Chapter 121 The Ghost King Appears
The pressure of the "filthy" level was comparable to the pressure of a thousand-foot deep sea, making everyone present unable to stand. Zhen Su's immortal body could withstand it, but the "silver" on the surface of his ear could not take it and was almost crushed. It was only by exerting all its strength to form a bridge that it reached Zhen Su's earlobe and reformed into a small ball that he escaped the calamity.
The two old monsters still clinging to Shinjuku, however, were powerless. Like two sacks being shoved into the ground with a "thud," they couldn't even get up and were crushed along with their souls.
As for the more than two hundred female cultivators, they were equally unable to resist.
They used their internal energy to support each other, but in the end only about ten people in the center survived. The immense pressure easily crushed their spines, turning them from skull to tailbone into a sticky pile of ash in an instant.
The scene was extremely brutal. Lou Lan almost exhausted her Yin power just to protect herself. Even if she could have made a move, she couldn't have done it in time. Everything happened too fast. She could only watch helplessly, her eyes bloodshot with rage.
The surviving female cultivators were all dumbfounded.
"The Ghost King in One Step..."
"H-How is this possible? This must be an illusion!!"
"Yes, yes, that can't be true..."
Just now, the female cultivator was boasting that Lou Lan, as a Ghost Owl, was only one step away from becoming a Ghost King. But in reality, this "one step" is incomparable to the "one step" a Ghost General takes to become a Ghost King. The gap between Ghost ranks is already like an insurmountable chasm, and to advance beyond a rank is legendary, a true miracle.
While they were filled with fear, the Ghost King had already removed the Soul-Stabilizing Needles from his body and walked up to someone. His eerie, bloodshot, pupil-less eyes stared intently at the other person, but the next moment he grabbed the other person's neck with one hand, forcing their face close to his own, and tilting their head to examine them closely.
The person being choked was at least ten feet tall, and his weight was not to be underestimated, yet he was still easily lifted up. He tried to struggle, but only that the Ghost King tightened his grip even more mercilessly, and his neck bones made a sound of unbearable strain, his neck about to bend.
"Release...release..." the man managed to utter with difficulty.
The Ghost King coldly replied, "You are not Qing'er, you fish eye."
Just as he was recovering from the excruciating pain and oppressive force, Zhen Su stared blankly at the Zhen King who was choking Lou Lan not far away, and uttered a deeply puzzled "Hmm?"
The beautiful and dignified Lou Lan's face also became slightly distorted because of the Ghost King's words, and she looked at the Ghost King with a puzzled expression.
Unbeknownst to anyone, within the Ghost King's sight lay over a dozen "True Monks," each bearing the likeness of a True Monk. His obsession, amplified infinitely by the Ten-Petaled Blossom, was tearing at his sanity, yet he was acutely aware that there was only one true True Monk, and that the True Monk, who would rather die than leave him and possessed extraordinary power, could not possibly appear before him so easily! Therefore, every single one of these people was an illusion!
Seeing that Lou Lan's fierce aura was being suppressed by the Ghost King, and his face growing increasingly pale, the remaining female cultivators, disregarding their own recovery, knelt down one after another, their hands forming strange hand seals, and cried out to Lou Lan, "Lord, we are willing to offer ourselves up, please take the soul power of all of us!!"
Upon hearing this, Lou Lan's eyelashes fluttered violently. She glanced with difficulty at the direction of the female cultivators behind her, then looked at the bundle in her arms out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but bite her lower lip tightly before closing her eyes.
The female cultivators gradually gathered qi in their chests. As the blood-red qi successfully condensed, the female cultivators quickly withered away, their pupils losing all color, leaving only a pale white.
Just as his soul power was about to be drained, Lou Lan suddenly recalled the cave maidens he had rescued, or the way they had been revived after their deaths, their tearful gratitude and innocent trust in him. Later, they finally realized that he had been using them all along, and that his revenge was only because they shared a common enemy. Even so, they still foolishly followed him, unwilling to leave after the deed was done, and even willing to offer their soul power to him in the face of death.
Without their souls, they cannot descend to the underworld and will never be reborn. Under the whole world, there will never be any trace of their existence again.
"Foolish...how can they all be so foolish?" With that, Lou Lan suddenly unleashed an overwhelming aura of ferocity, breaking through the invisible shackles of the Ghost King's foul energy. Extremely sharp armor pierced fiercely into the tiger's mouth that the Ghost King was gripping, but the Ghost King seemed to feel no pain whatsoever, his eyes not even blinking, his body radiating only hatred for being fooled, and disgust and murderous intent that could not tolerate a "fake".
With the magic array's power nearly depleted, Lou Lan used its remaining strength to twist the eight rings of the array in one fell swoop. After a violent earthquake, Lou Lan reversed her position from the Ghost King, transforming into her armor and gripping the Ghost King's neck.
"Your Majesty!!!" Shinju immediately clenched his fists and exerted his strength. Since the magic array had just exhausted its power, Shinju regained his freedom and was about to rush to the side of the Demon King.
Lou Lan knew she couldn't fight the Ghost King right now, so instead of piercing her flesh with her armor, she decisively retreated to safety, taking advantage of the malevolent energy. The crimson energy orb that had been hovering in front of the female cultivators suddenly returned to their bodies, and in the blink of an eye, they all regained their vitality.
Lou Lan took out a magical artifact resembling a bell. With a crisp sound, a small teleportation array appeared on the ground. The rising black mist behind the Ghost King instantly transformed into supple yet sharp threads, attacking Lou Lan and the others relentlessly and densely.
However, Lou Lan and the others managed to escape in time, leaving behind a large pool of black blood on the ground.
Arriving at the Ghost King's side, Zhen Su stared at the pool of blood, somewhat dazed. He had just witnessed Lou Lan shield the female cultivators from the Ghost King's attack, managing to teleport away at the last moment, though severely injured in the process.
But he soon had no time to think about other people's affairs. A long, strong hand reached out to him and grabbed Masaki's beautifully shaped neck with great force.
"You're the last one left, the last fish eye." The Demon King's eerie, dual voice rang in Shinju's ears.
"..." Shinjuku turned to look at the King of Poison in disbelief.
When those golden eyes, like pools of spring water, looked over, the Ghost King reflexively reduced the force in his hand by two points.
"Your Majesty...it's me...it's Qing'er." Although Zhen Su's throat was being choked, his True Immortal Body's resilience allowed him to completely control the Ghost King's power; he only struggled to speak. But then, a look of pain appeared on Zhen Su's face, his moist eyes filled with sorrow. It wasn't because the Poison King was choking him painfully, but because the very fact that the Poison King was choking him made it hard for him to breathe.
Does he hate himself that much...?
Yes, it was I who dragged him down, causing him to be reduced to this state by the devil.
Shinju reached out to touch the Demon King's face, which was covered in black blood and tears, but the Demon King turned his head away. The Demon King then grabbed Shinju's wrists with his other free hand, turned him around, and pressed his chest against Shinju's back. The choking motion turned into an elbow strike to the throat.
The distance between the two suddenly became zero. Although they should have been in a defensive posture, the Demon King found that Shinju showed no signs of resistance. Shinju even leaned softly against his chest, as if he had taken his throat-sealing posture as an embrace.
The atmosphere became quite intimate at one point.
"I'm sorry, I hurt you." Shinju turned his face slightly, a tear sliding down his cheek. The Demon King's heart clenched uncontrollably, a piercing bitterness welling up inside him.
He raised his hand, instinctively wanting to wipe away that annoying tear, but just before touching it, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction, as if it had fallen because of him. Finally, realizing he was facing a fake, he couldn't help but despise himself, and finally lowered his hand, grasping Shinju's wrist again.
The tattoos covering the Demon King's body radiated heat capable of melting a person completely; even through his clothes, Masakatsu was nearly burned. Yet, even as his red and black armor was burned through, Masakatsu remained nestled in the Demon King's arms, seemingly in self-torture, without making a single movement of struggle.
The Demon King stepped back slightly, his gaze shifting downwards, and then he saw Shinju Hikaru's bare, milky-white back, and his breath hitched.
No, this is a trap! How could Qing'er be so obedient? She clearly hated him so much that she faked her death to deceive him, heartlessly abandoning him. Ha, how could she be so unrestrained and even take the initiative to get close to him?
Stop dreaming, Zhenmo.
The Ghost King suddenly "woke up," his body surging with foul and malevolent energy. As if afraid of being tainted by something dirty, he grabbed Zhen Su by the back of his collar and threw him far away. Then, the foul energy rushed up and caught him, and thousands of black threads wrapped around Zhen Su's limbs. A materialized giant scorpion's tail hook coiled around his waist, its stinger pointing precisely at Zhen Su's lower back.
When Shinju met the indifferent gaze of the King of the Abyss, as if looking at a stranger, he suddenly realized that the King of the Abyss was not actually unwilling to pay attention to him, but perhaps did not recognize him.
The current appearance of the Poison King was truly too much like that of someone possessed by a demon. He had initially thought the Poison King's alluring skin tone was formed from gathered malevolent energy, but now, having calmed down and scanned the area with his divine sense, he realized it was actually a tattoo of inverted lotus flowers covering the Poison King's body. He simply couldn't understand how the Poison King could truly be possessed by a demon! Could it be the work of a demon lord? Or perhaps, it was related to him?
However, before he could figure things out, the Ghost King's killing intent surged, and he was about to attack him.
Zhen Su did the opposite, not avoiding it, but going straight to meet it. Against the force of the countless pulls, he pushed aside the Miao sword that gleamed with black light in the Ghost King's hand, reached out and hugged the Ghost King, nestled against his neck, and looked up to call out, "Brother."
This sound was like a heavy hammer blow that shattered the barrier that had clouded the mind of the King of Poison. The King of Poison felt a long-lost clarity, the crimson madness in his eyes faded away, and then, as if a finishing touch had been done, his pupils returned to an extremely deep black color. He lowered his eyes and stared steadily at the True Monk who was so close to him.
He remembered everything.
His memories were no longer fragmented or vague. He never imagined that even when he was in a daze and controlled by evil energy, he was still searching for the person he longed for. When he came to his senses, he found that his Qing'er was in his arms.
The countless silk threads, no longer taut, drifted down in strands, and the two were lifted by the Poison King's malevolent aura, slowly falling back to the ground.
The King of Poison was undoubtedly angry and agitated. He had reason to hate, he had reason to resent, but seeing Shinju just quietly watching him, looking at him with those clear, golden eyes...
The King of Zhen's mind was in turmoil. He placed his hands on Masaki's neck, pressing down hard on the faint blue pulse with his fingertips. As if possessed, the King of Zhen closed his eyes, loosely gripped Masaki's neck, and viciously bit Masaki's upper lip. After rubbing it, his tongue ruthlessly invaded it.
Meanwhile, in the Nian Dynasty's imperial palace, far away in a small world, a cup fell to the ground with a "bang," shattering into pieces. Pu Xunzhi was startled and looked in surprise at the Zhen King across the chessboard, noticing that his large, powerful hand was trembling slightly, and then his eyes were surrounded by a deep red glow. He then smashed a solid wood cabinet next to him with a horizontal punch.
"Ah, my Qing'er... I've been looking for her for ages."
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Author's Note: [Edited] I've made some polishing.
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