Chapter Twenty-Six: The Seven Stars Hundred Ghosts Array

This time, Zhang Xiao was truly enraged. During his recent seclusion, he had not only crafted a set of mid-grade spirit treasure Silver Spider Armor, but also forged six Yin-Yang Banners. Although these were only mid-grade spirit treasures, combined with his original Yin-Yang Banner, he could now deploy the Seven-Star Hundred Ghosts Formation. Unless someone of Core Formation stage or above intervened, no one could break this formation.

However, Zhang Xiao’s good mood was utterly shattered upon emerging from seclusion. He never imagined his own affairs would implicate the entire G Province Maoshan Branch. What infuriated him most was that the Ten Thousand Demons Sect had even allowed inner sect disciples to interfere in outer sect disputes—an obvious violation of the rules.

“Hmph! Since you refuse to follow the rules, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Zhang Xiao sneered coldly to himself.

“Elder, the three hundred thousand disciples of the G Province Branch, regardless of rank, have all gathered outside the city, awaiting your command,” Zhang Hu reported, standing behind Zhang Xiao.

Zhang Xiao nodded, his gaze fixed on the map in the hall. “Zhang Hu, take half the disciples and head to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s trial grounds. I’m giving you one day—wipe out all seven trial sites. Any disciple of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect you find, kill without mercy.”

Zhang Hu was visibly shaken. To kill all the Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciples in those seven trial grounds—how many would that be? Even if resurrection was possible, the sheer scale of the slaughter sent chills down his spine.

“Is there a problem?” Zhang Xiao asked, noticing the beads of sweat on Zhang Hu’s brow.

“No problem. I’ll see to it at once,” Zhang Hu replied, doing his best to maintain composure as he strode out of the hall. Yet Zhang Xiao could still see his legs trembling—not with fear, but with tension.

“Tang Chuan, take the remaining one hundred and fifty thousand men and sweep through the city. Any Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciple you find, kill without mercy.” Tang Chuan heaved a sigh of relief. Although his task also involved killing, compared to Zhang Hu’s it was much lighter. There were many Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciples in the city, but nowhere near as many as in the trial grounds.

“Yes,” Tang Chuan replied, leading his men away. Zhang Xiao glanced at the location of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect branch on the map, a cold smile playing on his lips.

The Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s branch was unlike those of other sects. While others were clustered in the city center, the Ten Thousand Demons Sect had built an enormous mountain estate outside the city. The estate, sprawling across dozens of miles, was nestled against the mountains, with clusters of buildings spread throughout. The spiritual energy within a radius of several hundred miles converged continuously here. Though not as rich as that within a main sect, it was not far off.

Looking at the scene before him, Zhang Xiao thought to himself, “No wonder the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s outer sect disciples are so formidable—they’ve actually established such a vast spiritual gathering array here. That’s quite an investment. No wonder the Demon Path, despite having only four great sects, can stand against the five great orthodox sects.”

Zhang Xiao walked up the mountain path, and before long, a group of men surrounded him.

The leader barked, “You’re not one of our Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciples. Who are you?”

Unfazed, Zhang Xiao casually produced the Yin-Yang Banner. With a sharp whistle, twelve Yin-Yang ghosts flew forth.

“Kill him!” The leader’s expression changed, his eyes greedily fixed on the banner in Zhang Xiao’s hand. As a top expert of the branch, he could tell at a glance that this was a spirit treasure. Though the Ten Thousand Demons Sect branch was wealthy, such treasures were beyond the reach of ordinary outer sect disciples; he had only ever seen one in Qi Wei’s possession. He knew well the power of a spirit treasure, but with so many of them here, they could simply exhaust Zhang Xiao’s spiritual energy.

But he had sorely underestimated Zhang Xiao. The Yin-Yang Banner in his hands was no ordinary treasure—it was a top-grade spirit treasure. Coupled with Zhang Xiao’s cultivation, even hundreds or thousands would be no match for him.

A shrill scream pierced the air as the twelve ghosts swept through their chests, each leaving a fist-sized hole.

In the blink of an eye, the dozens surrounding Zhang Xiao lay dead. The leader, realizing things had gone awry, turned to flee, but before he’d taken two steps, a white shadow whipped around his neck, and his head tumbled to the ground.

“Hmph!” Zhang Xiao glanced at the corpses, too lazy to proceed step by step. He activated his divine foot technique and strode straight to the grand gates of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect branch.

“Since your sect refuses to follow the rules, don’t blame me for being merciless.” With a wave of his hand, seven Yin-Yang Banners flew from his bone ring and planted themselves in the ground.

“Seven stars in position! Yin and Yang, a hundred ghosts—behold the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts!” he shouted.

At once, yin-yang energies swirled upon the banners, distorting the surrounding landscape. Countless ghosts surged forth, transforming the gates of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect into a realm of spirits. Some disciples, just stepping outside, were instantly shredded to pieces by spectral blades.

Watching one disciple after another cut down as soon as they emerged, Zhang Xiao thought, “This formation, while not as powerful as the genuine Seven-Star Yin-Yang Annihilation Array of the Hundred Ghosts Banner, still truly manifests the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts. Its might rivals a first-grade magical treasure.”

After observing a while longer, Zhang Xiao turned and left, leaving the formation in place. Though unattended, he had no worries—the array was now a contest not between men, but between man and the very forces of heaven and earth. It consumed little of his own energy; as long as he didn’t personally dismantle it, the formation would endure for a day and a night without fading, with or without a master.

Of course, his formation was not invincible. A single Core Formation stage cultivator or a first-grade magical treasure could easily shatter it. Alternatively, an expert from Mount Longhu at the Foundation Establishment stage might be able to break it. But how many could match Zhang Xiao’s cultivation? If this array were set a year ago, it might have been breached; now, though—hmph!

In G Province, the sounds of slaughter rang out. One hundred and fifty thousand Maoshan outer sect disciples swept through the city, killing any Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciple without mercy. There were many such disciples in G Province, but they were too scattered to form any organized resistance and were slaughtered by the thousands.

A massacre was underway. Everyone believed Zhang Hu had gone mad. Soon after, news spread that Zhang Hu had personally led a force to annihilate six trial grounds of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, slaughtering tens of thousands.

The scale of this bloodshed astounded all. In all of China’s long history, how many such massacres had there been? China now had a population of 1.3 billion; G Province, though less populous, still counted thirty million. With the nine great sects dividing the population, each had only about three million. Now, a quarter of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s followers were wiped out in one stroke. Although resurrection was possible, their attributes would be severely weakened. In effect, nearly a quarter of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s G Province branch had become cripples, unlikely ever to reach even level 20.

Such a loss would drive the Ten Thousand Demons Sect to madness. Other sects quickly mobilized their own forces in anticipation of further attacks, but none came. Inquiries revealed that a formation had been set up around the Ten Thousand Demons Sect branch, and none of the elite disciples within dared to step outside.

“A formation!” Everyone turned to the Mount Longhu branch for information, as they were renowned for their mastery of formations. The Mount Longhu disciples were at a loss—they hadn’t aided Maoshan. Upon sending scouts to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect branch, they promptly retreated; the murderous aura and swirling yin-yang energies sealing the mountain road were far beyond their own abilities. They knew of such killing formations, but none of their disciples could set one. Only the old masters of Mount Longhu could manage it.

“Damn it! Brother, it must be that bastard’s doing. When we get out of here, I’ll tear him to pieces!” Kang Jie roared in the hall.

Beside him, Zhao Yi sat pale and motionless, staring at the battle report in his hands. He knew he was finished. He had only wanted a little revenge, to vent his anger on the Maoshan branch, but now the situation had escalated. Six divisions, tens of thousands of outer sect disciples, slaughtered—all his doing. If this were investigated, not even his master could save him.

“Brother, what do we do now? The outer formation is too strong. If things get worse, we should report to the sect,” Kang Jie said, clearly not grasping the gravity of the situation.

Zhao Yi glanced at him. “You’re right. I’ll return to the sect and report to Master. While I’m gone, you’ll be in charge here. Take this command token.”

Handing over the token, Zhao Yi continued, “Junior Brother, I’ll surely be punished when I return, but you must be ruthless in holding command. Kill anyone who refuses to obey.”

“Don’t worry, Brother. Those trash are nothing to worry about,” Kang Jie replied with a grin, accepting the token. Zhao Yi nodded and said no more, hurrying toward the teleportation array, with Kang Jie escorting him part of the way.

As Zhao Yi stepped into the array, he looked back at Kang Jie and thought, “Brother, I’m sorry to leave you in this mess. But don’t worry, I won’t forget you.”

As Zhao Yi vanished, Kang Jie raised the command token and announced to those nearby, “From today on, everyone in the outer branch takes orders from me!”

A month later, Zhang Xiao sat in the main hall, reviewing the reports that had arrived in the meantime. All Ten Thousand Demons Sect disciples had been driven out of G City and concentrated in the former Anshun City of G Province. Zhang Xiao did not gather his forces to pursue them further; he was waiting. He was certain the higher-ups of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect were aware by now, but those old monsters would not dare move against him.

He had no hard evidence for this, but Master Kongling had once said: Outer sect disciples belong to one level, inner sect disciples to another, and those at different levels must not interfere with each other. This time, his actions were entirely justified—the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s inner disciples had meddled in outer sect affairs, so as an outer sect elder, how could he not intervene? Zhang Xiao had no fears.