The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS

"No, they're not alive?"

Jashu was just about to personally slay a few hundred heads when he noticed something bizarre about these seemingly weak shadows.

They looked no different from the living, yet there was no sign of life about them.

Though Jashu had never witnessed the Corpse Refining Technique of the Central Plains, he was aware that whatever was attacking them at night surely wasn't alive. This was the enemy's treachery.

He was just about to order extra caution against these strange beings when the Water Corpses began to move.

Their movements suddenly became nimble and strong, entirely unlike their previous stiffness and sluggishness. Numerous Water Ghosts sprang up, circling around the grassland soldiers who were trying to surround them – agile as though flying – and opened their mouths to spit out Water Swords thick as small bowls.

Water Soul Arrow.

This was indeed the Water Ghosts' most typical attack. The seemingly ordinary Water Arrows actually concentrated all of the Water Ghosts' Essence Qi and could transform in myriad ways, not confined to any set shape. Once a living person was struck, they would soon be eroded by the Water Soul Power contained within what seemed like mere clear water.

Those who lacked the power to resist Water Soul Power met extremely grim fates.

Just like these common soldiers – once the clear water infiltrated their bodies, it wasn't long before all their blood transformed into clear water, and they joined the ranks of the Water Ghosts in a stupor.

In the blink of an eye, over a thousand grassland soldiers who were caught off guard had been turned into Water Corpses and joined the assault on their comrades.

"Aaah..."

"This is the devil, the devil..."

"Eternal Heaven, bless us!"

...

Panicked shouts and disorganized attacks filled the air. Many soldiers didn't even dare to open their eyes, waving their weapons wildly while keeping them shut.

Though the grassland people were brave, they held their beliefs in high regard. Unlike in the Central Plains where all kinds of beliefs blossomed everywhere, the grassland people believed solely in the omnipotent Eternal Heaven.

Their devout and singular faith instilled in them a deep reverence for the bizarre. If there was an Eternal Heaven, then surely there existed devils that opposed it and brought calamity upon the children of the grasslands.

Faced with these eerie Water Ghosts, the soldiers instinctively categorized them as monstrous creatures.

"Shut up!"

Jashu leaped into the air, his scimitar with an emerald embedded in it slicing down, its fierce Blade Energy instantly cutting more than twenty Water Ghosts in two, "This is merely the evil magic of the Central Plains people. The children of Eternal Heaven will not falter before such petty tricks."

With that, he forcefully pressed the head of a nearby, still petrified soldier back into his body, "Advance. Whoever dares to disrupt the morale of our troops will end up like this man."

Jashu's subordinates, the tribal chiefs, followed his example, cutting down anyone who led a retreat and forcing the soldiers to confront the enemy.

"Hmph, a mere corpse dares to present itself before this master."

With a casual wave of his scimitar, Jashu's Blade Energy crisscrossed, instantly clearing a space around him.

Although the Water Ghosts were mysterious, their effectiveness varied with their opponent. It was easy for them to kill ordinary foot soldiers, but facing an expert like Jashu, they were no better than ants.

"Bang—"

Suddenly, the body of a Water Ghost, freshly transformed at Jashu's right side, swelled up and exploded with a thunderous blast.

Blood rained down in splatters, covering the sky and the earth. The blood of these unrefined grassland Water Ghosts all transformed into Water Arrows, which pierced the surrounding soldiers with countless tiny blood-holes.

The prowess of the Jashu prompted the manipulators of these Water Ghosts to reluctantly use the self-destructive "Defiled Blood Sword."

After the initial panic had passed, the grassland soldiers displayed their innate ferocity, charging into battle while shouting the name of Eternal Heaven.

Under the protection of some experts, heads of Water Ghosts were severed one after another; resorting to the "Defiled Blood Sword" was inevitable.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

One by one, the Water Ghosts at the front lines all detonated the "Defiled Blood Sword," with one Water Ghost taking the lives of many times their number.

If it weren't for experts like Jashu, just the fifty thousand Water Ghosts alone could have repelled a grassland army of a hundred and fifty thousand.

"Damn it."

Seeing the heavy casualties among his soldiers, Jashu became furiously enraged, took the lead, and with a slash sent Blade Energy rippling through the air; wherever he passed, water splashed, and Water Ghosts were reduced to mere bones.

The waters, filled with the power of the Water Soul, could not corrode Jashu's body, nor could they stop him for a moment. If a True Pill Realm Martial Artist charged at the front, then even a large number of soldiers forming an Array would find it hard to cope.

The True Pill Realm is the first Realm below Divine Communication, representing a transfigured reach to the pinnacle of humanity.

It is very difficult to stop the advancement of a True Pill Realm Martial Artist.

"The Water Ghosts crafted by the Daoists are indeed a war asset, but it's a pity that Jashu doesn't play by the rules, with a bunch of True Pill Realm experts personally entering the fray," sighed Xu Tiecheng as he looked at the distant scene, shaking his head ruefully.

From the Water Ghost surprise attack until now, the grassland side had lost at least nearly twenty thousand soldiers. The danger the Water Ghosts posed to ordinary soldiers was truly too great.

Once shot by the Water Soul Arrow, anyone below the Innate Realm was doomed to turn into a Water Ghost. Although a single Water Ghost could not convert others indefinitely, the presence of nearly twenty thousand Water Ghosts still inflicted tremendous losses.

"Being able to slaughter ordinary soldiers is a mighty weapon in itself. Experts will be countered by other experts. The grassland people have experts, and so do we," Qing Yu said with a light laugh.

He was not disappointed at all, rather, he was somewhat satisfied. After all, no matter how eerie Water Ghosts were, they were nothing but corpses in the face of True Pill Realm experts.

If mere Water Ghosts could pose a life-threatening danger to True Pill Realm experts, then Qing Yu would have to question what his martial arts training was all for.

"It's a pity, though, as powerful as these Water Ghosts are, their refinement requires human bodies, making them tricky to obtain," Xu Tiecheng sighed again.

Having truly witnessed the fearsome nature of the Water Ghosts, he naturally wished to use Water Ghosts in exchange for the lives of more soldiers under his command. As for the moral and ethical considerations, Xu Tiecheng had discarded them the moment he first witnessed the condemned being led underground.

Those who could be stationed at Feiyun Pass were not ordinary soldiers; their hearts were far tougher than most.

"What's so tricky about it? There's surely no shortage of people on the grassland," Qing Yu remarked casually.

Life on the grassland was monotonous, summarized in two words: killing and breeding.

Due to scarce resources, combined with rampant hormones, the population growth of the grassland people was particularly rapid. Everyone was raised on horseback, and even children in their early teens could become skilled riders.

Whenever their numbers grew to the point that internal conflicts could no longer consume them, the grassland people would launch raids. For them, human life was sometimes of lesser value than that of cattle and sheep.

While they discussed the feasibility of employing Water Ghosts, Jashu had already gone into a killing frenzy.

His curved sword whirled and danced, claiming nearly ten heads in an instant. Jashu gave in to his wild nature, grabbing a Water Ghost's head and guzzling the pouring water ceaselessly.

"Come on, if you dare, turn me into one of these abominable things too—"

Jashu cast the head aside and beat his chest with the flat of his curved sword, shouting: "The Central Plains people are all useless, always resorting to these ghostly tricks. When the sons of Eternal Heaven enter the Central Plains, all the men will become balls-less waste, and all the women will become playthings under our hips."