Chapter 619: Yang Sanyan Who Looked Down on Everything
Yin Wind swept wildly, ghostly shadows overlapped layer upon layer.
Dense Yin Energy shrouded the city defenses, severely interfering with the defending cultivators’ spiritual sense and restricting their vision to no more than three zhang in front of them.
Big-Headed Ghosts, Small-Headed Ghosts, Hanged Ghosts, Soul-Hooking Wall Lizards, and many others rose with the wind or climbed the city walls, ceaselessly launching assaults upon the battlements.
“Hold the line, hold the line!”
“Father!!”
“Go to hell—!”
“Don’t rush too far forward!”
“Form ranks, form ranks!”
“Ah—!”
Shouts, commands, screams, and grief-stricken roars intertwined, weaving together a hymn of living beings defending their homeland.
The endlessness, cruelty, and numb brutality of the Ghost Tide clashed against the courage, tragedy, and sacrifice of the living. Two invisible forces wrestled through flesh and ghostly bodies alike, entangled in life-and-death struggle.
As Commander of the City Guard Army, Tie Guzheng coordinated the defensive lines across the entire city.
Reports from each section of the defenses arrived one after another, hardening his expression like iron.
This Ghost Tide rivaled the final phase of previous outbreaks. Its scale had already reached historical records. If not for the White Paper City Lord’s earlier heavy bounties that had recruited nearly all capable fighters from the surrounding villages and towns, White Paper Immortal City would have already fallen.
“Even so, our casualties are skyrocketing…”
“Worse still, there is a disciplined and well-trained Great Yin Soldier Army watching from the outskirts of the battlefield like tigers eyeing their prey!”
“And what about us?”
Even Tie Guzheng himself and the City Guard Army did not count as a true Cultivation Army.
At best, only one force in the entire city could barely qualify—that was the Qingjiao Army.
By comparison, what the defenders truly relied upon was still White Paper Immortal City itself!
Bang, bang, bang…
The earth trembled. From deep within the thick Yin Tide, a black shadow darker than night and as massive as a hill gradually approached.
It tore through the curtain-like Yin Wind, trampling low-tier ghostly mist too slow to evade, its heavy and towering body charging toward the city gate.
“Dead Bone Colossus!” Tie Guzheng sprang to his feet, fully alert.
The alarm bells of White Paper Immortal City rang out sharply!
Countless black and dark-gray bones interwove and assembled into a gigantic monstrosity.
Each bone was thick and weathered, eroded by Yin Energy and time.
Every step it took struck the earth like a massive hammer, thunderous and dull.
Though its movements were slow, its strides were enormous. In just a dozen steps, it stood before the city wall.
The towering wall did not even reach its neck.
The cultivators standing atop the wall found themselves level with its mouth and nose.
Boom!
The Dead Bone Colossus raised its palm and slammed it directly against the wall.
The wall, which had stood unmoving until now, shook violently. Then came a ripping sound like paper tearing. Cracks spread rapidly across its surface.
Boom, boom.
It struck two more times.
The violent tremors traveled along the wall, shaking the defending soldiers off balance.
The surrounding ghosts suffered even worse—caught between the clash of the Dead Bone Colossus and White Paper Immortal City’s wall, they were almost entirely annihilated.
It could not be allowed to rampage any longer.
Resolute, Tie Guzheng personally charged forth, wielding his iron fan taller than a man, rushing toward the colossus’s face.
The two engaged directly.
Though the Dead Bone Colossus was only Golden Core level, within the Ghost Tide it displayed Nascent Soul–level battle power.
Tie Guzheng was likewise Golden Core, but as Commander of the City Guard Army, he could draw upon the power of White Paper Immortal City with every movement, granting him the strength to contend.
They exchanged nearly ten rounds without a clear victor.
“We’re here!”
“Follow me—charge!!!”
The Qingjiao Army entered the battlefield, with Qingchi still at the forefront.
Like a whirlwind, the army swept across nearly the entire wall. Wherever they passed, ghosts were slaughtered in droves.
Qingchi once again became the focus of all eyes, shining brilliantly.
The more she fought, the more exhilarated she became. From Army Morale, she had advanced to a Military Branch. It now resided upon her, allowing her to constantly sense the entire state of the Qingjiao Army.
“Paper Armor Technique and Yin Crossing Technique are truly too practical.”
“Little Ma really was amazing—he immediately chose the most suitable direction for us.”
“Zhuangyang Courtyard is practically in name only now. When will he return to fight by my side?”
Even amid battle, Qingchi’s thoughts raced like lightning, and she found herself missing Jiao Ma (Ning Zhuo).
Far away, the Vanguard General of the Yin Army grew restless.
The dense Yin Tide could not block his gaze.
He surveyed the entire battlefield: Tie Guzheng held off the Dead Bone Colossus, Qingchi swept the surroundings clean. Under the efforts of these two and one army, White Paper Immortal City had stabilized once more.
The fiercest part of the Ghost Tide was here.
From this point on, its offensive strength would gradually weaken.
“Flying Spear Ghost General,” the Vanguard General suddenly called out.
Immediately, from the ranks at his left stepped forward a Ghost General.
“Your subordinate is here!”
The Vanguard General reached into a brush holder on the table, selected three Military Command Tokens, and tossed them to the Flying Spear Ghost General.
“I grant you three portions of military force. Do your utmost—kill Tie Guzheng. Qingchi as well, if possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Flying Spear Ghost General took the tokens and left the command tent, ascending a high platform outside.
He lifted his chin, observed briefly, then drew forth a long spear magical instrument and hurled it into the wind.
Whoosh.
The spear tore effortlessly through the raging Yin Wind. Within a few blinks, it arrived above Tie Guzheng’s head.
Tie Guzheng’s eyes flared wide as he desperately raised his iron fan.
Clang!
Sparks and golden light burst forth. The piercing clash of metal made nearby cultivators wince.
The spear pierced through the ribs of the iron fan. Tie Guzheng tumbled backward three times before regaining his footing, barely escaping with his life.
The Flying Spear Ghost General sighed inwardly at the missed kill and drew out a second spear.
Infusing it with Golden Core power and expending a second Military Command Token, he hurled it with full force.
This time, the spear targeted Qingchi.
Tie Guzheng’s heart sank.
“This is bad. The spear is overwhelmingly powerful yet sinister and unpredictable. I only sensed it when it was nearly upon me.”
“If there’s a second strike like this, how can others defend?”
He immediately ordered, “Quick, have the Qingjiao Army withdraw from the wall!”
But it was too late.
The second spear had already crossed several li and was about to reach the battlements, aiming to pierce Qingchi’s skull.
She remained unaware, immersed in battle!
At the critical moment, a gray-white bone staff appeared from nowhere and struck the side of the spear.
The spear’s trajectory skewed sharply. By the time it reached the wall, it had veered so far off course that it shot past White Paper Immortal City and vanished into the horizon.
The violent collision of staff and spear blasted apart the surrounding Yin Energy, drawing the attention of many cultivators.
Qingchi, however, continued slaughtering without pause.
Qingyan, who had been guarding her side, nervously scanned the skies.
The Flying Spear Ghost General’s pupils shrank. He used his final Military Command Token, infusing it into a third spear.
His throwing motion was faster than before.
Again, it targeted Qingchi.
Yet before the spear could travel even one li, it mysteriously vanished midair—
As though it had never existed.
Shock filled the Flying Spear Ghost General’s face.
Three spears, no kill. He returned uneasily to report.
Within the tent, the atmosphere had changed.
The Vanguard General did not blame him. His expression remained cold. “White Paper Immortal City has received powerful reinforcements. You are pardoned this time.”
He dismissed the Ghost General perfunctorily, his focus fixed on the place where the third spear had vanished.
The bone staff’s appearance was one matter—but the disappearance of the third spear concerned him greatly.
It had happened too quickly for him to discern the cause.
The Dead Bone Colossus opened its mouth, releasing a torrent of deathly energy.
Tie Guzheng unfurled his iron fan, summoning a gale of steel.
The collision weakened the deathly wave by eighty percent, yet it still surged over the wall.
Tie Guzheng was blasted backward over a dozen steps, crashing into the gate tower.
Freed of obstruction, the Dead Bone Colossus bent low and rammed its shoulder into the wall.
The White Paper wall could not endure. Like a thick stack of paper severely twisted, it bulged inward drastically.
The sight chilled every cultivator who witnessed it.
The Dead Bone Colossus withdrew, preparing for a second charge.
“No!”
Cultivators attacked frantically, but their strikes inflicted negligible damage.
At the critical moment, a calligraphy scroll appeared above the colossus, fully unfurled to reveal a large character: Suppress.
The character detached from the scroll and imprinted itself upon the colossus’s forehead.
Its aura, battle power, and speed plummeted instantly, as if a mountain had been placed upon its shoulders.
The bone staff reappeared behind it.
It expanded rapidly, becoming taller than the wall and thicker than a main pillar.
Bang, bang, bang.
Each strike shattered vast quantities of bone. The third blow crushed its spine, folding it in half and paralyzing it completely.
Tie Guzheng and the others rejoiced, knowing powerful reinforcements had arrived.
The staff shrank, landing in the hands of a gray-robed cultivator.
He wore a white bone mask. His eye sockets were hollow, containing only two blue ghost flames. He was Daoist Bone Tomb of the Soul-Devouring Sect.
Near the blank scroll, another cultivator appeared.
Lean-faced, with three long strands of beard and eyes sharp as lightning, bearing a scholarly aura—this was Zhou Wenyan of the Complete Book Tower.
The third appeared directly beside Qingchi.
Clad in dark-cyan Daoist robes, tall as a pine, hands clasped behind his back, he stood proudly atop the wall.
“Ghastly fiends dare invade my Immortal City!”
His face was jade-like, a vertical seam closed upon his forehead. His eyes burned with undisguised contempt and fury.
Superior Innate Talent—Looking Down on Everything!
The next instant, the vertical seam on his forehead split open, revealing a single upright eye.
White light burst forth—pure, domineering, majestic.
Wherever the light shone, all was erased. Every ghost met calamity; the only difference was how many breaths those with higher cultivation could resist before vanishing into nothingness.
With a sweep of his vertical eye, all ghosts along that section of wall were obliterated.
He turned his gaze left; ghosts and Yin Wind alike disappeared.
“Yang Sanyan of the Myriad Phenomena Sect’s Evil-Slaying Hall is here,” the young cultivator declared coldly, pride evident in his voice.
The cultivators on the wall stared in shock and reverence. Morale soared instantly.
Qingchi, so close to him, stared with curiosity.
Far away, the Vanguard General of the Yin Army pondered briefly before sighing. “Withdraw.”
These three were formidable, each at Golden Core level. Yang Sanyan was even more terrifying, displaying Nascent Soul–level might!
Yang Sanyan’s vertical eye closed. He turned slightly and extended his right hand, grabbing Qingchi without a word.
Her hairs stood on end. She instinctively retreated—
But his hand locked onto her shoulder.
“Little ghost girl of the Ghost Race, do not run about!”
Qingyan was horrified and immediately knelt, indicating they were allies.
Yang Sanyan snorted. “If not, you would already be dead. My younger brother mentioned you in his letter—and someone named Jiao Ma.”
“He told me he had pledged allegiance to Jiao Ma.”
“Now he is dead!”
“How did Jiao Ma protect him? You are closely related to him—go summon him. He must bear heavy responsibility for my brother’s death!”
Qingchi struggled, but even empowered by Military Force Reinforcement, she was utterly suppressed.
Qingyan gritted his teeth. “Please wait, sir. I will bring Young Master Jiao Ma at once.”
“Have him come pay respects immediately.” Yang Sanyan carried Qingchi away as if holding a kitten.
He seated himself grandly in the gate tower, tossing Qingchi at his feet.
Zhou Wenyan and Daoist Bone Tomb continued clearing the remaining ghosts.
Tie Guzheng offered thanks before coming to pay respects to Yang Sanyan.
“Useless. Go rectify the city defenses. Do not disturb me.”
Yang Sanyan refused to see him.
The one he wanted to see was Jiao Ma alone.
Soon, under Qingyan’s guidance, Ning Zhuo arrived at the gate tower.
Qingyan transmitted via spiritual sense, urging caution. “Jiao Ma, mind your attitude. Yang Sanyan is from the Myriad Phenomena Sect. His strength and status are extraordinary. More importantly, Qingchi is in his hands.”
“Hmph, you are Jiao Ma? Then you—” Yang Sanyan began coldly.
Boom!
Before he could finish, Ning Zhuo thrust both palms forward, directly overturning the entire gate tower.