C744 He Kept His Promise!
The white bones, ensnared behind a flower basket, were being tugged at by a host of ghostly spirits, slowly sapping his soul power.
Crackle! Snap!
From his luminescent skeletal frame, ghastly white flames erupted, scorching the basket's weave. Every so often, a flame would stubbornly reach out like ivy, only to be snuffed out by spectral hands and violently yanked back into the confines of the basket.
The flower basket, wielded by the Luohou Ghost King, was no ordinary Soul Artifact. Trapped within, the white bones writhed futilely, unable to escape, their consciousness eroded by encroaching soul shadows.
His sacred flames, capable of cleansing the foulest of spirits, were rendered impotent within the basket, unable to reach the Luohou Ghost King and thus, ineffective.
Luohou Ghost King hadn't lied; a vast chasm lay between the Ghost King and lesser ghosts. The Soul Arts they wielded and the secrets they unearthed seemed to exist on entirely different planes.
After Luohou's ascension to Ghost King, the white bones' obstinate challenge was nothing short of a death wish.
It was only when Luohou Ghost King struck with intent that the white bones realized the futility of his efforts, managing only to let out desperate cries for Yu Yuan's assistance.
The power of Luohou was rooted in the Dark Mountain behind her, the stream within it connecting to the source of Yin energy.
Without external intervention, the white bones stood no chance of victory within the basket, for he soon recognized that the soul shadows, drawn from his peers, were fueled by the vast Yin Qi of the Dark Mountain and the stream, animated by the most intricate Ghost Soul Arts.
Battling these puppet soul shadows was a pointless endeavor. They drained his strength, and even if he were to vanquish them one by one, he could not touch the Luohou Ghost King, posing no real threat.
His only recourse was to seek aid from Yu Yuan.
"Shatter the Dark Mountain!"
The white bone's piercing cry resonated in Yu Yuan's ears, prompting him to instinctively draw his sword sheath.
At that moment, the cauldron soul of the Evil Cauldron interjected, "Master, Luohou is a Ghost King! She had already warned the white bones to depart, yet he chose to defy her. Master, do you truly wish to join the white bones in challenging a newly crowned Ghost King in the Horror Land?"
The cauldron soul possessed a profound insight into the formidable strength of the Ghost King. Upon entering this perilous realm, the memories of the Artifact Soul began to resurface incrementally.
In the Horror Land, the Ghost King reigned nearly invincible!
Yu Yuan, who had managed to reach this place in his true form, indeed held a significant advantage. However, against a Ghost King at his zenith, the cauldron soul harbored no illusions of victory.
Even with all the Evil Devils deployed in formation, they were no match for the Ghost King at the moment.
The cauldron soul was loath to see Yu Yuan's efforts in the Horror Land come to naught and felt compelled to offer a warning.
The cauldron soul itself wished for Yu Yuan to recognize the peril and retreat.
"I made a promise to him."
Clutching the sword sheath, Yu Yuan sighed deeply, his gaze fixed on the white bones being dragged by numerous spirits and ghosts, slowly descending to the bottom of the basket.
The white bones exuded a dignified pride.
He could have let out another fierce howl, could have spoken further, but after indicating the target for Yu Yuan's strike, he fell silent.
He watched as nearly a hundred malevolent ghostly shadows frenziedly consumed his soul power.
Looking down, he could see a small world beneath the basket, seemingly filled with countless withered bones—whose origin, gathered by the Luohou Ghost King, was a mystery.
As he beheld those bones, a chilling realization dawned upon him...
He, too, was destined to become one of those newly withered skeletons at the bottom of the basket, his spirit extinguished.
Suddenly, a cascade of crimson sword light sliced through the gloom overhead, like a meteor shower.
In the moment the white bones, on the verge of being engulfed by the basket, caught sight of the scarlet gleam, their green pupils flared with a dazzling brilliance!
"He's making his move!"
The white bone ghost, having spent considerable time with Yu Yuan, recognized the distinctive scarlet sword light instantly.
With the emergence of the sword light, he knew without a doubt that Yu Yuan had honored their trust!
Despite knowing he was up against a Ghost King of the Horror Land, and even though he was encircled, Yu Yuan stayed true to his initial pledge, coming to his aid upon his call!
"I wasn't mistaken about him!"
The plummeting white bones vibrated with a newfound, inexplicable surge of vitality!
"Fallen Moon Slash!"
Yu Yuan silently channeled the mantra, feeling the fusion of spiritual power, life force, and consciousness, as he channeled a torrent of energy into the sword sheath. The sensation of that unbridled power, like a river breaking its banks, welled up within him once more.
Sword light cascaded like a waterfall, one after another, slashing towards the iridescent Dark Mountain.
A continuous stream of crimson sword light fell from the sky above the Dark Mountain, like a dazzling river of stars. It was captured and dragged into the Horror Land, crashing against the Dark Mountain.
The sword light, imbued with the profound truths of the Heavenly Dao and the cosmic laws, struck the Dark Mountain.
Boom!
The iridescent Dark Mountain erupted in billions of glittering shards. Each shimmer held the power of Luohou's enlightenment and the abundant essence of the Yin Vein's source.
Crack!
Small stones shattered and flew from the Dark Mountain under the assault of the crimson sword light.
"How dare you?!"
The Luohou Ghost King, having tossed aside her flower basket, watched in a frenzy as the Dark Mountain—her century-long labor of refinement—suffered damage from Yu Yuan's strike.
"Even a guest from the Divine Soul Sect must show restraint within my domain!"
The Luohou Ghost King's voice thundered as her frail soul shadow soared into the sky.
In a mere moment, it expanded a thousandfold, standing atop billowing clusters of Yin Qi. Like an ancient, malevolent spirit from the depths of hell, her colossal soul shadow towered over the heavens. Bending forward, she extended a hand vast enough to eclipse the sky, aiming a mighty blow at the Evil Cauldron where Yu Yuan lay hidden.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A vicious, icy gale, amplified a hundredfold by the Luohou Ghost King's descent, began its rampage from miles away, howling and emitting ear-piercing shrieks.
It arrived in an instant!
The brutal, icy wind lashed against the dark demonic light barrier with the crackling fury of lightning. Inside the cauldron's microcosm, the refined devils were swiftly summoned, one after another, to reinforce the barrier's breaches.
Yu Yuan, standing within the cauldron, watched as dozens of devils were reduced to ash in mere moments.
He understood that the Luohou Ghost King had intensified the cold wind to shatter the demonic light barrier, aiming to rend his flesh and shatter his bones, to ensure his physical form perished first.
Without having reached the Yin God Stage, his physical form would be destroyed, and his soul would inevitably perish as well.
The Luohou Ghost King's method was to obliterate him completely, using the perfect timing and location to ensure both his body and soul were annihilated.
"What's the point of all this?" lamented the cauldron soul internally, torn between the pain of losing the painstakingly refined devils and the sense of futility.
Yu Yuan, however, remained unmoved by the cauldron soul's laments. Gripping the sword sheath, he pointed steadfastly at the iridescent Dark Mountain, his gaze intense and earnest. He poured all his effort into summoning Spiritual Energy, Qi, and Spiritual Sense, firing a relentless barrage of crimson sword beams at the treasure-lit Dark Mountain.
The Fallen Moon Slash was not a mere single strike but a ceaseless onslaught. As long as the triad of powers remained, the slash could persist without end.
"Regardless of the outcome, I am bound by my promise. All the power I've amassed will be depleted by the Fallen Moon Slash, with no reservations," he declared, his words intended for the cauldron soul alone.
It was the cauldron soul who, in this crucial moment, could still hear his soul's thoughts and precisely grasp his intentions.
"The new master is as obstinate as you," the cauldron soul sighed softly, yet refrained from further comments that might distract Yu Yuan. Instead, it chose to fully support its new master, disregarding the losses to the Evil Cauldron, and exerted every effort to shield the master's body from the harsh, biting winds.
In a hushed tone, the Luohou Ghost King murmured, "Enter the spirit!"
Whoosh!
A ghostly shadow flickered momentarily in the palm of her other hand. Within her palm, clusters of enigmatic soul imprints appeared, like the footprints of deities, emerging silently only to vanish just as quietly.
It was as though an unseen deity had stepped through her palm, venturing into an obscure and deep secret realm.
Then, quite suddenly, another Luohou Ghost King drifted gracefully into Yu Yuan's Consciousness Little World. The barriers of the Evil Cauldron, Yu Yuan's spiritual defenses, and his perceptions were all oblivious to this intrusion.
In Yu Yuan's Consciousness Little World, the slender figure of the Luohou Ghost King materialized from thin air.
Perched atop a diminutive Seven-colored Treasure Mountain, only twice her size, she gazed at Yu Yuan's soul with a furrowed brow, her face etched with confusion. "I'm quite eager to see just what it is that managed to shatter my premier soul technique."
Rising gracefully, the mountain beneath her morphed into a keenly pointed awl.
"Go!"
With a flick of her sleeve, the radiant, seven-colored awl shot forth, aiming straight for Yu Yuan's soul.
"Yu Yuan, do me the honor of revealing the Divine Soul Sect's secret arts to me!"
