Chapter 942: Night Parade (I)

"Qin Guang!"

"Chu Jiang!"

"Song Di!"

"Wu Guan!"

"Yan Luo!"

"Bian Cheng!"

"Tai Shan!"

"Du Shi!"

"Ping Deng!"

"Zhuan Lun!"[1]

With each thunderous shout, the ten ghost kings unleashed their power together. The gigantic ghost kings, each one as large as the Form of the Heavens and the Earth, rose into the sky and poured their full power into an attack.

In that instant, the netherworld shook, and the countless ghosts hid in fear.

The ghost kings' attack was so powerful that just the sight of it might have frightened the lesser ghosts so much that their souls shattered into dust. There were even cracks running across all four corners of the ghost kingdom! The ten ghost kings striking in unison was a rare occurrence that only happened once in millions of years.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Being attacked from all sides, the Celestial Cosmic Ring trembled violently, accompanied by a thunderous crack.

Booooom!

The barrier between the heavens and the earth was on the verge of shattering. There was no way it could hold out for a moment!

Lin Poyun spat out a mouthful of blood and bellowed, "Stop now! Otherwise, when Evil Ksitigarbha's primordial spirit is released, he will drown the netherworld in blood!"

He then turned around and shouted angrily at the Noble Dharma, "Can't you hurry it up?!"

If Lin Poyun were still the leader of the Dark King Sect, he would have fled the moment he got the Celestial Cosmic Ring. After all, wasn't it much safer to escape with a legendary artifact than to risk his life there?

However, after merging with Dhyana Master Wu'e, Lin Poyun found himself unconsciously obeying the Noble Dharma's commands. After all, the Noble Dharma had been Dhyana Master Wu'e's teacher for many years, and Dhyana Master Wu'e's respect for the Noble Dharma had come from the heart.

That was what left Lin Poyun so conflicted. He feared for his own safety, yet he couldn't bring himself to simply abandon the old man.

Nevertheless, it did not matter how hard he tried to hold off the ten ghost kings. They were simply too powerful. Even with a legendary artifact in hand, it wasn't enough for Lin Poyun to bridge the immense gulf in cultivation levels between them. All he could do was rely on the Celestial Cosmic Ring's tremendous power to hold on for as long as he could.

Regardless, the Noble Dharma remained as calm as ever. He slowly rose to his feet, swaying unsteadily as he gazed at the black stone beneath him. An odd smile spread across his face, looking like a man on the verge of madness.

"Celestial devil who once nearly destroyed the world—your time has finally come again. If you can slay the god who now lives among mortals, you will regain the freedom you've long been denied.

"Do you... accept?"

Whoosh.

A harsh crimson light enveloped the Noble Dharma. It appeared to be the response of the celestial devil sealed beneath the ground. The Noble Dharma's spiritual qi was nearly depleted, but a sudden influx of spiritual qi surged into him.

A dense, almost tangible wave of devilish qi seeped out of the ground, striking fear into even the ten ghost kings. An ominous tremor shook the netherworld—the kind of tremor that sent hearts racing. Ever since the Demon God emerged, no presence had shaken the world and stirred all living beings like this one.

"Stop them now!" Ghost King Qin Guang roared.

The ten gigantic ghost kings unleashed the full extent of their cultivation power and struck the Celestial Cosmic Ring's barrier with all their might.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Thunderous booms echoed through the world as the barrier shattered.

When the Penglai Supreme Sect attacked the Mount Shu Sect, Daoist Cangsheng used the Celestial Cosmic Ring to isolate the peaks of Mount Shu. It took several eighth-realm Eminent Ones attacking from the outside to try and break through the Celestial Cosmic Ring's barrier.

The battle today was quite different. The ten ghost kings were more powerful than those Eminent Ones, and more importantly, none of those Eminent Ones had fought as desperately as the ten ghost kings were doing now.

As a result, the Celestial Cosmic Ring only lasted the short time of a few breaths before it shattered.

Nevertheless, that was enough.

As the barrier vanished, Lin Poyun suffered severe internal injuries, and blood sprayed out of his mouth like a fountain.

During his time as the sect leader of the Dark King Sect, it had been rare for him to be injured to such an extent—perhaps not even once in a hundred years. That was because he usually ditched his subordinates and fled long before things ever reached such a dire state.

However, his perseverance had paid off this time.

The gigantic mountain that had sealed Evil Ksitigarbha's primordial spirit finally began to rise.

...

The world became dark and gloomy, and the stars had disappeared from the sky.

As the colossal mountain rose from the earth, even the stars seemed to cower in fear, concealing all their light. Crimson devilish qi surged forth in waves from the endless fissures running through the ground.

The ten ghost kings shuddered at the sight of the terrifyingly powerful spiritual qi.

"This is bad..." Ghost King Chu Jiang's pupils dilated in fear, and his gaze wavered. "That devil has emerged!"

None of them belonged to the generation of ghost kings who had witnessed Evil Ksitigarbha in action, but every single one of them had heard the stories that had been passed down through the ages, tales of those terrifying years when the celestial devil walked the world. So many people had died in the realm of the living that the netherworld became overrun with ghosts, so much so that it was nearly unable to contain them all.

There was a saying that the ghost kings had passed down through the generations. It was something that the Ancient Nameless Buddha had told them.

“When Ksitigarbha rises, the netherworld empties.”

Now the ghost kings were finally witnessing that power firsthand, and they knew those words had not been exaggerated.

All ten ghost kings retreated at once. The situation was beyond saving, and surviving took precedence.

The ghost kings varied in strength, and the weakest among them, Ghost King Zhuan Lun, was the first to undergo some strange changes.

Ghost King Zhuan Lun had a burly frame like forged black iron, two horns on his head, fiery red hair, and was barefoot. Slung over his right shoulder was a massive wheel, to which a hundred thousand ghosts clung. These ghosts turned the wheel slowly, and with each full rotation, Ghost King Zhuan Lun gained one hundred thousand days' worth of cultivation progress.

Suddenly, a wave of crimson devilish qi wrapped around the Ghost King Zhuan Lun. His eyes turned red in an instant. Then, to everyone's shock, he seized his massive wheel and crushed it with a bang. None of the one hundred thousand ghosts managed to escape. He plucked up a string of them and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing greedily. The anguished screams of the ghosts brought a look of twisted pleasure to his blood-red eyes.

When the other ghost kings saw that, they called out his name in alarm. "King Zhuan Lun!"

However, none of them moved to help.

The ten kings of the netherworld had always been rivals, harboring deep grudges against one another. They were currently fighting side by side, but there was no reason for any of them to risk their lives to save Ghost King Zhuan Lun.

Nevertheless, his downfall only filled the remaining ghost kings with greater dread.

Evil Ksitigarbha's primordial spirit was just as powerful as a ninth-realm cultivator. Without a legendary artifact, the ghost kings did not have any way of fighting back. Even the ghost kings on the brink of ascending to the ninth realm could only think of fleeing.

Compared to the life essence of the Demon God that had managed to escape in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, the spiritual qi that Evil Ksitigarbha's primordial spirit possessed was slightly inferior in quality, but the primordial spirit had way more spiritual qi and far greater combat power.

That was why Evil Ksitigarbha was far beyond what the ghost kings could handle, even without his corporeal body.

In terms of pure power, the gap between the ninth realm and the eighth realm might be even greater than the power gap between the eighth realm and the first realm.

After devouring a hundred thousand ghosts, Ghost King Zhuan Lun looked around and saw that the other ghost kings had already fled.

"Ah..."

His face twisted into a sinister scowl.

The Noble Dharma, who was in a weak state, and Lin Poyun, who was in an even weaker state, were standing before him. Yet, he did not devour them.

"You two are the ones who freed me," Evil Ksitigarbha said, lowering his head to gaze down at the Noble Dharma and Lin Poyun.

"I was the one who awakened you," the Noble Dharma stated softly. "And I know where your corporeal body is. I can help you recover your peak strength. The Hallowed One of this world is currently at her weakest. I can help you devour this lower realm."

"This world is already in the palm of my hand," Evil Ksitigarbha replied, staring at him. "Well, then. What do you want?"

"I want you to help me..." the Noble Dharma said calmly. "I want to reach the ninth realm in this world. We need to work together. That's the only way we can break free from this place."

"

Hmph.

" Evil Ksitigarbha swept his gaze across the netherworld with disdain. "Why should I work with you?"

The Noble Dharma explained, "You need me. The Ancient Nameless Buddha who suppressed you for tens of thousands of years was this world's only Hallowed One at the time, but he wasn't its strongest force."

...

1. These are the titles of the ten kings of the netherworld, according to traditional Chinese beliefs. They preside over the ten courts of the netherworld. You can have a look at this

Wiki page

and this

Britannica page

if you're interested. ☜