Chapter 1145: The Ghost King's Abilities
The Spirit Aspect that had nearly taken Ding Tianhua's life seemed utterly vulnerable before Yang Haoran, shattering in the blink of an eye in his hands, transforming into strands of Yin Qi and dissipating.
After shattering the Spirit Aspect, Yang Haoran did not strike again, but instead directed his gaze forward. There, a woman floated suspended in mid-air, powerful Communication Power radiating from within her.
Although the woman's gaze was fixed on Yang Haoran, she likewise did not rush to attack him. Her brows were tightly furrowed and her expression serious, her eyes filled with wariness as she looked at Yang Haoran.
"Heh heh, long time no see. I never expected to meet you here today; it truly is an honor."
Yang Haoran looked at the woman opposite him, speaking with a faint smile. Upon hearing Yang Haoran's words, the woman's brows furrowed even tighter, and a hint of confusion even appeared in her eyes.
From Yang Haoran's words, it was not difficult to tell that he knew this female Spirit Master; otherwise, he would not have spoken thus.
The reason the female Spirit Master looked confused was naturally because of Yang Haoran's words. Although she recognized the Death God attire Yang Haoran was wearing, and could tell from it that Yang Haoran was the Guardian of the Jingling Continent's Ninth District Yin Division, she had never seen Yang Haoran before then—at least, not to her recollection.
The meaning conveyed by Yang Haoran's words was clearly that they had met before, yet she had absolutely no memory of it, hence the confusion in her eyes.
Yang Haoran indeed recognized this woman. During the great upheaval in Cloud River City, he had gone to support Cloud River City under Luo Yao's arrangement. At the critical final moment of that incident, he had never expected a Great Spirit Master to suddenly appear, and this Great Spirit Master was the woman before him. If it weren't for Luo Yao, the Guardian, being there at the time, it would have been an unknown whether he could have survived and left Cloud River City after that support mission. He remembered this incident vividly, and his impression of this Great Spirit Master was even deeper.
Moreover, with Yang Haoran's ordinary appearance, even if this Great Spirit Master had noticed him back then, so much time had passed now that she surely would have completely forgotten him.
Yang Haoran saw the confusion in the Great Spirit Master's eyes, and he understood why she was confused. The smile on his face deepened a few shades, and then he spoke with a chuckle.
"Heh heh, it seems the Great Spirit Master has no impression of me left. But it doesn't matter; today, I will do my best to leave a deep impression on the Great Spirit Master."
As these words fell, Yang Haoran's gaze did not leave the Great Spirit Master. He snapped his fingers behind Ding Tianhua's back, and a dense cloud of Yin Qi appeared out of thin air, instantly enveloping Ding Tianhua's body.
The moment the Yin Qi enveloped his body, Ding Tianhua instinctively tried to resist. But then he sensed the powerful Spirit Power contained within this Yin Qi, and realizing that it originated from Yang Haoran, he gave up resisting, allowing the Yin Qi to envelop his body. Besides, in his current state, even if he wanted to resist, he could not have possibly succeeded.
Under the shroud of Yin Qi, Ding Tianhua was quickly sent away to a distance. This area, while not absolutely safe, was at least much safer than being in the region where Yang Haoran and the Great Spirit Master were.
The Great Spirit Master witnessed Ding Tianhua being sent away by Yang Haoran with her own eyes. However, she did not intervene to stop it. It wasn't that she didn't want to; if possible, she even wanted to eliminate Ding Tianhua immediately, so that the Jingling Continent Yin Division would lose another strong practitioner. But Yang Haoran was not a mere decoration. If she attacked Ding Tianhua, Yang Haoran would certainly stop her, and might even seize a weakness. Then, not only would she fail to eliminate Ding Tianhua, she might even harm herself. It was precisely because she considered this point that she did not recklessly intervene.
Yang Haoran had not yet fully unleashed all his strength. Judging from the power fluctuations emanating from him, he had only used the power of the mid-stage Earth Soul, and that, too, was the power of someone just entering the mid-stage Earth Soul. Yet even so, he was much stronger than the Great Spirit Master opposite him.
It wasn't that the Great Spirit Master opposite was too weak, but rather because during her battle with Ding Tianhua, she had also suffered serious injuries. Though relatively speaking, she was much better off than Ding Tianhua. It was precisely because of this that the power fluctuations erupting from this Great Spirit Master were weaker than Yang Haoran's.
Yang Haoran's decision to send Ding Tianhua far away was, of course, to prevent him from being affected by the ensuing battle. Once he started fighting the Great Spirit Master, the aftermath of the battle would certainly be more than Ding Tianhua, in his current state, could withstand. Therefore, to preserve Ding Tianhua's life as much as possible, he decided to send him away.
Since he had already decided to save Ding Tianhua's life, Yang Haoran naturally had to protect Ding Tianhua as much as possible. Otherwise, the small preparations he had just made to break down Ding Tianhua's psychological defenses would become meaningless.
The Great Spirit Master glanced at Ding Tianhua, who had been sent away by Yang Haoran, then refocused her gaze on Yang Haoran. Though her brows were tightly furrowed and her expression was not pleasant, there was not a trace of fear in her eyes.
"You seem very confident. That's right, you are in peak condition right now, while I am severely wounded. You indeed should have some confidence. However, too much confidence is not a good thing."
The Great Spirit Master spoke faintly. As her words fell, she swiftly formed hand seals, seemingly preparing to cast some formidable Spiritual Art.
The smile on Yang Haoran's face did not diminish. Seeing the Great Spirit Master forming hand seals to cast a Spiritual Art, he wasted no more words and immediately launched an attack on her. However, his chosen method of attack was not to form hand seals and cast a spell like the Great Spirit Master, but to directly control his Soul Armament to attack.
Remnant Moon hummed, then spun rapidly, its volume quickly contracting, instantly reverting to its normal size. It then shot swiftly towards the Great Spirit Master's location, not only moving with incredible speed but also possessing extreme sharpness, as if it would tear through space itself.
In the blink of an eye, Remnant Moon appeared before the Great Spirit Master, whose hand seals were not yet complete.
Just as Remnant Moon was about to hit the Great Spirit Master's body, at that very moment, the rapidly flying Remnant Moon suddenly froze in front of her, as if a pause button had been pressed.
Under normal circumstances, this scene would not occur, unless Yang Haoran, the controller, wished for Remnant Moon to stop. But Yang Haoran would absolutely not do that, because his original intention was to slay the Great Spirit Master; how could he possibly allow Remnant Moon to stop in front of the Great Spirit Master?
There was only one possibility for this to happen: an external force had suddenly bound Remnant Moon, and this force was extremely powerful; otherwise, it would be impossible to successfully bind Remnant Moon. Because Remnant Moon's power was inherently strong, it was not easy to successfully bind it. Furthermore, Remnant Moon was in a state of rapid flight; in such a situation, to successfully fix Remnant Moon in place and prevent it from moving, that was even more difficult. It would be impossible without absolute power.
As the master of Remnant Moon, Yang Haoran naturally knew why Remnant Moon was suspended in mid-air. This strike failed to hit its target; instead, his own Soul Armament was fixed in mid-air. In a sense, this strike of his was a failure. However, his expression did not change because of this, still maintaining a faint smile, as if everything was under his control.
Remnant Moon vibrated, emitting a hum, trying to break free from the binding force. A dense mass of Yin Qi shot swiftly from a distance, and in the blink of an eye, it stopped in front of the Great Spirit Master. The Yin Qi violently churned, then coalesced and took shape, transforming into a young man.
The man was tall and straight, his appearance rarely handsome. However, the feeling he gave off was not one of warmth, but rather an evil aura emanating from his entire body. Dense Yin Qi surged from his body, and this Yin Qi not only emitted the unique chill inherent to Yin Qi, but also strong resentment and ferocity.
Furthermore, the power fluctuations released from within him were not the Communication Power of a Spirit Master, nor the Spirit Power of the Yin Division, but rather the unique power possessed only by ghostly entities.
Looking at the violently trembling Remnant Moon before him, the young man's lips curled slightly upwards, revealing a cold sneer. His face showed disdain. Immediately afterward, he actually reached out and grabbed Remnant Moon, gripping its sharp blade, as if he didn't put Remnant Moon in his eyes at all.
The moment he grabbed Remnant Moon, the young man's expression immediately froze, and his cold sneer stiffened at that instant. At the same time, Remnant Moon suddenly erupted with an even stronger power fluctuation and lunged forward fiercely. Caught off guard by the suddenness of the event and Remnant Moon's abrupt increase in power, the young man couldn't dodge in time. The hand grasping Remnant Moon was instantly ruined, and as blood splattered, Remnant Moon then struck his chest.
Remnant Moon was deeply embedded in the young man's chest. If the young man hadn't timely grabbed Remnant Moon with his other hand, his body would have certainly been severed by Remnant Moon by now, and the Great Spirit Master behind him would also have been harmed due to the lack of his protection.
"Just now I was still wondering where this Great Spirit Master's Guardian Spirit had gone. I didn't expect it to appear so quickly. What surprised me even more was that her Guardian Spirit was actually a Ghost King."
Yang Haoran smiled faintly, not a hint of tension detectable in his words; only ease and calm could be heard.
Yang Haoran was not wrong. The young man before them was indeed a Ghost King, and he was the Great Spirit Master's Guardian Spirit. However, he was not this Great Spirit Master's original Guardian Spirit, but had followed her later.
Ghost Kings are vastly different from ghostly entities below the Ghost King realm. However, Ghost Kings retain all the abilities possessed by other ghostly entities. For example, the illusions of Evil Spirits (evil Spirits) and the object control of Evil Spirits (evil Spirits)—Ghost Kings not only retained them but were even more powerful in these two aspects.
Before Yang Haoran appeared, this young man was fighting other opponents. At that time, he was not with the Great Spirit Master. On one hand, it was due to the Great Spirit Master's command; on the other hand, he also felt that staying here to help the Great Spirit Master was meaningless, because he didn't believe Ding Tianhua would be his master's opponent. So there was no need for him to stay and help; he might as well go find other targets, which could both share the pressure for his side and also allow him to satisfy his craving for battle—killing two birds with one stone.
When Yang Haoran suddenly appeared, he sensed it at the time and did not hesitate to cast his gaze towards Yang Haoran. He had seen the entire scene of Yang Haoran destroying the Spirit Aspect with lightning-fast methods. He knew that his master would certainly be no match for Yang Haoran in his peak state. Therefore, he immediately put away his playful attitude, resolved his opponent with the fastest speed, and then rushed towards the Great Spirit Master's location.
However, he had just finished dealing with his opponent and hadn't yet had time to reach the Great Spirit Master's location when Yang Haoran, seizing the opportunity while the Great Spirit Master was forming hand seals, controlled Remnant Moon to attack her. In an emergency, he had no choice but to use his object control ability, considering Yang Haoran's Soul Armament, Remnant Moon, as the target for his control.
The reason Remnant Moon suddenly froze in mid-air just now was because it was affected by the young man's object control ability. Since the young man had already reached the Ghost King realm, his control ability was exceptionally powerful, which was why he was able to successfully bind Remnant Moon in an instant.
Initially, Yang Haoran had not fully activated Remnant Moon. But in the young man's eyes, he believed Yang Haoran must have fully activated his Soul Armament Remnant Moon, and he felt that although the power fluctuations emanating from Remnant Moon were formidable, they had not exceeded his controllable range. That was why he felt disdain, and directly grabbed Remnant Moon with his hand, wanting to use this method to display his powerful strength as a Ghost King and give Yang Haoran, the Guardian of the Jingling Continent's Ninth District Yin Division, a deterrent.
The result was as seen before them: not only was the young man's palm that grabbed Remnant Moon instantly destroyed by Remnant Moon, but even his body was almost severed by Remnant Moon.
The young man held Remnant Moon with one hand, preventing it from going deeper and causing further damage to his physical body. He, who had originally wanted to give Yang Haoran a deterrent, was instead almost severed by Yang Haoran. This filled his heart with both shock and fury.
"I underestimated you!"
The young man spoke coldly. As his voice rang out, an even stronger power fluctuation erupted from him. He forcibly pulled Remnant Moon out of his body. From this, it could be seen that he hadn't used his full strength just now either, but now, to forcibly pull Remnant Moon out of his body, he had to use his full strength, because it would be impossible to do so without using full strength. Only, he didn't know that Yang Haoran, even now, still retained much of his strength.
Remnant Moon was forcibly pulled out of the young man's body. His severed arm was also enveloped by a dense cloud of Yin Qi at this moment. The Yin Qi violently churned, and a new arm rapidly reformed. And the grotesque wound on his chest also healed at a visible rate under the shroud of Yin Qi.
In the blink of an eye, whether it was the destroyed arm or the ghastly wound on his chest, both successfully healed and returned to their original state. It seemed as though he hadn't suffered the slightest harm.
However, if one were to carefully sense it, they would find that the young man's power fluctuations were a bit weaker at this moment. A Ghost King's physical body can be ethereal or solid; after suffering damage, as long as there is enough power within, they can heal and recover wounds in a short time. Let alone just having an arm destroyed or a wound left on their body—even if the entire physical body is dispersed, it can still reform.
However, each time the physical body is repaired or reformed, it causes a consumption of one's own power. The extent of the consumption depends on the degree of damage to the physical body: the more severe the damage, the greater the consumption; conversely, the less the damage, the smaller the consumption.
At this moment, the young man had an arm destroyed by Remnant Moon, and his body was also torn open by Remnant Moon with a large gash. For a normal person, this kind of injury would absolutely be fatal. Let alone ordinary people, even a strong person like Yang Haoran, if they suffered such severe injuries, it would be difficult for them to continue fighting. To repair the physical body in a short time, it would be impossible with just one's own power, unless there was a powerful Dānyào capable of regrowing flesh from bones.
However, for a Ghost King, this was completely a minor matter. As long as they expended the corresponding power, they could achieve this. This ability was something others could not envy; apart from Ghost Kings and even stronger ghostly entities, under normal circumstances, others do not possess such an ability.
Of course, if a Ghost King suffered heavy damage and no longer had the power to repair its damaged physical body, then the damaged physical body would not only not recover, but might even end up with its soul scattered.
The reason the young man's power fluctuations were weaker at this moment was precisely because he had consumed a part of his power to repair his physical body. Thus, the power fluctuations he emitted were not as formidable as before.
Just as the young man was pulling out Remnant Moon and repairing his physical body, the Great Spirit Master's cold voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Spiritual Art! Skeleton Ghost Mountain!"
From the moment Yang Haoran controlled Remnant Moon to attack the Great Spirit Master until now, only two short sentences had passed. But in just that brief time, the Great Spirit Master had successfully completed her hand seals.
As the Great Spirit Master's cold voice echoed through this area, a sudden burst of Yin winds swept across the sky above Yang Haoran's head. And a massive mountain composed of countless skulls rapidly coalesced into form. Yin Qi surged upwards from the ghost mountain, and numerous grotesque evil spirits entwined themselves around the ghost mountain, constantly emitting spine-chilling ghost laughter from their mouths.
The ghost mountain blotted out the sky, giving a feeling of both immense weight and terror. Even those far away could sense a strong oppressive feeling from this skull ghost mountain. If one were in Yang Haoran's current position, there would be no need to think; one would know this oppressive feeling would be even stronger.
Of course, this also depends on the individual. Some people, if they were in Yang Haoran's current position, would surely be oppressed to the point of breathlessness by this skull ghost mountain. But this does not mean everyone is like this. For example, Yang Haoran, as the target of the skull ghost mountain's attack, faced the strongest and most direct oppressive feeling, but his expression remained unchanged. The powerful oppressive feeling released by this skull ghost mountain was effectively nullified for him.
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