone in the world will remember you only as lunatics and murderers. No one will ever know what you wanted to do."
After saying that, he threw back his head and laughed loudly.
Yet the forest gave no response.
The leader snorted coldly and jumped from the helicopter with King Tongtian.
"You do not know what is good for you."
A vicious gleam flickered in his eyes, his ghostly form appearing and vanishing.
Today, he would not merely kill these people. He would grind them into the mud and show every living person who still wished to resist what happened to those who opposed ghosts.
More than two hundred gunmen held their weapons and slowly pressed forward.
Streams of bullets crisscrossed, nearly sealing off the entire forest ahead. The moment Zhi Gang and the others showed themselves, they would be riddled with bullets.
The leader held victory firmly in his grasp.
They had not only guns and artillery, but also the means for ghosts to possess people. There was no reason they could lose.
Just then, the sky suddenly changed.
The eastern horizon began to pale.
The white of dawn slowly spread as the darkness gradually retreated.
Then, a streak of golden light suddenly lit up at the edge of the sky.
That golden light came incredibly fast. It was unnaturally bright, so bright it made people panic. Whether the gunmen in the forest or the people in the helicopters overhead, all of them instinctively looked up.
Then they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Morning clouds covered the heavens, and the blazing sun was on the verge of rising.
High in the sky, a figure stood suspended in the void.
Long hair whipped wildly in the high-altitude winds. Daoist robes billowed. His left hand formed a spell sign, while his right held a sword.
Jade Eyes and Square Pupils. Golden light flowed around his body, carrying a pressure so overwhelming it left people breathless, like a deity stepping alive from an ancient painting.
He stood there in midair, majestic and awe-inspiring, utterly beyond reach.
Like an immortal. Like a heavenly being. Like a judgment that had finally descended upon this world.
Everyone in the mountains was dumbstruck.
The gunmen held their rifles, yet their hands began trembling uncontrollably.
The people in the helicopters were frozen as well, even their breathing slowing by half a beat.
Not just them—even Huang Yaozu and Li Guoqiang felt their minds go blank.
Zhi Gang froze at first, then seemed to ignite completely, laughing with near-madness.
"Hahahahaha!"
"He succeeded! Huang Bai succeeded!"
"What Ghost King? He is nothing!"
"From today onward, he is the new Wong Tai Sin!"
He laughed until tears came out. The resentment that had been stifled in his chest for decades was finally released in one fierce breath.
An immortal had descended.
At last, an immortal had descended into the Mortal Realm.
The Vicious Ghosts' greatest reliance was that they were not human. They feared no bullets and were not bound by flesh and blood. But now, this side had one too.
Humans could not fight ghosts.
Then immortals would fight them.
Before you continue