Chapter 1 Borrowing Soldiers

The seven warlocks each held a soul-guiding banner on the bow of the boat, the seven white banners fluttering in the air.

No one knew whether it was the whistling north wind or the fearless spirit of the seven warlocks that made the white banners flutter so loudly.

I drew both sabers at the same time, their blades crossed in front of me: "Seven Stars Guide to the Underworld! Reverse the Seven Stars, warlocks take your positions!"

The seven warlocks stepped forward, each occupying a position.

The Southern Dipper governs life, the Northern Dipper governs death! As soon as the reversed Seven Stars formation was completed, rolling yin energy gathered towards the boat.

I raised my sabers to the sky: "Yin-Yang lineage, warlock Li Po, borrowing soldiers from the Underworld, no complaints if disaster strikes."

As my voice fell, I slashed both sabers into the void at the same time, as if tearing a gap in the yin-yang barrier. Yin soldiers wearing cloth uniforms, holding long spears, and wearing red-tasseled round hats stepped out from the gap.

The leading yin soldier looked at me coldly and said, "Borrowing soldiers from the Underworld, how dare you?"

Warlocks who wanted to borrow the power of ghosts and gods had to pay a certain price. The same was true for borrowing soldiers from the Underworld.

I said in a deep voice, "The ancestor passed down the *Borrowing Soldier Incantation*. It wasn't just for me to recite for fun."

The yin soldier looked at me with a half-smile and said, "Do you know the rules for borrowing soldiers? Tell me the 'three nos' and 'three yeses'!"

I looked at him and said:

"No major event, no borrowing of soldiers! No demons or evil, no borrowing of soldiers! No supreme command, no borrowing of soldiers!"

"No selfishness, no borrowing of soldiers! No personal grudges, no borrowing of soldiers! No personal desires, no borrowing of soldiers!"

The yin soldier looked at me with a playful expression and said, "Have you met all six conditions? If you're missing even one, you'll follow me back to the Underworld!"

I looked directly at him and said, "I don't violate any of the six conditions. But, I can give you a chance to make a fortune, are you interested?"

As the other party's face darkened, I took out the ghost cauldron: "Friend, how about taking a look at this first?"

The other party's eyes widened noticeably, and I pointed to the water tank containing the dragon fish corpse: "There's also a dead dragon fish over there."

The other party then slowly said, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

I told him about the underwater palace: "Friend, don't you think this is a way to make a fortune?"

Although yin soldiers were low-ranking existences in the Underworld, there were still gradations among them. The lowest-ranking yin soldiers were not even as good as ghost messengers. Ghost messengers could at least collect some kickbacks when they went out on errands, but yin soldiers who never left the Underworld basically had no chance to get any.

Moreover, most yin soldiers were brave and fierce generals who had died in battle throughout history. The older the soldier's soul, the higher its cultivation. The later soldiers had lower status.

These yin soldiers were all soldiers from the Qing Dynasty, and they were at the bottom of the yin soldier hierarchy. As long as they were tempted, I was confident that I could persuade them.

The leading yin soldier pondered for a long time and said, "How much stuff is in the palace?"

"I don't know! After all, I haven't fought my way in yet!" I said, "I don't need you to help me fight into the palace. I just need you to safely take me to the entrance of the palace. That shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"

"After the underworld artifacts are taken out of the palace, you can choose whatever you want first. At the very least, you can get nine ghost cauldrons."

"As for this hard work, I'll pay this much!" I held up a finger and said, "I'll have someone go to the crossroads to deliver it immediately. What do you think?"

The yin soldier pondered and said, "It wouldn't be good to start a big fight here."

I held up a finger: "One hour! After one hour, no matter who wins or loses, you all leave! Besides, it's not the yin soldiers fighting here, but the old soldiers of the Water Guard Camp! Don't you think so?"

"Deal!" The yin soldier said, "Have someone burn gold foil!"

I gave Zhao Zhuang a look, and the latter immediately sent someone to the outside of the village. The yin soldier leader also waved his hand and said, "Get on the boat, set off!"

After two hundred yin soldiers boarded the boat, the warship slowly left the waterway under the impetus of yin energy and headed towards the river mouth.

At the same time, the sound of water surged on the riverbank, and layers of white waves rose again against the shore.

This time, the river water poured directly into the village along the cracked waterway, and the warship was blocked by the waves rushing in the opposite direction before it had traveled halfway.

The yin soldier leader sneered, "These ghosts here have a high level of cultivation! Brothers, get off the boat! Fight your way out!"

Hundreds of yin soldiers entered the water one after another. A few meters away from the bow of the boat, red-tasseled round hats quickly floated up, the hats exposed on the surface of the water formed a herringbone formation, blocking the front of the boat. As they rapidly advanced like a sharp knife, a layer of green fire quickly floated on the surface of the water.

The yin soldier leader smiled, "Friend, are my soldiers okay?"

"Not bad!" I responded faintly and said nothing more. Because I knew that he would soon stop smiling.

The yin soldier leader didn't notice my expression and loudly ordered from the bow of the boat, "Speed up and send Brother Li into the palace!"

At his command, I clearly felt the speed of the warship increase.

The water ghosts fighting the yin soldiers in the water seemed to be retreating steadily.

However, I noticed that the phosphorus fire on the surface of the water was very orderly, obviously retreating without chaos.

The other party was feigning defeat. That water ghost either wanted to lure us to the river to fight again, or had already set up an ambush somewhere.