Main Text Volume Three Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Three A Stately Figure

Upon hearing this, Old Ghost Qi let out a sinister, ghastly chuckle. "Monkey Lai, spare me your petty schemes. Who doesn't know that the spiritual artifact in your possession was snatched from your own sworn brother? You'd plot against your own flesh and blood, let alone someone like me.

"There are only your subordinates here. Once I help you slaughter all of them, who knows how you might turn on me? Therefore, I am not greedy; one artifact is plenty for me."

As he spoke, he had already closed in on An Shu and the other. Chasing Wind had long since witnessed his third brother fall at this man's hand; the moment he saw him approach, he cast his opponent aside and lunged at him to kill.

An Shu similarly put away her long flute without delay and summoned the Water Spirit Orb, transforming it into rolling vortexes that swept toward Old Ghost Qi. Seeing that Chasing Wind was merely at the Core Formation mid-stage, Old Ghost Qi held him in absolute contempt.

With a flash of his figure, he raised a hand to claw at Chasing Wind's lower abdomen. To his surprise, Chasing Wind moved with even greater agility; shifting his footing, he easily sidestepped the attack.

"Oh? Such astonishing speed!" Old Ghost Qi was greatly startled.

He launched another offensive, but alas, swift as he was, his opponent was even faster.

Chasing Wind wielded a short blade and excelled in close-quarters maneuvering and evasion.

Knowing the vast disparity in their strength, Chasing Wind used his own strengths to entangle the enemy. Though he could not inflict any wounds on his foe, the enemy was likewise unable to harm him for the time being.

With the two locked in this fierce grapple, An Shu's water vortexes found no room to play their part. She had no choice but to retrieve her long flute once more and begin to play.

This melody, however, was different from the previous one; it was played exclusively to target Old Ghost Qi. Not only did Old Ghost Qi feel as though his head was about to split apart from pain, but the long flute also projected streams of sonic waves like countless invisible arrows piercing straight at him. A moment of carelessness would result in a bloody gash being torn into his flesh.

The threat An Shu posed to him far exceeded that of Chasing Wind. Realizing he could not subdue Chasing Wind in the short term, Old Ghost Qi suddenly executed a feint and lashed out at An Shu.

An Shu's forte lay in long-range and area-of-effect assaults, while close combat was not her strong suit. Seeing the blow about to land on her, a figure suddenly flashed before her with a muffled thud, interposing itself between her and the attacker.

"Big Brother Chasing Wind!" An Shu cried out in alarm, catching in her arms Chasing Wind, who was coughing up gouts of fresh blood.

Chasing Wind turned his head and offered a faint smile. "I'm fine! As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you."

With that, he straightened up once more and charged back toward Old Ghost Qi. The two resumed their intertwined battle. Cunning and crafty as Old Ghost Qi was, he naturally saw through the dynamic and began intentionally bypassing Chasing Wind to strike solely at An Shu.

The strategy proved effective; Chasing Wind was forced to use his own body as a shield. He was struck time and again, yet charged back into the fray each time. An Shu's eyes were brimming with tears, gazing upon a majestic figure standing before her like a towering mountain, shielding her from the wind and rain.

To fall, only to rise again—he seemed to be living out his solemn promise: *As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you!*

"Damn it! I refuse to believe you can keep blocking!" Roaring in fury, Old Ghost Qi snatched a broadsword from the ground and slashed viciously toward An Shu.

Although Old Ghost Qi was a Nascent Soul expert, his offensive power was actually not exceptionally high, roughly equivalent to a late Core Formation cultivator. His true prowess lay entirely in concealment and ambush.

Even so, having endured blow after blow, Chasing Wind's consciousness was gradually fading. At this point, he was sustained entirely by an indomitable willpower, instinctively stepping in front of An Shu once more.

"No—!" An Shu cried out in a desperate, piercing shriek.

"Ah—!"

Old Ghost Qi let out a miserable scream as blood poured from both of his ears. The momentum of his blade wavered, and instead of its intended target, it hacked directly into Chasing Wind's leg.

*Splat—*

Blood splattered everywhere as Chasing Wind's lower leg was severed clean at the knee.

"......" An Shu could no longer emit a sound; large mouthfuls of blood welled up in her throat, her vocal cords having been ruptured by the shock. Yet she cared nothing for this, holding Chasing Wind tightly in her embrace.

Chasing Wind's eyes were tightly shut; he had already passed out cold.

"Now that even his leg is gone, let's see how fast you can run. Since the two of you are so deeply devoted, then go together—"

"Go to hell!"

Just as Old Ghost Qi raised his blade, twin gales whistled from behind his head. Pale with shock, Old Ghost Qi scrambled to dodge.

He narrowly evaded a pair of iron claws fitted with gloves. However, a wooden club followed closely along his ear, crashing down with immense force with a resounding smack that shattered his shoulder blade to pieces.

With a clatter, the broadsword fell to the ground. Uttering a wretched shriek, Old Ghost Qi spewed a plume of black mist and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Quick—hand him over to me!"

As these words rang out, a green beam of light struck An Shu's throat.

An Shu looked up to see that Yu Mu and Yang Yong had arrived in the nick of time.

"Quick—save Chasing Wind!" The sight of Yu Mu was like beholding a savior, and An Shu burst into loud tears.

"Rest assured, with me here, he won't die. Quick—a Regeneration Pill!" Yu Mu pressed the severed limb back against the wound with one hand while placing his other palm flat against Chasing Wind's body.

Yu Mu's words jolted An Shu back to her senses. She hurriedly retrieved a jade bottle, poured out a Regeneration Pill, and had Chasing Wind swallow it.

"Fourth Brother!" Yang Yong cried out in deep grief, throwing himself over Chasing Wind.

"Leave him to me, you two go hunt down that old scoundrel. Make sure he doesn't escape!"

Reminded by Yu Mu, the two men locked their gazes with icy ferocity. "Even to the ends of the earth, I swear to kill that old villain!"

Yet, once Old Ghost Qi vanished into stealth, he was lost to sight again. Amidst the chaotic battlefield and the cover of night, where were they to find him?

An Shu, however, smiled coldly. She flicked her sleeve, and a small white beast emerged from within. Holding the hilt of a blade before its nose, she let it sniff.

Little Strawberry let out a series of anxious, squeaking cries and raised a tiny paw to point directly behind An Shu.

"Seal!" An Shu shouted sharply, instantly summoning a jade seal and executing a series of incantations. Suspended in mid-air, the jade seal caused water ripples to undulate, forming a sealing barrier.

Bolstered by the amplification of both the Water Spirit Orb and the jade seal, the phantom within the Water Dragon Seal took on the distinct appearance of a true dragon. Its soaring dance trapped Old Ghost Qi securely within its confines.

At this moment, the might of An Shu's Water Dragon Seal was actually twice that of Yu Mu's Azure Dragon Seal. The amplification effect of the Water Spirit Orb on the Nine Dragons Seal was truly not inferior to the jade seal itself.

"Let's see where you can run to now!" With that, An Shu summoned several more vortexes to encircle the exterior of the barrier. Immediately afterward, she brought her horizontal flute to her lips and began to play a tune directed straight into the water sphere.

"Ah—!" With a cry of agonizing pain, Old Ghost Qi clutched his head with both hands, his figure forced out of invisibility.

The spot where Old Ghost Qi materialized was merely a few meters away from An Shu. Unyielding in his greed, the old scoundrel was still attempting to ambush An Shu even now to seize her spiritual artifact.

Realizing the gravity of his situation the moment he was forced into view, Old Ghost Qi dared not covet any more treasures. He slammed against the barrier, desperate to break through and flee.

The instant he burst out of the confinement, a figure blocked his path head-on.

Without time to examine who it was, Old Ghost Qi lashed out with a palm strike. To his surprise, the incoming figure made no attempt to evade.

*Slap—*

The palm landed squarely on the person's chest. The man coughed up a violent jet of blood, hidden within which was a single golden needle.

Old Ghost Qi had never anticipated such a trick, and it was far too late to dodge. His face was splattered entirely with blood. Fortunately, he narrowly escaped the golden needle piercing his brain, but the needle still buried itself deep into his left eye.

With another miserable shriek, Old Ghost Qi recoiled in haste, only to be met by a cloud of pink mist upon turning back.

"Seal!"

"Seal!"

A cyan and a green seal descended upon him simultaneously, locking him in place. Immediately following that, a towering inferno engulfed him, while several water dragons swept him into their churning embrace.

"Shameless old villain, I will refine you alive today!" Yu Mu continuously cast seals while spewing mouthfuls of alcoholic fire inward.

An Shu drove the vortexes to spin at breakneck speed, granting him not a single moment to catch his breath. Unable to withstand the relentless barrage of injuries, Old Ghost Qi's protective true essence was gradually eroded away.

Before long, waves of shrieks and cries for mercy echoed outward. Unmoved, Yu Mu and his companion intensified their attacks.

"Refining this old ghost will still take some time, but Big Brother Chasing Wind's injuries cannot wait. I am going to devour his spiritual consciousness; Big Brother Yang Yong, you must guard my dharma."

"Very well—with me here, you have nothing to fear." Yang Yong struck his chest in assurance.

"Understood."

Nodding, Yu Mu spewed another mouthful of alcoholic flame before manifesting a specter that plunged directly into the fire sphere. Having depleted the vast majority of his spiritual power and suffering constant torment from the attacks, the Old Ghost Qi inside the barrier was utterly powerless to care about anything else.

Seizing the opening, Yu Mu invaded his spiritual consciousness, beginning to siphon away his ghost-spirit essence.

Since Old Ghost Qi originally practiced ghost-spirit cultivation arts, how could he fail to recognize his impending fate the moment a wandering specter infiltrated his mind?

Gripped by overwhelming terror, his soul nearly scattered in panic. He could do nothing but offer bitter pleas for mercy, yet what use was resistance against this?

To a specter, Old Ghost Qi's spiritual consciousness was a rare and nourishing tonic.

Unlike the spiritual consciousness of other cultivators, the spiritual consciousness of those who practiced the ghost-spirit path could be absorbed one hundred percent. After all, devouring the ghost-spirit energy of one's own kind was one of the very methods by which specters grew stronger.