C880 Evil Invasion!
Where am I?
Who am I?
I...
As strands of residual soul fragments coalesced within the soul puppet, Qi Yunhong gradually regained consciousness, much like one awakens from a deep slumber.
Shouldn't I be dead?
With this thought, Qi Yunhong gazed blankly at his surroundings.
Ugh!
A soft, dreamlike cry of fear escaped him, and his whole body shuddered with the instinctive urge to kneel and offer reverence.
What sort of being was this?
Before him loomed a phantom of such immense size it defied imagination, reminiscent of the sovereign of deities from legends, akin to the ancient God-King, presiding over an unknown realm, its hands propping up what seemed to be a table formed from the collective nightmares of all beings.
Next to this colossal phantom, Qi Yunhong felt insignificant, like an ant, fearing that even his gaze was an affront, a grave disrespect to such a presence.
He found himself unable to harbor any thoughts of defiance. With no hesitation, he chose submission.
The immense phantom, bathed in an infinite glow of mystery, appeared to watch him in silence, scrutinizing his every move.
With each tremor that shook Qi Yunhong, he was astonished to discover that his residual soul and fragmented thoughts were solidifying upon his newly reconstituted Lunar Spirit, as if he had been resurrected.
Memories, once shattered and disjointed, now coalesced into a coherent whole.
He remembered the moment when Qu Jing, Chong Xiao, and Tianjing had stealthily approached as he had just transformed his heaven soul into the Solar Spirit Body, using his soul and purified spiritual energy to forge the Solar Spirit Body, augmented by the Soulsear Bolt.
He had just achieved a breakthrough when his Lunar Spirit detonated within his Illusion Orb, and his Solar Spirit Body was ravaged by the backlash of the Soulsear Bolt.
"Damn traitor, how dare you betray me! You sought to merge with the Spectral Umbrella and willingly betrayed me to Qu Jing!" Qi Yunhong raged, nearly driven to madness by the recollection of those events.
"No, that's not right. Shouldn't I be alright?"
The next moment, he realized that his Lunar Spirit, once obliterated, had been restored to its original state.
"I..."
Qi Yunhong opened his mouth to address the towering phantom but found himself overawed into silence.
Suddenly, he sensed a divine force infusing his Lunar Spirit!
Seamlessly, he established a mental link with the fragments of his own Solar Spirit in the outside world, giving rise to an extraordinary epiphany where the Lunar Spirit took precedence, with the Solar Spirit harmoniously complementing it.
"Thunder Movement!"
The deeply ingrained principles of thunder magic were naturally operated by his incomplete Solar Spirit.
Within the Illusion Orb's little world:
Dozens of scarlet electric snakes, each with differing heads and tails, connected to form a massive ring.
At the center of the ring, innumerable lightning bolts intertwined, crackling loudly.
On the forehead of each electric snake, Qi Yunhong's consciousness was alert. He reassessed the unfolding events with a mix of confusion, scrutiny, and caution.
Qu Jing, holding the Spectral Umbrella, approached steadily.
The Frost Queen was merely a formidable Bane, exuding the icy aura of the Frozen Hellscape. Yet, she likely lacked understanding of the soul essence, so how could she possibly aid Qi Yunhong in finding freedom?
Qu Jing pondered this to himself, but the thought of Chong Xiao's imminent arrival eased his concerns.
Yu Yuan, too, found the situation peculiar.
As Qi Yunhong's residual soul and self-awareness reassembled within the soul puppet, he too sensed a connection.
Then, he noticed the madman he had once encountered in Afnetalos was shivering at the sight of him, seemingly too afraid to even meet his gaze directly.
You're looking at nothing more than a puppet inhabited by my Lunar Spirit. What is there to fear?
Yu Yuan was unaware that the image Qi Yunhong perceived inside the soul puppet was entirely different from his own perception.
Yet, he could sense that after the initial shock, Qi Yunhong rapidly adjusted his mindset. He promptly declared his loyalty and submission with an utmost humble demeanor.
Without needing any explanation, he understood that this Thunder Sect defector and Qi family outcast was wholeheartedly obedient to him.
"This must be the malevolent influence of the soul puppet!"
With this realization, his Lunar Spirit withdrew from the soul puppet and returned to his real body.
A shadow of the Lunar Spirit, composed of remnant soul and fragmented memories, remained within the premier soul puppet.
"Uh!"
At that moment, Qi Yunhong, who had been shivering, suddenly felt the overwhelming power that had stifled him and made him too intimidated to even look up, had departed the space.
Looking again, Qi Yunhong saw Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan sat at the head of the table, hands pressed against the surface, his presence no longer exuding the terrifying solemnity and authority that once made him quiver.
Qi Yunhong reflected for a moment and had an epiphany; he suspected that Yu Yuan had been taken over by an ancient, inconceivably powerful being.
It was this entity that had resurrected him and restored his consciousness.
Uncomfortably, he manipulated his wooden arms, placing them against his chest in a gesture of humility and sincerity. In a soft voice, he declared, "Your loyal and humble servant, Qi Yunhong, swears fealty unto death!"
"Your loyal and humble servant, Qi Yunhong, swears fealty unto death!" The same proclamation echoed from the foreheads of the numerous red electric snakes, creating a resounding and powerful chorus.
In the center of the circle formed by the electric snakes, countless intersecting bolts of lightning burst forth.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Emerging from behind Qu Jing, under the same large black umbrella, was a girl with a pale complexion, two ponytails, and a forceful cough.
She possessed an ethereal beauty, unlike that of a human.
"That's the artifact soul of the Illusion Orb."
At that moment, Yu Yiyi's voice emerged quietly from the cauldron spirit.
Yu Yuan, clutching the soul puppet, had fully awakened with the return of the Lunar Spirit. He stood up straight, smiling radiantly at Qu Jing.
Following the girl, a boy with a striking resemblance to her appeared behind Qu Jing, his face equally pale.
Both the boy and the girl were artifact souls.
Without needing a reminder from Yu Yiyi, he recognized that the abruptly appearing boy must be the artifact soul of the Spectral Umbrella.
Both artifacts, remnants of the fallen Shifting Shadows sect, were inherently complementary. The boy and girl, resembling siblings, shared a striking similarity in both appearance and aura.
Chi! Chi! Chi!
At that moment, the ring of red electric snakes seemed to be manipulated by Qi Yunhong's will, their ends miraculously fusing together.
The girl, racked with coughs, her eyes white with pain, struggled and pleaded, "Master, Master, he seeks to regain control over me!" She turned to Qu Jing for rescue.
"Wretch! You are my servant!"
The many Qi Yunhongs at the forefront of the red electric snakes shrieked with a crazed and vicious tone.
Deep within the pitch-black sky, a tempest brewed, and the visible land quivered violently, as if it were a carpet being shaken.
Silver lightning streaked across the confined space, illuminating glimpses of scarlet flesh and blood in its wake.
"Young, Young Master..." Qin Yun, with an embarrassed look, re-entered the Crucible of Evil. He cast a wary glance at the soul puppet in Yu Yuan's grasp. "Earlier, I thought that thing had taken possession of you."
Yu Yuan nodded, his smile easy and unconcerned.
The soul puppet's power was extraordinary and shrouded in mystery. With the aid of his Wraithbinding technique, Qi Yunhong's Lunar Spirit had been resurrected. It seemed that the Lunar Spirit, bolstered by the soul puppet, was attempting to reclaim the Illusion Orb.
Qu Jing had presented two paths: either shatter the illusory heavens of the Illusion Orb or find and kill Qu Jing himself. Clearly, following Qu Jing's advice would be a certain path to death.
The presence of the soul puppet enabled Yu Yuan to resurrect Qi Yunhong's Lunar Spirit, allowing Qi Yunhong to vie for control of the Illusion Orb.
Once the Illusion Orb was back in Qi Yunhong's possession, couldn't he leave at any time? As soon as he exited this little world and made contact with the Moonfall Sanctuary, Yan Qiling would pinpoint his location. What then would there be to fear?
"The flesh and blood lie beyond the lightning's fissure. Where is this orb?" Yu Yuan inquired with curiosity.
"Guess," Qu Jing responded.
In that moment, the young man and woman pressed their hands together. The young man's soul, empowered by the Spectral Umbrella, seemed to be merging into the young woman's body, aiding her in withstanding Qi Yunhong.
"It's inside me," came the reply from Qi Yunhong, his demeanor calm but his eyes wild, as he merged with the crimson electric snake.
"Hey! Traitor, how dare you betray me!" Qi Yunhong burst into a menacing laugh. "You want to stay with that kid, but I won't let you have your way! Yes, it's indeed quite difficult for me to control you with the two of you working together. No matter, I'd rather destroy what I cannot possess!"
Crackle and pop!
In the pitch-black sky, electric snakes danced wildly, and the flat wilderness vibrated furiously, crisscrossed with ravines.
The crimson electric snakes, amidst their fusion, shot towards the heavens, then abruptly burst apart mid-flight, transforming into innumerable delicate arcs of lightning that stabbed into the depths of the occasional tears in the fabric of space.
Qu Jing's face turned ashen, "Mad dog!"
Qi Yunhong's current actions weren't about reclaiming ownership of the Illusion Orb, nor were they about retrieving the rare treasure that was rightfully his.
He was intent on destruction!
Qu Jing came to the sudden realization that he shouldn't have tried to predict Qi Yunhong's actions with the rationale of a sane person.
This lunatic had no desire to reclaim the Illusion Orb and then use it to merge with his Spectral Umbrella, thereby significantly enhancing his combat power and status.
From the outset, that madman had no such plans!
The artifact soul of the Illusion Orb had willingly aligned itself with Qu Jing, and sensing betrayal, Qi Yunhong was determined to obliterate the Illusion Orb!
"Just come back obediently now, and I'll still end you!" Qi Yunhong snarled viciously.
No sooner had he spoken than the little world around them began to shatter. Numerous luminous fissures burst open, revealing a macabre vista of blood and flesh beyond them. "Even if I perish and turn to the Lunar Spirit to practice necromancy, you will perish first!"
