Chapter 1159: One Person's Strength Turns the Tide
At this moment, the Eyepatch Woman's mind reeled with an intense dizziness. Having suffered such a grievous injury, she knew her life wouldn't last much longer, yet her resentment refused to fade. Even now, that deep-seated unwillingness remained incredibly strong within her.
On the verge of death, with her Communication Power completely exhausted, she couldn't even muster the strength to keep herself airborne. Her body, riddled with cracks, plummeted rapidly towards the ground below. Though not yet completely unconscious, she could vaguely hear the wind rushing past her ears.
Just then, a force suddenly enveloped her. Her rapidly falling body abruptly halted in mid-air, followed by a colossal hand sweeping down and seizing her.
This suddenly appearing giant hand was certainly not a helper arriving at this crucial moment to rescue the Eyepatch Woman from her predicament. For when this colossal hand seized her, it did so without the slightest delicacy, instead grabbing her with simple, brutal force. If this giant hand were truly meant to save her, how could it treat a severely injured person in such a rough manner?
And indeed, that was the truth. This giant hand was not there to save the Eyepatch Woman, because it belonged to the Death God's Law Aspect summoned by Yang Haoran. Naturally, Yang Haoran would never control his Death God's Law Aspect to rescue her.
The Eyepatch Woman, already gasping her last, was suddenly seized so roughly by the Death God's Law Aspect that she nearly lost her life then and there. Using her remaining strength, she forced open her eyes, only to see Yang Haoran floating before her, a faint smile gracing his face.
She wanted to open her mouth and curse Yang Haoran. Even at this point, she still wished to hurl a few insults at him, for this was her final stubborn act.
However, her physical weakness left her utterly unable to speak. Forget speaking; even the simplest act of opening her mouth proved exceedingly difficult. Despite expending all her strength, she only managed to part her lips slightly, and not a single sound emerged.
"If you believe you lost to me because of carelessness, or because you didn't cooperate well, and that by simply changing your methods you could slay me. . . Haha, then you are mistaken. To be frank, I never used my full power from start to finish. Not to mention, I still have some targeted techniques I haven't even deployed. So, no matter what changes you make, the final outcome will not be altered by your efforts. Don't be so unwilling; accept reality."
Yang Haoran's words caused a look of shock to appear in the Eyepatch Woman's single eye. She seemed unable to believe his words, or perhaps she simply refused to believe them.
Yang Haoran observed the Eyepatch Woman's reaction, guessing roughly what she was thinking in her heart at that moment. However, he had no intention of explaining further to her.
"Heh, my apologies."
Yang Haoran chuckled softly. As his voice faded, the Death God's Law Aspect's colossal hand, which held the Eyepatch Woman, abruptly clenched, directly crushing her physical body.
Then, the Death God's Law Aspect opened its palm. A white ball of Yin Qi could be seen violently crashing left and right within its grasp. However, the Death God's Law Aspect's palm seemed to possess an invisible barrier; no matter how the white ball of energy raged and slammed, it found no way to escape. Instead, with every collision, an invisible force would bounce it back.
This white ball of light, radiating Yin Qi, was precisely the Eyepatch Woman's soul.
The lanky man, previously slain, had known the Spiritual Art of Soul Transformation. Thus, there was a possibility that the Eyepatch Woman also knew this secret art. Therefore, after crushing the Eyepatch Woman's physical body, Yang Haoran did not lower his guard. He even had the Death God's Law Aspect condense an invisible barrier in the center of its palm to prevent the Eyepatch Woman's soul from escaping.
Facts proved that Yang Haoran's vigilance was not unfounded. The Eyepatch Woman did indeed know the Spiritual Art of Soul Transformation, just as he had suspected, and had practiced this secret art during her lifetime.
Thus, after the Eyepatch Woman's physical body was destroyed, due to her cultivation of the Spiritual Art of Soul Transformation, her soul instantly condensed into a Spirit, and her consciousness awakened at once.
Based on Yang Haoran's previous conduct, the Eyepatch Woman knew he would definitely not let her soul go. Even setting aside his usual behavior, simply considering her identity as a Grand Spiritualist, Yang Haoran, as a Guardian of the Underworld Office, would absolutely not spare her soul, regardless of whether her newly formed Spirit manifested or not. Therefore, she decided to make one last gamble: to actively escape from this place. Whether successful or not, she wanted to try, for she had no other options.
What filled her with despair, however, was that the Death God's Law Aspect's hand possessed an invisible restriction barrier, and this barrier was simply not something her newly condensed Spirit could break through.
The presence of this restriction barrier blocked her escape route. Although she understood in her heart that she was doomed today, and knew that her power alone could not break through this barrier, she still slammed against the invisible barrier repeatedly. She had not given up; she hoped for a miracle, but alas, no miracle occurred for her.
Because Yang Haoran, observing the soul continuously striking the Death God's Law Aspect's palm, uttered not another word of nonsense. He directly took out his Soul-Gathering Bead and swiftly forced the Eyepatch Woman's soul into it.
With the Eyepatch Woman's soul collected into the Soul-Gathering Bead by Yang Haoran, it signified the complete end of the struggle between Yang Haoran, the Underworld Office's Guardian, and the three Grand Spiritualists. The outcome was self-evident: Yang Haoran, representing the Underworld Office, had won the final victory in this struggle.
Putting away the Soul-Gathering Bead, Yang Haoran's face held a faint smile. He swept his gaze around, and seeing no one else jumping out, he gently waved his hand, dispersing the Death God's Law Aspect. After all, every second the Death God's Law Aspect existed was a drain on him, the caster. Since it wasn't needed for the moment, there was no point in letting it persist.
The entire situation in Tongyou City underwent a massive change with the Eyepatch Woman's demise at Yang Haoran's hands.
Before Yang Haoran appeared, the situation in Tongyou City had been entirely one-sided, leaning towards the Spiritualists. The Underworld Office side was utterly unable to contend with the Spiritualists. If not for the presence of a strong expert like Ding Tianhua on the Underworld Office side, they would have long since been defeated by the Spiritualists.
Given the circumstances at the time, if Yang Haoran had not appeared, Ding Tianhua would undoubtedly have perished. Once Ding Tianhua fell at Cold Yue's hands, the Underworld Office side would quickly have been routed, and their fate would be easily imagined.
However, after Yang Haoran's arrival, the situation immediately reversed. First, Cold Yue was defeated by Yang Haoran. Immediately after, Cold Yue's Ghost King Guardian Spirit was forcibly dispersed and collected into his Soul-Gathering Bead. Then came the lanky man and his Ghost King Guardian Spirit, and finally, even the Eyepatch Woman and her Guardian Spirit could not escape a tragic death at Yang Haoran's hands.
When Cold Yue was defeated by Yang Haoran, the vast majority of the Spiritualists had already fallen into despair once. As a Grand Spiritualist, Cold Yue was their leader. With Cold Yue defeated by Yang Haoran, who would then deal with Yang Haoran, this Guardian? Who among them could possibly contend with this Guardian of the Underworld Office?
Many Spiritualists felt that no one on their side was a match for Yang Haoran, and so despair couldn't help but rise in their hearts. This was because, at the time, these people did not know about the two other Grand Spiritualists, the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman, who were secretly present.
When the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman suddenly appeared, the Spiritualists, whose morale had plummeted, immediately surged with excitement. They all believed that with the addition of two Grand Spiritualists, capturing Yang Haoran, this Guardian, would be absolutely no problem. Thus, the despair that had previously filled the hearts of those Spiritualists instantly vanished, replaced by immense excitement.
However, when Cold Yue's Ghost King Guardian Spirit was dispersed and collected by Yang Haoran, and the lanky man then died tragically at Yang Haoran's hands—with the lanky man's Ghost King Guardian Spirit also failing to escape Yang Haoran's clutches—the Spiritualists' morale plummeted once more. Many people consequently fell into despair again, believing that even if the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman, these two Grand Spiritualists, teamed up, they would still be no match for Yang Haoran. After all, the lanky man and his Guardian Spirit had already been dealt with by Yang Haoran. With only the Eyepatch Woman and her Guardian Spirit remaining, how could they possibly contend with Yang Haoran?
However, when the Eyepatch Woman and her Guardian Spirit successfully summoned the Spirit Aspect and inflicted considerable damage upon Yang Haoran, those Spiritualists who had succumbed to despair once again saw the dawn of victory. They all believed that Yang Haoran had expended a vast amount of Spirit Power in the previous battles and was now an arrow at the end of its flight, making it highly probable that the Eyepatch Woman could ultimately eliminate Yang Haoran, this Guardian of the Underworld Office.
Thus, these Spiritualists became excited once more, and their morale surged accordingly.
However, when the Eyepatch Woman's Guardian Spirit was dispersed and collected by Yang Haoran, and even the Eyepatch Woman herself died tragically at Yang Haoran's hands, almost all of the Spiritualists—whether those who had repeatedly fallen into despair and then into excitement, or those who had consistently remained calm—now succumbed to despair, if not entirely.
Conversely, the Underworld Office side's reactions had always been the opposite of the Spiritualists'. When the Spiritualists fell into despair, the Underworld Office's morale soared, and they became immensely excited. When the Spiritualists' morale surged and they grew immensely excited, the Underworld Office's morale would plummet, with some even falling into despair themselves.
At this very moment, this pattern remained unchanged. After the Eyepatch Woman was slain, the Spiritualists immediately fell into chaos. Some even chose to use life-saving techniques to flee the area without hesitation, knowing that staying in Tongyou City meant certain death. They had lost this great battle, and there would be no chance of a comeback.
Meanwhile, it went without saying that the Underworld Office's morale had soared. Each one, filled with excitement, launched a fierce counterattack against the Spiritualists. Even those who had already been crippled couldn't help but struggle to their feet, gritting their teeth and resuming the fight.
For any battle, morale is incredibly important. Without it, one can absolutely not win a great battle. Even if one clearly holds an advantage in certain aspects, they will still ultimately become the loser.
Conversely, if one side's morale is astonishingly high and completely overwhelms their opponent, even if they don't hold an advantage in certain aspects, they can still win the final victory.
Such was the situation in Tongyou City at this moment. The Spiritualists, both in terms of numbers and overall strength, were far superior to the Underworld Office side. However, having lost even the most basic morale, they were now being chased and beaten by the Underworld Office forces.
And all of this, in truth, stemmed from Yang Haoran. If not for Yang Haoran, the situation in Tongyou City would absolutely not be as it was now.
Yang Haoran could guess the shifting situation within Tongyou City even without observing it. After dispersing his Death God's Law Aspect, he neither chased after the fleeing small fries nor slew the remaining Spiritualist forces still resisting. Nor did he simply stand idly in the air, trying to look cool. The first thing he did was immediately shoot towards a certain direction below.
The previous great battle had brought devastating destruction to the area beneath where Yang Haoran and the others were located. Buildings in other areas, whether ruined or collapsed, at least still existed. But beneath where Yang Haoran and his opponents had been, all buildings had vanished, completely and thoroughly destroyed, replaced by a massive, deep crater. This crater was precisely formed when Yang Haoran had crashed into the ground, illustrating just how powerful the Spirit Aspect's attack had been at that time.
The reason Yang Haoran now hastened towards the ground was that he still had a very important matter to attend to. The importance of this matter far surpassed that of chasing down the other Spiritualists, for it concerned Cold Yue, the Grand Spiritualist who had initially fought him today.
Of the three Grand Spiritualists who had appeared in Tongyou City today, two had already died by his hand. However, for Cold Yue, the Grand Spiritualist he had first engaged, he had only collected her Guardian Spirit. As for Cold Yue herself, he had not slain her.
It wasn't that he didn't want to kill her, but due to the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman, he simply hadn't had the chance to act against Cold Yue. With his usual approach, if he had the opportunity, he would certainly prioritize eliminating the most heavily injured opponent first. How could he possibly ignore her and allow her to recover her injuries? He wouldn't do such a foolish thing.
From the moment the lanky man risked his life to help Cold Yue successfully escape to the ground below, Yang Haoran had actually been secretly tracking Cold Yue's aura. The purpose of this was self-evident: he naturally didn't want to see Cold Yue slip away right under his nose.
When he dispersed and collected Cold Yue's Guardian Spirit, he could still sense Cold Yue's aura. He had originally intended to deal with Cold Yue immediately afterward, but facing the fierce counterattack from the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman, he simply didn't have the chance. So, at that moment, he could only abandon that idea and continue fighting the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman.
However, during this process, he suddenly discovered that Cold Yue's aura had vanished. Although this discovery didn't cause his expression to change in the slightest, he was still very concerned about it in his heart, because he knew what the sudden disappearance of Cold Yue's aura meant: either she had died tragically in the aftermath of the great battle, or she had been secretly killed by others, or she had sealed all her fluctuations and escaped.
For Yang Haoran, if Cold Yue had been eliminated, that would be acceptable. Although she didn't die by his hand, no matter who killed her, she was certainly one less Grand Spiritualist for the Underworld Office to deal with. So, that outcome wouldn't be too bad.
But if Cold Yue hadn't died, and had instead sealed all her fluctuations and escaped, that would be truly regrettable for Yang Haoran.
At that time, after Yang Haoran discovered Cold Yue's aura had suddenly vanished, he had considered going to investigate what had happened. If Cold Yue wasn't dead, but had sealed all her power fluctuations to escape, then he might still have been able to stop her in time and take her life.
But to his dismay, he still found no opportunity. After all, at that time, he had to face not only the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman but also their two Ghost King Guardian Spirits. Although he maintained a calm demeanor throughout, he still felt pressure in his heart; after all, his enemies were not weak.
The reason he was able to completely suppress his opponents and defeat them one by one was, on one hand, because he continuously expended a large amount of Spirit Power in relentless attacks, giving his opponents no chance to breathe. On the other hand, he had been racing against time with his opponents, tightly controlling the clock to prevent them from having any opportunity to unleash Spiritual Arts or other powerful techniques.
If, in order to verify whether Cold Yue was alive or dead, he had disregarded his opponents and forcibly descended to the ground, his advantage would have been lost. He would almost certainly have gone from proactive to passive, or even been repeatedly tormented by the four. If it truly came to that, whether Cold Yue was alive or dead would have been a minor concern; how he would turn the tide of the battle would have been the major one.
It was precisely due to this consideration that, even upon sensing the disappearance of Cold Yue's aura, he did not act rashly. He continued to focus all his energy on dealing with the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman.
Now that the lanky man and the Eyepatch Woman had been slain, and their Guardian Spirits dealt with, he was free to act. He had not forgotten Cold Yue, this Grand Spiritualist. Therefore, after dispersing his Death God's Law Aspect, he immediately went to the location where Cold Yue's aura had previously vanished.
The location where Cold Yue vanished was outside the great crater he had formed from his impact. So, he did not descend into the pit, but rather landed on a patch of architectural ruins outside the crater, which was precisely the area where Cold Yue's aura had previously disappeared.
On the surface of the architectural ruins, he found no sign of Cold Yue's corpse, and certainly no living Cold Yue.
With a gentle wave of his hand, a fierce Yin wind swept through the area. Visible Spirit Power enveloped the architectural ruins, and then the ruins instantly turned to ash, yet Cold Yue's shadow remained unseen.
Seeing this, Yang Haoran shook his head with a faint smile, having already made a fairly accurate guess in his heart.
"Heh, it seems you really did manage to escape. What a pity. But compared to my minor regret, the other two Grand Spiritualists had a rather tragic end. It seems they didn't even realize you had already fled until they died."
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