Rank Four

Rank Four The third layer's earthly fiend qi was dense enough to seem almost solid, and the ghost soldiers came one after another. No matter how they shifted, not one could withstand a single strike from Zhou Wuji. The White Rainbow Sword's sharpness and pure yang nature were more than these ghost soldiers could bear, and his swordsmanship was vicious besides, every stroke reaching straight for a ghost soldier's spiritual nature. A flash of the brilliant sword rainbow passed, and one after another they were scattered to ash and smoke. Cutting his way through like this, Zhou Wuji slew more than thirty ghost soldiers in a row, truly like splitting bamboo, sweeping away all before him. With the White Rainbow Sword in hand, his aura resonated with the blade, and the dense earthly fiend qi that pervaded every corner no longer affected him in the least. After destroying the thirty-ninth ghost soldier, Zhou Wuji met a Rank Five ghost general—a fierce ghost with a green face and bared fangs, twelve feet tall, its arms hanging past its knees, with four crimson eyes set in its face. Unlike the other ghost soldiers, it was not merely distinguished by its two extra eyes; more importantly, the gaze in its crimson eyes was calm, utterly lacking the savage viciousness of ordinary ghost soldiers. Black qi coiled around it like ribbons, and its steps were soundless as it walked calmly out of the black mist and fixed Zhou Wuji with its four crimson eyes. Their eyes met, and the ghost general's crimson gaze flickered like flame as it opened its mouth and loosed a shrill screech. From the entity's peculiar state and the level of its true qi, Zhou Wuji immediately judged it to be a Rank Five ghost general. A "ghost general," so called, was a ghost entity capable of commanding ghost soldiers, and thus people called it a ghost general; above the ghost general was the Rank Four ghost marshal. This one actually knew to launch a spiritual assault first, its ghostly screech like an invisible spear stabbing straight at Zhou Wuji's divine spirit sense. Deep in his sea of consciousness, the Heart Mirror hung high and reflected the ghost general's attack in full. He drew his sword, and as the brilliant sword rainbow surged and shimmered it gave off a droning, resonant cry, destroying the spear-like screech entirely. The ghost general's divine spirit sense was no weaker than Zhou Wuji's, but it lacked any mastery of secret arts, so at once it was at a disadvantage in the clash of divine intent. Drawing a sword cry from the White Rainbow Sword, Zhou Wuji drove it straight into the ghost general's divine spirit sense, making its spiritual nature shudder uncontrollably. The ghost general's movements faltered, and Zhou Wuji was already sweeping in with his blade. The brilliant sword rainbow crossed into the shape of a cross, slicing the ghost general into four pieces on the spot; its body, hard as steel, was no different from tofu beneath the White Rainbow Sword. Cut into four pieces the moment they met, the ghost general was still not destroyed—it was, after all, of Rank Five, its spirit and spiritual nature formidable, and even as the sword light fell, they had already slipped free of its body. Formless and unseen, the ghost general's spirit and spiritual nature merged completely into the surrounding black earthly fiend qi. But Zhou Wuji's Six Yang Dharma Eyes could just barely catch its trace—a wisp of dark red vapor—and on his Heart Mirror its spirit and spiritual nature were reflected directly. This time he did not use his sword; through his eyes he directly unleashed the Yin Thunder. Threads of water-like thunder light flickered deep in his eyes and settled upon the ghost general's spirit and spiritual nature as it fled into the void. With a roar the water-like thunder light burst into hundreds of flowing streaks, and the ghost general's spirit and spiritual nature utterly dissolved in it. Without a body to shield it, the ghost general was just a clump of spirit and spiritual nature—exceedingly fragile, and moreover held in check by the Yin Thunder. More formidable still was that Zhou Wuji's Yin Thunder had reached the level of perfection—what tremendous power. Zhou Wuji was fairly satisfied with this outcome; a Rank Five ghost general could not have been too strong to begin with. If it were truly as formidable as a cultivator, how would cultivators ever survive? The fact that Zhiyuan could preside over the Lower Court proved that the Myriad Ghosts Cavern would not exceed the upper limit of Zhiyuan's cultivation. Nor was Zhou Wuji underestimating Zhiyuan—with the White Rainbow Sword in hand, Zhiyuan's Golden Light Divine Incantation could never trap him, and with the Yin Thunder and his swordsmanship he ought to be able to have a go at Zhiyuan. The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment gained another ghost general, worth five liang. Zhou Wuji was quite pleased with the result. His true qi was nearly half spent, the third layer was vast, and he had already been down here nearly four hours; there was no need to hurry. Returning to the first layer, he found Shangxing and Yang Tieying both at the entrance. Yang Tieying was in high spirits, but Shangxing's little face was deathly pale and he trembled all over, looking quite pitiful. Zhou Wuji knew that Shangxing was still young and could not endure hardship. In any case, he had done his best to give the boy a helping hand; if Shangxing proved hopeless, there was nothing to be done. Saying nothing, he led the two youngsters back to the stone cottage. Shangxing took another Golden Yang Pill and quickly recovered his strength. Then he and Yang Tieying set to work—one tending the fire and boiling water, the other preparing the meal. Shangxing's cooking had been honed by practice; though it was all simple rice, steamed vegetables, and pickles, it tasted quite good. After dinner, Zhou Wuji instructed Yang Tieying and Shangxing in their cultivation, and when that was done he chatted a while with his martial uncle Yiping before returning to his room to perform his daily practice. Lying in bed, Zhou Wuji converted the many ghost soldiers into primordial profound qi to strengthen himself. His total true qi rose by four hundred in one go, reaching two thousand eight hundred. Counting the unused Rank Five ghost general, his total true qi could surely, steadily exceed three thousand. The reason Zhou Wuji did not convert the ghost general was that the higher one's true qi level, the harder it was to raise. Though the Myriad Ghosts Cavern was vast, there could not be too many ghost soldiers and ghost generals. He would still use the ghost soldiers to improve first, and only when they were of no more use would he turn to the ghost generals—no need to rush. In any case, he was guarding the Myriad Ghosts Cavern, so there was no hurry. Over the next few days, Zhou Wuji carried out a great sweep of the third layer, slaying more ghost soldiers and another ghost general. By mid-June he had cleared the third layer of the Myriad Ghosts Cavern completely. Below the third layer there were only twisted, narrow rock caves, and Zhou Wuji did not quite dare enter them. Quite apart from what might be hidden inside, these caves wound deep underground in crooked, twisting ways and structurally looked rather unstable; if they collapsed, he would be done for. And even if there truly were a Rank Four ghost marshal inside, the benefit to him would be limited. His foundation was now deep; through cultivation alone he could raise his true qi by ten points each day, and even without borrowing any external aid, in at most a year he could cultivate himself up to Rank Six perfection. Still, Zhou Wuji was unwilling to simply give up. He flicked a drop of blood essence from his fingertip into the fourth-layer entrance and waited a long while, but there was no stir of movement. After returning, Zhou Wuji asked Daoist Yiping whether there was some spiritual item that could lure ghost entities. Daoist Yiping laughed heartily. "This is our very own line of work, and you actually don't know?!" The old Daoist did not keep him in suspense. "The ritual offering incense we burn for the gods in our temple is refined by fusing spiritual substances such as agarwood and dragon marrow, and it is further imbued with divine power—it is the thing ghost entities love most." "Imbued with divine power?" Zhou Wuji was a little skeptical. It was true that the Arctic Celestial Emperor Hall was the hub of the Lower Court, and it truly had gathered the power of many vows, even resonating with the Big Dipper star domain. But to say there was truly some divine power imbued in it—that he had not seen. Still, perhaps with the blessing of the Big Dipper star domain, its special spiritual nature was greatly beneficial to ghost entities? The incense offered up in the Arctic Celestial Emperor Hall was indeed a spiritual item, and it was all under the Hall Master's charge. Zhou Wuji did not go to find Daoist Yiding—the fellow had taken a dislike to him and might make trouble for him even over such a trifling matter. Besides, such a small matter was not worth bringing up. That very night, Zhou Wuji quietly slipped into the Arctic Celestial Emperor Hall. The two Daoists on watch sat in meditation with closed eyes, and neither noticed him; he easily took two bundles of the incense. Zhou Wuji first silently prayed and sought leave before the statue of the Arctic Celestial Emperor, and the Heavenly Emperor's statue did not make a sound, clearly giving its tacit consent. Zhou Wuji came to the fourth-layer entrance and lit the incense. The faint smoke curled wispily like a snake, flowing naturally into the mouth of the cave. Before long, black qi surged at the cave's entrance, and a black shadow shot out like an arrow. The shadow came so abruptly that even Zhou Wuji's Six Yang Dharma Eyes could not perceive its aura; only when it flew close did his Heart Mirror map out its form. It was a ghost entity nine feet tall, its body like black iron with a faint dark red gleam showing through, as if it were red-hot steel. The entity was tall and large, its limbs long and slender; upon its head were only six crimson eyes—no nose, no mouth—making it look exceedingly strange and dangerous. What was most formidable about it was that it had withdrawn all its yin qi; relying on his Heart Mirror, Zhou Wuji could reflect only its form, not the yin qi hidden within it. "It must be a Rank Four ghost marshal!" Zhou Wuji was both overjoyed and alarmed—glad that a big one had indeed appeared, alarmed that this big one was quite troublesome and he might not truly be able to take it on. Facing such a powerful entity, he dared not be careless in the least. He extended a finger and first unleashed the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword: a four-foot azure sword of light flashed like lightning and stabbed straight at the ghost marshal. The ghost marshal reacted with extreme speed. Before the light sword could reach it, it threw a punch into empty air, unleashing an intensely dense, ice-cold, grim black qi. The gleaming azure sword of light was as if frozen in ice, halting in midair at once, and the spiritual radiance shimmering on the blade dimmed as well. Zhou Wuji was even more surprised—the yin qi unleashed by the entity's casual strike was actually so severe that it had sealed even his Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword. The extreme yin cold qi had even formed a dharma domain, covering an area of more than a hundred feet around it. Having reached the Rank Four level, the entity possessed remarkably astute battle instincts, even without anyone to teach it or any inheritance of secret arts. Facing such a powerful entity, Zhou Wuji put himself on his fullest guard. Disregarding the sealed Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Sword, he directly unleashed the Yang Ming Demon-Quelling Thunder Sound from within the Yin Thunder. "Break!" With a low shout, Zhou Wuji channeled the all-shattering thunder roar through the Po Jun aperture at his mouth. The exploding thunder roar struck the ghost marshal directly on the level of divine spirit sense, and the crimson flames of light in its six eyes blazed at once—clearly it had taken the impact. Yet on the level of divine spirit sense the ghost marshal was abnormally formidable; the strike did not injure it, and instead stirred up its ferocity. It too loosed a low, shrill screech, splitting off ring after ring of black qi around its body. The formless thunder roar and the qi rings clashed and reverberated against each other, leaving intermittent traces of sound waves in the air. The thunder roar was thus broken, and with a flicker the ghost marshal crossed a distance of twenty paces to appear before Zhou Wuji, its twin claws like blades thrusting straight at his chest. Water light shimmered in Zhou Wuji's eyes, and the Yin Thunder, without the slightest warning, fell directly upon the ghost marshal through his gaze. At the same moment, an azure star robe rose around Zhou Wuji—the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation he had stored beforehand within his apertures. Since he did not know what he might encounter, he naturally had to make preparations in advance. The Yin Thunder came too fast; though the ghost marshal blurred its form to dodge, it was still a step too slow. The water light burst forth, blasting hundreds of cracks across the ghost marshal's dark red body. Zhou Wuji, so close at hand, was caught by the thunder light as well, but the star robe on his body was formed from the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation and shared the same origin as the Yin Thunder. Most importantly, his Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Yin Thunder Method had reached perfection, so the stray thunder light was still controlled by his divine spirit sense and would not harm him. Seizing the opening, Zhou Wuji drew his sword, and the move he used was precisely the Sunset Sword. The Po Jun talisman within the White Rainbow Sword was also triggered, and the blade turned into a brilliant pure yang sword rainbow that slashed straight down on the ghost marshal. Such a ferocious, savage strike instantly cut through the dharma domain formed of gathered yin qi and also sliced the ghost marshal into two halves from the middle. Before it could react, Zhou Wuji swept his sword across and cut again, slicing the ghost marshal into four pieces. The sword rainbow left a blazing cross-shaped sword mark in the void, burning through the dense, icy darkness as well. Just then, Zhou Wuji's Heart Mirror reflected the figure of another ghost marshal, emerging right behind him. It came with utmost eeriness; by the time Zhou Wuji sensed something was wrong, it was already too late. The ghost marshal's twin claws, like ten curved blades, were already grasping his back. Its claws were not only incomparably sharp, but also carried the ghost marshal's ultimate yin cold qi tempered over a hundred years. The radiant azure star robe abruptly froze under the cold qi, then shattered like transparent ice into hundreds of pieces. The Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation had been clawed apart by a single strike. The blade-like claws savagely raked at Zhou Wuji's back, but were blocked by a layer of smooth blue-green armor. At the critical moment, Zhou Wuji had activated the Heavenly Puppet, transforming it into the seamless heavenly robe, which blocked the ghost marshal's ice-cold claws. Even through the Heavenly Puppet, that extreme yin cold qi drove straight into Zhou Wuji's body, chilling him until his very blood seemed about to freeze. Fortunately, he had cultivated Transforming Jin; his internal organs and his blood and qi were strong and vigorous, and under the cold qi's assault his blood and qi surged and gushed like a volcano. The White Rainbow Sword in his hand resonated with his aura and likewise released pure yang qi in unison, instantly dissolving the cold qi that had invaded his body. Seizing the chance, Zhou Wuji struck a backhand sword move, the technique seeming both illusory and real—the most wondrously subtle move of the Xiaoxiang Sword, the Water Moon Sword. The sword light, clear as autumn water, rippled outward, and the White Rainbow Sword had already run straight through the ghost marshal's head. Water-like thunder light shimmered along the blade, blasting the ghost marshal to pieces from head to foot—Zhou Wuji had directly channeled his perfection-level Yin Thunder onto the edge of the White Rainbow Sword. The Yin Thunder erupted within the ghost marshal's body, instantly and utterly destroying its spirit and spiritual nature. Having landed the killing strike, Zhou Wuji applied the Rejuvenation Technique to himself and then reapplied the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation; sword in hand, he hurriedly fled at full speed into the distance.