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The dozen or so swarms of Tiger Fury Hornets zipped through the air at incredible speed. As if professionally trained, they first scattered, then encircled Shawn Young from all directions. Within less than half a minute, he was completely surrounded and under relentless attack.
Seeing there was nowhere left to retreat, Shawn Young stopped in his tracks. As the ferocious Tiger Fury Hornets lunged at him from all sides, he quickly crossed his arms over his chest, right hand gripping his left, and pressed his thumbs together to form the Celestial Guardian Seal. His body surged with Celestial Dragon Vitality as he intoned the incantation, his voice rapid and commanding: 'Celestial Guardian, shine through flames, heart and soul united, essence ignites the law, ten directions divine, protect my spirit, by the command of law—Open!'
With a swift motion, he flipped his hands and spread them above his head. Instantly, a beam of violet light erupted from his body, swirling upward to form a glowing purple halo. The luminous ring descended, enveloping Shawn Young in a shimmering sphere—the Divine Guardian Shield, a signature protective spell of the Clear Sky Order.
The swarms of vicious Tiger Fury Hornets surged toward him, only to be blocked by the violet halo. Undeterred, the hornets kept madly trying to force their way through the barrier, their frenzied attacks making Shawn Young's skin crawl.
'This is just the beginning. I need to finish this fast and save my strength!' Shawn Young thought. He swiftly overlapped his hands, channeling his energy, and shouted, 'Samadhi True Fire—Ignite the Heavens!'
The purple halo surrounding him suddenly flared with dazzling red light, then burst into roaring flames that surged outward in all directions—'Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!'
Thousands of Tiger Fury Hornets were instantly engulfed by the blazing red fire, their bodies bursting mid-air like popcorn, then tumbling down in twisting streams of black smoke.
In the blink of an eye, every Tiger Fury Hornet surrounding Shawn Young was obliterated by the explosive red flames. Shawn Young finally exhaled, steadying his rattled nerves.
But just as he caught his breath, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the woods on his right, attacking Shawn Young with silent, lightning speed—a cold blade slashed toward him! Shawn Young leapt back several steps to dodge, and the shadowy attacker froze in place after missing. Now able to see his assailant clearly, Shawn Young was utterly shocked!
That dark figure was actually a headless corpse! To be precise, it was a headless body wielding a gleaming, razor-sharp machete in both hands. The corpse was covered in rotting flesh, reeking so badly that Shawn Young instinctively pinched his nose. He couldn't imagine how a headless body could stand upright, let alone attack so fiercely. The only thing he knew for sure: someone was controlling this corpse.
At first, Shawn Young thought the one controlling the corpse might be the wraithlight that escaped into the bamboo house. But he quickly dismissed that idea—the wraithlight had just been heavily injured by him and couldn't possibly have enough power left to command such deadly magic. After all, manipulating poisonous insects and corpses like this required immense supernatural strength.
"Could it be—there's another master of dark arts hiding in that bamboo house, pulling the strings?!" The thought flashed through Shawn Young's mind.
Before he could figure it out, the headless corpse suddenly raised both arms, and with a swift motion, hurled the sharp machete—"Whoosh!"—straight at Shawn Young's face. He ducked just in time, and the blade skimmed right over his scalp.
Missing its mark, the headless corpse suddenly collapsed with a thud, lying stiff and motionless on the ground.
"Huh? That's it? No way! Just two moves and it's done? All that fuss, and I thought it was some big deal—" Shawn Young muttered, scratching his head in confusion.
No sooner had he finished speaking than another dark mass shot out from the woods, shrieking wildly as it lunged at him. Shawn Young dodged just in time, but the thing curved in midair and shrieked again, attacking him even faster.
Shawn Young quickly raised one hand to shield his face and slapped at the thing with the other—"Wham!" The black mass slammed into his palm, and he batted it away ten meters. But to his surprise, it curved in midair and swooped right back, hovering menacingly above him.
With that brief opening, Shawn Young finally got a good look at the thing—it was a human head!
"Holy crap! A flying human head! What the hell is this?! Could it be—?" Shawn Young cried out in disbelief. He vaguely remembered something about this kind of dark magic, but there wasn't any clear record of it in the Codex of Ascension. He was pretty sure he'd only ever seen it in movies!
"Southeast Asian black magic—the Flying Head Hex?! Is this some kind of hex ritual?!" Shawn Young suddenly remembered a terrifying scene from a Hong Kong horror flick.
He saw the floating head, its neck trailing wriggling strands of bloody sinew. The face was ghostly pale, hair wild and tangled, cheekbones sunken deep, and the most horrifying feature—its dead fish-like eyes, pure white with no pupils. Suddenly, the head's mouth split open, revealing a row of jagged, chalk-white teeth. It began to chant in a guttural, spell-like voice.
Then, the headless corpse that had collapsed earlier suddenly sprang upright. The floating head swooped over, and the bloody sinews from its neck latched onto the corpse's neck. In a bizarre spectacle, the two joined together—and as soon as they did, the head's eyes rolled, pupils appeared, and it suddenly 'came to life'!
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The 'person' winked at Shawn Young and let out a piercing, screeching laugh, as grating as a night owl's cry. The sound sent chills down Shawn Young's spine and made him feel jittery all over. He snapped, "Laugh at your own ghost! What's so funny?! Quit messing around with all this spooky nonsense!"
"Wah—" The creature didn't speak, but suddenly opened its mouth and spat a mist of pale golden saliva at Shawn Young. Alarmed, Shawn Young retreated several steps, spreading his hands wide to conjure a massive fan-shaped shield of red energy in front of him. The golden mist was deflected, splattering onto the ground and instantly corroding it into smoking, foul-smelling pits.
"Ah! Corpse venom water—this thing's a Corpse Venom Wraith, loaded with deadly toxins! Who the hell created something this nasty?" Shawn Young was utterly horrified.
The creature tried to spit again, but Shawn Young didn't hesitate—he swung the red energy gathered in his hands straight at its chest. The force, formed from Celestial Upper Purity Vitality, packed a serious punch. With a loud "Wham!" the creature's body was shredded into pieces.
The corpse broke apart into countless chunks, but then something even creepier happened—each chunk instantly transformed into a writhing mass of venomous creatures: centipedes, spiders, caterpillars—all brightly colored and obviously poisonous.
Most unbelievable of all, the intact human head flew up again, cackling with a sinister, bone-chilling laugh. Six thick, jointed limbs suddenly sprouted from beneath it, scuttling across the ground at lightning speed. The head looked just like a giant spider as it lunged straight at Shawn Young.