Chapter 728: Chiwen Appears Again!
The Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman struck the ghost, immediately erupting with a tremendous boom. The earth trembled, a field of blood-red light obscured their vision, and a furious power rapidly spread outwards.
Xu Meijing's Soul Armament, Life Ender, required close combat to unleash its full power, which was why she was closest to the ghost.
When Zhang Changqing unleashed the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman, she managed to dodge in time, but still couldn't entirely avoid the powerful impact force generated by the talisman's explosion, sending her body flying.
Not just her, but even Yang Haoran and Zhang Changchun, who were farther from the ghost, were affected. Their bodies were continuously forced back, though the impact on them was not as severe as on Xu Meijing.
Yang Haoran had been prepared. Although he was caught in the powerful destructive force unleashed by the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman, he wasn't injured in the slightest, not even his outer Yin Qi shield showed any cracks.
Seeing that Xu Meijing was significantly affected, her Yin Qi shield shattered, his heart tightened. He stomped fiercely into the void with one foot, a rumble emanating from beneath him. Instead of retreating, he advanced, rushing towards Xu Meijing like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
He pulled Xu Meijing into his arms, and she promptly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, clearly having sustained some injuries.
"Are you alright?"
"It's nothing serious."
Xu Meijing replied blandly, then shifted her gaze towards the ghost's location.
Yang Haoran felt a little speechless. She was spitting blood, and she still claimed it was nothing serious? Did she need to cough up her internal organs before she'd consider it a big problem?
However, he didn't voice these thoughts aloud. He certainly didn't want to provoke Xu Meijing at a time like this.
With a sigh of resignation, he carefully released Xu Meijing, then followed her gaze. He saw that the ghost's location was now enveloped by a blood-red storm, and this unusually powerful ghost was at the very center of it.
The ghost's Spirit Body was being violently torn and shredded within the blood-red storm, instantly leaving countless dense wounds upon its form.
As this ghost had no physical body, its Spirit Body, no matter how solidified, was still just a Spirit Body. Even if countless wounds were carved into its Spirit Body, no fresh blood would flow.
However, this blood-red storm was the power unleashed by a Ghost-Slaying Talisman, and the talisman's primary purpose was to combat ghosts, inflicting severe damage to Spirit Bodies. Therefore, each wound carved into this ghost's Spirit Body at this moment was a direct blow to its essence.
In but an instant, the ghost's Spirit Body was shredded into fragments by the blood-red storm's ferocious power. However, these fragments did not dissipate into Yin Qi; instead, they rapidly re-coalesced, forming a gigantic black ghost face.
This ghost face was identical in appearance to the ghost from moments ago, but now it was filled with fury, like a fierce tiger enraged by a few monkeys.
He opened his mouth and spewed forth a large torrent of Yin Qi. Wherever the Yin Qi passed, the power of the blood-red storm immediately weakened, its vivid crimson visibly fading.
From his appearance, it seemed he intended to forcibly destroy the blood-red storm formed by the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman, relying on his formidable strength.
He was indeed capable of doing so, for under his counterattack, the power of the blood-red storm generated by the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman was rapidly waning. At this rate, it would likely be broken through in a matter of a few breaths.
However, at that very moment, a furious roar suddenly erupted, seizing the attention of everyone present!
"All of you, get far away! ! !"
The owner of this voice was none other than Ma Yuanjin.
Hearing this, Yang Haoran's gaze shifted towards Ma Yuanjin's position. He saw a magical array light up beneath Ma Yuanjin's body, placing him at the very center of the formation.
This magical array was similar in shape to a Bagua, but it was not a Bagua; merely resembling one.
The grand array had nine distinct sections, each marked with a large character: "Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing" (Warriors stand in formation, advance! ). These nine characters were currently dim and lusterless, forming a stark contrast with the dazzling radiance emanating from the array itself.
Ma Yuanjin formed hand seals, maintaining a fixed posture in the center of the grand array. Beneath his body, a Taiji symbol slowly rotated.
Seeing the magical array beneath Ma Yuanjin, Yang Haoran suddenly felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen this array somewhere before.
The next instant, he understood why he felt such familiarity with this magical array!
Because he had indeed seen this array before.
Back then, when dealing with that Evil Spirit at Old Master Wu's house, Ma Ling had unleashed this very array at the last moment. If not for Ma Ling's insufficient strength, preventing the array from holding on for just a little longer, that Evil Spirit would have perished on the spot under this grand array.
The power unleashed by that array at the time had left a profound impression on him. So, after only a moment of stunned thought, he remembered exactly where he had seen this array and precisely what kind of magical array it was.
This magical array was none other than the Ma Family's Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array!
Although this Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array was also a magical array, it differed somewhat from the three conventional grand arrays, for it was neither a 'dead array' nor a 'living array,' and certainly not a Blood Array.
The method for setting up this array was quite similar to a Blood Array: it didn't utilize various implements to arrange the formation, but rather directly set up the grand array through forming hand seals and chanting incantations.
In this regard, it was identical to setting up a Blood Array. However, setting up a Blood Array required fresh blood as a medium, yet neither Ma Yuanjin nor Ma Ling, back then, used their own fresh blood as a medium when setting up the Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array.
To set up the Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array using the method of a Blood Array, yet without fresh blood as a medium – Yang Haoran wasn't certain how Ma Yuanjin and Ma Ling accomplished this. However, that wasn't what he was concerned about at the moment. What he cared about was how much destructive power Ma Yuanjin could unleash by controlling this Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array!
Seeing that Ma Yuanjin had even unleashed the Ma Family's signature technique, the Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array, a look of delight appeared on Zhang Changchun's face.
At that instant, the three of them retreated once more, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the ghost within the blood-red storm.
Ma Yuanjin, meanwhile, shifted his hand seals, his pale face solemn in the extreme, and let out a sharp cry!
"Lin!"
As the character "Lin" was uttered, the "Lin" character within the Nine Syllable Mantra Great Array beneath him suddenly lit up, its dazzling brilliance exceptionally eye-catching.
"Chiwen!"
A terrifying wave of power erupted from the area where the "Lin" character lay, and a deafening beast roar resonated. A monster with the head of a dragon and the body of a fish condensed into form. Under Ma Yuanjin's control, its colossal body darted through the void like lightning, pouncing towards the ghost in the distance that had not yet fully broken free of the blood-red storm!
Gazing at the enormous Chiwen, a hint of surprise appeared in Yang Haoran's eyes. He had witnessed Ma Ling use this technique back then, but the Chiwen she had conjured was simply worlds apart from the one Ma Yuanjin had summoned now.
Whether it was the power fluctuations unleashed or Chiwen's own physical size, there was a colossal disparity between the two. The Chiwen conjured by Ma Yuanjin was larger in volume and far more powerful.
Yang Haoran's strength was vastly superior now compared to before, but sensing the power fluctuations emanating from this Chiwen, he couldn't help but feel astonished.
Chiwen was incredibly fast; its massive size didn't impede its speed. In but a blink of an eye, it approached the blood-red storm.
The ghost within the blood-red storm wore a grim expression. It too could sense the formidable power radiating from Chiwen. It wanted to dodge, but being trapped within the blood-red storm, its speed was affected. Before it could even attempt to evade, Chiwen lunged towards it.
Boom! ! !
With a thunderous crash, the blood-red storm formed by the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman was shattered by Chiwen's power, and the ghost was swallowed whole by Chiwen.
The blood-red storm, formed from the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman, had already expended most of its power on the ghost. Combined with the ghost's counterattack, very little of the storm's energy remained. Thus, when faced with the charging Chiwen, its power simply couldn't endure and was instantly annihilated.
No one present felt any pity, including Zhang Changqing, who had unleashed the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman.
Because they all knew perfectly well that the Essence Blood Ghost-Slaying Talisman's power was almost depleted, and its impact on the ghost was negligible. Its dispersal was of no consequence.
No one paid any mind to the dissipated blood-red storm; everyone's attention was fixed on the massive Chiwen.
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