Monster Chronicles: My Daoist Skill Comes from Mythology
Chapter 73: The Red Umbrella Fierce Ghost Woman Reveals the Power of the Eight Array Map

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: The Red Umbrella Fierce Ghost Woman Reveals the Power of the Eight Array Map

In a few leaps, Song Lin flew out of the county town and arrived at a nearby small village.

From the village came the villagers’ wails; a dozen Cloud Dispelling Envoys were circling in the air, slaughtering all living creatures, sparing not even the chickens and dogs raised by the villagers.

Some Cloud Dispelling Envoys, after gorging themselves, would split into more, their numbers increasing endlessly.

Song Lin did not step in immediately but quickly distanced himself, reaching a small hill at the foot of the mountain. Using a sword talisman, he dug an opening and hid inside.

"Reign!"

Mana surged as a mist of gloom wafted out, materializing into two hundred Rampant Soldiers.

The black mist coalesced into a sand table, presenting the terrain within a radius of fifty miles.

On the terrain, two hundred glowing dots were scattered, with two additional dots rapidly approaching from not far away.

These were the Dog-headed Taoist. The Dog-headed Taoist had a physical entity and could not be summoned or enter the grand assembly hall, so Song Lin placed him in the alchemy room.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the soil cracked open, revealing two dog heads.

"Move out!"

As the Dog-headed Taoists emerged, Song Lin commanded the troops to begin their expedition.

The two hundred and two glowing dots began moving in specific formations in all directions.

The toxic rain also harmed the Rampant Soldiers, but if the Cloud Dispelling Envoys were killed, the dark clouds above would shrink accordingly.

The Cloud Dispelling Envoys were not especially strong, but under the effects of the toxic rain and their ability to resurrect upon death, ordinary Taoists struggled to counter them. Taoists constantly expended True Qi to repel the rainfall.

If surrounded by multiple enemies, the consequences would be unimaginable.

With this in mind, Song Lin focused on controlling the Rampant Soldiers.

As the Rampant Soldiers moved out, life forms began to appear on the sand table.

The Soldier Formation Map only provided information on the surrounding terrain; it did not reveal enemy locations or the positions of other life forms.

Completing the information relied on the Rampant Soldiers’ vision, which automatically filled in the Formation Map as the soldiers observed their surroundings.

At this time, Song Lin noticed that the red dots on the west side of the village were more numerous—about eight in total. With a single thought, he sent half the troops and the Dog-headed Taoist to that location.

The larger the glowing dot, the stronger the entity it represented. Red dots signified enemies. The red dots in this case were larger than the Rampant Soldiers’ but slightly smaller than the Dog-headed Taoist.

Soon, the two parties clashed.

White dots dimmed and disappeared, indicating the death of those units.

Song Lin quickly adjusted his strategy, instructing the Rampant Soldiers to maintain formation and focus on defense, while the Dog-headed Taoist used burrowing techniques to flank and disrupt.

Before long, he stabilized the situation, and white dots ceased disappearing. The red dots began to vanish instead.

"This Eight Formation Map is truly useful!"

Rampant Soldiers, as their name implied, were wild and unrestrained.

Though they had been refined into soldiers, gaining organized formations and teamwork, their combat style remained that of reckless, brute-force warriors.

Against weaker opponents, they were unstoppable—practically War Gods in this regard. But when facing evenly matched opponents, they would inevitably rush to their deaths.

Even though Taoist Temples possessed hundreds of variations of Rampant Soldiers, their fights often devolved into this brute style of combat.

With the addition of the Eight Formation Map, however, they could carry out tactical maneuvers according to the Summoning Mage’s orders.

Under Song Lin’s command, the eight Cloud Dispelling Envoys were swiftly annihilated, at the cost of fifteen casualties among his forces.

Song Lin wielded the Eight Formation Map with increasing proficiency, effortlessly switching between various formations.

He even deployed desperate suicide squads to weaken the enemy by trading their lives for injuries, leaving the Dog-headed Taoist to clean up the battlefield.

This was beyond the capability of ordinary soldiers—no matter how perfect a formation might be, human frailty led to breakdowns, scattering their ranks.

The Rampant Soldiers had no such weakness; they could execute fatal missions without hesitation.

In mere moments, the Cloud Dispelling Envoys in the village were wiped out. The dark clouds above the village dissipated, and the toxic rain ceased.

A total of eighteen Cloud Dispelling Envoys were eliminated. Song Lin instructed the Dog-headed Taoist to collect the bone fragments left behind after the spirits of the Cloud Dispelling Envoys dissipated. Then, he moved on to the next target.

"Fifty units of yin merit, and I can ascend to a Ninth-rank North First Upper Guardian Yin-Yang Divine Central Officer commanding two hundred and forty men. I’ve gathered eighteen plus seven—that’s twenty-five. Just twenty-five more!" Song Lin muttered.

On to the next village.

Song Lin repeated the same process.

This time, he gained eight units of yin merit.

The next target was the larger Yangfeng Market.

This place held more than thirty Cloud Dispelling Envoys, making the task more challenging.

He instructed the two Dog-headed Taoists to return and gifted them the Taiyin Bone Mirror, the Miasma Green Pearl, Fire Burning Talismans, and Avoiding Filth Talismans to aid them in battle.

One hundred and fifty Rampant Soldiers fiercely battled the thirty-plus Cloud Dispelling Envoys.

...

Elsewhere.

Gum Qingfeng watched Song Lin’s departing figure. Contrary to expectations, he did not yell or curse, remaining eerily calm instead.

His earlier speech was merely a strategic ploy to intimidate Song Lin into revealing the truth. Ordinary Taoist disciples would easily crack under such pressure, but Song Lin held his ground remarkably well.

Despite the humiliation that Song Lin had just inflicted upon him, Gum Qingfeng did not lose his temper. Only those with support dared to act so arrogantly.

He turned to the red-umbrella ghost woman beside him.

"Little Qing, track him for me."

"Understood!"

The red umbrella spun, and the two of them vanished without a trace.

They quickly tracked Song Lin to his hiding place.

At this moment, Song Lin was attacking the first village.

"Impressive, such powerful spells." Gum Qingfeng immediately recognized the ingenuity of the sand table system.

For a sect skilled in commanding ghosts and gods, such a technique could enhance the combat effectiveness of Rampant Soldiers by fifty percent.

"No need to rush."

Gum Qingfeng chose to continue watching. Since he had decided to seize the technique by force, he would first wait and see whether his opponent had any other trump cards.

As Song Lin headed toward Yangfeng Market, Gum Qingfeng trailed him from several miles away, maintaining a safe distance.

He was fishing—as Song Lin expended his strength, capturing him later would require little effort.

Observing Song Lin’s hidden cards made Gum Qingfeng itch with excitement. This man clearly harbored many secrets. There was a chance for a grand reward; he must capture Song Lin alive to maximize his gain.

Before long, Song Lin’s Rampant Soldiers subdued the Cloud Dispelling Envoys at the market. Fewer than eighty of them remained.

Now is the time!!

"Little Qing, capture his soul!!"

Whoosh!

The red umbrella folded shut as the two reappeared in their true forms.

The red-umbrella woman instantly materialized behind Song Lin. With a snap of her umbrella, she encapsulated him—signifying the soul-capture was complete.

A slight smile crept onto Gum Qingfeng’s lips.

This red-clad female ghost was no ordinary spirit; she was originally his fiancée. Under his deliberate manipulation, the woman had grown deeply infatuated with him and became pregnant with his child.

On their wedding night, Gum Qingfeng killed her and refined her into a fierce ghost.

Her crimson attire, her tragic death on her wedding night, and her pregnancy all combined to make her emergence as a Qi Refinement-level spirit inevitable.

Even the unborn child was refined into Innate Infant Qi. Because it was his own offspring, the refinement was exceptionally smooth.

He planned to raise an army of red-umbrella women to advance to Qi Refining Great Success.

As he thought about this, he decided to be cautious, channeling his True Qi. The dark energy took shape as a pale-skinned infant with sharp fangs.

The infant held a Command Flag, summoning two hundred and forty additional Rampant Soldiers to surround the area.

Once everything was in place, Gum Qingfeng leisurely strolled toward the Song Lin trapped by the red umbrella.

At that moment, Song Lin’s body toppled to the ground.

It was made of paper!

"No!! A paper effigy!" Gum Qingfeng gasped in shock.

From above, a faint laugh echoed.

Gum Qingfeng looked up.

The dark clouds parted to reveal a pristine moonlit night.

Under the moonlight, Song Lin’s pupils glowed a hauntingly pale blue, radiating an eerie light. Shrouded in the silvery glow, he resembled an immortal descending from the moon.

No creature could escape the gaze of his Taiyin Golden Pupil.

Song Lin fixed his gaze on Gum Qingfeng and the infant. With a tone of disgust, he sneered, "You’re utterly repulsive!"

As Gum Qingfeng prepared to flee, dozens of beams of moonlight descended, forming a barrier around him.

"Song Lin, you dare kill me?"

A lightning mark materialized on his forehead, thunder beginning to stir.

Swish!

Song Lin descended like lightning, his hand gripping Gum Qingfeng’s throat.

"Gah... Don’t kill me, I’m..."

"Not even Ziyuan can save you." Clenching Gum Qingfeng’s throat, Song Lin smirked and tightened his grip while taunting, "Weren’t you curious about my fortune? Well, now you know!"

Crack!

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