Chapter 60
How could it be?!
His eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Just two more… Of the ten vengeful apparitions that I’ve painstakingly nurtured, I’m only left with two of them!
How difficult was it to find souls with grievances in modern day society? These apparitions represented a painstaking process of selection and nurturing from tens of thousands of people on end. Furthermore, he didn’t dare to step outside of the City of Salvation because he knew that other places… were far more dangerous than it was here.
And now, it was almost as though he had just returned to square one.
Why?!
I’m obviously already letting you off the hook by ordering a ceasefire. Shouldn’t you be stopping to thank your lucky stars instead? Shouldn’t you be thanking the heavens that you’re still alive, before running off as far as you can?
Why must you act like a raving mad dog? The world is now your oyster, yet you still choose to remain so vexatious?!
Have you ever considered my feelings?!
Boom! A tremor echoed through his mind, and he immediately knew that the vengeful apparition at the hunting zone had been purged from the face of this earth.
The fourth hunting zone had been broken.
1.30 a.m.
Dead silence.
The Orchid Clubhouse was covered with a stifling pin-drop silence.
Seconds later, Cao Youdao’s infuriated bellow echoed throughout the entire room, “Ungrateful b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!”
“How could an Emissary of h.e.l.l muddle and mingle with the mortal realm for survival like that?! Where is your dignity?!!”
“Emissaries of h.e.l.l and mortal men can never tread the same path in life. Haven’t your mentors taught you about these things?!”
“Shame on you!! Shame on you!! Shame on you!!”
Qin Ye was completely oblivious to Cao Youdao’s venomous curses.
As Qin Ye rushed from street to street, all of the soldiers of the mortal realms who encountered the mysterious Ultraman immediately made way for him. Naturally, his hunting speed rose accordingly. At the same time, as the battle for sovereignty grew to a head, Qin Ye discovered that the arrival of the mortal realm’s provincial inspector had not only allowed the mortal forces to hold their ground - they had even begun to push back!
Cao Youdao had undoubtedly achieved his goal of testing the depths of the mortal realm’s might. That said, he had also paid an incredibly hefty price for this - one that was completely out of proportion to what he had gained!
The City of Salvation’s Riverside Park was one of the most desolate parks around. n.o.body even came to this place in the day. Rumours had it that everyday at 6 p.m. sharp, an obese man would be spotted holding out a damp cigarette and looking for someone to borrow a lighter.
The backstory to this was one that was also quite well known. Ten years ago, the mother-in-law of the former CEO of Target Incorporated fell seriously ill, and the CEO sold off his company in order to save her life. His wife’s family was thereby greatly indebted to him. Two years later, the CEO got into an accident which resulted in the amputation of his legs, rendering him wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. Tragically, his wife ended up cheating on him, while his parents-in-law began to vie over his a.s.sets.
Three months later, he tied a rock to his wheelchair and wheeled himself straight into the depths of the river at Riverside Park.
He loved smoking, especially the Jade Rivulet brand of cigarettes. Rumours had it that he had actually encountered a stranger on the fateful day of his death. He had intended to ask the stranger to wheel him to help him up. Unfortunately, the stranger immediately ran away. His final words were, “Do you have a lighter?”
“Do you have a lighter?” Qin Ye stood behind an obese man. Upon closer inspection, that man’s feet were illusory and non-existent.
The man was severely obese, and his entire body was soaking wet. However, Qin Ye knew better. This was not plain obesity - it was swelling and bloatedness.
All who died by drowning would present themselves like this.
He could even see muddy waters from the river coming out of the man’s ears. The man was seated right in front of the river at Riverside Park.
“Yes I do.” Qin Ye slowly drew his demonhead saber, and the blade immediately blazed with a striking green flame.
“You… shouldn’t… have… responded…” The man’s head swivelled 180 degrees around in a stiff and mechanical fashion. His eyes had already become replaced by two deep, dark orifices, while the flesh on his face had ostensibly been nibbled away by the fish in the river, revealing his grisly white bones underneath. With a miserable scream, his tongue lashed straight out for Qin Ye’s heart like a slithering snake.
Bang!!
With a ferocious swing of his saber, Qin Ye cleaved the flailing tongue and the disgusting bloated head of the man cleanly in half.
Whoosh! A powerful Yin gale swept across the area, and the man’s body was instantly reduced to wisps of Yin energy. But this time, the Yin energy no longer burrowed straight into Qin Ye’s chest. Instead, it began to spin around madly together with the Yin gale that was sweeping across the area. Within seconds, it transformed into a three-meter-tall vortex of Yin energy.
Qin Ye’s proof of ident.i.ty flew out and glowed with a trace of golden hue. The words on it were no longer written in black. Instead, it was written in scarlet red.
“Purged one vengeful apparition: 20 merit points awarded.”
“Currently acc.u.mulated: 200 merit points. Total points required for promotion to the Soul Hunter rank: 0 merit points.”
Sha-sha-sha-sha… The proof of ident.i.ty flipped quickly back to the first page as it continued to scribe further contents on its own.
Name: Qin Ye (Nickname - Dogb.a.l.l.s)
Place of Origin: Liu Er Mound Village, Gazi Gully, Tang An County, Qingguang City
Family Members: Grandfather (deceased), Parents (deceased)
Date of Birth: 1 October 1938
Duration: 84 days, 3 hours
Occupation: Soul Hunter
“Haa-....” Qin Ye heaved a sigh of relief. The long arduous night was finally drawing close to its end.
Boom!!
Just then, even before he could finish his train of thoughts, his h.e.l.l’s Emissary Uniform suddenly began to flutter on its own, and the Yin energy that was stored in his body began to roil vigorously. It even made soft gurgling sounds on its own.
Vaporizing…
He suddenly discovered that the blood in his body was actually vaporizing on its own!
It was still blood, but they were no longer in their usual viscous, liquid state. Instead, they had transformed into a gaseous existence that flowed smoothly through his blood vessels as they rapidly transformed the const.i.tution of his body. Simultaneously, his features experienced an inversion of colours. His black pupils were now pure white like the moon, while his jet black hair changed to a snow-white colour.
Over and above all that, an incredible might that was beyond what he had ever imagined was possible threatened to explode from within. He endured, and endured, until finally, he could endure no longer!
“Ahh!!!” He threw his head up and bellowed with all his might! In that instant, the entire Riverside Park erupted with millions of Yin petals that blossomed like a black spider lily in the sky! A frightening wave of energy far more powerful than that of a regular Operative-cla.s.s Emissary of h.e.l.l rippled throughout the north of the city!
Bzzzzt… All of the Yin spirits in the city froze, and then turned to face the direction where Riverside Park was located. Their eyes were filled with horror and bewilderment.
This was the last genuine Emissary of h.e.l.l in history.
It bore supreme authority over the Yin spirits, and suppressed them on a qualitative level. Even though the Yin spirits were all young ghosts, they nevertheless felt as though, right in front of them, a ma.s.sive gateway that stood as tall as the heavens and was enshrouded with Yin energy was slowly being opened.
The gates of Fengdu have opened, a Soul Hunter is ordained!
“Sss… sss sss!!!” Cao Youdao’s only remaining hunting zone was also located in the north of the city. At this very moment, the vengeful apparition that looked like a middle-aged person subconsciously let out a terrified scream. And then… he prostrated himself in the direction of Riverside Park.
However, as soon as Qin Ye attained the Soul Hunter rank, the amount of Yin energy around him surged, and the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal was no longer able to conceal the energy surrounding his body. Naturally, the Yin spirits were not the only ones who witnessed the magnificent sight right now.
North of the city, along the food street.
This place was also a battleground. One hundred soldiers were stationed here, and they were already showing traces of fatigue. Nevertheless, they continued to hold their arms up high, aiming their crossbows to the front.
Hundreds - perhaps even thousands - of Yin spirits carried their red lanterns as they continued to batter against the barrier of copper coins in front of them. Countless Yin spirits had already been felled this way, yet the backlines of the Yin army just kept pouring in. They were relentless.
“Commander!” One of the soldiers shouted anxiously, “The second platoon won’t be able to hold on much longer! They’re at their limits! Please send backup!”
“There’s no backup!!” The commanding officer grabbed a crossbow and rushed to the forefront of battle and yelled, “Comrades, when you’re defending the city, I want you to remember that your family and your loved ones who are suffering from this supernatural upheaval are being protected in a similar fashion right now!”
“You may not understand this fully, but this is our duty!”
“We shall stubbornly hold our ground here until reinforcements arrive. Retreat is out of the question! Fire!!”
As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze suddenly turned somewhat vacant.
And he was not the only one. Practically everyone froze at the same time and stared blankly at the sea of Yin spirits. The Yin spirits had suddenly ceased their onslaught!
With their lanterns in tow, each and every one of the Yin spirits turned their illusory bodies around in unison and glanced towards a specific direction. Then, in the very next moment, the light in the scarlet lanterns extinguished itself.
A Soul Hunter had just been ordained. On the other hand, Cao Youdao was not a genuine Soul Hunter! The Yin spirits naturally experienced an innate deference to the authority of the genuine Soul Hunter!
In other words, they had just abandoned Cao Youdao.
The Soul Hunter who had just appeared was their one true lord.
Shk… A Yin spirit knelt down. Then, a second one followed suit, and then a third… One hundred! Three hundred! Five hundred!
Within ten seconds, the Yin spirits that had been charging madly at the garrison of soldiers just seconds ago were suddenly kneeling down and paying their respects to their new master.
“Commander…” The earlier messenger’s eyes widened with incredulity as he pointed in the direction of the Riverside Park, “Look… look there…”
He was pointing out the obvious.
Every single person was already looking in that direction.
A Yin flower had appeared in the sky. The Yin petals congealed together to form a ma.s.sive black spider lily stretching twenty meters up and spanning fifty meters across. Its illusory leaves and branches were even extending out of the flower across the Riverside Park.
“b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l…” It took the commander three seconds to return to his senses and pick up his radio set, “This is the guards company. Put me through to the supervising inspector right now! Something ma.s.sive… is happening in the north!”
However, he was already late to the party.
West of the city. The old inspector flicked his fingers, and ten corpses immediately hopped straight to the ground towards their targets. To his mind, he was simply in a playground with hundreds of Yin spirits around right now.
“Hmm?” Then, just as he was about to make his move, he suddenly froze and looked to the north of the city with disbelief, “This is…”
He blinked his eyes several times with incredulity and took a deep breath, “What powerful Yin energy… Is this… a breakthrough to Soul Hunter?!”
“Is a ghost actually breaking through to the Soul Hunter rank right now? Could this be the head honcho of the City of Salvation personally making a move?”
“That… appears to be the direction of the seventh hunting zone?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately darted into his designated vehicle and commanded the driver, “p.r.o.nto! Head to the north of the city! Inform all cultivators to gather there right now!”
That said, there was yet another person who was even more astonished by the developments.
The one who was most astonished was naturally the person located within the Orchid Clubhouse underneath the Insignia University - Cao Youdao.
He stood in the center of the room like a log, staring blankly at the ceiling. His eyes were even glazed over.
He had noticed it as soon as Qin Ye’s Yin energy erupted uncontrollably. That said, his first thought was - What’s this? That’s impossible. That’s absolutely impossible! The world is deceiving me!
Boom… The entire clubhouse trembled, and his entire body shuddered as he was jolted back to his senses.
“This… this is impossible…” His hands trembled uncontrollably as he habitually reached for his wine gla.s.s, only to discover that there was nothing around him.
The entire Orchid Clubhouse was in a complete mess. He had earlier wreaked devastation in the room in a fit of fury, and there wasn’t even a single bottle of wine left intact, much less his gla.s.s of wine.
Thus, when he motioned to pick up his wine gla.s.s, he found absolutely nothing.
He looked completely soulless. Moments later, he immediately rushed to the pit downstairs and roared manically, “How is it possible?!! h.e.l.l’s Records are in my hands!! How can he possibly be promoted to a Soul Hunter?!!”
“I refuse to believe this… It’s a lie! It has to be a lie!!”
If one were to say that the pain from losing his hunting zones had caused him excruciating pain, then the fact that Qin Ye had just been promoted to a Soul Hunter was akin to the fatal blow that ended his life!
In fact, his release of the Yin spirits for surveillance tonight was built on a single presupposition.
And that was the a.s.sumption that Qin Ye would never be promoted to a Soul Hunter even if he managed to acc.u.mulate 200 merit points!
But reality had given him a huge slap to the face.
“This can’t be real…” He gnashed his teeth as he entered his h.e.l.l’s Emissary state once more. His uniform fluttered about on its own as he slowly crouched down and reached into the pit.
Seconds later, he pulled back his hand with an ancient ma.n.u.script in his grasp. He opened it like a fanatic, only to be struck senseless by reality.
“Soul Hunter: Qin Ye. Time of Appointment: Now.”
Not even his own name was written in h.e.l.l’s Records.
His strength was in fact in the realms of a Netherworld Operative. Unfortunately, he did not have the authentic proof of ident.i.ty which Granny Meng had bestowed upon Qin Ye!
“I’m not here… but you are?!!!” He rubbed furiously at Qin Ye’s name, attempting to erase it from h.e.l.l’s records. But no matter how hard he tried, the ma.n.u.script wasn’t damaged in the slightest.
Shing… He unsheathed his longsword and stabbed it into the ground with a clink.
He understood everything.
It was all clear to him now.
As soon as Qin Ye became a Soul Hunter, the first thing he would do is to come for his own life!
They were like peas in a pod - neither of them were willing to rest until the other was dead.
This was a battle among the Emissaries of h.e.l.l after all.
He would be waiting patiently for the arrival of his nemesis!