Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was the famous ‘Ocean Suppressing Array’ in the world of Cultivators.
It was said that there was a mother lode below East Peace County that extended for thousands of kilometers into the depths of the ocean, like a dragon king that suppressed the ocean. That was why the ocean near East Peace County was so peaceful that it was a natural port.
The thirty-three sects located in East Peace County worked together to collect tremendous crystals from under the ocean and hunt the dragon-type demon beasts in the ocean. Then, their cores, bones, and blood, blended with copper, silver, and gold, were melted into liquids and poured on the city wall of East Peace County. Once the runes were carved into it, the array was established!
Now that the Ocean Suppressing Array was fully activated, an enormous bluish curtain of light had fallen upon the whole of East Peace County, which seemed to be covered in a translucent, upside-down bowl.
The bluish waves were surging like tides in deafening noises. The entire city seemed to have been moved to the bottom of the ocean!
It was the best barrier to block all the ghosts.
Even so, the Cultivators of the thirty-three Cultivation sects in the city and the Cultivators from the other sects who were seeking refuge in East Peace County from elsewhere were still solemn and did not dare relax.
The previous two waves of attack had proven that the Ocean Suppressing Array alone was not enough to withstand the scourge of thousands of ghosts.
Also, it was just Mother White Lotus’ reconnaissance. The real main face had not been deployed yet.
Most of the southeastern Cultivators had gathered on the city towers and the city wall, ready to have one last battle with the army of ghouls.
The city was where their sects were headquartered. All their training resources were stored there and could not be abandoned. They already had no escape.
Other than the Cultivators, there were also countless ordinary people in East Peace County.
They were either the vassal families affiliated with the Cultivation sects, the tenants and dealers at the service of the Cultivation sects, or the refugees who had sought shelter after the natural disasters.
The Cultivators of East Peace County turned out to be smarter than the Cultivators of Roaring Tiger City. They knew that if the disaster victims were kept out of the city, they would certainly turn into powerful ghosts because of their hatred after they died of hunger or cold while staring at the closed gate. Then, Mother White Lotus would have even more soldiers at her disposal. It would be a great trouble.
Also, the thirty-three sects qualified to develop in East Peace City were higher up the food chain of the southeastern sects in the first place. The most profitable trades and fields in the southeast were in their hands. There was no need for them to resort to the clandestine approaches such as the Black Devil Cult. Therefore, they had few secrets that they would rather nobody found out.
So, before the army of ghouls arrived, they had opened the city gate and allowed as many disaster victims to go into the city as possible. As a result, the population of East Peace County had surpassed one million!
East Peace County was certainly not a remote town. There was already an enormous military camp in the city, in which troops loyal to the court were stationed.
At that moment, the thirty-three sects had also opened their headquarters and offered tremendous military assets to arm the relatively healthy men among the disaster victims and the ordinary people in the city. The militias were asked to listen to the command of the generals of the court.
“Hooo!”
The sky of the city was the most important battlefield, which was defended by almost a thousand Cultivators who were riding their flying swords, cranes, falcons, or simply the clouds. Also, the Cultivators from the central plateaus who had come for reinforcements also lined up their flying boats. Therefore, they were not scared that the army of ghouls would attack from the sky!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dull thunder was echoing in the clouds. Tides were rising on the ocean in the east. The spiritual waves in the air suddenly turned chaotic.
The twisting trumpets deep inside the army of ghouls were getting short and powerful. Like coffin nails, the noises were being bashed into the deepest part of everyone’s soul!
As the hundreds of white lotuses condensed by smoke slowly floated forward, the overwhelming army of ghouls marched together and approached East Peace County like a weird tide!
On and below the city towers, the Cultivators were shouting to the temporary troops made of ordinary folks. “The army of ghouls is extremely brutal. If the city is taken, everybody will be killed. Also, you will not have peace even after you die. You will be refined into ignorant ghost soldiers and cursed forever!
“The Thunder Striking Legion of the court is reinforcing us as fast as possible. The vanguards have already risked breaking into the city. The main force will arrive in no time!
“The only way to survive is to defend the city until the troops of the court come to our aid!
“The ghosts seem tricky to deal with, but they are not as scary as they appear. Every man who has enough valor and hot blood will be able to blow the ghosts apart!”
They were not exaggerating.
The competition between humans and ghosts was in fact a war of interference and anti-interference between different waves.
If the waves of the living people were weak, they would be easily affected by the ghosts. They would be depressed or even possessed by the enemy, and they would be gone forever.
But if the waves of the living people were more powerful, all the ghosts would be crushed!
Even if the ordinary people did not know how to train themselves, as long as they were healthy, furious, and fearless, their waves would naturally grow strong, and it would be more difficult for them to be affected by the ghosts.
If a troop of thousands of ruthless soldiers gathered, their waves would overlap and resonate. Their killing intent would soar and stop the evil ghosts from approaching.
The army stationed in East Peace County was one of the best troops, second only to the imperial guards that protected the capital city. Naturally, they had a fearless, intimidating vibe around them. Rumbling at the same time, they more or less dispersed the sense of death that was enveloping the city, showing everyone a glimpse of hope.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Right then, weird explosions echoed from the flanks of the army of ghouls.
As it turned out, the skeleton monsters larger than elephants, which were piled up with dry bones, changed their shape at some point into ballistae and threw out almost a hundred enormous skulls instantly!
The skulls did not belong to human beings but demon beasts that were countless times bigger than human beings. Like giant rocks, they crashed into the Ocean Suppressing Array brutally in ear-splitting noises after drawing short arcs.
Shua!
The bluish colors flashed on the Ocean Suppressing Array. As if hundreds of tides were rolling, the skulls were all smashed into pieces!
Hu!
The skulls which had been blown into smithereens, however, spurted out tremendous greenish, ghostly fire. It seemed to be highly sticky because it flowed on the Ocean Suppressing Array and burned, consuming the power of the array.
The army of ghouls, who had been containing themselves, finally unleashed all their fury, hatred, brutality, and hideousness!
A cold wind was blowing, and the creepy screams congregated into an ocean of fear on which the ghosts were drifting toward East Peace County!
To maintain the integrity of their waves and pheromones, the ghosts were not floating at a very high speed. They were only slightly faster than running living people.
However, they were not bound by gravity, and ground was not the only route of their attack. Instead, they dispersed in various directions from the very beginning and launched a three-dimensional attack from both the air and the ground!
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
The recently deceased ghosts that were marching at the front soon crashed into the blue barrier of the Ocean Suppressing Array. Like sparrows that had run into an electrical net, they were immediately stuck to it. Tremendous bluish electric arcs pierced through their bodies and instantly ionized them into nothingness!
However, they did leave feeble ripples on the Ocean Suppressing Array with the last strength of their life.
When more and more recently deceased ghosts were marching forward like moths darting at the fire, and the feeble ripples were getting more and more dense, the ripples finally evolved into tiny gaps!
The recently deceased ghosts and the cunning seasoned ghosts behind them immediately charged into the Ocean Suppressing Array through the gaps!
The defenders had long been prepared for this.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Arrows were raining down from the city towers.
None of the arrows had a head. The front end of the shafts were sloppy bags.
Some of the bags were bloodstained, full of stimulating stink of blood. Some had suspicious yellow and brown colors with a vile stench. Some of them were covered in a layer of black ointment with a weird fragrance.
What was odd that, when the headless arrows pierced through the ‘bodies’ of the incoming ghosts, the result was even more unbelievable than when the sharp arrows with real heads piercing through the bodies of soldiers. It was not unusual for a tiny arrow to cause a hole the size of a bowl.
The arrows covered in black ointment, on the other hand, exploded the moment they touched the army of ghouls. Red flowers blossomed on the battlefield, damaging all the ghosts nearby!
Inside the bags was actually the blood of black dogs, the excrement of humans and animals, and women’s menses.
According to the ancient people, such filthy, dirty, and foul items could break all evil.
According to the modern people, the items secreted by the bodies of living creatures boasted immense vigor and vitality that could seriously affect and even sabotage the waves that constituted the ghosts.
It was especially so for the menses, which were a symbol of the reproduction of life. It boasted the most vigor and vitality of all. Even a seasoned ghost would have to run away in fear should they run into it, or they would be disrupted and even obliterated!
As for the arrows covered in black ointment, they had been crafted by the Cultivation sects according to the secret techniques. Their attacks targeted the ghosts, too.
The result of the shooting arrows was more than satisfactory. The crossfire from the sky and the ground drove away all the remaining souls and the seasoned ghosts.
It was a pity that one could only have a finite number of feces every day. There was a limited stock of excrement in the city.
As for the women’s menses, that was an even scarcer resource. Who would preserve it if they did not know that an army of ghouls would be attacking the city soon? Moreover, it could not be preserved for long even if they wanted to!
The marvelous weapons that the ordinary people used against the ghosts were soon running out of ammunition.
The bizarre-shaped skeleton soldiers on the flanks of the army of ghouls, on the other hand, waved their rusted hoes and sabers and started running in a rigid and weird pace!