"What are you going to do, Earthly Soul!"
Behind me came Rachel Lan's shout. I smiled faintly, slowly raising my right hand. A sword of baleful energy appeared in my grip.
"I know exactly why. The moment I gained this power—Wraithlord, since you can do this, then I can end it all myself."
As I spoke, a narrow crack slowly appeared in the mountainside ahead. Just as I was about to charge in, a golden flame blocked my path.
"Step aside, Rachel Lan. I have to go in. If I can't break the power the Wraithlord used, they'll all die."
At that moment, Grandmaster Mingde smiled at me, uttered 'Amitabha,' and bowed deeply.
Ethan Zhang, we can't do it, but you can. We're counting on you!
Just as Rachel Lan was about to speak, I had already moved into the crack. In an instant, I became a streak of baleful energy—dark and corrosive, my spirit nearly dissolving under its intensity. Feeling the overwhelming force beyond the fissure, I unleashed my strongest power, like a black sword stabbing into the breach, desperate to break through the metaphysical barrier.
With a sharp clang, my sword of baleful energy met the Wraithlord's outstretched palm.
"Can't sit still any longer, Earthly Soul? So eager to die?"
I smiled faintly. The road behind me was now completely sealed, and even the Wraithlord couldn't get out. Tan Tian had just helped me—otherwise, I might've been finished by the Wraithlord already.
"I was wondering why you suddenly became so generous, granting me power. So that's the reason."
I sneered coldly. The Wraithlord's face twisted with extreme malevolence, his expression growing rigid.
With a thunderous crash, the Wraithlord's fist swept past my face, and my sword of baleful energy was shattered.
The next moment, I was airborne—a purple beast had caught me in its jaws, saving me from disaster. Tan Tian stood beside me. Everything around the Wraithlord had become a fractured black void, black currents flickering across his body. He turned, eyes blood-red, staring right at me.
"I should've realized, Tan Tian—maybe I'm the one who caused everything outside."
I said this, and Tan Tian nodded.
"From the start of my fight with him, I sensed Gourd Village was completely consumed by desire. That wasn't the Wraithlord's doing."
I nodded, recalling that rainy night I went to Gourd Village searching for Luna Quay. It must've been then—when I unleashed my power, the entire world of desire the Wraithlord had left inside me was released. Thinking back, when the Wraithlord seized that world of desire, he must've planted something inside me.
"Was I too naive after all?"
I muttered to myself as the Wraithlord appeared before us, smiling faintly.
"It's not that you're too naive, Earthly Soul. It's because I made you feel that way, isn't it?"
I nodded, gripping two swords of baleful energy. I knew I couldn't leave a scratch on the Wraithlord, but all I could do now was awaken the Desire Ghost, let her seize control of desire, and make the power blanketing Gourd Village vanish.
The Wraithlord slowly raised a fist, glaring coldly at me.
"Let's start with you. Go back to where you belong."
I stared intently at the Wraithlord, my resolve hardening. In the end, I came in after all. Originally, I hadn't planned to, because John Chou had told me to do everything possible to keep Rachel Lan safe. But now the time had come—if the practitioners outside died, our last chance would vanish, and with it, any hope for salvation. The oppressive sense of finality weighed on me, every decision a knife to my soul.
With a rumble, Tan Tian whisked me away from the Wraithlord's attack range once again. His power kept rising, which shocked me—compared to our fight days ago, the Wraithlord was even stronger now, seemingly without limit.
"At most, I can hold out for another ten days or so."
Tan Tian said, gazing at the massive black void left by the Wraithlord's punch—a part of the Corpse Realm swallowed entirely by his power, even time itself. I saw sand and gravel entering the black space, frozen in place. As Tan Tian slowly infused his power to repair it, the black void would temporarily disappear.
"Do everything you can to awaken the Desire Ghost. I'll hold him off."
As Tan Tian spoke, razor-sharp blades sprouted from his arms. In an instant, he became a flurry of violent afterimages circling the Wraithlord, surrounding him with countless attacking forms. Around the perimeter, purple beasts prowled restlessly.
"You've mastered the power of ancient beasts to this degree—impressive, but I'm stronger."
With a deafening crash, I had already scattered into black particles of baleful energy across the Corpse Realm. The Wraithlord seized Tan Tian by the neck, crushing him with overwhelming force. The razor blades on Tan Tian's arms shattered, exploding into fragments. The purple beasts swarming toward the Wraithlord turned to dust before reaching him.
I could sense immense desire power in the Corpse Realm, but couldn't find its source—the Desire Ghost. I had to awaken her. The forces here had taken shape and gained self-awareness; though destroyed, they still existed. All I needed was to wake them.
"Formless Mask—Beast."
Suddenly, at Tan Tian's shout, colorful ribbons appeared around the Wraithlord, instantly wrapping him up. For the first time, his skin was split open, but the Wraithlord just smiled.
"You've used this trick on me long ago—I remember well. The so-called Formless Mask is invisible to anyone but you, and only cold, emotionless corpses can perceive the full shape of matter. But I'm different. I've seen far more than you, seen far wider worlds."
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With a sickening crack, Tan Tian's head was twisted off. The Wraithlord raised a finger and, with a sudden slash, split Tan Tian's body in two. The colorful streams swirling around froze instantly, shattering into sparkling fragments that drifted down.
I was still searching for the Desire Ghost's location.
"Where are you? If you're not dead, wake up!"
I shouted loudly, but the next second, I felt a tightness in my chest. I'd already moved my Wraith Fragment in advance. The Wraithlord grabbed me and pressed an icy finger to my forehead.
"Farewell!"
With a thunderous crash, I reappeared hundreds of meters away from the Wraithlord. The moment I sensed something amiss, I used my power to move my Wraith Fragment far off. The Wraithlord laughed maniacally, charging toward me.
Explosions roared as violent, twisting vortexes appeared all around. Long-snouted monsters emerged from the sky, jaws gaping wide, but none could withstand the Wraithlord's sudden assault—they all turned to dust.
It looked like the Wraithlord was dead set on killing me.
"Don't dodge."
Tan Tian's voice echoed in my head. Just as I was about to be struck, I stopped moving. My body began turning to black ash, bit by bit.
"Too bad, Earthly Soul. If only you'd listened and stayed out of the way."
I smiled faintly as my consciousness faded. When I came to again, the Wraithlord was laughing madly in the distant sky, and my body was still turning to ash. I had been transferred into a corpse in the black mire. I swallowed hard—it had been too close. If not for Tan Tian, I would've truly died.
I understood Tan Tian's intention. I didn't use my power, relying instead on intuition to try to find the Desire Ghost. As long as I found her, she could control the desire force outside and temporarily resolve the crisis.
"It's a shame—your plan has failed. What's the point of Tan Tian continuing? Do you really think you can trap me?"
As the Wraithlord spoke, he attacked Tan Tian again. Tan Tian fought back, but couldn't maintain his form under the Wraithlord's fists. With a violent explosion, Tan Tian vanished from the air, and the Wraithlord landed on the ground, satisfied.
Suddenly my perspective shifted. As the Wraithlord landed, I found myself airborne, looking down at the ground. It seemed Tan Tian didn't want the Wraithlord to realize I was still alive, so he switched my position. The Wraithlord didn't seem to notice anything.
The Corpse Realm was saturated with desire force. Though it couldn't affect this place directly, it was always connected to the outside, under the Wraithlord's control.
I thought carefully about where the Desire Ghost might be. If I exposed myself again, I might not be so lucky. I had to endure. Just then, the Wraithlord smiled, pressing a hand to the ground, and Tan Tian appeared once more.
But before Tan Tian could act, the Wraithlord was already standing behind him.
"You've used the same trick on me twice, Tan Tian. Do you really think I'll fall for it again?"
With a thunderous roar, a black beam of light shot skyward like a massive pillar. As the Wraithlord soared upward, I was back in the mire. Tan Tian was still buying me time, but my anxiety grew.
But I still couldn't sense where the Desire Ghost was. I wanted to use my power, but couldn't move at all—I knew that if I did, the Wraithlord would immediately find me.
At that moment, I noticed the black pillar of light hadn't vanished. From within, black humanoid forms like mud kept emerging, scattering in all directions and landing on the ground of the Corpse Realm. The Wraithlord sat cross-legged in midair, laughing wildly.