Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1733: Crushing The Glacial Mountain Sect

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"Using the same tricks again, huh? Pathetic."

Maria's Aura split into thousands of black void tentacles, sweeping downward toward the army and beginning to shatter their artifacts.

However.

"{Heavenly Glacial Dragon Arts}: {Freezing Fangs}!"

Her assault was cut short. The Immortal struck, unleashing a massive explosion of ice across her face that instantly froze half her body. He pressed the attack with several more techniques, trying to overwhelm her.

"{Winter Dragon Claws}!"

"{Frost Dragon's Tail}!"

"{Glacial Dragon's Breath}!"

Maria swiftly intercepted his movements, dodging the incoming strikes by the narrowest margins. She gathered phantasmal ki in her fist and punched his stomach, forcing him to miss his long-range breath attack.

BOOOM!

The blast obliterated a distant mountain. Maria transformed into lightning, her movements buzzing like a dragonfly's wings.

Dream Ghost emerged from her Dream Soul Spheres, attacking with Phantasmal Fists and Soul-Chasing Ghostly Viper, assaulting the Immortal from every direction.

"W-Wha…?! What is this technique?!"

"The Spectral Ghostly Fist Art!"

Maria roared, charging forward and slamming another Ghostly Fist into the Immortal's face. Countless phantasmal hands erupted from her Aura, pummeling him without pause.

Some hands morphed into sharp viper fangs, biting him with cursed ki and slowing his movements.

His Immortal Artifacts tried to intervene, but her Dream Ghosts kicked them away and used Sword Soul Heart to slash his arms and legs.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

"Aaaagghh!"

He attempted to regenerate using his Immortal Physique, only to find hundreds of Cursed Runes spreading across his wounds and body.

His regeneration slowed to a crawl.

"N-No…! WAIT, WAIT! I WAS WRONG! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

The Immortal wailed pathetically for mercy, but Maria beat him mercilessly. His teeth flew in every direction, his eyes turned purple, and his body became covered in deep slashing wounds.

By combining Ghostly Lightning Dragonfly Step with Soul-Chasing Ghostly Viper, she became impossibly fast and unpredictable, appearing and vanishing around him.

He couldn't land a single blow with his Martial Soul.

Until…

"Okay, I'll forgive you."

Maria patted his blood-soaked shoulders. The Immortal looked up at her beautiful, smiling face.

CRASH!

Her ghostly hand plunged into his chest and ripped out his soul.

"W-Wait, what are you— Nnggh?! Ngaaaahhhh!"

"Do you like this feeling? It's the same pain those poor children from the Blood Demon Sect endured, you piece of trash! Savor it! Every single bit of it! TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU ENJOY IT!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ahhh… music to my ears."

Maria crushed the soul in her fist, shattering it into countless fragments and then annihilating those fragments until nothing remained.

Indeed.

As someone who had taken part in the massacre, she offered him no second chance.

She even denied him the right to an afterlife.

"I'm doing heaven a favor by keeping a monster like you from ever reincarnating."

The disciples of the Glacial Mountain Sect stared in stunned silence, then dropped their weapons. Over half their number lay dead, while Maria's sect had suffered only a few dozen wounded and no fatalities.

"Surrender now and your lives will be spared," she declared. "Your leader is dead. His soul is destroyed. Your territory and all your treasures now belong to us. I claim your Immortal Domain."

Maria rose into the sky and used her Soul Realm to forcefully absorb the elder brother's Immortal Domain. The younger brother watched in hollow awe.

He felt neither sadness nor joy.

His brother had tried to kill him, and now he had died horribly.

"Hahahah…"

He could only laugh bitterly.

Maria smiled as the sect members surrendered. Phantasmal chains spread from her hands, binding them with a powerful Soul Contract.

At the same time, she raised all the fallen—including the Elders her family had slain—as Undead. The strongest became Blue Rakshasa, while the weaker rose as Jiangshi.

Then she looked down at the sect buildings. Rather than let the Murim Alliance destroy them, she absorbed the entire Glacial Mountain into her Soul Realm, leaving the surrendered disciples inside for the moment.

"It took barely three hours… astonishingly fast…!" Wu Lieng said in awe. "Thank you, Maria. You truly are incredible!"

"We're just getting started," Maria replied with a confident smile. "Let's move!"

While the sect traveled, everyone enjoyed lunch inside the giant pagoda. The wounded had already been fully healed.

Using her cooking skills and a touch of magic, Maria prepared stat-boosting meals that quickly restored her disciples' Ki.

At the same time, she gazed toward the distant mountains.

After an hour of swift flight, they arrived at a breathtaking range surrounded by crystal and metal ore deposits.

At its heart stood a massive iron palace encircled by a sprawling city.

The Iron Fist Sect.

Unlike the Glacial Mountain Sect, Maria, her family, and her sect were immediately met by an entire army of Martial Artists and three Immortals.

Two muscular men and one powerfully built woman.

The tallest man appeared to be the Sect Master, with bronze skin and black hair. He watched the pagoda approach with calm eyes.

Maria stepped out of the pagoda alongside her Elders and her family.

Lucifer brought the Iron Fist members he had befriended, who stood at a distance.

One of them bowed deeply to the Sect Master and the other two Immortals. They glared at him with anger… then smiled.

"It's good to see you're still alive, friend," the Sect Master said. "They spared you. Are you a prisoner?"

"More like a willing subordinate," the Martial Artist laughed. "I've been teaching them our martial arts because they asked. This man is a friend—his name is Lucifer."

"…" Lucifer narrowed his eyes at the Immortals.

"How about this?" the Sect Master proposed. "We settle it with three one-on-one battles. You have already destroyed the Glacial Mountain Sect, so I know you're strong. My sect could be next."

"But Master!"

"Are you serious?!"

The other two Immortals protested, but the tall man pushed them back with his massive hands.

"Come on, one against one. Let's keep the bloodshed to a minimum."

Maria stepped forward, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm. I could kill all three of you right now," she said coolly. Her Void Aura flared, making it hard for the sect warriors—bald, monk-like figures—to even breathe. "You've committed atrocities in the name of the Murim Alliance, haven't you?"

"Yes," the Sect Master admitted, meeting her gaze. "We had no choice. The Heavenly Palace issues an order, and we either obey or our sect is erased. In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"And that's why you slaughtered defenseless children with those big fists of yours?" Maria asked quietly.

"…"

The Immortals widened their eyes, then lowered their gazes.

They had no defense.

The Sect Master closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, brows furrowed.

He could not deny the truth.

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