Chapter 244: Chapter 243: Scored Big
"BWAAAAH—"
The suona blared, heralding the night parade of a hundred ghosts!
The piercing, high-pitched notes of the suona instantly filled the courtyard, penetrating straight to the soul. All the ordinary people and Martial Arts Experts with the lowest Cultivation fainted on the spot, every last one of them collapsing.
Chen Zhi, however, was shielded by Taoist Jing Hong’s Magical Power. Though the suona’s wail filled her ears, she only felt the music was staggering, her Divine Soul remaining unharmed.
As for the Demons and Ghosts in the courtyard, they were so startled by the sound that every one of them leaped to their feet.
Meanwhile, Taoist Jing Fa’s longsword had already reached the two opponents charging at him.
SWISH!
A translucent phantom appeared behind Taoist Jing Fa. It wore a Pure Yang Scarf, had three long wisps of a beard, held one hand in a Sword Pointing gesture, and grasped a longsword in the other. This was Lü Zu’s Dharma Aspect. With eyes that flashed like lightning, it shot a single downward glare and stunned the two men in their tracks.
SLICE!
Taoist Jing Fa’s longsword swept out. The Sword Light vanished in a flash, leaving only a sharp, stern True Qi lingering in the air. The two men who had been charging forward suddenly froze in place.
All eyes fell upon them.
"Brother Liu?" someone asked tentatively.
The next moment, two heads shot into the air as foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere. When they hit the ground, one was still a human head, but the other had transformed into the head of a black dog.
"Brother Liu!" someone cried out in shock.
THUD! THUD! The two heads hit the ground.
THUMP! THUMP! The two bodies collapsed.
When the crowd looked again, they realized that even the fluctuations of their Divine Souls were gone. It was only then they understood that the Divine Souls of the man and the Demon had already been shredded by Taoist Jing Fa’s Sword Qi.
The middle-aged man who had just been sitting calmly in the main hall shot to his feet, knocking over a candlestick on the table in his haste.
When Taoist Jing Hong looked at him again, he saw the man’s earlier composure was gone. A faint Jade Fire now burned in his eyes, and a ghostly shadow had materialized behind him.
"So you’re a Mage in Harmony with a Ghost." Taoist Jing Fa pointed his longsword at the middle-aged man and said coolly, "You must be Fang Ziga. Your subordinate said that if we came here, we’d get to witness your skills. Come on down, then."
Fang Ziga’s eyes widened, and he instinctively glanced at the young man standing down in the hall.
The young man had nearly pissed himself in terror when Taoist Jing Fa revealed his Dharma Aspect. The sharp Taoist True Qi and the majestic Taoist Dharma Aspect made his Divine Soul tremble and his Ghost Body shake like a leaf. He had already scurried to his master’s side.
Now, hearing Taoist Jing Fa’s words, he turned his head only to be met with his master’s murderous glare.
"Master..."
"They’re hostile! Everyone, attack together!" Fang Ziga ignored the young man for the moment and called on all his guests for aid.
But the words had barely left his mouth when the suona’s cry rose another octave. A translucent palm, formed of sound waves and True Qi, blasted from the instrument’s bell. It grew larger as it flew, swelling to dozens of feet in diameter in the blink of an eye before smashing down toward the main hall.
"Break!"
The ghostly shadow behind Fang Ziga solidified, carrying him as it shot into the sky.
BOOM!
The translucent hand slammed down, reducing the courtyard’s main hall to a pile of rubble.
"Aaaah!"
The scream was cut short in an instant. It had come from the young man, who had failed to escape in time. He was slapped into the ruins as the translucent hand passed straight through him, shattering his Ghost Body, crushing his Divine Soul, and utterly extinguishing his existence.
As the Evil Qi was absorbed by the Thunder Seed, Taoist Jing Hong’s eyes gleamed, his spirits rising even higher. A hint of joy crept into the suona’s wail, as if it were sincerely wishing Master Fang a wonderful mood on this auspicious day.
"AGH! AAGH!"
Everyone in the courtyard with low Cultivation clutched their heads, letting out agonized wails. They felt a Demonic Sound boring into their minds, churning their Sea of Consciousness into chaos, making the world spin and their Magical Power run wild within them.
Only three or four people, including Fang Ziga, were still able to resist. But even they felt dizzy and disoriented, their Magical Power cut in half. They hastily guarded their Dantian Sea of Consciousness and struggled to muster their power to defend and counterattack.
But before they could suppress the effects of the terrifying sonic assault, a Sword Light began to flash before their eyes. A Dharma Aspect, over ten feet tall, hovered in mid-air, its presence overwhelming their Divine Souls.
"It’s a Grand Mage!"
"Such a powerful Grand Mage!"
"Run!"
Fang Ziga himself was merely a local tyrant who ruled the surrounding villages and towns. The Ghost he was in Harmony with had only just over two hundred years of Dao Practice. With his soul suppressed by the suona, he would be lucky to wield even seventy percent of his power.
His guests were even weaker—just local Little Demons and minor ghosts, birds of a feather who had come to join the festivities. Now that they had run into a real expert—one who was clearly here for Fang Ziga—why on earth would they fight by his side?
So, as Taoist Jing Hong and Taoist Jing Fa revealed their true power, the guests let out a collective cry and scattered in all directions.
One Mage who also cultivated Martial Arts used the "Swallow Skims the Water Thrice" technique, leaping over the wall in an attempt to escape into the surrounding woods.
A Ghost transformed into a cloud of black smoke, wailing in agony from the suona’s assault as it tried to flee to safety and lick its wounds later.
Other Demons reverted to their true forms—a few jackals and wolves—and fled toward the back courtyard with their tails between their legs.
But how could the two old Daoists let all this Evil Qi, delivered right to their doorstep, get away?
Taoist Jing Hong aimed his suona at the sky. With one high-pitched blast, sound waves fused with True Qi, transforming into a volley of sharp arrows that shot toward the backs of the fleeing figures.
Taoist Jing Fa’s movements were like the wind. He used Shrinking Inches as his Sword Light Division technique lit up the night sky.
They picked off the fastest escapees first, taking them down one by one. Not a single creature managed to get more than thirty feet from the front courtyard wall. Their Divine Souls were either shattered by the sound-wave-infused True Qi, or they were run through the heart by the Dharma Aspect’s longsword.
In just a dozen breaths, the only one left standing in the manor’s front courtyard was Fang Ziga, besides a lonely bridal sedan parked in the center.
Taoist Jing Hong put away his suona with a satisfied look. "Ah, that’s better."
Taoist Jing Fa held his sword across his chest and looked at Fang Ziga. "Master Fang, why didn’t you lift a finger just now?"
Fang Ziga couldn’t help but glance at the ghostly shadow beside him. It had now condensed into a Ghost Body, taking the form of a gloomy-faced, middle-aged man in white robes. He was a rather fitting match for Fang Ziga.
"I misjudged the situation. My name is Du Rong, and I offer my apologies to you two Mages." The middle-aged man cupped his hands. "We will return Miss Chen unharmed. Furthermore, we will offer one thousand taels of silver and one hundred bolts of silk as a token of our sincerest apologies."
Du Rong cupped his hands again, forcing a smile. "Now that the guests have left, it’s much quieter. Please, have a seat. Allow me to prepare a banquet to atone for my offense. We can consider this a rough start to a friendship. We should keep in touch and become allies."
But neither of the old Daoists smiled.
Taoist Jing Hong narrowed his eyes. "One for you, one for me."
Taoist Jing Fa nodded. "Deal."
Hearing their exchange, the color drained from Du Rong’s face. He grabbed Fang Ziga and floated backward, simultaneously flicking his wrist to send a plume of black smoke hurtling toward the bridal sedan in the courtyard.
Taoist Jing Fa snorted. With a single slash of his sword, he cut the black smoke to pieces, causing it to dissipate into nothing.
Meanwhile, Taoist Jing Hong had already transformed into a gentle breeze, appearing behind Du Rong and Fang Ziga. He raised his palm and brought it down on the two of them.
"Fiends! Die!"
