"But... my methods have not earned their reputation for nothing!" In the hotel, Ming Zhao's lips curved into an arrogant smile.
He had succeeded!
The Jade Phosphor Poison Formation was indeed powerful. Presumably, even a Titled Douluo wouldn't be able to hold out in it for long.
But physical poison attacks did limited damage to spiritual entities like ghosts in the first place, and ghosts were extremely fast.
That ghost had succeeded in passing through the Jade Phosphor Poison Formation before its spirit body fell apart. It had reached the back of the valley and was standing before a pitch-black abyss.
As long as their spirit bodies had not completely fallen apart, Ming Zhao could use the King of Ten Thousand Ghosts' connection to the ghosts to transmit Soul Power to them across a distance, healing their injuries and sustaining their existence.
Standing above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the ghost had gradually recovered from its injuries thanks to the ghost Qi Ming Zhao transmitted from afar. Its decaying paper face was also healing at a visible pace.
"Hahaha..." Ming Zhao covered his face, letting out a low, sinister laugh.
Through the ghost's eyes, the abyss, of unknown depth, appeared before Ming Zhao as if he were there himself. He also saw the faint red and blue lights at the bottom.
Although he could not share the ghost's senses of touch and smell, Ming Zhao knew that the air around it was surely saturated with the pungent smell of sulfur by now.
Because this was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well he had dreamed of!
With this treasure land, Ming Zhao's plan to condense a Soul Core and break through to the Titled Douluo realm finally had a foundation on which it could be realized!
"Hundred ghosts, heed my command!" Ming Zhao abruptly raised his head, his blazing gaze filled with fanaticism.
Twelve paper figures with Soul Douluo cultivation silently emerged from Ming Zhao's shadow, standing in the somewhat crowded hotel room.
The ghosts scattered throughout the Sunset Forest also stopped in their tracks, lowering their heads slightly as they awaited their emperor's orders.
"Go! Find out for me whether Tang San's divine sense is in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!"
Ming Zhao waved his hand, sending the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts out as well.
Although he was fairly certain that Tang San's divine sense was not in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he could not completely rule out the possibility.
Ming Zhao could accept dying at the hands of another expert because his skills were inferior, but he could not accept throwing his life away through his own foolish and reckless decisions.
Ming Zhao did not have the ghost above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well scout ahead. Instead, he told it to hide itself and recover first, then serve as a beacon to guide the other ghosts.
Once the hundred ghosts were in position, they would swarm in together.
A single ghost with Soul Saint cultivation posed no threat to the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Even if Tang San had raised those Immortal Herbs like pigs for the past ten thousand years, leaving them with hardly any fighting power, they were still genuine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
Only the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts, together with the eighty-eight Soul Saint ghosts, could completely conquer the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Those hundred-thousand-year Immortal Herbs were definitely no match for Ming Zhao's ghosts, whose attributes were not countered by theirs. With all hundred ghosts attacking together, they could easily overrun the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and harvest the Immortal Herbs to their hearts' content.
If Tang San's divine sense still didn't appear after all that, Ming Zhao could enter and condense his Soul Core without worry!
With a beacon to guide them, the hundred ghosts soon converged on the outskirts of the valley from all over the Sunset Forest, including the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts, who had set out later but arrived first.
Once the hundred ghosts had assembled, the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts began taking the Soul Saint ghosts into their bodies. Using their higher cultivation and more condensed soul bodies, they would protect the weaker ghosts while passing through the Jade Phosphor poison cloud.
This would save Ming Zhao the considerable Soul Power and time he would otherwise spend restoring their spirit bodies.
After they had all passed through the Jade Phosphor Poison Formation, the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts had lost only about half their soul body strength, while the eighty-seven Soul Saint ghosts were completely unharmed.
Ming Zhao continued meditating to recover his Soul Power, converting the Soul Power he cultivated into ghost Qi and transmitting it to the ghosts that had expended theirs.
This was also why Ming Zhao had said that the ghosts could only unleash power corresponding to their respective realms for short bursts. They were essentially still dependent on Ming Zhao rather than independent individuals. Their master was the source of their power, and for the time being, he could not let them expend ghost Qi and Soul Power without restraint.
But that was all right. As long as the plan went smoothly, once Ming Zhao broke through to the Titled Douluo realm, they could become a true undead legion, with no concern for expenditure and no fear of life or death!
A full night passed.
Only then did the ghosts outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well fully recover the power they had expended. At Ming Zhao's command, they swarmed into the pitch-black valley.
Beneath the valley lay the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
It was a secluded paradise brimming with life, where precious medicinal plants rarely seen in the outside world grew everywhere. Thousand-year spiritual treasures were a common sight, and there was no shortage of top-grade spiritual treasures worthy of being called precious medicines.
Most eye-catching of all were several true Immortal Herbs with distinctive appearances, which stood out even among the spiritual medicines carpeting the ground.
Aromatic Silk Beauty, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid...
At the very center of the valley floor was a small pool. Its waters were divided into two colors, half red and half white, sharply separated and never encroaching on each other. Ice and fire stood opposed, the two aspects born as one.
And today, in this secluded paradise that had known peace for ten thousand years, a hundred shadows bearing chilling ghost Qi descended from the sky, landing around the twin ice and fire springs.
The ghostly figures came in two colors.
One was white: paper figures dressed in hemp clothes, straw rain capes and hats.
The other was red: female ghosts dressed in wedding robes with large red hats on their heads.
The terrifying ghost Qi and Yin Qi startled the slumbering Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well awake almost instantly. The presences of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts began rising throughout the valley, confronting the Yin Qi and ghost Qi head-on.
But to the Immortal Herbs' alarm, their presences actually fell to a disadvantage when they clashed with the Yin Qi and ghost Qi!
They were no match for them!
"Who are you? Do you know where this is? If you dare run wild here, you will face the harshest punishment!" the Silk Aromatic Immortal Treasure warned loudly, its voice tinged with fear.
But anyone could hear the lack of confidence in its words.
As for...
Punishment?
Who would care about that?
Ming Zhao certainly didn't.
Although he had spent quite a bit of soul, blood Qi and negative emotions cultivating these ghosts, even if they really did die, at worst he would just spend a little more time slaughtering a few villages, towns and cities to cultivate them anew.
"Rather than worrying about the price of running wild here, you should worry about yourselves!" Ming Zhao gave the hundred ghosts their orders in an indifferent voice.
The next instant, the twelve Soul Douluo ghosts split into six teams, each taking more than ten Soul Saint ghosts with them as they attacked the six hundred-thousand-year Immortal Herbs.
At that moment, the Yin winds howled!