C746 I Don't Want to Wait!
The moment Rahu lifted the flower basket, a cascade of seven-colored light streamed from her arm into it. At the base of the basket, phantoms on the brink of death were instantly revitalized, bursting with new life. She didn't spare the basket a glance, confident that her strange power would safeguard the phantoms from the Spectres' imprint.
Puff! The stark white flames left behind by White Bone were snuffed out in an instant as he departed. The flower basket radiated a seven-colored glow as mesmerizing as the iridescence of Shadow Mountain, so resplendent and magical that onlookers were overwhelmed by its beauty.
She might have been unassuming, but the flower basket in her hands and the Shadow Mountain she relied upon were marvels of wonder.
"Go!" Rahu commanded, hurling the re-energized flower basket once more.
The basket swelled abruptly, unleashing a torrent of seven-colored rainbows that scattered Yu Yuan's crimson sword light from his Moonfall Strike in every direction. The rainbows surged into Shadow Mountain, voraciously consuming the iridescent psionic power within like a ravenous anaconda.
Soon, the rainbows, satiated, surged back toward the flower basket. Having feasted, the seven-colored lights had grown significantly, their contained psionic power now even more potent and refined. The sight was so awe-inspiring that it took one's breath away.
"It's enough," White Bone declared.
Yu Yuan's tension melted away, and he no longer forced the Moonfall Strike. His remaining spiritual sense, vitality, and spiritual energy rushed back to his three mud pellet acupoints. Overwhelmed by an intense wave of fatigue, he yearned for a deep sleep.
He recognized this as the aftereffect of his drained spiritual sense and the sudden release from extreme mental focus. Shaking off the discomfort, he drew two pills from his Bracelet of Holding and swallowed them—one to benefit the soul, the other to nourish vitality, both prepared in advance.
As the pills took effect, his spiritual sense coalesced once more, and vitality trickled into his Profound Gate acupoints, reviving him slightly.
"The Moonfall Strike really packs a punch."
A bitter taste rose in his heart as he focused intently, scrutinizing the situation before him.
At that moment, many fragments of stone had tumbled down to the base of Shadow Mountain, their iridescent glow dimmed by the fall.
The newly ascended Rahu, the Ghost King, hovered over a pile of rubble, gazing sorrowfully at the stones that had broken away from Shadow Mountain. "White Bone, Yu Yuan, and Miss Jiang Xingwen, have I wronged any of you?"
She lifted her head, first locking eyes with Yu Yuan inside the Crucible of Evil, then shifting her gaze to Jiang Xingwen.
Finally, she withdrew her attention and settled it on White Bone, who stood at the foot of Shadow Mountain.
Jiang Xingwen hesitated before speaking with a sense of resignation, "I hold no personal grudge."
Yu Yuan furrowed his brow and gave a slight shake of his head.
White Bone, with his emerald eyes, maintained his silence.
The silent White Bone didn't even meet Rahu's gaze, seemingly unaware of her questioning.
White Bone's focus was entirely on the shards, each one cleaved from the mountain by Yu Yuan's Moonfall Strike.
To him, these iridescent shards shone like the most exquisite treasures, their beauty unparalleled.
Excitement flickered in White Bone's eyes, lighting them up with each pulse.
Witnessing White Bone's unusual reaction, Yu Yuan experienced an epiphany deep within.
It seemed as though White Bone had sought an alliance with him, inviting him to battle with the ulterior motive of using the keen edge of his Moonfall Strike to harvest these stones from the iridescent Shadow Mountain.
"How peculiar," Rahu, the Ghost King, murmured with a ghostly sigh. "We share no enmity, yet you, White Bone, insist on challenging me, bent on my demise. What could possibly be your reasoning? Do you aspire to become the Ghost King by ensuring my soul is utterly extinguished? Are you not aware that the Yin Qi in the Land of Terror is amassing swiftly, and it won't be long before it gives rise to another Ghost King?"
"With your strength, White Bone, there's no need to slay me; you could still ascend to become a Ghost King."
Rahu spread his hands, adopting a posture of reason and logic.
Jiang Xingwen squinted thoughtfully and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, that is true."
Holding the River of Souls, she could sense even the subtlest shifts in the Root of the Lunar Meridian more acutely than the Ghost King of the Land of Terror. She was certain that Rahu's assertions were correct.
In time, once the Yin Qi within the Root of the Lunar Meridian intensified to a new peak, it would provide fertile ground for the emergence of a new Ghost King.
At that moment, all White Bone needed was the right opportunity, and he could effortlessly claim the throne.
There was truly no need for a life-and-death struggle with Rahu.
"I know," White Bone said, his emerald gaze cold and detached. "I'm well aware. With or without you, I can become the Ghost King if I'm patient enough."
"And you?" Rahu inquired.
"Because I don't want to wait," White Bone answered earnestly.
A surge of uncontrollable rage flashed across Rahu's face.
She was like a volcano, suddenly roused from slumber. "You, White Bone, are you so ignorant of your place? Do you think that victory is enough, that I would never slay my enemies?"
"I've never believed that," White Bone replied, unafraid. "The you of the past accumulated power to ascend to Ghost King through such means. Now that you've claimed the title, you no longer need to follow the same path. I'm aware that you're capable of unleashing a bloodbath."
"And yet you dare to provoke me!"
With a soft shriek, Rahu swooped into the iridescent flower basket atop Shadow Mountain. As if the basket had been filled with energy, it soared back and was swiftly caught by her.
Boom!
Shadow Mountain, already modest in height, suddenly sank after the departure of the flower basket.
The mountain plummeted dozens of meters into the earth's depths!
It seemed as though the cascading iridescent rainbows spilling from the basket had, in a brief span, drained the psionic power hidden within Shadow Mountain, causing its thunderous descent.
The once-empty basket, now grasped by Rahu, felt immensely heavy, as if an unbearable weight bore down upon them, threatening to shatter their very souls.
"Rise!"
White Bone, enveloped in a brilliant aura, blazed with fierce white flames.
Each stone, hewn from the mountain by Yu Yuan's Moonfall Strike, had its iridescent glow effortlessly erased by another unseen force.
The stones burst into a radiant silver in an instant, swirling around White Bone like a constellation of stars.
White Bone's gleaming, bony fingers came together like a blade, tracing patterns in the void. The silver stones shone brilliantly, mirroring the light emanating from his skeletal form.
The light, with its power to purify all things and leave no place for vile spirits to hide, radiated from his presence.
In that moment, White Bone stood like a deity among the celestial bodies, the energy flowing from him pure and divine. It was inconceivable to associate such sanctity with a mere sinister skeleton.
"Miss Jiang, I appreciate your efforts in halting the river's flow."
"Yu Yuan, I'm grateful you honored our agreement."
With his back to the pair, White Bone stepped through the star-like silver stones, making his way toward the iridescent Shadow Mountain.
"Please refrain from intervening in the upcoming battle. It is a confrontation solely between Rahu and me."