The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 442 Entering the game personally
Lang Jiuchuan felt a sudden dizziness. Before she could even open her eyes, a foul-smelling, stench-filled wind came from behind her. Without thinking, she unleashed a palm lightning bolt.

boom.

A scream came from behind.

Lang Jiuchuan opened his eyes to find himself in a bizarre space. The sky was dark red, with blood-stained water ripples surging around it. The surrounding river water was black and thick, like aged blood plasma. Countless reeds on the bank were twisted and deformed, like countless arms waving. There were also hell flowers that were red and dripping with blood, emitting a pungent and dizzying stench.

This is an underwater ghost realm constructed by a water demon.

"Hehehe." A sinister laugh came from all directions, filled with deep malice and anger: "You stinking Taoist, you dare to lure me out with a child's corpse and dare to enter my Ghost Water Forgotten River Domain. Today, I will make sure you never return."

As soon as it finished speaking, the river surface suddenly exploded, and its enormous body emerged. It had a human head and a fish body, with a fish tail covered in hard scales covering its lower body. The fish tail was wrapped with rotting corpse worms that looked like seaweed, and the fish body was covered with countless human heads, each of which had an arm outstretched, forming a thousand-armed monster.

Lang Jiuchuan's expression was cold and stern. Yi Ce had misjudged the situation. This was the true form of the Water Demon, a mermaid monster transformed from rotting corpses and the lives it had taken.

She glanced at the illusory figures clinging to the arms; they emanated an intense resentment and struggled and howled incessantly—the very spirits of those who had drowned.

Lang Jiuchuan's eyes sharpened, and he swept his gaze across them, counting them as seventy-two!
Oh no! If a few more lives are lost, it will become a Ten Thousand Souls Demon, and then it will surely go on a killing spree.

"You choose the path to heaven but not the gate to hell. I have cultivated underwater for a hundred years, with the right time, place, and people. I am only one step away from escaping my ghostly body and achieving enlightenment. You stinking Taoists dare to block my path to heaven! Today, I will make your Taoist spirits and merits sacrifice to the heavens to help me become the Water God!" It spoke with a strange laugh. Its voice sounded as if dozens of dead souls on its body were singing in unison, which was very jarring.

Lang Jiuchuan scoffed, "The position of Water God? You, a mere demon and monster, dare to covet it!"

She made a hand seal: "Thunder roars, the Thunder God descends to vanquish evil!"

boom.

A bolt of lightning struck it.

With a flick of its tail, the water demon's arms seemed to wave like flags, scooping up the thick black water from the river and extinguishing the fierce thunder. The black water, containing malevolent energy, shot like sharp arrows, chilling to the bone.

"In my River of Oblivion realm, you dare to dream of using thunder and fire? Dream on!" The water demon laughed wildly and pounced on her: "You have accumulated great merit; if I devour you, I will surely become a god."

"Then let's see what you're capable of!" Lang Jiuchuan sneered, summoning the Emperor Bell and chanting urgently, "Five stars suppress the colors, light illuminates the underworld, the bell breaks through evil barriers, by decree!"

A powerful and majestic Daoist aura entered the Emperor Bell, causing the bell to resonate. With a loud clang, the entire realm trembled, and the sound waves, like sharp blades, cleaved the water demon in two.

The water demon's expression changed, but seeing that the boundary had not been broken, it waved its hand, and the black water covering its body surged and returned to normal. Then it sneered, "It's useless. This underwater area is my territory. I am it, and it is me. You can't hurt me in the slightest!"

Lang Jiuchuan's forehead was covered in sweat, but he was not discouraged and said, "Then I will destroy your domain."

One sound isn't enough, but what about two or three?

She slammed the Imperial Bell again, the sound like a hammer, the vibrations even more intense than before. The water demon was shattered and then reformed, the realm seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and the sky seemed to be about to crack. As if it had been threatened, it unleashed its demonic claws.

Lang Jiuchuan activated her protective qi, and when those ghost claws touched her, they were scorched by lightning and fire, and immediately let out shrieks and screams.

The imperial bell is still ringing out its heavy toll.

Clang clang clang.

Accompanied by the oppressive aura of the bell, the melodious Buddhist chants seemed to pierce through the sky of the ghost realm, causing the ghosts on the water demons to wail and howl, as if they were aggrieved, as if they were crying out, and as if they were begging the Buddha to save them from the River of Oblivion.

The Ghost Realm was overwhelmed.

The water demon grew impatient, letting out a roar as its tail lashed out, sending thick, black liquid surging towards Lang Jiuchuan. The water was chilling and sinister, carrying an extremely malevolent corpse poison that would surely cause harm upon entering the body. Lang Jiuchuan's eyes narrowed; it was getting anxious.

What makes it so impatient?

She pounded the Emperor Bell, watching the Ghost Realm teeter on the brink of collapse, and the wraiths clinging to it howling in agony, their phantoms swirling and constantly radiating resentment, consuming her own soul power to repair the cracks caused by the bell's tolling.

A sudden realization struck Lang Jiuchuan: Yes, the souls of the dead are the source of its power; if it saves them, it will have no way to continue.

Her hand gestures suddenly changed to Buddhist mudras, and she chanted the Great Compassion Mantra to deliver the souls trapped inside the water demon.

The water demon shrieked and charged forward, trying to tear her apart, but it couldn't get any closer because of the thunderous energy. Its eyes couldn't help but show a venomous hatred.

Damn it, damn it!
It stood before Lang Jiuchuan, its thousand hands waving in unison, its magical power surging. Instantly, the black water transformed into countless Yin Sha water ghosts, baring their fangs and claws as they pounced on her, not caring if they were burned and destroyed by the thunderous energy.

Lang Jiuchuan watched as the ferocious water ghosts charged at her like a relentless attack. Her face was pale from the loss of her vital energy, but she remained unmoved. Her spiritual power was being rapidly depleted, but she continued to chant the Great Compassion Mantra.

"Shut up, shut up!" the water demon roared, its sharp claws scratching incessantly, trying to tear the person chanting the sutra to pieces.

It swung its tail, as if trying to shake Lang Jiuchuan off and distract her.

It succeeded, but Lang Jiuchuan continued to shake the Emperor Bell and chant the Great Compassion Mantra. The mantra transformed into a golden Buddhist seal that struck the vengeful spirits on the water demon's body. The seal, carrying immense divine power, was like a pair of gentle, fair hands, peeling them off the fish.

Suddenly, a snapping sound.

The tolling of the bell finally created a crack in the dark red ghost realm, and at the same time, someone rushed in through the crack—it was Yi Ce and Gong Qi.

The Ghost Realm has been destroyed.

The water demon was terrified and roared, stirring up a torrent of black water that engulfed them.

Seeing this, Lang Jiuchuan switched to the Taoist Supreme Rebirth Mantra. The mantra, carrying the meaning of soothing and guiding, transformed into golden light and struck the dead souls. The sharp golden light caused them to detach like barnacles clinging to a fish, turning into wisps of green smoke that drifted out towards the crack.

"No!" The water demon, filled with shock and rage, went berserk, opened its massive jaws, and lunged at Lang Jiuchuan.

"Five Thunder Generals, Fire Chariot General, Slay Evil, Imperial Decree!" Yi Ce spat a mouthful of pure Yang essence blood into the Three-Five Slaying Evil Male and Female Swords in his hand, causing the sword to shine brightly. He then released the sword and shot it towards the water demon.

Gong Qi also unleashed another Three-Five Sword. The two swords combined, one beheading the other and the other severing the fish's tail, both plunging into the water demon's body.

A deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth.

"No, damn it!" The water demon let out a miserable scream as its centuries of cultivation were swallowed by the sword light. As all the vengeful spirits on its body were released, the ghost realm shattered like a mirror with a loud bang.

Wow.

Before the three could catch their breath, they fell into the water, where a swirling whirlpool sucked them in.

Lang Jiuchuan: "!"

Is it over?

　Every time I write these things, my mind conjures up images of cheap, low-budget special effects. Organizing these images into words is incredibly mentally taxing; it's not something I can show off.
　　(End of this chapter)