Chapter 512 - 495: A Hornless Ghost
Black blood splattered. The other ghouls paused for a moment, then charged suicidally at Suo Ming in a frenzy.
Faced with this desperate madness, not a trace of fear could be seen in Suo Ming’s eyes. Instead, he grew even calmer.
That day, a place that had seemed like an Immortal Realm suddenly transformed. Demon Statues were everywhere, constantly clawing their way out of the ground. As the sole Body Cultivator, Suo Ming held the front line—relentless, tireless, and unafraid of death. He pushed beyond his limits again and again. He just couldn’t fall.
He could die, and he wasn’t afraid to, but death would just be an escape. His life wasn’t his own; it belonged to the Holy Hall, to Wang Meng. As long as he still had value, he absolutely could not fall.
He felt his body giving out, no longer under his control, but the number of Demon Statues hadn’t decreased in the slightest. Everyone was surrounded, caught in the Demon Statues’ Heaven and Earth Net.
Only three people were left standing: him, Wang Meng, and Hu Jing, who was maintaining the array. Everyone else had fallen. Another wave of Demon Statues charged.
Hu Jing had to take care of the others. The boss was the main attacker, responsible for destroying the Demon Statues. And he was the sole defender.
Wave after wave of attacks, the Demon Statues’ iron-hard blows hammered his body, one after another. His very soul was numb, and his body had long since wanted to collapse.
He was past his limit, but he couldn’t die. Perhaps even his will had been crushed, but he still had to stand, still had to block the entrance.
At that entrance, tens of thousands of Demon Statues were piled up outside. Suo Ming stood like one man holding a pass against ten thousand.
Because the people inside that door were more important than his life, more important than anything. He had to hold it!
Until the moment the Demon Statue army retreated.
Wang Meng had gone to destroy the Demon Statue army’s offensive array, but he was gone for a whole day.
That day was a nightmare for everyone else. Ma Tian’Er was completely spent from healing; she couldn’t use her Holy Statue at all anymore.
The Demon Statues’ attack came again, forever tireless. At that moment, death truly seemed like a release, perhaps even a blessing.
’Give up. Yes, just give up. If I just give up, I won’t have to care about anything anymore.’
But Suo Ming couldn’t. His hands gripped the door tightly, letting the Demon Statues hammer him again and again. He grit his teeth and swallowed the pain. ’This is nothing.’
When the Demon Statues finally retreated, Suo Ming was still standing there. They couldn’t even pry his hands off; it was as if he had fused with the door.
It was a nightmare.
’So what are these cunning ghouls before me now?’
BOOM...
The Cultivators witnessed a fighting style more monstrous than the ghouls themselves, and they saw what a truly ferocious Body Cultivator looked like.
All this time, the brilliance of the Forbidden Hammer had completely overshadowed Suo Ming. The Holy Hall was famous for its Holy Statues. And when it came to Body Cultivation Skills, Feng Jin had shone brightly, leaving Suo Ming completely overlooked.
The ghouls were afraid, for they had met a true monster. His muscles were like steel one moment and a quagmire the next.
Wang Meng had finally made it back. Not a single part of Suo Ming’s body was intact. It took three full days and nights of treatment for Suo Ming to pass through the gates of hell.
That was when the Golem Array had suddenly erupted, a crisis that nearly wiped out the Holy Hall.
Though he survived, Suo Ming still spent half a year recovering. "What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger"—a timeless saying.
Body Cultivators train in the most rigid and unyielding of defenses, but what is rigid can be easily broken. Once they encounter an attack that surpasses their defense, they are utterly powerless to retaliate.
But Suo Ming had transformed.
When the ghouls’ sharp claws struck Suo Ming’s body, they either hit something like steel or were caught as if in cotton. He was a perfect fusion of hard and soft!
One hammer, one ghoul.
Zou Kai subconsciously swallowed. He immediately activated his Ghost Gate, hoping to release something more. His current level was still relatively low; otherwise, he could have summoned more powerful ghouls. He had thought the first batch would be enough to deal with these people. ’If nine isn’t enough, I’ll summon ninety!’
Elemental Power surged into the Ghost Gate, and ghouls emerged one after another. The one that was still alive and about to flee immediately regained its courage. Over thirty ghouls now stood on the Dueling Platform.
But Suo Ming remained expressionless. To the other Cultivators, this impassive demeanor inspired a deep, heartfelt admiration.
’How can he be so calm? Is he even human?!’
A normal Cultivator facing such a scene would have their heart pounding, but Suo Ming’s eyes looked upon them as if they were nothing more than a pile of wooden stakes.
The ghouls shrieked and swarmed forward, instantly burying Suo Ming beneath them.
From within the pile of ghouls came a rhythmic explosion, slow, with a beat every two or three seconds.
BOOM... BOOM... BOOM...
It was unhurried, yet each beat struck everyone’s heart, filled with an immense, oppressive power.
Zou Kai’s jaw hung open. That was all he could summon with his Elemental Power. ’It can’t be that this isn’t enough, can it?’
’The Sect Leader himself said that against the younger generation, these things are invincible unless I run into some freak of nature. And they even counter all sorts of Magical Artifacts.’
BOOM...
Soon, Zou Kai knew what that booming sound was. With every boom, a ghoul was smashed into paste.
Suo Ming simply wasn’t afraid of their attacks, letting them hit him however they pleased.
A Great Perfection stage cultivator who couldn’t use Magic was still at the Great Perfection stage. Even a Great Perfection cultivator with poor aptitude was still at the Great Perfection stage. Yet Suo Ming had hammered him down. The Cultivators had only seen the Forbidden Hammer, but they had ignored the man himself.
Without such a formidable physical body, how could he possess such dominance? This was a true Undying Body, one that transcended death.
BOOM...
In an instant, the five remaining ghouls retreated, letting out shrill cries. It wasn’t a threat, but a cry of fear. It was as if this expressionless Human Cultivator before them was the real monster.
As if they had reached some sort of agreement, the five ghouls zipped into the Ghost Gate and... disappeared.
Zou Kai felt like he could cough up blood. ’That’s allowed? Is this how it’s supposed to work?’
’I summoned them for real! But they just abandoned their master and ran! Have they no conscience?!’
Watching the expressionless Suo Ming approach step by step, Forbidden Hammer in hand, Zou Kai felt a chill spread through his heart. ’Damn it, *he’s* the real ghoul here. All he’s missing are the horns.’
"I surrender!"
Zou Kai raised his hands decisively just before Suo Ming could strike.
Zou Kai hurried off the platform. The disciples from his Ghost Sect immediately surrounded him. "Senior Brother, how could you surrender? With your Array Technique, he might not have been able to break through!"
’These guys are just spectators, what do they know about how terrifying Suo Ming is? Behind that calm and steady exterior hides a vicious demon. If I had kept going, I definitely would’ve been hammered to death.’
"That guy isn’t human at all. There’s no way to fight him, no way at all," Zou Kai said, shaking his head. He couldn’t be bothered with saving face at this point. He had a bright future ahead of him; there was no need to throw it away over something like this.
The Holy Hall took another victory.
Now that the battles had reached this point, everyone had witnessed the terrifying power of the Holy Hall. Getting this far had nothing to do with luck.
Another Holy Hall disciple had entered the Pure Land.
Unwittingly, that made four of them. One more and they would hold half the seats.
And for the seventh match: the Holy Hall’s Zhang Xiaoshan versus the Wind God Sect’s Shen Zhenhai.
Shen Zhenhai, from the prestigious Wind God Sect and ranked seventh in the Star Alliance, was an absolute celebrity. Everywhere he went, others looked on with envy and admiration. Before this, to even mention a nobody like Zhang Xiaojiang in the same breath as him would have been an insult.
But when Shen Zhenhai arrived at the Dueling Platform, he found that everyone was looking at him with a strange expression.
He had never been on the receiving end of this kind of look before, but he often gave it to others.
It was a look that said, "You’ve got some really bad luck."
’Is my luck bad?’
’Because I’m up against Zhang Xiaojiang?’
No, it could have been anyone. As long as they were a Holy Hall Disciple, the result would be the same.
The members of the Holy Hall still stood there in neat formation. They had held this posture and expression since the first round of the Battle of the Other Shore, but back then, no one had paid them any mind.
But today, now, in the final round of the Battle of the Other Shore...
The Cultivators finally realized what felt different. This was the aura of true experts.
Their presence commanded the world!
Shen Zhenhai was very reluctant to admit it, but he couldn’t refute it, because he too had been awed by the previous battles.
A part of him was even glad he hadn’t run into Purple Dragon, Li Mountain, or especially Wang Meng.
Logically speaking, this should have been a free ticket to the Pure Land, but now he had to be cautious.
Because he was facing a Holy Hall Disciple.
But even so, he was still absolutely confident of victory, especially against a Bow Cultivator. ’It’s really just bad luck for the Eye of Truth to run into me.’
Zhang Xiaojiang took the stage. Even in such a crucial battle, Zhang Xiaopang still wore that roguish smile. He was probably the most unconventional of all the Holy Hall members.
Everyone was full of confidence in Zhang Xiaojiang. With his Life Artifact, the Blast Bow, plus the Eye of Truth and the Earth Escape Skill, frankly, anyone would get a headache fighting him. Moreover, Zhang Xiaojiang was the one in the Holy Hall who cared least about face; he was slippery, and goading tactics wouldn’t work on him.
Across from him, Shen Zhenhai stood proudly with a Long Sword on his back, the very picture of a disciple from a prestigious sect. He too was outstanding.
"Zhang Xiaojiang of the Holy Hall."
The same name, yet now it carried a sense of glory.
"Shen Zhenhai of the Wind God Sect."
By now, Zhang Xiaojiang’s popularity had already given him the advantage.
Faced with this rare situation, Shen Zhenhai remained relatively composed and didn’t grow impatient. Outside the Dueling Platform, a group of Wind God Sect disciples also had complete confidence in their Senior Brother. They faced the situation calmly, their eyes holding a hint of pity—pity for his opponent.
’Zhang Xiaojiang’s luck is really terrible, running into Senior Brother Shen. It’ll be hard for him not to lose.’
’This has nothing to do with strength. It’s a complete counter!’
The battle began. Shen Zhenhai launched his attack. When fighting a Bow Cultivator, a Sword Cultivator had to leverage their advantage in close-quarters combat, even against a Bow Cultivator who was skilled in melee.
Shen Zhenhai was no ordinary person; he was an expert from the Wind God Sect who had made it to the final round of the main tournament. When you put in a hundred times the effort, so do others.
No one can succeed without effort.
Shen Zhenhai’s Sword Technique truly had the flair of the Wind God Sect—graceful, yet hiding a deadly intent. It was exceptionally sharp, and his footwork was expertly controlled, clearly specialized for dealing with Bow Cultivators.
Zhang Xiaojiang’s attacks were equally fierce, but he couldn’t break through his opponent’s defense. It wasn’t that either of them was weak, but that both were incredibly strong.
Zhang Xiaopang was still hopping and darting about, using his Earth Escape Skill to move around and firing an arrow whenever he found an opening. This left Shen Zhenhai at a loss, as the range of his Sword Qi was quite limited.
(Final exams for everyone are coming up soon. I wish you all the best! Victorious liberation is just ahead, haha! Please vote with your monthly tickets, wave wave, thank you!) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)