novelraw Chapter 81: Many Ways to Eat Evil Spirits
Chapter 81: Many Ways to Eat Evil Spirits
The instant those four-fingered black claws pressed down on Song Jiu's forehead—
The small seal at his waist reacted as though it had been stung. Human qi, vast as mountains and oceans, erupted in a torrent.
BOOM.
That surging human qi ignited, bursting into actual flames.
The four-fingered claws recoiled as if scalded and vanished in an instant.
The moment the human qi fire appeared—
It split into three tongues of flame that settled atop Song Jiu's head and on both shoulders.
There was an old folk saying among mortals:
Every person carries three fires. When walking on a dark road at night, if something foul calls your name, never look back.
Because turning around snuffs out one of the fires.The tale was absurd, nothing more than mortal superstition.
But for cultivators like Song Jiu — temporarily empowered by the seal and rivaling a County City God — human qi truly could manifest as three guardian flames.
However, deploying this technique—
Meant Song Jiu had already been pushed to his absolute limit.
And there was more than one Calamity here.
Song Jiu's expression was grim. He scanned left and right but couldn't locate the owner of those four-fingered black claws.
Whatever it was, it had to be an evil spirit that had ascended to Calamity.
Otherwise, a single touch wouldn't have forced the bronze seal to unleash its final measure.
He was in dire straits.
But the Qing'an County City God had it far worse.
Both Yellow Peril and the Mutant Divine Statue had targeted it. One flung corrosive Yellow Spring mud with every sweep of its arm — lethal to the touch.
The other was wreathed in black smoke.
Though not as sinister and ghastly as the earlier black smoke—
Every blow cracked the City God's massive frame until it threatened to shatter.
The Mutant Divine Statue wasn't classified as a Disaster.
It had simply been corrupted, twisted into an evil entity.
Yet among gods, there were hierarchies.
A cultivator ascending to godhood — that was one kind of god.
The Fox Mountain God — a failed consecration by the Golden Top Heavenly Lamp that had been worshipped into divinity regardless — was also a god.
And successfully consecrated gods were different still.
As for the Mutant Divine Statue—
It had once been a god too, and one that predated the Heaven and Earth Mutation — a deity brought to the Hundred Thousand Mountains from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty itself.
Perhaps precisely because it was extraordinary—
The Mutant Divine Statue was actually suppressing the Qing'an County City God.
"Get out of my way!"
The Qing'an County City God bellowed. Its remaining arm grasped at empty air, and a colossal weapon resembling a vajra pestle materialized in its grip. It swung the weapon straight at the Mutant Divine Statue's skull.
There was a gaping hole in the statue's head.
It had been bitten out by Chen Huangpi's master.
It still hadn't healed.
The force behind that blow was beyond tens of millions of kilograms — enough to shatter an entire mountain.
But the Mutant Divine Statue was utterly savage.
Not only was it unafraid — it lunged forward to meet the strike.
The cavernous maw on its chest yawned open, its interlocking fangs parting to unleash a torrent of light shimmering in nine colors.
That was a technique from when it had still been a true god.
Called the Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light.
A direct attack on the soul. A single sweep would strip away all but one of a being's three souls and seven spirits, reducing the victim to a living husk on the spot.
The Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light didn't aim for the massive vajra pestle at all.
Instead, it swept directly at the Qing'an County City God itself.
The sight sent the Qing'an County City God into a fury born of terror.
The Mutant Divine Statue had no intention of dodging. If the blow landed, it would obliterate its head.
But if the City God dared follow through—
The Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light would be impossible to avoid.
"Flee!!!"
The Qing'an County City God roared. Its incense and human qi erupted in a blazing inferno as its form shifted nearly a hundred zhang through space in an instant.
Watching this, Chen Huangpi shook his head. "It can't dodge."
Earlier, the Mutant Divine Statue had used this exact technique on him.
Impossible to evade. All he could do was absorb it into his Kidney Temple and let the black smoke consume it.
Sure enough—
Though the Qing'an County City God had teleported away—
The Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light locked onto it like a homing missile and gave chase.
Danger upon danger upon danger!
The Qing'an County City God's face contorted. It teleported another hundred zhang, but before it could even catch its breath, the nine-colored light closed in again.
"Song Jiu! Use the seal!!!"
In its desperation, it abandoned all pretense of hierarchy, dropping the formal address and screaming Song Jiu's name directly.
Hearing this—
Song Jiu couldn't afford to keep guarding against the owner of the four-fingered claws any longer. If he didn't help now, the Qing'an County City God would die at the hands of a creature that didn't even qualify as a Disaster.
He slapped the bronze seal at his waist without hesitation and bellowed, "Where are my eight hundred lesser gods?!"
At his command, eight hundred divine beings surged out of the seal.
Under the Da Kang dynasty, a City God protected an entire municipality and commanded legions of lesser deities.
But mobilizing more than a hundred gods at once—
Required the seal's authority. Without it, doing so violated imperial law.
Now, with the seal activated, the Qing'an County City God seemed to radiate the weight of heavenly mandate itself. It turned toward the eight hundred gods and roared, "Offer your tribute to me — NOW!"
"At once!"
The eight hundred gods immediately knelt before the Qing'an County City God in worship.
Eight hundred thick pillars of incense flame erupted from atop their heads.
The Qing'an County City God inhaled sharply.
Its entire body swelled to monstrous proportions. Eyes bulging like bronze bells, it opened its maw at the incoming Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light and exhaled a blast of gritty, ashen breath.
Gods fed on human qi.
But a City God could siphon the qi of other gods.
Augmented by eight hundred divine beings, that single blast of ashen breath ground against the nine-colored light like gravel meeting steel, barely holding it at bay. But—
The Nine-Colored Soul-Scattering Divine Light proved more tenacious still.
The ashen breath was moments from extinguishing it completely when it ran out — and a single thread of the divine light yet remained.
"Lord City God!!!"
"Shut up!"
The Qing'an County City God snarled. It seized the nearest god and shoved it forward as a shield.
The next instant—
That last trace of radiance sank into the lesser god's body.
The deity lost its mind on the spot, breaking into a vacant, idiotic grin.
A sharp glint passed through Song Jiu's eyes. "Its divine soul has been reduced to a mortal's — and only the human soul remains at that. The other two souls and all seven spirits are gone."
"What do we do now?"
The Qing'an County City God rallied its remaining gods into a defensive ring.
It stood back-to-back with Song Jiu, yet felt no sense of security whatsoever.
Below them, the God-Burying Mound teemed with evil spirits.
One Slender Evil Spirit, plus a far more terrifying Great King Yellow Skin.
Above them, the enormous eye covered in fleshy growths stared down from the dark clouds with cold indifference.
Ahead and behind, the Mutant Divine Statue and Yellow Peril watched like coiled predators.
And somewhere, lurking in the shadows, was the unseen owner of the four-fingered black claws.
Trapped. No path to heaven, no door to earth.
Just then—
Yellow Peril looked down at Chen Huangpi, who had been watching the spectacle from below, and spoke softly. "Great King Yellow Skin, it has been ten days since we last met, and you've grown even stronger, even more fearsome. You must have feasted on quite a few evil spirits in that time."
At those words—
Chen Huangpi's expression turned deeply complicated.
So that was how his reputation had spread across the Hundred Thousand Mountains in a mere ten days, until seemingly every evil spirit alive knew he ate their kind.
It was Yellow Peril. Spreading rumors and exaggerations far and wide.
Until the mere name "Great King Yellow Skin" was enough to make ordinary evil spirits tremble with fear.
At the thought, Chen Huangpi shook his head. "I haven't eaten any evil spirits."
Yellow Peril laughed. "If you haven't eaten evil spirits, then why does every one of them cower the moment they see you?"
It hadn't witnessed the earlier events directly.
But its timing had been impeccable.
The moment it arrived, it heard those evil spirits chanting for the Great King Yellow Skin to attack.
And besides — among all the evil spirits gathered here, the Great King Yellow Skin was by far the most ferocious.
If not it, then who?
Suddenly, as Yellow Peril's words faded—
Evil spirits that had been lurking in hiding emerged from all directions.
Every single one radiated a vicious aura. All of them were Disaster-class.
One even carried a tombstone on its back.
It gave Chen Huangpi a deeply uneasy feeling.
It even reminded him of the Magic Tree — likely only a matter of time before it evolved into a Calamity.
These Disasters studied Chen Huangpi with varying expressions.
One of the Disasters goaded, "Tomb Master, you also enjoy eating evil spirits. Now that you've met a kindred spirit, surely you have something to say?"
Hearing that—
Chen Huangpi immediately turned to look at the tombstone-bearing Disaster.
So it was called the Tomb Master.
What a strange name. Was it carrying its own tombstone?
The Tomb Master's body was largely hidden behind the tombstone. It raised its head, revealing a face mottled purple-blue, and addressed Chen Huangpi. "Great King Yellow Skin, I too eat evil spirits — but only raw. How do you prefer yours?"
Every other evil spirit turned to stare at Chen Huangpi.
As if whatever he said next would determine whether they attacked.
The Brass Oil Lamp had already been playing dead for a while.
But at this, it urgently warned him in his mind: 'Chen Huangpi, my dear brother, old pal — watch your words! If they see through you, we won't be able to run even if we tried.'
'Don't forget — there are two Calamities watching us from the shadows!'
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
Chen Huangpi reassured the Brass Oil Lamp, then turned to the Tomb Master and declared, "I have many methods. Fried, stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled, roasted — you name it. But I have so many recipes that I can't list them all right now. I'll just describe a few for you."
"Great King Yellow Skin, you are truly savage."
The Tomb Master fixed Chen Huangpi with a long, penetrating stare and couldn't help saying, "With such habits, you are no kin of mine. I'll be keeping my distance."
With that, the Tomb Master moved far away from Chen Huangpi and refused to look at him again.
Chen Huangpi surveyed the other Disasters.
Their expressions shifted dramatically.
"Great King Yellow Skin, you should be Disaster-class by now, correct?"
"That's right."
Chen Huangpi considered it. Between himself, the Life-reaping Ghost, and the Brass Oil Lamp combined — yes, they were indeed stronger than an ordinary Disaster.
But seeing these Disasters looking so shaken—
He understood exactly what was going through their minds.
So Chen Huangpi split his face into a hideous grin and declared, "Don't be afraid. I don't eat Disasters. I swear it — if I ever eat a Disaster, may I never rise again, never evolve into a Calamity."
"Good — I believe you!"
"I believe you too!"
"Such a dire oath — how can I not believe it!"
The intelligence of these Disasters, it seemed, was hardly superior to that of ordinary evil spirits.
The moment Chen Huangpi made his vow, they accepted it without question.
Yellow Peril, meanwhile, let slip the faintest hint of a mocking smile. The interior of the God-Burying Mound was extraordinarily dangerous — it wouldn't do to proceed without a bird to flush first.
Originally, it had chosen the Mutant Divine Statue as its vanguard.
But now it seemed the Great King Yellow Skin was an even better candidate.
The only problem was that using the Great King Yellow Skin as bait left them short on fodder for the tomb guardian beasts.
With that thought, Yellow Peril turned its gaze toward Song Jiu and the Qing'an County City God, its voice thin and reedy. "Consider yourselves lucky. You'll accompany us into the God-Burying Mound — think of it as your good fortune."