Chapter 275: Cultivating the Ghost King

By the time Su Che had stored all nine Soul Suppressing Orders in the Immortal Prison, above him, the two ancestral masters, Zi Xiao and Mu Ye, had already completely defeated the Old Ghost Ji E. The remaining seven Ghost Kings were struck by successive bolts of Zi Xiao’s divine lightning, causing their ghostly energy to dissipate and their souls to be damaged—essentially leaving them severely weakened and almost combat-incapable. As for the strongest among them, the Ghost Emperor, it surely could not withstand the combined attacks of the two ancestral masters. Seizing an opportunity, it fled back to the Old Ghost Ji E’s ghost control space to hide.

In just a few swift movements, Zi Xiao used his great power to force the seven injured Ghost Kings into the same Soul Suppressing Order and tossed it to Su Che. With this, Su Che now possessed a total of sixteen late-stage Golden Core Ghost Kings. If he could tame them as ghost servants, that would be incredibly powerful.

The Old Ghost Ji E had been captured by Master Mu Ye. A generation-old Yuan Ying ancestor, due to his foolishness, had finally become a prisoner of Tianxuan Sect. However, Su Che also knew that it was not yet the time to completely break ties with sects like the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect. The Old Ghost Ji E could be temporarily detained, but he could not be truly killed, nor should he be subjected to excessive humiliation. For any sect, the value of an Yuan Ying ancestor is immeasurable. If he were killed, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect would surely send a massive army to exact the most brutal revenge. If they didn’t do so, how could that sect continue to exist?

With the Old Ghost Ji E dealt with, countless eyes from Tianxuan Sect now turned toward Patriarch Chen Xu on Lingyao Mountain. Strangely, Patriarch Chen Xu showed no intense reaction throughout, remaining calmly floating high in the air.

Su Che guessed inwardly, “This man is extremely cunning. He must have seen what happened to the Old Ghost Ji E and realized that resistance is futile. Chances are, he’s preparing to surrender. After all, entering prison calmly is far more honorable than being dragged in by others…”

Su Che wasn’t the only one who understood Patriarch Chen Xu’s thoughts. At that moment, Elder Qing Xuan slowly rose into the air, flew in front of Chen Xu, and said, “Younger brother Chen Xu, your choice is quite wise.”

Patriarch Chen Xu replied, “Yet your sect’s choice is extremely unwise. Capturing us two is tantamount to declaring war on our seven major sects, which will bring catastrophic disaster to Tianxuan Sect.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen,” said Elder Qingxuan, shaking his head. “You all infiltrated our sect as guests. The Tianxuan Sect keeping guests for a few more days won’t harm your lives. So, things won’t get that serious. Brother Chenxu, we’re not children—we won’t be scared by a few threats.”

Chenxu had no reply and could only remain silent.

Elder Qingxuan channeled his energy and, with a few quick movements, sealed all the major acupoints on his body, cutting off the energy supply from his Yuan Ying and thus locking away his martial skills. This kind of seal was only temporary; with his own strength, Chenxu could break free within an hour or two. To truly imprison these Yuan Ying ancestors, more complex methods would be needed.

The seven major sects mentioned by Chenxu were the Taiyi Sect, Wan Gui Sect, Lingyao Mountain, Xueshen Sect, Huanmo Sect, Tianxin Pavilion, and Jijian Mo Sect. Three supreme sects of the immortal path and four supreme sects of the demonic path—if these seven united to attack the Tianxuan Sect, it would indeed be a “catastrophic disaster.”

But as Elder Qingxuan said, they weren’t children and wouldn’t be easily scared. Was it that simple for the seven sects to unite and attack the Tianxuan Sect? Could they just do it on a whim?

Would the other twelve supreme sects of both the immortal and demonic paths stand by and do nothing?

Would the eight major tribes of the demon race also watch idly?

It’s possible that as soon as these seven sects launched an attack, other sects would destroy their bases. For example, the underground spiritual veins of the Taiyi Sect might be plundered to the last drop.

Destroying a supreme sect like the Tianxuan Sect wasn’t as simple as one might think—it couldn’t be done just by a few sects uniting.

In the history of the cultivation world, those supreme sects that were truly destroyed were those that had gone mad, lost all support, and provoked irreversible public outrage, leading to a joint attack by all sects.

To put it simply, if the Tianxuan Sect were truly at its wit’s end and its destruction was inevitable, then the five Yuan Ying ancestors could abandon their sect and form an assassination team of five to carry out ruthless revenge against everyone in the other sects…

Who could withstand five madmen at the Yuan Ying stage? Not to mention the disciples of various sects—even the Golden Core elders would have to stay inside their sects and dare not go outside. To stay indoors for decades, or even a hundred years, who could endure that?

For the same reason, the Tianxuan Sect could not casually kill the Yuan Ying ancestor of another sect—there were too many considerations between them… Ji E and Chen Xu were taken away by the two sect masters, Zi Xiao and Mu Ye, to some unknown place. Su Che couldn’t help but wonder, “The prison capable of holding Yuan Ying cultivators must be a special space of the Lingbao level. I should go take a look someday.” The competitions among the inner sect disciples would end in a few more rounds, and by nightfall, the 36 top winners would be determined. During this time, with nothing much to do, Su Che ordered in his mind, “Lao Hei, release a Ghost King and send it to the Netherworld of Ghosts to see if it can be tamed into my ghost servant.” “Sure.” Lao Hei took out a Soul Suppressing Order, inside which was a wounded Ghost King. A Ghost King at the late Jin Dan stage, once in the Immortal Prison, would have its abilities suppressed by a hundred times—making it even weaker than one at the early Jin Dan stage. Since Lao Hei’s true form was at the mid Jin Dan stage and he was the ruler of the first layer of the Immortal Prison, his own abilities would be amplified by a hundred times, so it was quite easy for him to deal with such a Ghost King. The Ghost King was sent to the Netherworld of Ghosts, and Su Che’s mind followed along. Inside the grand hall of the ghost world, the Ghost King tried to resist but was frozen in place by a beam of golden light from the Netherworld Ghost Emperor. Su Che felt hopeful: “I’ve obtained sixteen Ghost Kings today. If all of them can be tamed into ghost servants, it would mean sixteen super fighters at the late Jin Dan stage. The strength of the Immortal Prison team would then be…” As such wonderful hopes surged in his heart, suddenly, a bucket of cold water was poured over him. “Master, this Ghost King cannot be tamed!” reported the Netherworld Ghost Emperor. “Why?” Su Che asked urgently. “Those previous Ghost Generals could all be tamed.” “Master, normally, whether it’s a Ghost King or a Ghost Emperor, as long as they enter the Netherworld of Ghosts, they can be tamed,” replied the Netherworld Ghost Emperor respectfully. “But this Ghost King has followed that old ghost Ji E for hundreds of years. It started as a mere Ghost Guard and grew alongside Ji E to its current state. Its loyalty to him is irreversible. The only option is to erase all its memories and intelligence, turning it into a soul that knows nothing, almost an idiot.” “An idiot Ghost King?” Su Che sighed. “Even with the strength of the late Jin Dan stage, without a sharp mind, it’s useless…” “Master, need not be disappointed. I still have other methods,” said the Netherworld Ghost Emperor. “Oh? Tell me quickly.” Su Che perked up.

“First turn it into an idiotic Ghost King, then assign a Ghost General to slowly devour it…” The Ghost Emperor spoke slowly, “The Netherworld of Ghosts can shorten the evolution process of souls by dozens of times. I estimate that it will only take a year or two for my subordinates to cultivate a brand-new Ghost King, with no reduction in strength at all.”
“A year or two?”
It was truly a dramatic turn of events. Su Che’s earlier disappointment vanished completely, replaced instantly by boundless joy.
“Yes, master. A little over a year should be sufficient,” replied the Ghost Emperor respectfully.
Su Che could definitely wait a year or two. His original plan was to stay put in the sect for the next one or two years, raising his cultivation to the middle stage of the Golden Core before going to the Mountain of Spiritual Herbs to eliminate that ‘Lu Changqing’ and obtain his soul as a pill-making master. Meanwhile, he could also avenge Linglong and the elders of the Medicine Garden for their deep-seated hatred.
There was plenty of time!
Thus, sixteen Ghost Kings were sent one by one into the Netherworld of Ghosts, where the Ghost Emperor erased their memories and intelligence, turning them into sixteen idiotic souls. In other words, they were just sixteen energy entities, waiting to be slowly devoured by sixteen Ghost Generals loyal to Su Che…
That night, the Competition Peak was completely quiet. Whether it was the competitors or the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands, everyone was quietly meditating and resting.
A figure descended from the sky and landed silently beside Su Che.
Su Che turned to look and asked through telepathy, “Grandmaster Zixiao, it took you so long to finish?”
“Of course,” replied Zixiao telepathically. “Do you think sealing two Yuan Ying ancestors is easy? It’s almost exhausted me!”
“How long do we need to keep them locked up?” Su Che asked again.
“Locking them up is just for show. We can’t let others think that our Tianxuan Sect is easy to bully,” Zixiao replied. “I estimate that the Mountain of Spiritual Herbs and the Sect of Ten Thousand Ghosts will send people to negotiate soon. After a few days of back-and-forth delays, if we propose some conditions, we can release them.”
“What a pity…” Su Che sighed softly.
“What’s a pity about?” Zixiao asked sideways. “If we really kill them, things will get very troublesome. At the very least, we can’t let them die inside the Tianxuan Sect’s gates. If you want to get rid of them, hurry up and advance to the Yuan Ying stage. Then, the two of us can cover our faces with a piece of black cloth. Hmph, there’s nothing we can’t do!”
Su Che nodded silently, while Lao He muttered in the Immortal Prison, “My master is already a troublemaker even without covering his face. Once he covers it… it’s terrifying. I can’t even think about it!”
At that moment, Zixiao took out a Qiankun Bag and placed it beside Su Che’s legs.

The lowest-grade Qi Bag, the kind given to every outer disciple by the Tianxuan Sect. Su Che picked up the Qi Bag and penetrated his mind into it to take a look, a knowing smile appearing on his lips. There was only one item inside—the Sacred Demon Puppet that the old wretch Ji E had purchased for 500 top-quality spirit stones at the Floating City Fair. Today, since Ji E had become a prisoner of the Tianxuan Sect, he was bound to be heavily extorted by Zi Xiao. “After all the fighting and shifting of hands, in the end, this puppet still ended up in my hands,” Su Che thought to himself, marveling at how strange the ways of the world truly are.