Chapter 1: The Haunted Yōlin (Part 1)

  The Peacock King, the king of peacocks, is a very lively and agile bird demon. The most distinctive feature on its body that distinguishes it from ordinary peacock spirits is the flower pattern on its forehead that resembles a crown. As its cultivation grows, the pattern will also become clearer. When the pattern becomes a crown, it can break through the demon level and be promoted to ghost.

  The quail in front of Ding Lingxiu was obviously also extremely high in cultivation, and it was very likely that it had already reached the bottleneck period of advancing to a ghost. The crown on its forehead had taken shape, and only the feathers on top needed to be shed.

  So the scratch caused by the dagger was quickly healed by Jiao Ti using her magic, and the damage caused by Ding Ling's attack was almost negligible.

  At this time, Juan Ti was angrily staring at Ding Ling Xiu in the air, and once again condensed the pink demon energy into feathers. The skeletal wings that were visible just now had grown full of plumage, and were radiant with a warm glow once more.

  "Heh, think you can scare me? This little injury is enough to defeat me?" Qian Ti giggled, starting to get a bit arrogant, but suddenly her face stiffened as she thought of how Ding Ling had used the weakness of Huang Niu Jing to defeat him, and she felt a chill run down her spine, muttering:

  "Is your dagger poisoned?"

  Ding Lingxiu didn't seem to notice it, carefully picked up the military dagger and held it upside down in his hand, as if he was afraid that something would fall off the dagger.

  But after carefully examining the wound, he found that it had completely healed and was not serious at all, nor was there any severe poison. He let out a sigh of relief, regained his vitality, and began to mock Ding Lingxiu:

  "You were just pretending, if you had really applied poison to the dagger earlier, you might have had a chance, but now? Hehe... I won't give you any more opportunities to attack me."

  These provocative words fell on deaf ears for Ding Lingyu, who remained unmoved despite the imposing presence before him. His calm demeanor only served to confuse Qian Ti further, making her hesitant to launch a sudden attack. With one hand still holding the dagger, Ding Lingyu loosened the straps of his backpack with the other and slowly pulled out a leather-bound book from within.

  The partridge's eyes widened and its tongue stiffened in shock, exclaiming:

  "What is this... what kind of thing has such a strong spiritual power?"

  Ding Lingxiu smiled and looked at it, softly replying:

  "You will fall in love with this thing."

  After he finished speaking, he turned the dagger over and the blood of the peony on it dripped onto Ding Lingxiu's fingers.

  "After searching extensively and finding nothing, it all came easily without any effort. We can be considered to have a predestined relationship, so today let your own blood guide you to the Holy Domain."

  With that, Ding Lingyu dipped his brush in the blood of the peony fairy and turned to the page with the Corpse-Eating Ghost in the Hundred Ghosts Scroll. The simple lines on this page vividly depicted the ferocious appearance of the Corpse-Eating Ghost, and the dense black lines on its sturdy body seemed to be moving.

  Ding Lingxiu was about to summon the Corpse Eater, but the aura of this malevolent entity on screen made him recall the scene when he subdued it before, and his heart still had lingering fear.

  Moreover, this was the first time calling upon the power of the Corpse Eater, and Ding Ling couldn't be certain whether he could fully control the ghost's power.

  Since then, after subduing the Corpse Eater in the hospital's morgue, he was busy rushing on his journey and only communicated with the Corpse Eater once. After all, Wu Xuan's primordial spirit had just revived inside the Corpse Eater's body, and there was a huge generation gap between him and Ding Lingyu of this era. The two only talked about the Corpse Eater's past battles, and the Corpse Eater lost interest in chatting and returned to the Sacred Domain. In the following days, Ding Lingyu did not summon it again.

  As I pondered, the blood had already flowed into the lines of the gaki, and the body of the gaki in the painting immediately became full of blood, bulging out from the surface of the cowhide book.

  Ding Lingxiu clasped his hands together and began to chant the summoning incantation of the underworld.

  "On the height of the cloudy firmament, in the distant and cold river, the desolate clouds are there, the four spirits attend the sage."

  "Racing across the battlefield, achieving great fame over thousands of miles. Unyielding heroes, eating bitterness and swallowing humiliation."

  The incantation finished, a powerful and unmatched aura of evil burst out from the book, carrying with it a dark red mist imbued with the power of the Gaki, slowly floating and rising into the air from the Hyakki Yagyo.

  A loud, mournful cry echoed through the quiet cave, and a dark red mist suddenly burst forth. The ghostly form of the Corpse Eater materialized from within the swirling blood fog. After recovering his original spirit, Wu Xie's appearance was completely different from before. Although he still had blood-red tentacles all over his body, exuding an eerie aura, his physique had become tall and majestic, with a fierce determination burning in his eyes.

  Yan Zhi recognized the Corpse Eater at a glance and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

  "What level of ghost?"

  The Corpse Demon stood before Ding Lingdang, his expression solemn, and bowed slightly as he said:

  "I report to Young Master, I was just studying military books in the sacred domain, I don't know why you summoned me here, what is the matter?"

  Ding Lingxu was lucky that she had studied for a few years, otherwise she would have really been on a different wavelength from this person who had crossed over.

  Ding Lingxiu also returned a courtesy and replied with sincere words:

  "General Wu, I'm in a bit of trouble now and I'd like to borrow your magical powers to subdue that demon, is it possible?"

  The Corpse Demon nodded and said in a loud voice:

  "I will obey your orders, may I ask, young master, where is the monster?"

  Ding Lingshu pointed at the quail in mid-air that was already covered in flour and said:

  "It's that monster flying in the sky."

  Ding Lingxiu had just finished speaking when the Corpse Eater suddenly disappeared.

  Ding Lingxu raised his head and looked over, but was suddenly shocked, unable to speak a word.

  Just as he was speaking, the air suddenly twisted with a powerful force, emitting a chilling sound. Then, in front of Ding Ling's eyes, a red light flashed and disappeared, and a strong and fierce aura shot up into the sky like lightning.

  That cluster of crimson energy was the Ghoul, and this blood-red fiend used its leg spurs to generate force and leap up with a thunderous momentum, jumping above Kuiyin. The fingernails on both hands also became incredibly long at the highest point of the jump. Both hands clasped together, transforming into a cold, gleaming dagger that chopped down towards Kuiyin from above.

  The partridge's heart was startled, and it was clear that he had not expected the corpse to launch a surprise attack so quickly, or rather, he didn't even have the chance to expect it. Almost in the same second, he saw the corpse conversing with Ding Ling, and the next second, a blood-red, powerful figure appeared before his eyes, swinging its knife down.

  That blood-red ghostly shadow had an eagle-like gaze with endless murderous intent, and its moves were swift and ruthless.

  "Blood Blade Slash—Breaking the Army."

  The loud roar of the Corpse Demon caused the already stunned Xun Tian's soul to scatter, leaving him completely defenseless, and he could only instinctively use his two wings to protect his body.

  But this movement is already quite slow compared to the ghoul's raid, and all that can be seen is a cold light like the moon passing over the top of her head, as if life was about to disappear in a shroud of bloody mist.

  In the flash of lightning, before distinguishing the blade's edge, a cold shadow has already arrived.

  The cicada looked at its own half-body falling slowly to the ground with great horror, its entire body having been split in two from head to toe, the cut surface smooth as a mirror, as if it had grown that way since birth.

  A shrill and terrifying scream echoed through the cave.

  The phoenix in the air was completely severed into two segments, its broken body began to spurt blood violently, and its internal organs were also torn apart and scattered on the ground. The two demon wings were also shattered and scattered, covered with bloodstains.

  The pink demonic energy dissipated in an instant, and some remaining resentment actually converged on the body of the Ghoul.

  The entire process took only three seconds, and with a swift slash of the knife, the peacock was dead.

  A loud bang sounded.

  The ghoul fell from the air and smashed onto Kui's half-head, splashing out a cluster of blood flowers on the ground.

  The Corpse Demon retracted its sharp claws, suppressed the eerie aura, and regained its solemn expression, just like when it was first summoned. It seemed as if nothing had happened at all. The demon nodded slightly towards Ding Ling's stunned face:

  "I report to Your Excellency, I have already annihilated the enemy."

  Ding Ling's brain hadn't even had time to process the information in front of him before he was interrupted by the thick voice of the Corpse Eater.

  He hesitated for a moment, intending to say that he had no intention of killing Quan Ti, but swallowed his words and said:

  "Thanks for your trouble, General."