"You, did you break the formation which is holding the vengeful ghosts?"
A few ghosts who were cheerfully playing turned their heads and looked deep within the cave. They sensed something dreadful, so they tried to fly out of here. However, they were repelled by the formation.
There are three types of ghosts: vengeful ghosts, ghouls, and spirits. Vengeful ghosts are usually very aggressive and dangerous, and they do not have the usual survival instinct—they have one, but it is very weak. They only flee when they realize they may face true annihilation, such as from purifying techniques. Otherwise, their only instinct is destruction.
While spirits are not outright aggressive, you still have to be careful since they can gain intelligence. However, ghosts gaining intelligence is rare.
And ghouls are in between them, and they act impulsively. If the opponent is weak, they will not hesitate to act. conversely, if the opponent is strong, they will become cowardly. Moreover, for a ghoul to form, there have to be the corpses of cultivators.
The reason is simple. Only cultivators have the talent to refine qi, and when they die, their bodies do not decay easily. The stronger the cultivation of that body, the longer it takes to decay. That's why ghouls are rare, because most cultivators destroy their bodies before they die. Because, who wants their body to be used by someone even after death?
The three types of ghosts have the same cultivation stages. The ranks are Wandering Souls, Spectre, Ghost General, Ghost King, Ghost Emperor, and finally Ghost Sovereign.
They cannot cultivate beyond this because the heavens will not allow it, and the Ghost Sovereign is very rare, like one in a hundred million chances. Even if they reach that cultivated level, they cannot avoid heaven's wrath for defying it.
The shrill voice of the ghosts shook the entire cave.
Vengeful ghosts have very gruesome memories, and converting them into yin qi is a tiresome task. So they usually put some seals on them and slowly extract their essence.
The vengeful ghosts came out with eyes filled with hunger for blood. They were all at the cultivation level of Wandering Souls or Specter. Hei Qin didn't release the powerful-stage vengeful ghosts because it was too much of a risk. Atleast for now.
The vengeful ghosts instantly flew toward Hei Qin as if they had seen some rare delicacy. However, the ghosts suddenly stopped midway, sensing the faint visible aura of his technique, which didn't surprise Gui Ling. The reason was simple—Hei Qin's constitution.
He had a body that was extremely attractive to ghosts—the Nether Yin Physique. It was not a rare constitution among Ghost Cultivators.
However, that is why, for his core, he chose a yang-type one and learned purifying techniques.
Even though he had his disadvantages, one of the reasons that his master spared his life was thanks to this constitution.
Even though there were thousands of souls floating in the cave and attacking Gui Ling, there wasn't much damage to him because the ghosts were very weak due to the formation and repeatedly using their power. Only some of the spectres actually managed to damage him.
Hei Qin didn't really care; after all, he expected it. This was all a minor distraction for Hei Qin to activate the traps he had set before. Hei Qin knew he wasn't a match for his senior brother, that's why he made so many traps to entrap Gui Ling.
The formations activated again and again and attacked Gui Ling one by one. "You brat, how many traps did you set?"
"Maybe a thousand. I forgot the number." Hei Qin's mouth curved up a little as he spoke.
'How long did he plan all of this?' Gui Ling's face turned dim. It was not easy to set this many traps on such a scale and arrange them in order one by one. Moreover, they were all arranged so that others didn't notice them.
"It seems you thoroughly planned this."
Some of the ghosts tore his flesh. Gui Ling screamed in pain. The activated formations continued to trigger one after another, and the ghosts kept attacking him continuously. He let out a long roar. He lunged at the low-level vengeful ghosts and ripped them apart.
"These low-level pests can't do anything to me."
Hei Qin took out a small wooden staff from his soul sea and then began to attack relentlessly, slowly revealing his true cultivation.
"As I thought, you have advanced to the peak of the third stage," Gui Ling said, defending against the attacks from Hei Qin.
"But—" Before Gui Ling finished his sentence, Hei Qin's lips curved up and he said, "This isn't going to save me, that's what you want to say. Then the answer is yes."
Gui Ling understood the meaning behind his words. "Your formations and tricks are useless. If you have the guts, then release the seal on a general-level ghosts."
"Are you probing me, Senior? If you wish, I will gladly accept your request. But why only a general? We can have more than that."
Gui Ling's face dimmed. However, he soon realized something and said mockingly, "More than that? Do you mean a Ghost King… haha… Do you think this is the Main Branch? There aren't any higher-stage ghosts in this branch."