Ninety-One: Borrowing Strength to Relieve the City’s Peril

Qin Yue saw that Luo Yu had run ahead, so he too immediately set off after him, riding a cloud. Taking advantage of his massive form, Luo Yu flew above the swarm of revenants and beat his wings, sending forth a gale that sent the slow-witted undead staggering and lurching about. Seizing the chance, he grabbed one in his beak, teleported to open ground, and slammed it hard to the earth, then pecked at it and stomped on it with his claws, much like a proud rooster fighting a rat. As he trampled it, he spewed Nirvana True Fire to scorch it; the revenant fled in all directions, only for Luo Yu to chase after it, seize it again in his beak, and hurl it to the ground once more. In this fashion, knocking it down and burning it over and over, he soon shattered the fleshly body condensed from yin energy. Only then did Luo Yu unleash his Ghost Blood Heavenly Fire to refine its soul body and absorb the soul flame within.

Qin Yue was not about to be outdone. He flew to the front of the revenant horde and opened his mouth to spit out Yang Supreme True Fire, which upon landing transformed into a vast golden dragon that rolled and raged through the mass of ghosts. Yang Supreme True Fire was the perfect counter to yin spirits; any revenant touched by it was either slain outright or left crippled, though in doing so even the soul flame was annihilated as well. The revenants themselves possessed a trace of instinct. After several of their number died, they realized how formidable their foes were, and catching them again became quite a labor.

Qin Yue thought to himself: We came to the netherworld this time precisely to gather yin fire. Now that yin fire is coming to us of its own accord, it would be a pity not to take it... So he recalled Mount Kunlun’s blue haze, descended in a flash, split his attention between controlling the golden dragon and brandishing the Crimson Abyss to slaughter the revenants, then refined them further with Ghost Blood Poison Fire.

The horde behind them was gradually closing in. Luo Yu shouted to Qin Yue, "Fall back while fighting! Don’t let them surround us!"

Qin Yue nodded. "Got it. Even ants can kill an elephant if there are enough of them!"

The two fought while retreating. Although Qin Yue’s Yang Supreme True Fire could be fully dispersed to deal area damage, their opponents were all of Core Formation strength; in that form, the fire could no longer reach their bones and sinews.

Before long, they had retreated to the gates of Fengdu, and the revenants they had slain numbered in the hundreds. Yet in relation to the sea of ghosts before them, that was but a drop in the bucket.

Qin Yue was in the midst of battle when he suddenly heard a sharp cry from atop the city wall. Turning back, he saw that some revenants had already crossed past them and begun climbing the ramparts. Lin Zecheng led the charge, rushing out from the great formation atop a magical artifact to meet the revenants in close combat.

At this sight, both men felt tremendous pressure. Qin Yue summoned the golden dragon and had it coil along the wall in guard duty, biting down any revenant that managed to climb up. Luo Yu no longer bothered to kill them outright; instead, he opened a spatial rift and hurled each captured revenant into the void.

One of the ghost soldiers stationed on the wall grew anxious at the sight and shouted, "Brothers, onto the field! Cut down the enemy!" The cry struck straight to the hearts of the assembled soldiers. In an instant, they answered in one voice and rushed out upon their artifacts, bravely wrestling with the revenants.

Luo Yu called out in warning, "Keep your distance! Your defenses are weak. Stand farther back and use spells and artifacts!"

At his words, the ghost soldiers abruptly came to their senses and scattered away from the wall. Though not strong in cultivation, they had wisdom on their side and knew how to use their artifacts; for a time, the wall flashed with colliding lights of magic, and the battle grew fierce. But spell attacks always had an effective range. They could only grit their teeth and gamble with their lives. Whenever one grew careless and stood too near, a revenant would spring from the wall and pounce upon him, dragging him into the horde to be torn apart alive. Yet the ghost soldiers pressed forward wave after wave, refusing to retreat. Heroes fell one after another, only for those behind them to fill the gaps. The struggle was both tragic and savage.

Luo Yu, amid the battlefield, saw this and felt a wave of grief. Though they were ghosts, they were still the children and sons of the ghost people. Was there truly no other way?

He desperately urged his spiritual power through his wings, trying to tear open a long spatial rift outside the wall and encircle Fengdu City with a defensive barrier. But the magnetic currents of power in his body were too fragile; the rift he opened stretched only two or three meters and could hold for merely two or three seconds before sealing shut again.

By now, many revenants had already climbed to the edge of the wall and were furiously striking the city’s protective barrier with their claws. These revenants could not use spells, but physical attacks were still effective against the barrier. With so many attackers and such overwhelming force, the edge of the formation began to tremble faintly. No one knew how much longer it could hold.

The two battled for a long while and gradually began to feel weary, a most ominous sign. Luo Yu despaired: Could it really end with me helplessly watching Fengdu City perish? I definitely can’t handle this... Will someone come to save the day? But with revenants covering the mountains and plains, only someone with power above the Void Severing realm might be able to control the situation. Yet where could one find such a person now? It was said that even the Netherworld Emperor’s strength was no more than Nascent Soul; every being had its limits. Wait—could I borrow the power of nature itself?

A flash of inspiration struck Luo Yu. He looked around: the Dark River was right before him, and farther away there was also the River of the Three Crossings! Both waters harmed living beings; once one fell into them, one could not even resist... If he could flood the place, wouldn’t these revenants be much easier to deal with?

Luo Yu beat his wings and flew high into the air, carefully observing the terrain. Fengdu City faced south from the north and rested against Mount Luofeng, seated on slightly elevated ground at the foot of the mountain. If a flood were brought in, it would not pour into the city.

Having made up his mind, Luo Yu descended and spoke excitedly into Qin Yue’s ear by divine sense: "Hold on a little longer. I have a way!" With that, he offered no explanation and simply teleported away.

More than twenty minutes passed before Luo Yu appeared again.

The moment he returned, he flew over the Dark River and opened his beak, spitting out a small black-glossed bead. Once the bead reached the air, it instantly expanded to the size of a room and drifted back and forth above the river. Looking closely, one could see black powder being scattered from within it, falling onto the water and sending out ring after ring of tiny ripples.

After finishing over the Dark River, Luo Yu teleported to the River of the Three Crossings and selected a suitable location to continue his work.

The ghost soldiers on the wall were puzzled. Why was this immortal not fighting the revenants, but running off to the river?

While they were still confused, the surface of the Dark River suddenly began to surge violently, as though something beneath the water were about to break free. The ghosts were alarmed: there had never been any living thing in that river water, so what could be stirring below?

After a while, the thing moving beneath the water gradually calmed down again. None of the ghosts could make sense of it. Seeing this from afar, the phoenix flew over, spread its wings, and spat out another bead, sprinkling more powder across the river surface.

Not long after, movement arose again at the riverbed. The water churned and surged, and a dark shape faintly emerged from below, slowly rising, rising, until it finally burst through the surface. The ghost soldiers stared in astonishment. Was that mud? How had it come up from the bottom of the river?

As the earth blocked the current, the river began to swell and spill outward. Luo Yu raced here and there; wherever he saw a breach, he flew over and scattered more powder.

At last the ghosts understood: this was to drown the revenants!

Lin Zecheng was overjoyed and waved a hand in command. "Retreat into the city and widen the Yellow Springs channel!"

At his order, the ghosts immediately surged back into the city in a clamor. Some remained to defend the city, while others ran off to dig at the great river mouth.

The River of the Three Crossings looked gentle, but in truth its flow was enormous. Once its channel was obstructed, the water came flooding in on both sides of the plain. The tactic quickly bore fruit: the revenants still walking across the plain had no idea that the shallow water beneath them could be fatal. After wading through it and taking a few more steps, their movements began to slow. The farther they went, the more water clung to them, and the slower they became, until they looked almost drowsy. Soon, one after another, they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The smarter revenants sensed something amiss and twisted their heads, looking left and right, but could find no enemy. In their understanding, only living or dead beings that moved were food and enemies; otherwise, they would not know danger unless they had already suffered for it. Before they could react, they had already, without realizing it, been surrounded by water. Some sensed danger and, without caring for anything else, turned and fled—but by then it was too late. In their panic, they only splashed the water farther and muddied the plain. In no time at all, the battlefield had turned into utter chaos. Those in front wanted to run back, those behind did not know what was happening and blocked the path without moving aside. By the time the comrades before them had fallen, they would only tilt their heads, scratch their skulls, and try to work out what was going on—only to topple over themselves before they ever understood.

The ghost soldiers atop Fengdu City erupted in thunderous cheers at the sight.

Seeing the plan succeed, Luo Yu also cried out in delight, "Done!" Both he and Qin Yue were instantly reinvigorated and began sweeping along the wall.

This strategy of cutting off the source left the wall-climbing revenants without reinforcements; every one they dealt with was one fewer. The two split in opposite directions: Luo Yu, transformed into a phoenix, started from the western wall by Mount Luofeng; Qin Yue, riding the golden dragon, began from the eastern wall. Both sides unleashed great flames directly, burning through the revenants with unstoppable force, sweeping them aside like dry weeds before a fierce wind, and converging toward the middle. They unleashed their ultimate techniques and burned for a full two hours. Only after exhausting themselves completely and consuming many pills to replenish their spiritual power did they finally clear the wall of revenants.

Both men were utterly spent and simply sat atop the wall to recover their breath. Though the ghosts had a thousand words of gratitude in their hearts, they quietly withdrew and did not dare step forward to disturb them.

After several hours of breathing and restoring themselves, they finally regained their strength. Luo Yu awoke from his meditation, opened his eyes, and looked around, but Qin Yue was gone. A sweep of his divine sense later, he stretched lazily and climbed onto the wall to inspect the situation below. By then, the plain outside the city had become a marsh, and the innumerable revenants still lay scattered across it in dense ranks. Qin Yue was riding the Kunlun blue haze, burning each revenant one by one to extract their soul flames.

Luo Yu tossed out Blue Sprite and flew over to join him, likewise refining soul flames. The two worked while chatting. Qin Yue asked, "Was that soil you threw into the water living earth?"

Luo Yu nodded smugly. "Impressive, right? I went all in because of the urgency... At first I thought the soil would keep spreading until all the earth in the Nether Realm turned into living earth... then it wouldn’t be worth anything anymore... But later I discovered it was mutually opposed to the river water, and it actually didn’t spread at all. Heh! The treasure didn’t lose its value after all!"

Qin Yue was speechless.

After a while, Luo Yu suddenly said, "Why did these revenants come to besiege the city? They’re so stupid—how did they gather together? And their goal is so clear!"

At that, Qin Yue frowned. "Could someone be directing them?"

Luo Yu was startled. "What kind of monster is that? A bloodsucker? He’s already got Nine Yin Mountain and still isn’t satisfied? How could he do something like this behind our backs!"

Qin Yue said, "The bloodsucker wouldn’t be this bored."

Luo Yu froze, thought it over, and nodded. "Yeah, this doesn’t seem like something he’d do. That guy doesn’t have much ambition..."

Qin Yue suddenly said in a grave tone, "Could it be that 'Great Emperor of the Heaven-Confounding Myriad Laws'?"

Luo Yu considered it and said, "You mean he deliberately drew the Netherworld Emperor away?"

Qin Yue replied, "Exactly. The timing of the Netherworld Emperor’s departure is too coincidental... If that is really the case, I think he will come to inspect the results before long."