Chapter 147: Deity of Blessing?
“Miss Qin, you don’t have to pretend to be dead anymore, right?”
Jiang Li kept away most of the chain. In order to prevent the other party from escaping, he still left a shackle on her slender ankle.
Under such circumstances, the Dragon Imprisoning Lock’s suppression effect should have been very low. The other party should at least be able to possess a body again. It did not have to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead.
Ssss!
Jiang Li flipped over the other party’s palm and pressed his index finger on it. The effect was like a hot iron coming into contact with butter. Strands of white smoke immediately rose from the cold and pale palm, and the middle gradually became charred and sunken.
Seeing that the beautiful palm was about to be burned through by Jiang Li, Qin Shuman, who had been pretending to be dead, suddenly opened her eyes and immediately let out a miserable ghost cry.
Sharp howls instantly penetrated the entire Seven Roads Town, and even the distant forest was affected, causing continuous wolf howls.
Jiang Li who was close by was even shaken to the point his eardrums hurt.
As the head that could crush rocks lowered, the soul-stirring howl stopped abruptly.
The Ghost City Lord, Qin Shuman, lay in front of her base with a charred head. She looked at the night sky in a daze. This body was not alive, and there was no sign of swelling or blood. However, the burnt fingerprint still damaged her exquisite face.
Her cry was not because of the pain, but because she had tried to summon her ghost soldiers again.
Up until now, she still did not understand why her 3,000 ghost soldiers were nowhere to be seen.
“Who are you calling? There’s no need to shout. When you were beaten up by that old man, your subordinates were already killed by me.”
Jiang Li squatted beside the woman and very kindly helped her answer the questions in her heart.
“How is that possible? My Seven Paths Ghost City has 3,000 ghost soldiers. You’ve always been with me. How can you kill them!”
However, the Ghost City Lord refused to believe it. After all, in her eyes, the 3,000 ghost soldiers were already a very powerful force. She had relied on these ghost soldiers to stand strong here for 20 years. How could they vanish without a trace?
“Hmm? You called me young master just now, but am I not worthy now?”
Jiang Li wanted to hit her forehead again, but seeing her terrified expression, he could only give up.
“You have subordinates, but so do I. Let me teach you how to call reinforcements.”
A lump of Yin qi condensed in his palm, and as if it was costless, more and more gathered, soon forming a pitch-black ball in his palm.
Bang!
He crushed the yin ball and pure Yin-attribute spiritual qi spread out wantonly.
The temperature suddenly fell, and a thick layer of white frost formed on the surrounding ground.
However, this was only the beginning. As the yin qi fluctuated, the entire Seven Roads Town began to shake violently.
In the eyes of the man and ghost, the dense Yin qi was like a natural disaster, forming a huge tornado that surrounded the entire Seven Roads Town.
Amidst the spinning storm, 300,000 ghosts were faintly discernible as they converged towards the area where Jiang Li was.
Although the quality of these 300,000 ghosts was relatively ordinary, when gathered together, even a Core Formation cultivator would have a hard time seeing them.
The courtyard behind him turned into a dilapidated temple again. The lights of the Ghost City in the distance were extinguished and the bustling city withered. Under the impact of the ghost tornado, the illusion that enveloped the entire Seven Roads Town easily collapsed, revealing the essence of the dilapidated town.
Before this, Jiang Li threw the coffin into a corner and released the 300,000 ghosts inside.
Of course, he did not let all the evil spirits out. In the previous three instances, he had captured many ghosts, but it had been a short time since he had completely tamed them. Naturally, he had left tens of thousands of evil spirits behind to keep watch.
The 300,000 evil spirits surrounded the ghost market and gradually ate away at it. They gathered in circles and swept away all the ghosts that had fallen into the net.
Although the ghosts in the Ghost City were cunning, they could not escape the encirclement of such a large-scale army of ghosts.
As for those ghost soldiers, although their quality might be slightly higher than Jiang Li’s ghosts, their degree was limited. It was impossible for them to cause any waves under the hundred-fold difference in numbers.
It did not take long at all for the entire Seven Roads Ghost City to be taken away by Jiang Li.
Looking at the ghost tornado that surrounded her, the Ghost City Lord who had been so proud of the 3,000 ghost soldiers that she had saved over the years became stunned. She had never seen such a scene before, this tornado that was like a natural disaster shocked her until her mind went blank.
Jiang Li casually waved his hand, and a small coffin flew over from the group of ghosts before being stuffed into his arms.
Looking at the stunned Qin Shuman beside him, he used spell techniques to create a green seed the size of a basketball in his palm and raised it in front of him.
“Miss Qin, didn’t you say that you wanted to repay me? Don’t resist; now is the time for you to repay me. How about giving yourself to me?”
At the very least, half of the credit for the establishment of this Ghost City was due to the master of this Ghost City’s illusion technique.
The other half was also due to her.
The streets of this ghost market were governed in an orderly manner. From the 3,000 captured ghost soldiers, there were even a large number of standard yin attribute saber weapons.
This meant that there was actually a specialized military division in this ghost city. It was really a prototype of a comprehensive force.
If she was given another hundred years, she might really be able to establish a Ghost Domain here.
Although there were many ghosts in Jiang Li’s coffin, they were all low-level ghost servants and ghost soldiers. Even if he wanted to promote someone capable, he had no way of doing so.
If he could take this Ghost City Lord, who could be considered an internal political talent, under his wing, wouldn’t he have another practical tool?
“How is it, Miss Qin? As long as you are willing to eat this and accept my friendship, I will immediately remove your shackles.”
“When the time comes, we will still address each other politely. Not only that, the 300,000 ghost soldiers in the sky will all become your subordinates and serve you!”
When Jiang Li saw that the other party did not answer, he guided her patiently and systematically.
“Young master, humans and ghosts walk different paths. For you to snatch a little girl like this is not the actions of a gentleman.”
“Although I am lowly, I will no longer be anyone’s servant.”
Qin Shuman’s refusal was abnormally firm. Even when she spoke of being a servant, her eyes still flashed with hatred.
She had already been bound and tortured by someone for nearly a hundred years. Her entire soul was resistant to becoming another person’s servant tool.
Jiang Li was a little disappointed when he heard her answer.
“You still chose to reject it? What a pity. If you cooperate, I actually want you to join me in one piece. But since you rejected it, there’s no other choice.”
Jiang Li’s expression turned cold. He directly pressed the basketball-sized seed towards the other party’s head.
Elder Lin Fengying’s corpse manipulation lineage specialized in corpse puppets and exorcism.
This seed was a spell technique that was similar to the “Zombie Puppet Technique” and was more targeted at ghosts.
The specially enhanced version of the seed with spiritual qi was pressed on the ghost’s head. The ball of light that was the size of a basketball squeezed into the head that was not even half its size.
The female ghost quickly reacted to the sudden attack and struggled violently.
The green ball of light that Jiang Li had pressed down halfway suddenly froze. It actually felt like it was being squeezed out a little.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Li felt a little glad.
Fortunately, he did not use the ghostwood tree roots to pull the other party into his Sea of Consciousness. This ghost that could tangle with a Foundation Establishment cultivator was indeed powerful.
After all, the other party was a ghost that basically existed as a soul.
Even the ghost that could be easily exterminated outside the body could become a monster in the Sea of Consciousness, much less this Ghost City Lord.
If he were to pull her into the Sea of Consciousness, even if Jiang Li’s current Mind attribute had increased, and with the help of the ghostwood technique, the ghostwood trees and two other Parallel Minds, he would still be no match for Qin Shuman.
However, at this moment, she was on his chopping block. Although it was slightly difficult, she was still unable to make Jiang Li helpless.
Ssss!
Jiang Li pressed down on the ball of light with one hand, and his other hand reached out to press on the other party’s head.
Immediately, thick white smoke rose again. The Dragon Imprisoning Lock also increased its pressure, causing the female ghost’s body to become unstable again.
In any case, Jiang Li possessed the Anti-Demon Golden Skin, and it was impossible for him to get intimate with a ghost. Thus, there was not much meaning in her having a physical body anymore.
However, it was still not enough!
Under Jiang Li’s command, the large number of ghosts flying in the sky instantly rushed over.
They crazily tore apart the ghost’s soul, causing her ghost body to be torn off bit by bit. The pain was incomparable, and this time, she was even more unable to resist Jiang Li.
A few minutes later, the dignified Ghost City Lord’s ghost body was already somewhat dim and transparent. Only then did the basketball-sized green ball of light completely squeeze in.
The seed quickly took root and sprouted in the ghost’s body. It spread all over before fading away.
After a protracted battle, this Qin Shuman’s ghost body was severely injured. However, this was also good. He could place her in the coffin to recuperate. At that time, the more Yin Burial spiritual qi she absorbed, the more she would be unable to resist Jiang Li.
Crack!
Just as Jiang Li was about to throw the injured ghost into the coffin, a cracking sound was heard from the dilapidated temple that had been transformed into the Qin Residence.
Jiang Li looked towards the source of the voice. In the dilapidated temple, the thing that made a sound was a human-sized clay deity statue.
Ever since the extinction of Immortals and Buddhas, there had been many monsters and demons in the mortal world and even the cultivation world.
For some of the worse ones, such as the Scaled Demon Tribe that Jiang Li had previously destroyed, they took the initiative to worship the Spiritual Root Branch. The range of followers was limited to a few hundred ignorant Scaled Demons.
As for those who were doing well, their faith could spread to several mortal kingdoms. There was even a market for them in some low-level cultivators.
When Jiang Li saw the clay deity statue, he naturally treated her as one of these fanatics.
Jiang Li, who had just captured the boss of this area, was naturally not afraid. He carried the injured Qin Shuman and walked in.
“This statue… looks familiar.”
Half of the clay statue’s head had already shattered. The cracking sound should have come from here.
From the hole, it could be seen that the inside of the clay statue was hollow. Just the outer shell was not thick enough to support the structure.
It was hard to imagine just how stingy the person was to cut corners on a clay statue.
“However, the craftsmanship of this clay statue is not bad. It’s lustrous and half of its face can be seen to be elegant and refined… Wait!”
The more Jiang Li looked at the clay statue, the more familiar it looked. He suddenly thought of something and raised Qin Shuman, covering half of the other party’s face, to compare. They were practically identical!
He observed the clay statue again and realized that there was a meandering crack in the center of the clay statue, splitting the entire statue into two.
However, this crack was not new. Instead, it looked rather old.
Jiang Li separated the clay statue and placed Qin Shuman’s body inside. Then, he closed it tightly again!
He was not a fledgling who had just entered the cultivation world. When he saw this scene, how could he not know what had happened?
This female ghost, Qin Shuman, had been placed here by someone to become a ‘Deity of Blessing’!
This so-called ‘Deity of Blessing’ was a vicious secret unorthodox technique to mold a living person into a clay statue.
The formation of this clay statue was also very meticulous and vicious. It had to be formed before the victim died. There could not be any gaps.
This was to seal the last breath of the victim’s body.
This was because when ordinary mortals died, their souls would leave their bodies along with this last breath.
If the person did not release this breath, it was no different than having a fish bone stuck in his throat. Coupled with the ash talisman and vicious secret technique to suppress it, the soul of the dead would be unable to leave the body, and they could only suffer day and night in the clay statue and be unable to be reborn.
There were also unorthodox methods that could set up a Feng Shui shrine and order the locals to burn joss sticks day and night. This could allow this so-called “Deity of Blessing” to bear the misfortune and calamity of the entire town alone.
In contrast, this Seven Roads Town would have better “luck” than other places. This was reflected in the fact that this town would become more prosperous in the following decades.
Until… the clay statue cracked for some reason.
It seemed that the prosperity of Seven Roads Town and its sudden decline were not as simple as Jiang Li had imagined.
This clay statue also explained Jiang Li’s other two questions.
First, why did Qin Shuman’s soul and body look identical? The reason was that this was not someone else’s skin but her own body.
Possessing her own body naturally had a compatibility that other people’s bodies could not compare to. Furthermore, because the clay statue was covered in Yin qi and her body had not rotted for decades, she looked like a dead person and a living person at the same time.
In addition, why would such a ghost suddenly appear in a small town that had only declined for twenty years? It was because this woman had died a long time ago before the town perished.
The grievous energy in her chest had been accumulating for decades. After she broke free, she started a massacre. Coupled with the fact that she was nourished by the yin qi of this yin land, it was not difficult to understand why she was able to reach this stage.
Jiang Li curled his lips. He felt that the people of Seven Roads Town deserved to die for doing such a thing.
In addition, it was fortunate that this spell technique was only a weak spell, so it was only useful to mortals. It was not worth cultivating, otherwise, mortals would suffer even more.
To cultivators, the use of this so-called Deity of Blessing was really close to none. Therefore, almost no sect or rogue cultivator would specially do this.
Wasn’t it better to pay respects to the founder instead?
After putting away the clay statue and the female ghost, Jiang Li ordered the 300,000 ghosts to dig three feet into the ground in this town. After he took away everything of value, he left the completely ruined Seven Paths Town.
The clay statue had accompanied the ghost for decades and had long since formed a connection akin to an intrinsic artifact. Earlier, when Qin Shuman had been implanted with a seed by Jiang Li, the clay statue had immediately been damaged.
Putting them together might allow her to recover faster.
Looking at the map, Jiang Li flew to the last location where the ghosts were gathered.
There was nothing worth Jiang Li’s attention here. He directly released 300,000 ghosts and captured all the wild ghosts there.
Jiang Li had gone out a total of five times to subdue demons, and he had caught 10,000 ghost soldiers and 20,000 small ghosts. This had increased the number of ghosts in the coffin.