Infiltration went rather smoothly, till he had just entered the city.
An unexpected change arose.
A Ninth Tier Cultivator stood aloft in the sky, a trail of fire streaking across the air, leaving a long tail in its wake.
It hit the shrine that Yu Ziqing was carrying in an instant.
The shrine crumbled into ash, and the figures of Yu Ziqing and the Big Ghost appeared midair.
Yu Ziqing looked into the distance at a Ninth Tier Cultivator who lacked even a whiff of incense fire.
"Jinlan Mountain, Qing Ziyu, your audacity, as ever, is truly remarkable."
The Ninth Tier Strong smiled slightly, his tone laced with a hint of mockery.
Yu Ziqing was somewhat surprised; within the Earth Deity Divine Country, where Dingmao City was located, there was still an outsider present.
This fellow, instead of staying in the normal Dingmao City, ran here – wasn't that just asking to be manipulated?
"Mysterious Heaven Sect Master, you truly are a surprise.
Before, I heard you were only concerned about Emperor Dui's return, anything else was acceptable.
You assured yourselves that even if Emperor Dui returned, you had the power to eradicate the rampaging Evil God here.
I thought you had your own plans, but to my surprise,
the grand Mysterious Heaven Sect Master, a mighty Ninth Tier Strong, would actually have a day of being a dog.
Fortunately, your Sect has no intention of being a dog."
Also fortunate is that a Cultivator of this strength wouldn't undergo any critical changes in just a few months.
"Youngster, stop bragging with your fancy talk. You infiltrated only because of that odd Magical Treasure, didn't you?
Without that Magical Treasure, let's see how you get out."
"Mysterious Heaven Sect Master, if I can't get out, you don't think you can, do you? You don't really believe they will ultimately spare you, this Evil, do you?" Yu Ziqing asked with a hint of pity in his eyes, wondering how Emperor Dui managed to paint such an attractive picture that this fool dared to believe.
The Mysterious Heaven Sect Master looked down to see the city in chaos. Many people saw the two in the sky and thought the two demons had started fighting each other.
The Mysterious Heaven Sect Master shook his head and gave Yu Ziqing a cold glance. He stretched out a hand and grabbed at the air.
In an instant, a massive hand came at him, and the space around seemed to be drawn towards that giant hand.
Yu Ziqing glanced at the Big Ghost who was about to take action.
"Transform now, this is the moment."
"Only in the face of a strong enough crisis will there be a strong enough prayer to maintain your current abilities after you turn into a hungry ghost."
Yu Ziqing gave a low shout and threw a bottle of Sweet Rain Original Liquid to the Big Ghost. His figure was then sucked in by the giant hand, flying directly towards it.
The Big Ghost, holding the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, grit his teeth and gently shook it, causing the countless starving ghosts within, including the Big Ghost himself, to start transforming simultaneously.
His figure began to wither and the corporeal form he manifested turned skinny as wood, with a sunken abdomen revealing the hungry ghost form.
His Ninth Tier strength dissipated at that moment, reducing him to an ordinary hungry ghost.
However, just as Yu Ziqing was captured by the giant hand and squeezed in its palm,
The Big Ghost let out a low roar, and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner suddenly burst into black flames, oil-like in appearance, clinging to the banner.
The large characters on the Ten Thousand Soul Banner transformed rapidly with the burning flames, changing into the words "hungry ghost" ablaze with Black Fire.
The Big Ghost, with the hungry ghost banner on his shoulder, let the Black Fire consume his body while he screamed and howled. He opened his mouth and stuffed the jade bottle filled with Sweet Rain Original Liquid straight into it, biting it to shreds.
He ingested an entire bottle of Sweet Rain Original Liquid, and with a strong prayer, the most resolute will, and the desires of the countless hungry ghosts, a rune appeared from nothing on his forehead. His aura began to climb steeply.
The power of countless hungry ghosts poured into him as before, elevating his aura back to the Ninth Tier.
Only this time, he did so as a hungry ghost.
He stood on the ground, two long curved horns growing from his forehead, and a quiet, oil-like Black Fire burned between the two horns.
Just as he was about to reach out, the giant hand holding Yu Ziqing suddenly shattered.
A sword light pierced through the hand, heading straight for the Mysterious Heaven Sect Master.
The Mysterious Heaven Sect Master blocked it momentarily with a Magical Treasure, shifting his figure several miles away, only to see the sword light slicing open the wall of Dingmao City.
Yu Ziqing, with eyes closed, hovered in the air, his aura having soared to the Ninth Tier.
Having reached the Ninth Tier, it did not stop there but continued to climb towards the Third Tribulation.
In Yu Ziqing's hands, the rusty sword transformed into a black longsword, with a ferocious hungry ghost's head on the spine, mouth wide open.
Yu Ziqing took out the Soul Destruction Blade, and fed it to the mouth of the hungry ghost head, which until then had appeared decorative. It suddenly opened wide and swallowed the Soul Destruction Blade.
In a moment, a wisp of blue glow appeared on the blade of the black sword.
Inside Dingmao City, a figure wearing a tall hat and black robe, the City God, walked out from the City God Temple in a seven-story building.
Around the city, the aura of five or six Ninth Tier Earth Deities emerged.
Yu Ziqing stood with his sword, letting out a soft sigh.
"I was a bit careless, and overlooked that people like you, Mysterious Heaven Sect Master, were still around. I didn't expect you to turn into a dog.
I was indeed foolish; I deserve it.
It's just a pity that this time I only forcibly deduced a single Secret Technique."
Yu Ziqing turned his hand over and produced a page. The power of the Third Tribulation was entirely poured into it.
In an instant, terrifying power emanated from the page, a spot of light soaring into the sky.