An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 340 The Birth of the Ghost King
The ghostly inheritance of the Supreme Demon Lord lineage is called the "Scripture of the Demon-Slaying Yama".

This lineage possesses three incredible powers, namely:

[Suppressing Ghosts] Greatly enhances the ability to suppress ghosts.

【Soul Devourer】can devour souls and quickly increase the strength of one's own soul.

And finally:

【Yama】transforms the mortal world into hell, and his own soul descends as Yama, possessing the authority to control life and death.

The three soul inheritances in the demonic path each have their own emphasis.

The lineage of innate gods and demons emphasizes the "quality" of the soul.

After cultivating to the extreme, the soul can evolve into the primordial spirit ahead of schedule.

Furthermore, this primordial spirit is not the primordial spirit used by Nascent Soul cultivators specifically to sense the Heavenly Dao.

The primordial spirit is the foundation of a cultivator's life. Except for a few cultivators who practice divine powers such as divine fusion flying swords, it is almost never directly used in battle.

The lineage of gods and demons originates from the ancient cultivators who practiced the "divine way." The soul body they condensed is a primordial spirit that transcends the physical body, is dedicated to combat, and possesses boundless power and is immortal and indestructible!
The lineage of the Demon Lord Duobao emphasizes the "abundance" of the soul!
In the later stages of cultivation, one can divide one's thoughts into thousands, manipulate thousands of magical treasures to fight enemies simultaneously, and even set up a sword formation spanning millions of miles on one's own!

As for the cultivation path of the Supreme Demon Lord, it focuses on the "fierceness" of the soul!
It is similar to the primordial spirit cultivated by innate gods and demons, whose soul itself has extremely strong combat capabilities. However, the difference is that the primordial spirit of innate gods and demons mainly manipulates the spiritual power of heaven and earth to fight enemies. It can be roughly regarded as an ordinary cultivator with enhanced spiritual power perception and control.

The Supreme Demon Lord's soul can directly transform into Yama, devouring souls! His true form is the most ferocious ghost in the world!
Furthermore, it can expand its domain and simultaneously strengthen the demon army within the Soul Banner!
In terms of the strength of the divine soul and the resistance to divine soul attacks, the Supreme Demon Lord's divine soul is also superior. In fact, ordinary mental attacks would be directly countered by the Supreme Demon Lord's ferocity!
It can be said that even without mentioning the boost to the ghost army, given that Chu Xiu chose to retain his physical body and already possessed sufficient physical combat power, this lineage of cultivation was more suitable for him!
However, Chu Xiu was not in a hurry to start cultivating.

Before that, he had one more thing to do.

With a thought, the Soul Banner appeared in Chu Xiu's hand.

Compared to twenty days ago, the Soul Banner has undergone tremendous changes.

If the Soul Banner was crystal clear and full of mystical power before, then now it was as if it had been soaked in ink. A dense aura of malevolence rushed over. Chu Xiu could clearly feel that countless powerful and ferocious ghosts were howling in the Soul Banner, trying to break through its confinement!

"The capacity of the Soul Banner is almost at its limit."

Over the past twenty days, although Chu Xiu has not been refining with all his might, with the strength of his current soul, even if he only spares a wisp of his mind to activate [Perfect Refinement], the effect would be incredible.

In twenty days, they successfully digested more than half of the souls they had acquired.

With only a little over half consumed, Chu Xiu's ghost army had expanded at least three times! The number of high-level ghost generals reached a full eighty-four! The number of ordinary ghost generals even exceeded five hundred!

On the contrary, the number of vengeful ghosts is somewhat lagging behind.

There's no way around it, the quality of this batch of souls is just too high. They're all at least at the general rank, and there are even quite a few king-rank and heroic spirits!

Even now, about 40% remains unrefined!

"It's time to refine the Ghost King."

This was already part of Chu Xiu's plan, so he didn't hesitate at all and directly invested a large number of karma points into the [Ten Thousand Ghosts Raising Gu Technique]!
This is the core inheritance of the Supreme Demon Lord lineage, but Chu Xiu had not studied it before.

At this moment, with the influx of a large number of causal points, countless pieces of knowledge and experience rapidly emerged in Chu Xiu's mind!
[Consuming 687219 Karma Points, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Raising Gu Technique has reached its peak!]

Chu Xiu reached out and patted again, and a large amount of life energy surged out from the spiritual flesh storage pouch at his waist!

The twenty days of refining also greatly advanced the progress of the Purgatory Demon Corpse. Although it is not yet fully refined, it is only a matter of time.

This time, Chu Xiu collected an enormous number of corpses. After setting aside the ones reserved for the Hellfire Demon Corpse, the remaining flesh and blood were more than enough to refine the Ghost King!

As Chu Xiu continuously cast various spells, the [Perfect Refinement] technique was activated. The ghosts within the Soul Banner seemed to have been given a stimulant and began to stir. They then automatically divided into different areas and started fighting each other!

But this battle is not just a simple killing; it is a process of constantly fighting and getting injured, absorbing the almost endless life energy that permeates the entire Soul Banner, and evolving towards a higher level!
As the crimson color within the soul banner intensified, powerful auras rapidly rose forth!
"The [Ten Thousand Ghosts Raising Gu Method] is a legacy used to refine Ghost Kings. The birth of a Ghost King is extremely difficult, so theoretically, even if you use a full hundred high-level Ghost Generals to raise Gu, there is still a risk of failure!"

"but."

"The ghost within my soul banner has such immense potential!"

Ordinary demonic cultivators use a large number of low-level souls for refinement, gambling on the tiny probability of transformation with worthless trash!
In extreme cases, they might even massacre entire cities and destroy entire nations, using the souls of hundreds of millions of ordinary people to cultivate a vicious cycle of evil!

And what about Chu Xiu?

Damn, there are more than a dozen spirits at the Heroic Spirit level alone!
You should know that even the Ghost King you create is only at the Heroic Spirit level. You can kill more than a dozen of the same level, so why are you still creating Ghost Kings?

Not to mention, the life energy he provides is so vast that no demonic cultivator could even imagine!
In this situation, the probability of creating a Ghost King is almost—

It's a done deal!

Chu Xiu didn't have to wait long; in just one day, the Soul Banner was completed under the drive of [Perfect Refinement].

A terrifying aura, far surpassing any ghost and so powerful that even Chu Xiu felt his heart race, rose from the Soul Banner!
Chu Xiu opened his eyes, but before he could make any move, a ghostly claw suddenly shot out with lightning speed, grabbing straight at his chest!
"Oh?"

Chu Xiu's eyes lit up. Without dodging or flinching, he threw a punch as well!
"clang!!!"

With a loud bang, Chu Xiu felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand. Upon closer inspection, he saw five dark scratch marks that had appeared on the back of his hand at some point!

Although the scratches didn't break his skin, they left behind a large amount of venomous energy that was constantly corroding his skin!

"interesting."

Chu Xiu chuckled and looked up, only to see that a terrifying ghost had somehow escaped from the soul banner.

The ghost's body was incredibly solid. Although it was still in a soul form, it was like a physical entity, standing five meters tall. Its entire body was shrouded in a sinister, ink-like mist, revealing only a hideous face and long, narrow limbs.

As soon as it appeared, it jumped onto the stone wall of the cave, its pair of fierce and vicious eyes staring intently at Chu Xiu, as if it were about to pounce on him and devour him alive at any moment!

"Is this the Ghost King?"

Chu Xiu showed no fear on his face, but rather looked at the ghost with great interest.

The Ghost King is ferocious, and as a king, he possesses extremely strong pride and will not submit to anyone. Therefore, the first thing he did after his birth was to devour his master!
Throughout history, countless demonic cultivators have met a tragic end at the hands of the ghost kings they themselves created!

"The legends record the Ghost King's ferocity, and seeing it today, I can confirm that it lives up to its reputation." Although that grab just now did not cause any real harm to Chu Xiu, it was because he had already cultivated the ninth level of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Body.

Anyone else, even an awakened Heroic Spirit, would never have been able to withstand this attack so easily.

Furthermore, its speed is extremely fast, and its physical constitution after materialization is probably close to 40,000!

Furthermore, once a ghost reaches the Ghost King level, its intelligence is awakened, allowing it to seamlessly switch between its soul and physical form. Whether it's magic or close combat, it is extremely powerful!

"This newly born Demon King possesses combat power no weaker than that of an ordinary awakened Heroic Spirit, and is even stronger than an ordinary Horned Demon Heroic Spirit!"

"Once I continue to absorb soul fragments, completely stabilize my soul body, and become familiar with my physical body, my strength will increase by at least 50%!"

"And this is only the Ghost King's physical strength! The Ghost King's true power lies in uniting the entire ghost army!"

Just as Chu Xiu had this thought, the Ghost King suddenly let out a sharp shriek, and black mist surged out from his body!

The black mist spread extremely quickly, covering an area of ​​ten miles in an instant!

Within this black fog, all the flowers, plants, and trees withered, as if all their life force had been drained away!

Meanwhile, Chu Xiu's soul banner began to riot, with countless ghosts seemingly trying to break through the banner under the command of the Ghost King!

Chu Xiu wasn't in a hurry to use the restriction to subdue it. Instead, he raised his hand and waved it away, simply removing the restriction on the Soul Banner!

In an instant, a large number of ghosts surged out! These ghosts entered the black mist released by the Ghost King, just like ice melting into water. Their souls almost completely merged with the black mist. Chu Xiu could only feel the wailing and howling of ghosts coming from the black mist around him, but he could not detect any specific soul!

"As expected of the Ghost King!" Chu Xiu couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

This black mist is like a hellish inferno, a special realm!

The Hellfire Prison traded its ability to restrict entry and exit by giving up the domain's restrictions, in exchange for powerful Hellfire Divine Power. Similarly, the black mist before us does not prevent any object from entering or exiting, and in return, it has gained extremely terrifying power!

The ghosts dwelling within can draw an almost endless supply of energy from the mist! Not only does their combat power increase dramatically, but their injured souls can also recover rapidly!
Moreover, within the black mist, the ghosts' ability to conceal themselves is greatly enhanced, truly becoming invisible.

This is the power of a king! There's a qualitative difference between having a demon army with and without a demon king!

"Shh!"

Just as Chu Xiu was silently observing, a sharp claw suddenly appeared from within the black mist!
The black mist even had the ability to block detection. Chu Xiu's divine sense was compressed to a mere hundred meters within the black mist! Under the cover of the mist, he had no way to catch the Ghost King's trace. The claws were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he only had time to raise his hand to block!
"clang!!!"

With a loud bang, three shocking bloody scratches appeared on his arm!
But that wasn't all. Almost at the same time, three more different attacks came at him!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Chu Xiu neither dodged nor evaded, taking the three blows head-on. Instantly, he felt his blood and qi surge, and his body was shaken!

Chu Xiu's eyes revealed a look of surprise. He had clearly seen that the three who attacked him were only high-level ghost generals.

But their attacks were several times more powerful than usual!
"This should be the last effect of the domain, which is to quickly transfer the power between different ghosts, so that the power is concentrated on the ghost that launches the attack."

In this way, Chu Xiu also completely understood the Ghost King's power.

Within this domain, even a demigod would likely be unable to kill the Demon King in a short time! As for the Heroic Spirits, those who can withstand the ever-changing attacks for even half a minute without being torn apart are already considered among the strongest Heroic Spirits.

Of course, being powerful comes at a price. Maintaining this ghost mist domain is very costly. The Ghost King can only maintain it for a minute at most. If he wants to maintain it forcibly, he has to keep crushing the souls of his subordinate ghosts to replenish the ghost mist.

Legend has it that there is a creature called the Heavenly Ghost, which can form a ghostly mist domain spanning thousands of miles. Within this domain, even Nascent Soul cultivators are brutally slaughtered without any power to resist.

"I wonder if my ghost will ever have the chance to grow to that stage in the future."

Knowing what was going on, Chu Xiu wasted no time. He pointed his finger, and a red light appeared in the thick fog in the distance. The Ghost King let out a shrill scream, and his soul body fell to the ground as if it were bound by a dark red rope.

However, Chu Xiu decisively activated the restrictions on the Soul Banner.

However, just as Chu Xiu was about to put the Ghost King into the Soul Banner, the Ghost King, which was originally lying on the ground, suddenly let out a shriek that seemed to tear eardrums. With its shriek, the surrounding ghost mist surged wildly, and the restrictions on the Soul Banner became precarious under its influence!

Chu Xiu clicked his tongue lightly, and in a flash, he appeared in front of the Ghost King. The next instant, he threw a punch at the Ghost King without any fancy moves!

"boom!!!"

A tremendous explosion reverberated within the cave, instantly shattering a third of the Ghost King's soul, which was shrouded in mist. It screamed as it collapsed to the ground, its eerie green pupils devoid of ferocity and malice, replaced by fear and a sense of resentment.

It's as if it's saying, "If you were this strong, why didn't you say so sooner? If you had, I would have been defeated long ago!"

Standing there and letting me hit you, isn't that just fishing?!

Chu Xiu couldn't help but chuckle, and with a wave of his hand, he took the Ghost King and all the ghosts inside.

However, he could sense that even with his overwhelming power, the Ghost King had not completely submitted to him.

This is the arrogance of a king, and also the biggest difference between the Ghost King and other ghosts.

There are still quite a few ghost generals and high-ranking ghost generals accumulated in the Soul Banner.

After digesting the remaining divine soul, if all goes well, a second ghost king should be able to be born.

After subduing the domain demons in the Hundred Demon Furnace and killing the super-large demons, the abundant resources are enough to nurture a third demon king.

Simultaneously cultivating three Ghost Kings is extremely dangerous. When all three are present, the suppressive power of the Soul Banner will be dispersed, making it easy to trigger a riot.

Even though Chu Xiu had enough strength to ensure his own safety, he couldn't stop the three ghost kings from tearing open the soul banner and escaping.

Not to mention, with so many soul resources in the Hundred Ghosts Furnace, he will have more than three Ghost Kings in the future! He might even forge the most terrifying Heavenly Ghost.

To subdue them, one must transform one's own soul into an even more powerful, ferocious, and brutal king!
"In the 'Scripture of Subduing Ghosts and Slaughtering Souls,' subduing ghosts is placed first!"

Without further hesitation, he took out the remaining causal points and devoted them all to the cultivation of this inheritance!

(End of this chapter)