Chapter 588: Reference for Strength
To ascertain the true strength of that Spirit Master, Yang Haoran naturally had to start with the female ghost right before him. Yang Haoran might not know the Spirit Master's power, but that didn't mean the female ghost was entirely ignorant. As long as he questioned her, he would have a clear idea of the Spirit Master's capabilities.
"How strong is that Spirit Master? " Yang Haoran asked directly.
"Extremely formidable. As for the extent of their power. . . I. . . I don't know how to describe it to you," the female ghost replied.
Yang Haoran's brows furrowed slightly; the female ghost's answer left him rather unsatisfied.
Noticing the displeasure on Yang Haoran's face, the female ghost quickly added, "While I don't know how to describe it to you, I can assure you that I wouldn't last a single round against him."
To Yang Haoran, the female ghost's statement was no different from nonsense. Although she was an Evil Spirit, she was merely one who had just broken through from being an Evil Spirit, her power severely limited. Forget that Spirit Master, even Yang Haoran himself would only need a single round to deal with her.
Therefore, her words offered him no help. To gain a more concrete understanding of the Spirit Master's strength, he probably needed to provide the female ghost with a reference point.
After a moment of hesitation, Yang Haoran decided to Open his Heaven Soul. In any case, the female ghost was already in his grasp, so there was no harm in letting her witness his true power.
With a deep cry from his lips, his Heaven Soul opened. A fierce Yin wind suddenly swept through the area. Tangible Yin Qi visibly surged around Yang Haoran's body, and beside him, a mass of Yin Qi churned, within which his Soul Armament, Remnant Moon, was taking form. The power fluctuations emanating from his body also increased dramatically at this moment.
Feeling the terrifying power fluctuations emanating from Yang Haoran, the female ghost's expression changed. If Yang Haoran had used such immense power when dealing with her just now, their fight would likely have ended before she even made a move.
"Compared to me now, how strong is that Spirit Master? " Yang Haoran asked, looking at the female ghost.
"This. . . should I tell the truth? " the female ghost asked Yang Haoran, somewhat unsure.
The moment the female ghost uttered those words, Yang Haoran knew that the power he was currently unleashing was definitely inferior to that Spirit Master's; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked such a question.
However, how much weaker his erupted power was compared to the Spirit Master's could not be gleaned from her words, so he continued to speak.
"I understand what you mean, but you absolutely don't need to worry that I'll get angry and lash out at you just because I'm not as strong as someone else. There are countless people in this world stronger than me. I can accept others being stronger than me, but equally, I can accept being stronger than others. So, from now on, I hope you can tell me the truth without any reservations."
The female ghost dared not speak, merely nodding her head, for she couldn't be sure whether Yang Haoran's current words were true or false.
Yang Haoran paid no mind to whether the female ghost believed him or not. Seeing her nod, he continued to ask, "Compared to that Spirit Master, how much weaker is my current strength?"
"Much. . . much weaker. Not only am I much weaker than him, but also much weaker than Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death," the female ghost replied.
Yang Haoran nodded, indicating his understanding. He then ceased suppressing his power, pushing the Spirit Power within his body to its absolute limit. The released power fluctuations surged dramatically once more, and the Yin Qi radiating from him grew even denser. The temperature throughout the barrier plummeted sharply with his renewed surge of power, and a chilling cold, capable of making souls tremble, permeated the entire space.
Feeling the power fluctuations emanating from Yang Haoran at that moment, the female ghost couldn't help but shiver in her Spirit Body. If Yang Haoran's previous display of strength had merely surprised her, his current power now filled her with dread.
"And now? " Yang Haoran pressed.
"Still a bit weaker than that Spirit Master, but compared to Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, the gap isn't particularly large anymore," the female ghost quickly answered.
Yang Haoran nodded again. He didn't press further, as he already had a clear idea. He then dispersed his power, returning to his usual appearance.
From the information gathered from the female ghost, it seemed that while this Spirit Master's strength surpassed both his own and Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, it definitely hadn't reached the peak of Spirit Master power.
As for his own strength, it was not only weaker than this Spirit Master but also slightly weaker than Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, though the gap between them wasn't substantial.
With a rough understanding of the Spirit Master's power, Yang Haoran breathed a sigh of relief. Although the opponent was considerably stronger than him, as long as they hadn't reached the peak of Spirit Master power, he could still accept it. After all, he wasn't the only Emissary of Death who had come to reinforce Yunchuan City. Just because he wasn't this Spirit Master's match didn't mean Shi Kai and Huo Laoban weren't either.
In Yang Haoran's estimation, both Shi Kai and Huo Laoban should be stronger than him, especially Huo Laoban, whose strength was likely the greatest among the three of them. Compared to Huo Laoban, this Spirit Master might even be considerably inferior.
With Huo Laoban leading the charge and Shi Kai, a veteran Emissary of Death, Yang Haoran felt he wouldn't need to flee immediately. Staying in Yunchuan City to reap some more benefits should be no problem.
With this matter clarified, Yang Haoran then began questioning the female ghost about other things. He still had some unresolved doubts, and it would naturally be best if he could clear them all up through the female ghost.
The female ghost was quite cooperative, answering whatever Yang Haoran asked and telling him everything she knew. Because of this, Yang Haoran gained a deeper understanding of the entire situation's ins and outs.
This major upheaval in Yunchuan City, the capture of the Underworld Office's Emissary of Death, all of it was a long-planned operation orchestrated by the Spirit Master the female ghost had mentioned.
This Spirit Master's strength surpassed Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death. To deal with Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, he would have been entirely sufficient on his own.
However, he did not do so. In the process of capturing Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, he brought along many people, including other Spirit Masters and ghostly entities summoned by Spiritual Art; the female ghost was one of these entities.
There were two reasons why this Spirit Master acted this way. Firstly, to ensure the operation was foolproof: with their combined power at the time, even if Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death had three heads and six arms, it would have been impossible for him to escape their grasp. Furthermore, even if any unforeseen incidents occurred, they possessed sufficient power to resolve them.
The second reason was that this Spirit Master wanted to use the live capture of Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death as a way to rally other Spirit Masters. He wanted other Spirit Masters and ghostly entities to witness firsthand how he captured Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death alive.
For Spirit Mediums and ghostly entities, the live capture of an Underworld Official was undoubtedly a visual feast, indeed quite inspiring!
Capturing Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death alive was merely one part of their plan. Their operation this time not only aimed to capture the Emissary of Death but also to raze all the Death God Temples, big and small, in Yunchuan City, and to cause as much chaos as possible throughout the city.
To amplify their impact, they spread rumors of Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death's disappearance, thereby instilling panic within the Yunchuan City Underworld Office. This also served as a message to other Spirit Mediums and ghostly entities. As for why they claimed a "disappearance" instead of directly telling everyone that Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death had been captured alive, it was to prevent others from attempting a targeted rescue of Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death.
By only spreading rumors of disappearance, no one could be sure whether Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death was dead, trapped somewhere, or perhaps had gone elsewhere to handle some matter. And for them, the Spirit Mediums and ghostly entities, learning of the Emissary of Death's disappearance would make their stirring up trouble in Yunchuan City naturally appear reasonable.
Without an Emissary of Death, the Yunchuan City Underworld Office's power was severely limited. With that Spirit Master's strength, he could have completely flattened all the Death God Temples overnight. However, he didn't do so, because he wanted to create panic; he wanted to make Yunchuan City as chaotic as possible. Therefore, he chose to achieve his goal by using the "boiling a frog slowly" method.
Ever since he captured Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death alive that day, he hadn't shown his face. The initial chaos was caused by other Spirit Masters accompanying him and some ghostly entities summoned through Spiritual Art.
After chaos erupted in Yunchuan City, coupled with the apparent disappearance of Yunchuan City's Emissary of Death, some Spirit Mediums and ghostly entities spontaneously emerged, joining the fray and adding fuel to the city's turmoil.
These Spirit Mediums and ghostly entities emerged proactively not only because they wanted to vent their resentment from being oppressed by the Underworld Office but also because they sought to reap more benefits. For once chaos ensues, deaths are inevitable, and deaths, whether for Spirit Mediums or ghostly entities, always present an opportunity for profit.
Comments