Late at night, heavy snow fell in thick flurries.
The soldiers still lining up outside the city gates saw a general riding toward them from within the city, holding a large banner aloft.
"The Great General has ordered: all soldiers who have not yet entered the city are to wait outside and seal this gate!"
The moment these words were spoken, the soldiers queued behind erupted in fury, complaints rising on all sides.
They had marched a long distance from Southern Chu Prefecture. Already exhausted in body and mind, they now had to endure such extreme cold. The resentment in their hearts could no longer be suppressed.
"Why should we stay outside?"
"If we're staying out here, then everyone should stay out here! The Great General clearly doesn't treat us as human!"
"Why is it so cold? I don't care—I'm going in! I'm not freezing to death out here!"
"Brothers, we've been veterans for more than 10 years—are we really going to freeze to death outside the city like cowards?"
The soldiers outside the city grew increasingly agitated, their emotions escalating as they began surging toward the gates.
The generals tried to steady morale, but their efforts only made things worse.
In an instant, the city gate descended into chaos.
…
Amid the wind and snow.
Qin Ye led his elite troops toward the Prefect's Residence, but before reaching it, he pulled on his reins and stopped.
Ahead lay a long street. At the far end of that street stood a burly figure with its head lowered. Its hair hung in disarray, and chains wrapped around its hands and feet, scraping against the ground and producing a sound that made one's scalp tingle.
Qin Ye could not see the person's true face, but instinct told him that this figure was extremely dangerous.
Li Yuzhong frowned as well. Tightening his grip on his long weapon, he stepped forward alone.
Behind them stood a cavalry unit, each soldier imposing in bearing. Yet facing the chained man ahead, their warhorses began neighing restlessly in fear.
Qin Ye's gaze shifted to a tall building on the left. There, he saw a massive shape resembling a python climbing onto the rooftop. Its serpentine body swiftly transformed into human form under the cover of night.
"A Nurturing Essence Realm, fifth layer. Remarkable. I wonder what your relationship with Qingxiao Sect is?"
A woman's voice rang out—venomous and laced with mockery and ridicule.
Li Yuzhong and Jia Guang turned to look, their scalps tingling with dread. They could not see the woman's face clearly, but they saw that her lower half was that of a serpent.
A demonic entity!
At that moment, terrifying figures leapt onto the rooftops lining both sides of the long street, each radiating ghostly qi.
All the warhorses grew violently restless, making it difficult for the soldiers on their backs to control them.
Qin Ye looked toward the serpent-bodied woman on the rooftop and called out loudly, "Where did you demons come from? What exactly do you want?"
The serpent-bodied woman sneered. "What do we want? Of course—to eat you!"
As soon as her voice fell, she lunged at Qin Ye like an arrow, slicing through the swirling snow and aiming straight for him.
She was too fast—so fast that when Qin Ye instinctively raised his staff, it was already too late.
Whoosh—
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out. The serpent-bodied woman's expression changed drastically. She twisted her body instinctively, yet her cheek was still sliced open. Threads of black blood splattered outward. She landed on a nearby rooftop, shattering tiles and sending snow cascading down in a cloud of frost.
Qin Ye turned his head and saw a figure darting forward, landing upon the rooftop on the left side of the street.
"Third Martial Uncle!"
Qin Ye cried out in surprise and joy. The newcomer was none other than Jiang Zhaoxia.
Jiang Zhaoxia's blue robe fluttered as he stood against the falling snow, sword in hand. Sword qi shone brightly around him, dazzling in the dim gloom of Cloud Emperor City.
Li Yuzhong and Jia Guang turned to look at him.
The two were stunned, as if witnessing a sword immortal descending to the mortal world. Merely standing there, he radiated an invincible aura.
The serpent-bodied woman steadied herself and glared at Jiang Zhaoxia. In the darkness, she too could not clearly see his features. Yet he exuded overwhelming pressure.
At the same time—
A massive number of corpse ghosts surged out from within Cloud Emperor City. Some burst from the ground, others smashed through walls, and still others crashed through doors, all charging toward Qin Ye's army.
Soldiers who had taken refuge inside houses let out shrill screams, shattering the silence of Cloud Emperor City.
At the city gates, soldiers rushed frantically into the city. The scene was utterly chaotic. They failed to notice that shadowy figures crowded within the darkness inside the city, and even outside in the snowy fields, figures were breaking through the ground.
The silhouettes in the darkness seemed to receive some silent command. Almost simultaneously, they lunged toward the soldiers. Their howls quickly echoed beneath the night sky, plunging Cloud Emperor City into uproar.
Outside the city, the soldiers at the very rear heard noises behind them. When they turned around, they were nearly frightened out of their wits.
Corpse ghosts were charging at them like mad. Those grotesque faces assaulted the soldiers' vision.
"Ghosts!"
A burly soldier shouted at the top of his lungs. More and more soldiers turned around, and when they saw the corpse ghosts, each of them was startled in shock.
Before they could think further, points of light appeared in the darkness behind the corpse ghosts, like stars igniting in the night sky. Immediately afterward, they saw corpse ghosts collapsing to the ground one after another, fresh blood spraying into the air.
One after another, disciples of Qingxiao Sect leapt out from the darkness. Gripping their Qingxiao Swords, they slew the corpse ghosts along the way, thrusting sword after sword forward. Some pierced straight through the corpse ghosts' backs, impaling their hearts, while others were more brutal, directly dismembering the corpse ghosts.
Seeing people cutting down corpse ghosts, the terrified soldiers quickly calmed down. Soon, someone recognized that these mysterious figures in uniform blue robes were from Qingxiao Sect.
Who did not know that their lord, Liu Jing, had been supported by the Sect Master of Qingxiao Sect?
The soldiers barely had time to rejoice before they heard screams and roars coming from within the city.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…
Sharp sounds of air being torn apart rang out. One by one, disciples of Qingxiao Sect descended from the sky on flying swords, swiftly crossing over the city walls and charging into the city.
Two figures descended from above and landed atop the city wall—it was Zhao Zhen and Li Yang.
The district they faced lay in darkness, yet they could see numerous corpse ghosts crawling out from beneath the ground.
"Come to think of it, you and I have never truly fought side by side," Li Yang said with a smile. He could sense two exceptionally terrifying ghostly auras within the darkness.
They must be the evil ghosts of Ghost King Ridge mentioned by the Sect Master!
He felt both wary and exhilarated.
Zhao Zhen's gaze had already locked onto one of the evil ghosts. He vaguely saw that it resembled a monkey, agile and nimble.
"Fight side by side? No—it should be a contest. Let's see who kills more ghost soldiers!"
Zhao Zhen snorted. As his voice fell, he immediately began casting a technique. Surging vital energy burst forth from within his body, transforming into a golden hue.
Li Yang smiled and followed suit, likewise gathering golden vital energy.
Their vital energy swiftly transformed into golden dragons. Almost simultaneously, they leapt into the air. The forms of the golden dragons fully condensed, and the two of them became two five-clawed golden dragons diving into the darkness below the city wall.
The dragon roars of Divine Dragon Transformation resounded beneath the night sky, and the golden radiance emitted from their bodies illuminated a corner of Cloud Emperor City.
Above the two divine dragons, the swirling snow and mist were torn apart by Qingxiao Sect disciples. More and more disciples shot into Cloud Emperor City like a rain of arrows.
On the other side.
Qin Ye and Li Yuzhong had already fallen into an encirclement. The entire long street was filled with corpse ghosts. They could only protect Jia Guang while resisting the corpse ghosts attacking from all directions.
The cavalry under their command were also engaged in battle, warhorses rearing as snow and mist flew everywhere.
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhaoxia was locked in fierce combat with the serpent-bodied woman atop the rooftops. Their figures were as swift as lightning; ordinary people could not capture their movements with the naked eye.
Jiang Zhaoxia stared intently at the serpent-bodied woman, assessing her abilities in his heart.
Her speed was astonishingly fast!
She possessed an inconceivable regenerative ability!
She could emit invisible poison during combat, numbing her enemies!
Earlier, when Jiang Zhaoxia had brushed against that invisible poison, he had felt his fingers go numb. Startled, he immediately covered his body with sword qi, narrowly avoiding disaster.
"The flesh of an Awakening Spirit Realm cultivator must be delicious!"
The serpent-bodied woman laughed darkly. She did not evade, instead continuing her relentless assault. Even when injured, she showed no fear.
Jiang Zhaoxia did not reply. He had to eliminate one evil ghost to prove that he was no worse than Xu Ning.
A streak of sword light passed above the heads of Jiang Zhaoxia and the serpent-bodied woman, shooting toward the Prefect's Residence. This caused the serpent-bodied woman to frown.
She looked into the distance and saw a large number of Qingxiao Sect disciples pouring into the city. Her heart sank.
"What was bound to come has finally arrived."
The serpent-bodied woman thought silently. Her expression grew ferocious, and her speed increased even further, intensifying the pressure on Jiang Zhaoxia.
…
Tap!
Shen Yue descended from the sky, landing on the eaves above the main gate of the Prefect's Residence. He had already sensed the terrifying ghostly qi within.
Rumble—
A clap of thunder illuminated the snowy night. Shen Yue lifted his eyes. Within the rolling dark clouds in the night sky, a massive shape seemed to churn faintly—like a flood dragon.
"So the snow is indeed the work of ghosts."
Shen Yue murmured, his expression calm. His gaze returned to the interior of the Prefect's Residence.
Following his line of sight, there stood a massive palace within the residence. Before it lay a long flight of white stone steps, numbering 20 or 30 tiers.
The entire Prefect's Residence was devoid of people, exuding utter stillness.
Clang—
The great doors of the palace suddenly swung open. A gust of sinister wind poured out. Even at a distance of 100 zhang, it stirred Shen Yue's temples and robes.
Shen Yue narrowed his eyes. Wisps of sword qi emanated from the wooden sword in his hand, rising along his arm.
"For someone at the ninth layer of the Nurturing Essence Realm to possess such sword intent—rare in the mortal world."
The voice of the Great Demon Luo echoed from within the Prefect's Residence, its tone indifferent.
Shen Yue spoke, "It seems that before you became a ghost, you were not without considerable experience."
Boom—
The eaves of a pavilion ahead were blasted apart as a gaunt old man leapt out. He had four arms, each holding a bone sword. His eyes were covered with a strip of blood-soaked cloth. The lower half of his face was incomplete, exposing nasal bone and teeth—terrifying to behold.
Shen Yue immediately flashed aside, but the four-armed old man had already killed his way to his front.
He raised his sword to block, only to be sent flying by a tremendous force.
"What terrifying strength!"
Shen Yue exclaimed inwardly. He was thrown dozens of zhang away, landing upon a rooftop. The residual force pushed him backward further, sending tiles flying as he slid, until he finally stopped at the edge of the eaves.
He focused his gaze and saw the four-armed old man standing at a distance, not pressing the attack.
With just that single exchange, Shen Yue could already feel the vast disparity between himself and his opponent.
The arm holding his wooden sword trembled uncontrollably. This was no longer something he could suppress through sheer will—it was an instinctive reaction of the flesh.