Ascension Day

The White-robed Nuo Immortal stood behind the temple gate. With a light wave of his hand or a slight point of his finger, a series of terrifying Divine Powers shot out from the Waterfall, striking the two experts until they coughed up blood and were forced to retreat.

Suddenly, a shockwave from a Divine Power descended from the sky, striking the giant rock where Xu Ying and his companion were with a sharp CLANG. A corner of the boulder was instantly sheared off, flying up into the sky.

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi stared in a daze as the boulder beneath their feet suddenly began to plummet toward the ground.

They were still several miles from the ground. At this speed, they would absolutely be smashed to smithereens!

Xu Ying hurriedly leapt from the boulder, shouting, "Yuan Qi, wait for me at the temple gate!"

Yuan Qi’s body, which was over a hundred feet long, coiled around the boulder, trembling uncontrollably. He watched as the rock fell for over a thousand feet before its descent gradually slowed, and he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

He looked up to see the sky filled with lightning and thunder, churning like a raging flood—it was the Abnormal Phenomenon caused by the Divine Powers of the White-robed Nuo Immortal, Inspector Zhou Heng, and Magistrate Ling!

In this chaotic space, a tiny figure could be faintly seen riding a large, ancient bronze bell, weaving through the lightning. Then, a torrential wave rolled in, sweeping both the rider and the bell away to an unknown destination.

’Ying will be fine,’ Yuan Qi thought. ’Fortune favors the blessed.’

Riding the bell onward through the violent storm and floodwaters, Xu Ying was tossed about like a small boat on a stormy sea. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck, hitting the great bell’s Bell Wall squarely.

The great bell rang out with a loud DONG! Countless complex and mystical patterns materialized on its Bell Wall, forming a thick barrier of light. It spun with a low hum, deflecting the surrounding shockwaves from the Divine Powers!

The great bell unleashed its power, but the strike was so powerful it lost stability, sending it tumbling end over end with Xu Ying and crashing into the side of an Immortal Mountain.

A huge swathe of the mountain forest was instantly flattened. The Copper Bell then bounced up and crashed down again, its tolling—DONG! DONG! DONG!—echoing through the valley. It startled the awakened Divine Statues in the mountains, who all raised their heads to look toward the sound.

Xu Ying staggered to his feet, his entire body screaming in pain. Beside him, the great bell was smoldering, the intricate patterns on its surface a chaotic mess.

Suddenly, a tremor and a roar tore through the mountain forest—powerful experts were clashing. Xu Ying stealthily made his way closer, hiding behind a large rock to peek. His heart skipped a beat.

He saw a Ghost-Faced God swing its sword, decapitating a Violent Ape!

The Violent Ape’s headless body rapidly shrank, transforming into a middle-aged man. Its head rolled aside, the ape-like features reverting to a normal human face, its eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.

’Yongzhou’s Military Legal Advisor, Zhou Zheng!’ Xu Ying thought, his heart pounding violently from behind the rock.

’Zhou Zheng’s power was extraordinary. To think that even someone like him would die at the hands of that Ghost-Faced God... It’s terrifying to imagine how powerful that creature must be!’

The Ghost-Faced God suddenly turned its head, its piercing gaze sweeping in his direction.

Xu Ying quickly ducked his head back behind the rock.

Da Zhong said urgently, "Ying, this is bad! That Ghost-Faced God is coming over!"

The sound of heavy footsteps came from the other side of the rock. Clearly, the Ghost-Faced God had detected his presence!

Xu Ying suppressed his frantic heartbeat. "Lord Zhong," he said, "you nourish a bell for a thousand days to use it for a single moment! Can you be as mighty as you were before?"

"Nourish my ass!"

Da Zhong cursed, fuming, "If you’d actually nourished me for a thousand days, Lord Zhong could’ve smashed ten of those Ghost-Faced Gods! The problem is, you haven’t! This thing is way stronger than a City God. I’m no match for it right now!"

Cold sweat dripped down Xu Ying’s forehead. "What about running?"

"We definitely can’t outrun it!"

...

The Ghost-Faced God vaguely heard voices from behind the rock. It stalked over, its face a mask of savagery, and abruptly peered around the edge, its vicious expression on full display.

When it saw the "person" hiding behind the rock, it froze for a moment. It let out a dissatisfied roar, but its killing intent gradually faded.

There was no person behind the rock. Instead, a Wuchang Ghost God over ten feet tall was cowering there.

The Wuchang Ghost was skeletally thin, its face a ghastly, bloodless white. A long, scarlet tongue dangled from its mouth.

Wuchang are common Ghost Gods in the Underworld, so the Ghost-Faced God was no stranger to them. It was just that this particular one seemed exceptionally thin, as if malnourished. It also appeared pathetically timid, cowering and trembling behind the rock.

The Ghost-Faced God said to the Wuchang Ghost, "Ha hu hu lu (Take this)!" With that, it handed a blood-soaked cloth bag to the ghost.

The Wuchang Ghost nodded eagerly, reaching out to accept the bag. It had been looted from Zhou Zheng’s corpse.

The Ghost-Faced God walked ahead and said without turning back, "Bo ye hu lu (Follow me)!"

The Wuchang Ghost was quite obedient, stumbling along behind it.

Suddenly, the Ghost-Faced God, bristling with killing intent, lunged forward. The Wuchang Ghost quickly peeked out and saw dozens of disciples from various Jianghu Sects surrounding another Divine Spirit. That one had the head of an ox and the body of a man; it was covered in wounds and in grave danger.

However, with the absurdly powerful Ghost-Faced God joining the fight, the dozens of Nuo Masters were quickly slaughtered to the last man.

Covered in blood, the Ghost-Faced God beckoned to the Wuchang Ghost.

The Wuchang Ghost obediently walked over, clutching the cloth bag.

The other one, the Ox-Headed Divine Spirit, carefully plucked two Ten Thousand Spirits Pills from the pool of blood and said to the Wuchang Ghost, "Sou ha hu lu (Open up)!"

The Wuchang Ghost hurriedly opened the bag. The Ox-Headed Divine Spirit placed the Ten Thousand Spirits Pills inside and said to the Ghost-Faced God, "Bo se bo se hu lu (This kid looks shifty)!"

The Ghost-Faced God replied, "Hong bo dan hu lu (Just a coward)!"

The Ox-Headed Divine Spirit wheezed with laughter and reached out to give the Wuchang Ghost’s long tongue a tug.

Xu Ying nearly cried out. The Wuchang Ghost was, of course, him.

Trapped behind the rock with no way to retreat, he had a flash of inspiration and put on the Inconstancy Mask.

It was Xu Ying’s first time wearing this kind of Nuo Master’s Magical Treasure. He had no idea if it would actually transform him into a Wuchang Ghost, but thankfully, the moment the mask touched his face, he changed into an Underworld Ghost God and managed to fool them.

Strangely, after putting on the mask and becoming a Wuchang Ghost, he found he could intuitively understand the words of the two Ghost Gods, making sense of their long-winded gibberish.

But when the Ox-Headed Divine Spirit tugged his tongue, it nearly pulled the Inconstancy Mask off, scaring him so badly he almost ran for his life.

The Ox-Headed Divine Spirit let go of his tongue. The two towering Divine Spirits walked shoulder to shoulder, sandwiching Xu Ying between them as they headed for the mountaintop.

Da Zhong’s voice echoed in Xu Ying’s mind, full of worry. "Ying, how long can this mask hold out? What if there’s a time limit..."

"Then we’re dead for sure," Xu Ying whispered.

The Ox-Headed Divine Spirit and the Ghost-Faced God both whipped their heads around to look at him, their expressions suspicious. They had clearly heard his voice.

Xu Ying remained calm and said, "Bo ha bo ha, na mo bo ha (I’m newly dead, so I still speak human)!"

The two Ghost Gods’ suspicions were allayed, and they continued up the mountain.

Sandwiched between them, Xu Ying secretly opened the bag to peek inside. His heart pounded wildly. There were seven or eight Ten Thousand Spirits Pills in the bag! He figured some of them must have been collected by Zhou Zheng.

They arrived before another altar, where the Ghost-Faced God opened its mouth and spat out several souls for the Divine Statue there to absorb.

The Divine Statue awakened, exchanged a few words with them in that guttural tongue, and joined their procession.

As they went, the Ghost-Faced God revived one Divine Statue after another. Soon, Xu Ying was accompanied by thirteen additional Divine Spirits. Besides the ones they awakened, other Divine Spirits also arrived from different Immortal Mountains.

Though Xu Ying’s Wuchang Ghost form was over ten feet tall, he was still a pipsqueak compared to these Divine Spirits. Standing among the crowd of gods who were easily fifty or sixty feet tall, he looked positively tiny.

Whenever any of the Divine Spirits had Ten Thousand Spirits Pills, they would make Xu Ying open the bag so they could place them inside.

In no time at all, the bag held a total of fifteen Ten Thousand Spirits Pills!

’So many Ten Thousand Spirits Pills... If I just took them and made a run for it...’

Xu Ying’s eyes darted about as he thought, ’I’d definitely die a horrible death, wouldn’t I?’

’The Ten Thousand Spirits Pills must be an offering from all these gods to the White-robed Nuo Immortal. They’ve all gathered together and are probably heading to the great temple to have an audience with the Nuo Immortal and present the Spirit Pills!’

’So this is a pilgrimage!’

’But for me,’ he thought grimly, ’it’s a journey to my own funeral!’