The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 200 - 158: A World Unable to Break the Stalemate

Chapter 200: Chapter 158: A World Unable to Break the Stalemate

Li Yi was riding a towering Yin Horse, holding the Ghost Head Big Saber, galloping within Sanyang City.

All over the city, various ghosts rampaged, chaos abounded, and although all the townsfolk hid at home, daring not to step outside, in reality, this measure was useless; in fact, by staying home and not moving about, it made it even easier for the Life-taking Ghost to drain your life span.

But Li Yi did not comply with this, he galloped past, his Ghost Head Big Saber instantly slashing through.

A Life-taking Ghost was instantly split in half, immediately turning into a stream of Yin energy that merged into the surroundings and dissipated, leaving only one or two white-colored Ghost Bamboos on the ground.

The two white Ghost Bamboos represented two years of life span. According to what Li Yi knew, across the Four Seas and Eight Continents, ghosts harvested lifespan on the first of every month, taking only one month’s life span from a person each time. These two years of lifespan meant that twenty-four townspeople had their life span taken.

Li Yi was not so noble, he did not think about returning these life spans to others. He picked up the two whitened Ghost Bamboos and immediately rushed towards the next Life-taking Ghost.

The Yin Horse charged forth, the Ghost Head Big Saber rising and falling with his hand.

No need for any fancy techniques, just a simple chop, and the Ghost Head Big Saber could easily slay ghosts, completely annihilating them, truly a tool for killing ghosts, far stronger than the Guiding Skill Li Yi had used before.

By killing Life-taking Ghosts and collecting Ghost Bamboos, he was also indirectly helping others by reducing the loss of one month of life span.

"Kill!"

At this moment, Li Yi’s killing intent surged. He rapidly moved through various places in Sanyang City, slaughtering every Life-taking Ghost he encountered. For every Life-taking Ghost he killed, he gained several months to several years of life span. Although these life spans seemed minor, they added up to at least several decades.

This was just the beginning; if Li Yi waited another hour or two, each Life-taking Ghost would hold at least three to five years of life span. By then, if he roamed around once, he would probably capture a few hundred years of life span.

Li Yi didn’t want to do that, though. Otherwise, what difference would there be between him and those inherently evil ghosts?

Another Life-taking Ghost was instantly slaughtered by him.

Several white Ghost Bamboos fell, and Li Yi grabbed them all, directly pocketing them. By now, he had already gathered quite a few bundles of white Ghost Bamboos on his horseback, but there were still many Life-taking Ghosts in the city, and even if he were to stay busy until dawn, he probably couldn’t finish killing them. Moreover, as time passed, he noticed that the number of Life-taking Ghosts was continuously increasing.

It was even increasing faster than the speed at which Li Yi could kill them.

"It’s the first of the month tonight; an unusual change in heaven and earth makes it too friendly for ghosts. It’s nearly impossible to eradicate them all unless I tackle it from the source... But that’s not what I should be thinking about now. What I can do is kill more ghosts, capture more life span, and later give these life spans to my master, Zhao Qian, and Rong Niang in return. Perhaps they can live as long as I will, to a ripe old age."

Li Yi’s capabilities were limited; he couldn’t care too much, only thinking about taking good care of himself and the people close to him.

However, just as he was riding the Yin Horse past a mansion in Sanyang City, a voice suddenly came out, "Is the one riding the Yin Horse outside, wielding the Ghost Head Big Saber, the eldest disciple from Zhao’s Martial Arts Hall, Li Yi, Mr. Li?"

There was a light on in a room of the City Lord Mansion.

A young man dressed in brocade clothes now opened the window, looked outside, and suddenly asked.

"The City Lord of Sanyang, Fan Zhizhou?" Li Yi narrowed his eyes, recognizing the person, but it was strange that there were very few ghosts near the City Lord Mansion, and no Life-taking Ghosts could be seen.

He curiously whinnied the Yin Horse and then turned around and galloped over, reaching the roof of a building within the City Lord Mansion in just a few seconds.

"It really is Mr. Li. I said so. On this deep midnight of the first of the month, while all the people and Martial Artists are hiding at home asleep, who else would so recklessly ride a Yin Horse and wield the Ghost Head Big Saber, slaughtering ghosts and seizing life spans across the city... Only Mr. Li, a champion not of the Four Seas and Eight Continents, would dare regard ghosts as nothing."

Fan Zhizhou expressed sincere admiration. This sort of disrespect for princes and contempt for ghosts, the Four Seas and Eight Continents could not nurture such a person.

Ordinary people or Martial Artists alike inherently fear royal power and revere ghosts; who would dare to commit such a daring act?

"Lord Fan, from your words, do you know about the ghosts harvesting lifespan?" Li Yi’s pupils shone ecstatically as he stared at him from a distance and said.

"Of course, I know. I am a descendant of the eighth prince, a Family Disciple. The matter of ghosts harvesting lifespan has existed since ancient times, of course I’m aware of it," Fan Zhizhou did not hide it, he nodded and admitted directly. However, such a huge secret he could only share with Li Yi, not daring to reveal it to others, otherwise, he too would have to bear a considerable cost.

Li Yi galloped in and said, "Now that you know, why let the ghosts take away life spans? Are the Martial Artists of the Four Seas and Eight Continents so weak that they dare not resist? Just letting the ghosts wreak havoc?"

A wry smile appeared on Fan Zhizhou’s lips, "We can’t resist. The ghosts and the families govern the world together; it has always been this way... Mr. Li, do you remember what I mentioned to you earlier about the Cultivators of the Upper Three Realms?"

"I remember," Li Yi said.

"After Refining Gang, it is Refining God... Once one becomes an expert in Refining God, even after death, the spirit does not disperse, and can transform into a Yin God. The ghosts taking life spans, the Yin God is one of the initiators," Fan Zhizhou said helplessly. "Each Refining God expert represents a Yin God. Tell me, which inside their group would oppose their own? Not to hide from Mr. Li, my Fan Family also worships our family’s Yin God, and of course, it’s not just my family; the other seven great families do the same."

"For a Yin God to persist in the world, it needs the life span of the living to extend its life; otherwise, the Yin God will disperse between heaven and earth. But who having forged a body of a Yin God would want to perish, who doesn’t want to live forever? Thus, the people of the Four Seas and Eight Continents suffer; their life spans are continuously harvested, leading to life expectancy decreasing, so much so that many die by fifty."

"It indeed is a cannibalistic world," Li Yi’s expression grew stern as he came to understand after hearing Fan Zhizhou explain.

Fan Zhizhou continued, "Mr. Li, you should restrain yourself somewhat tonight in killing ghosts and seizing life spans, your actions are undoubtedly taking food from the mouth of Yin Gods. If targeted by a Yin God, they will definitely send experts to deal with Mr. Li, as they won’t allow someone like you to exist."

"I should restrain myself? Haha," Li Yi laughed loudly, "The ones who should restrain are those Yin Gods who fear death. I only regret that my Cultivation time is still short; otherwise, I would really like to kill all these Yin Gods of the Four Seas and Eight Continents and return peace to the world."

He knew his means of dealing with ghosts were almost limited, unable to change anything; for now, he could only look out for himself.

But he couldn’t believe it—so many Cultivators on Earth, including Cross-borderers, and no way to deal with Yin Gods and fierce ghosts?

"Mr. Li, your boldness is admirable, but until the situation is ripe, I still advise you not to oppose the millennium-old ghosts of Four Seas and Eight Continents, lest it brings great disaster," Fan Zhizhou still kindly advised.

Li Yi’s gaze shifted, "Lord Fan, you are also a Martial Artist, so why haven’t I seen any ghosts coming to take your life span?"

"If there is an expert in Refining God within the family, all the ghosts will show some courtesy, not taking the life spans of their family members. My Fan Family has a Refining God, and we worship a Yin God, so the disciples of the Fan Family are spared from life-taking," Fan Zhizhou honestly revealed.

"No wonder, with your world not having people rebelling. It turns out ghosts and families are unified; living people pay taxes, Yin Gods take life spans, and all the people of the Four Seas and Eight Continents are just fodder, generation after generation without a single chance to turn over a new leaf," Li Yi couldn’t help but express his lament.

Fan Zhizhou added, "Though family members live better than ordinary people, they are just fodder too. Experts in Refining God who become Yin Gods after death, but Dharma Manifestation Realm supreme experts are naturally top-grade ghosts. They are the true rulers of the Four Seas and Eight Continents. Since they began ruling, Four Seas and Eight Continents haven’t seen a new Dharma Image Expert emerge in several hundreds of years. Once a Refining God expert attempts a Breakthrough, they would be jointly encircled and killed by those ghosts."

"There are such things?" Li Yi’s face darkened: "Why? Don’t they worry about being desperately fought by new-strong experts?"

"Millennium-old ghosts are intrinsically supreme experts, and together in encirclement, there is no chance they’ll fail," Fan Zhizhou said, "My Fan Family, three hundred years ago, had a martial arts prodigy. Barely fifty years old, he was a peak Refining God expert, and then he attempted to force a Breakthrough, trying to break the undeliverable legend of Four Seas and Eight Continents, but still failed."

"No fewer than five millennium-old ghosts came together to encircle my ancestor of the Fan Family. Fortunately, those five millennium-old ghosts worried about acting too ruthlessly, fearing a future rebellion involving eight kings so they gave my ancestor a chance; forsake the Breakthrough, choose self-ruin, and achieve the position of a Yin God."

"My ancestor, having no choice, agreed and severed his own martial path, becoming one of the worshipped Yin Gods of the Fan Family," Fan Zhizhou said as he looked toward Li Yi, his gaze complex: "Therefore, Mr. Li, as long as one is in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, this millennium-old ghosts’ scheme is unbreakable. The only way to break it is to Cross Border and leave, achieving the Dharma Manifestation Realm in another world, or surpassing the ghosts in strength. Only then could one reshuffle the cosmos and redefine yin and yang."

Li Yi said, "Lord Fan, this must be absolutely secret, yet you’ve revealed it to me so easily?"

"If it were someone else, I definitely wouldn’t have said a word, but Mr. Li, you are different. You came here from another realm and are not from the Four Seas and Eight Continents. Moreover, your talent is outstanding. Given another ten years, you could definitely settle the mountains and rivers and subdue the ghosts, it only depends on whether you are willing to do this," Fan Zhizhou said.

"If I really do this, all the Yin Gods worshipped by your Fan Family will also be doomed," Li Yi said calmly: "You are a disciple of the Fan Family; wouldn’t you allow such a thing to happen?"

Fan Zhizhou laughed, "The Fan Family is vast, to put it bluntly, the rise and fall of the Fan Family is not up to a disciple like me to decide. The only thing I desire is to step out of this realm of Four Seas and Eight Continents and experience a broader world. If my capacity is only limited to one family, then it would be too pitiful, like a frog at the bottom of a well looking up at the moon. If one can’t even leave that well bottom, then they remain a frog forever."

"You want to Cross Border?" Li Yi’s gaze sharpened, staring at him.

Unexpectedly, Fan Zhizhou actually harbored such a thought.

"Could Mr. Li help me fulfill this wish? If Mr. Li could assist, whatever your request, just name it; as long as I can do it, I will not refuse," Fan Zhizhou earnestly said, also using this opportunity to formally reveal his thoughts to Li Yi.