C741 Luohou You Ghost!
On the outskirts of Horror Land.
"Da Da!"
A petite skeleton, as luminous as jade with emerald eyes, occasionally flashed with dazzling divine light as it traversed the icy, unyielding earth with deliberate steps.
Each time its bony feet touched the ground and lifted, they radiated a brilliant glow.
This snow-white skeleton, sacred as a relic, was brimming with spirit.
A dark cauldron hovered silently in the void, trailing closely behind.
Thousands of visible ghosts and spirits were commanded to remain outside, forbidden entry.
One by one, the Dark Mountains were surpassed, their short stature indicative of the area's thin Yin Qi, signaling that the ghosts and spirits training within could not be of high rank.
In Horror Land, the thicker the Yin Qi, the taller the Dark Mountains grow, and the more formidable the residing ghosts and spirits become.
The sole exception was this small enclave—the domain of Luohou!
Among the many titled ghosts of Horror Land, Luohou stood unrivaled, the strongest of them all.
For nearly a century, from her ascension to ghosthood, she has maintained her top ranking.
And to this day, that has not changed.
Unlike her peers, Luohou did not gather followers or seek out a region rich in Yin Qi after her transformation. Instead, she chose to linger where she had advanced to ghosthood.
This very place.
Over the last hundred years, she faced the challenges of numerous other ghosts and mighty spirits, never once turning away a contender.
She emerged victorious every time, undefeated.
Yet, despite being the most formidable ghost in Horror Land, she never once took the life of an adversary across countless battles.
After each victory, she allowed her opponent to depart, ready to face them again should they return for another challenge.
Victorious once more, she would again permit the vanquished to leave, never delivering a fatal blow.
In the world of ghosts, battles typically end with the demise of one party, the victor absorbing the loser's soul to augment their own power—a brutal custom of this realm.
But she, even in triumph, could claim all and yet chose magnanimity.
Nearly every titled ghost in Horror Land had tested their mettle against her, including the White Coat Mercurial, who had left years prior and had thrice clashed with her.
She had been defeated three times, yet the White Coat Mercurial emerged without a scratch, retreating fully intact, her power surging even further afterward.
Among the numerous titled ghosts of the Horror Land, not one had dared to challenge her, nor had they ventured into her domain.
Only the white skeleton now present had done so.
"White Coat Mercurial, I'm actually quite excited," Yu Yuan mused within the Evil Cauldron, stroking his chin as he observed the white skeleton. Instead of taking to the skies, it had dismissed its followers, stepping deliberately towards the Dark Mountain where the White Coat Mercurial honed her skills. He appeared deep in thought.
He could sense that the white skeleton placed unusual importance on this battle, a stark contrast to its previous encounters.
The Cyan Spectre, Jade Spring Spectre, and Red Python Spectre had never been considered formidable by the white skeleton, which had navigated their territories with ease, exuding confidence and comfort.
Yet here, the white skeleton exhibited an uncharacteristic caution, even going so far as to restrain its minions from any rash actions.
On their journey, the white skeleton had uncharacteristically opened up, sharing with him the peculiar habits and oddities of the Luohou Spectre, its words tinged with a deep wariness.
"We're nearing our destination."
The white skeleton halted abruptly before the shadowy cauldron, gazing toward a modest grayish-white peak, only two to three hundred meters tall. With a solemn respect, it declared, "There lies the site of her ascension to Spectre."
Yu Yuan focused intently on the sight.
Simultaneously, the cauldron soul within the Evil Cauldron seemed stirred, as if it too had caught a glimpse of the mountain where the Luohou Spectre practiced. It warned, "Master, there's something unusual about that Dark Mountain! Despite its modest height, the Yin Qi within is extraordinarily refined and pure! This defies normal logic!"
Yu Yuan paused, a ripple of realization spreading across his heart lake, and he called out, "Activate the Wisdom Eye!"
His Heavenly Soul vibrated with anticipation, and countless strands of spiritual awareness extended from it, converging in his eyes like divine beams of ethereal lightning. His gaze sparkled with vitality, as if endowed with the mystical power to discern the underlying principles of all things and pierce through the veiled essence of reality.
Through the lens of the Wisdom Eye, he saw the Dark Mountain where the Luohou Spectre trained, its slopes swirling with tendrils of Yin Qi.
The Yin Qi had coalesced into a tangible form, visible to those with the Wisdom Eye as innumerable vines sprouting from the mountain, cascading down and entwining the peak.
"Bone, it seems this Dark Ghost has thoroughly mastered the Dark Mountain," Yu Yuan called out.
Over the past few days, the two ghosts had grown accustomed to one another, dropping formal titles in favor of first names.
"I've known for some time," Bone replied with a slight nod. "Ever since I became a Dark Ghost, she has been the benchmark I've set for myself. I've climbed from the twelfth rank to the second, all in anticipation of this moment."
"Why haven't you challenged her before?" Yu Yuan inquired.
"To lose the first battle is to lose them all," Bone said, his eyes gleaming with a wise light. "I realized long ago that she doesn't refuse challenges from other Dark Ghosts because she uses those of equal rank to hone her own skills."
"Poor fools, they never grasp that a first battle fought without preparation or confidence, once lost, is lost forever. They assume that because she never deals a fatal blow and offers a way out, they can rush into battle unprepared."
"And so, they lose that crucial first battle and lose it utterly."
"White Coat, having lost thrice, must have accepted the harsh truth, realizing victory was out of reach. That's why she left Horror Land to seek her fortunes elsewhere."
"In my eyes, White Coat didn't deserve to rank ahead of me the moment she lost that first battle to her."
With those final words, Bone surged forward, resolute and unflinching, his form streaking ahead like a blinding white comet.
Yu Yuan mulled over his words, mentally communicating with the cauldron soul, prompting the Evil Cauldron to also pick up speed.
"One defeat and victory is forever out of reach? Is that the true might of Luohou, the top-ranked Dark Ghost?" Yu Yuan's face was etched with gravity as he continued to utilize his Wisdom Eye. Drawing nearer to the Dark Mountain, a profound pressure began to envelop him, descending upon his Consciousness Little World.
Approaching the Dark Mountain, his three souls—Heaven, Earth, and Man—were besieged by an intense discomfort, the pressure mounting with every ten meters closed.
The sensation was akin to the Dark Mountain, a place where Luohou honed his spectral skills, slowly bearing down on his very soul.
His Niwan acupoint, his Consciousness Little World, felt as if an immense mountain loomed overhead!
"No! This isn't right! It's not a hallucination!"
Startled, he saw his "wisdom eye" wide open, with light scattering from the corners, and strands of spiritual consciousness shattered by the overwhelming force.
Boom!
Out of nowhere, a squat Dark Mountain materialized above his consciousness, looming over the souls of his inner world!
The grayish-white Dark Mountain, which seemed a mere two to three hundred meters tall to the naked eye, now towered over his consciousness, a colossal presence wrapped in countless blinding lightning bolts!
With a tyrannical might that could obliterate all earthly beings, it bore down upon his soul, inch by inch!
Rip! Crack!
In that instant, his consciousness felt as if it would burst at the seams.
His head throbbed with pain, and he sensed his mind was on the verge of exploding. His soul, his thoughts, his very essence would be ground into dust, dissipating into a mist of blood.
"Luohou Spectre!"
Yu Yuan's furious roar erupted from his throat as his eyes, under the crushing force, turned a bloodshot red, with veins bursting forth.
The Soul Forging Technique, the Ghosting Arts, all the intricate Soul Arts and secret techniques he knew—his ability to even recall them in his thoughts was suddenly stripped away.
In the brief seconds the grayish-white Dark Mountain had emerged within his consciousness, his sanity had shattered.
"Master!"
The cauldron soul's voice, frantic with urgency, boomed like thunder in his consciousness, as if the towering, majestic Dark Mountain was under siege by countless meteoric thunderbolts.
Yet the Dark Mountain stood unyielding, continuing its descent, threatening to obliterate his soul.
The feeling of being choked, on the brink of asphyxiation, rose within Yu Yuan, leaving him with the harrowing realization that no amount of struggle could alter his fate—he was slowly dying.
Huuu!
As a result of practicing the "Ghosting Arts," the Earth Soul, which had been forcibly separated, was now violently pulled back into alignment with the main soul and Heaven Soul under the immense pressure.
The three souls coalesced in an instant, and tens of thousands of strands of spiritual awareness fused into a single force, surging into the colossal Void Soul.
A massive Void Soul, born from the union of the three souls, swelled to ten million times its size in a mere moment, dwarfing the Dark Mountain by an unfathomable degree.
Within his Consciousness Little World, the now-gargantuan Void Soul loomed like a deity or demon, casting a cold gaze upon the world below.
The towering Dark Mountain, once a thousand feet high, was reduced to mere dust in comparison to the Void Soul, beyond any comparison.
The Void Soul opened its maw, emitting a bizarre whistle that resounded like divine retribution, making the very heavens and earth tremble.
The Dark Mountain, having abruptly appeared in his Consciousness Little World, shook violently, fissures spreading across its surface before it burst apart with a thunderous explosion.
Yu Yuan, plagued by an excruciating headache, succumbed to a fleeting, disorienting stupor.
The true form within the cauldron was whisked into the cauldron's own little world with a "whoosh," collapsing onto the ground, body convulsing, drenched in sweat as if caught in a downpour.
Meanwhile, in the external realm, the White Coat Mercurial stood at the base of Dark Mountain, witnessing its faint quiver.
The White Coat Mercurial, puzzled yet uninquiring, suddenly erupted into a blaze of ghostly white flames, bellowing, "White Bone calls for battle!"
"I, Luohou, have awaited this moment for years." A slender shadow drifted out from Dark Mountain, not first addressing the White Coat Mercurial but instead fixing its gaze on the trailing Evil Cauldron. "The envoy of the Divine Soul Sect has arrived; please, grace us with your presence."
