SIZZLE! SIZZLE! SIZZZLE!
Golden threads crisscrossed the air. Wherever they passed, the Evil Spirits looked as if they had been lashed by a flaming whip. When a thread struck a blood-striped area, a deep burn mark would appear, causing the creature's movements to stiffen. But if it swept across an area without blood stripes, the Golden Fire thread would sever the Evil Spirit's limb outright!
But the truly terrifying part wasn't the Golden Fire threads generated from his Force—it was Zhao Xuanqi's hands!
Slicing!!
As his palms swept by, the lolling tongues of the three blood-striped Formless Yin Spirits were all severed, evaporating into Yin Qi. A Four-armed Yaksha tried to block with its two blood-striped arms, only for both to be sliced clean off. The Blood-striped Cyan-faced Ghost was struck in the neck by one of Zhao Xuanqi's sweeps, and amid a fierce sizzling sound, its large head flew high into the air.
Light, elegant, and beautiful, yet unbelievably deadly. While the onlookers marveled at the sight, they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines.
This was a completely different expression of power from Zhao Xuanqi's previous, savage fighting style. It was hard to imagine two such diametrically opposed styles embodied in the same person.
Golden Fire Sparrow Dance!!
Zhao Xuanqi was like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep. In just a few breaths, nearly half of the Evil Spirits were torn to pieces, their severed limbs sent flying through the air.
By now, the others had finished inscribing their Techniques and joined the battle. The pace of clearing out the Evil Spirits immediately quickened. Even though the Evil Spirits were stronger this time, the group was now eliminating them faster than they could swarm in.
However, this was also because the group had already eliminated the guardian Evil Spirit of this street. If the Shadow Puppet Stage—with its newly increased power—were still present, it was hard to say whether they could have achieved such a victory.
Meanwhile, in other districts of the Ghost City, not everyone was in as good a position as Zhao Xuanqi's group.
Most disciples from the various sects had only just entered the Ghost City and hadn't yet grasped the situation when the Night Parade of Hundred Demons descended upon them. Caught off guard and besieged by countless Evil Spirits, they immediately began to suffer casualties.
Within a certain district, Chi Li of the Yin Mountain Sect was being besieged by a group of Evil Spirits.
His body was nimble, and he dodged continuously. He didn't counterattack right away; instead, he began to inscribe a Technique onto his face.
The patterns of this Technique resembled a theatrical mask. Once complete, it made Chi Li's face appear subtly ferocious and terrifying—so fiendish and malevolent that his visage alone seemed capable of intimidating Evil Spirits.
"Red General, descend upon me!!"
Once the blood-red Technique was drawn on his face, Chi Li let out a low shout. Blood Qi erupted from his body as a faint spiritual essence—intertwined and condensed with his body's Primordial Qi—surfaced and formed a deep connection with his very life force.
The Yin Mountain Sect's Spirit Capturing Technique.
One of the Three Generals: the Red General's Split Soul!!
THUMP! THUMP!
His muscles suddenly knotted and swelled, his bones cracked, and his frame grew taller inch by inch. It was as if he had transformed into a different person entirely.
The Blood Qi condensed into a red light that enveloped his body, vaguely forming the image of a divine idol.
His face grew vicious, a ferocious light glinting in his eyes.
This power of physical transformation seemed to be no less potent than the first gate of Zhao Xuanqi's Dragon Gate Secret Technique.
The next moment.
BOOM!!
Chi Li stopped dodging and took a sudden step forward. His frame, now nearly two meters tall, burst forward with astonishing speed.
He shaped his palm into a claw, red light condensing at his fingertips to form what looked like sharp spikes.
CRACK!!
His massive, transformed hand clamped down on the head of a Demon Ghost, his five fingers piercing deep into its skull.
Then, with a burst of power from his palm, he squeezed.
SPLAT!!
Red light erupted, and the Demon Ghost's blood-striped head burst open like a watermelon.
Just then, the surrounding Evil Spirits swarmed him, pouncing from all directions. Enemies were everywhere.
Chi Li's expression was fearless. He squatted slightly, twisted at the waist, and brought his arms around. In a sudden spin, he whipped his arms outward.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Red light exploded outward. The Evil Spirits caught in his sweep were sent flying like broken ragdolls, some of their bodies even bursting and contorting in mid-air.
Such brutal methods were absurdly ferocious.
The Three Generals were the Yin Mountain Sect's three most powerful offensive Spirit Bodies, and also the sect's most important Supreme Treasures. Their baleful might could strike fear into Ghost Gods and suppress all forms of evil.
These three great Spirit Bodies were passed down through generations, but those who could master them were few and far between.
And Chi Li was one of the rare few who could master a General's Split Soul. The one he mastered, moreover, was the most ferocious and brutal of the three: the Red General.
Once the General descended upon him, his killing prowess was enough to make even Evil Spirits tremble in fear.
'This must be the so-called Night Parade of Hundred Demons? According to our intelligence, this is only supposed to happen at the very end of each Ghost City incident. But we've run into it the moment we entered. Has there been some kind of unforeseen change, or was the intel fake and meant to deliberately mislead us?'
Chi Li mused to himself amidst the slaughter.
"AHH!!"
Just then, he heard a sudden scream from a distance. It sounded like a civilian who had been swept into the Ghost City was being attacked somewhere in the same district.
'Can't worry about all that now. Saving them comes first.'
Chi Li's expression turned fierce as he glared at the Evil Spirits that were continuously swarming him.
'Damned phantoms!!'
The next moment.
ROAR!
He stomped the ground, threw his head back, and let out a long howl. Red light burst from his body, spreading out more than ten meters in every direction. Caught in the sonic wave, the attacking Evil Spirits froze in place, seemingly overcome with intense fear.
Red General: Earth Store's Cry!!
This Technique could instill a sense of fear in Evil Spirits, making them afraid to come any closer!
Taking advantage of the brief moment the Technique was in effect, Chi Li's figure flickered. He leaped out of the encirclement of Evil Spirits and dashed toward the direction of the scream.
「Elsewhere, on Tea Fragrance Street.」
Within the district, countless Evil Spirits swarmed together, roaring and howling madly. But a single figure weaved continuously through their midst. No matter how fast the Evil Spirits were, or how cunning their attacks, they couldn't land a single blow on this figure.
He passed through a field of a thousand flowers, yet not a single petal touched him.
Using a ghostly Stepping Technique and constantly shifting Techniques, this figure was leading the Evil Spirits from half the district on a wild chase. It wasn't until the district's guardian, a Flying Yaksha, joined the battle that he finally began to feel the pressure.
'I haven't even met any pretty ladies yet, and I've already got all these ghouls on my tail. Such awful luck.'
'To run into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons the moment I got in... is the intel bad? These things really aren't easy to deal with, especially that Flying Yaksha. It repeatedly sees through my Escape Techniques and remains unaffected. What a troublesome creature.'
'Still, I've been leading these things on a chase for so long that it should've been enough time for my allies in this district to get away, right? I wonder how long the Night Parade of Hundred Demons will last. If it keeps up for a long time, that'll be trouble. I'll be worn down to death for sure.'
'Whatever. I should find a way to contact the others first, gather everyone together, and then we'll come up with a plan.'
This figure was none other than the son of the Five Elements Gang's Big Master, Pu Xiangrong.
This man's talent was extraordinary. For an ordinary person cultivating the Five Elements Escape Techniques, mastering even one path was incredibly difficult. Yet he was a rare genius capable of cultivating all five elements at once. If he focused his mind entirely on cultivation, his current realm and strength would likely be on another level.
Even so, by constantly combining the Five Elements Escape Techniques, the resulting effects still made his movements incredibly bizarre and unpredictable, leaving him almost impossible to track.
When it came to Body Techniques for evasion, he was undoubtedly the strongest among the younger generation of the Five Sects.
'In this Ghost City, I'm probably the only one who can manage to contact everyone else under these circumstances, right?'
The corners of Pu Xiangrong's mouth curled into a slight smile. He then used two fingers to rapidly inscribe patterns on his arms; astonishingly, each finger was drawing a completely different set of Technique patterns.
SWISH!!
His figure suddenly blurred. Even under the light of the Blood Moon, the surrounding Evil Spirits instantly lost all trace of his aura.
The next moment, his aura reappeared dozens of meters away. Having shaken off the pursuing Evil Spirits, he rushed out of the district.