The Great Emperor of the Northern Dark Rises

At the summit of Twin Sword Peaks, the Huang Cang Imperial Court and the sects were still in a standoff.

On the northern peak, a leading eunuch stood with his hands behind his back, his head held high in arrogance as he shouted toward the opposite side.

"You all should think this through carefully. This South Xuan Region is still the territory of the Huang Cang Kingdom. Do not let yourselves be momentarily confused or deceived by the Lihuo Sect into committing the foolish act of rebellion."

"Hmph!"

On the southern peak, a muscular, shirtless man carrying a long staff stepped forward. He raised his weapon high and cursed toward the north.

"You rootless eunuchs are not fit to speak of the Lihuo Sect! The Huang Cang Court is heartless, and the people are filled with resentment. Now, you even collaborate with the evil flood dragon in the great marsh to slaughter the commoners. How are you any different from beasts! If you still consider yourselves human, you should join us to intercept that evil dragon and save all living beings."

"Tch."

The eunuch sneered and shook his head with disdain.

"I have already offered you kind words. Since you refuse to appreciate them, we shall see who is truly superior on the battlefield."

With that, the eunuch pulled two round beads from his robe, one red and one green.

After rolling them in his palm, he suddenly flicked the red bead into the sky.

"Boom!"

High in the air, the red bead exploded instantly. Blood-red smoke scattered in all directions, forming the bewitching pattern of a spider lily.

"A red bead, blood-mist smoke, spider lilies bloom, and the Huangquan Army comes. That eunuch can actually mobilize the Huangquan Army? What kind of spell did that evil dragon cast on the Huang Cang Sovereign to make him send even the Huangquan Army here? Is he not afraid of the demon kingdom in the north invading southward!"

"Senior Brother, after all these years, do you still not understand? In the eyes of the Huang Cang Sovereign, only we sects are the thorns in his side. He wishes for nothing more than to eradicate us as quickly as possible."

Hearing these rebellious traitors from the sects not only fail to appreciate the sovereign's mercy but also boast shamelessly while slandering him, the eunuch was enraged.

He leapt into the air as several spirit snakes slithered out from between his brows and coiled around his neck. Then, he struck out with a palm, sending the spirit snakes darting forward.

"Watch out!"

A spiritual talisman flew out, transforming into a solemn golden hawk that pounced on the spirit snakes.

"Hmph!"

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, the eunuch pinched his fingers into a delicate gesture and shouted angrily, "Attack! The sovereign has decreed that anyone who slays an enemy and performs a meritorious deed will be rewarded with eight hundred spirit stones and their freedom!"

In an instant, the death guards behind him charged forward, clashing with the opposition in a chaotic melee.

In a corner where no one was watching, Xiang Longwu and Wu Xiuyuan secretly joined the battlefield, fishing in troubled waters and harvesting the wounded.

As for Chen Xu and the others, they shifted their target and headed downstream as soon as the red bead exploded and the movement of a large army was heard in the distance.

How many people were even on Twin Sword Peaks? At most, there were only about two hundred.

But the Huangquan Army downstream was a massive force of over a hundred thousand men. Furthermore, based on the news they just heard, this Huangquan Army was the elite of the Huang Cang Kingdom.

What did elite mean? It meant clusters of elite monsters and clusters of technique drops.

As soon as Chen Xu landed, he raised his hand to summon his undead army.

"Mythic Chen, please wait a moment."

A nearby Daxia 'ghost messenger' spoke up to stop him.

"What is it?"

"Mythic Chen, there is no need to rush into summoning your undead creatures. Let us hide first. We will strike when the Huangquan Army enters the village and begins their slaughter. That way, it will be easier for us to harvest the faith of the villagers."

"Are you sure? What if the Huangquan Army has some large-scale military array that wipes out the village in a single strike?"

"Uh, they probably... most likely won't."

The ghost messenger was also uncertain about Chen Xu's question.

However, Chen Xu still took his suggestion. It was only a short wait, so it was no trouble.

Before long, the Huangquan Army arrived at the village.

The men, women, young, and old in the village were all terrified by the commotion and hid in their houses.

Only the village chief was left with no choice but to brace himself and come out to meet them.

The village chief looked at the army before him with a face full of confusion.

This was different from any army he had seen before. Setting aside the strange giant birds flying in the sky, even the warhorses running on the ground appeared much taller than the ones he saw daily.

"Lord soldiers, this lowly one is the village chief of Swordfish Village..."

Before the village chief could finish, an arrow shot from the rear and pierced through his head.

With a thud, the village chief collapsed to the ground, his breath gone.

A soldier stepped out from the army to the front of the village, holding a scroll and reading its contents aloud.

"Swordfish Village hides remnants of the previous dynasty, colludes with the demon race, and intends to rebel. By order of the sovereign, the village is to be slaughtered. Leave neither chicken nor dog alive!"

As soon as the words fell, the units within the Huangquan Army riding the strange giant birds flew over the village.

On the backs of the birds, soldiers held soul altars and chanted incantations.

As the chanting sounded, streaks of pitch-black smoke began to gush continuously from the centers of the soul altars.

This black smoke seemed to possess a life of its own, struggling and gathering in the air until it condensed into hideous and terrifying evil ghosts.

Once the evil ghosts were formed, the soldiers on the birds pulled out white jade flutes and played a desolate tune.

As the music played, the evil ghosts flew downward at extreme speeds, drifting into the villagers' houses.

As the evil ghosts entered the houses, the villagers erupted in screams of terror.

But suddenly, the evil ghosts that had broken in were pushed back out by even more evil ghosts.

More evil ghosts continued to pour out from the villagers' houses, flying into the sky to attack the Huangquan Army.

"Hmm? Someone dares to cause trouble in front of the Huangquan Army!"

Below, seeing this strange situation, the Huangquan Army general immediately realized that someone was interfering to save the villagers.

But what confused him was that this person was using evil ghosts to fight evil ghosts. Usually, those skilled in nurturing ghosts were evil cultivators who killed without blinking. Why would an evil cultivator play the role of a righteous hero to save the common people today?

Regardless, if they wanted to show off and play the hero, they would have to see if they had the skill.

"Sacrifice the soul-burial bells!"

At his command, a group of cultivators from the rear of the army stepped forward and unfastened the bells hanging from their waists.

As mana was injected, the bells that were originally palm-sized instantly transformed into massive bells over five meters tall and two meters wide.

The words 'Soul-Burial' were carved in large characters on the walls of the bells.

"Strike the bells! Bury the souls!"

The cultivators chanted incantations, circulating the spiritual energy in their bodies to their foreheads before slamming them hard against the bells.

"Bong! Bong! Bong!"

Heavy, dull sound waves rippled outward.

The evil ghosts in the sky exploded instantly under the vibration of the sound waves.

Chen Xu's ghosts also seemed to suffer immense pain, clutching their heads with expressions of distress.

"Oh? They have some skill. To face the soul-burial bells without having their souls dissipated means they must be someone significant. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong opponent."

The general waved his hand, signaling the cultivators in front to strike the bells with even more force.

But suddenly, the sky grew dark.

The soldiers of the Huangquan Army on the ground looked up one after another, only to see a massive castle slowly descending.

The Daxia ghost messengers took the opportunity to jump out and shout in a strange tone.

"The Great Emperor of the Northern Dark from the Netherworld is inspecting the mortal realm. Unrelated persons, disperse at once! Unrelated persons, disperse at once!"

"Playing tricks!"

A sharp arrow shot out from the military array, flying toward a ghost messenger at high speed.

The ghost messenger hurriedly dodged, only to find that the arrow actually tracked him automatically. He had no choice but to use a life-saving item to tank the attack.

The sharpshooter in the Huangquan Army saw that his strike had failed and immediately drew his bow again, intending to fire another shot.

But the Overlord's Castle in the sky had already descended, and the necrotic domain expanded, enveloping the Huangquan Army within it.

Countless skeleton soldiers appeared from all directions, surrounding them completely.