Rare Profession: Paper Effigy Maker!

Li Xiang returned to the front courtyard's Council Hall with Qin Zhong and saw the map on the table, densely marked with red lines.

"This is quite an undertaking," Li Xiang said.

Zhang Yunshang had organized three small meetings of representatives over two days.

The young lady from Tianjin had displayed a talent for coordination that rivaled her father, Marshal Zhang, and somehow pulled the scattered forces of Linjiang County together.

Ye Qingyao tapped the center of the map. "Look here."

On the map, a vast area centered on Blackwater Ancient Town had been smeared a heart-stopping gray-black.

This was the extent of the Ghost Domain's invasion. Following underground currents, it had crossed four provinces, reaching towns and villages packed together like an anthill.

"The situation is even worse than the newspapers say." Li Xiang stared at the map, his brow furrowed. "The Ghost Realm Passage follows the underground waterways leading to Dijiang. There's no guarding against it."

"That's why the major powers need to join forces to suppress it." Ye Qingyao's finger traced several prominent cinnabar marks.

"Kong Mansion's great scholars have sealed off the lower reaches with Righteous Qi. The Five Sacred Mountains Sword Alliance has set up a sword formation in the middle reaches, and Maoshan Daoists are preparing a ritual altar here."

Her finger moved south and stopped at a junction of waterways.

"This area is guarded by the Two-Lakes Martial Alliance."

"Grandmaster Guan of the Two-Lakes Martial Alliance truly lives up to his ancestry as Martial Saint Guan's descendant. With the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in hand, he commands the front line and has forcibly cut off this tributary carrying water back from Dijiang toward Blackwater Ancient Town."

Qin Zhong gazed at the mark, his eyes full of awe. "Parting a river with one slash.