"This guy's condition seems a little off."
Black Moon spoke, and we all looked over. Quentin's body was changing color—those brownish-yellow stripes were deepening, turning black and red as if being forged into a sword. His body was swelling, and powerful limbs sprouted razor-sharp claws. The ground began to rumble beneath him.
The ground cracked, fissures spreading around Quentin. The Ghost Painting Book Immortal looked on in astonishment.
"I didn't expect it to be this strong. My ghost formation is gone—everyone, be careful."
My ghost energy was nearly depleted. At that moment, Black Moon quickly tossed out several silvery small boats. We scrambled aboard just as, with a thunderous crash, the ground beneath Quentin caved in. We were all airborne, and Black Moon's hands moved in intricate patterns, as if wielding some mysterious power.
Before Black Moon, a moon gradually appeared. He kept rubbing his hands together, and a silvery moon materialized. With a roar, Quentin threw back his head, his eyes blazing red, howling like a wolf. A powerful gust of wind swept up, nearly overturning our crescent boats.
With a thunderous flap, Quentin's massive wings propelled him instantly to Black Moon's side.
"There's no other way. Fang, hold on—I’ll summon the Celestial Hound for help."
As soon as Black Moon finished speaking, all the ghost energy in my body was drained instantly. The crescent boats we rode vanished, and Black Moon fell helplessly downward.
Suddenly, Quentin stopped midair, staring at the silvery moon, barking wildly.
The ground beneath our feet had already changed shape dramatically. Kane darted through the air, carrying each of us dozens of meters away from Quentin. I was gasping for breath, unable to stand, while Black Moon collapsed weakly onto the ground.
"Summoning the Celestial Hound in such dense ghost energy is nearly impossible. The odds are only one in three."
Everyone turned to Black Moon, but he just burst out laughing.
"Even if it's only one in three, I've been lucky lately."
At that moment, we saw the silvery moon in the sky, more than two meters in diameter, its edges beginning to darken, bit by bit, as the moon faded away.
Quentin began barking wildly. Then, with a drawn-out wolf howl and a sudden rush, the instant the silvery moon disappeared, a creature appeared in the sky—a single-headed hound trailing a long black ribbon. It was the Celestial Hound.
"As expected, it's a bit incomplete. But this king of hounds isn't a myth—unlike these manufactured beasts, heh."
In an instant, the Celestial Hound bit Quentin's neck. The two hounds tore at each other in midair, fierce currents blasting out, obliterating the ground and vegetation around us.
The Celestial Hound clamped onto Quentin's neck, its long black ribbon-like body wrapping around him. Quentin twisted his head and bit back, but the blackness vanished instantly, as if the Celestial Hound were just mist. No matter how Quentin attacked, he couldn’t touch its true form.
"Enough. With this much power, as long as no other beasts attack, we’ll be fine. It must have been several hours already."
Black Moon spoke as I tried to get up—I had to recover. Things weren’t looking good. It seemed like the Celestial Hound had Quentin restrained, but in reality, it was just delaying him. Its jaws around Quentin’s neck weren’t causing any real damage. With each bite and claw swipe from Quentin, the blackness of the Celestial Hound faded, becoming more like smoke.
"Will we really last until tomorrow, Black Moon?"
Deathcurse asked, while Black Moon slapped his own forehead.
"Something's wrong... damn."
Everyone could see it—Celestial Hound was incomplete, barely there. Now it was like a wisp of black smoke, nearly gone, while Quentin broke free and kept attacking. The whole encounter lasted barely ten minutes.
"Damn it, Black Moon, didn’t you say we’d be fine until morning?"
Black Moon stood up and said with a smile,
"Haven’t you heard? The Celestial Hound devours the old moon so a new moon can be born, right?"
The last wisp of black smoke vanished. Quentin howled in fury, flapping his wings, turning toward us as if ready to dive down and tear us apart.
The moon remained. All of us stared wide-eyed at it.
"Even if it's incomplete, ever since the moon appeared, the Celestial Hound devouring the moon has happened countless times. Unless Quentin can destroy the Celestial Hound in a second, there are hundreds, thousands more waiting to come."
"Damn it, Black Moon, do you just enjoy messing with people?"
Deathcurse couldn’t sit still and rushed over, swinging his fist at Black Moon and pinning him down. Black Moon burst out laughing, blocking with both hands. The two of them wrestled playfully while I sighed and lay back on the ground.
Sure enough, the moon once again showed signs of the Celestial Hound devouring it. Quentin stared wide-eyed, and in a flash, two hound heads appeared, biting his neck and one leg. This time Quentin seemed to be in pain, howling and struggling fiercely.
Quentin's howls shook the sky. Black Moon lay on the ground, legs crossed, watching the spectacle above with a look of leisure.
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"So, your technique gets stronger each time?"
Ghost Painting Book Immortal asked.
"Ah, well, it's my trump card, Old Book. No need to ask, alright? No matter how strong a technique is, it always has a flaw. As for the flaw—I'm not telling you."
Ghost Painting Book Immortal replied with an 'oh,' and we didn’t ask further. We just watched in silence. Clearly, Quentin was stronger. Soon, after ten minutes, the two-headed Celestial Hound vanished, and Quentin let out a victorious howl—but then, the howl abruptly stopped.
"Here comes another one—a new moon."
Sure enough, another full moon appeared in the sky, larger than the last. The Celestial Hound began devouring it again.
"This time it’ll definitely have three heads."
Deathcurse muttered.
"And what if it doesn't?"
Suddenly, Felix Zhou appeared.
"What, you want to bet, kid?"
"If it’s not three heads, and something else shows up, you’ll have to carry me from now on."
Deathcurse didn’t hesitate and agreed. The moon had shrunk to a crescent, and suddenly, it was as if black flames were burning. I saw two dog paws emerge from the writhing fire, then a single head appeared.
With a roar, Quentin lunged again. Deathcurse cursed loudly, Black Moon clutched his belly, laughing, while Felix Zhou pulled off his own jaw with one hand.
"So many witnesses—I win!"
"A bet’s a bet. Damn it, you little punk."
Quentin and the Celestial Hound started fighting again, but this time, the Celestial Hound seemed solid, engaging Quentin in a fierce, back-and-forth battle.
The two hounds clashed in the sky for half an hour, but Quentin held the advantage. The Celestial Hound turned into black smoke once more and vanished.
Then we noticed—the moon had grown enormous, swelling suddenly in the sky.
"This is bad."
Black Moon muttered. We turned to look, stunned—his hands had turned into black, clawed dog paws, and his face was changing, becoming more canine.
"I can't go on. Everyone, you’re on your own now—if this keeps up, I’ll turn into a dog. Woof, woof..."
I swallowed hard and gasped. Everyone was stunned—Black Moon’s last words turned into barking, and he kept barking as if trying to tell us something. The massive silver moon grew even larger, and the Celestial Hound’s devouring slowed.
At that moment, Quentin actually looked terrified. Black Moon waved his clawed hands, but now the lunar eclipse seemed out of control, speeding up.
"Quentin's starting to back off—something's about to come out."
Duantian shouted. Suddenly, Quentin turned and beat his wings frantically, fleeing into the distance. In the sky, the black sun began to emit a faint green glow—the Cataclysm seemed to be ending.
"Damn it, are you trying to get me killed?"
Black Moon finally returned to normal. Then we saw, on the ground, a puppy about the size of a kitten, looking like a husky, its voice childlike.
"Hmph, serves you right for being so lame. You dragged me out and let that guy beat me up so badly—I had to get my revenge."
With a sharp bark, Black Moon kicked the husky-like Celestial Hound flying, but immediately hopped around yelping in pain as the Celestial Hound bit his foot. We all burst out laughing—even Kane, usually cold-faced, showed a rare expression.
The green sun appeared, and the forest was suddenly peaceful again. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, that's enough. Get out of here."
The Celestial Hound shrank, then with a pop, turned into a silvery glow and vanished.