Chapter 1154: Not Giving a Single Chance
No sooner had the lanky man's head detached from his body than it was engulfed by the green flames spewed by the Nine Nether Bone Dragon. Not just him, but even his Guardian Spirit was swallowed by the overwhelming green inferno.
Unlike a Ghost King, the lanky man was human, not a ghost, possessing flesh and blood. He couldn't simply reform his body if it dispersed like a Ghost King could. With his head severed, there was naturally no chance of his physical body surviving.
The massive Spirit Aspect in the sky was on the verge of fully materializing, but with the sudden death of the lanky man, its caster, the nearly complete Spirit Aspect shattered with a roar at that very moment.
Even if the Spirit Aspect in the sky had fully materialized, it would still dissipate the moment the lanky man died. It couldn't continue to exist, much less fight on its own, because a Spirit Aspect required the caster's control and a continuous supply of Spiritual Power. Thus, if the caster died, the Spirit Aspect would vanish.
The lanky man had taken such a huge risk and expended a vast amount of Spiritual Power, finally succeeding in summoning the Spirit Aspect. Just as it was about to fully materialize, poised to unleash immense power and turn his passive situation into an active one, even hoping to use its might to kill Yang Haoran. . . at this critical juncture, Yang Haoran swiftly and decisively took his life. Truly, it was both pitiful and laughable.
The lanky man's tragic end was, in the final analysis, due to his misjudgment of Yang Haoran's strength and current state. If he hadn't made that error, even if he couldn't have slain Yang Haoran, he wouldn't have lost his life so quickly. After all, he wasn't alone on his side. His Guardian Spirit, naturally, had limited strength and was of little use in a battle of this intensity. However, the eyepatch woman and her Ghost King Guardian Spirit were entirely different; their master and servant duo still posed a certain threat to Yang Haoran, who hadn't yet unleashed his full power.
Therefore, if the lanky man hadn't misjudged Yang Haoran's strength and state, and had continued to defend while seeking the best opportunity to strike, the outcome would definitely not have been what it was.
From the churning sea of fire below, two figures shot out successively. These two were none other than the eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit, who had been swept away by a single flick of the Nine Nether Bone Dragon's tail.
The churning sea of fire above, like the one on the ground below, was also green. The eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit didn't even need to think; they instantly knew this aerial inferno also came from the Nine Nether Bone Dragon. Having been swallowed by the Nine Nether Bone Dragon's flames twice already, they had a very deep understanding of these green flames.
At this moment, having just escaped the sea of fire, green flames still blazed fiercely on their bodies. However, their clothes and skin remained unharmed by the green flames; their garments hadn't turned to ash, nor had their skin been scorched.
The master and servant appeared unscathed, but that wasn't actually the case. If one observed their current state closely, they would notice that both had somewhat pale faces, looking as if they were recovering from a severe illness.
This situation naturally arose from the influence of the green flames. Although the green flames lacked scorching heat and wouldn't incinerate or reduce targets to ash, they could burn a target's soul, even causing it to undergo Soul Transformation. This was because the green flames spewed by the Nine Nether Bone Dragon were inherently targeted at the soul.
Therefore, despite the eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit showing no physical signs of burns, and their clothes remaining completely intact, their souls had been significantly affected. In particular, the Guardian Spirit, as a Ghost King, was affected much more severely than his master, the eyepatch woman.
It was precisely for this reason that the faces of the eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit appeared somewhat pale.
A surge of Yin Qi suddenly erupted from their bodies, and the burning green flames on them were subsequently dispersed by the Spiritual Power they unleashed. Immediately after, the eyepatch woman released even more Spiritual Power, forming a ghostly face in the sky above the sea of fire where the lanky man had been. With an open maw, this ghostly face rapidly began to swallow the sea of fire below.
This ghostly face was not created through a Spiritual Art but was formed from pure Spiritual Power, thus requiring no hand seals to cast. Although the ghostly face wasn't a Spiritual Art, the eyepatch woman expended a considerable amount of Spiritual Power to unleash this move, making its power not to be underestimated. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to devour the green sea of fire at a visibly rapid pace.
Given the current situation, the eyepatch woman should have, by all rights, conserved her Spiritual Power as much as possible to increase her chances of winning this battle. Yet, she expended a vast amount of Spiritual Power solely to devour the sea of fire in the lanky man's area. This act might seem like a waste of Spiritual Power, not using her strength where it truly counted, but in reality, it was not so.
Her doing so was not actually a waste of her Spiritual Power; she had her own considerations and objectives, and her purpose was singular: to help the lanky man and his Guardian Spirit, who were trapped within the sea of fire.
At this moment, the eyepatch woman did not yet know that the lanky man had been beheaded by Yang Haoran. She believed that the lanky man and his Guardian Spirit were merely trapped within the sea of fire, which was why she decided to expend a large amount of Spiritual Power to clear this inferno for him, giving the lanky man and his Guardian Spirit a chance at survival.
The eyepatch woman had a deep understanding of how damaging the green flames spewed by the Nine Nether Bone Dragon were to the soul, and she was equally aware of the lanky man's strength. She greatly feared that the lanky man would be severely wounded by the green flames, which was why she expended a large amount of Spiritual Power to use this method to quickly eliminate the green sea of fire.
She worried about the lanky man not because they shared any deep affection, but because they were in the same boat in this battle today. If the lanky man were severely wounded or slain by Yang Haoran, she would lose a helper, and dealing with Yang Haoran would naturally become much more difficult. This was not the outcome she desired, which was why she intervened to rescue the lanky man.
However, when the green sea of fire was completely devoured by the ghostly face in a short time, and the internal situation was fully revealed, the expressions of the eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit changed once again.
The reason for the dramatic change in the master and servant's expressions was that they had just witnessed the lanky man's headless corpse falling from the sky. And standing behind the lanky man's headless corpse was none other than Yang Haoran, with a faint smile on his face.
With just a slight perception, the eyepatch woman discovered that the lanky man's corpse now contained no soul. Not only was the lanky man's body dead, but even his soul had vanished. There was no need to think; the lanky man's soul must have been forcibly extracted by Yang Haoran, for two Soul-Gathering Beads were currently suspended precisely in front of Yang Haoran.
One of these Soul-Gathering Beads was pitch black and constantly vibrating, as if something within it wanted to break free and regain its liberty.
Although the other Soul-Gathering Bead hadn't turned pitch black, a Soul Thread could be clearly seen inside, continuously assaulting the bead. However, this Soul Thread's impact caused no effect on the Soul-Gathering Bead; it couldn't even break through it, let alone shake it in the slightest.
Knowing it couldn't break through the Soul-Gathering Bead, the Soul Thread did not give up. It continued to ram the bead with all its might, and every now and then, it would transform into a ghostly face. This ghostly face was distorted by extreme rage, but from its features, one could vaguely discern that the soul trapped within the Soul-Gathering Bead was indeed the lanky man's.
Just now, after Yang Haoran beheaded the lanky man, he immediately rushed into the green sea of fire. He wanted to seize this opportunity to collect the lanky man's soul and his Guardian Spirit. His urgency to collect them was naturally due to his concern that the master and servant might use some life-saving methods to escape.
Although the lanky man's body had died from decapitation, Yang Haoran knew of a Spiritual Art called Spirit Transformation. If one cultivated this Spiritual Art during their lifetime, then after their body died, their soul would instantly coalesce into a Spirit on its own, and their consciousness would remain awake.
Yang Haoran was not unfamiliar with this Spirit Transformation secret art, as he himself had cultivated it. While the lanky man's strength might not have amounted to much in his eyes, the lanky man was, after all, a Great Spirit Caller. As a Great Spirit Caller, the lanky man must have known quite a few Spiritual Arts, and among them, perhaps this Spirit Transformation secret art was included.
If the lanky man knew this Spirit Transformation secret art and had cultivated it during his lifetime, then after his tragic death, his soul might very well escape the area, leaving only an empty shell without a soul.
Even if the lanky man didn't know this Spirit Transformation secret art and hadn't cultivated it during his lifetime, if his corpse were left unattended, the soul within him could still be forcibly condensed and extracted by others. In that case, Yang Haoran would still be left with only an empty shell.
Neither of these outcomes was what Yang Haoran wanted to see, because the soul of a Great Spirit Caller was very valuable to him. He didn't want to miss out due to his own carelessness, which was why he immediately rushed into the sea of fire after beheading the lanky man.
Of course, his immediate rush into the sea of fire wasn't just for the lanky man's soul, but also for his Guardian Spirit.
Although the lanky man's Guardian Spirit had not broken through to the Ghost King realm, it was still a peak Malignant Spirit at the very least. A ghost of this caliber, whether submitted to the Underworld or refined into Soul Pills himself, would yield a considerable number of Soul Pills, which he naturally didn't want to miss.
After rushing into the sea of fire, the green flames did not harm Yang Haoran. It wasn't that these green flames couldn't harm the caster; rather, the protective Spirit Power he unleashed, coupled with the inherent defense of his Death God uniform, kept the green flames at bay. As long as the duration wasn't too long, these green flames simply couldn't penetrate his two layers of defense in a short period.
Moreover, even if the green flames truly broke through his two layers of defense, he still had ways to resist them and prevent himself from being harmed, for he was unlike the lanky man.
Upon entering the sea of fire, Yang Haoran immediately discovered the lanky man's Guardian Spirit. Seeing this Guardian Spirit suffering immensely under the burning green flames, he instantly conjured a Soul-Gathering Bead and forcibly took the Guardian Spirit into it, resolving its pain from the source. Although the Guardian Spirit was extremely unwilling, its unwillingness could not change the final outcome.
After instantly taking the Guardian Spirit into the Soul-Gathering Bead, Yang Haoran flickered and appeared beside the lanky man. At this moment, the lanky man's corpse had just begun to fall from the sky. The reason the lanky man's body didn't immediately plummet after his head was severed was that his physical body hadn't fully died, and a portion of his residual power hadn't completely dissipated, which coincidentally supported his body, allowing it to float in mid-air.
Of course, this mid-air suspension only lasted a short while. After a brief moment, his physical body fully died, the power within him rapidly dissipated, and lacking the support of that power, his headless corpse then fell from the sky.
Upon his appearance, Yang Haoran immediately took action. He enveloped the lanky man's headless corpse with Yin Qi, instantly halting its descent and suspending it in the air once more. Yang Haoran's purpose in doing this was singular: to collect the lanky man's soul.
However, when his Spirit Power entered the lanky man's corpse, he discovered that the soul within had already coalesced into a Spirit on its own and was attempting to evade his Spirit Power's search.
This indicated that the lanky man not only knew the Spirit Transformation secret art but had also cultivated it during his lifetime. Even if he hadn't cultivated the Spirit Transformation secret art, he had definitely cultivated a similar Spiritual Art. Otherwise, at this very moment, the soul within his corpse couldn't have coalesced into a Spirit on its own, much less awakened.
With Yang Haoran's current strength, how could the lanky man's soul possibly evade his search? The moment his Spirit Power entered the lanky man's headless corpse, he immediately discovered the lanky man's soul, which had coalesced into a Spirit.
If Yang Haoran, after beheading the lanky man, hadn't immediately intended to extract the lanky man's soul from his corpse, then the lanky man's soul would have had an opportunity to escape. Because his soul had already coalesced into a Spirit on its own and his consciousness had awakened, if Yang Haoran hadn't extracted his soul from the corpse at the first opportune moment, and waited for his corpse to exit the sea of fire and fall to the ground, then he would have had countless opportunities to secretly slip away, with a very high success rate.
The lanky man had indeed cultivated the Spirit Transformation secret art during his lifetime. This was precisely why, when he was beheaded by Yang Haoran, the soul within him coalesced into a Spirit on its own. Although his soul successfully coalesced into a Spirit and was in an awakened state, he did not immediately allow his soul to rush out of his corpse.
There were two reasons for not doing so. One reason was that if it rushed out of the corpse, the soul would be directly exposed to the sea of fire without any protection, which would inflict devastating damage on his newly coalesced and weak soul.
Another reason was that if his soul rushed out of his corpse, Yang Haoran, with his strength, would immediately sense its presence. At that point, escaping would become an absolute pipe dream; he didn't believe he had the ability to escape from Yang Haoran's grasp.
When he was alive, he was no match for Yang Haoran. After death, with only his soul remaining, he was even less of a match for Yang Haoran. Once Yang Haoran discovered the existence of his soul, he knew without a doubt that his soul would fall into Yang Haoran's hands. What he would face then, he had no idea, but one thing he knew was that it would definitely not be good for him.
To avoid this situation, his soul did not act rashly. According to his plan, he intended to wait until his corpse landed before seeking the most opportune moment for his soul to escape the body.
But to his utter despair, just as his corpse began to fall from the sky, the bane of his existence, Yang Haoran, arrived. Yang Haoran gave him not the slightest hope of escaping the area. Without any surprise, Yang Haoran instantly discovered his hidden soul within his headless corpse and forcibly extracted it, placing it into a Soul-Gathering Bead.
It was precisely because of this that after the lanky man's soul was taken into the Soul-Gathering Bead, the Soul Thread did not quietly fall into slumber. Instead, its consciousness remained awake, violently slamming against the Soul-Gathering Bead, desperate to break free from its control. This was because his soul had been in an awakened state from the moment it coalesced into a Spirit, completely unlike those souls that were forcibly taken into Soul-Gathering Beads before they had awakened.
Although the eyepatch woman and her Guardian Spirit did not witness Yang Haoran slaying the lanky man, nor did they personally see Yang Haoran collecting the lanky man's soul and his Guardian Spirit into the Soul-Gathering Beads, they could clearly see the two Soul-Gathering Beads floating in front of Yang Haoran.
At this sight, they didn't need to question Yang Haoran further, for they had already guessed what had transpired here while they were trapped in the sea of fire.
Though the duration of this battle hadn't been particularly long, its scale and intensity were astonishing, far surpassing any other conflict within Tongyou City. For the eyepatch woman, this battle against Yang Haoran—one where their side clearly held the winning hand—had shown no signs of victory thus far. Instead, their side had lost a Great Spirit Caller, while Yang Haoran remained seemingly unharmed. This was truly difficult for her to accept!
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