-Northeastern Qin-

In the northeast of the land of the Qin, the Changbai mountains have towered over the scenery for an eternity.

Shielded by the mountains, a serene blue lake sits in the center.

Next to the lake, a traditional pagoda stood tall and wide amidst the natural landscape. On the top level of the pagoda, a handsome man sat on a throne.

The man had slanted monolid black eyes and sword-like dark eyebrows. 

He tied his long hair into a bun, and his luxurious yellow robes loosely draped over his body.

However, in spite of his inconspicuous appearance, the man's demeanor and aura were like a snake.

He didn't seem trustworthy, nor did he seem untrustworthy, but simply a figure people should be cautious of.

On his robes, two ominous Chinese characters read, "Guidi" or "Ghost Emperor".

The man's face was serene and calm, and his droopy eyes concealed all signs of emotion.

Suddenly, a woman entered the throne hall.

She wore loose white robes, yet the clothing did not hide her bulging belly, which indicated that she was pregnant.

The woman approached the man and then kowtowed to him in front of his throne.

"Guidi, the ghost king in Western Qin has been killed."

"Hmm?" The man hummed.

"What was the perpetrator's level of strength?"

The woman replied, "According to talismans, he probably had the strength of a Silver Immortal."

The ghost emperor chuckled and remarked, "Have my ghost kings become so weak?"

The woman did not give any response.

"I have three ghost kings stationed in Central Qin, right?" 

The woman nodded.

"Tell them to massacre a few small villages, that should give them enough yin qi to bring about a few hundred more ghost generals."

The woman frowned, and interjected, "Guidi, is that really necessar-

"I don't remember asking a birthing machine for opinions on my verdicts," The ghost emperor coldly interrupted her.

"You've gotten quite rebellious, haven't you?" He chuckled, and then...

He kicked the woman's body.

"AAAAARRGHHH!" The woman groaned as she was sent flying to the other side of the hall.

The ghost emperor stood up and walked towards her in slow steps.

For every step he made, a bead of cold sweat fell from her forehead.

When he was in front of her, he grabbed her hair and made her face up.

"Speaking of rebellion, you've been cultivating secretly, haven't you?"

The woman began breathing heavily when she heard his words.

"I almost forgot that women with the Yin Body are excellent cultivators, you've reached Copper Immortality in only two years," The ghost emperor placed a finger on her glabella.

Suddenly, she struggled out of his grasp and screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I broke your cultivation base, and I'll do it again every time you try," The man laughed out loud.

Tears fell down her face, and she ran out of the hall.

Her cultivation was her only hope for escape, but that was also gone now.

Somehow, even though a Silver Immortal could never challenge Guidi, she hoped a miracle would happen and break the shackles of her twisted fate.

When the woman left the hall, the ghost emperor looked towards the sky.

"Yan Wang probably already made contact with the perpetrator, but he won't get past my other ghost kings easily anyways."

In this world, there were only a few people he feared.

The Jade Emperor, who didn't know of his existence at all.

Lao Zi, who used to challenge his reign but had already disappeared from the world decades ago.

And, Xiwangmu, the Jade Emperor's wife, and the mother of the woman from earlier.

________________________

-Earlier that day-

While Alex swiftly fought off the ghost king and was discussing with Yan Wang, the others weren't in such a great state.

Inside the narrow cave, they had to fight off ten ghost generals.

Usually, ghost generals were easy threats for higher-stage cultivators, since the former didn't have high intelligence and their strength was quite low.

However, a strange phenomenon made their fights much harder.

Zhen Hong waved a thin sword at one such ghost general.

It was a one-sided massacre, and after cutting up the limbs of the opponent, the young man placed a sealing talisman on the ghost general.

"One ghost general dow-

A bright light engulfed Zhen Hong as he was speaking.

When the light dimmed down, the sect leader and Liuxian lost their footing.

In the area where the ghost general died off, a ball of hot magma attracted every single object in the room, including rocks and the cultivators themselves.

Fortunately, Zhen Hong held onto a solid rough spot in the wall before it was too late.

The other two had done the same.

However, the ghost generals all turned into a light mist and were able to avoid the attraction force of the magma ball.

After a dozen seconds or so, the red magma ball cooled down, and gravity returned to normal.

The cultivators were lucky, as they almost couldn't hold on.

Zhen Hong breathed heavily, and exclaimed, "We have to be more careful next time! Carve out footholds on the solid obsidian!"

They proceeded to do that and continued their fight.

To avoid a catastrophic situation, the three of them all focused their efforts on one enemy at a time.

By doing this, they were able to slowly defeat 8 other ghost generals.

Of course, the last one was also swiftly vanquished.

"The ghost king took the ghost mother with him!" The three ran out of the room, and towards the pathway.

Though, they soon had to stop, as a pile of debris stood in front of them.

The area from which they climbed down earlier, was broken up, and their flying swords glid through the air, so they couldn't use those.

"Need any help?" A winged man suddenly appeared like an angel.

"Yes...."

Alex took the three up, and they left the cave.

"Where is the ghost mother?" The sect leader asked.

Alex took out the slime-like ball and passed it to Liuxian.

"I'll seal it, for now, I need to study it later," Liuxian slapped a talisman on the ghost mother.

Following their successful expedition, they left the forest and searched for a clearing from which they could fly with the chariot.

As they were doing that...

"YOU FOUR, STOP RIGHT THERE!" The sound of a galloping horse got nearer to them.