Blood was spilled like it cost nothing.
Lin Ji was thrown backward, landing on the ground, gasping heavily. A deep wound crossed his left shoulder and right waist, piercing through.
"Fortunately, I didn't play any tricks during body tempering. My body is still holding up." Lin Ji looked at the wound on his chest, feeling the intense pain, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.
"If it were someone else, just this one strike would have split them in half."
Even so, Lin Ji dared not delay.
Setting aside the sharpness of the big blade, the ghostly aura entwined around the wound alone was enough to cause Lin Ji great trouble.
Lin Ji quickly formed hand seals.
"Supreme Star, adapt without pause. Drive away evil, protect and guard my life!"
Spiritual energy surged out from within him, a faint white light glowing, enveloping Lin Ji's body.
The surrounding ghostly aura was dispersed, showcasing the effectiveness of Lin Ji's technique, the Haoyi Art, in resisting malevolent spirits.
If he hadn't cultivated the Haoyi Art, he would never have ventured alone into this ghostly domain of the Hundred Ghosts Night Walk.
"Haoyi Art? Quite interesting. Even though the Celestial Supervisory Bureau has many talents, not many can successfully cultivate this technique."
The voice of the ghost general rang out again, with a hint of playfulness in his tone.
This ghost general seemed to know a lot, his voice echoing from all directions around Lin Ji.
"To be able to cultivate the Haoyi Art successfully, even if your status in the Celestial Supervisory Bureau is not high, you have caught the attention of the higher-ups. It seems I can't easily kill you, or it will cause trouble with the Celestial Supervisory Bureau."
Upon hearing this, Lin Ji's gasps grew louder.
He believed it when he saw it. Such rootless ghost generals wouldn't care about such matters.
As expected, the ghost general changed his tune.
"But what if I kill you? What can you do then? Once I become a Ghost Marshal and leave this place, even the Celestial Supervisory Bureau won't find me that easily, haha."
"Why not possess your physical body? That would be even better!"
"Enough talk, let's fight. Too much nonsense!" Lin Ji stood up, sword in hand, charging towards the ghost general.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The long sword and the big blade clashed continuously.
At this moment, Lin Ji had no reservations. Surprisingly, he gained a slight advantage for a moment, forcing the ghost general to retreat repeatedly.
After a few rounds, Lin Ji seized the opportunity when the ghost general retreated.
Turning his sword from a slash to a thrust, he pierced through the ghost general's soul.
"Not bad!" The ghost general retreated in surprise, looking at Lin Ji in amazement.
"To be able to injure me, not simple!"
Lin Ji gasped, blood oozing from his chest wound.
The intense consumption of spiritual energy was starting to make him lose control of his body.
Despite injuring this fourth realm ghost general, his situation had not improved in the slightest.
On the other side, the ghost general seemed to have run out of patience.
His soul expanded, growing several times in just a few breaths.
To the point where Lin Ji had to look up.
"Die!"
A mighty gust of force came, and as Lin Ji watched the approaching big blade, he struggled to defend against it.
Just as the ghost general was about to pursue again, flames suddenly erupted, illuminating the pitch-black ghostly domain.
"Mingming Departure of Fire, Burn!" A clear voice rang out.
The flames instantly enveloped the ghost general completely.
"Ahh!"
Finally, the ghost general screamed in agony, struggling and writhing in the flames, dropping his big blade.
After a moment, the flames gradually dissipated.
The ghost general's soul weakened considerably, falling to the ground, surrounded by converging ghostly aura.
In theory, this was the time to press the advantage.
But the owner of the flames, Zhong Xiaoyan, did not.
With a hint of disdain on her face, she glanced at the ghost general before shifting her gaze to Lin Ji, who was lying beside her.
"So, it's you, this incompetent official, quite heavily injured," Zhong Xiaoyan remarked casually.
"What incompetent official?" Lin Ji was puzzled, but now was not the time for such discussions. He quickly said, "Your flames can restrain the ghost general, act quickly, don't let him recover!"
"A mere ghost general, I can handle him!" Zhong Xiaoyan chuckled, forming hand seals, and the flames rose again.
This time, she held the flames in her fingers without releasing them.
"Incompetent official, learn something!"
With those words, Zhong Xiaoyan rushed towards the ghost general.
The flames lit up again, burning away the surrounding ghostly aura in an instant.
But as she approached the ghost general, who was visibly weakened, a sinister smile suddenly appeared on his face.
Seeing this smile, Zhong Xiaoyan stopped in her tracks, realizing things were not going well.
But it was too late.
The ghost general's body suddenly expanded, the big blade reappeared, heading straight for Zhong Xiaoyan's throat.
"Departure of Fire!" Zhong Xiaoyan activated the flames again.
But the ghost general paid no attention, enduring the significant damage from the flames, determined to kill Zhong Xiaoyan at all costs.
At this moment, there was no escape.
Despair flickered in Zhong Xiaoyan's eyes. "I underestimated it!"
Just as the big blade was inches away from her neck.
In the blink of an eye, a cold light illuminated her pupils, a long sword.
The big blade was deflected by the sword tip, falling past Zhong Xiaoyan's side, the sharp force cutting off a few strands of her hair.
"Get out of the way!" Lin Ji's voice rang out.
Zhong Xiaoyan widened her eyes. "How can I dodge? This ghost general can resist my Departure of Fire, at least he's in the fourth realm! I'm not even his match, how can you..."
"Thunder Strike!"
A sudden thunderclap resounded.
The ghost general seemed to be petrified, his eyes widened in an attempt to escape.
But how could the might of the heavens be blocked by a mere ghost domain?
How could a mere fourth realm ghost general outrun thunder?
The thunder, guided by Lin Ji's sword, struck the ghost general.
Beside him, Zhong Xiaoyan also suffered, the thunder shocking her head, causing her to squat down on the ground.
After the thunder passed, most of the ghostly aura on the ghost general had dissipated, and his armor had vanished.
But Lin Ji had no intention of holding back.
In this ghostly domain, any chance for the ghost general to catch his breath would allow him to recover significantly.
Lin Ji quickly caught up, fear appearing in the ghost general's eyes.
"Wait! I..."
Lin Ji paid no heed to the ghost general's nonsense.
The only two remaining thunderbolts in the sky, guided by Lin Ji's sword, aimed directly at the ghost general.
The ghost general had no way to escape, nowhere to hide.
Despair filled his eyes.
The next moment.
The thunder completely illuminated the ghost domain.
Boom!
Countless ghost soldiers around, along with the ghost general, were struck and dispersed.
The ghost domain dissipated, and the gathering ghostly aura could no longer coalesce.
In the eastern sky, faint light began to appear.
Lin Ji could see several fierce ghosts fleeing in panic, but he was already severely injured and had no strength to pursue.
Looking to the other side, Zhong Xiaoyan was covered in black, affected by the recent thunder.
Under the Thunder Strike technique, except for the caster, it didn't discriminate between friend or foe; the thunder didn't care which side you were on.
Further away, Guo Yi still held a few talismans, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.
Lin Ji breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking out the Book of Cause and Effect from his bosom, he filled in new words on a blank page.
"Defeated one ghost general, numerous fierce ghosts, and countless ghost soldiers, ensuring the peace of Qingyang County."