Outside the Demon Eye Ghost City.

A figure was hovering in midair, continuously inscribing arcane runes with his hand. These runes either hid in the void or were buried deep underground, almost covering the entire space between heaven and earth.

"Is this Brother Zhang's ability?" The Demon Eye watched the busy Zhang Menglong, admiration flickering in his eyes.

Although the formation had not yet been activated, an expert could tell its power at a glance. Its complexity and vastness were beyond his comprehension, but the more so, the more confidence he felt about the impending calamity of the Ghost City.

"Well, do you have any news?" the Demon Eye asked an undead at the peak of the God-breaking realm beside him, "What did Ling Xu say?"

"Reporting to Lord Demon Eye, as per your orders, I brought the battle details of that human martial artist. Lord Ling Xu considers it very important!"

The one called Ling Xu was the City Lord of another Ghost City closest to the Demon Eye Ghost City. The two shared a good relationship, but in terms of strength, the Demon Eye was slightly superior. If even the Demon Eye suffered such heavy damage, then the human warrior could also easily annihilate them.

The principle of "when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold" was well understood. If the Demon Eye Ghost City perished, then his city would be next. Besides, they had some personal connections. If they could capture that mysterious human and his accomplices, it would undoubtedly be a powerful boost to the stability of the surrounding areas.

Therefore, upon receiving the news, especially knowing that the Demon Eye Ghost City had such a formidable newcomer, Ling Xu immediately withdrew five hundred million Soul Cores from his city's reserves to support the Demon Eye.

"Lord Ling Xu said he would personally come to the Demon Eye Ghost City tomorrow to help us fend off external enemies. Let me bring these Soul Cores first." The undead respectfully handed over a space storage device filled with Soul Cores.

"Ling Xu is generous indeed!" the Demon Eye laughed, "Brother Zhang, I've got another batch of Soul Cores for you!"

The Demon Eye trustfully tossed the item toward Zhang Menglong.

"With these, I'm much more assured of taking down that bunch of stinking Taoists!" Zhang Menglong gleefully accepted it. Now, the number of Soul Cores he possessed exceeded two billion, a stockpile that even an average Ghost City might not have.

"Lord Demon Eye, I have other news," the undead continued, "Although the lords of the other Ghost Cities haven't supported us, they have agreed to bring Soul Cores here to the Demon Eye City to witness those human martial artists. If they are so powerful, they are also willing to help us."

"Wuhu, are there other big grievances?" Zhang Menglong heard their conversation. If the acting was good enough, he could at least deceive tens of billions more!

...

"Brother Zhang's plan is truly brilliant!" Kong Lan already saw through it. Zhang Menglong was undoubtedly staging a scam; almost all the Soul Cores from the Demon Eye Ghost City were in his hands, but this wasn't enough to satisfy Zhang Menglong, as this haul wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

"These Soul Cores are good stuff!" The Nine Swords Venerable showed an envious look.

When one's strength reaches the peak of the God-breaking realm, it's very challenging to make further breakthroughs in Mystic Qi cultivation. Over time, warriors have discovered that if the soul is strong enough, their bodies can even accommodate more power.

However, enhancing the Soul Realm is exceptionally difficult. On the Haotian Continent, no cultivation technique exists to strengthen the soul; one can only rely on consuming rare treasures, which are scarce, expensive, and provide limited effects with low cost-effectiveness.

However, they later discovered that Soul Cores greatly enhanced the Soul Realm, far surpassing those so-called rare treasures! They even generated powers that effectively inflicted damage upon the undead! In this world, this was extremely important.

It's incredibly difficult to kill the undead. Relatively, obtaining some Soul Cores is much easier.

But even among these people, the most experienced and powerful Nine Swords Venerable only managed to acquire a few thousand Soul Cores over more than ten thousand years, mostly found on routes where Soul Cores were transported and some obtained by robbing weaker undead.

He even put himself in immense danger several times for these items, nearly dying in the process.

But Zhang Menglong? He did nothing, just performed an act, and tens of billions of Soul Cores fell into his hands. People would continue to collect for him, and they even felt grateful enough to thank him, proving he was the ultimate trickster!

"If this batch of Soul Cores could be brought to the Haotian Continent, it would undoubtedly change the entire Haotian Continent's power balance!" The Nine Swords Venerable muttered.

...

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Zhang Menglong's Immortal Slaying Formation was complete. To lower the Demon Eye's vigilance, Zhang Menglong even activated the formation slightly, enveloping the entire outer region of the Demon Eye Ghost City in an aura of death when the formation was switched on.

The Demon Eye dared not approach. He could clearly feel that this formation was not only deadly to humans but also highly lethal to the undead. If he took one more step forward, death awaited!

"With Brother Zhang's Immortal Slaying Formation, those humans are utterly doomed!"

...

The sky gradually darkened, and the red moonlight bathed the earth as Ghost Kings from several other cities arrived as promised.

Twelve Ghost Kings, each carrying at least ten thousand Undead Warriors or Undead Beasts of power nearly at the God-breaking and Demon Saint levels, reflecting the enormous deterrence Yan Chixia imposed on them.

"Welcome, everyone, to support my Demon Eye Ghost City," the Demon Eye enthusiastically greeted them. "Let me introduce you; this is Brother Zhang Menglong, who repelled that human martial artist. Otherwise, the Demon Eye Ghost City would have a new owner by now."

"I didn't expect humans to have such formidable beings," Ling Xu the Ghost King said. "To injure you with a single move, he must have something exceptional."

"That's right," the Demon Eye explained, "His energy is very special; it can directly strike my core, and he has several treasures that feel like the nemesis of my soul form."

Suddenly, the Demon Eye's expression changed as he sensed a power filled with killing intent approaching the Demon Eye Ghost City.

"He's coming!" The Demon Eye's gaze locked onto the growing black dots several kilometers from the entrance. One of them was Yan Chixia, who seriously injured him with one move!

The others were dressed differently, some like delinquent youths with dyed golden hair, some with metal headbands inscribed with symbols on their foreheads, some curly-haired wearing red shorts, and others flying on swords like Banished Immortals.

"Teacher Yan Chixia, is this the Ghost City?" Li Xiaoyao asked.

"Mm, the principal said to scare them first."

"Understood, leave it to me!" Li Xiaoyao formed his fingers into a sword and made a gentle stroke forward. Immediately, a giant sword scar several kilometers long appeared on the ground, even killing thousands of the undead tasked with guard duties in the distance with this single Sword Qi!

The Ghost Kings on the city walls felt a shiver down their spines at once; this Sword Qi contained terrifying power capable of annihilating the undead! They introspected and realized that none of them could withstand such a strike!