Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1693: Your Sect Is Mine

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As she heard the Elders complain, Maria called all the disciples—both the living and the undead.

"Some died, but they’re back as even stronger Jiangshi with their full consciousness! Isn’t that great?" Maria said.

"Please don’t worry. Maria might be a little ruthless, but she’s nothing like the people of this world," Jonathan added. "She’s kindhearted and gave a second chance to everyone here."

"Y-You turned half our kids into zombies!" both elders screamed.

"Well yeah, so what?" Maria asked. "The other half are alive, and every other citizen of Kunlun is also alive. I think I was pretty kind—more than you all deserve. If you didn’t want them to die, then you shouldn’t have sent them to war."

"She is indeed ruthless... but speaks with wisdom," the White Mist Immortal sighed.

"Sect Master?!"

"But...!"

"You two, get it into your heads now! The White Mist Sect belongs to Maria from now on! I have been slain and turned into her Rakshasa... what else do you want from me?!" the immortal roared angrily. "If you don’t want to die, obey her!"

"Ugh..."

"This can’t be happening..."

"Good, it looks like your sect master is quick to learn his place in the world," Maria nodded with a warm smile. "If you all behave and are nice, I might let you awaken Dream Weapons—that’s the power Wu Lieng and his kids used against you, remember?"

The elders widened their eyes, glancing at Wu Lieng and his disciples. The soldiers and other sect members present also realized this, shocked.

"You mean that power that allowed them to fight someone like Sunblade Damsel?!"

"That power... Can it grow?"

Maria and her companions rolled their eyes. It was insane how quickly they changed their minds once offered new power or resources.

"Yes," Maria sighed. "It can grow endlessly, and it doesn’t require any crazy material. With training and enlightenment, you can evolve a Dream Weapon further. Their potential—no matter the person or their original form—is endless."

"And you will offer us and the rest of the disciples this power?!"

"Maybe...?" Maria wondered. "If you fight for me from now on... Well, I can force you to fight anyway, but I prefer not to. That way, you can fight with all you have."

"Come on now, you were offered something. Are you content?" the White Mist Immortal sighed, then looked at Maria with puppy-like eyes. "Do I get one too, right?"

"...Sure," Maria sighed. "But only if you’re a good dog. Now bark!"

"Woof! Awroooo! Woof! Wooof! ...Ugh! Please stop asking me to do this!"

"Hahahaha!"

Maria laughed for a while, and so did most of the people there.

"No."

Then she stared into his eyes, smiling even more creepily than before.

"Bark some more. Show the world you’re a dog! Now let’s go see all your citizens—you’re going to apologize to all of them while carrying me on your back."

"W-What?!"

And so, the White Mist Immortal endured a humiliating ritual until every person in Kunlun knew he was defeated, turned into a hideous Rakshasa, and had granted ownership of his sect and the city to Maria.

Having claimed the territory, Maria quickly decided to do some fixing. She walked back to the ruins of the great castle-like temple and snapped her fingers.

"Come on boys, fix it up."

She summoned thousands of ghosts, who possessed every piece of the ruins and began to reassemble the gigantic temple. It grew even larger as it absorbed nearby destroyed houses, transforming into a majestic white-and-gray pagoda.

There, Maria planted a new emblem resembling a semi-transparent ghostly fist surrounded by blue flames, renaming the White Mist Sect into the Ghostly Fist Sect.

"Oh yeah, that’s more like it! A sect that accepts both the living and the dead!" Maria smiled. "Do you like it, dog?"

"Ugh... Stop calling me dog... please..." the White Mist Immortal cried tears of blood as Maria sat on his back, laughing.

"T-This is amazing! You rebuilt the entire castle, the temple, and the surrounding houses, and fused them into this massive pagoda of over... fifty floors?!" Yoomyung exclaimed.

"It’s not just a new building," Maria said. "It’s also like a Haunted Manor. I’ve made a few before—by infusing ghosts and phantoms inside, they become alive. Even if destroyed, they repair themselves. They also gain Skills and Magic to defend themselves. This one is special because it absorbs a lot of Ki, so it has unique effects. It could even enhance cultivation while inside."

"T-This goes beyond amazing..." the Third Elder admitted.

"I-I have to admit... this is... unexpected," the Fourth Elder muttered.

"See? It isn’t too bad to work under me, right?" Maria giggled with a cocky smile. "Heh, alright now, let’s fix that shabby white mist formation you set up, dwag—it’s really bad."

"Dwag?!" the White Mist Immortal asked. "What dialect is that?"

"It means you’re a dog. Now shut up—dogs don’t usually talk, you know?" Maria sighed, kicking his head. "Alright, let’s see..."

She floated into the skies, waving her hands down. Void, Nightmare, Illusion, Dream, Shadow, Phantasmal, and Nether energies surged into the white mist, merging with it.

TRUUUM!

The mist transformed into an eternally black, eerie fog, twisting with dark colors. Red eyes appeared and vanished, monstrous jaws drooled, and ghostly beings merged within it. The entire formation connected to her Shadow Realm, with Undead floating inside to guard her new territory.

"Alright, it’s done! I call it the Abyssal Spectral Mist Barrier!" Maria declared. "It’s technically a gigantic spectral ghost that will devour any foe who dares break into Kunlun City. Pretty neat, right? What do you think, doggy?"

"It’s... incredible..." The White Mist Immortal no longer cared about being called a dog. "You... what sort of powers do you even wield? This is no mere necromancy!"

"Well, you see, I was originally a ghost," Maria said. "Technically I still am... in a way."

"You’re saying you’re an Undead yourself?!" he asked, shocked.

"That’s right," Maria nodded. "And at the same time, I’m not. I’m a strange in-between... but I like that."

"..."

The White Mist Immortal—now "Doggy"—began to realize he had never stood a chance against her. He recalled she had been using him to train and refine her techniques and martial arts. She had even copied his Martial Soul and modified a Privilege to create a Fake Martial Soul of her own.

"This woman... She might be a monster at the level of those bloodsuckers—if not even more terrifying!"

The formation Maria created quickly vanished, turning invisible to any eyes not attuned to ghostly powers or Undead.

Maria then gathered all disciples and elders, speaking to them about new rules and explaining the sect’s changes. Practically, not much had changed.

She assigned the White Mist Immortal as Second Elder, while appointing Yoomyung as First Elder, giving them responsibilities to maintain order. She also severed ties with the Murim Alliance, expelling any remaining members.

"Mama, what about this guy?" Nyx asked, walking toward her once she finished giving instructions.

"Huh?" Maria approached the frozen statue of a huge, burly man with enormous muscles. "Wait, he’s not dead?!"

"I put all I had into it, but he’s really strong," Alma said. "Well, I’m relieved he didn’t die..."

"What do we do with him?" Melianna wondered.

"He’s so strong, it took all our combined effort to stop him," Ferleen sighed.

"What was his name again?" Arachne asked. "Ken... Ken something."

"Ken, huh?" Maria touched the ice. Her flames melted it into vapor, and the Golden Core Expert fell to the ground with a loud thud, groaning and barely breathing.

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