Chapter 133: Vicious Ghosts and Monsters

Stepping into the town felt like entering a purgatory of the Asuras. Human corpses lay scattered everywhere, their internal organs hollowed out.

The ghost responsible was exceptionally ferocious, its mind apparently consumed entirely by slaughter.

However, the surrounding human corpses still needed to be dealt with. With a flick of Xu Cheng's empty hand, chains of nether flames materialized out of thin air, sweeping up the villagers' corpses and carrying them to the back mountain.

Channeling the Lesser Five Elements Creation Technique, a massive pit spontaneously formed in the clearing, into which all the villagers' bodies were placed.

Finally, he covered them with earth, forming a large burial mound.

At that moment, several ethereal phantoms manifested in the surroundings—ghosts of the deceased.

They did not speak; instead, they bowed deeply to Xu Cheng and, as if their worldly attachments had been resolved, departed toward the cycle of reincarnation.

This batch of souls entering reincarnation bestowed upon Xu Cheng a considerable amount of meritorious golden light, though he was currently in no mood to examine it.

Xu Cheng spoke softly to the earthen mound before him: "Leave your unfulfilled wishes to me! Rest in peace and depart!"

Several more phantoms appeared, returning once again to the cycle of reincarnation.

With a low hum, several black spikes abruptly burst forth from the ground beneath Xu Cheng's feet.

Swiveling his body, Xu Cheng violently leaped into the air, dodging the black spikes, and caught sight of a massive figure in mid-air.

It was a monster over a zhang in height. The creature seemed to combine the traits of multiple beasts: its face resembled a snake's and was covered in scales, its hands ended in sharp claws like an eagle's, its arched body mirrored a leopard's, and its hind legs were shaped like a hound's, making it supremely adapted for sprinting.

"So you're a cultivator! No wonder you dared to speak so arrogantly about fulfilling their final wishes!"

The monster roared, its crimson eyes filled with unmitigated violence.

It was clear that the creature before him was the monster responsible for the massacre in Zhuangye Town. Xu Cheng continued coldly, "Enough talk! Let our actions speak for themselves!"

"My thoughts exactly!"

The monster muttered in a low voice, its body instantly dissolving into a blur before reappearing behind Xu Cheng the very next moment.

Sensing the fierce wind at the back of his head, Xu Cheng conjured several chains of nether flames behind him to block the creature's sharp claws, and then flashed away instantly.

Having advanced to the Pure Yang Divine Spirit realm, Xu Cheng possessed a true intuitive awareness—not a single breath of wind or rustle of grass could escape his notice, every subtle movement clearly imprinted upon his heart.

Seeing its attack blocked, the monster did not press the assault immediately. Looking at Xu Cheng, who had reappeared a short distance away, it remarked, "You're a bit tricky, aren't you?"

"Too much talk!"

Xu Cheng barked coldly. The chains of nether flames that had previously blocked the monster's ambush had not yet dissipated; seizing the opportunity, they grew wildly, twisting toward the opponent like climbing vines.

A series of sharp snapping sounds echoed. In the blink of an eye, the monster was bound like a tight rice dumpling, while the chains of nether flames continued to tighten incessantly. Yet, knowing that these chains alone could hardly crush a creature that had presumably undergone a baptism of heavenly lightning, Xu Cheng's hand instantly materialized a long spear.

"Ahhh! You've angered me!" The monster, originally slightly over three zhang tall, instantly expanded in size, growing to more than ten zhang tall within moments. "You little ant are truly formidable!"

The contrast between the ten-zhang-tall monster and Xu Cheng, who was the size of an ordinary man, was truly stark.

While the monster was still speaking, Xu Cheng hurled the long spear forward. Like a shooting star tearing through the sky, it pierced directly toward the monster's head.

"Such petty tricks are not worth mentioning! Go to hell!"

However, the hellish spear was simply batted away by the monster, failing to inflict any substantial injury, as its eagle-like claws descended upon Xu Cheng with the crushing force of Mount Tai.

Just as he was about to be driven into the ground, Xu Cheng fused with his divine spirit avatar, instantly forming a ten-zhang-tall white skeletal frame in place. Not only did it bat away the creature's giant claws, but the sheer impact also forced the monster to stagger back five paces.

"How about this then?"

The skeleton's jaws opened and closed as it spoke, immediately manifesting another hellish spear in its grasp. This time, however, the spear was vastly larger, covered in red purgatory flame patterns and radiating an aura of death and scorching heat.

The monster ceased speaking. Staring with its two massive, crimson eyes, it now appeared exceptionally serious. Initially, it had assumed it could easily dispatch its opponent, never expecting Xu Cheng to be so formidable.

The physique of the monster before him was not formed by the fusion of a divine spirit avatar, but rather by reinforcing its physical body through spells—a difference as vast as heaven and earth compared to Xu Cheng's divine spirit avatar.

"Die for me!"

The monster threw a punch so ferocious that it seemed to freeze the surrounding air.

Never having encountered such spellcraft before, Xu Cheng wanted to test the true destructive power of this physical strength. Deciding to meet the punch head-on, he stood his ground without moving an inch.

Seeing this, the smile on the monster's face grew increasingly ferocious as its fist collided with Xu Cheng's divine spirit avatar.

The creature's strength erupted abruptly, genuinely carrying an aura reminiscent of splitting the heavens and earth.

Following the impact, Xu Cheng's skeletal head shattered, and he staggered backward several paces.

Feeling a pulverized black hollow on the side of his face, Xu Cheng muttered resentfully, "A gentleman hits not the face! Since you struck my face, it's my turn now!"

Even as he spoke, the hole in his cheek healed at a miraculous speed.

"What kind of logic is that?" The monster never expected that a punch it took such pride in would cause so little damage to its opponent, leaving it somewhat doubtful of its own strength.

"Black Dragon Seal!"

The Black Dragon Seal unleashed by the divine spirit avatar was vastly different from before. Several chains of nether flames, each as thick as a centenarian tree, plunged deep into the earth. Under Xu Cheng's pull, a massive black dragon head emerged. Even standing atop the dragon's head, Xu Cheng's ten-plus-zhang-tall divine spirit avatar felt quite spacious, giving a sense of just how colossal the entire black dragon was.

As the black dragon manifested, it summoned rolling waves of black water from the River of Forgetfulness.

When it soared into the mid-air, a shower of black droplets began to rain down from nothingness.

The black water of the River of Forgetfulness was fatal to ghosts and spirits. Had its cultivation been deeper, it might have resisted. But now, black smoke continuously billowed from the creature's body as it seemingly forgot many things—forgetting why it fought, why it had appeared here—and stood foolishly in place, utterly motionless.

A surge of elation rose in Xu Cheng's heart. Controlling the black dragon beneath him, he lunged down fiercely toward the creature below.

The black dragon's jaws opened wide, swallowing the monster whole before plunging directly into the depths of the earth.

Everything returned to peace once more. Xu Cheng dismissed his divine spirit avatar, returning to his original human form. As he sent the monster off into the cycle of reincarnation, a massive torrent of meritorious golden light descended from the Yellow Springs, amounting to roughly one hundred thousand in number.

He had never imagined that a ghost which had undergone a baptism of heavenly lightning would be dealt with so easily, and he was instantly overwhelmed with secret delight.

"To cultivate neither divine spirit nor spellcraft is to fetch water with a bamboo basket—all in vain! It was only fitting that he was destroyed by you like this, but who would have thought that you were still alive!"

A voice drifted into Xu Cheng's ears. It sounded somewhat familiar, yet he could not immediately place the speaker!

"Who are you? Stop hiding in the shadows!"

Xu Cheng shouted toward the surrounding space.

"Heh heh heh..."

Wisps of black smoke gathered together, gradually forming a human shape.

When the figure's face became completely clear and his aura was sensed, Xu Cheng's eyes widened in shock. He truly recognized the person before him; strictly speaking, there was a deep-seated grievance between them, yet since the intruder had not yet attacked, he dared not act rashly for the moment.