Twilight Boundary-Chapter 427 - 421 Yin General Counts the Troops (Second Update)
"Aargh, this thing is charging again! Quick, set up the Blood Money Formation!"
At the same time, just as Hu Ma made eye contact with the Demon Corpse and a chill settled in his heart, everyone around him was startled.
The creature had just stormed into town, killing countless people before anyone could react. It was only thanks to the combined efforts of the three Entering the Mansion Shousui practitioners that they barely managed to trap it, giving the surrounding people a chance to scatter and flee.
Who would have expected that after suppressing it for such a short while, it would break free again? Fortunately, the well-trained followers of the One Coin Sect had now had time to prepare. Three teams, twenty-one people each, scrambled onto the rooftops and threw down their red cloths.
Strings of Copper Coins on red threads vibrated violently, producing the clinking noise of gold and silver—the most effective folk dharma method for subduing Evil Corpses and Demon Corpses.
With the coordination and ritual refinement of the One Coin Sect, this method was undoubtedly even more potent. In an instant, they had trapped the Demon Corpse in the center. The red threads were pulled taut, intending to bind it.
But the Demon Corpse seemed completely oblivious to the red threads. With a mere sweep of its stiff arms, the threads were torn. Copper Coins rained down into the bloody mud covering the ground, yet its movements were hardly affected.
"Fire arrows!"
Meanwhile, Bai Shanzi had also arrived. He had even assembled a team of cultists wearing talismanic armor and armed with bows. They all drew their bows full. Each arrow affixed with a yellow talisman covered in runes to Suppress the corpse and exorcise evil, they loosed a volley.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
The volley of arrows struck true, embedding themselves solidly into the Demon Corpse’s body.
But they only caused it to sway. Strange crimson blood seeped from its wounds, instantly soaking the talismans on the arrows. The divine power on the talismans vanished, and the arrows clattered to the ground one by one.
"Watch me Planting Beans into Soldiers!"
Elsewhere, an opulently dressed old man hurried over, a bowl in his hand, muttering incantations. He grabbed a handful of soybeans and forcefully scattered them.
With a CLATTER, the beans fell into the bloody mud. Vaguely, one could see small figures in red pants trying to climb out of the blood-soaked mire. But the mire seemed to possess some strange power, gripping their bodies.
Not only did they fail to climb out, but they also seemed to wail as they were gradually pulled back into the bloody mire and drowned.
The hastily assembled men and their methods were simply unable to stop it. Panic spread through the onlookers as they watched the Demon Corpse leap over ten feet, heading straight for Hu Ma.
Hu Ma steeled himself, preparing for a desperate fight, yet his peripheral vision searched for an escape route... No, not an escape, but a strategic envelopment!
THUMP!
But just as the Demon Corpse was showing its ferocity and leaping towards Hu Ma, a greenish fist suddenly slammed into it with immense force.
The blow sent the Demon Corpse staggering, flying sideways. Its toes touched the ground, and it skidded back a full thirty to forty feet before halting.
Everyone stared in shock, quickly turning to see Old Master Sun cursing loudly, "What kind of bizarre creature is this? The three of us brothers together can’t even hold you down?"
As he spoke, he brought his fists up, assuming a martial stance.
Simultaneously, his chest swelled as he drew a deep breath. A series of CRACKS echoed from his bones all over his body. His frame seemed to grow taller by several inches. His face took on a greenish hue, and his arms and legs visibly thickened and elongated.
A fierce aura billowed around him. Even his hair came unbound, scattering wildly, as he transformed into the terrifying image of a blue-faced, tusked Evil God.
"Alright, I’m coming too!"
Seeing this, Master Tang on the other side also roared. He too took a deep breath, and his body began to change. His cloth robe tore apart as his skin turned black, becoming as tight and hard as cast iron, covered in grotesque, writhing veins like earthworms.
At first glance, he looked like an Evil God from a nightmare. Even his eyes, one red and one green, shone with a terrifying, soul-snatching light.
"ROAR..."
The Demon Corpse, having leaped out, let loose a bizarre howl as a torrent of baleful energy surged within its chest.
And the transformed Altar Master Tang and Old Master Sun also emitted ferocious roars. They charged from left and right, pinning down the Demon Corpse and raining blows upon its head and face.
Simple and brutal, they just pinned it there and beat it!
Good heavens, so this is the Magic body they cultivate after Qi Eating? Hu Ma had already sensed something and was lost in thought, not rushing to join in. Now, he was even less inclined to.
He watched Old Master Sun and Altar Master Tang with a sense of yearning in his eyes. Both men were advanced in age, yet now that they were using their true abilities, where was there even a hint of old age? Their vital energy roiled like that of demons or fiends. Their skills seemed to be on a completely different level from his own.
So this is how a Magic body is cultivated...
This was already the second time he had witnessed Shousui practitioners using their Magic bodies. The first time was at the blood food mine, and he hadn’t had the chance to observe carefully. This time, however, combining it with the Great Mighty Sky General Seal Technique he had just seen, a faint understanding stirred in his heart.
Entering the Mansion Shousui practitioners train their Divine Soul. It’s somewhat like using the method of a Guest to make offerings to one’s own three souls and seven souls, transforming the body into an Evil Ghost...
"Audacious Demon Corpse, how dare you trespass upon my sacred Magic Altar and harm my followers? You’ve truly barged into Hell when no gate was open to you!"
Meanwhile, the One Coin Sect Hierarch, seeing how fierce the battle was, had to temporarily shift his attention from Hu Ma. This Demon Corpse was simply too ferocious. He had to subdue it first before he could find an opportunity to ask Hu Ma for that dharma method.
"Quickly, bring the Evil Suppression Tank! Let me capture this creature and refine it into a Corpse Pill!"
As he spoke, Bai Shanzi, who had just found a moment of leisure, waved his fan forcefully. At his gesture, the thick roll of white silk held by the approaching cultists flew up, unfurling into a long banner that slowly drifted down from the sky.
Just as the cloth was about to land, he suddenly grabbed one end and yanked it hard. The cloth was pulled away by him, but where the white cloth had covered, a line of large vats now stood. They looked just like the vats Hu Ma had previously stored half his family fortune in. There were seven or eight of them in a row, and no one knew how they had gotten there.
"Sect Hierarch, please!"
Bai Shanzi snapped his fan shut, stepped to the side, and gave a slight bow to the One Coin Sect Hierarch beside him.
"What time is it to be showing off these tricks? Can’t you just honestly bring them over?"
The One Coin Sect Hierarch scolded him with a cold face. Bai Shanzi looked embarrassed and muttered, "These are the rules of the sect..."
The One Coin Sect Hierarch saw that the Demon Corpse was being pinned and beaten by the two Entering the Mansion Shousui practitioners, and the corpse-suppressing vats had also been brought over. He stepped forward, muttering a curse, preparing to seal the Demon Corpse of unknown origin into a vat.
At this moment, people were still rushing over continuously. Among them was a man wearing black pants and a pink robe – it was Calculation. He had finally arrived and took in the scene at a glance.
Old Master Sun and Altar Master Tang had manifested their Magic bodies and were pummeling the Demon Corpse, almost beating its bones to smithereens. But the more they did so, the more a ferocious energy seemed to build up within the Demon Corpse. It was like an enraged toad, its body rapidly swelling.
Calculation broke out in a cold sweat and cried out in alarm, "Stop beating it! You can’t beat it anymore!"
But in the surrounding chaos, who could hear him?
Just as he was anxiously trying to rush forward, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He saw the Demon Corpse, pinned to the ground by the two Entering the Mansion Shousui practitioners, suddenly twist its body strangely and jerk its head up.
All the grotesque, torn and rotting flesh on its body writhed like living creatures. Then, a hollow sound emanated from within its body, and its entire form seemed to instantly inflate. Its skin was stretched taut and thin, revealing the impressions of numerous human faces beneath.
Subsequently, its skin abruptly tore. A dense, bloody stench permeated the surroundings, and the air grew colder by several degrees. Billowing vindictive souls poured out from its body.
In an instant, flickering shadows obscured more than half the town. The next moment, like shoals of fish, they surged and scattered in all directions.
"This is bad..."
Calculation had just run forward two steps when he abruptly turned and ran back the way he came, his voice almost a sob, "Oh, my unreliable ancestral master! Damn it all, couldn’t you have been efficacious just this once?!"
"There are no villages nearby that have been attacked; where did it get so many vindictive souls to command?"
"The Yin General has called its troops; this means it has gained momentum! Even if it doesn’t have a formal title yet, it’s not something ordinary people can handle..."
"Terrible!"
Simultaneously, Hu Ma, who had been warily on guard, turned to leave. But he suddenly felt a chilling, sharp gaze upon him. Turning his head, he saw a pair of hollow eyes staring fixedly at him from within the roiling ghostly figures.
Its body, seemingly beaten to a pulp, slowly straightened, once again assuming that stiff, erect posture. Countless invisible vindictive souls drifted directly towards him.
Is this thing trying to take back the General Order from my hands?
Things having reached this point, how could Hu Ma not understand?
The General Order had inexplicably ended up in his hands, or perhaps within his Divine Soul. Others hadn’t noticed, but this creature clearly could sense it. That’s why it had fled in terror the first time it saw him.
But now, it had gained a certain level of power and had come to reclaim it. After all, it wasn’t truly formed yet, so it couldn’t be considered a Yin General. Only by obtaining the General Order could it become one.
The people of the One Coin Sect didn’t know it was a Yin General; they only referred to it as a Demon Corpse.
And because they didn’t know its origin, they couldn’t guess why this Demon Corpse possessed the ability to command vindictive souls. But Hu Ma understood. This ability to command vindictive souls was its specialty. This was still before it had truly taken form. If it were fully formed, it wouldn’t just be commanding vindictive souls.
Instead, it would consecrate these vindictive souls, transforming them into ghost soldiers!
Just...
As he was pondering this, Hu Ma realized he shared the same question as Calculation: This thing hasn’t harmed anyone in the vicinity, so where did it get so many vindictive souls to command?
Lost in thought, the densely packed faces of vindictive souls kept enlarging before his eyes, already right in front of him.
