174: Chapter 174 The smell on you makes me sick.

"Boom—!"

A dull impact exploded at a height of a thousand zhang, kicking up a visible circle of white shockwaves.

Gu Yan's fist stopped three feet in front of Saint Son Li Tianxing.

There was a shield as viscous as blood plasma, glowing with an eerie red light. The spikes on the soul-shattering knuckles were deeply embedded in it, yet it was like being stuck in a bottomless swamp; no matter how Gu Yan channeled the strange strength of the asura armguard, he could not advance even an inch further.

"To have such brute strength at the Foundation Establishment Stage, it's no wonder you could kill those trash subordinates of mine."

Saint Son Li Tianxing hovered above the blood river, looking down at Gu Yan, who was within arm's reach. He was not angry; he didn't even blink. In those narrow, long eyes, however, flickered a near-pathological excitement.

He took a deep breath.

His nostrils flared, as if tasting the aroma emitted by some peerless delicacy.

"So fragrant..."

Saint Son Li Tianxing's voice trembled—a physiological spasm caused by extreme greed. "Pure, ancient, domineering... Is this the Origin Aura left behind by Ancestor Blood River?"

He stuck out his scarlet tongue and made a licking motion at Gu Yan through the shield.

"You have refined yourself into a living container for the blood river bead."

"As long as I eat you, I can instantly form my Nascent Soul, or even... reach Soul Transformation!"

Gu Yan felt a chill.

That gaze, which examined him as if he were food, made his stomach churn.

"Did you not brush your teeth this morning?"

Gu Yan cursed, and the Asura Beast Head on his left arm roared fiercely, exploding with dark golden spiritual power. Borrowing this recoil force, he did a backflip in the air, distancing himself by dozens of zhang.

"Your mouth stinks so much, yet you still want to eat me?"

Gu Yan hovered in mid-air, the Four Symbols phantom behind him following like a shadow, providing him with a steady stream of levitation power. He shook his numb right hand, and the bloodstains on the knuckles were shaken off.

Golden Core Mid-Stage, truly tough.

That punch just now used eighty percent of his strength and even borrowed the momentum of the Formation, yet he didn't even break the opponent's defense.

"Sharp-tongued."

Saint Son Li Tianxing restrained his smile, his eyes turning cold. He didn't want to waste any more time because he sensed that the Aura that drove him crazy was becoming increasingly intense. If he didn't swallow it quickly, it might attract other predators.

"Since you refuse to let me eat you willingly, then let my children have a taste first."

Saint Son Li Tianxing flipped his wrist, and that black Ten Thousand Soul Banner swelled in the wind once more.

This time, it was no longer a test.

"Ten Thousand Souls Emergence, Hundred Ghosts Night Walk!"

Woo woo woo—

The world changed color.

The already pitch-black night sky was now shrouded in a layer of thick haze. Countless shrill screams overlapped, turning into a tangible sonic wave impact.

On the surface of the banner, black mist churned.

Thousands of twisted, upper-bodied evil ghosts struggled out from the black mist. They bit and shoved each other, like a black waterfall, carrying a chill that froze the Soul as they poured down upon Gu Yan.

These evil ghosts were not phantoms, but vicious things refined by Saint Son Li Tianxing after slaughtering several cities and using the Divine Soul of living people. Each one had the strength of the Qi Refining Late Stage, and the few main Souls mixed among them had even reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Many ants can kill an elephant.

Even a Golden Core Cultivator would feel their scalp tingle when facing this scene of ten thousand ghosts devouring the heart.

"Go!"

Saint Son Li Tianxing pointed his finger.

The black waterfall split; one part rushed toward Gu Yan, while the other turned into a black cloud and pressed down toward Baifeng City below.

He wanted to attack from both sides.

Break the city, kill the people, and the treasure belongs to me.

...

On the city wall.

The guards' faces were as pale as paper. The overwhelming ghostly wailing made the weapons in their hands tremble. Some with weak willpower even rolled their eyes and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

"Steady!"

Leng Yuechan shouted sharply, slamming her long saber into the battlement, jolting the surrounding guards awake. "The Formation is still here! The Family Head is still here! Whoever dares to retreat half a step, I will execute!"

She looked up at the man in the sky surrounded by black clouds, her palms covered in cold sweat.

If it were a physical attack, the Four Symbols Formation could still block it. But this was a ghost tide targeting the Divine Soul; relying solely on a spiritual energy shield simply couldn't defend against that pervasive Yin Qi corrosion.

High in the sky.

Gu Yan looked at the thousands of evil ghosts rushing toward him, but there was no panic on his face.

He even had the leisure to take out a "Soul Stabilizing Pill" specially made by Jiang Wanrou from his storage ring, tossing it into his mouth like a candy, crunching it loudly.

"Playing with ghosts?"

Gu Yan sneered, gently pressing his left hand against his chest.

There, tucked close to his body, was a scorching hot Formation Plate.

"Saint Son Li Tianxing, you probably don't know that I am a pragmatist."

"In my eyes, there is no trash, only resources in the wrong place."

He suddenly raised his head and shouted at the city below:

"Leng Yuechan! Time to eat!"

On the city wall, Leng Yuechan was stunned, then immediately reacted. She slammed both hands onto the control hub, inputting the special command Gu Yan had instructed earlier.

"Four Symbols Formation—Reverse!"

"Spirit-Swallowing Mode, Activate!"

Rumble!

The red light screen that originally shrouded the city suddenly underwent an eerie change.

The light screen was no longer a smooth mirror surface but began to twist and rotate violently. The Four Symbols phantoms in the four corners—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—opened their mouths simultaneously.

Whoosh—!!!

A terrifying suction force was generated out of thin air.

That was not wind, but a collapse caused by a spiritual power vacuum.

Those evil ghosts that had originally been aggressive and baring their fangs as they pounced toward the city suddenly encountered a nemesis when they approached within ten zhang of the light screen.

They let out even more shrill screams, struggling desperately to escape, but they simply could not resist that suction force.

"Slurp."

It was as if someone were eating noodles.

Hundreds and thousands of evil ghosts were stretched into black strips, involuntarily drilling into the mouths of the Four Symbols phantoms.

"What is going on?!"

Saint Son Li Tianxing's expression changed drastically in mid-air.

He felt the connection between himself and those evil ghosts in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner rapidly breaking. Those evil ghosts weren't being destroyed, but... eaten?

"Impossible! What kind of Formation is this?!"

Saint Son Li Tianxing was shocked and furious. Ordinary defensive Formations at most block; how could they turn around and devour his Soul soldiers? This did not conform to the common knowledge of Formation Dao!

"Nothing is impossible."

Gu Yan stood in the eye of the suction storm, his robes fluttering in the wind.

He watched the black energy streams, which were rapidly converted into pure spiritual power after being sucked into the Formation and fed back to the light screen, and a satisfied arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

This was inspiration he had gained in Fallen Demon Valley.

Since Ancestor Blood River's Formation could devour blood essence, then with a slight modification, devouring these pure spiritual ghosts was just a matter of minimal effort.

"Your little pets taste pretty good."

Gu Yan clapped his hands, looking at the city-protecting Formation below that was becoming increasingly solid and even beginning to glow with black light:

"Thanks for the treat. Thanks to you, this Formation of mine can last another three days."

"Bastard!!!"

Saint Son Li Tianxing's heart was bleeding.

That was his family fortune that he had painstakingly accumulated for over a decade! Ten percent of it was gone just like that!

"Give them back to me!"

He frantically waved the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, trying to take back the remaining evil ghosts.

But would Gu Yan let him have his way?

"Since you've come, don't leave."

Gu Yan's figure flickered; instead of taking the opportunity to flee, he charged toward Saint Son Li Tianxing again, braving the impact of the thousands of ghosts.

"That last meal didn't count."

Gu Yan raised his left arm, the beast head on the asura armguard lighting up with bloodthirsty red light:

"This is the main course."