Chapter 681: Living King Yama

"What is happening inside the Three Yin Sect? The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation was on the verge of breaking just a moment ago. Why the sudden change?" Ye Qingqiu could no longer maintain his calm. At this critical juncture of directing the grand formation, he instinctively glanced back at Jiangcheng. "And where did that loud explosion come from? It unsettled my Dao heart and gave me an ominous premonition."

Too many unexpected events had occurred, causing this proud Celestial Master of Profound Truth to hesitate.

"Fellow Daoist Qingqiu, do you need us to step in?" Aside from Ye Qingqiu, Xu Yinglong's reaction was the most intense. He held a deep grudge against me, and seeing the situation drag into a stalemate made him anxious. "Long nights bring many dreams. Why don't you all follow me into the formation? Let's capture that little thief alive!"

He spoke with imposing momentum, but not a single person answered him.

Ye Qingqiu was lost in thought. Leng Qingxuan's master had never gotten along with him to begin with, and the eccentric man in the suit remained completely silent from start to finish.

Only the cultivator from Qingcheng could no longer stand by and stepped forward. "Fellow Daoist Yinglong, do not throw yourself into disarray. With the grand formation surrounding him, Gao Jian cannot escape. A prolonged defense will inevitably fail; we should just wait patiently."

"Wait for what? That little thief is audacious and endlessly cunning. Who knows what he's planning in the dark? I feel a trace of unease that I cannot track to its source, and it will likely fall on him in the end." Xu Yinglong flicked his gold-threaded Daoist robe, his voice laced with anger. "We came here to subdue demons and vanquish evil, and the situation is already clear. I don't know what you are all still hesitating for. Do you actually believe that junior disciple from Maoshan was telling the truth? That the real murderer is someone else?"

"Fellow Daoist Xu Yan is a tier above both you and me in skill. That Gao Jian is only in his early twenties. Could he really injure Daoist Master Xu Yan using only ghost arts?" The Qingcheng Taoist Priest shook his head. "I know the Life Lamps of all the Golden Mountain Sect's second-generation disciples went out overnight, and I understand how you feel, but you must not lose your composure. This entire affair reeks of suspicion. Gao Jian is a key figure. The more he reveals right now, the more of an opportunity we have to understand him..."

"Save your breath." Xu Yinglong looked at the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation actively resisting the Yang Qi of heaven and earth, his expression turning ugly. He did not dare enter the formation alone, yet he refused to keep dragging this out. "Then what do you propose we do?"

"Fellow Daoist Yinglong, do not rush," Ye Qingqiu spoke from the altar, having already regained his composure. "Only through ten profound cycles can the Ten Directions be completely annihilated. The Ten Directions is a collective term for all things, which naturally includes the grand formation itself."

His Daoist robe fluttered in the mountain wind. Ye Qingqiu's voice sounded ethereal, but the words he spoke were ruthless. "I held back because I wanted to capture Gao Jian alive. Now, I admit I underestimated him. This man is qualified to make me evolve the final variation of the grand formation."

"The final variation?"

"Ten Directions Complete Annihilation! It connects to the grand formation itself to destroy every living creature within its range." He offered a faint smile to the several Celestial Masters. "Consider it mutual destruction. From the moment I sealed the mountain to set up this formation, it was impossible for Gao Jian to win."

Staring straight ahead, Ye Qingqiu's voice carried a chilling edge. "I gave him a way to survive, but he chose a dead end. This final variation cannot be stopped. It channels the power of the ancient city's dragon vein and the great river's water pulse. As long as Jiangcheng's feng shui layout remains intact, an endless stream of Yang Qi will pour in and crush everything. No living thing can withstand it. That is why I named this formation Ten Directions Complete Annihilation."

His eyes glowed. He was clearly using the Judging Eye to observe the surroundings of the Three Yin Sect's main hall. "I checked the feng shui of this location before setting up the formation. Right beneath the Three Yin Sect is Henshan's Yin Meridian. With Yin and Yang clashing against each other, Gao Jian is caught right in the middle. His death is absolutely certain; not even a god could save him."

"So Fellow Daoist Qingqiu had already made preparations. I was too rash." Hearing Ye Qingqiu's explanation, Xu Yinglong finally relaxed his brow.

Not long after the two spoke, Ye Qingqiu's words came true. The Yang Qi of heaven and earth rushed madly toward the mountain col like boiling water.

Yet, an unsettling feeling lingered—for every fraction of Yang Qi that gathered at the Three Yin Sect, the sky over Jiangcheng grew a fraction darker.

Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere. It had been a bright, sunny day just moments ago, but now the weather seemed to be turning gloomy.

Just as Ye Qingqiu could see my every move within the Three Yin Sect, I was well aware of his various arrangements on the altar. Through manipulating the Ten Directions Talisman Order with my mind, I had forged a faint, subtle connection with the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. Even though the sect cultivators were over a hundred meters away, I could roughly hear their conversation without even deliberately using Breath Listening.

'So this is what Ten Directions Complete Annihilation means.' I looked up at the sea of Yang Qi and golden talismans, sighing internally. 'They never planned to leave me a way out from the very beginning!'

Jiangcheng's feng shui layout was being pried open. For every bit of Yang Qi I consumed on my end, the flaw in Jiangcheng's feng shui layout would grow that much larger.

I knew perfectly well that Jiangcheng's feng shui layout could not be touched, but right now, I had to drain the power of Jiangcheng's dragon vein. It was still early in the day, straggling sect disciples remained in the surroundings, and the Yang Talisman inside Wang Shi's body had not been fully refined yet. With no way to escape, my only option was to endure it head-on.

By some bizarre twist of fate, I always found myself getting tangled up with Jiangcheng's feng shui grand formation. "Some say Jiangcheng is a massive tomb, though nobody knows who is buried inside. If this really releases something, I just hope it remembers me kindly."

Connecting with the Fate Ghost and Wang Shi, I frantically drove the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. Suppressed roars echoed endlessly throughout the Three Yin Sect.

Paper seals turned to ash one by one in the violent collision of Yin and Yang energies. The side rooms that the Three Yin Sect had sealed away were finally torn open.

I did not know which room it started from, but without anyone touching them, the wooden doors opened silently. Soon after, a fierce Yin wind howled, and towering malicious energy surged from within the rooms.

The talisman marks within the Ten Directions Talisman Order also began to shift, coalescing into ten massive ghostly faces. At the exact same time, ten faceless and formless ghostly entities materialized inside the Three Yin Sect's Daoist temple.

The moment these ten ghostly entities appeared, even with my training in the Yin-Yang Ghost Art, I felt a trace of discomfort.

It felt as though a sharp blade was pressed against my neck, ready to pierce my skin at any second.

"What terrifying ghosts!" I drew a sharp breath, my mind flashing back to the information on the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation from when I browsed the Three Yin Sect's scriptures. The formation lived up to its name; its fundamental purpose was to refine ghosts.

The Three Yin Sect had a long history, having survived eras of war and turmoil, and had collected countless wronged souls and malicious ghosts over the years.

Once they obtained these entities, the most common practice was to throw them into the grand formation for refinement. Over the past decades, probably not even the past several sect masters of the Three Yin Sect knew exactly how many ghosts the grand formation had swallowed. And the final product of refining all those wandering souls and wild ghosts was the ten faceless ghosts standing in the temple right now!

Their terrifying strength made my scalp tingle. They had already surpassed an ordinary Ghost Cultivator's definition of a ghost. If not for the protection of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation, my first instinct would absolutely have been to run as far away as possible.

"These ten ghosts are faceless and formless, yet there are exactly ten ghostly faces on the talisman order. Could the method to control them be..." I tried probing my consciousness into the ghost faces formed by the talisman marks. In an instant, my ears were flooded with every kind of shriek and howl. Had my willpower not been resolute, I would have nearly sunk into the talisman order forever.

I stared at the ten ghost faces on the talisman order with a burst of lingering fear. "The ten ghosts have no faces. The ghost faces in the talisman order must belong to them, so why can't I control them with my mind?"

Thinking carefully, there were no detailed records about the ten ghosts in the Three Yin Sect's scriptures. A brief moment of thought gave me the answer. This was the Three Yin Sect's final trump card, something they would never use unless faced with a life-and-death crisis. Such an absolute secret certainly would not be written down; it was most likely passed down verbally by generations of sect masters.

"What do I do now?" The Yang Qi was still gathering. Although the sky had turned somewhat gloomier, the broader situation had not changed.

I looked at the ten faceless ghosts standing within the Three Yin Sect, an involuntary chill rising in my heart. They currently had both hands outstretched, constantly groping in my direction as if trying to find their faces!

"Just what is the method to control them? A King Yama descending upon the world... these ten ghosts are only the three ethereal and seven corporeal souls of a King Yama. How am I supposed to fuse them together?"

The doors to the main hall were wide open, and the ten faceless ghosts felt their way closer, bringing with them a billowing surge of malicious energy.

"What are you looking for me for? The enemies are outside the mountain gate!" No matter what I said, I could not stop the ten ghosts in their tracks. Slowly, I realized that what was attracting them seemed to be the talisman order in my hand.

The Ten Directions Talisman Order was the key to operating the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. I could not throw the talisman away, so I could only watch helplessly as the ten ghosts closed in.

Their shapes were constantly shifting. After entering the main hall, the ten ghosts slowly took on human silhouettes. Shockingly, their height and build became more and more identical to my own.

My heart pounded wildly. I had no idea what would happen in the next second, but I could not shake the feeling that these faceless ghosts were brimming with malice and resentment.

The leading ghost had already arrived right in front of me, stopping only two or three meters away. This time I saw it clearly. Its previously blank, smooth face began to shift, slowly manifesting facial features. Looking closely, it actually looked unexpectedly similar to me!

"They're trying to turn into me?!"

Before I had any more time to think, the leading ghost stepped within a mere foot of me.

That face—identical to mine—was a twisted blend of every negative emotion imaginable. Madness, viciousness, and hatred swirled together, making for a shocking and horrifying sight.

"I think I finally understand what it means to return the three ethereal and seven corporeal souls to their rightful place and summon the Living King Yama."

A bitter smile touched my lips. The three ethereal and seven corporeal souls referred to these ten faceless ghosts brimming with monstrous malicious energy that the Three Yin Sect had refined. And the so-called Living King Yama was likely the person controlling the formation.

To fuse the flesh of a living person with the ten directions of yin souls in the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation, to endure endless disasters and hatred day and night, to command the ghosts of the ten directions, and to act as a King Yama in the world of the living!

"This is complete mutual destruction! No wonder there were no detailed records in the Three Yin Sect's scriptures," I lamented. It took a long time for me to calm down. "There's no dodging this. If I don't take this final step, the formation will break and I'll die immediately. If I fuse with them, there might at least be a glimmer of hope."

I had finally made my decision and was just about to step forward on my own accord when strands of black hair suddenly surged out of the shadow behind me.