In the willow forest, Xu Ying moved his mirror of divine sense and opened his Heavenly Eye, immediately taking in the true forms of the impermanence ghosts before him!
Many of those impermanence ghosts were not real impermanence ghosts at all!
Under the gaze of the Heavenly Eye, it was easy to tell the real impermanence ghosts from the fakes; the key lay in their souls.
Impermanence ghosts were ghosts and deities of the Netherworld—a peculiar kind of nether creature that also possessed physical bodies. Their formation was complex: they were born from the grievances of souls that had perished in the Netherworld adhering to stiffened dead flesh in places of extreme yin. They also possessed divinity, and people in the mortal realm revered them as divine envoys.
Viewed through the Heavenly Eye, a true impermanence ghost's soul was scattered and unformed within its body, drifting in clusters here and there.
Yet mingled among the throng of impermanence ghosts was another kind.
Their physical bodies had been altered by impermanence masks, transformed by stretching and growing from human skeletons. Along the edges of their faces, one could even see seams—likely the marks formed where countless flesh sprouts growing from the impermanence masks had burrowed into their faces and merged with their muscles!
More importantly, their souls were human souls.
They were all human!
They were Nuo masters wearing impermanence masks!
Yuan Weiyang had noticed something as well and whispered, "There are masked Nuo masters mingled among the impermanence ghosts—half real, half fake!"
Xu Ying felt a stir in his heart. Yuan Weiyang surely possessed a unique technique for wielding divine sense that allowed her to see through the deception.
Uncle Xiao said in a deep voice, "Young Master, these people are lurking among nether ghosts and deities—there is something strange about them. Their conduct does not suggest good intentions. We had better leave."
Yuan Weiyang shook her head. "We saw through them harvesting qi here. I'm afraid we won't be able to leave even if we want to, let alone return to the mortal realm."
Even as they spoke, quite a few impermanence ghosts were already gathering toward them. These figures drifted along without their feet touching the ground, seemingly no different from the other impermanence ghosts, but in truth they were Nuo masters wearing impermanence masks!
Yuan Qi was thoroughly perplexed. "Why can't we leave just because we caught them harvesting qi? Those ghost babies were harvesting my qi just now, and I was nearly sucked dry."
Xu Ying quickened his pace, trying to slip past before they could close their encirclement. If they fought these fake impermanence ghosts and alarmed the real ones, the real impermanence ghosts might join the fray to surround and wipe them out as well!
"They act so secretly precisely because they don't want anyone to know," he said in a low voice. "Now that we've stumbled upon them, they want to silence us to eliminate future trouble."
Yuan Qi blurted out, "Humans are just too wicked!"
Suddenly, one of the impermanence ghosts pointed his mourning staff forward. The staff hissed, and the strips of white cloth wound around it whistled as they expanded wildly, sweeping toward Xu Ying and the others!
It was a kind of coarse burlap woven from some rotten hemp, exuding a chilling, eerie ghostly aura. One look was enough to tell it was no ordinary magical artifact!
The strips of coarse burlap whipped about like tentacles, burrowing into Yuan Qi's body with a swish, locking onto his soul and dragging it outward!
Yuan Qi had an enormous physique and vital qi and blood thousands of times greater than normal demons. If he unleashed his strength, his techniques possessed world-shattering might. But against those coarse burlap strips, no matter how much force he exerted, he could not stop them in the slightest!
Seeing that Yuan Qi's soul was about to be pulled out of his body, Uncle Xiao stepped across in front of him, surging with primordial qi as he grabbed at the coarse cloth strips and barked, "Insolence!"
Yuan Qi was touched: *The old fellow in green usually looks so cold, but his heart is warm after all. He does care about me.*
The material of the coarse burlap strips was peculiar, designed specifically to target souls; flesh and blood simply could not grasp them. Even though Uncle Xiao was a Grand Nuo who had opened five cave-heavens in the Yellow Court secret depository, he could barely grip the strips.
The old man let out a furious roar and pushed his cultivation to its limit, finally managing to take hold of the strips. He was deeply shocked: *What kind of Nuo master artifact is this? It's too difficult to deal with!*
Suddenly, with a swish, another impermanence ghost floated over and jabbed out with his mourning staff. More strips of coarse burlap danced through the air, sinking into Uncle Xiao's body with a rustle, locking onto his soul and dragging it outward!
Uncle Xiao laughed out of sheer fury. "Juniors, you underestimate a Grand Nuo! You think you can lock my soul and make me surrender just like this? Let go!"
Yuan Qi praised, "Way to go, Uncle Xiao!"
*Swish, swish, swish!*
One impermanence ghost after another raised their hands, brandishing their mourning staffs. In an instant, coarse burlap strips filled the air. Yuan Qi hurriedly looked over and saw that Uncle Xiao's face, hands, body, and legs were riddled with coarse burlap strips, tightly binding the old man's soul without a single gap!
Yuan Qi was startled as he watched Uncle Xiao's soul being dragged out of his body!
*The old man looks fierce, but his soul doesn't seem as strong as mine,* Yuan Qi thought to himself.
He had taken a Myriad Spirits Pill; although the impermanence ghost had locked onto his soul, his soul was so robust that the ghost could not drag it out right away.
In Nuo master cultivation, very few could temper their divine souls. Even though Uncle Xiao was a Grand Nuo of the Yuan clan who had opened five cave-heavens and received the legacy of the Yuan clan's Nuo methods and Nuo arts, his soul was not particularly powerful. As his soul was dragged out, his heart turned cold: *I've really fallen into the gutter this time...*
Just at that moment, sword qi suddenly flickered. Beams of sword light, agile as swimming snakes, whistled through the air, striking at those impermanence ghosts all at once!
It was Yuan Weiyang drawing her sword. Her attainment in swordsmanship was not the least bit inferior to Xu Ying's; she too had comprehended sword intent outside Shuikou Temple. However, the sword intent and sword techniques she and Xu Ying had grasped differed slightly—her swordsmanship placed greater emphasis on variation.
The moment she struck, her sword qi attacked every enemy, giving each of them the sensation that they alone were facing her full-strength strike, and that failing to block would mean certain death.
The impermanence ghosts scrambled to defend themselves, waving their mourning staffs to parry her sword qi, each shaken until their qi and blood surged unstably.
Yuan Qi and Uncle Xiao were freed at once. Overjoyed, Yuan Qi laughed and said, "I see their flaw! They fight their way, we fight ours—as long as we beat them to death first, we'll be safe!"
These impermanence ghosts excelled at attacking an enemy's soul, but were not particularly adept in other Nuo arts. Blocking Yuan Weiyang's attack exposed their weakness: while they specialized in soul-targeting Nuo methods, it was just as difficult for them to defend against other kinds of attacks!
Uncle Xiao saw this as well and breathed a sigh of relief. Yet the next moment, his expression turned grave.
More impermanence ghosts were floating toward them from all sides, thick with murderous intent.
These impermanence ghosts were genuine, not masked fakes. Floating in the air, they activated their mourning staffs from afar. Coarse burlap strips whistled through the air, supple as serpents, coiling toward Xu Ying and his companions!
These impermanence ghosts were remarkably united; the moment the counterfeit impermanence ghosts clashed with Xu Ying and the others, the real ones rushed in to help!
Seeing this, the fake impermanence ghosts broke into smiles and spurred their mourning staffs as well, sweeping toward the group!
Faced with such an onslaught, even Yuan Weiyang's face changed color. Genuine impermanence ghosts possessed powerful physical bodies protected by the aura of incense, and as true nether deities, capturing and locking souls was child's play to them.
She could handle one or two, but against so many impermanence ghosts, even she was helpless.
As for Uncle Xiao and Yuan Qi, they were in an even worse state; they could only serve as sitting targets for these impermanence ghosts!
Right then, Xu Ying flashed forward and blocked the path before everyone. Countless cloth strips flew in, plunging into his body with rapid swishes and coiling tightly around his soul!
A multitude of impermanence ghosts, both real and fake, raised their arms together, attempting to drag his soul out of his body!
*Whoosh—*
Xu Ying was pulled off his feet and sent hurtling toward the impermanence ghosts. His soul didn't leave his body at all; instead, it dragged his "insignificant" physical body along through the air!
—He had ingested more than a dozen Myriad Spirits Pills, tempering his soul until barely any normal soul remained, leaving behind only an imperishable true spirit that was far more powerful than his physical body.
Hurtling along with Xu Ying was that bronze bell—over a hundred feet wide even lying down—crashing toward the multitude of impermanence ghosts like a small mountain!
The crowd of impermanence ghosts numbered several hundred. Seeing this scene, their blood ran cold, and they threw up their mourning staffs to meet the bronze bell!
*Clang!*
A tremendous shock reverberated, echoing far and wide through the vast willow forest of the Netherworld. Hundreds of impermanence ghosts were jolted into stumbling backward, barely managing to withstand the crushing might of the bronze bell.
Xu Ying landed and made a grasping motion with his hand. Primordial qi instantly coalesced into a colossal Ba Snake, snapping its jaws around an impermanence ghost. Xu Ying reeled back his hand, and the ghost was hoisted into the air, flying uncontrollably to his side before having its face seized beneath his palm.
Seeing this, the other impermanence ghosts—real and fake alike—brandished their mourning staffs. Willow-wood rods, half white and half blue-green, swept toward Xu Ying with whistling cloth strips trailing behind them.
Explosions rang out without pause. After being struck six or seven times in succession by the mourning staffs, Xu Ying's soul was finally knocked out of his body, fully revealing itself.
In the murky gray willow forest, brilliant divine light suddenly burst forth, soaring from the earth in dazzling radiance that instantly cast swaying shadows across the woods, light and willow branch silhouettes dancing wildly!
The mourning staffs rattled and froze in midair. Seeing his soul and feeling the overwhelming oppression akin to that of a ghost king, the hundreds of real impermanence ghosts halted their hands one after another, not daring to attack him any further.
The fake impermanence ghosts, however, cared nothing for that and continued driving their mourning staffs toward Xu Ying!
Xu Ying's palm remained clamped over the face of the fake impermanence ghost he held. As the mourning staffs forced him back, he ripped the mask off the fake ghost's face.
The fake impermanence ghost had stood over ten feet tall, but with the Nuo master ghost mask ripped away, his power drained completely, his body rapidly shrank, and the ghostly aura cloaking him vanished. In moments, he reverted from an impermanence ghost into a human—a gaunt middle-aged man with sharp eyes and sunken sockets.
The middle-aged Nuo master frantically touched his face in panic, then turned and bolted toward the other fake impermanence ghosts, shouting, "Senior Martial Brother, save me!"
Before he could even reach his fellow sect members, strips of cloth flew in and pierced his body.
The middle-aged Nuo master froze. His soul was instantly dragged from his physical body and shredded to pieces by those cloth strips!
"Those who expose our identity face only death!"
A low voice rang out from among the fake impermanence ghosts. "Kill them all! End this quickly—do not delay the main business!"
Mourning staffs continued hurtling toward Xu Ying's soul. Xu Ying suddenly turned, and with a howling rush of wind, the mountain-like bronze bell swept across.
The bronze bell smashed forward with unstoppable force, felling trees and shaking the ground in its wake. The fake impermanence ghosts shouted furiously, summoning all their strength to resist, only to be struck until they spewed blood and flew backward!
Xu Ying's soul returned to his physical body. Leaping into the air, his figure wove past fake impermanence ghosts one after another, ripping off mask after mask!
Once their masks were stripped, the fake impermanence ghosts rapidly reverted to human form, terrified and bewildered—only to be impaled by sudden strips of coarse burlap that tore their souls to shreds!
*Clang!*
Suddenly, a pair of palms blocked the bronze bell. The bell's crushing momentum was stopped dead in its tracks, and Xu Ying's body ground to a halt as well. The bronze bell moved in tandem with his physical body: when he moved, the bell moved; when he stopped, the bell stopped.
However, if the bell moved, he moved; if the bell stopped, he stopped too.
Thus, when facing enemies, spinning around to swing the bronze bell and smash everything in sight was definitely a magnificent spectacle. But when an enemy was strong enough to catch the bronze bell, or even seize it and thrash him with it, that would definitely become a tragic affair!
Uncle Xiao in green rushed over, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Monster King Xu, be careful! There is a Grand Nuo among them!"
The Grand Nuo who blocked the bronze bell also wore an impermanence ghost mask. The moment he stopped the bell, he sensed the connection between it and Xu Ying, sneering, "You're courting death!"
Just as he prepared to strike, Xu Ying formed a sword hand seal. Sword light flashed around his body, and he suddenly soared into the air, taking the bronze bell with him into the sky.
The Grand Nuo's face changed drastically, and he yelled, "Run, quickly!"
In the sky, dazzling sword light bore the absurdly massive bronze bell down from the heavens, shooting toward them!
Just as the sword light was about to slam into the ground, the clusters of sword light veered with a sharp whistle, streaking forward right against the ground. Behind the sword light, the bronze bell crashed down violently, smashing over a dozen fake impermanence ghosts to pieces!
The Grand Nuo wearing the impermanence mask resisted with everything he had, only to be struck coughing blood and pinned into the ground. Looking up, he saw Xu Ying riding the sword light once more, bringing the bronze bell crashing down, and despair flooded his heart.
When Uncle Xiao reached the spot, he saw Xu Ying plunge down once more. With another resounding crash, the Grand Nuo's body was pulverized into a mangled pulp of blood and flesh, leaving the old servant shaken with horror.
The other fake impermanence ghosts fled in all directions, leaving the willow forest empty in an instant, save for someone crying out in panic, "The enemy is too strong! They've killed Martial Uncle Qiu! Hurry back to the sect!"
Xu Ying landed and dispersed his sword qi, tossing a mask to Uncle Xiao. "Put it on."
Uncle Xiao blinked, puzzled, but saw Xu Ying hand another impermanence mask to Yuan Weiyang, who put it on without needing to be told.
*This youth is smarter than me,* Uncle Xiao thought. *If he tells me to wear it, I'll just wear it.*
The moment he donned the impermanence ghost mask, he felt a strange, sinister power surge from it, altering the structure of his physical body. His frame shot upward joint by joint, swiftly reaching over twenty feet tall, turning him into a white-faced impermanence ghost with a long scarlet tongue hanging out.
Yuan Weiyang transformed into the same appearance, only slightly shorter.
Xu Ying leaped onto Yuan Qi's head and tried putting an impermanence mask on the giant serpent's face. Yuan Qi shouted, "Ah Ying, I'm so big and the mask is so small—will this even work?"
Yet the instant the impermanence ghost mask touched the serpent's cheek, countless flesh sprouts wriggled out and burrowed between the serpent's scales.
After a moment, Yuan Qi's body twisted as he sprawled on the ground, and limbs slowly sprouted from his torso, transforming him into a snake-faced grotesque humanoid!
"Eek! I've turned into an impermanence ghost too!" Yuan Qi cried out in astonishment.
A fake impermanence ghost was skimming rapidly across the ground when another impermanence ghost drifted up on his left. The fake impermanence ghost let out a sigh of relief and whispered, "Senior Martial Brother, you made it out alive too? That was terrifying just now... Huh? Where's that bell chime coming from?"
Another impermanence ghost drifted up on his right, followed not far behind by a mountain-like bronze bell.
He glanced back. There was yet another impermanence ghost behind him, quite tall.
And behind that one was a snake-faced impermanence ghost with an enormous body over two hundred feet long, not standing up at all, but squirming and crawling along the ground like a snake.
The fake impermanence ghost's facial skin twitched violently. Flanked on both sides by the two impermanence ghosts, he trembled like a leaf.
"If you don't want to die, lead us out of here!" a sinister voice hissed in his ear.
The fake impermanence ghost nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at grain.
Chapter 63