Hundreds of heavenly ghosts, whose bodies stood over a hundred feet tall and stretched over three hundred feet long while being covered in sharp bone spikes, were wailing on their knees like a bunch of kindergarten kids bullied by their classmates. Wu Qi stared blankly at this group of emotional heavenly ghosts, shaking his head in a daze.
Who said heavenly ghosts were a bunch of brainless creatures? Who said they knew nothing except killing and cannibalism? Who said they had no feelings?
Whoever made this up should have their tongue cut off!
Looking at the wailing heavenly ghosts, their rich expressions, the deep pain in their scarlet eyes; and sensing the sorrow emanating from the depths of their hearts, Wu Qi took a deep breath and jumped down from behind Ao Buzun's back. He helped the old heavenly ghost to his feet, who could speak fluent human language, and asked in a deep voice, "Why are you so sad? What's your grievance? Tell me, and I will make things right for you!"
Wu Qi did not think that these heavenly ghosts were the dreadful creatures of legends who coveted the flesh and blood of men and cultivators, and knew nothing but killing. They were not only intelligent, but they also had emotions; they even had established their own social structure and learned how to work with one another. What was the difference between them and human beings then?
It was the heavenly ghosts outside the valley that matched the legendary ones, so Wu Qi did not feel bad killing them all. They were just a bunch of greedy, bloodthirsty beasts, and killing them was like killing ants.
The old heavenly ghost looked up and sobbed as he told Wu Qi the story of their clan.
In ancient times, wars between numerous almighty experts during an apocalypse had broken off a piece of Pangu Continent. Then, the piece of land, which measured over trillions of miles across, drifted into the depths of the starry sky and merged with the first thread of innate ghost energy that existed when the world was opened up, turning into a unique realm called the 'Nine Nether Ghost Realm', which had its notorious reputation spread across the outside world.
The landmass was scattered with the remains of countless almighty experts who, nourished by the innate ghost energy, gradually evolved into the first generation of heavenly ghosts. Because of the voracious nature of the ghost energy, these heavenly ghosts were naturally ferocious, predatory, and fond of fresh flesh and blood. Their instinct was to kill and devour.
But, after countless eons of evolution, as the heavenly ghosts in the ghost realm continued to multiply, many amazingly brilliant geniuses were born. These geniuses studied the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, from which, they comprehended the way of heavenly ghosts' cultivation. Since then, they gradually evolved from improving their cultivation bases through devouring all things by instinct to self-cultivation.
As their cultivation bases grew, so did their wisdom, and some with advanced cultivation bases could even wipe out the trace of ferocity in their nature. With their great wisdom and power, these mighty ghost cultivators established their own powers in various parts of the ghost realm. In the end, they became the thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings and the eight hundred Ghost Saints who had their names heard throughout the universe.
The thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings were all seasoned Primordial experts, while the eight hundred Ghost Saints all possessed the cultivation bases of peak Gold Immortals. It was even said that among the eight hundred Ghost Saints, some had already broken through the bottleneck of the Primordial realm.
Relying on its unique environment, the thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings and the eight hundred Ghost Saints each held their own strongholds in the ghost realm. Even those powerful figures in the Heaven who tried to control everything could do nothing to these formidable existences. Once, a Primordial Immortal from the Heaven had invaded the ghost realm with the intention of forcing the thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings to obey the imperial edicts of the Heaven. But in the end, he and the subsequent waves of reinforcements were all brutally beaten up and forced to flee in dismay. Had it not been for the intervention of some unknown existences, the battle would have cost the Heaven at least a few Celestial Emperors.
The direct ancestor of the heavenly ghosts in front of Wu Qi was also a genius. He came from a small clan in the ghost realm, and through painstaking cultivation, he earned himself an overall strength very close to that of a peak Gold Immortal, which allowed him to establish his own foundation and gradually accumulate a pretty strong force.
However, all kinds of exaggerated and absurd stories were taking place all the time, whether in the mortal realm or the ghost realm.
Because of his handsome appearance, this freshly baked expert had attracted a female Ghost Saint in the territory next to his, who made a strong proposal to marry him so they could have dual cultivation. According to common sense, knowing that he was chosen by a Ghost Saint who had been famous for countless years, the ancestor should have washed himself up happily and thrown himself into her bed. But, the turn of events made Wu Qi want to cough up blood. The ancestor was actually the first and only love fool of the entire ghost realm!
Being a love fool himself, the ancestor did what all the love fools would have done. As he had just given birth to a bunch of children with his wife, how would he answer to the invitation? Instead, he was so infuriated that he brought his army and launched an attack against the Ghost Saint's territory!
The Ghost Saint felt her face was ruthlessly trampled on, and she flew into a rage. She quickly summoned a few Ghost Saints who were close to her, and they wiped out the ancestor's army together, killed him, and carved up his territory.
In the end, only the ancestor's wife managed to escape with their eighty children. They did not dare to stay in the territory ruled by any of the Ghost Saints, but fled all the way to this desolate wilderness, where they eventually settled down. In an environment filled with innumerable ferocious monsters, they cut through all difficulties and worked hard, paying the price of sweat, tears, and blood. And after several generations of development, they finally had more than three thousand members.
Wu Qi was shocked on hearing that. Eighty children at one birth? Although he had heard that the heavenly ghosts had an amazing ability to reproduce, he was still surprised by the number. Then, he suddenly understood why it was said that those almighty experts forbade the heavenly ghosts from developing their territory beyond the ghost realm. With the way they multiplied themselves, if only a dozen of them managed to sneak into the outer heavenly realm, it would not take many years for the entire outer heavenly realm to be filled with their offspring.
Wu Qi couldn't help but sigh. Although they had reproduced for several generations, these heavenly ghosts had only a population of slightly more than three thousand. Evidently, it was not an easy task to survive in this wilderness. But, why were there only a few hundred left in front of him? Could it have anything to do with the heavenly ghosts out there?
While weeping, the old heavenly ghost continued to tell Wu Qi the history of his clan. As Wu Qi expected, when this branch of heavenly ghosts was thriving, a clan of heavenly ghosts with ten thousand population suddenly settled down at a place less than three hundred miles from them. Worst of all, they were the primitive heavenly ghosts, the major trouble in the ghost realm!
The so-called primitive heavenly ghosts, if described in terms that Wu Qi was familiar with, were 'uncivilized savages' or 'cannibals'. They were born naturally from either the remains of heavenly ghosts or all kinds of creatures. They were innately savage, brutal, and impervious to reason.
Primitive heavenly ghosts were unintelligent beings. In the past, a mighty heavenly ghost had slaughtered and dissected hundreds of millions of them, discovering that they only had a walnut-sized brain. So, it was impossible for them to have intelligence. It was only through generations of evolution, and after they produced several rare geniuses with extraordinary talents from their descendants that these primitive heavenly ghosts could walk the path of pursuing the Heavenly Dao and become stronger.
No one knew from the remains of what formidable monsters these primitive heavenly ghosts were born, but their overall strength was actually stronger than those in the valley who had learned how to cultivate. Since their first encounter, they had regarded the heavenly ghosts in the valley as their preys.
However, they did not come for flesh and blood, but the female heavenly ghosts in the valley.
Hunting and reproduction were instincts of primitive heavenly ghosts. They would seize every opportunity to reproduce in order to strengthen their clan. So, when they found the valley, they did everything they could to capture the female heavenly ghosts here. The unsuspecting heavenly ghosts in the valley were robbed of nearly a thousand females, while many were killed in the battles.
Just today, they sent only a few youths to hunt for food, while the rest of the youths, about three hundred of them, all went to the primitive heavenly ghosts' lair, looking for a chance to rescue some of their people. As a result, instead of rescuing any of their people, they attracted a large number of enemies. If Wu Qi had not killed the thousands of enemies out there, they would probably be trapped in the valley and starved to death.
If they were summoned to the outside world, heavenly ghosts could supplement their own consumption by devouring natural energy, so they did not need to eat. But in the ghost realm, although the air was full of rich ghost energy that was the source of all heavenly ghosts, it could not fill the bellies of heavenly ghosts who had taken physical shape.
Heavenly ghosts must hunt and eat. Only by relying on the blood essence in the food they consumed could they gradually get rid of the innate ghost energy in their bodies, making themselves stronger. Even the thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings had to eat a lot of food to survive in the ghost realm, not to mention these heavenly ghosts in the valley, who were extremely weak in comparison.
After learning everything, Wu Qi stroked his chin as he looked at the heavenly ghosts standing in front of him; an idea suddenly came to him.
'They can produce eighty children at a birth, and each one of them is born with a very strong power! They can travel freely through the void, and can breathe vicious ghost flames! Besides, there are many talented figures among them who can cultivate to the realm of Gold Immortal and Primordial Immortal! What an excellent source of troops they are!'
As long as he carefully controlled their population, Wu Qi did not mind having an army of heavenly ghosts under his command! He had to think of some way to trick these heavenly ghosts into his hands!
After pondering for a moment, Wu Qi suddenly stamped his foot and roared angrily, "This is outrageous! How could those primitive heavenly ghosts do this to you? Lead the way! I'll help you get rid of them! The males will be killed, and the females will be taken back to be your wives!"
The hundreds of heavenly ghosts in the valley were taken aback, then they jumped to their feet at the same time while shouting with thunderous cheers!