The massive fortress behind us had almost vanished from sight. We stopped and I sat on the ground. My Ghost Soul was in terrible shape—Heavenly Soul Ethan Zhang had used my power, and to let his instinctive origin help me, it required a tremendous amount of energy. I had to rest for a while.
Isabelle Frost kept her eyes fixed on Deathcurse, silent, as if something was troubling her.
"What's wrong, Miss Yi? Do you have any advice?"
"Regarding the curse on life itself."
"Sharp eyes, but that's only half right. I'm looking forward to the day we can have a real fight."
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at the two of them—Isabelle Frost and Deathcurse—both showing clear hostility toward each other.
"Enough, enough. If you're going to fight, wait until Blackfang's business is done. Relax, Fang, that day won't come anytime soon."
Ghost Painting Book Immortal spoke, taking out the yellow book and a pen, writing seriously. For a while, none of us said anything. Felix Zhou lay on the ground, staring at the sky.
"I say, isn't it time we set out our next plan of action?"
Black Moon said, jumping down from a tree trunk and clapping his hands.
"King of the Isle, huh."
I muttered, and everyone turned to look at the tall forest in the distance. It was still dozens of kilometers away—visible, but getting there was another matter entirely.
"Whatever happens, let's go check it out first."
Victor Duan said, but Cao Wanzhi shook his head.
"This island's beasts aren't that strong, but if we run into something tougher, we could be in trouble. I suggest we let Blackfang share his power with all of us. Even if the range is short, as long as we can use it, we'll be less likely to get caught off guard like before."
Cao Wanzhi had hit the nail on the head. I smiled and leaned against a tree trunk.
"But the burden on Blackfang will be huge."
Kane said, and I shook my head.
"Let's try it slowly. We'll find a way. I don't want to just sit here waiting to die."
After a few hours of rest, we began to experiment. First up were Ray Lin, Isabelle Frost, and Deathcurse—the three who could already use ghost energy under my instinct.
I drove the Specter Webs into the bodies of all three at once, closed my eyes, and began to use the power of Coexistence. Instantly, my eyes snapped open—it was far more difficult than I'd imagined.
All three Specter Webs snapped at once. I collapsed to the ground, unmoving. In that instant, the ghost energy restored in my Ghost Soul was completely drained.
"Looks like it's pretty tough."
Ray Lin commented, but Ghost Painting Book Immortal just laughed.
"Maybe it's not as hard as everyone thinks. Blackfang's instinct is called Coexistence."
I couldn't quite grasp what Ghost Painting Book Immortal meant. The old man often only spoke in riddles.
"Everyone, think carefully. Reflection matters. What you discover on your own is far more real and practical than what you hear from others."
Isabelle Frost immediately flashed a confident smile—she seemed to understand. One by one, the others also caught on. My mind held something, but the details were still unclear.
"Take your time, Blackfang. We have plenty of it."
"So slow."
Felix Zhou muttered.
"It's the amount of Ghost Aura."
I blurted out. Ghost Painting Book Immortal smiled and nodded.
"In other words, if we use too much power as a condition for Coexistence, then Blackfang will have to expend a massive amount of Ghost Aura to maintain it. Here, aside from Wanzhi, everyone has more Ghost Aura than Blackfang. So if our moves consume too much, Blackfang's body won't be able to handle it."
Sure enough, many things in this world share common traits. Just like my Ghost Souls—when they leave my body and use their powers, it still drains my own Ghost Aura.
"Everyone, use the weakest power to achieve the best result."
Ghost Painting Book Immortal spoke, and everyone nodded—except for Black Moon and Felix Zhou, who weren't participating. Nightshade could fight, and the other six ghosts joined in, lining up beside me.
"Let's begin."
After a few more hours of rest, we continued our experiments.
I linked all six of them with Specter Webs. My instinctive power flowed slowly, yet strangely, my Ghost Aura didn't decrease at all. The six of them gently floated upward—except for Nightshade, all the ghosts could now fight.