The thicket suddenly exploded outward, and a dark shadow burst forth, stepping onto the edge of the green expanse. It was a young man clad in black armor, his eyes eerily blood-red, his expression twisted with brutality and bloodlust. His long, dark hair was wildly disheveled, and he gripped a pale-purple longsword. Wings sprouted from his back, the central feathers being charcoal black, with the tips fading to a pale white.
A chaotic, feral aura radiated from the man. His handsome features were somewhat contorted as he fixed his gaze intensely upon Ye Chen, his crimson eyes blazing with a thirst for slaughter!
Lost Soul! Ye Chen started internally. Judging by the man's appearance, he must be one of the Lost Souls from the Angelic Civilization!
Surviving long-term on this desolate continent meant being infected by the toxic gases permeating the air, eventually turning one into a Lost Soul. All reason would be lost, leaving behind only the savage impulse to kill, without sensation of pain, without fear of death—utterly a raging madman!
Any ordinary person fighting with desperate fury would make one instinctively step back.
Moreover, Ye Chen felt an intense pressure emanating from this man, as if being tracked by a monstrous beast. His body tensed involuntarily, cold sweat beading down his back.
"Such immense coercion..."
"This Lost Soul from the Angelic Civilization has likely reached the peak of the Ghost God Realm, perhaps even the ultimate stage!"
Ye Chen slowly gripped the divine sword in his hand, his expression turning grave and focused. Such a Ghost God expert, once engaged in combat, would be terrifyingly formidable; the fight might even culminate in self-detonation.
"Roar!" This youth, completely devoid of reason and acting merely as a walking corpse, stared intently at Ye Chen with his demonic, blood-red eyes, emitting a beast-like growl before lunging forward!
Swish!
His form was like the wind!
In the blink of an eye, the man stood before Ye Chen. Though his sanity was gone, his movements were incredibly agile, like a rabbit leaping or an egret taking flight. With a single bound, he arrived before Ye Chen, swinging his longsword in a graceful arc, a perfect crescent moon slicing down toward Ye Chen’s head.
Ye Chen remained outwardly calm, his eyes solemn. He took a step back, thrusting his divine sword forward diagonally. Ghost Qi surged from within his body, channeled according to the first method of the Nine Absolutes Spear, meeting the attack head-on.
One-ninth of his Ghost Qi formed an intricate and marvelous array diagram within the divine sword, intricately interwoven, massively amplifying the sword’s power to achieve its peak lethal force!
Clang!
The two weapons collided mid-air, sending sparks flying. Then, with a sharp crack, a fissure appeared along the blade of the pale-purple longsword held by the Lost Soul!
On the other side, Ye Chen’s entire body shuddered. He felt a massive force erupting from his opponent, slamming into him. The tiger’s mouth grip on his divine sword split open, blood gushing freely, his arm going numb. The sheer force repelled him backward, forcing him to stumble over a dozen paces, each footfall leaving a deep impression in the earth before he finally halted. "What immense strength!" Ye Chen thought in shock. He hadn't expected this Lost Soul to possess not only potent Ghost Qi but also such tremendous physical power. He had deployed his full strength, even stacking the Meteor Mystery, yet he only managed an even trade on the Ghost Qi front. In terms of physical power, he was significantly behind. If the opponent had been wielding a great hammer instead of a sword, Ye Chen might have been shaken into spitting blood from that single blow.
"Roar!"
The Lost Soul fixed its eyes on Ye Chen, issuing another low growl before violently pouncing again. The pale-purple longsword in his hand traced an arc resembling a white lotus in the air, seeming to blossom into a dazzling, bizarre lotus pedestal, from the center of which a sword radiating cold light suddenly shot out.
Ye Chen’s gaze flickered. He retreated, slapping a hand out. A torrent of Ghost Qi surged forth from his body, manifesting as countless ethereal sword darts that rained down upon the Lost Soul.
Boom, boom, boom...
The Lost Soul’s body was hard as iron; the black armor was impervious to blades and spears, shattering every single concentrated Ghost Qi sword dart. It bared its teeth and lunged toward Ye Chen.
A cold glint flashed in Ye Chen’s eyes. He abruptly retreated ten zhang, raised his hand, and pointed. Ghost Qi flowed from his fingertips, followed by a vast, boundless aura slowly spreading across the surrounding world.
"Nine Palaces!"
Ye Chen knew that continuing this way would only needlessly deplete his Ghost Qi, so he concealed nothing further and activated the Nine Palaces Secret Residence.
He could have activated his Superhuman Mode to fight, but since this Lost Soul was a descendant of the Angelic Civilization and possessed such strength, it must have awakened its Superhuman Mode as well!
In the ancient world, merging genes wasn't difficult, and the success rate far surpassed that of Earth. Thus, most strong individuals were essentially Superhuman experts!
This was why he hadn't deployed his Superhuman Mode immediately—these Lost Souls were too enigmatic. Once you activated your Superhuman Mode, the opponent would likely follow suit!
If this Lost Soul's Superhuman Mode was Tier Three or even Tier Four, it would only create more trouble. Furthermore, the Superhuman Mode was truly reserved for life-saving emergencies; using it in a non-critical fight was a complete waste.
Especially in such a perilous location.
Rumble.
The earth subtly shook. A majestic palace rose from the ground, incinerating the surrounding grass and trees, clearing an open space. Ye Chen stood atop the roof of the Nine Palaces. As the structure ascended, his silhouette slowly rose, allowing him to look down upon the Lost Soul before him!
"Nine Palaces Guardian!"
Ye Chen pointed a finger, and Ghost Qi surged from his body, flowing down through the Yongquan acupoints in his feet and channeling into the Nine Palaces below. Immediately, the palace flashed with firelight, and three beams of flame shot toward the sky, slowly coalescing into a guardian creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a snake!
"Explode!"
"Explode!"
Ye Chen tapped his fingers consecutively, instantly sending two Nine Palaces Guardians hurtling forward. Their bodies flared, exploding in brilliant light, akin to a volcanic eruption!
Boom!!!
The two massive bursts of energy detonated almost simultaneously, creating a violent shockwave that wildly swept outward, enveloping the Lost Soul!
The firelight was dazzlingly gorgeous.
Within the depths of that inferno, a streak of white light flashed and vanished, immediately obscured by the infinite firelight. The explosive shockwave spread outward, annihilating all plant life within a one-kilometer radius, leaving nothing but scorched earth and black traces behind.
It must be noted that these Nine Palaces Guardians possessed Ghost Qi comparable to Ye Chen’s—nearly sixty thousand points each. Self-detonation multiplied the power by ten, resulting in six hundred thousand points. Two detonating together inflicted a total Ghost Qi damage exceeding one million points!
Ye Chen quickly looked toward the center of the flames. His pupils contracted abruptly. Through the firelight, a figure slowly emerged. Its armor was tattered and charred, smoke rising from its body. Its eyes were still blood-red, but a faint, golden mist-like light enveloped the blackened, cracked skin.
Divine Power!
Ye Chen’s heart leaped as he felt the faint pressure emanating from that golden sheen. Shock flooded his eyes. He hadn't expected this Lost Soul to be a Ghost God Realm expert, but rather a Half-God Realm Lost Soul!
No, that wasn't right! Ye Chen suddenly realized something, freezing for a moment before a flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes. "Could it be the legendary and extremely rare Pseudo-Half-God expert?"
Normally, when a person breaks through, the advancement is swift and decisive!
Only those with poor innate talent, or those whose breakthroughs were interrupted by external factors, were forced to abandon the full ascent and settle for the level of a Pseudo-Half-God.
Such experts would need to retrain or find a crucial opportunity to successfully break through to the Half-God Realm!
Ye Chen never imagined he would encounter such a Lost Soul. It was likely this person had been training here during life, but something interfered with their breakthrough, leading to demonic deviation and turning them into a Lost Soul!
"Roar!" The Lost Soul charged forward. The feathers on its back slowly retracted, many of them withered. A trace of red filament wrapped around the base of the tail. Looking at its appearance, it strongly resembled the use of a unique innate talent specific to the Angelic Civilization: Angelic Aegis! Every member of the Angelic Civilization could deploy Angelic Aegis, an ability that instantaneously multiplied their defense tenfold!
However, it could only be used once a day!
Unless one obtained the "Stone of the Angel," continuous use would be possible!
This was the unique power of the Angelic Civilization. In contrast, the Spiritual Civilization could activate emotions to boost the body, resulting in doubled attack power, doubled speed, or doubled defense, but none reached the exaggerated ten-fold amplification.
For instance, rage could boost attack power! Love or hatred could enhance endurance and defense! Joy could increase speed!
But these emotions required specific circumstances to be ignited; they couldn't be controlled at will.
"Not good!" Seeing the Lost Soul charging, Ye Chen hurriedly activated his final remaining Lost Soul Guardian, sending it hurtling forward to detonate.
Boom! The ferocious shockwave rolled back, engulfing the Lost Soul. The ground beneath subsided, cracking and drying out.
After a moment...
As the firelight receded, Ye Chen held his breath, staring tensely. In the depths of the inferno, a figure lay prone—it was indeed the Lost Soul!
Dead?
Ye Chen’s eyes widened, a fierce joy suddenly surging in his heart! He had actually managed to kill a Pseudo-Half-God expert!
Although it was only a Pseudo-Half-God, and this Lost Soul possessed very little Half-God power, managing to slay it while being a Ghost God Realm expert was still a miracle!
Ye Chen couldn't suppress the ecstatic grin spreading across his face as he rushed toward the Lost Soul. In truth, during the first wave of attack, the shockwave of over a million points of Ghost Qi had already depleted the Ghost Qi within the Lost Soul and drastically thinned its meager Pseudo-Half-God protective barrier.
The second impact immediately caused it to collapse.
Ye Chen arrived before the Lost Soul but didn't approach immediately. Instead, he used the last four points of Ghost Qi in his body to condense nine small swords, sending them toward the Lost Soul. Targeting the eye—the softest spot—he pierced downward. It took no great effort to run the sword straight through its eye.
Confirming the death, Ye Chen finally let out a sigh of relief. He quickly moved forward, swinging his divine sword to smash the Lost Soul's brain. Inside, he found a faint, golden-black crystal core, about the size of a small pebble, smooth all over, emitting a gentle light.
Soul Crystal!