Twilight Boundary-Chapter 760 - 751 Jianghu Underbrush

Having understood Lao Junmei's intent, Hu Ma vaguely grasped the path Lao Junmei had pioneered.

The most important thing about himself was not the Great Mighty Sky General Dharma Form. Furthermore, once he understood his own destiny, he also understood that this Dharma Form was inherently his, something he himself had cultivated, and had been within him from birth. How could it really be taken by someone else?

Everything was just beginning. He had only just stepped onto the threshold of this path.

This was also why he admired Lao Junmei in his heart. That man could have clearly performed possession on him directly, thereby keeping that entire path for himself.

But that man had merely given him this gift, leaving the choice of how to step onto this path, and whether to truly cross this threshold, to Hu Ma himself…

…He was waiting for Hu Ma, once his mind was clear, to make this decision.

A subtle stirring even touched his heart. Hu Ma found it difficult to articulate this intangible shock and its nature…

Is this the most precious thing to a Reincarnator?

Twenty years ago, Lao Junmei had decided to bestow upon him, an ignorant infant, a measure of respect.

As the nine incense sticks were lit, Hu Ma had never felt such heaviness in his body as he did at that moment.

Yet, when he looked at this world, he felt everything was light and ethereal.

In the distance, countless soldiers continued to surge, a sea of bobbing heads. The Pan Mountain King, terrified to his core, had already mobilized his entire army, a good ten thousand strong. Just their thundering advance across this battlefield was enough to instill terror with its sheer ferocity.

Moreover, in the distance, the tightly closed gates of Bull Heart City seemed to be opening, with troops charging out.

In places unseen, within the shadowy darkness, who knew how many dangerous auras pulsed.

But facing this dark, oppressive battlefield, Hu Ma felt not the slightest worry.

CLATTER!

At this very moment, from the large cart behind him, twenty-four altar flags flew up, encircling the entire battlefield.

Leveraging the blessed aura left behind by Immortal Miaoshan from her worship of ancestors, the twenty-four altar flags thus established an altar upon this baleful battlefield. They exuded an orthodox and ancient aura, even somewhat tyrannical, as if intending to forcibly bar all manner of abnormal magics from the battlefield.

There was only one person who could control these altar flags so expertly.

And only one person could set up this Magic Altar in a manner more orthodox than even a descendant of the Hu Family like himself.

At this moment, Hu Ma felt more than gratitude; he even wanted to laugh.

Never before had he felt so reassured, his shoulders so light, the gloom in his heart swept away entirely.

"A human stands in the world, bearing the sun and moon on their shoulders!"

Unbidden, this sentence flashed through his mind. Then, he stepped forward, placing Fourth Miss Zhou behind him.

Facing the oncoming Iron Cavalry, he gently lifted the Punishment Officer's Great Saber in his hand and blew a breath forward.

A torrent of baleful energy surged.

But now, relying on his own cultivation, when Hu Ma blew that breath, the roiling baleful energy was even more intense than when the Five Evil Ghosts were alive. It surged forward like a black tide, instantly felling a large swathe of the oncoming soldiers.

Horses neighed and men screamed, struggling to get up, only to find their legs weak and their feet soft, unable to rise.

Their faces were deathly pale, etched with ghastly, terrifying fear.

But even this was not enough, far from enough.

From the black pouch at his waist, the Disaster Snake could hold back no longer. It suddenly poked its head out from the pouch's opening and, taking advantage of Hu Ma's inattention, slithered out.

The moment its body completely left the black pouch, a calamitous wind suddenly howled from deep within the battlefield. It blew men and horses off course, even deflecting the torrent of arrows from the sky. Countless soldiers became dizzy and disoriented.

CRACK! Even the large military banner standing beside the Pan Mountain King was suddenly snapped by an unseen force.

The banner, having lost its support, fell limply to the ground.

The Disaster Snake, having swallowed the Toothless Lord, had also ingested the calamity afflicting that village. Now, its appearance on this battlefield meant it brought that village's entire calamity here. It was as if the Pan Mountain King's twenty thousand soldiers would now collectively bear the sickness of that village.

It wouldn't cause all twenty thousand soldiers to die outright like the villagers, but symptoms began to appear among them.

Hu Ma was somewhat surprised by how useful the Disaster Snake was. He watched it fixedly, not stopping it.

Of course, even if I tried to stop it, who knows if this Disaster Snake would listen to me.

A glance across the battlefield showed that, despite the chaos, there were still countless soldiers. Especially in the depths of the night, even the garrison of Bull Heart City had noticed the turmoil outside. They had opened the city gates and dispatched troops.

If he had to choose a side, this would be a good time to annihilate the Pan Mountain Army. Unfortunately, Hu Ma's allegiance was to no one.

He suddenly plunged the Punishment Officer's Great Saber downwards, embedding it in the earth.

He stepped on the saber's hilt, gritted his teeth, performed another Magic, and then pulled fiercely towards himself.

RUMBLE!

Borrowing the power of the Magic Altar established around the battle formation, he pulled something from the underworld onto this battlefield.

Soil flew up, and a dark, viscous object burst from the earth. Hu Ma stood atop this object, his figure seeming to grow taller. Throughout this battle formation, soldiers from both sides, numbering in the tens of thousands, felt an instant of bone-chilling cold and crushing weight.

Looking up in utter terror, they saw what had appeared beneath Hu Ma's feet: a black, viscous iron coffin, its lid currently springing open.

The next moment, a figure with arms held straight out, exuding immense weight, leaped out from within.

Merely one figure, yet the baleful aura from its body palpably suppressed the entire battlefield. For many miles around, all was deathly silent.

Immediately, Hu Ma revealed his Dharma Form, raised the General Order, and shouted in a deep voice, "Advance!"

Inside this iron coffin was the Yin General he had dragged to this battlefield. At the General Order, it leaped forward with immense weight, black energy roiling around it. Wherever this energy spread, limitless ghost soldiers materialized and instantly charged forward.

Vaguely visible among these ghost soldiers were a few minor chieftains, who were none other than the former hungry ghosts under Official Zhou's Heavenly Destiny General.

He could sense the tragic aura hanging over this battlefield.

He could see, in the deep and obscure shadows behind, countless Ghosts—souls of those once used as army rations—crying and cowering.

Once, he himself was a source of calamity, leading hungry ghosts to devour humans. But now, he carried the hopes of these Ghosts.

Personally leading the ghost soldiers, he charged into this sprawling battlefield.

Where the ghost soldiers passed, killing intent surged like a tide.

Whether inside or outside Bull Heart City, whether attacking or defending, the tens of thousands of soldiers from all sides were, at this moment, no longer a match for Hu Ma alone. Countless Iron Cavalry were engulfed by the ghost soldiers swarming around the Yin General.

Even the most skilled military experts, with all their Strange Techniques, were pierced through the chest by the Yin General's extended arms. Only at this moment did the Pan Mountain King seem to suddenly awaken.

He collapsed beneath his royal banner, his Divine Soul trembling, as he cried out in despair, "Immortal, Immortal, spare my life…"

"Who exactly are you? I am willing to surrender. Just ask the Immortal to withdraw their Divine Skills and spare my life…"

Hu Ma slowly walked forward from amidst the ghost soldiers, his gaze passing through countless flickering afterimages to land on the Pan Mountain King's deathly pale face.

Hearing his cries, Hu Ma thoughtfully considered how to respond.

Unlike when I first arrived, I have too many identities to choose from now.

Descendant of the Great Virtuous Master? The Not Eating Beef Lord? Family Head of the Zhensui Hu Family? A sword-catching Great Hall Officer of the Walking Ghost Path...?

But after thoughtful consideration, he still earnestly looked at the Pan Mountain King and replied in a low voice, "I am merely a Jianghu Grass, an ordinary commoner. My surname is Hu, and my given name is Ma."

"I was born among the common folk and hail from the common folk. I seek neither fame nor fortune. I saw you drive your troops to forage for provisions, killing people to serve as soldiers. This has nothing to do with grand principles, nor with fame or gain. I saw this injustice, and so I came to kill you!"

The Pan Mountain King's face was a mask of despair. He hadn't managed to ask what he truly wanted to ask.

No matter who this person was, whatever his background, surely he wouldn't refuse the surrender of a grasshead king with twenty thousand elite soldiers.

Only... those commoners he had devoured, used as army rations, they would never forgive him.

And so, he didn't know how to respond. Hu Ma, however, strode forward, swung the Punishment Officer's Great Saber, and a large head went flying.

"He has already begun to explore Lao Junmei's path…"

Further from the battlefield, when Hu Ma summoned the Yin General, the entire conflict seemed to be single-handedly controlled by him.

Even the slender woman, her expression tinged with emotion, seemed somewhat perplexed. She sighed softly, looking towards the woman cradling a white cat, and said, "I just don't quite understand why you people from Mingzhou would be willing to act this way…"

"Act in what way?" the woman cradling the white cat replied coolly. "You told us his background, and didn't we listen?"

"You wanted us people from Mingzhou to come and resolve this, and didn't we make our move?"

The other mysterious figures remained silent, momentarily unsure how to reply. Then it suddenly occurred to them that one person was still missing.

Surely not all Reincarnators from Mingzhou are this muddled?

"HAHAHA, I'm here!…"

Just as they were pondering whether to charge directly into the battlefield to make a final settlement with the Chosen One, they suddenly heard a bell-like, coquettish laugh from afar. It was immediately followed by an indescribable, roiling yin wind.

Everyone's expression changed. Turning to look, they saw an enormous sedan chair, as large as a courtyard residence, being carried through the air by thousands upon thousands of little ghosts, approaching from the depths of the night.

Inside the sedan was a daintily dressed little lady, though splattered with blood. She excitedly arrived beside them, then quickly sped past, calling back over her shoulder.

"I'm off!"

"You all hurry up too! There's a big one behind who insisted on coming with me…"

The group had yet to react. Following her gaze backward, their expressions changed drastically in an instant. They saw, in the darkness, countless servant ghosts, each towering nearly thirty feet tall, with white paper stuck to their faces and wearing tall, pointed hats, sweeping towards them close to the ground like a tide.

"It's the Li Family's Impermanence Army…"

Before the words had even faded, the tide of servant ghosts had surged menacingly close. In an instant, they swept through without distinguishing friend from foe, engulfing everyone, including the woman cradling the white cat, into the roiling yin torrent, silencing them all in a moment.