Chapter 743: True Strength
As Yang Haoran spoke these words, the panic had vanished from his face, replaced by a renewed smile.
He had initially intended to stall for a while longer, to buy Xu Meijing as much time as possible, but from the looks of the current situation, his plan could no longer be sustained.
After all, Zhang Changchun's father was no fool; having seen through the stalling tactic, he wouldn't allow himself to be led by the nose. Thus, Yang Haoran simply tore away his pretense and began to mock him.
His boldness was, of course, no mere reckless bravado. While Zhang Changchun's father was indeed formidable, his strength paled in comparison to Zhong Siyu's or the ghost that had escaped from beneath the Town Soul Tower. Moreover, his soul body had been injured and he had expended too much energy, leaving his current power far less than when he was first unleashed.
Conversely, Yang Haoran's true strength had yet to be fully unleashed. In the eyes of Zhang Changchun's father, he was nothing more than a weakling, a nobody in battle—but whether that was true, Yang Haoran certainly knew far better than Zhang Changchun's father.
Before, he hadn't dared to reveal his true power because he harbored certain reservations, but now, with all such concerns cast aside, he saw no reason to waste any more words on Zhang Changchun's father.
If words could no longer buy him time, then only action remained!
Zhang Changchun's father caught the sarcasm in Yang Haoran's tone. He paused, clearly not having anticipated such audaciousness from Yang Haoran—to dare utter provocations even in this desperate plight.
“Very well! I hope you still possess the courage to speak to me like that in a moment! ”
The words had barely left his lips when, before Zhang Changchun's father could even make a move, a powerful surge of energy suddenly erupted from Yang Haoran. Surging Spirit Power whistled forth from his body, and rolling black smoke billowed upwards, engulfing him!
Bang! ! !
With a dull thud, Zhang Changchun's father hadn't yet comprehended what was happening when the Yin Qi comprising his soul body was violently dispersed by a surge of Spirit Power.
Zhang Changchun, too, was greatly startled by the sudden turn of events; he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that Yang Haoran, at this very moment, could unleash such terrifying power fluctuations.
“How is this possible! How can you possess such formidable power? ! ”
Zhang Changchun's father's dispersed soul body re-coalesced in mid-air. He gazed at Yang Haoran, his face etched with disbelief, an expression of profound shock that words failed to capture.
Yang Haoran maintained his smile, completely ignoring Zhang Changchun's father. As he manipulated several chains to launch an attack on the duo, his hands rapidly formed seals!
“How in the world did you gather information? ! Quickly, stop him from forming those seals! ! ! ” Zhang Changchun’s father roared at his son.
Zhang Changchun's father roared loudly at his son, while simultaneously unleashing his power of controlling objects, intending to directly incapacitate Yang Haoran.
However, facing the sudden, fierce assault of numerous chains, neither of them could launch an immediate counterattack against Yang Haoran.
A series of thunderous blasts echoed continuously as the chains Yang Haoran had condensed from Spirit Power successively shattered. Freed from their entanglement, Zhang Changchun and his father could finally launch a direct assault on Yang Haoran.
But they were still a step too late. Yang Haoran had timed it with absolute precision: the very instant the chains fragmented, his hands, which had been forming seals, ceased their motion!
“Ghost Art! Ghost Fiend Soul Chain! ”
A low voice emanated from Yang Haoran’s lips. As his words rang out, the very earth trembled violently, and the surrounding space quivered in response.
A sharp, piercing cackle of ghostly laughter suddenly erupted across the area, and one after another, Ghost Fiend Soul Chains began to emerge.
Some Ghost Fiend Soul Chains tore through the very ground, while others ripped open the fabric of space itself. In a mere blink of an eye, the area behind Yang Haoran was entirely filled with thick, formidable Ghost Fiend Soul Chains; upon closer inspection, there were exactly eight of them!
When Huo Laoban had unleashed this technique in the past, he too had summoned eight Ghost Fiend Soul Chains. Now, Yang Haoran, utilizing the full extent of his power, was capable of summoning precisely the same number!
Under Yang Haoran’s command, six Ghost Fiend Soul Chains lunged at Zhang Changchun’s father, while the remaining two launched their assault on Zhang Changchun himself.
Confronted by six Ghost Fiend Soul Chains, Zhang Changchun’s father initially wished to avoid a direct clash, yet he had no choice but to engage. The six chains had sealed off all his escape routes, leaving him with no option but to meet them head-on.
As for Zhang Changchun, though he faced only two Ghost Fiend Soul Chains, the pressure on him was no less immense. His strength was already far inferior to his father's, and contending with two Ghost Fiend Soul Chains simultaneously left him in an extremely disadvantageous position.
The numerous chains condensed from Spirit Power earlier had been nothing more than an appetizer; the Ghost Fiend Soul Chains Yang Haoran had now unleashed were the true main course!
Zhang Changchun, barely managing to evade the attacks of the Ghost Fiend Soul Chains, frantically activated the Array Disk in his hand. This formation had now become his greatest reliance, for the holy light it emitted possessed a powerful suppressive effect against Yang Haoran.
However, the power Yang Haoran had unleashed was simply too immense for him to be certain that the formation could truly contend with him.
Though uncertainty gnawed at him, he still poured his full might into activating the formation. Even if it couldn't outright destroy Yang Haoran, it had to at least severely wound him, creating enough chaos for his father to extricate himself from the six Ghost Fiend Soul Chains.
Under his full activation, a colossal formation once again condensed above Yang Haoran's head. The array spun, emitting a hum, and holy light rapidly converged.
Yang Haoran cast a glance at the formation overhead. He said nothing, but his hands once again began to form seals!
The instant the holy light solidified, his hands, mid-seal, abruptly stilled, and a low shout once more escaped his lips!
“Ghost Art! Nether Ice Mirror! ”
The Ghost Art he unleashed this time was the defensive Nether Ice Mirror. The very instant the Nether Ice Mirror materialized above his head, the overhead formation abruptly sent two booming beams of holy light plummeting downwards!
One beam of holy light shot towards Yang Haoran, while the other hurtled towards Xu Meijing, who remained within the protective shield behind him!
Zhang Changchun's target for this strike was, astonishingly, not Yang Haoran alone; even Xu Meijing, standing behind Yang Haoran, was within his intended range of attack.
Nevertheless, though the Nether Ice Mirror was a single-sided defensive Ghost Art, its protective radius was considerable. While one beam struck at Yang Haoran and the other at Xu Meijing, both fell squarely within the Nether Ice Mirror's defensive coverage.
After all, the Nether Ice Mirror was colossal, no smaller in size than the formation above it. Let alone just two beams of holy light; even if the formation had unleashed ten or eight, they would still have remained well within the Nether Ice Mirror's defensive boundaries.
The two beams of holy light were incredibly swift, plummeting down one after another with a thunderous roar, striking the Nether Ice Mirror below in an instant.
The anticipated explosion never occurred, nor was the Nether Ice Mirror blasted away by the two beams of holy light. The moment they struck, the two holy lights simply merged into the ice mirror's interior, like raindrops dissolving into a still pool.
Such a bizarre sight caused Zhang Changchun to blanch in dismay. Before he could even recover from his shock, the Nether Ice Mirror suddenly blasted two pillars of light straight back towards the formation overhead.
He saw it with chilling clarity: these two white pillars of light were precisely the holy beams his own formation had unleashed moments before!
With two thunderous booms, the two beams of holy light struck the formation overhead. The array, having suddenly endured such a fierce assault, exploded into fragments.
The shock in Zhang Changchun’s heart intensified beyond anything he had felt before. This sight left him wide-eyed and staring: the holy light released by his formation had not only failed to inflict the slightest harm on Yang Haoran or Xu Meijing, but the formation itself had been utterly shattered by that very same holy light.
While the shattering of the formation wouldn't cause him any direct harm, each time he condensed it, it exacted a considerable toll on his energy, and each such condensation also required a significant amount of time.
He had expended precious energy to condense the formation, only for it to fail to harm Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing. Worse yet, the formation had been shattered by the very power it released. The vexation in his heart was immeasurable.
The overwhelming surge of emotion in his heart caused him to expose a crucial flaw. With a single misstep, he was sent flying by a Ghost Fiend Soul Chain, and the Array Disk slipped from his grasp.
His face paled dramatically. He wanted to reach out and forcibly retrieve the Array Disk, but the relentless assault of another Ghost Fiend Soul Chain compelled him to abandon the thought.
Unable to retrieve the Array Disk immediately, he did not panic. Instead, he instantly commanded the Town Soul Tower, which floated suspended behind him, to engage the two Ghost Fiend Soul Chains. Meanwhile, he himself flashed forward, darting towards the plummeting Array Disk.
But just at that moment, a streak of black light suddenly flashed past, piercing straight through his body!
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