The Demon Exorcism True Monarch, whose body was gradually leaning towards demon transformation, felt somewhat disillusioned with life.
The great determination he set forth allowed him, within seven to eight short years, to elevate his cultivation to unprecedented levels by relying on the art of devouring ghosts.
But today, in front of Xu Qing, he felt as if he was a mayfly looking up at the vast sky.
This feeling vanished in an instant. As the Demon Exorcism True Monarch concentrated again, the young man before him once more appeared harmless.
The Demon Exorcism True Monarch displayed a puzzled expression, momentarily thinking it was his illusion.
"It has only been a few days, yet True Monarch's vigor is even stronger than before."
Before the True Monarch responded, Ascendant Fuluan spoke first:
"Daoist Xu has been cultivating without concern for time. It has been seven years since Daoist retreated in seclusion, not just a few days."
Xu Qing was momentarily stunned; he instinctively calculated with his fingers and found that what Ascendant Fuluan said was true—the world had indeed passed seven years!
The ten-zhang-tall Demon Exorcism True Monarch spewed a sinister mist, saying, "The Ghost Law has already dispatched troops away from the Ghost King's City. If Brother Xu does not come out of seclusion, he might miss the opportunity for action."
"The Ghost King's City..."
Xu Qing frowned. The Ghost King's City was originally a buffer zone at the junction of yin and yang, where unjustly dead ghosts lingered.
What is unjustly dead? Those who died unnaturally due to self-harm, demon attacks, or human disasters such as war are unjustly dead ghosts.
These ghosts, having died unnaturally, often cannot enter the underworld and must temporarily reside at the junction of yin and yang. At that time, the Yin River was not as desolate as it is now.
Back then, the Yin River was interwoven with paths and had the largest city in the Yin and Yang Realms, namely, the Ghost King's City.
Most of the unjustly dead yin ghosts in the world would be drawn there to live until they completed the time they lost unjustly before entering reincarnation.
However, now the Ghost King's City has become ruins, and all kinds of unjustly dead ghosts within have either been devoured and merged by the Ghost Law or tamed into ghost shadow soldiers.
The Ghost King's City is where the Ghost Law's dojo is located. Now, with the sudden large-scale mobilization of Ghost Law's troops, there are only two possibilities.
One is that Ascendant Fuluan has captured too many ghost creatures, alarming the Ghost Law.
The other is that the Ghost Legislator, ranked second in the twelve gates of the Ghost King's City, can no longer hold back and wants to meddle in the mortal realm.
Xu Qing asked Ascendant Fuluan, "How many yin ghosts have you captured for the True Monarch over these years?"
"Over ten thousand."
"How many?" Xu Qing looked at the Immortal before him with shock.
Seeing Xu Qing's disbelief, Ascendant Fuluan felt rather proud.
However, the next moment, he heard Xu Qing say:
"In a whole seven years, you've only captured ten thousand yin ghosts, and you still wish to ascend to immortality?"
Xu Qing was furious. When he sped through the Ghost King Mausoleum, transcended the Eight Banner Marshals' skeletal army, and annihilated the Yin Corrosion Law King's troops, which one wasn't in the tens of thousands?
And each time it was settled in one battle, like plucking chicks from a box, always grabbing one accurately.
Yet now, this Immortal tells him that in seven years, he only caught ten thousand yin ghosts?
"What do you mean by this!"
Ascendant Fuluan poured everything into it, all for the grand cause of ascending to immortality, and now Xu Qing tells him to his face that he won't become immortal, how can he endure this?
Besides, these years he caught ghosts day and night, just like a donkey grinding mill in the mortal world which should be praised by its owner.
How could Ascendant Fuluan think that Xu Qing's first words would be that he hadn't been diligent enough?
"Staring won't help. You, a renowned Immortal, can't even manage to capture ten thousand ghosts a year? It's obvious your Dao heart isn't firm and your resolve isn't sincere!"
Ascendant Fuluan's face twisted in anger, "If you think you can, you try it! I am indeed a Land Nuo Immortal, but this is the Yin River..."
"Now this is truly curious. It's the first time I've heard that a Land Immortal's 'land' refers to a landlubber, otherwise, why can't it even hear the word 'river'?"
Xu Qing continued to be relentless in his words. Among the Three Swords of the Yin River, both he and the Demon Exorcism True Monarch took on their respective risks when facing powerful enemies, but this gutless ascendant was unwilling to take any risk.
In Xu Qing's eyes, capturing only ten thousand ghost entities in seven years meant he was merely wandering the fringes of the Yin River, capturing some solitary wandering ghosts; otherwise, it wouldn't be just this number.
On ordinary days, Xu Qing might not say anything, but given the situation's urgency, a time demanding taking certain risks, failing to take a daring stride now means you indeed deserve not to become immortal.
Having been the head of the Cat Immortal Hall for long, Xu Qing couldn't abide such selfishness as shown by Ascendant Fuluan; he must fulfill his promise to the Demon Exorcism True Monarch and regard his life as valuable.
After lashing out at Ascendant Fuluan, Xu Qing immediately walked out of the Bone Temple.
To capture ghosts, one should start from the ghost lairs. Xu Qing opened his celestial eye, Yin Pupil, using methods of geomancy to observe the flow of the entire Yin River's aura.
In just a moment, he located several Yin Ghost armies.
They were all troops of the Ghost Law, with the largest contingent being just three hundred miles outside the Ghost King's City.
The brave are hungry; the Demon Exorcism True Monarch who devours ten thousand wild ghosts may not be of interest to the Ghost Law, but what if it changes to devour the Ghost Law's troops?
In Xu Qing's view, since it's about increasing bait allure, why not make a bigger lair to attract big fish, then have the Demon Exorcism True Monarch become the most tempting bait in that lair...
Xu Qing took swift action, immediately deploying the Yin Kingdom world's awe to intimidate multitudinous ghosts, simultaneously summoning the Mountain and River Subjugating Cauldron capable of capturing ghosts, leveraging King Yama's providence to reap all along the way.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand...
Upon reaching three hundred miles outside the Ghost King's City, Xu Qing once again used his quick, overwhelming tactics to capture all the Yin Army stationed on the tomb mountains.