Chapter 151: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

Chapter 151: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

The Natives of the Emperor's Ruins are indeed victims.

This land was originally their home, their paradise, but it was seized by the Emperor's Martial Palace, forcing them into barren and desolate lands.

This is the Law of the Jungle—the weak are prey to the strong.

"There’s nothing more to say. It’s either you die or I do. Fight!" Jin Quexi drew her battle sword and slashed through the air, forming a circle of Sword Qi.

Though Ning Xiaochuan felt some sympathy for these Natives, he couldn’t change the hostile relationship between the two sides.

In this world, there is no room for pity—only strength. Those who aren’t strong enough can only become the oppressed.

If they failed to defeat the Flutist today, they would be the ones killed. What is right or wrong? This is right and wrong.

Ning Xiaochuan shouted, "Little Red!"

The Small Red Dragon flew over and landed on Ning Xiaochuan’s shoulder, transforming into a crimson mist that condensed into the Dragon Scale Divine Armor. A dragon claw battle sword materialized in his hand, and his battle intent surged several times over.

The Flutist also sensed the change in Ning Xiaochuan’s power. Riding his black eagle, he swooped down, his arms erupting with two bursts of Profound Qi.

"I’ll take him on!" Ning Xiaochuan spread a pair of blood-red dragon wings and soared into the air, slashing his sword toward the black eagle beneath the Flutist.

The black eagle, a Fourth-grade Mystic Beast with high intelligence, sensed the terrifying threat from the dragon sword and swiftly flapped its wings to rise again.

"Roar!"

The Small Red Dragon let out a mighty roar, exhaling a breath that transformed into a crimson cloud.

Hearing the dragon’s cry, the black eagle shuddered violently, overwhelmed by instinctive fear of the dragon race, and plummeted straight toward the ground.

"A dragon?!"

The Flutist’s expression shifted slightly. Just before hitting the ground, he stomped on the eagle’s back and flipped backward.

Ning Xiaochuan pursued relentlessly, swinging his sword downward.

The Flutist moved with agility, raising his iron flute to block the dragon sword. A dazzling light extended from the flute.

The overwhelming force of the dragon sword pressed down, numbing the Flutist’s arm and sending him crashing to the ground.

Despite being at the peak of the Eighth Level of the Divine Body Realm, he realized Ning Xiaochuan’s strike was even stronger.

"Boom!"

The Flutist slammed into the earth, half his body buried in the soil by the dragon sword’s pressure, the Sword Qi pinning him firmly beneath the blade.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Now do you understand who’s killing whom?"

"Hmph! It’s too early to declare victory." The Flutist’s martial prowess was formidable—he was a prodigy among the Natives.

Alone, he had slain three elite disciples of the Emperor's Martial Palace and chased Jin Quexi and her companions for hundreds of kilometers. If not for Ning Xiaochuan’s intervention, they would have died in the Ghost Dream Wilderness.

Sprouts emerged from the Flutist’s skin, turning into branches and leaves as Earth Elemental Power and Wood Elemental Power flowed around him, transforming him into a tree-like being.

Branches grew from his body, and leaves enveloped his form.

"The aura of Mystic Wood…" Ning Xiaochuan frowned slightly.

The flutist's spine transformed into a tree over ten meters tall, sprouting lush green leaves and becoming a verdant Mystic Wood. The trunk shimmered with a crystalline glow, shedding droplets of luminous rain.

"Indeed, this is my life-bound Mystic Wood, the Thousand Jade Maple Tree," the flutist declared, forming a hand seal with his fingers. With a single point, a green branch lashed out toward Ning Xiaochuan.

"Boom!"

The green branch struck the blood-red dragon armor with a deafening impact, sending Ning Xiaochuan crashing back to the ground.

"What a bizarre cultivation method. These Natives actually fuse their flesh and blood with Mystic Wood, borrowing its power to fight," Ning Xiaochuan mused.

In his youth, the flutist had his bones removed and replaced with Mystic Wood, turning him into a half-tree entity capable of wielding its power.

Ning Xiaochuan channeled the Annihilation Sword Qi, severing the branches one by one. His body transformed into a streak of Rainbow Light as he thrust his sword toward the flutist.

"Boom!"

The dragon sword pierced the trunk of the Thousand Jade Maple Tree, yet it failed to strike the flutist's body. Clearly, the flutist had employed some divine ability to evade Ning Xiaochuan's lethal strike.

Suddenly, the flutist's figure materialized from the tree, wielding an iron flute aimed at Ning Xiaochuan's heart.

"Star Shifting!"

A vortex formed on Ning Xiaochuan's chest, swirling with rings of Profound Qi, creating ripples suspended in the air. The force of the iron flute was deflected back.

The flutist let out a muffled groan, injured by the counterforce, nearly separating from the Thousand Jade Maple Tree.

"Heavenly Thunder Bell!"

Ning Xiaochuan roared, his voice coalescing into a massive bell that struck the flutist, sending him flying.

Seizing the advantage, Ning Xiaochuan pressed the attack. His sword swept across the flutist's left flank, slicing through his robe and drawing a mist of blood.

"Shick!"

A wound over twenty centimeters long split the flutist's chest, stretching from his left flank down to his lower abdomen—nearly gutting him.

"Consider yourself lucky today. Next time, I’ll finish you," the flutist gritted through the pain, retreating into the forest. His body merged with the trees, vanishing without a trace.

Ning Xiaochuan activated Rainbow Teleportation, giving chase.

"Roar!"

A six-meter-tall Explosive Ape lunged from the undergrowth, bellowing as its claws raked toward Ning Xiaochuan's chest.

Ning Xiaochuan beheaded the beast with a single stroke, but by then, the flutist had already disappeared into the forest.

The woods stirred again, echoing with the roars of mystic beasts charging in their direction.

"These Natives can summon mystic beasts. It seems I won’t catch him now," Ning Xiaochuan muttered, refraining from reckless pursuit.

Ghost Dream Wilderness had long been occupied by the Emperor's Martial Palace. The flutist's presence here was anything but normal.

Who knew if other Native experts lurked within?

"Boom!"

Ning Xiaochuan's armor dissipated, reverting to the small red dragon.

He regrouped with Jin Quexi, Yue Mingsong, and Xie Mengyao.

"Let’s leave this place first," Ning Xiaochuan said.

In the jungle, the roars and running sounds of mystic beasts echoed.

The four of them fled swiftly from the area, not stopping until they had traveled 40 kilometers, arriving at a small lakeside.

The pursuing mystic beasts had been shaken off, and they were temporarily safe.

Yue Mingsong plopped onto the ground, panting heavily. "This isn’t normal, not normal at all. How could a native expert appear in Ghost Dream Wilderness?"

"Surviving this is already no small feat," Xie Mengyao said, her face pale as she sat cross-legged beneath a bamboo tree as thick as a bucket, circulating Profound Qi to recover from her injuries.

"There’s a corpse in the lake!" Yue Mingsong suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward the center of the lake.

Ning Xiaochuan extended a finger, from which a strand of Profound Qi condensed into an 80-meter-long Profound Qi Chain, pulling the corpse from the middle of the lake toward them.

It was a man in his twenties, his blood not yet cooled, his throat slit by a sharp weapon, leaving a crimson line across his neck.

"What a swift sword," Ning Xiaochuan murmured, his eyelids tightening as he sensed the lingering Sword Qi on the wound.

"Li Jingming!" Yue Mingsong recognized the corpse.

Ning Xiaochuan asked, "You know him?"

Yue Mingsong nodded. "He was also a student of Emperor's Martial Palace. He entered Ghost Dream Wilderness with us on a mission. But this guy had no loyalty—when we were severely injured, he ran off alone. Never thought he’d end up dead here."

"How strong was he?" Ning Xiaochuan asked.

"Peak of the Seventh Level of the Divine Body Realm," Yue Mingsong replied.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "The one who killed him must be at least at the Ninth Level of the Divine Body Realm, possibly even higher."

Yue Mingsong’s legs trembled in fear as he glanced around, feeling as though the expert hadn’t gone far and might still be nearby.

Ning Xiaochuan’s expression was grave. "It seems other native experts have entered Ghost Dream Wilderness. They might be nearby—we should stay alert."

"The natives from Emperor's Ruins were all driven to barren, desolate lands. There are experts guarding the borders to suppress them. How could they possibly cross into Ghost Dream Wilderness?" Yue Mingsong found this highly unusual. Without an extremely important reason, native experts wouldn’t appear here.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "I’m curious about one thing—why exactly did you come to Ghost Dream Wilderness, and how did you end up encountering natives from Emperor's Ruins?"

Yue Mingsong explained, "Not long ago, the celestial phenomenon 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' appeared at the center of Ghost Dream Wilderness. Seven members of the Tianli Society, including us, were assigned by Emperor's Martial Palace to investigate."

"But as soon as we reached the outskirts of Emperor's Tomb Forest, we encountered that flutist. Three of our group were killed by him. Only I, Jin Quexi, Xie Mengyao, and Li Jingming managed to escape. If we hadn’t run into you, we might have all died at the flutist’s hands."

The 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' was an ominous celestial phenomenon, representing misfortune and malevolence. It only appeared in places with extremely dense Yin energy.

When the phenomenon manifested, the forms of a hundred ghosts would appear in the sky, spirits running across the night—some riding ghostly chariots, others mounted on corpse horses—as if the Yin Soldiers of hell had descended upon the mortal world.

Once this phenomenon occurred, a major event was bound to follow.

Ning Xiaochuan felt that the appearance of the Natives in Ghost Dream Wilderness must be related to the celestial phenomenon "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons."

"What kind of place is the Emperor's Tomb Forest?" Ning Xiaochuan asked.

Yue Mingsong replied in a low voice, "The Emperor's Tomb Forest is located at the center of Ghost Dream Wilderness. It is a burial ground with a history of thousands of years, rumored to be the grave of a great Heavenly Emperor, where an ancient deity is buried."

This was the first time Ning Xiaochuan had heard such a secret, and his heart was filled with curiosity. Could there truly have been a Heavenly Emperor buried beneath this land?