Daytime Ascension, Perfect Merit

Hong Kong is a place where every inch of land is worth an ounce of gold, yet on the Mid-Levels, a villa district was carved out exclusively for the wealthy.

The mountains are lush with greenery and scattered with strange rocks, and a Chinese-style wooden tower stands quietly in the depths.

The building is simple and elegant, devoid of any vulgarity. Its flying eaves and upturned corners resemble swallow tails skimming the air, and its carved beams and painted pillars are not the least bit ostentatious.

The corridors and pillars are all made of aged wood, their colors dark and their grain mottled; one look is enough to tell that they have been seasoned over many long years.

This is Moonlit Tower, built by Li Cheng, the richest man in Hong Kong, for his late wife.

In Hong Kong, this place is extremely famous.

However, what it is most famous for has never been the cost of the building, but rather that indescribable, lingering yin energy.

If one were to look down from high above, the layout of the entire Moonlit Tower clearly resembles a giant coffin.

Three fountains stand in front of the building, looking like three sticks of incense from a distance. The main gate is made of high-quality Liuzhou wood, its color so dark that it makes one uncomfortable just to look at it.

Tonight, Moonlit Tower is livelier than usual.

Large numbers of armed personnel have arrived from all directions, lying in ambush in every corner outside the building where a person could hide. In the distance, searchlights sweep back and forth, and the entire mountainside has been sealed off.

Deep inside the building, an old man sits alone in a grand armchair.

His skin is withered and yellow, covered in age spots, and his eyes are so cloudy that they can barely see light. His entire body exudes the deathly aura of someone whose oil is exhausted and lamp is dry.

Yet, no one would ever guess that this richest man in Hong Kong is, in his true form, a Ghost King.

He survived the late Qing Dynasty, survived the wars, and survived the decades of Hong Kong's turbulent rise and fall. He has seen too many heroes rise, only to watch them disappear one by one.

Therefore, in his eyes, tonight's siege is really nothing to speak of.

It is merely a matter of killing another batch of people who do not know the immensity of heaven and earth, and using their blood to establish his own prestige even more firmly.

The old man slowly lifts his head, a cold, sinister smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"This body is about time to be replaced."

"Huang Bai..."

"Your shell is quite good."

The gunmen outside the building are the first line of defense.

But the true killing trap is the building itself.

Moonlit Tower is not merely a residence; it is a feng shui formation. Whoever dares to step inside is walking straight into a coffin.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dense gunfire soon erupts outside.

The final slaughter has truly begun.

Helicopters circle overhead, machine guns strafing the ground, their tongues of fire blinding in the night. The Flying Tigers press forward from the perimeter, engaging in battle with the Ghost King's forces.

This battle lasts for a full hour.

The Flying Tigers lose over a hundred men before they manage to clear out most of the Ghost King's visible forces.

Huang Yaozu's voice comes over the loudspeaker:

"Don't touch any corpses! Finish them all off! Don't leave a single one!"

The gunfire continues intermittently for a while longer, and finally, the area outside Moonlit Tower gradually falls silent.

On the open ground in front of the building, corpses lie in heaps, and the ground is covered in blood.

Huang Bai, Huang Yaozu, Zhi Gang, and Li Guoqiang lead the remaining men to the front of the building.

Huang Yaozu looks at the wooden tower before him, his chest heaving slightly.

"This old ghost probably never dreamed that we could fight our way back like this."

Although he says this, his palms are slick with sweat.

The real trouble is only just beginning.

"Don't be hasty."

Huang Bai raises a hand to stop the others, then walks to the front of the building, carefully observing the layout of the entire Moonlit Tower.

This is no ordinary building; it is a complete feng shui array.

If those outside do not understand the methods and try to destroy it by force, they are highly likely to be backlashed by the feng shui baleful energy. Never mind the people inside—the living people outside could all be buried along with them.

Huang Bai, however, smiles. He forms a hand seal and chants in a low voice:

"Seek the dragon, split the gold, and observe the winding mountains; each layer of winding is a barrier. If the gate has eight layers of danger, it will not escape the shape of the Yin-Yang Bagua..."

As the incantation is chanted, the layout of Moonlit Tower is rapidly dismantled in his mind.

Doors, corridors, beams, pillars, baleful positions, gates of life, and dead angles are stripped away layer by layer, finally revealing the only path that can be safely trodden.

The next moment, his soul body flickers, and he passes directly through the wooden door, breaking into Moonlit Tower.

Deep inside the building, the Ghost King was originally closing his eyes to rest, waiting for those outside to crash into the formation themselves.

In the next instant, a golden light suddenly flares in the void.

"Not good!"

The Ghost King opens his eyes abruptly and leans to the side.

Bang!

The golden light grazes his shoulder and punches straight through the wooden wall behind him, the charred hole still emitting smoke.

Only then does the Ghost King see that a figure has appeared in the hall at some point.

Long hair, Taoist robes, green eyes, standing with a sword in hand.

Huang Bai.

The composure on the Ghost King's face vanishes for the first time.

"What exactly is your background?"

This Moonlit Tower is the result of his many years of hard work and his most stable trump card. Yet, this person before him has actually walked right through as if it were nothing, and even the formation could not stop him.

Could this guy really be Wong Tai Sin descended to the mortal world?

The Ghost King only needs two glances to recognize that Huang Bai is currently in his soul form.

He knows better than anyone what this implies.

Possession is useless, sneak attacks are useless, and the formation failed to trap him.

Shocked as he is, the Ghost King has lived for so many years that his ferocity remains. He stands up abruptly, a low growl rumbling in his throat as his entire face instantly undergoes a demonic transformation.

His skin turns indigo-blue, his hair turns crimson, and his ten fingers swell into claws, with ghostly green flames coiling around the tips. In the blink of an eye, he transforms from a dying old man into a true evil ghost.

"Since you've come in, don't even think about leaving alive!"

The Ghost King lunges out.

He moves with extreme speed, whipping up a foul wind.

Huang Bai, however, does not engage him head-on.

His soul body flickers, slipping directly beneath the Ghost King's claws, and he raises his hand to unleash several Solar Curses.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Golden rays slam into the Ghost King one after another. His shoulder, chest, and ribs explode with charred, bloody holes almost simultaneously, and the room is instantly filled with the stench of burning flesh.

The Ghost King roars as he lunges, his claws sweeping wildly, ghostly flames splattering everywhere.

But Huang Bai does not give him a chance to get close, his figure shifting back and forth like a wisp of wind drifting through the building.

In Huang Bai's eyes, now that this Ghost King has lost the reinforcement of the feng shui array, he is nothing more than an old ghost who has lived a bit too long.

Before long, Li Cheng's physical body can no longer hold on.

His chest is pierced, half his shoulder is rotted away, and his face is covered in scorch marks. The old man's body shudders violently and then goes limp.

Whoosh!

The Ghost King's soul body abandons the physical shell, turns into a dark green shadow, and dives deep into the heart of Moonlit Tower.

Huang Bai's eyes turn cold, and he immediately gives chase.

"Still trying to run?"

As he pursues, he once again channels the method of Earth-Splitting and Acupoint-Fixing.

A series of rumbles echo through Moonlit Tower.

Those outside only hear explosions one after another, and the entire building trembles along with them.

"Will Daoist Huang be alright?"

"He will."

Huang Yaozu stares at Moonlit Tower, his face pale. He says this, but he has no confidence at all.

This is a Ghost King, after all.

Inside the building, the battle has reached its final stage.

The Ghost King is forced into the depths of the rear hall, his expression becoming increasingly twisted.

"So what if you kill me?" He stares at Huang Bai, his voice shrill. "Do you really think that if you kill me, humans can escape the control of ghosts?"

"You aren't just going against me."

"You are going against the way of this world!"

As he finishes speaking, he lunges forward, his ghostly form swelling as if he intends to perish together with Huang Bai.

Huang Bai does not retreat but advances instead. He exerts force through his feet, sidesteps the attack, and drives his ritual sword into the Ghost King's ribs.

Puff!

The strike is ruthless and steady, pinning the Ghost King's soul body in place.

The Ghost King freezes instantly.

Following that, his soul body begins to crack like porcelain. The cracks spread rapidly, yet a strange, eerie smile suddenly appears on his face.

"Huang Bai..."

"Come with me."

As the words fell, the Ghost King shattered with a roar.

A vast expanse of flowing fluorescence and yin energy exploded, surging toward Huang Bai like a tide, only to be swallowed entirely by the inner core within his body.

The Ghost King was dead.

Yet, at this very moment, the entire Moonlit Tower began to shake violently.

The final remnants of the Ghost King's power did not dissipate; instead, they poured into the building itself.

Boom!

Beams snapped, walls collapsed, and flames erupted as if a bucket of kerosene had been splashed over them, spreading wildly along the wooden structure.

Crimson firelight swallowed half the sky in the blink of an eye, heat waves rushed forward, and the entire Moonlit Tower began to cave in.

Worse still, the feng shui baleful energy within the building exploded as well, wrapping around Huang Bai like invisible chains and pinning him firmly in place.

This was the Ghost King's final act of revenge.

Even in death, he intended to drag Huang Bai down to be buried with him.

Walls of fire rolled in from all directions, and the roof continued to plummet.

Huang Bai stood where he was and glanced at his left arm.

On that arm, a golden light was slowly beginning to glow.

[Proceed to The First Commandment, slay the Ghost King]

This line of text had turned completely pure gold.

It meant the mission was complete, and he could leave at any time.

Huang Bai looked at the flames rolling in from all sides and suddenly smiled.

"A pity. I was never a person of this world to begin with."

Outside the building, the crowd was frantic.

"Quick! Save him!"

"Where is the fire department? Where are they!"

The Moonlit Tower was collapsing faster and faster, the fire reaching toward the heavens, and everyone knew that if they delayed any longer, it would truly be too late.

"There he is!"

Finally, someone caught sight of the figure in the center of the building through the churning sea of fire.

Amidst the flames, Huang Bai stood in his Daoist robes, his body radiating a faint golden glow.

He stood there, even though he was surrounded by nothing but fire and ruins.

Everyone outside was watching him.

Huang Bai looked back at the crowd and gave a final, gentle smile.

The next moment, the golden light flared brilliantly.

Whoosh!

The flames completely swallowed him.

The people outside were stunned.

Huang Yaozu opened his mouth, but his throat felt blocked, and he could not utter a single word.

"Daoist Huang..."

The fire continued to burn.

But Huang Bai never came out.

Some said that Daoist Huang had perished together with the Ghost King.

Others said he was never a mortal to begin with, that his merits had been fulfilled long ago, and he had ascended to the heavens in broad daylight.

For many years afterward, no one ever saw Huang Bai again.

The Demon-Slaying Bureau took up his mantle, continuing the struggle against ghosts and spirits.

As for the name Huang Bai, it remained, leaving behind stories that grew more mysterious with each telling, passed down through generations in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and among the common folk.

A poem reads:

The immortal guest from Purple Heaven descended from the three mountains, arriving in the mortal world to save the living.

From then on, the mortal bones are made noble; how could the path to the nine heavens be hard to climb?