Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 180 Even Among Mortals There Are Ghost Kings
As Master Xiyun spoke, he pointed to a cemetery in front of him and used his magic to draw several golden lines on the paper in an instant.

Chen Ji had read books on battle formations.

At first glance, they looked somewhat recognizable, but gradually it became difficult to distinguish them once the gold threads were connected.

The same applies to the monk Zhenru.

Only Miss Bai frowned slightly, seemingly lost in thought.

However, Chen Ji did not rush to ask.

Since Master Xiyun has recognized this as an array, he will naturally provide an explanation later.

Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Master Xiyun stopped and looked at everyone.

"how?"

"Amitabha, this humble monk did not understand."

The monk Zhenru spoke the truth honestly.

Chen Ji shook his head.

"I've never seen such a complex formation before."

Miss Bai nodded.

"Fellow Daoist's skill in array formations is quite impressive. Even with arrays stacked together, you can still see them so clearly."

Master Xiyun laughed heartily.

"Senior Fox is indeed more knowledgeable."

He then looked at Chen Ji and the others.

"This is not a single formation, but more than ten formations stacked together. It's normal that you fellow Daoists don't understand it."

As he spoke, he waved his finger, and the golden lines he drew instantly split into more than ten independent formations.

"how is this possible?"

The monk's expression changed.

"Fellow Daoist, although I am not skilled in formations, I have heard other Daoists say that stacking formations doubles the difficulty. How could the Ghost King stack so many formations?"

Taoist Xiyun explained slowly.

"That's exactly how I described the Ghost King's cleverness."

“Ordinary formations cannot be like this, but the core and foundation of these formations are all graves.”

"Life and death, yin and yang converge in one place, naturally suitable for constructing formations."

"Moreover, there is also malevolent energy to harmonize and suppress it, which is why these formations can remain peaceful."

"Most importantly, these graves are not all on the same flat ground; they are scattered around."

As he spoke, he pointed.

The original gold threads all changed color, revealing themselves layer by layer.

"I see!"

Chen Ji and the monk Zhenru suddenly realized the truth.

After looking her over for a few moments, Miss Bai nodded slightly.

“Not bad. If your cultivation were to become even more advanced, you might have the chance to reach the same level as your master.”

"Senior Fox, you flatter me!"

Taoist Xiyun smiled and shook his head.

"I've only been immersed in this path for a longer time; how can I compare to my master?"

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to be so modest. Old Fellow Daoist specializes in the art of cooking. Although all methods ultimately lead to the same goal, when it comes to miscellaneous skills, I may not be as proficient as you."

"But with your cultivation level, fellow Daoist, if you don't choose a specialization, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to enter the path of a True Person."

Master Xiyun was taken aback. He immediately realized that Miss Bai was taking the opportunity to instruct him on his cultivation. He quickly bowed and paid his respects.

"Thanks for the advice, fellow Taoist."

"It's not really guidance, but a reminder to fellow Daoist not to waste your youth and be filled with regret later."

"..."

Master Xiyun remained silent for a few breaths, seemingly lost in thought, before bowing again.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Fox. I will keep it in mind."

Miss Bai waved her hand.

"Fellow Daoist, please continue."

"Yes."

Master Xiyun then looked at the formation and continued to explain.

"Although these formations are ingenious, they are just common formations that absorb yin energy, imprison the soul, and bewitch the mind."

"There are probably other formations in the areas you two didn't enter, and those might be the truly important ones."

As Master Xiyun was speaking, he suddenly thought of something.

"Did you two hear them discussing the training of the Yin soldiers in the mass grave?"

"I haven't heard of that."

"Then... if you two are still able to go in, could you inquire about this matter?"

Why do you ask this, fellow Daoist?

Chen Ji asked.

Daoist Xiyun sighed and spoke slowly.

"I just remembered that when I was with my master exorcising demons and catching ghosts, I also encountered a ghost king."

"However, it wasn't an escapee from the underworld, but rather a ghost king from the mortal realm."

"In the same way, it occupied a place where evil spirits gathered, absorbed the wandering souls and fierce ghosts in the surrounding area, and set up a similar formation."

"Although it doesn't follow the path of incense offerings, gathering hundreds of vengeful ghosts is enough to wreak havoc on the area."

“Fellow cultivators in the surrounding area have all gone to see it, but they didn’t expect that the Ghost King himself wasn’t that powerful.”

"But after setting up the formation with those fierce ghosts, their strength was close to that of a real person, and even we, working together, could not kill them."

"And then what? Fellow Daoists, even joining forces couldn't solve it. How did you manage to resolve it?"

Although Chen Ji had encountered trouble before when exorcising demons and catching ghosts, he had never encountered such trouble before, and he was also quite curious.

Taoist Xiyun shook his head.

"At that time, we had no choice but to rely on the Taoist priests of the Lingbao School, who performed rituals to invite the heavenly generals to descend to earth and fight against the Ghost King."

"Then they summoned underworld officials to arrest the ordinary evil spirits and break the formation, which finally broke the ghost realm. Unfortunately, the ghost king still managed to escape."

"They escaped? Even the gods and the underworld officials couldn't subdue the Ghost King?"

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's true."

Master Xiyun shook his head.

"The Taoist priests of the Lingbao Sect made hasty arrangements, and the divine generals they invited were not skilled in combat."

"Their strength is already diminished when they descend to the mortal realm, not to mention that the Ghost King has been cultivating for over a decade, has many formations, and has also trained Yin soldiers to form arrays."

"Even the divine general could barely protect himself; it was only when the underworld officials came up and took away the spirits that the formation could be broken."

"However, I heard that the divine general also paid a considerable price. He will not be able to perform miracles for the next ten years or so, and even the incense offerings will probably be affected."

"It's actually possible?"

Chen Ji was deeply moved.

"The gods couldn't even defeat the demon king of the mortal realm? This is different from the stories I've heard before."

"How should the story be told?"

"Naturally, there were demons and ghosts causing trouble in the area. The divine generals who were invited took action, and the demons and ghosts could not last a single exchange before they all vanished into thin air."

Taoist Xiyun laughed heartily.

"Fellow Daoist, a story is a story, it cannot be taken as fact."

"The so-called divine generals are nothing more than the divine positions that cultivators are granted after death. If they have high cultivation and are good at fighting, they will naturally have such methods."

"But if someone was already skilled in rituals and knew many ways to ward off disasters and misfortunes, they wouldn't immediately become proficient in combat techniques after becoming a divine general."

"How could such a divine general be invited? Could it be that the ritual was not explained clearly?"

Chen Ji asked in confusion.

He had also practiced exorcism techniques and knew the process of invoking deities.

If we were to explain the situation, there's no way we could possibly summon such a divine general.

"This is the relationship between the divine general and the divine general."

Master Xiyun also expressed some dissatisfaction when talking about this matter.

"It's also the fault of the Taoist priests of the Lingbao School for not explaining clearly. They only said that it was the work of evil spirits in the human world, and that the deity wanted to accumulate some merit to build a temple and open up incense offerings here."

"I thought that vengeful ghosts would be easy to deal with, but I didn't expect that they would be such a troublesome ghost king."

"Unfortunately, his expertise lies in medicine, and he had no way to deal with the Ghost King, which allowed the Ghost King to escape. Otherwise, he would have been unable to escape the punishment of the underworld."

"What about the Ghost King?"

Chen Ji asked subconsciously, but then realized that if Daoist Xiyun knew, he wouldn't have said he ran away.

As expected, Master Xiyun shook his head.

"That ghost king was skilled at concealing his presence, and we couldn't track him down at the time. We haven't heard from him since."

"When my master went down the mountain to catch ghosts later, he also paid attention to the whereabouts of this ghost king, but he was not careful."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ji suddenly seemed to realize something and blinked. "Fellow Daoist, do you suspect that the Ghost King is currently hiding in the mass grave?"

"That's true."

Taoist Xiyun nodded.

"That Ghost King is skilled at setting up formations and training Yin soldiers, so I made this guess when I heard from fellow Daoists that there are formations here, but I didn't see any other Ghost Queens."

"This place has been in operation for a hundred years. Under normal circumstances, there would be no ghost soldiers on guard around the perimeter."

"Unless they were training ghost soldiers inside and thus tightened their lines, you two fellow Daoists wouldn't have seen it."

The words fell,

The room fell silent.

If what Master Xiyun said is true...

The situation inside this chaotic graveyard is probably not optimistic.

The town's demons and ghosts say that the Purple Cloud Dragon King is connected to the Ghost King of this chaotic graveyard.

The Purple Cloud Dragon King attacked the Gate of Hell and abducted millions of souls more than half a month ago.

Even if only a million were placed in the mass graveyard to nurture corpses, after being cleansed by the evil energy for so long, there would still be over a hundred thousand vengeful ghosts.

The ghost king has trained his ghostly soldiers to form an array, and it is feared that without a true human being, they would be difficult to deal with.

Master Xiyun quickly waved his hand.

"Fellow Daoists, please do not be alarmed. This is just my speculation, and I do not know if it is true."

"If not, that would be even better."

"It's possible that there weren't that many vengeful ghosts on the mountain at all, and that the Ghost King absorbed them all."

"I hope so."

After a moment of silence, everyone spoke up, but the worry on their faces wouldn't go away.

If what Master Xiyun said is true, and the Ghost King on the mountain has such abilities, then eliminating the Ghost King would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

However, it was the Stone Mill Demon and Lady Hongci who stepped forward after hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist, do not panic. If this is the case, allow us to investigate for a few more days and report back immediately if we have any news."

"I'm afraid it won't be easy."

Chen Ji shook his head.

“You only went up the mountain today and can still find an excuse to come back, but I’m afraid it won’t be so easy later.”

"We'll figure something out."

"The stone mill demon said earnestly."

"To explain in detail, the Ghost King's subordinate violated my demon body, which is an irreconcilable enmity. Fellow Daoists, eliminating the Ghost King is also to avenge me, and we dare not be undeserving of our efforts."

"That's exactly right."

Madam Hongci looked at the group intently.

"I am merely a lucky earth spirit who survived by chance, and I am only able to live on thanks to your help, fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist, your purpose in seeking revenge, aside from the City God of the cemetery, is to avenge your family. Now that you have a need, how can I stand idly by?"

"Besides, we are ghosts, so it's not unusual for us to join in. It's much better than you going."

"If we can bring back even a little bit of information, it would be a contribution."

Having said that, the people in the room knew what to say.

That is indeed the case, both logically and emotionally.

The mass grave is now a ghost town; it would be best if we could find out the specifics.

However, it would be wrong to send the two fellow Daoists to their deaths because of this.

Chen Ji then recalled the question he hadn't been able to answer earlier.

"I haven't mentioned it yet, fellow Daoist, why didn't you return from Haoli?"

The stone mill demon sighed.

"It's not that I don't want to comply, but that I can't. The Yin energy in that chaotic graveyard is in complete disarray, and there are magic arrays on the ground, so I can't sense Haoli at all."

"Then you should not go, fellow Daoist. It is too dangerous to return from Haoli."

"It's alright. I am a demon, and I have some magical power. As long as I don't run into the Ghost King in person, there won't be any problems."

"Moreover, I am a stone demon, and my innate ability to burrow into the earth and rocks to escape is still intact. If you have any escape talismans, please give me a few."

"There is indeed something you can use."

I previously obtained the Jade Horse Talisman from the Dream Eater.

Apart from exchanging information with the Spectral Sparrow in town earlier, no new paintings have been drawn since.

It would be perfect to give it to the Stone Mill Demon and his companions now.

"Fellow Daoist, may I borrow some paper and ink? I need to draw a few Yin-Yang talismans."

Upon hearing this, Master Xiyun took out yellow paper and pine ink and handed it over.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked if he could observe the drawing process of underworld talismans.

"Naturally, although this talisman is a Yin-Yang talisman, it is not exclusive to the Yin-Yang realm. It was taught to me by the Dream Eater."

"I see!"

Master Xiyun had dealt with Master Ding's affairs with Chen Ji and was also aware of the existence of the Dream Eater.

Hearing Chen Ji mention it now, it felt somewhat familiar.

As they were talking, Chen Ji had already begun drawing.

Although this was my first time drawing it, I had already drawn it many times in my mind before.

In addition, having drawn many other talismans before, he did not feel awkward when writing this time, and it was almost drawn in one stroke.

The demons and ghosts watching from the sidelines found it all a pleasure.

With just a few strokes, a black talisman appeared on the table.

After Chen Ji finished reciting the incantation, he pointed at the talisman, and a flash of light appeared.

The others looked at the talisman and vaguely saw an illusion of a galloping talisman flash across it, causing them to open their mouths wide involuntarily.

"This talisman actually came to life?"

Master Xiyun was stunned for a moment before shaking his head repeatedly to explain to them.

"It's not that it's alive, but rather that your talisman-drawing skills are extraordinary, imbuing the talisman with spirituality."

"This talisman is probably much more effective than the ordinary Jiama talisman."

"If you were to use this technique, your movements would be much faster."

"So good!"

The stone mill demon laughed heartily and accepted the talisman.

"If there are any more talismans like this, the more the better."

"I also want one for observation and learning."

Master Xiyun seized the opportunity to speak.

"How about I take one too?"

The monk Zhenru smiled and clasped his hands in greeting.

Seeing that they all came to ask for them, Chen Ji was somewhat amused and exasperated, but considering that these were talismans for self-defense, he figured it was indeed worth preparing some.

So he asked them to wait a moment, then took out the yellow paper, dipped it in ink, and began to draw.

In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had already drawn several more pictures.

After handing it over to them, I still gave them careful instructions.

"This talisman was drawn according to the customs of the underworld officials. It may be safe for you two to use, but people should be careful when using it."

"If there's no rush, we can try it out another day."

"Alright."

Master Xiyun slowly folded the talisman and nodded in agreement.

Chen Ji then explained to the Stone Mill Demon and the others how to use the talisman.

Only then did he hand it over to them, instructing them to be careful in everything.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist. If nothing unexpected happens, we will find a way to send a reply in two or three days, or five or six days at most. We will discuss it then."

"Thank you for your trouble, fellow Daoist!"

Everyone bowed in farewell, as if to send off the two ghosts.

"Let's go!"

After returning the greetings with Lady Hongci, the Stone Mill Demon instantly sank into the wormwood and returned to the chaotic graveyard in a ghostly manner.

Chen Ji and the others only looked back at the formation on the mountain after they sensed the aura of the departing figures.

"I hope everything goes well for them."

"Most definitely."

"But we also need to do something else."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and looked at Miss Bai.

"Miss Bai previously mentioned having methods to deal with the Ghost King; now you should be able to share some of them, right?"

(End of this chapter)