Tie Gengzheng flew backward, landing on the city wall. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger was split, blood staining his fan handle, and tearing pain shot through both his arms. His vital energy still surged within him, difficult to calm.

However, Tie Gengzheng had no time to soothe his vital energy. Instead, he sharply turned his head, focusing on the battle behind the city gate.

He had repelled the Bone Crocodile, thereby resolving a crisis for White Paper Immortal City. But the previous crisis remained unsolved: the Mourning Musician Youling who had breached the city, and the six Golden Core Ghost Generals empowered by military might.

Even though Tie Gengzheng desperately wanted to return and provide aid, turning around and rushing into the city would take time.

“Whoever it is, hold on!” he roared internally, his eyes burning with fury. “You must buy critical time for reinforcements! I’m coming now!”

Wen Ruanyu and Zhou Wenyan fought side by side, communicating telepathically and reaching a consensus: “Hold them off with all your might, buy time, and reinforcements will surely arrive!”

Wen Ruanyu unfurled a scroll, which revealed his self-portrait. His painted doppelganger stepped out of the scroll, a grave expression on its face, and stood at the very front.

Zhou Wenyan, meanwhile, took out a book with the large characters “Chun Qiu” (Spring and Autumn) on its cover. The book emitted a yellow-green glow, spreading around them and creating a favorable battlefield environment.

The six Golden Core Ghost Generals, riding skeletal warhorses, radiated an utterly cold and life-extinguishing pressure as they directly surrounded Wen and Zhou.

The Venomous Ghost General, without a second thought, pulled out the Hundred Ghosts Poison Pouch from his waist and threw it. The pouch was merely a catalyst for the spell: Ghost Art—Yin Venomous Ghost Domain!

Viscous, dark green venom splattered everywhere, emitting a foul stench before rapidly vaporizing, transforming into a sky full of Yin energy. This Yin energy was laced with potent poison, corroding the air with a hissing sound.

Zhou Wenyan’s Spring and Autumn glow was immediately suppressed.

Wen Ruanyu, holding his writing brush, cast a Confucian spell, writing a large character for “Li” (Rite/Propriety) that hovered in the air above the battlefield. The “Li” character emitted golden light, breaking down the potent poison, but it quickly dimmed. First, the edges of the character turned into wisps of black smoke, then the character itself rapidly dissolved, finally vanishing into nothing.

Wen Ruanyu’s body trembled. With his spell broken and the backlash affecting him, his Qi Sea churned, requiring time to settle.

But the next moment, a sharp wail echoed. The wail was extremely piercing, capable of tearing souls apart. Even though Wen and Zhou had already activated their protective measures, they still felt the pain in their souls.

Their spiritual senses spread across the battlefield, revealing that the Wailing Ghost General was frantically shaking a bone flute. Accompanying his violent movements, wind poured into the bone flute’s large and small holes, producing a natural, overwhelming sonic attack.

“Suppress!” Zhou Wenyan lightly uttered, like thunder, opening his mouth and spitting out his voice, which materialized into a large character for “Zhen” (Suppress). The “Zhen” character also hovered above the battlefield, resisting the sonic attack. It shook violently and showed signs of collapsing after just three breaths.

Although Wen Ruanyu and Zhou Wenyan were powerful in their own right, true Golden Core disciples of their respective sects, fighting these six Ghost Generals was an immense strain! This was because all six Ghost Generals had been bolstered by military might, bringing their combat power close to the Nascent Soul level.

The Scarlet Ghost General’s eyes gleamed with malevolence. Extending her ten fingers like fluttering butterflies, she shot out streams of red threads from her fingertips, entangling the Spring and Autumn book floating in mid-air. She suddenly brought her ten fingers together, clenching them inwards. The red threads, hard as steel wires, abruptly tightened.

The Spring and Autumn book, unable to bear the pressure, was directly twisted and warped, emitting the sound of paper severely deforming, and its yellow-green glow also dimmed. Concurrently, Zhou Wenyan’s “Zhen” character disintegrated. This caused Wen and Zhou’s defenses to plummet, exposing a massive vulnerability.

“Die!” The Long-Axe Ghost General had been poised for action. He immediately seized the opportunity created by his comrades, and his burly body erupted with astonishing power as he leaped from his ghost steed into the air. He raised his mountain-splitting long-axe high, casting a ghost spell as his entire body ignited with an eerie blue ghost flame, bringing the axe down towards Zhou Wenyan.

After all, Wen Ruanyu had a self-portrait doppelganger, making it difficult for the Long-Axe Ghost General to distinguish between the real body and the illusion. Zhou Wenyan bore the brunt of the attack!

He looked up into the air and saw the long-axe cleaving directly down at him, the air crackling piercingly as if it could shatter mountains and rivers and obliterate everything. The Long-Axe Ghost General’s charged attack was incredibly fast, fierce, and precise. Zhou Wenyan’s pupils constricted, and the hairs on his body stood on end as he felt the intense shadow of death.

In a flash, he only had time to throw out another book. But before he could fully unleash its power, the book was split in half by the axe mid-flight. The long-axe, wreathed in eerie blue ghost flame, surged in momentum, about to strike Zhou Wenyan’s forehead.

At the critical moment, Wen Ruanyu, from the side, fiercely bit his tongue, spitting out his essence blood. He furiously channeled his Golden Core magic power, infusing it into the writing brush artifact in his hand. He then threw the brush directly. Confucian Art—Discarding the Brush for the Sword!

The writing brush glowed with a crimson-gold light, causing all six Ghost Generals to squint their eyes. The writing brush collided with the long-axe, resulting in a violent explosion. Crimson-gold light and eerie blue ghost flame clashed, mingling and spreading outwards.

Zhou Wenyan, Wen Ruanyu, and several Ghost Generals were sent flying backward, each suffering heavy injuries.

The Shadow Ghost General cast a ghost spell, transforming into a shadow that clung to the ground, pursuing Wen and Zhou. Wen Ruanyu’s personal artifact was destroyed, and he had immediately fallen unconscious. Zhou Wenyan, however, retained a sliver of consciousness. Sensing the deadly threat, he roared: “Spring and Autumn as sacrifice! Literary Way for righteousness!”

The next moment, the Spring and Autumn book floating on the battlefield spontaneously combusted, igniting into pure, blazing white sacred flames. The sacred flames immediately expanded, transforming into a brilliant white column of light that enveloped Wen and Zhou.

The Shadow Ghost General grunted, unable to withstand such a brilliant flame, and retreated directly. The column of light was incredibly powerful but lasted for an extremely short time, quickly dissipating completely.

The six Ghost Generals closed in, while Wen and Zhou were both completely exhausted, their consciousness hazy.

From the distant city wall, Tie Gengzheng watched this scene, his eyes burning with fury. He quickly activated the Commander’s Seal in his possession, intending to deploy the immortal city’s formations to protect Wen and Zhou.

But at that moment, the Mourning Musician Youling, who had been left unattended, took out a white candle: the Candle of the Winding Path to Oblivion!

This was a square candle, resembling a miniature coffin, about nine inches long, with its lid fitting perfectly onto the body. All four surfaces of the candle were engraved with images of a hundred ghosts carrying a coffin—countless twisted, wailing ghost figures shouldering coffins, stumbling towards nothingness. The candle’s wick was spirally wound from yellowish-brown grave shrouds combined with strands of a woman’s black hair. This was a Nascent Soul-level artifact, and it could only be used once!

“So the lost treasure really was taken by the enemy!” Tie Gengzheng realized the Mourning Musician Youling’s action and was greatly alarmed. He knew the latter possessed this trump card but hadn’t expected it to be used now against White Paper Immortal City. At this point, Tie Gengzheng had no choice but to disregard Wen and Zhou for a moment and fully deploy White Paper Immortal City’s defensive forces to suppress the Mourning Musician Youling.

The Mourning Musician Youling felt immense pressure, and every movement became slow. With a blank expression, showing no change whatsoever, she activated her magic power and, with great effort, blew on the candle.

The next moment, the Candle of the Winding Path to Oblivion ignited. A stark white, frosty flame continuously flickered, generating countless tiny, eerie blue talismans within its core. An incense-like scent, mixed with the smell of decay, immediately spread. The eerie blue talismans floated ethereally within the scent, dissipating into the surrounding space and forming a sky full of white frost.

Amidst the white frost, a winding, pitch-black path materialized. On both sides of the path, countless ghost figures were layered, as if carrying a coffin.

“Damn it!” Seeing this, Tie Gengzheng’s eyes burned with fury. If it were anyone else, Tie Gengzheng could have suppressed them all. But the Mourning Musician Youling was different; she also knew the intricacies of White Paper Immortal City’s formations.

However, Tie Gengzheng’s suppression was not ineffective. Originally, there would have been seven winding paths, but now only one remained due to his suppression. Yet, even one winding path could have a huge impact on the battle!

Luo Si’s eyes flashed with cunning. He immediately deployed, using military might to extend the winding path directly into his own army formation. A Bone Goliath took a stride and stepped directly onto the winding path.

The next moment, with a single step, it had already arrived inside White Paper Immortal City! Such a teleportation would have been impossible if the city gates were not open. But now the gates were wide open and couldn’t be closed immediately, and with the Mourning Musician Youling using a formidable treasure like the Candle of the Winding Path to Oblivion, the teleportation became possible.

The Bone Goliath, with its massive body, was originally a siege weapon. Now it had bypassed the greatest obstacle—the city wall—and arrived inside the city. Bang, bang, bang. The Goliath roared, smashing indiscriminately. In just a few blows, it caused immense damage to many city buildings, resulting in numerous casualties. Countless city residents ran around in a panic.

At this moment, Yang Sanyan, the Golden Core True Disciple of the Myriad Manifestations Sect, and Gu Mudao, the Golden Core True Disciple of the Soul Devouring Sect, finally arrived. Both merely glanced at the Bone Goliath and immediately gave up engaging it. “Save them first!” The two communicated telepathically, reaching a consensus in an instant.

They acted consecutively, rescuing Wen Ruanyu and Zhou Wenyan at the last possible moment. The combined attack of the six Ghost Generals was not without gains—Wen Ruanyu’s self-portrait doppelganger was hacked into pieces by them. Wen Ruanyu’s main body suffered the backlash, bleeding from his mouth and nose, and fell into a deeper state of unconsciousness.

Yang Sanyan directly opened the eye slit on his forehead, staring at the Mourning Musician Youling. His superior talent: Scorn for All!

The Mourning Musician Youling remained impassive, standing still like a zombie. But at the critical moment, the Candle of the Winding Path to Oblivion burning in her hand was activated, its flame surging brightly, several times stronger than before, and its burning speed doubled. White frost diffused, and the black winding path reformed, blocking Yang Sanyan’s gaze. More accurately, it teleported Yang Sanyan’s gaze elsewhere.

Two of the six Ghost Generals split off, engaging Yang Sanyan and Gu Mudao respectively. The remaining four slightly detoured and all charged towards the rear. The cultivators blocking their way were torn to shreds, becoming sacrifices for this blood ritual. The four Ghost Generals’ attack intent became clear—their attack routes all converged ahead—on the Paper Giant Statue!

Underworld.

The blood light from the Tribute Calamity Altar intensified by another third. The Lord of Oblivion could not help but show delight. He stared at the Silent Ghost Monk: “Wuyin, do you see? The blood ritual is going very smoothly. I am certain to win; everything you’ve done will be in vain!”

The Silent Ghost Monk wore a yellow robe, his face like dried orange peel, lifeless. His lips were tightly pressed into a grey line, as if they hadn’t opened for millennia. Only his eyes, turbid, lifeless, and hollow, reflected nothing, like two dry wells leading to absolute nothingness.

He raised his right hand, a withered index finger with grey, decaying nails pointing distantly at the Lord of Oblivion. Soundlessly, with the Ghost Monk’s fingertip as the center, the space within a hundred-zhang radius suddenly collapsed inwards! With his very first move, the Silent Ghost Monk employed his trump card. He primarily cultivated the *Nirvana Zen Sutra*, and this move was one of its terrifying killing techniques—the Finger of Return to Void!

The collapsed space became nothing but darkness; everything within it was erased. The darkness rapidly expanded, targeting not only the Lord of Oblivion but also the altar itself.

The Lord of Oblivion’s long robe billowed wildly without wind. He raised both arms and roared: “Styx River’s Pull, Ten Thousand Souls’ Torrent!” Vast, endless magic power surged forth, gathering into the Styx River water the Lord of Oblivion had drawn. Phantoms of countless dead souls shrieked mournfully in the river water, finally merging into a viscous, oil-like, greyish-white torrent, within which countless suffering soul shadows churned.

The murky torrent surged upwards, sweeping against the sky! The crest of the murky torrent violently slammed into the Black Ball of Return to Void. Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle… There was no earth-shattering explosion, only the corrosive sounds of two ultimate powers annihilating each other, making one’s teeth ache and heart tremble.

The dark yellow murky torrent was constantly being reduced to nothingness by the power of Return to Void, but the Styx River flowed endlessly, and the power of dead souls was inexhaustible. Although the Black Ball of Return to Void continued to stubbornly rotate and devour, its expansion was firmly resisted by the mighty power of the Yellow Springs, forming a breathtaking stalemate in the air!

The Silent Ghost Monk’s hollow eyes moved ever so slightly. Even this tiny movement was noticed by the Lord of Oblivion, who immediately thought, “This is bad.” This place was not on the Styx River itself; his ability to draw Styx River water out of thin air was entirely due to the grand formation here. And controlling this formation was not just him, but also five Nascent Soul subordinates beyond the swirling Yin winds, and thirty thousand Imperial Guards. The Silent Ghost Monk was powerful, considered a formidable foe by the Lord of Oblivion. With just one move, he immediately perceived the key to the situation.

He withdrew his index finger, allowing the Black Ball of Return to Void to be consumed by the Lord of Oblivion’s Ten Thousand Souls’ Torrent. He pressed his palms together, then slowly separated them by a hair’s breadth. Under the Heart Seal, he cast another technique called Nirvana Zen Sound!

The Zen Sound was silent and intangible, ungraspable and unstoppable, like ripples spreading across water. It silently passed through the Yin winds and dispersed.

The Lord of Oblivion fell into hesitation at that moment. He could save his subordinates, but once he acted to rescue them, he would inevitably be put on the defensive. If he didn’t save them, his subordinates would surely suffer heavy losses, but it would also buy him an opportunity to strike at the Silent Ghost Monk.

This opportunity was rare. When masters contend, they often strive for a sliver of initiative. Often, seizing this initiative grants an advantage, which can then be rapidly expanded into a commanding position.

It’s not just master against master; when a war reaches its most intense stage, one must also fight for a critical opportunity! The Mourning Musician Youling opening the city gates was one such opportunity. Tie Gengzheng’s all-out effort to repel the Bone Crocodile was also fighting for this sliver of chance. Now, the four Ghost Generals charging towards the Paper Giant Statue was another critical opportunity.

“No! The Paper Giant Statue hasn’t been activated yet, and Wen Ruanyu is already unconscious. This is its weakest moment,” Tie Gengzheng thought, immensely anxious but too far to help. “If the enemy capitalizes on this, our side will grievously lose a major Nascent Soul-level combat force!”

The Ghost Generals laughed heartily, drawing ever closer. Among them, the Long-Axe Ghost General leaped out again, his entire body ablaze with eerie blue ghost fire, intending to cleave through the statue’s lower leg.

The Paper Giant Statue suddenly thrust out its leg, kicking the Long-Axe Ghost General flying. “Uh!!” The remaining three Ghost Generals were greatly astonished.

Inside the Paper Giant Statue, Ning Zhuo, who had arrived just in time, had eyes burning with the flame of defiance. He snorted coldly: “Don’t you dare touch my mother’s things!”