C744 I will Keep My Promise!
White Bone was ensnared in a flower basket, surrounded by a horde of Spectres that tugged at him, steadily draining his Soul Power.
Rip! Rip!
The ethereal white flames emanating from his skeletal form set the basket ablaze. Occasionally, a flame would tenaciously reach out like ivy, only to be swiftly snuffed out by the ghosts and yanked back into the basket.
The flower basket, wielded by Rahu, the Ghost King, was no ordinary Horcrux. White Bone struggled within, unable to escape, his mind continuously eroded by the phantoms. His sacred flames, which once purified the heavens of evil spirits, were ineffective, unable to escape the basket or touch Rahu.
Rahu was right; there was an unbridgeable gulf between the Spectres and the Ghost King. The powers they wielded and the arcane Spirit Magic they mastered seemed to exist on entirely different planes.
White Bone's defiance in challenging Rahu after her ascension to Ghost King was nothing short of a death wish. It was only when Rahu took action that White Bone realized, despite his full might, he could do little more than let out desperate cries for Yu Yuan's assistance.
Behind Rahu, the power of Shadow Mountain and the stream that connected to the Root of the Lunar Meridian served as her wellspring of strength. Without external intervention, White Bone stood no chance of victory within the confines of the basket.
White Bone soon recognized that the Spectres, drawing upon the formidable Yin Qi of Shadow Mountain and the stream, were invigorated by the Spectres' most refined Spirit Magic. Battling these puppet phantoms was futile; they sapped his strength, and even if he were to vanquish them one by one, Rahu would remain unscathed, posing no threat.
His only recourse was to seek help from Yu Yuan.
"Shatter Shadow Mountain!"
White Bone's piercing cry resonated in Yu Yuan's ears, prompting him to instinctively draw his sword sheath. It was then that the cauldron spirit of the "Crucible of Evil" intervened, "Master, Rahu is a Ghost King! She had already warned White Bone to leave, yet he stubbornly chose to show off his might. Master, do you truly intend to join White Bone in challenging a newly risen Ghost King in the Land of Terror?"
The artifact soul had a profound realization of the Ghost King's might. As the "Bane" presence grew, its memories, which had been slowly resurfacing in the Nether Reaches, became clearer.
In the Land of Terror, the Ghost King was nearly unbeatable!
Yu Yuan's arrival in his real body certainly gave him a significant edge, but against a Ghost King at his peak, the cauldron spirit doubted there was even a sliver of hope for victory.
Even with all the Bane Demons deployed in formation, they were no match for the Ghost King at the moment.
The cauldron spirit, not wanting Yu Yuan's efforts in the Land of Terror to go to waste, attempted to warn him.
It, too, wished he would recognize the difficulty and retreat.
"I made a promise to him."
Clutching the sword sheath, Yu Yuan let out a deep sigh as he gazed intently at the white bone being dragged by numerous ghosts and spectres, slowly descending to the bottom of the basket.
White Bone had his own sense of pride.
He could have howled again, could have spoken more, but after indicating the target for Yu Yuan's attack, he fell silent.
He watched as nearly a hundred malevolent Spectre phantoms frenziedly consumed his Soul Power.
Lowering his gaze, he could see the little world beneath the basket, seemingly piled high with innumerable bones. It was unclear where Rahu, the Ghost King, had gathered them from to line the bottom of the basket.
As he looked at those bones, White Bone was struck by a sudden realization...
He, too, would become one of those new skeletons at the bottom of the basket, his soul extinguished.
Suddenly, a cascade of crimson sword light swept across the dark firmament above White Bone, like a meteor shower.
In the moment he saw the flash of crimson sword light, White Bone's green eyes sparkled with a dazzling brilliance.
"He's making his move!"
White Bone, who had been in close company with Yu Yuan for some time, recognized the signature crimson sword light all too well.
As soon as the sword light appeared, he knew Yu Yuan had honored their trust!
Despite knowing he was up against a Ghost King in the Land of Terror, and even though he was encircled, Yu Yuan kept to their original agreement and chose to draw his sword to assist after White Bone's signal.
"I chose the right person!"
The plummeting White Bone felt his soul shake as a mysterious and vigorous energy surged within him.
"Moonfall Strike!"
Yu Yuan silently invoked the name of the technique, feeling the fusion of spiritual energy, vitality, and spiritual sense. He channeled this torrent of power into the sword sheath, experiencing the exhilarating sensation of a dam bursting forth, a feeling so intense it was as if he was on the brink of life and death.
Sword light cascaded like a waterfall, relentlessly striking the iridescent Shadow Mountain in a continuous stream.
The unending crimson sword light fell from the skies above Shadow Mountain, painting a spectacle akin to a resplendent river of stars in the Star River, forcibly drawn into the Land of Terror and hurled against the mountain.
These sword lights, imbued with the profound truths of the Heavenly Dao and the cosmic laws, relentlessly assaulted Shadow Mountain.
Boom!
The iridescent Shadow Mountain erupted, scattering billions of twinkling lights. Each shimmer held the power of Rahu's enlightenment and the abundant essence of Yin Qi from the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
Crack!
Small stones sheared off the radiant Shadow Mountain under the onslaught of the crimson sword light.
"How dare you!"
Rahu, the Ghost King, having cast aside the flower basket and now empty-handed, watched in a frenzy as the Shadow Mountain, which had taken a century to refine, suffered damage from Yu Yuan's sword.
"Even guests from Boulderdawn must show restraint within my domain!"
Rahu's voice thundered as the slender, frail phantom soared into the air.
In a mere moment, it expanded a thousandfold, standing upon billowing clusters of dense Yin Qi. Like an ancient evil spirit from the depths of hell, the colossal phantom reached across the heavens, bending down and extending a hand that could obscure the sky, aiming a crushing blow at the Crucible of Evil where Yu Yuan was concealed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A viciously cold wind, now a hundred times more ferocious, began to swirl and howl from miles away, driven by the Rahu Ghost King's descent, emitting a piercing shriek that could rupture eardrums.
It arrived in a flash!
The brutal wind lashed against the dark magical barrier, crackling like lightning. Inside the cauldron's little world, the Bane were swiftly summoned, one after another, to reinforce the magical barrier and mend its breaches.
Yu Yuan, standing within the cauldron, witnessed dozens of Bane reduced to ash in mere moments.
He understood that the wind, intensified by Rahu, aimed to shatter the Demon Light barrier, to rend the flesh and shatter the bones of his real body, ensuring that his corporeal form would perish first.
Before he could reach the Lunar Spirit state, his corporeal body would perish, and his soul would inevitably follow, ceasing to exist.
The Ghost King Rahu's method was a fundamental erasure, using the perfect moment and location to ensure his complete annihilation!
"Why must it come to this?"
The cauldron spirit lamented inwardly, torn between the pain of losing the painstakingly refined Bane and the sense of futility.
Yu Yuan heard the cauldron spirit's inner turmoil, yet his demeanor remained unchanged.
He continued to hold his sword sheath, pointing towards the iridescent Shadow Mountain with a focused and earnest gaze. He relentlessly channeled spiritual energy, vitality, and spiritual sense, striving to unleash a barrage of crimson sword lights at the luminous Shadow Mountain.
The Moonfall Strike was not a mere single blow, but a relentless onslaught!
As long as the triad of forces wasn't depleted, the strike could persist without end!
"Regardless of the outcome, I will honor my word. All the power I've amassed will be expended in the Moonfall Strike without reservation!"
This resolve was meant for the cauldron spirit's ears alone.
Only the cauldron spirit could, at this moment, truly hear his soul's thoughts and grasp the nuances of his heart.
"The new master is a stubborn one like you. Whether that's good or bad fortune remains to be seen." The cauldron spirit sighed softly, refraining from further comments that might distract Yu Yuan. Instead, it chose to support its new master unconditionally, exerting every effort to shield his physical form from the biting cold winds.
Rahu, the Ghost King, murmured softly, "Enter the spirit realm!"
Whoosh!
A shadowy wraith flickered into existence from the palm of her other hand.
Within her palm, a series of enigmatic soul marks emerged, resembling the footprints of deities, only to vanish as quietly as they had appeared.
It was as if an unseen deity had stepped through her palm, venturing into the unknown depths of the Mysterious Realm.
Suddenly, another form of Rahu, the Ghost King, gracefully drifted into Yu Yuan's Mindscape.
The magical barrier of the Crucible of Evil, Yu Yuan's spiritual sense barrier, his thoughts, and perceptions were all oblivious to her presence.
In Yu Yuan's Mindscape, the slender Rahu, the Ghost King, materialized from nothingness.
Perched atop a miniature iridescent treasure mountain, which was merely twice her size, she gazed at Yu Yuan's heaven, earth, and man soul with a look of vexation. Her face etched with confusion, she mused, "I'm quite curious to see what exactly managed to shatter my first technique of Spirit Magic."
Rising to her feet, the iridescent mountain beneath her morphed into a razor-sharp awl.
"Go!"
With a flick of her sleeve, the gleaming, iridescent awl shot towards Yu Yuan's soul.
"Yu Yuan, do indulge me with a closer examination of your Boulderdawn's arcane Spirit Magic!"
