Chapter 152: Old Ghost Qi

Night fell, and bonfires were lit all around the foot of the mountain.

The bandits roasted their dry rations and the game they had hunted over the flames. The disciples of Jinlin Mountain had finished their evening meal an hour earlier, and at this moment, they were high-spirited and raring to go.

The Jinlin Mountain group formed a spearhead array, preparing to break through the encirclement. At the very tip of the arrowhead were the two demon cultivators, Yu Mu and Tong Chuan.

"Move out!" At the command of Fang Ling, who followed closely behind, the formation slowly advanced.

More than a hundred people moved simultaneously, yet completely without sound. The entire formation was uniform and disciplined, showing no signs of scattering, a testament to the high tactical proficiency of the Jinlin Sect disciples.

Viewed from above, the formation resembled a massive arrow tip, pointing directly at the enemy forces.

The bandits of Solitary Cliff were drinking and making merry, filled with laughter and cheers. Having spent the day tense and exhausted, this was their most relaxed moment.

Just then, a melodious sound of a flute drifted over. The flute tunes were lingering and ethereal, resembling the soft calls of a loving mother, wife, and child. Instantly, all the bandits fell into a tender haze of memories, nostalgia, and longing.

Some of the more emotionally vulnerable individuals already had tears dampening their collars. Even the Jinlin Sect disciples, separated by a wide berth, were affected by the flute music, each of them wearing a sorrowful expression.

Fang Ling and Yang Yong exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. Such a large-scale group skill, under the current circumstances, was far more useful than an Essence Soul cultivator.

They simultaneously looked at Yu Mu, a fresh shroud of mystery settling over the man in their hearts.

"Block your hearing, guard your minds! Clear your spiritual platforms and prevent the demonic sounds from entering your ears!" Amidst a fierce roar, a figure soared into the sky, flying toward the source of the flute music. "Who goes there? Get out here!"

"Haha! Your granddaddy is here!" With a wild laugh, Shi Dali stepped forward to meet him.

"Mid-stage Essence Soul!" The bandit leader was greatly startled.

"Haha! Scared? Too late! Kill!" The word "kill" erupted like rolling thunder.

"Kill!" The Jinlin Sect members echoed in unison, charging down the mountain like fierce tigers descending from the heights.

The two leading demons had already transformed into their beastly forms, sprinting downwards. Tong Chuan's true form was even larger than Mang Fang's, and combined with the momentum of his descent, he was completely unstoppable.

The bandits couldn't even dream of blocking him; they couldn't even get close to his sides.

He was like an armored war chariot, crushing everything in his path, leaving no one unscathed in his wake.

Yu Mu was even more exaggerated. His rolled-up body resembled a giant ball, rampaging indiscriminately through the crowd while frequently spewing torrents of raging flames, sending the enemy screaming for their parents.

With a single charge from the two of them, the enemy formation was utterly shattered, rendering them incapable of organizing any effective resistance and forcing them to fight on their own.

As the two sides clashed, the flute music ceased. An Shu gripped her flute and retrieved her tornado megaphone. Her group skill was an indiscriminate attack, so it could no longer be used during a chaotic melee.

However, after this single tune, all the mortal bandits had already fallen into illusions and passed out. Even some cultivators with low cultivation levels were not spared.

An Shu alone had incapacitated a large majority of the enemy bandits, a result that deeply shocked even herself. This was entirely due to the medium-grade spiritual weapon flute and the large megaphone; relying on her own strength alone, she could never have achieved such an effect.

Having suffered such a heavy blow, the morale of the Jinlin Mountain members soared. Especially since those mortals could no longer participate in battle, it lifted a lingering concern from the minds of the Jinlin Sect disciples.

Cultivators slaughtering too many mortals would damage their spiritual hearts. Therefore, they would rather face cultivators than confront these mortals.

Everything was proceeding according to Fang Ling's plan, and Jinlin Mountain had completely seized the upper hand. Their breakthrough was now unstoppable.

Just then, the bandit leader, locked in combat with Shi Dali in mid-air, roared at the top of his lungs, "Old Ghost Qi, are you still not going to help? Damn it, if my Solitary Cliff is finished, don't even think your Soul-Yin Cave will profit from this!"

After shouting, the bandit leader received no response. He roared again, "Fine! We'll do it by your terms. Our forces will unite, and after it's done, we split it six-forty!"

Still no response!

The bandit leader gritted his teeth. "Seven-three... eight-two... Damn it! Old Ghost Qi, if you don't show yourself right now, I'm taking my men and retreating, and you won't get a single hair!"

"Watch out!" Fang Ling, who had been secretly on guard, suddenly let out a sharp cry.

"Ah!" A miserable scream echoed.

"Third Brother!" The brothers and sisters of Jinlin Mountain cried out in sorrow as one of their members fighting in the battlefield spewed a jet of blood from his lower abdomen and died on the spot.

Yang Yong, not far away, let out an angry roar and lunged forward. At that moment, a dark, gaunt, and skinny old man flew out from behind the corpse.

The fellow had barely an ounce of meat on him, as thin as a skeleton.

Holding a golden core in his hand, the old ghost let out a weird, cackling laugh. "Damn it, Monkey Lai! What are you howling for? I could have killed a leopard, but now I can only settle for a dog."

As he spoke, Yang Yong had already closed in. As he moved, flashes of golden light danced across his body, brimming with explosive power, truly resembling a golden-scaled leopard.

Old Ghost Qi refused to fight him at all. With a flash of his figure like a ghost, he vanished completely.

"Everyone be careful, this fellow is the second-in-command of Soul-Yin Cave, and he excels at sneak attacks," Fang Ling warned urgently.

Soul-Yin Cave was one of the three bandit factions boasting two Essence Soul cultivators. They had not expected to happen upon both sides conspiring tonight.

"Yu Mu, watch out, he's behind you," the sixth brother of Jinlin Mountain suddenly warned.

Without a shred of hesitation, Yu Mu spun around and spewed a ball of flames. With a loud boom, a figure flashed into existence behind him. The clothes on his body were burnt to ashes, leaving him with nowhere to hide.

Not only his clothes, but Old Ghost Qi's hair, beard, and entire body were scorched. Though not severely wounded, it gave him a profound shock.

Old Ghost Qi practiced ghost-path arts, and Yu Mu's wine-fueled flames possessed an extra damage-dealing effect against him.

The moment he appeared, all the Jinlin Sect brothers lunged toward him. Not daring to linger a moment longer, Old Ghost Qi turned and fled. His movement technique was extremely swift, and within moments, he blended back into the crowd.

"He went that way," the sixth brother pointed, indicating the direction of An Shu and Zhui Feng outside the encirclement.

"Sixth Brother, watch out!" Almost simultaneously with the sixth brother's pointing, Fang Ling issued another warning.

Though the sixth brother's combat strength was low, he possessed a unique skill. His eyesight was exceptionally sharp; it was said he could even see the traces of the wind. Thus, although Old Ghost Qi excelled at concealment arts, he could not escape the sixth brother's eyes.

However, having poured all his energy into tracking Old Ghost Qi's movements, he neglected his own situation. A Solitary Cliff chieftain seized the opportunity to launch a sudden sneak attack.

This chieftain was at the late Golden Core stage, and combined with the element of surprise, there was no way the sixth brother could dodge in time. Before he could even emit a sound, his head was shattered by a single palm strike from the enemy.

"Sixth Brother!" Losing two brothers in rapid succession, the members of Jinlin Mountain were overcome with grief and rage. All their fury was now focused squarely on Old Ghost Qi.

None of them had expected Old Ghost Qi to suddenly intervene, causing their excellent situation to take a sharp turn for the worse. Yu Mu felt even more anxious; relying solely on the strength of An Shu and Zhui Feng, they were simply no match for Old Ghost Qi.

"Brother Shi, kill that old ghost first!" he roared, throwing caution to the wind as he charged desperately toward the two women. The brothers of Jinlin Mountain followed closely behind, and the center of gravity of the battlefield instantly shifted toward Old Ghost Qi.

Shi Dali had long since recognized the detrimental impact Old Ghost Qi was having on the battlefield, and since the man possessed no spiritual weapon, eliminating him should have been easier. However, he was pinned down tightly by Monkey Lai and could not break away at all.

Upon engaging him, Shi Dali realized he had underestimated his opponent's strength. The spiritual weapon in Monkey Lai's hand was no ordinary item; it was a genuine medium-grade spiritual weapon. Moreover, through years of nourishment, he had already bonded with it spiritually.

As for Shi Dali's short saber, it had only been refined intermittently for over a month. At best, it was merely usable; compared to the opponent's degree of resonance, it fell short by a hundred thousand miles.

While a lower-grade spiritual weapon provided a 100% amplification, Shi Dali could only harness about 30% of it. Meanwhile, the opponent's medium-grade spiritual weapon provided a 200% amplification, and Monkey Lai could unleash 300% of its power. That extra 100% was the additional bonus gained after spiritual resonance.

Shi Dali's cultivation realm was only higher than his opponent's by a single tier, so the gap in raw power wasn't massive. Consequently, combining all factors, Shi Dali found himself temporarily at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, the Shi family's daoist arts were extraordinary, allowing him to claw back much of the lost ground. At present, he could only manage a stalemate; defeating his opponent was impossible in the short term.

Just as Yu Mu was shouting for reinforcement from Shi Dali, Monkey Lai made the exact same move. He shouted harshly, "Damn old ghost, help me kill this person first, and the rest will fall into our hands like picking up items. Didn't you have your eyes on the spiritual weapon in that woman's hand? Once we slaughter these people, don't you see plenty of spiritual weapons in their hands?"