These deities were merely ghosts drawn into statues to become gods—dim-witted creatures that only obeyed the white-robed Nuo Immortal's simplest commands: kill intruders, refine Myriad Spirit Pills, and so on.
They couldn't tell whether Xu Ying was one of their own. But the white-robed Nuo Immortal, well-versed in all things, would certainly recognize that this Wuchang Ghost was not one of his stone deities.
Moreover, the immortal had seen Xu Ying before—would surely notice the Wuchang mask on his back. At that point, Xu Ying would be walking straight into a trap, dying in the most wretched fashion.
But with so many deities surrounding him—taller, broader, and more muscular than he was—Xu Ying had no opportunity to slip away.
He silently cursed his luck, then surreptitiously fished a Myriad Spirit Pill from the cloth bag and stuffed it into his mouth: "If I die, you lot won't live either. We'll all go down together. I'll eat every last pill and see how you explain that to the Ghost Nuo Immortal!"
He slunk about with shifty eyes, whenever the deities weren't looking, popping one pill after another. He also slipped a few stones into the cloth bag for good measure.
The deities charged through like an avalanche, killing any god or person they encountered. Xu Ying followed in their wake, riding their fearsome reputation. Truly—gods feared him, men fled from him.
"Now *this* is impressive!" Xu Ying was secretly delighted.
The white-robed Nuo Immortal controlled the great temple, chasing the experts who had entered the broken temple world, devouring their flesh. It was now pursuing Governor Zhou Heng, determined to consume him.
Prefect Ling Youdao, being a god consecrated after death with no physical body, had actually escaped that fate.
Though Zhou Heng was corpulent, he was still a Zhou family commander guarding an entire prefecture, with formidable skills. Despite being outmatched, he deployed the Thirty-Six Celestial Hidden Vision Art in all its bewildering variations, desperately fleeing for his life.
The white-robed Nuo Immortal pursued relentlessly toward the gates of the Water-Entrance Temple.
The massive deities surrounding Xu Ying took flight as well, leaping from the immortal mountains, treading upon incense clouds, rushing toward the temple gates to block the exit and trap everyone inside.
They flew off, leaving Xu Ying standing alone.
The youth nearly wept with joy—then two deities descended from the sky, each seizing one of his arms. Xu Ying felt a sensation of soaring through clouds as the two deities carried him toward the great temple.
"A-Ying, after you die, it wouldn't be dishonorable for me to find another youth to steal qi and blood from, would it?"
The bell asked cautiously, then added: "Rest assured, I won't forget you. I'll have that youth erect a memorial arch in your honor. Though by then your soul probably won't exist anymore. The Ghost Nuo Immortal will surely shred your body to pieces, then scatter your soul to the winds."
Xu Ying grunted but ignored him, thinking: "Strange. I've eaten so many Myriad Spirit Pills, yet I haven't felt anything unusual. Could it really be that this Ghost Nuo Immortal is incompetent and made the pills incorrectly?"
Not long after, the two deities still hadn't caught up with the great temple. It continued charging across the landscape with the white-robed Nuo Immortal, attempting to devour Governor Zhou Heng. The portly governor trailed a giant plump bird behind him—round and fat, beating its wings at such speed that even the great temple couldn't keep up.
"Odd. The Ghost Nuo Immortal doesn't seem to possess the combat power of an immortal," the bell murmured. "That shouldn't be. In theory, even if all that remained was human skin, the Ghost Nuo Immortal plus his Hidden Vision should have been enough to dispatch that fat governor with ease. Yet the Ghost Nuo Immortal has been chasing for so long without bringing him down. That doesn't match the title of Nuo Immortal."
Xu Ying seized a moment when the two deities paused and quietly slipped toward the temple gates, whispering: "What strength could a Ghost Nuo Immortal have with only a skin remaining?"
The bell replied: "The highest realm of Nuo should be comparable to the highest realm of Qi Refinement—otherwise how could Nuo have replaced Qi Refinement? If we're talking about the pinnacle, forget a mere skin—a single strand of hair would be enough to slay that governor. Watching this Ghost Nuo Immortal, I suspect it doesn't have even one percent of its peak power!"
Xu Ying slipped to the temple gates, thrilled, and hurried outward: "Forget him. Once we walk through these doors, we're free! I never want to return to this wretched temple!"
At the gates, many deities stood guard, murderous and fierce. Those who had fled here were all captured without exception.
Xu Ying walked into their midst, hands on hips, standing among them. Once he'd grown familiar with the crowd, he could quietly sidle outward and walk out of the Water-Entrance Temple without anyone noticing.
Several towering stone deities indulgently patted his head. Another tugged at his tongue.
The bull-headed deity used a bit too much force—*POP!*—and pulled off the obedient Wuchang Ghost's tongue.
The bull-headed deity froze. Attached to the tongue was the Wuchang Ghost's face.
The bull-headed deity shrieked, thinking he'd killed the little fellow—but then the "little fellow" shrank rapidly, spun around, and bolted, fleeing through the temple gates.
The bull-headed deity was momentarily confused, then suddenly realized the truth and roared: "Bo yi hulur!"
Yuan Qi waited outside the gates, not daring to approach too closely. Suddenly he saw a figure burst from the temple and cried out joyfully: "Brother Ying is blessed by heav—WHAT?!"
Behind Xu Ying, sixteen or seventeen deities roared in pursuit, murderous to the last.
Yuan Qi had intended to provide cover but turned and fled instead, thinking: "What crime has Brother Ying committed now? Why are so many deities chasing him?"
Xu Ying sprinted forward. Behind him, the deities gathered their incense energy and transformed it into flying swords several zhang long. The sky instantly became a downpour of blades!
"Brother Ying really seems to attract hatred. This crime must be serious," Yuan Qi thought.
Xu Ying held high the blood-stained black cloth bag and charged toward the incense flying swords. The deities cried out in alarm and hastily diverted their blades, not daring to damage the bag in the slightest.
Xu Ying bellowed and hurled the bag far away.
The deities immediately dove for the bag. Xu Ying seized the chance to flee, and Yuan Qi scrambled over, shouting: "A-Ying, what have you done?"
"Stole a few Myriad Spirit Pills."
Xu Ying said: "The bag is empty. They're all with me—run!"
Behind them came roars of absolute fury. Yuan Qi glanced back and saw the maddened deities pursuing at even greater speed, consumed by rage. Clearly, the bag held nothing they wanted.
Night had fallen. The surroundings were pitch dark. If they could put enough distance between themselves, these broken-temple deities would have a hard time finding them.
But at that moment, ghost fires surged toward them in massive waves. Within the flames, a towering figure carried a long whip, lashing at the fires with sharp *CRACKS*!
The figure was humanoid with a bull's head, standing several zhang tall in a gust of yin wind. Its whip was six or seven zhang long, and each strike upon the ghost fire drew forth agonizing wails!
Among the ghost fires were many living people and strange beasts. Judging by their attire, some were local villagers, some were monsters, and others were Nuo Shamans who had escaped the broken temple world—all driven by the bull-headed monsters like livestock, herded in columns!
They were cattle, and the bull-headed monsters were the drovers, driving them forward!
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi charged into the scene and saw a Nuo Shaman struck by the whip—no external wound, yet screaming as though in unbearable agony—driven by the bull-headed monster to join the herd!
"Even City God Xue!"
Xu Ying was shocked. The City God of Lingling, Xue Lingfu, was among the ghost herd, trembling and terrified of the bull-headed monster, not daring to leave the group.
City God Xue spotted Xu Ying and hope flashed across his face—then he was lashed again, pain wracking him until tears and snot streamed down his face.
The bull-headed monsters were not alone. Every dozen paces stood another, whip in hand, scourging ghosts and living alike.
"They're Ox Demons—ghost deities of the underworld! Be careful, A-Ying!" Yuan Qi shouted. "The texts say they were originally ox demons who attained godhood and entered the underworld, absorbing the incense and yin energy of all living beings to become immensely powerful. The whips they carry can strike the soul—they're called Soul-Striking Whips. If you're hit, the blow lands directly on your primordial spirit, causing excruciating pain!"
Xu Ying immediately changed course, charging against the flow of the herd toward where they had come from: "Xiao Qi, watch yourself!"
The Ox Demons, like the Wuchang, were extraordinarily powerful underworld deities. They struck anyone they saw. Seeing Xu Ying sprinting along the herd, they raised their Soul-Striking Whips and lashed out.
Xu Ying dodged the whips with agile footwork. Flying swords of incense energy pursued him from behind, but the whips cracked through them one after another, shattering them with sharp *SNAPS*.
Xu Ying's heart lurked: "These underworld deities are exceptionally powerful—they can destroy incense flying swords! With so many underworld deities here, has the underworld invaded again?"
He looked around. The surrounding terrain had changed drastically—the mountains and rivers bore no resemblance to before, with many strange new formations rising like hacked by blades and axes, steep and perilous.
Xu Ying looked toward Wuwang Mountain, but it was nowhere to be seen!
"A-Ying, watch out!"
Yuan Qi's voice came just as a Soul-Striking Whip whistled toward him. Xu Ying broke into a cold sweat and leaped aside—but the second whip cracked across his body!
Yet he felt no searing pain. It was as though a whip had struck his soul, making it shudder.
Xu Ying was stunned. He looked at the people writhing and screaming in agony, confused.
He had expected to be struck with excruciating, soul-tearing pain—yet he had felt almost nothing.
The Ox Demon who had struck him was equally puzzled. It whipped him again, and several nearby Ox Demons followed suit, their whips cracking across Xu Ying in rapid succession.
Only then did Xu Ying have a chance to examine the so-called Soul-Striking Whip. It was made of human spines, vertebra by vertebra, bone-white.
At the whip's tip was a neck bone, and at its very end, a skull. Its jaw clacked open and shut in a wide, joyful grin—as though it was having tremendous fun.
But when the whip struck others, it cackled with delight. When it struck Xu Ying, each skull wore a frown—as though beating him was no pleasure at all.
Yuan Qi rushed forward to rescue Xu Ying, only to take a whip across his body. The pain seared through his primordial spirit, his body twisted in agony, and he screamed, shrill and wretched.
The whip that had struck him laughed heartily.
Xu Ying was whipped a dozen times by the circling Ox Demons and still felt no pain. As the dozen temple deities drew closer, Xu Ying panicked and grabbed a Soul-Striking Whip headed his way.
The Ox Demon seethed and tried to wrestle the whip back—but Xu Ying's strength was monstrous. Having mastered the Elephant-Force Ox-Demon Fist and broken through to the Gate-Knocking stage, his vital energy had surged, and his power had skyrocketed.
He flung the Ox Demon—whip and all—into the air. The dazed Ox Demon, helpless, felt the whip crack against the other Ox Demons.
"Mooooo—"
The other Ox Demons howled in pain, tears bursting forth. Even the whip's owner felt the soul-tearing agony and let go.
Xu Ying seized the whip and lashed wildly, beating the Ox Demons until they rolled on the ground.
Behind him, the bull-headed deity who had ripped off his Wuchang mask caught up, roaring, and lunged. Xu Ying, without hesitation, swung the whip.
*CRACK!*
The blow landed on the bull-headed deity. Instantly, it felt its primordial spirit rending apart—as though its very flesh was about to split with it, pain beyond even being torn by five horses. It screamed and tumbled from the sky.
Xu Ying, amazed and elated, struck again. Even with the bull-headed deity's vast reserves of incense energy, the soul-tearing agony forced screams from its throat—fingers contorted, body convulsing, face twisted beyond recognition.
The pain from a divided primordial spirit was too overwhelming. The deity couldn't concentrate, let alone gather divine power to attack Xu Ying.
The Ox Demons Xu Ying had beaten earlier seized the moment, scrambling to their feet and snatching up their whips.
Xu Ying braced himself—then the Ox Demons stood beside him and, without hesitation, lashed the bull-headed deity.
*CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!*
The whip reports rang sharp and clear. The bull-headed deity wailed without ceasing.
Xu Ying struck again, sending the bull-headed deity rolling. The Ox Demons fell upon it with whip after whip, their cries shaking the sky. The bull-headed deity struggled desperately but could not fight back against Xu Ying and the horde.
Yuan Qi watched from the side, stunned: "A-Ying always manages to befriend people in an instant... If only I had a whip too, I could join them."
The dozen temple deities drew near. Seeing them, Xu Ying cracked his whip and took off.
The Ox Demons hastily gathered their whips and hurried after him, heading against the flow of the herded crowd.
Yuan Qi was amazed. The Ox Demons showed no sign of whipping him or Xu Ying—as though they considered them their own.
More temple deities gave chase. Xu Ying and the Ox Demons struck together, laying one out with a single blow, sending it rolling. Oddly, once the Ox Demons had been beaten by Xu Ying, they seemed to have recognized him as their leader—whomsoever Xu Ying whipped, they whipped too!
Yuan Qi snatched a Soul-Striking Whip from one of the Ox Demons, coiling his tail around it, and lashed at a fallen unfortunate with relish, savoring the moment.
"No time to linger—move!" Xu Ying shouted.
Yuan Qi reluctantly stopped lashing and hurried to catch up.
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi, with the pack of Ox Demons in tow, ran twenty to thirty li without sighting Wuwang Mountain. Growing anxious, they spotted a willow tree by the river Nai, a single green lantern hanging from its branches.
Beneath the lantern: a person, a table, two chairs, a pot of tea, two teacups, and a green paper umbrella.