I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 314 Ghost Market Rumors, The General's Revenge

Deep within the cold and desolate Ghost King's Tomb, Xu Qing stood in the empty main hall, holding a mountain-splitting axe.

Behind him, the throne inlaid with gold and jade, symbolizing the supreme ruler, had long since disappeared. Also gone were the coffin of the empress in the main hall and the emperor's coffin, which had four layers of outer coffins and was eight inches thick.

Xu Qing stood in the empty royal tomb. Before he even raised his axe, the techniques of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Axes were already running wildly within his body, constantly multiplying!
Tenth floor, twentieth floor, twenty-second floor.
When the Heavenly Gang Technique reached its twenty-third level, the yin and corpse energy surrounding the mausoleum was stirred up by this violent force, surging like boiling black water.

However, Xu Qing did not intend to stop there. Holding the mountain-splitting axe, his body, which was only twelve bones away from being perfect, suddenly emitted a translucent light.

Inside the mausoleum, all the ghost fires were extinguished, and before the axe could be moved, the entire Ghost King's Mausoleum began to tremble and shake.

Xu Qing gritted his teeth and roared, the corpse's howl stirring up a sandstorm that rushed out of the passage, leaving the area outside the tomb door in a mess.

At that moment, nearly two hundred pieces of uncorrupted bone were fully activated, and Xu Qing's eyes shot out crimson light, his body surrounded by an overwhelming aura of corpses!
It was at this critical juncture that Xu Qing finally pushed the Heavenly Gang Axe Technique to the twenty-fourth level, a level he had never reached before!

If a swordsman possesses sword intent, then the axe intent emanating from Xu Qing at this moment is like a mountain collapsing and the sea surging, about to break through the dam!

Xu Qing sensed his own limit. He exerted all his strength to the peak of his axe intent, then fiercely raised the mountain-splitting axe and slashed towards the exit of the tomb passage.

The white rainbow axe shadow, which had grown to tens of feet, swept through the mausoleum passageway in an instant.

Built by master craftsmen, the Ghost King's Tomb, seemingly cast in iron, is like a blank sheet of paper torn apart!
In a short while, a chasm more than ten feet deep and more than thirty miles long suddenly appeared in the perfectly good Ghost King's Tomb!
When Xu Qing arrived, he walked through the winding passageways of the Ghost King's Mausoleum. But this time, the road to leave was wide open, and he could see the desolate landscape outside the mausoleum at a glance.

Xu Qing put away his axe and, in a flash, left the Ghost King's Tomb through the forcibly opened passage in front of him.

The tremendous commotion emanating from the Ghost King's Tomb, along with the white rainbow stretching for dozens of miles, not only alarmed Jin Luan, who was hiding in the distance, but also the Eight Banners Marshal and the owner of the tomb.

Looking at the scene that resembled the end of the world, Jinluan's first thought was to run away. However, before it could react, a familiar figure appeared in front of the paper sedan chair, almost bringing tears to its eyes.

Although the man surnamed Xu was not human, he was the only person it knew in the Yinhe Ancient Road.

"Go to the Bone-Dry Inn!"

Xu Qing gave a word of advice, then controlled the straw spirit paper figure and headed towards the Dry Bone Station.

At the Yin army's encampment, the golden-armored marshal, who was locked in a stalemate with the Demon King Duo'e, asked in confusion, "Could this thunderous sound be coming from your royal tomb?"

Upon realizing that the royal tomb was in danger, the Ghost King Duo'e could no longer maintain his standoff with the Eight Banners Marshal and immediately abandoned the imperial carriage, rushing straight to the royal tomb.

Thick, dark clouds, carrying overwhelming resentment, appeared in the sky above the royal tomb in an instant, its form shifting dozens of feet, as if a ghost or god had descended.

"Who is it?!"

"Who has destroyed my empire!"

With a deafening roar, the terrifying pressure of the Ghost King swept outwards.

However, in the king's anger, the already crumbling mausoleum finally succumbed to the pressure and collapsed with a crash!

Bricks and stones collapsed, the tomb disintegrated, and the entire royal mausoleum was instantly shrouded in smoke and dust.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the once magnificent Ghost King's Mausoleum was completely reduced to rubble and ruins.

The Demon King Duo'e, whose defenses had already crumbled, now had eyes that were practically bulging with rage.

"Do not--!"

Its cries were so heart-wrenching that they moved even the ghosts of the Underworld.

Seventy miles to the northwest lies the Dry Bones Post Station.

This place was once the entrance to the underworld. To the north of the post station, there is still a broken stele, hundreds of feet high, with deep spiderweb-like cracks. It is an ancient boundary marker between the underworld and the mortal realm.

Legend has it that this stele was once hundreds of feet tall, reaching into the sky, but it was broken by some strange force, leaving only this broken section.

The ghost soldiers of the Yin River often whispered among themselves, some saying that a person with great supernatural powers would fight and shatter it, others saying that heavenly punishment would send down lightning to sever it.

There were also ghostly whispers, saying that the broken half of the boundary marker was buried under this desolate post station.

The rumors are a mix of truth and falsehood, making it difficult to distinguish between them. However, among the ghosts and wandering spirits, those powerful ghosts and evil spirits all tacitly avoid the area of ​​the Dry Bone Inn.

Over time, this place, untouched by the powerful, became a safe haven along the ancient Yinhe Road.

All ghosts or extraordinary individuals who come to the Underworld will choose to rest and trade at the Dry Bone Inn.

According to worldly people, this is where the ghost market is located.

Xu Qing rode in a paper sedan chair, traveling along the post road. On both sides of the road, ghosts whispered among themselves. Among them, little ghosts covered in green scales and old demons hidden in white mist traded with each other, just like a marketplace in the human world.

These ghosts and demons are most fond of the blood and food brought by unorthodox cultivators.

In front of the food stall built of withered bones, a heart and liver hangs on the ground, still bubbling with blood, while a basket of spleen and kidneys emits a foul stench.

They also sell scraps such as liver, human skin, and human eyes.

One of the ghost feeders held a blood gourd, inside which the blood was thick like solidified fat and had a pungent, fishy smell.

The little devils, upon hearing this, scrambled to grab it, much like worldly children pestering a peddler selling candy.

When Xu Qing first arrived at this place, he felt quite bewildered.

Perhaps the Yinhe Ancient Road was originally meant to be a bustling scene, but the great calamity caused the Yinhe order to be completely destroyed.

Kuguyi appears peaceful on the outside, but only in comparison to other places.

The struggles here are equally brutal, but the only difference is that no powerful evil spirits or worldly masters come to the Dry Bone Inn.

This is a consensus reached over thousands of years along the Yinhe Ancient Road.

Ordinary ghosts were unaware of the reason, and ordinary unorthodox cultivators were also clueless. Only Xu Qing knew that this Dry Bone Station was actually the place where the demons of the Heavenly Heart Sect referred to as the place where the gods returned to the Void.

Ignorance breeds contempt, but those with profound spiritual attainments have mostly heard of this place and, out of instinctive fear, dare not linger.

The little devils, however, were completely unaware of this. Instead, they felt the place was very safe and regarded it as a paradise, a place to live.

Outside the paper sedan chair that Xu Qing was riding in, there were little devils holding skulls as begging bowls, blocking his sedan chair and demanding travel expenses.

For a moment, he couldn't tell if they were ghosts of poverty or ghosts blocking his way. What's worse, if it weren't for their hideous and terrifying appearance, he would have thought he had returned to the mortal world.

With a slight thought, Xu Qing took out a paper basket and scattered paper money to clear the way on both sides of the street.

"Who is this gentleman who has arrived? He's so generous!"

"Who knows, but someone who dares to be so flamboyant must be no ordinary person."

Inside the paper sedan chair, Xu Qing held the sword given to him by Zuo Zixiong, sensing the other party's location.

He paid no attention to the gossip of the little devils outside the sedan chair.

The Yinhe Ancient Road was indeed dangerous for Xu Qing, but this danger was based on the fact that his potential enemies were the Duo'e Ghost King, the Yin Shi Dharma King, and even the Ghost Law.

These are already the top forces on the outskirts of the Yin River, while the ghosts and evil spirits hiding in the Dry Bone Inn are just lowly underlings who can't even be served at the dinner table.

Xu Qing followed the direction indicated by the sword, searching all the way, and finally stopped in front of the broken Yin-Yang boundary marker.

Not far from the boundary marker, there was a temple built of white bones.

Above the temple, there is a crooked plaque hanging on the door.

Xu Qing stepped down from the paper sedan chair, looked up, and saw the words "Demon Exorcist True Lord" written in strong, dark characters.

"These characters are quite artistic; even a master calligrapher couldn't surpass them." Xu Qing walked into the small temple, where a fierce-looking statue was enshrined.

The statue had a leopard's head, bulging eyes, an iron face, and a bushy beard. Its complexion was as blue as black iron, and its sharp teeth looked like they could devour evil spirits.

Xu Qing's gaze shifted downwards, and the fierce-looking statue was dressed in a red robe, a black gauze hat, and black boots, looking exactly like an official.

"The Demon-Exorcising Lord is ugly in appearance, wears official robes, and wields a demon-slaying sword."

Xu Qing already understood which deity was enshrined in this temple.

"Strange, when the Five Shadows Daoist was in the Yin Corpse Sect, the information he received about the Deity of Returning to the Void was clearly about the Dragon Tiger Mystic Altar True Lord, but this temple is dedicated to the Demon Exorcising True Lord."

Xu Qing shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions, before turning to look at the corpses lying haphazardly in the incense hall.

These were all soldiers from the Shenji Battalion who had followed Zuo Zixiong to the Yinhe River.

Xu Qing left behind paper figures of straw spirits inside the hall to collect the corpses, while he passed through the bone temple and arrived at the cliff behind the temple.

Upon arriving at the location, Xu Qing saw Zuo Zixiong fighting bare-handed against the Tianxin Sect's demons.

The skilled soldier Qiu Yunlong wielded a pair of golden claws that were particularly effective against weapons. Zuo Zixiong's double swords and the weapons he originally held had all been knocked to the bottom of the cliff by Qiu Yunlong.

Without the boost from his weapon, Zuo Zixiong's combat power was greatly reduced, but it also completely unleashed his ferocity.

A general who has fought a hundred battles, now facing a desperate situation with his back to the river.

On the cliff, Zuo Zixiong used his own body as a weapon, fearless of his enemies, and every move he made was a desperate fight.

Qiu Yunlong, fearing their ferocity, dared not be overconfident and sent Fajue Sun Faping forward to fight them.

Sun Faping was born with a bloated body like a pig. In his early years, he was taught a strange skill by a high monk from the Western Regions, called "Great Formless Skill".

Faced with Zuo Zixiong's powerful strikes, Sun Faping was not only unharmed, but he was also able to return all the power of those strikes to Zuo Zixiong. No matter what moves Zuo Zixiong used, he could not be hurt in the slightest.

In contrast, Zuo Zixiong's palm and fist strikes were thrown into Sun Faping's body as soon as they approached, only to be bounced back by several times the force.

After several repetitions, Zixiong's blood and qi surged, his meridians became disordered, and the momentum he had built up in the desperate battle became stagnant.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, today, outside the Kuguyi Post Station lies Zuo Zixiong's graveyard.

However, at this critical moment, Zuo Zixiong suddenly heard a shout from behind him.

"General Zuo, take this sword!"

Zuo Zixiong retreated, and a whooshing sound came from behind him. In a few quick movements, he caught the sword that was shooting towards him.

Before he could turn around and take a closer look at the person who had lent him the sword, Zuo Zixiong leaped into the air to catch the sword and had already drawn his own blade.

Seeing this, Qiu Yunlong, who was watching from the sidelines, sneered and said, "With me here, what use are all the weapons you can borrow?"

In the distance, Xu Qing glanced at Sun Faping, who had a large stomach, and then looked at Bingjue Qiu Yunlong. This Bingjue envoy was wearing a pair of Crimson Cloud Claws. It seemed that Zuo Zixiong's weapon had suffered from this strange treasure.

Xu Qing smiled and said, "General Zuo, you can handle that big stomach. As for this Iron Claw Wolf, I'll deal with him."

Qiu Yunlong laughed and said, "My Crimson Cloud Claw was forged by a True Man using the essence of Crimson Cloud Gold. It is specifically designed to counter weapons and has never failed. What do you have to fight me with?"

Xu Qing raised his hand and dusted off his sleeves, then smiled and said, "A natural counter to weapons? But what if I don't use weapons?"

"."

Qiu Yunlong's gaze fell on Xu Qing's empty hands. After a moment's hesitation, he sneered and said, "Even a grandmaster without a weapon wouldn't dare to take my Crimson Cloud Claw head-on! Where do you get the confidence to be so arrogant?"

Xu Qing glanced at Zuo Zixiong, and just as Zuo Zixiong was locked in battle with Sun Faping, he suddenly stood up and appeared in front of Qiu Yunlong in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the distance between the two was only a hand's breadth.

Qiu Yunlong was shocked and hurriedly raised his claws to try to create some distance.

However, the next moment.

He then saw that a pair of sharp claws had also emerged from the other person's hands.

Moreover, it looks even more sinister than his Crimson Cloud Claw.

Just as Qiu Yunlong was about to raise his hand to use his proud weapon control technique to restrain Xu Qing, he was surprised to find that his invincible Crimson Cloud Claw could not break the opponent's control over the weapon.

"This is not a weapon!"

Qiu Yunlong was horrified!
Xu Qing grinned, and with a swift movement of his corpse claws, he severed Qiu Yunlong's arms, which were adorned with the Crimson Cloud Claws, from the roots.

"Weapon of Absolute Power? Isn't this extraordinary treasure of yours a weapon?"

In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing had removed the weapon that the Envoy of the Weaponry was so proud of.

Finally, Xu Qing reached out and caught the Crimson Cloud Claw that Qiu Yunlong had dropped, then with a backhand motion, he shoved it into the other man's chest.

To kill someone, you must first destroy their spirit!

Qiu Yunlong's eyes were wide open, and he died with his eyes wide open, unable to close them in peace.

On the other side, Zuo Zixiong's momentum surged after obtaining the sword. No matter how powerful Sun Faping's Great Formless Skill was, it could not withstand the repeated slashes from the sharp weapon.

Zuo Zixiong seized the opportunity, gathering all his energy into one point, and at this moment, his sword strike already possessed eight or nine tenths of the grandmaster's style.

As the sword beam, over ten feet long, swept past, a bloody hole appeared in Sun Faping's bulging "Big Stomach Skill".

As the air in his belly deflated, the man's head rolled off with the flash of the sword.

Before his death, Sun Faping also stared wide-eyed, as if he couldn't believe that his invincible evil skills could be broken by someone below the level of a grandmaster.

As the dust settled, Zuo Zixiong, exhausted, knelt on one knee, leaning on his sword, panting heavily.

Looking back, Xu Qing was squatting beside the corpse, calmly playing with Qiu Yunlong's Fire Cloud Claw, just like a cat teasing a dead mouse!
Zuo Zixiong, panting, came to Xu Qing's side, sat down on the spot, and asked, "How did you break through his Crimson Cloud Claw?"

Xu Qing reached out and tossed Qiu Yunlong's arm to Zuo Zixiong, saying, "Let's fight fire with fire."

"His weapon is his weapon in his hands, but as long as I hold his hand, his weapon becomes my weapon."

Zuo Zixiong looked up in surprise upon hearing this.

He glanced at Xu Qing, who was spouting nonsense, and then at Qiu Yunlong, whose chest was pierced by the Crimson Cloud Claw.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, "I see."

"Alright, if General Zuo has nothing else to do, you should leave Yinhe as soon as possible!"

"To be honest, I was entrusted by the Eight Banners Marshal to come and persuade you to leave."

Zuo Zixiong was silent for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for saving me, brother, but I cannot leave yet!"

"Why?"

“One of my soldiers fought alongside me, but instead of dying on the battlefield against the Yin Shi Fa Wang, he died at the hands of demons and ghosts because of my incompetence. That day, Tian Xin instigated Duo E Gui Wang to slaughter my brothers, turning them into Yin soldiers and ghosts. This grudge must be avenged.”

"If I cannot avenge this grudge, I would rather perish in the Yin River!"

(End of this chapter)