"Don't come any closer!!!"
The shrieking female ghost manifestation had cowardice written all over her face. She turned, intending to transform into a gust of yin wind and flee.
Unfortunately, she turned far slower than Wang Lang swung his Tin Staff down at her.
"Take this!"
There were no flashy moves—just the simplest, most brutal leaping chop.
The Tin Staff descended upon the female ghost manifestation's crown with the force of ten thousand jun!
Like a giant balloon punctured by a needle, that terrifying manifestation did not even last a second before instantly collapsing.
Only the female ghost's true body remained, restored to its usual green-faced, fang-toothed appearance.
"W-Wait!" Seeing Wang Lang raise the Tin Staff again, the female ghost cried out incoherently in terror.
"Didn't you want to know where this place is? This is the Ten Thousand Souls Tomb! Don't you want to get out?"
"Fine. Tell me how to leave, and I won't kill you," Wang Lang said.
At those words, the female ghost waged a fierce battle between heaven and man within herself.
If she spoke, she might violate this place's taboo and die without even a burial ground.
But if she did not, one blow from this gold-glittering ruthless man's staff would reduce her to ashes at once!
Stupid brain, hurry up and think of an excuse!! she screamed inwardly.
Wang Lang frowned slightly. His patience had run out, and he made as if to bring the Tin Staff down.
"Don't! I'll talk! I'll talk!" The female ghost was scared out of her wits and shrieked.
She drew in a fierce breath of yin energy as though making up her mind. Opening her fang-filled mouth, she spat out the crucial information: "The exit to this place..."
Before she could finish, the female ghost seemed to be crushed by an invisible giant hand. She instantly turned into a wisp of yin energy and dissipated into the air.
Wang Lang's gaze sharpened.
At the exact moment the female ghost exploded, countless graves around them underwent a drastic change!
Crack... crack...
Countless graves burst open from within, earth flying everywhere as skeletons struggled out.
They were not pure bones. Their bodies were formed from grayish-brown vines entwined together, and each gripped a rust-covered bone axe.
At the same time, a scalp-numbing buzzing came from the air.
Monster bees the size of washbasins, their faces twisted into human visages, burrowed out from beneath the gravestones.
Not far away, Little White Fox Su Yao, who had been secretly observing from behind a tall gravestone, jumped in fright at the sudden upheaval.
A vine ghost spotted her. Its bone axe came chopping down with a shrill howl of wind.
Though startled, Su Yao did not panic. She at least possessed cultivation equivalent to the sixth or seventh level of the human Qi Induction Realm.
Her snow-white figure leaped lightly aside, evading the axe blade.
"Fox Fire: Burn!"
A fist-sized ball of blue flame shot from her mouth and struck the vine ghost's vine-woven body.
With a boom, the flames rapidly spread.
The vine ghost let out a silent shriek, wildly twisting as it waved its bone axe.
But the fox fire clung to it like maggots to the bone. Within a few breaths, it burned the creature into a pile of charred, withered vines before finally dispersing into a cloud of yin energy.
Su Yao landed lightly, her chest rising and falling slightly.
Wang Lang swept his Tin Staff horizontally. Whether vine skeletons or diving ghost-faced bees, all shattered like paper mache.
The individual strength of these vine ghosts was far inferior to that female ghost from before. To Wang Lang, whose body was now brimming with power, they were nothing more than fodder.
He took several long strides and arrived beside Little White Fox Su Yao.
"Langzi, this... what exactly is this place?"
Wang Lang smashed a ghost-faced bee attempting to ambush him into yin energy with one blow of his staff, then said in a deep voice:
"I don't know either. I only remember passing through a corridor at Golden Light Temple, and then arriving here."
More and more vine ghosts gathered around them, as though they could never be killed off.
Su Yao cast several spells in succession, consuming more than half of the Demon Power within her.
Watching the densely packed monsters surge toward them, she could not help crying out for her mother in a tearful voice.
"Wuwu... Mother, Mother, where are you? Hurry and save me..."
Seeing this, Wang Lang scooped her up and stuffed her inside his robes, leaving only her little head exposed.
"Hide well. Don't come out."
With that, he no longer held his ground. Instead, he charged headlong into the endless masses of vine ghosts and ghost-faced bees!
It had to be said that the Tin Staff was truly useful. It could thrust straight like a spear, chop like a greatsaber, and smash like a heavy hammer.
Wherever it swept, yin energy scattered and ghosts crumbled apart.
Su Yao, tucked inside Wang Lang's robes, was soon dumbstruck by his combat strength.
She watched as he moved freely through the tide-like horde of monsters like an invincible war god who knew no fatigue. Every swing of his staff destroyed several ghosts.
"Does he... does he have endless strength?" Su Yao's little head was filled with disbelief.
Meanwhile, Wang Lang felt that with every breath, the yin energy transformed from the vine ghosts and ghost-faced bees he had smashed apart was absorbed into his body.
Innate Qi, whether its first effect or its second,
made his body absorb this yin energy like a bottomless abyss, undergoing limitless strengthening.
Wang Lang could clearly feel his muscle fibers becoming denser and his bone density increasing.
His five viscera and six bowels were enveloped in a cool sensation, while even his mind became increasingly clear and condensed.
How was this place still some perilous land?
It was clearly the perfect leveling ground tailor-made for him!
A feeling of exhilarating release surged through Wang Lang's heart, and he could not help letting out a long howl:
"Fighting! Feels great!"
As his blood rose, he swung his Tin Staff with increasing ferocity, and his monster-clearing efficiency abruptly soared.
No one knew how many hours he fought. The gravestones in this area had nearly all been leveled by the aftershocks of battle.
Just as he once again drew a vast surge of yin energy into his body to refine it, a sudden change occurred!
Something within Wang Lang's body seemed to have accumulated to its limit.
Then, before Su Yao's horrified and stunned eyes,
his body rapidly expanded and grew taller at a visible speed!
His sinews and bones rang in unison, his flesh and blood reshaped!
The Grand Righteous Qi and Vajra Subdues Demons power within him perfectly fused under the command of Innate Qi, undergoing a qualitative leap!
In the blink of an eye, a giant three zhang tall—roughly ten meters—and seemingly cast from gold stood atop the Ten Thousand Souls Tomb!
This giant possessed three heads, each face identical to Wang Lang's. Yet one wore compassion, one majesty, and one murderous severity.
This was precisely the manifestation body of the minor mastery stage of the Vajra Subduing Demons Sutra!
Su Yao cried out, only to realize that although Wang Lang's body had changed enormously, he had not crushed her flat. Her field of vision had merely broadened abruptly.
So this is... Langzi's true strength? Her mind went blank.
Wang Lang himself was also greatly shaken.
Although he had received Grandmaster Tianhai's inheritance, the Vajra Subduing Demons Sutra, he had not yet formally begun cultivating it.
Yet within this Ten Thousand Souls Tomb, by relying on Innate Qi to devour massive quantities of yin energy,
he had actually forced its automatic cultivation all the way to minor mastery, condensing this Vajra Subdues Demons manifestation!
Once the manifestation condensed, it meant that his qi cultivation had officially crossed from the previous Qi Induction Realm into the Spirit Condensation Realm!
With a thought, the enormous manifestation raised its foot and brought it down like a falling mountain.
With several booming crashes, it crushed several vine ghosts and ghost-faced bees beneath its foot before they could flee.
Taking advantage of the opening, Wang Lang summoned his personal panel:
Before you continue