When Earth Awakened, I Became a Sword Saintess

Chapter 178 : The Jingyuan School's Night Raid

178: The Jingyuan School's Night Raid

Xia Yuyin raised her head slightly and looked further into the fortress.

On a simple earthen building, evil spirits were smelting minerals in a large copper stove. Xia Yuyin noticed that their attire was somewhat similar to the Furnace Ghosts in her God-Devouring Chess.

On the roof of a dark wooden pavilion nearby, a woman with deer antlers was drying medicinal herbs. Some of these women had the lower halves of their bodies shaped like deer legs; they were half-human, half-demon.

An old evil spirit in cloth robes and a long gown was worshiping around a totem. Sturdy evil spirits were wrestling and comparing strength, drawing cheers and applause from the surrounding Ghost Clansmen and she-demons. In a corner of the fortress, on a withered tree, sat a woman draped in a long, green gauze, with a cluster of red feathers on her head, singing from time to time.

"To the east of the mountain lies the Li Tribe, one must not go out at night. Another hundred li to the west, its water is like fine jade, drinking it dispels confusion... The flower of the other shore, the heavenly tribulation cannot cover..."

Xia Yuyin couldn't make sense of this ballad.

However, she felt that although this was the Prison Abyss and these were evil spirits and she-demons, they seemed to just be living here generation after generation, leading a self-sufficient life of hunting, gathering herbs, and cultivating. Although the she-demons were half-human, their features had an ancient charm and seemed innocent. And although the evil spirits looked sturdy and ferocious, they were not like the hellish evil spirits Xia Yuyin had imagined, who ate human flesh, boiled human blood, and tormented living beings. They seemed to be living ordinary lives.

"What exactly is going on? With the great war of life and death between the two realms, is it because the Prison Abyss is too vast and has too many powerful beings? In these depths, are these Ghost Clansmen unaware, or have they not been conscripted to participate?" The more Xia Yuyin looked, the more confused she became. As for the fact that some of the Ghost Clansmen resembled the ghost pieces in her God-Devouring Chess, she could understand that. After all, the chess pieces of the God-Devouring Chess came from the demon spirits she had seen, including the new Alien Beasts and demon spirits she had encountered in the Prison Abyss over the past half-year. She had occasionally drawn some of them in her God-Devouring Chess.

"The Ghost Clansmen and she-demons inside this fortress might know the location of the Two Realms Gate. Don't be fooled by their simple appearance now. If I were to show up, I would probably be attacked. I need to find a way to locate one who seems knowledgeable and question or force the information out of them..."

"Also, those Alien Tribesmen ambushing on the cliff behind the fortress..."

"Let's just watch a little longer..."

Xia Yuyin had been cultivating for over five months; she wasn't in a hurry at this moment. She didn't act immediately but remained hidden, continuing to observe the secrets of this place.

At night, dim yellow lanterns were hung inside the fortress, and bonfires were lit. The Ghost Clansmen roasted their prey, and all the ghosts shared the food. The sturdy evil spirits drank wine heroically, while the she-demons danced and sang gracefully.

Xia Yuyin remained silently hidden in the grass and trees...

On the other side, the cultivators of the Jingyuan School stood up one by one on the cliff.

The leader, the green-robed disciple Nan Zhou, took out a large brush from his long sleeve. The brush was dipped in a glowing green powder. He directly wrote several ancient Alien Tribe words in the air.

The meaning of the spirit language was: "Ghost, Extinguish, Prison."

"Junior and Senior Brothers and Sisters, prepare... attack." Nan Zhou, his eyes reflecting the words burning with green spiritual flames in the night sky, commanded.

With a wave of his long sleeve, the three words burning with spiritual flames flew from the cliff toward the fortress, growing larger and larger.

"What, what is that?"

The evil spirits on the fortress wall, holding steel pitchforks and maces, finally noticed the flying words and were greatly alarmed.

"It's words... spirit language script..." the evil spirits stared in astonishment at the burning, large characters flying toward them.

"It's the Li Su! The Li Su are attacking!"

Several evil spirits on guard shouted loudly.

An evil spirit with feathers on its head in a nearby watchtower took out an Alien Beast horn and blew a long, deep note. The sound of the horn immediately caused a commotion throughout the fortress.

As the three words flew over the high wall and reached the sky above the center of the fortress, each character was already over ten meters high. The eerie green flames illuminated the entire fortress.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three spirit language scripts exploded violently in the air, turning into countless green fireballs that flew to all corners of the fortress. For a moment, many houses and watchtowers inside the fortress were hit by the fireballs, causing fiery explosions. Fires broke out everywhere. Many evil spirits, big and small, old and young, were sent flying by the fireballs.

"Aah!"

"No!"

The Ghost Clansmen and she-demons screamed and shouted inside the fortress, running and fleeing everywhere. Many little ghosts and old evil spirits had their clothes on fire.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack, the Li Su are attacking!" a Night Patrol Little Ghost desperately beat a wooden clapper on the open ground, shouting at the top of its lungs.

Boom! A fireball flew over and engulfed the Night Patrol Little Ghost in flames.

Watching this scene from the night forest, a chill rose in Xia Yuyin's eyes.

Seeing the chaos inside the fortress, Nan Zhou let out a cold laugh. He drew the ritual sword from his back. "Disciples of the Jingyuan School, our goal today is to wipe out this Ghost Clan fortress. And, we disciples of the Jingyuan School will have zero casualties!"

"Charge!"

Nan Zhou took the lead, leaping into the air. He stepped on empty air, easily crossing over the heads of the Ghost Clan guards on the high wall and charging into the fortress. Behind him, dozens of cultivators in fluttering robes also stepped onto the air one after another, charging into the fortress.

"It's Li Su cultivators, there are many of them!" An evil spirit guard on the watchtower picked up a hunting bow, about to shoot.

Slice! Slice!

Several green lights flashed, leaving trails of blood. The evil spirit guard was dismembered.

"Hehehe, I don't even think much of your fangs." Fei Ning, the only woman among the three green-robed disciples, kicked the head of the evil spirit guard off the wall with one foot.

"Kill them all!" she ordered. She leaped down from the high wall herself. Several disciples in dark blue robes jumped onto the wall, drawing their swords or casting spells with their horsetail whisk, fighting with the Ghost Clansmen on the wall. Their sword skills were well-trained, and their Daoist arts were profound. Although the Ghost Clan guards were strong and stout, they were no match for them. One by one, the Ghost Clansmen on the high wall were killed and fell.

Below, the disciples who had charged into the fortress also began to attack the Ghost Clansmen with sword formations, or threw curse talismans and used artifacts to destroy the watchtowers and houses.

Xia Yuyin stood on the ancient pine, astonished. The firelight reflected on her face. "These Alien Tribesmen are a force of the Prison Abyss, aren't they? Why do they want to wipe out these Ghost Clansmen, who are also a force of the Prison Abyss?"

As a human from Earth, Xia Yuyin witnessed two major factions of the Prison Abyss's demon spirits, humanity's great enemies, slaughtering each other. For a moment, she didn't know how to react.

"Don't burn the main pavilion and the storehouse! Foolish! There are precious materials and treasures inside." Inside the fortress, Nan Zhou cursed. "Just kill all the Ghost Clansmen and she-demons."

As he spoke, Nan Zhou's gaze was gloomy. Facing an old and a young Ghost Clansman who ran past him wailing, he swung his sword and cut down the old one.

"Please, don't kill him, he's just a child." The old Ghost Clansman crawled to protect the little ghost.

"Not kill him? Let him grow up and take revenge for you?" Nan Zhou pierced both the old and the young Ghost Clansmen with his sword.

At this time, the sturdy adult Ghost Clansmen inside the fortress also took up their weapons and fought with the cultivators. However, although they were fierce, they were no match for the cultivators' sword formations and artifacts. One by one, the adult Ghost Clansmen were cut down.

As for the she-demons, old evil spirits, and little ghosts who were fleeing everywhere, the cultivators hunted them down without a trace of mercy.

"This isn't a war, it's a massacre." Xia Yuyin's chest rose and fell, her gaze cold and sharp. "But, who am I? What does this have to do with me..."

Xia Yuyin's heart was wavering.

Slice!

The handsome, green-robed cultivator Li Zhu struck down with his sword. A flash of green sword light, and a sturdy evil spirit nearly three meters tall fell.

"Daddy! Daddy!" A little ghost wrapped in animal hide and a Ghost Clan girl in tattered red gauze with a single horn on her head ran forward, crying.

"Hmph, truly disgusting ghosts. You lot also know sorrow?" With a flash of sword light from Li Zhu, the little ghost was silenced.

He walked toward the Ghost Clan girl in the red gauze. Suddenly, the woman with the deer antlers rushed over, picked up the little Ghost Clan girl, and ran.

"Alien Tribe, your horns are really ugly."

Li Zhu flung a treasure pearl from his long sleeve. The pearl exploded behind the deer-antlered woman, blasting her flying. She crashed into the side of a damaged, burning house.

The injured deer-antlered woman held the little Ghost Clan girl. She was severely injured and no longer had the strength to run.

Li Zhu, in his fluttering green robes, his handsome but somewhat twisted face reflected by the firelight, approached step by step with his sword.

"Why? Why are you trying to wipe us out? We have never attacked you Li Su first. Why won't you even spare the children?" the deer-antlered she-demon demanded, her face full of tears and blood on her forehead.

"Why? Hehehe... what a stupid question. Only you monsters can't figure it out."

Li Zhu looked down on them from a high position. "If we don't kill you, what will we use for our cultivation? If we don't kill you, where will we get our medicinal herbs and treasures?"

"If you want treasures and medicinal herbs, take them. We can give them to you. Just stop killing us!" the deer-antlered she-demon cried out shrilly.

"That's just something you say after you've been defeated. Save it for when you're telling your story in the real hell!" Li Zhu raised his sword, stained with the blood of the Ghost Clansmen and she-demons, and pressed it against the deer-antlered she-demon's throat.

"We have just been living here for generations, minding our own business. What did we do wrong!?" The woman, knowing she was about to die, cried out with all her might. It was not a plea to the Alien Tribesman, but an accusation against her own fate.

"What did you do wrong? Hmph..." Li Zhu threw his head back, looked down at the she-demon and the little Ghost Clan girl with wide eyes, and sneered. "Then let me tell you what you did wrong."

"It's because you are weak!"

Li Zhu suddenly swung his ritual sword in a backhand strike. An evil spirit charging at him was cut in two.

He pointed his sword at the night sky, trembling with excitement, and shouted wildly, "In this world, being weak is the original sin! The weak deserve to die!!!"

Li Zhu's eyes were ferocious, his expression twitching. He was exhilarated by his own clamorous understanding of the great way of the world. His ritual sword, carrying a cold glint, stabbed toward the she-demon and the little Ghost Clan girl she was holding.

Clang!

It was incomparably heavy.

Li Zhu felt as if his sword had stabbed into a pillar holding up the night sky. The bones in his hand were almost shattered. An overwhelming, undeniable force sent him staggering back more than ten steps.

"Who!?" Li Zhu looked in disbelief at the she-demon and the girl.

Behind them stood a woman in fluttering white robes, her hair as dark as night. In her hand was a long, silver sword that glowed with the light of the myriad fireworks and flames.

"The weak deserve to die? Then you should go die too." Xia Yuyin said coldly.