personal reputation, when it came to his turn, he still didn’t know what to say and stuttered. Just then, Chen Jinghai, who had been standing there the whole time, suddenly rushed over to Xiao Yu and...Chapter 396: Defeating Enemies with Yin Spirits

As the middle-aged ghost burned, Xiao Yu suddenly felt a violent and intense yin aura rapidly approaching from the north. As this yin aura approached, the soul of the middle-aged man instantly turned to ashes.

Feeling this violent yin aura, Xiao Yu's expression changed, and he quickly darted out of the room to mid-air. Seeing that Mr. Li and others were still on the rooftop, he again moved swiftly towards the violent yin aura.

This yin aura was extremely dense and violent; within several breaths, Xiao Yu had drifted several kilometers away to a hilltop where he intercepted this thick and violent yin aura.

When Xiao Yu blocked this yin aura, it sensed his presence and stopped in mid-air.

Only when the yin aura also halted did Xiao Yu clearly see its appearance.

This yin aura formed a ghostly figure of a person; its entire body was shrouded in dense yin aura, even Xiao Yu could not make out its features.

"Is it you who forced my disciple to burn everything and summon me"

Enveloped by the violent yin aura, the ghost stopped mid-air, looked at Xiao Yu floating similarly in the air, narrowed his eyes tightly, and asked with squinting eyes.

When Xiao Yu saw this ghost, he was suddenly stunned. The yin aura surrounding the ghost seemed to be a living entity; from time to time, a head of another ghost would emerge from within the violent yin aura, but then instantly be pulled back by an immense force emanating from this ghost's body.

After hearing what the ghost said, Xiao Yu did not speak and merely nodded at him.

"Gagaga... if it is you, given how solid your form is, I assume your yin aura must be very pure. You are exactly what my black cloud needs as material!" This ghost didn't realize that Xiao Yu was also a yin spirit; he thought that Xiao Yu was an old ghost who had cultivated for many years. Upon seeing Xiao Yu's nod, the ghost let out a derisive cackle.

"Haha, and who are you To use me as your black cloud material, shouldn't I know more about it" With a light laugh, Xiao Yu looked at this deranged ghost and said.

He did not expect to encounter such an old ghost here. Moreover, this old ghost seemed to understand some cultivation techniques; the black cloud surrounding him was condensed from numerous ghosts, which already had the basic foundation for cultivating evil arts.

"Very well, even in death, I'll let you understand! Grandpa is the leader of the Divine Descending Corps of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! Now I am the mountain god of this area! I rule over this land!" This ghost said proudly to Xiao Yu.

Enveloped in a black cloud, this ghost saw that Xiao Yu's figure was solid but did not feel any dangerous aura. Moreover, for hundreds of years, he had been used to ruling here without any opponent being able to match him, so he felt extremely arrogant now.

'Divine Descending Corps' After hearing the ghost’s words, Xiao Yu silently pondered over it. He had seen records about the Divine Descending Corps of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in some unofficial historical accounts.

After inheriting Zhong Kui's legacy, he had also considered this issue. The Divine Descending Corps claimed to invite gods, but in reality, they should be inviting ghosts and spirits because who could possibly summon gods

Moreover, even if they did invite these ghosts and spirits, there must have been a significant cost involved. This cost would vary based on the strength of what was summoned and the strength of the person performing the summons.

Xiao Yu's research revealed that divine descending could be divided into two types: first, summoning some weak ghosts and spirits to possess someone for help, which was how almost everyone in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Divine Descending Corps operated.

The second type involved summoning powerful deities, requiring a very high cost. Usually, those who summoned such deities would have profound cultivation levels because only they could bear the cost of inviting these gods. For weaker individuals, the cost to invite such divine beings was unimaginable.

Although this method had been passed down by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Divine Descending Corps, those who used it all perished, so gradually no one continued using it anymore.

At this moment, Xiao Yu finally understood that the person in the Daoist temple might have used divine descending. However, his strength was much weaker than even the weakest members of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Divine Descending Corps because those people had some cultivation levels despite being weak.

This middle-aged man obviously was just a beginner, yet he attempted to use the second type of divine descending method; the consequences were predictable.

"Haha, mountain god You're a fake!" Xiao Yu said with a light laugh. If this ghost had claimed to be the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Divine Descending Corps, Xiao Yu might have believed him somewhat, but claiming to be a mountain god made Xiao Yu extremely doubtful.

In the past, though not prestigious, land gods and mountain gods were respected deities receiving people’s offerings. However, after the great calamity that caused heaven and earth to collapse and divine energy to dissipate, how could there still be gods Therefore, Xiao Yu was filled with disdain for this ghost's claim of being a mountain god.

"Stop your nonsense! You forced my descendant in the Divine Descending Corps to die; now prepare to become material for my shadowy black cloud!" Upon hearing Xiao Yu’s words, this ghost seemed to be hit where it hurt and shouted angrily at Xiao Yu with embarrassment and rage.

The specter shouted, and the black cloud surrounding him turned into a massive dark mist that surged towards Xiao Yu.

Seeing the black cloud rolling towards him with an oppressive aura swirling within it, along with wailing cries and ghostly figures floating around, they all seemed to be bristling at the sight of Xiao Yu's spirit.

The ominous dark mist was rushing toward Xiao Yu, but he wasn't in the least bit alarmed. If his physical body were here, dealing with this specter would indeed require some effort.

However, things were different for his spirit which had been transformed by a piece of Zhong Kui's true essence. Its quality was far superior to these ghosts.

Xiao Yu’s spirit flickered and moved toward the approaching black cloud. As he drifted closer, his form shifted slightly with each movement, until finally, when he reached the forefront of the dark cloud, his appearance transformed into that of a legendary demon-slaying celestial being: broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, wielding a Judge's Pen and Book of Spirits, with a sword at his waist.

The specter’s entire body shuddered upon seeing Xiao Yu transform. An inexplicable fear welled up from the depths of his soul. He didn't know why he felt this way, but he knew that it was caused by Xiao Yu.

"Y-You... who exactly are you" The specter looked at Xiao Yu with a fearful expression and asked in a trembling voice.

Xiao Yu’s face remained devoid of emotion as he casually replied, "Your collector!" Holding the Judge's Pen adorned with mysterious patterns, he wrote in the air, forming mystic symbols that shone with golden light.

"Break..."

Xiao Yu uttered a soft command. Pointing his pen forward, the golden-lighted symbols rushed toward the black cloud.

Upon colliding with the floating dark mist, the black cloud immediately erupted in wailing cries, and all parts of it that came into contact with the arcane golden patterns dissolved like melting ice.

In an instant, Xiao Yu’s Judge's Pen had completely eradicated this patch of dark mist.

The specter stared at his painstakingly cultivated black cloud being utterly destroyed by Xiao Yu in such a short time. His expression changed instantly, showing both surprise and fear as he hastily retreated while looking back at Xiao Yu.

"Humph..." Seeing the retreating specter, Xiao Yu coldly snorted. He drew forth his Demon-Slaying Sword from his waistband, held it in hand, and silently recited a secret incantation.

As the incantation sounds echoed, golden glints gathered at the tip of the Demon-Subduing Sword!

"Hurry!" When the golden光芒聚集在降魔劍上形成一個金色光團後，蕭煜輕喝一聲。這些金芒拖著長長的尾巴，彷彿有了靈識一般，在這個鬼魂周圍轉了幾圈。

這道金芒的尾巴並未消散，而是化為一條金色絲線，環繞在鬼魂身上幾圈後將其緊緊束縛住。

當金色絲線纏繞住這隻自稱山神的惡鬼時，它發出一陣淒厲慘叫。被金色絲線觸及的地方就像硫酸一樣腐蝕著這個鬼魂。

漸漸地，這些金線深深地嵌入了鬼魂體內，縷縷黑霧從接觸點升起，逐漸消失在空中。

這個鬼魂痛苦地尖叫著，身體飄浮到半空，向蕭煜俯衝而來。

蕭煜連看都不看一眼，口中默唸的密咒越來越快。

"Ah..." 隨著蕭煜加快了口中的密咒速度，鬼魂身上的金色絲線收縮得更快。因此，向下俯衝的鬼魂發出更加淒厲的嚎叫。

“嘭...” 當這個鬼魂靠近蕭煜時，一聲悶響傳出。鬼魂的慘叫戛然而止，被越捆越緊的金色絲線將其分割成數十塊。

這些碎裂的鬼魂軀體彷彿變成固體一般散落在地麵上。

當這些身軀落地後，從它們體內冒出縷縷黑霧化作一股股陰煞之氣消失在空中。

蕭煜看著已經消散的鬼魂，表情毫無波動。捉鬼降妖在他融合了鐘馗記憶中是稀鬆平常之事，並不會引起他內心的任何變化。

蕭煜並冇有急於離開，而是等待著這些身軀全部化為陰煞之氣後才離開這裡。

蕭煜注視著這些散落的身軀，突然目光一凝，看向地上的一塊軀乾。原來這塊軀乾與地上的雪接觸的部分正在迅速減少，彷彿被什麼東西吃掉了一般。(To be continued...)ircumstances, and even if something happened, no one would be able to help them. Jin Xianglin's company was just an ordinary company here and couldn't provide much assistance either. Therefore, Fang Y...