Chapter 1580: Six Nings

“Ahh!”

A bloodcurdling scream broke out as the ghost hand swiftly withdrew, but the azure blood and light clung to it like a maggot in one’s bones, undying and unceasing. When it made contact with the Bronze Like Tree, it swiftly spread to the entire tree like flames.

In fact, the azure blood and clear light were burning the Bronze Like Tree like actual fire. In a desperate attempt to save itself, the Bronze Like Tree split open its own bark and leaked dirty, yellowish puss water to extinguish the “fire”. It was useless though.

For a time, the Bronze Like Tree could only squirm like a snake while screaming without end.

“Hahaha... the thing you spent ninety nine years mastering can’t even compare to a random thing I picked up, old ghost? How embarrassing! If I were you, I would have committed suicide a long time ago.”

The Chief Libationist guffawed as he took a step forward and summoned a bamboo ruler into his hand. One side of the ruler had the words “Benevolence”, “Righteousness”, “Propriety”, “Wisdom”, and “Trustworthiness” engraved on it, and the other side had the words “Benign”, “Upright”, “Courteous”, “Temperate”, and “Complaisant”. It looked no different from the ruler used by the teachers in a study hall.

In the hands of the Chief Libationist though, it might as well be a divine weapon that could crush anything.

The Chief Libationist appeared in front of the Bronze Like Tree and struck it with his ruler.

Thang!

Surprisingly, the clash elicited metallic sparks and a metallic clang. The next moment, the Bronze Like Tree that was a natural divine tree that once supported the Nether and commanded all ghosts broke where the Chief Libationist had struck.

“Argh! It hurts!”

The instant the Bronze Like Tree broke, a person dashed out of the cracks. It was an infant-like creature with smooth, tender limbs, but a horrifyingly old and rotting face. Not only was its face covered in wrinkles and liver spots, the flesh and blood at the top of its head were withered to the point where one could see its skull and brain matter. It was terrifying to say the least.

“So this is what you look like. No wonder you never dared to show your face.”

Even the Chief Libationist was caught off guard for a second before he started taunting the figure.

There was no doubt about it. This horrifying-looking figure was the legendary Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang.

The Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang rarely revealed his true appearance before others, which was why little to no one knew what he really looked like. Although the Chief Libationist and the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang were both famous Sages on the Heavenly Champions Ranking, they had never interacted with each other until today. Naturally, the Chief Libationist had never seen his true appearance before.

Now that he had, the Chief Libationist understood why people said that one should never meet their heroes. The Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang was no hero, but his appearance seriously did not live up to his title.

“You dare destroy the foundation of my Dao, Chief Libationist? I’ll kill you!” The enraged Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang flew into the air. When the top half of the Bronze Like Tree tipped downward, he opened his mouth and swallowed it into his stomach even though it should be physically impossible.

The next moment, the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang rapidly swelled in size. He became so big that even the massive Hall of Supreme Harmony could not contain him and exploded into pieces. He did not stop until he was ten kilometers tall.

Right now, the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang had undergone a complete transformation. He looked both incredibly scary and powerful.

For starters, he now had six heads: A bull’s head, a horse’s head, a dog’s head, a wolf’s head, a tiger’s head, and a dragon’s head.

Strangely, every head was missing its eyeballs and teeth.

The answer lay in the man’s hands. He now had seventy two hands in total. Thirty six of them were healthy and normal-looking. Each hand was holding an eyeball. The other thirty six hands were rotten and withered. They were all carrying a bunch of sharp teeth.

He was wearing a suit of bronze scale armor, and each scale looked like a human face. They were laughing or yelling, and their faces were all contorted.

“The Six Nings, is it?”

Legend had it that a ghost called the Six Nings lived on Mount Tai and below the Bronze Like Tree. It had six heads with no eyeballs or teeth, though it could listen to everything that was happening in the world and learn any god or ghost languages. It had seventy two hands. Half of the hands had palms with eyeballs. They could see past the nine firmaments and looked into the Nether itself. The remaining hands had palms with teeth. They could consume celestials and Buddhas and eat any ghost. Finally, it wore a suit of scale armor that was immune to all weapons and arts.

The Six Nings boasted immeasurable strength. It was the protector ghost god of Mount Tai and the Bronze Like Tree.

The creature the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang had transformed into was none other than the legendary ghost god.

But what did the Chief Libationist think about his transformation?

“So, you’re a watchdog!” The Chief Libationist commented with a disappointed look.

“Die!”

After transforming into the Six Nings, the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang gained the power to listen to everything in the world. Naturally, he heard the Chief Libationist’s remark loud and clear. He let out a mighty roar and brought his foot down on the scholar.

The Chief Libationist’s response was to raise his ruler. Right before the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang’s foot would crush him, he hit him in the sole.

Thud!

The impact was soft, but the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang was sent stumbling by the attack.

“What’s the point of being big if you’re empty on the inside?”

The Chief Libationist commented while walking into the sky toward the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang’s face.

Seeing this, the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang raised his seventy two arms and made a grab for the Chief Libationist.

The thirty six eyeballs were glaring fixatedly at the Chief Libationist with darkness and hate so thick it almost felt tangible. In fact, the sky was being dyed black by sheer malice.

The thirty six mouths were opening wide to reveal rows and rows of sharp teeth. They looked brutal and scary.

The Chief Libationist didn’t attempt to dodge the swipes though. He simply moved forward and struck each and every hand that attempted to grab him in the palm.

“This strike is to punish your malice.”

There was a crisp slap, and the entire arm was shattered into pieces. The scale armor that should have protected it from almost any attack was completely useless.

“This strike is to punish your inability to distinguish right or wrong.” The Chief Libationist raised his ruler and struck another arm. The arm shattered into pieces as well.

It went without saying that losing an arm or two was extremely painful.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” The Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang roared again and again. Only he knew if it was because of pain, anger, or both. His response against the Chief Libationist’s counterattack was to swing his arms with even greater abandon than before. His gigantic palms contained impressive power that summoned a terrible thunderstorm without trying. The world turned lightless, and ghastly screeches and wails filled the air. For a moment, it felt like hell had descended onto the earth.

Luckily, the Five Dragons Grabbing Suns Profound Restriction was enveloping and isolating the entire inner palace right now. Otherwise, the entire imperial capital might be caught up in the crossfire.

But of course, the inner palace wasn’t shielded from harm. The yin lightning crushed countless houses, and the deadly gale blew palaces into rubble. Even more palace maids with no cultivation, eunuchs, guards and more were injured or killed by the storm.

“This one’s for the innocents you injured!”

The Chief Libationist could not bear to see any more harm befalling the innocent people and lowered his left hand. Dense, clear light immediately spread out above everyone’s heads and formed what looked like a protective dome. It shielded the people from the howling yin wind and striking yin lightning.

At the same time, he was exerting more strength into his right hand and shattering each and every hand that came his way.

Every time he struck the hand, the Chief Libationist would speak up like a teacher disciplining a student who had committed a mistake.

“This one’s because you helped a tyrant...”

“This one’s because you are unkind and unjust...”

“This one’s because you’re immoral and unethical...”

“This one’s because you are shameless...”

......

For a time, the only sounds that could be heard in the inner palace were the Chief Libationist’s rebukes, the sound of ruler smacking a palm, and the angry and pained roars of the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang. Combined, they were louder than even the howling wind and roaring thunder around them.

For obvious reasons, everyone was stunned and in disbelief. They almost wondered if they were dreaming.

After all, the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang was a famous, longtime Sage on the Heavenly Champions Ranking, and yet he was as helpless as a lamb before a butcher, a child before an adult, or a hooligan before an elite warrior compared to the Chief Libationist. The ghost god could only rage impotently no matter how hard he tried to resist. In fact, he looked so impotent it almost felt like they could kick his ass as well.

Of course, this was just a feeling. They definitely could not handle the Ghost Ancestor of Mount Mang.