Twilight Boundary-Chapter 789 - 719 Meng Family Ancestor

CRASH!

The talisman papers pressed against Hu Ma’s body were instantly scattered and burned by a force from the depths of the Nine Netherworld.

In the next moment, like a field of firecrackers exploding, even the footprints the State Preceptor had left to place restraints on Hu Ma and prevent his escape were effortlessly obliterated. Amidst a series of CRACKLES and POPS, all the restraints were completely swept away.

The immense force even distorted and warped the shadowy figures beside the State Preceptor.

Behind Hu Ma, however, what seemed like an immense gate to the Netherworld appeared. Inside, a shadow stood, towering a hundred zhang high, wearing a death shroud. Its empty eye sockets held a cold, non-human aura.

The night swirled around them, and dark clouds swept across the sky. Under the enormous shadow, Hu Ma gritted his teeth, shouted fiercely, and raised his hand to grab at the State Preceptor’s face.

Just as the State Preceptor had previously grabbed at his own face, Hu Ma now returned the humiliation, not considering his opponent worthy of respect.

He was certain he had the confidence to do so.

The State Preceptor was right: those who had crossed the bridge possessed amazing Magic. Hu Ma could comprehend the Life Nourishing Zhou Family’s Method because of the Shousui Sect’s traits. Moreover, this mother form was a tortoise’s retreating skill—it could resist and hide, but not fight.

Yet, the State Preceptor was also wrong about one thing: not every mother form had to be painstakingly cultivated, step by step, from start to finish.

The Meng family was different. Their mother form depended on who could bear the Meng Family Ancestor on their back. The one who could bear it best was the one who mastered the Meng family’s mother form.

"A Hu Family member carrying the Meng Family Ancestor... and you..."

Even the State Preceptor found this astonishing and absurd scene utterly preposterous. His eyes, filled with a strange mix of shock and anger, took on a bizarre look.

"This is not the Meng Family Ancestor."

At this moment, Hu Ma looked ghastly pale, like a demon. He felt an unbearable weight on his back, and his mind was filled with countless bizarre words, making him dizzy. The breath of life within him was rapidly draining.

It was only thanks to his nine columns of cultivation that he could barely hold on. Thinking of his past promises, he could only grit his teeth and shout gravely at the State Preceptor, "This is just a monster that devoured all the Meng family’s ancestors over the generations..."

"Did you really think the Meng family were such fools that they wouldn’t recognize what they were kowtowing to?"

"Back then, on Old Yin Mountain, when Mr. Meng realized it was you who had deceived the Meng family, he told me everything. He said you tricked the Meng family into kowtowing to this thing, promising them immeasurable benefits..."

"But as it turned out, while the Meng family served you like dogs, your Daluo Dharma Sect was the first to want to make the Meng family Juehu—to wipe out their entire lineage."

"The moment you entered Old Yin Mountain, you were eager to silence the Meng family. But long before that, he had already told me everything."

"Including how to summon their ’ancestor’."

Speaking of this, Hu Ma couldn’t help but recall his initial shock upon first hearing these words.

The Meng family’s reputation among the Ten Surnames was built on their skill in kowtowing, a fact for which they were often ridiculed. So, when Eldest Master Meng, from within the altar, told him all this, Hu Ma too had found it absurd.

He had explained that this "ancestor" relied entirely on the Meng family’s servitude to prevent it from causing chaos. In this regard, the Meng family’s duty was similar to that of the people of the Ghost Cave, only more refined.

If the Meng family had no one left, with no one to carry the ancestor, its resentment would grow fiercer, and disaster would sooner or later befall. That was why he had asked Hu Ma to carry it. But at first, Hu Ma had found the idea laughable. I have a generational feud with the Meng family; how could I possibly carry that bizarre thing?

Besides, even if he wanted to, he had no kinship with the Meng family.

It was then that Eldest Master Meng had said, "Past karmas cannot be changed. The Fourth was once hidden in your body, so you became tainted with the Meng family’s aura. No matter how thoroughly you try to purify yourself, what once was, still was."

"Moreover, that thing isn’t truly our Meng ancestor. And it is desperate to emerge. So, as long as you attempt to invite it, it will definitely come."

It was this damned thing that had devoured the spirits of the Meng family’s true ancestors, thereby drawing itself one step closer to the human world. Initially, the State Preceptor had deceived the Meng family, claiming he could help their ancestors advance further, using the power of yin virtue to completely overshadow the other nine surnames.

And indeed, it had overshadowed them. But the Meng family soon discovered that this was no longer their ancestor.

Yet, what could they do at that point?

They could only hold their noses and continue to kowtow.

What struck Hu Ma most vividly, however, was Eldest Master Meng’s vehement roar, "The Meng family and the Hu Family have fought for decades, but in the end, you must trust me!"

"I don’t want to harm you or make you a puppet of that thing. I don’t dare to hope that you will definitely handle this matter. But if one day, the Daluo Dharma Sect tries to kick your Hu Family aside, just as they did to my Meng family..."

"Then use this method!"

"Heh heh, Negative Spirit, Negative Spirit! Who says that if you carry a ghost, you must be controlled by the ghost?"

"My Meng family has practiced Tongyin for over a hundred years. Do you really think all we can do is kowtow? That we don’t have a single capable person? No! My Meng family also has countless experts, and we long ago gained some understanding of the methods to control ghosts with humans..."

From Eldest Master Meng’s account, the Meng Family Ancestor was indeed an exceptionally bizarre and grotesque entity. If one had to describe it, it was:

A ghost possessing a ghost’s body.

Because it had devoured the Meng family’s true ancestor to draw so close to the human world, the method to summon it was simple: use the Method of Spirit Carrying, perform the ritual of inviting a god to possess a body, and simultaneously chant that ancestor’s revered name.

Eldest Master Meng had also explained in detail how to send it away and how to dispel it after it had been summoned.

At that time, Hu Ma naturally found it difficult to discern truth from falsehood. But he was very candid and stated his one condition: when facing the State Preceptor, Hu Ma must repeat these words on behalf of the Meng family.

This was his sole, final request. He did not want the Meng family to remain a joke even after being exterminated.

Hu Ma had agreed, and now he spoke these words for him. At this very moment, carrying such an immense weight, with the nine columns of cultivation in his body rapidly depleting, he felt an infinite pressure, as if his body was about to disintegrate.

In fact, he was fortunate to have his Lifebound Spirit Temple; otherwise, the pressure he felt now would have been tenfold greater.

But at the same time, an extremely subtle sensation arose within him. This infinite pressure, enveloping his body, also made him feel as if his every move possessed the power to overturn rivers and seas.

As long as his Life Incense had not completely burned out, he even felt omnipotent.

WHOOSH!

He took a step forward, his hand lashing out towards the State Preceptor.

The roiling yin qi around him was stirred, like dark clouds descending from the heavens to the human world—limitless, endless, capable of covering and suppressing everything.

Although Hu Ma had learned the dharma method to summon the Meng Family Ancestor, he had not learned how to wield its power. Thus, he was merely relying on his Shousui skills and instinct to launch a forceful attack.

But even such crude usage seemed to be sufficient now.

The State Preceptor’s expression was extremely unsightly. Moments before, he carried himself with the dignified air of a Taoist immortal, but now his face was ashen. He waved his horsetail whisk, and its silk threads swirled as Purple Qi faintly emerged, forming a shield-like barrier.

However, Hu Ma instantly tore this shield to shreds. An unending stream of iron chains then surged forward from his body.

The State Preceptor’s figure vanished from before Hu Ma, reappearing behind him.

But Hu Ma then turned his head in a stiff, eerie manner, and the iron chains continued to coil towards the State Preceptor.

The State Preceptor tried to escape into the underworld, but Hu Ma stomped his foot, and the ground beneath became as hard as cast iron, preventing his descent.

For the dignified State Preceptor to be forced into such a predicament was truly a scene no one could have anticipated.

If it were anyone else, they might have considered retreating to a safe distance. Waiting until Hu Ma’s cultivation was exhausted and the Meng Family Ancestor withdrew would have been the wise choice.

But the State Preceptor was unwilling to let Hu Ma go. He finally sighed softly, no longer hiding the disappointment on his face, and gently shook his head. "I truly underestimated the Meng family. Now they have turned the tables on me... I suppose I deserve this."

With the Meng Family Ancestor’s power pressing upon him, Hu Ma’s temper also turned bizarre, and he felt an urge to burst out in loud ridicule.

Just then, after his sigh, the State Preceptor resolutely raised his eyes. "I had originally planned to have them appear after summoning the Twelve Ghost Altars, but now..."

"There’s no time for that!"

With those words, his figure retreated urgently, countless talisman papers fluttering down around him.

In the next instant, Hu Ma had already gathered the surrounding yin wind, swiftly reaching for him. The State Preceptor was now drifting straight backward, but Hu Ma’s hand moved much faster. It was about to grab him when suddenly, several dark figures descended.

These figures appeared with peculiar abruptness, materializing from all directions and simultaneously raising their hands.

Hu Ma knew well the terror of the Meng Family Ancestor and believed no one could withstand this monster’s grasp. Even the State Preceptor had only managed to dodge a few times by relying on his extraordinarily profound movement technique.

But now, as he grabbed with full force, he could feel the eerie yin wind surging forward like a great river. Unexpectedly, however, the four figures appeared and managed to block his astonishing attack.

Even Hu Ma found it hard to believe. He suddenly raised his head, and as his gaze swept over the figures before him, his body stiffened slightly.

He instantly understood the reason.

Only Reincarnators could withstand the Meng Family Ancestor’s power.

And the four figures that had now appeared before him were indeed ones he had seen before: Nu’er Hong, Fall and Hit Wine, an old man from the Haishou Path, and a young man with an eerily handsome appearance and a snow-white face, whom he had not seen before.

Reincarnators.

It was they, using the unique aspects of their Lifebound Spirit Temples, who had blocked his attack.