Chapter 1073: Devastation
The two grand elders of the Umbral Yin sect were not saddened by the sect master’s death at all. They watched eagerly as Xiao An was sucked into the black swirl.
Suddenly, Xiao An took out a formation disc. It was palm-sized, pure-black in colour and octagonally shaped with two rings inside and outside. The inside ring was engraved with the vicious face of a ghost, while the outside ring revolved rapidly, turning it into a blurry circle. It bore close resemblance to the black swirl.
The expressions of the two grand elders changed. That was the formation disc to the Umbral Yin Formation of Gathering Ghosts, an item pa.s.sed down from past sect masters. Without controlling and grasping this formation disc, they could not be considered as masters of the Umbral Yin sect.
Xiao An understood this extremely well. After killing the sect master, the first thing she did was open the sumeru ring, find the formation disc, and begin refining it.
Formations were different from regular arcane treasures. Refining it required deep knowledge about its structure, except even regular formations possessed an extremely complicated structure, let alone the protective formation of a great sect that possessed even more capabilities and variations. Originally, it should have been impossible to refine it within a short amount of time.
However, when Xiao An was still princess Xuanyue, she had gained a deep understanding of the structure of the Umbral Yin Formation of Gathering Ghosts with the Dark Queen, as well as its various capabilities and variations. Originally, it was preparation for her to inherit the position of sect master one day, but never did they think she would use it like this one day.
In hindsight, perhaps that was the reason why she had died.
There were both agreements and conflicts between a sect and a clan. What sects were most afraid of was being infiltrated and controlled by a clan, but they could not turn down outstanding disciples from clans either, especially from a great clan like the King of Chu’s Estate. However, maintaining their independence would become a great issue.
Among the three great sects of the Green province, the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was a holy land of buddhism. The buddhist dharma was paramount, and their faith outweighed everything else, so they were the least afraid of being infiltrated and controlled. They were the closest with the King of Chu’s estate too, essentially sharing the same fate, so instead, it was the King of Chu’s Estate that had to worry about being overly influenced by the buddhist philosophy.
The Sword Collection palace had a system of their own and emphasised the friendship between members of the sect. In particular, the legacies on the Sword Collection peak ensured the loyalty of disciples as well as their independence from the king’s estate.
Instead, the Umbral Yin sect that seemed to act most as they wished was the easiest to be controlled, as demonic cultivators had neither faith nor friendship. They did not have much loyalty towards the sect, only valuing their personal cultivation and strength. Their internal conflicts were the most intense as well. It was already quite an achievement that they did not split up.
If two consecutive sect masters were both surnamed Ji—and as people closest to the Fierce King of Chu, which would earn them absolute support from the Ji clan—then the Umbral Yin sect would not be an independent sect anymore.
In the past, the sect master had eliminated princess Xuanyue and stumped the Dark Queen’s cultivation, oppressing the forces that belonged to the king’s estate in the sect with a single stroke, which was quite a demonstration of the determination to cut losses quickly. However, he had not done so for the sake of the sect’s greater good, but to guard his position as sect master. Otherwise, if the Dark Queen had faced the third heavenly tribulation a few decades earlier, combined with the support of the King of Chu’s estate, the only option available to him would be to step back and become a grand elder.
Xiao An had guessed this possibility slightly, so when the sect master expressed with great generosity that he would be abdicating, it had attracted her suspicion and consolidated her determination to destroy the Umbral Yin sect. Even if it was a misjudgement on her behalf, it would not matter. She could never go wrong with increasing her cultivation, just like something Li Qingshan had once said, “I would rather let down everyone in the world than have everyone in the world let me down.”
The Path of White Bone and Great Beauty had never been a path of goodness in the first place. Instead, it was extremely outrageous and wicked, a demonic path among demonic paths.
However, the facts proved that striking preemptively would always end up quite fine when getting along with people of the demonic path.
As for destroying the sect master’s soul, she had not done so to vent, but to clear the final obstacle to refining the formation disc. However, that was still insufficient. If she wanted to grasp the Umbral Yin Formation of Gathering Ghosts completely, she had to risk her life and enter the centre of the black swirl.
As a result, she stepped into the black swirl resolutely. In the blink of an eye, all of her flesh had been carved away by the chilly winds, exposing her shiny bones. They jolted violently as if they were about to shatter.
At the same time, the entire sea of Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged into the black swirl together.
The world was dark and gloomy. The night was long.
All of the disciples of the Umbral Yin sect raised their heads, completely shaken. The sea of white flames earlier had been like a nightmare. Had they woken up from it now?
The pale-white flames in Xiao An’s eye sockets remained calm like before. Suddenly, a thread of gold flashed by, and the black formation disc in her bony hands erupted with a ring of pale-white fire. The face of the ghost gradually twisted and changed, becoming a skull. The outskirts of the black swirl lit up with a ring of white flames as well.
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Boom! The Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged out from the centre of the swirl, turning it pale-white and spinning it in the opposite direction. The Samādhi Flames of White Bone rapidly gathered together like a white sun, illuminating hundreds of kilometers.
The countless disciples of the Umbral Yin sect were immediately blinded by the white light. The white light clearly possessed no warmth, but they all felt an indescribable scorching sensation from the depths of their souls. They waved their arms and legs around furiously, but they could not even cry out when they tried to. They were enveloped in deathly stillness. Their souls were alight, turning into Samādhi Flames of White Bone and pouring out from all of their orifices. The flames wrapped around them and reduced them to thousands of white torches.
Xiao An stood in the centre of the swirl as her pure-white jaw opened and closed. “All Ghost Kings, heed my command.”
The Ghost Kings were all seized by fear, lowering their heads and demonstrating even more subservience than when the two great elders earlier controlled despite knowing that the final fate awaiting them was destruction. For the sake of convenience, most of their intelligence had been erased by past masters of the Umbral Yin sect. They only obeyed the controller of the Umbral Yin Formation of Gathering Ghosts.
“Destroy the Umbral Yin sect.”
The Ghost Kings obeyed and lunged towards the disciples of the Umbral Yin sect, carrying out a ma.s.sacre.
A freakish Ghost King with no arms and several dozen eyes emitted beams of black light from its eyes, which whistled through and crisscrossed the air.
An elder of the Umbral Yin sect activated an escape talisman, turning into a streak of light and fleeing. However, when he had only flown a few kilometers, he was struck by a beam of black light. The light around him vanished, and he rapidly withered away. He turned into a Ghost Commander and tried to continue fleeing, but he was sucked towards the white swirl in the sky. He caught alight when he was still three hundred meters away, turning into the Samādhi Flames of White Bone and becoming a part of the swirl.
The disciples of the Umbral Yin sect that had not undergone the third heavenly tribulation basically could not put up any resistance against the several dozen Ghost Kings. It was a one-sided slaughter.
Xiao An did not direct her attention to these battles either. Instead, she concentrated on the two grand elders, sending over twenty Ghost Kings and ten Skeleton Demons to surround them. The two grand elders released over a dozen Ghost Kings to hold them off, turning around and fleeing towards the depths of the Myriad Ghosts abyss.
“You want to open the Gate of Hungry Ghosts?” Xiao An said in thought.
Gradually, she broke free from the white swirl. Her flesh regrew, from the tips of her fingers to her entire arm, before covering her entire body in the blink of an eye. She seemed even more pure and flawless, absolutely splendid in appearance.
She swept aside her long, black hair and draped the Robes of Mourning over her, descending from above slowly and falling towards the depths of the Myriad Ghosts abyss.
All of the Ghost Kings and Skeleton Demons gathered back together, standing in formation and protecting her sides like a army about to completely destroy the Umbral Yin sect.
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