Chapter 222 - 169: I Am an Elder of the Celestial Ghost Sect, Here to Present Treasures

As soon as Lin Chang’sheng made his move, it was with the ruthlessly domineering Immortal-slaying Celestial Blade.

Surging Golden Core Middle Stage magical power poured in, making the blade aura flare, instantly transforming into a hundred-foot-long arc of blade light that swept down on Xuan Gu and Wu Tianhua.

"He broke through again? This—how is this possible...."

Xuan Gu stared at the hundred-foot blade aura slicing toward him, his pupils filled with terror.

He had always thought himself one of the major prodigies of the Celestial Ghost Sect.

Yet in the face of Lin Chang’sheng, he could only look at the other’s back.

The gap between them was truly as vast as heaven and earth.

"Impudent! You ignorant little brat, don’t act so arrogant!"

Wu Tianhua shouted furiously, striking his palm forward with sudden power.

His formidable Golden Core Late Stage cultivation erupted, countless vengeful souls and malicious ghosts howling with piercing screams, surging to clash against Lin Chang’sheng’s blade aura.

This attack was the Celestial Ghost Sect’s Celestial Demon Hand Seal.

To cultivate this technique, one had to personally slay tens of thousands of souls just to reach Great Success.

BOOM——

The two attacks collided in an instant, releasing a deafening thunderclap that roared across the sky.

For ten miles in all directions, every tree was shattered by the violent fluctuations of magical power.

Wu Tianhua thought he could rely on his mighty magical power to kill Lin Chang’sheng with a single palm.

Yet reality was nothing like he imagined.

Lin Chang’sheng’s overwhelming hundred-foot blade aura cleaved right through his Celestial Demon Hand Seal, continuing its descent on the two men.

"Dodge!"

Wu Tianhua’s heart lurched in shock at the sight.

He immediately leaped aside—if Lin Chang’sheng’s blade struck him, even if he didn’t die, he’d be terribly wounded.

But Xuan Gu was half a beat slow; by the time he tried to run, it was already too late.

Fortunately, the blade aura didn’t fall directly on his head.

Instead, it landed just three feet from where he stood.

Otherwise, that strike would’ve been enough to tear him apart.

Yet even so, the sheer force of the blade’s aftershock shattered every bone in Xuan Gu’s body, making him cough up a mouthful of blood and collapse limply to the ground.

"How does this brute possess such terrifying cultivation?"

Even now, Xuan Gu couldn’t understand—after all, they were both considered prodigies.

He hadn’t even stepped into the Golden Core Stage, but the other could already fight Golden Core Late Stage powerhouses?

In that instant, Xuan Gu’s eyes were filled only with monstrous hatred.

He hated himself for being unable to cut down Lin Chang’sheng with his own hands, to avenge his father.

"Elder Wu, use your killing move! Before I die, I have to see this beast slain with my own eyes! Otherwise, the Myriad Ghosts Pulling Technique will be buried with me, and no one will ever get it!!"

Xuan Gu shouted with the last of his strength.

His greatest wish now was for Elder Wu to kill Lin Chang’sheng and fulfill his vow of revenge for his father.

If he couldn’t have his vengeance, he wouldn’t die peacefully.

Not far away, upon hearing Xuan Gu’s words, Elder Wu’s heart stirred.

This secret technique was obtained from an Immortal Monarch’s Cave Mansion—if he could master it, he would surely break through the fateful chokehold at the Nascent Soul and reach even greater heights in the future.

"Boy, time to die!"

Elder Wu waved his hand, summoning a Myriad Soul Banner.

This was one of the Celestial Ghost Sect’s ultimate killing moves—when the myriad ghosts were unleashed, even a Golden Core Stage Cultivator would be destroyed.

Even a Nascent Soul Stage expert would be alarmed by such a sight.

Wu Tianhua was certain that Lin Chang’sheng would be ripped apart by the swarm of ghosts.

"Then let’s see whether your Myriad Soul Banner is greater, or if my Hundred Thousand Soul Banner is stronger?"

As he spoke, Lin Chang’sheng also withdrew the Profound Court’s Hundred Thousand Soul Banner from his Storage Bag.

"That—that’s Elder Xuan’s Myriad Soul Banner?"

Wu Tianhua’s heart shook at the sight.

He knew full well that Profound Court had the Myriad Ghosts Pulling Technique. The Soul Banner it refined was surely far more powerful than his own.

But then he realized, Lin Chang’sheng wasn’t from their Celestial Ghost Sect, so even if he knew how to activate the secret technique, he probably only grasped the basics.

There was no way he could unleash the banner’s full might.

"That’s right—Profound Court, Xuan Jing and their spirits are all within. Didn’t you come here to avenge them? After I kill you, I’ll make sure you get to meet them!"

Lin Chang’sheng wasn’t an unfeeling man.

After killing Wu Tianhua, he’d naturally seal his soul into the Myriad Soul Banner.

After all, this was a Golden Core Late Stage powerhouse: his body could become a Corpse Puppet, and his soul could be refined into the Soul Banner to further amplify its power.

"Delusional! Die for me!"

Wu Tianhua barked in rage—this brat simply had no respect for him at all.

With a furious roar, Wu Tianhua swung his arm; tens of thousands of wailing souls surged out in a frenzy of agony.

An ordinary onlooker would think they’d entered Purgatory itself.

But Lin Chang’sheng had seen such scenes too many times before.

Moreover, he possessed Divine Sense at the Middle Stage of Nascent Soul level.

Scaring him was impossible.

"Go!"

Watching the mass of wailing souls charging him, Lin Chang’sheng swung his arm, unleashing the full might of the Hundred Thousand Soul Banner.

Jié jié jié——

Wuuuuu——

Countless wrathful spirits, burning with fury, exploded forth as if they meant to rip the world to pieces.

Though both sides unleashed only soul phantoms,

the scene was still shockingly intense. Souls clashed and battled, the stronger devouring the weaker on the spot.

In this contest, Lin Chang’sheng’s Hundred Thousand Soul Banner clearly crushed Wu Tianhua’s.

Within Lin Chang’sheng’s banner, not only were there more souls—there was also Profound Court, a Golden Core Late Stage ghost serving as Soul General.

But among Wu Tianhua’s souls, the highest was merely Golden Core Early Stage.

How could his Myriad Soul Banner possibly contend with Lin Chang’sheng’s?

In just a brief exchange,

over half of Wu Tianhua’s souls were devoured by those under Lin Chang’sheng’s command.

Wu Tianhua realized that if this went on, his defeat was assured.

Thankfully, he had prepared the Soul-Devouring Array ahead of time; otherwise, he really might have been defeated in this forsaken place.

Seeing he couldn’t overcome Lin Chang’sheng, Wu Tianhua unleashed a barrage of Ghost Techniques, activating the Soul-Devouring Array.

BOOM——

The surrounding mountains quaked violently, black curtains of light rising into the sky.

Soon, the entire forest was enveloped, shrouded beneath the veil.

With the array activated, Wu Tianhua, at its center, became a massive vortex.

Any nearby ghost soul was sucked instantly into his body.

As one soul after another was absorbed, Wu Tianhua’s cultivation soared continually.

"An array? Looks like this old fox still had cards left to play!"

Lin Chang’sheng swiftly withdrew all ghosts back into his Hundred Thousand Soul Banner. If Wu Tianhua devoured them, it’d help him become even stronger.

"Die!"

Lin Chang’sheng had no intention of waiting for Wu Tianhua to finish absorbing all the released souls before making his move.

If he stood by and let Wu Tianhua consume their power, the old man might break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Fighting him then would be far more difficult.

KRA-KOOM——

But when Lin Chang’sheng’s blade aura fell upon Wu Tianhua, it had no effect whatsoever.

With an explosion, Wu Tianhua remained entirely unharmed.

Clearly, the array power diverted all of Lin Chang’sheng’s attacks.

Lin Chang’sheng was no stranger to array formation, so he understood it well enough.

He soared into the air, overlooking the entire array from above.

Hoping to spot a weakness.

"Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls—Entry Level!"

Just as Lin Chang’sheng searched for an array-breaking technique, a prompt suddenly sounded in his mind.

[Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls detected. Spend 2000 Spirit Stones to Simplify?]

"Yes!"

Without hesitation, Lin Chang’sheng chose to proceed, even though he knew this wasn’t the perfect time.

But right now, he had no other way to break the array.

To slay Wu Tianhua, he had to decipher this formation.

[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls...simplifying...simplification complete. Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls = Slay Souls!]

In just three breaths, the simplification was done.

The result made a vicious grin appear at the corners of Lin Chang’sheng’s mouth.

Coincidentally, all the ghosts from the Myriad Soul Banner were still roaming about the area in the thousands.

Some even attempted to escape this space.

But the array’s bindings kept them trapped inside.

So many spirits—just right for him to slaughter.

Lin Chang’sheng wielded his blade and began cutting down the wandering souls en masse.

Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls Experience +1!

Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls Experience +1!

Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls Experience +1!

...

With every soul Lin Chang’sheng slain, his proficiency with the Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls increased rapidly.

[Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls: Mastered!]

Soon, mastery was achieved.

Waves of information surged wildly into Lin Chang’sheng’s mind.

It was all about how to construct and how to dismantle the Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls.

Now, Lin Chang’sheng was like an Array Master who had spent decades with this formation—his understanding was absolute.

"So that’s the way to break the array?"

Enlightened, Lin Chang’sheng promptly found the method to destroy the formation.

He summoned eight Heaven-Devouring Insect Kings, directing them to the skull upon which Wu Tianhua stood.

The Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls had twenty-two Array Foundations, one Array Hub, and one Array Plate.

The Skull Treasure was the Array Plate; as the center, Wu Tianhua himself was the Array Hub.

That’s how he operated the array, drawing all the souls into his body to boost his cultivation.

The method to break the array—destroy the Skull Plate.

Once destroyed, the array would collapse.

And since the Heaven-Devouring Insect Kings could swallow even Iron Mountain itself, any magical treasure was nothing but food to them.

The eight insect kings lunged for the skull, devouring it in no time.

"No—!"

Wu Tianhua was horrified by the scene.

How could this brat know the secret to breaking the formation?

CRACK CRACK CRACK——

Amid Wu Tianhua’s screams,

the Skull Treasure was gnawed clean by the Heaven-Devouring Insect Kings in moments.

With the Array Plate destroyed, the Array of Myriad Spirits Devouring Souls was instantly broken.

The black curtain around the forest faded away.

The remaining ghosts scattered, trying to flee in all directions.

Wu Tianhua was just moments short of devouring them all and ascending to the Nascent Soul Realm, ready to crush Lin Chang’sheng.

Never did he expect the array to be broken by Lin Chang’sheng.

Even if he did break through, it would only last a short while.

But all that mattered to Wu Tianhua was killing Lin Chang’sheng.

"The game’s over—you’re all going to die!"

Lin Chang’sheng was done toying with Wu Tianhua.

He immediately expanded his Divine Sense at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, suppressing Wu Tianhua so hard his face turned ghostly pale.

"It... It’s you? It can’t possibly be you...."

Wu Tianhua’s eyes went wide with disbelief, his face twisted in shock.

He simply couldn’t accept that such terrifying Divine Sense—mid Nascent Soul Stage—was really emanating from Lin Chang’sheng.