"I've done everything you asked, Boss Yin."
Ronan Wu squatted on the ground, one hand raised slightly, a look of excitement in his eyes.
"Ah, thank you, Ronan. So, what's next? What are you planning to do?"
Ronan Wu clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, then burst out laughing wildly, his eyes filled with unrestrained madness. Suddenly, his fist slammed backward with a thunderous boom. My eyes widened as the mountainside behind us instantly vanished, dissolving into thick clouds of blue smoke that billowed up in waves. In an instant, white dust drifted across the entire island, and I felt a surge of life and death energies intertwining.
"What do you think I should do, Boss Yin? Do you still have what it takes to lead the ghosts, or do I have to test you myself? If you can't even handle this, then stay buried here forever. The Hall of Bloodbane doesn't need a leader who can't even defeat his own subordinates."
John Chou slowly floated upward. I saw the look on his face—grave and serious. Even though Ronan Wu was strong, John Chou had already regained his power. He shouldn't lose to Ronan, but for some reason, I felt uneasy.
"Stay put, Rachel Lan."
John Chou reminded me again, then pointed toward the distant sea. In an instant, a red and a green beam of light shot out to the far-off waters. I stood up and hurried after them. At that moment, I noticed a crowd of the living dead gathering behind me, all silently watching the impending battle in the distance.
I reached the shore and sat down, quietly watching the two figures on the sea.
"Is a fight like this really necessary?"
I muttered to myself, unable to understand. Maybe men are just like this—some things can't be explained in words, only with fists. With a helpless sigh, I shook my head.
John Chou's expression was calm, but Ronan Wu, standing opposite him, grew more and more excited.
"I heard that Miss Yi has already regained the other half of her instinct. We used to plan to help her get it back, but nothing ever came of it. Looking back now, I really miss those days. Mr. Brown's situation must be pretty bad now, huh?"
"You seem pretty well-informed, even though I told you to wait here for me for years, Ronan."
John Chou said this, shaking his head.
"I can hear everything. As long as there is life and death in this world, maybe I'll break through the limits of ghosts, just like you and the other six Ghost Sovereigns, Boss Yin. I understand your secret to power now. If you're not careful, you could die, Boss Yin. After all, no one knows your strength better than I do."
A faint pink glow appeared—John Chou was holding Belle.
"Ronan, my corpse is in your hands, isn't it?"
"Defeat me, and I'll tell you."
With a thunderous boom, my eyes widened as a surge of violent green ghost energy shot straight at John Chou.
With a metallic clang, a violent clash of weapons rang out. I stared in shock at the strange weapon Ronan Wu pulled out—it looked like a sword, entirely black, but its edges were serrated, making it extremely bizarre. John Chou raised Belle with one hand, blocking Ronan Wu's downward strike.
"Remember, John Chou? Do you recall how Ghostfang was forged? You know exactly what it's capable of. So why are you using such a simple defense?"
As he spoke, jagged wounds appeared all over John Chou, blood spurting out instantly. But in the next moment, John Chou scattered into countless blood-red particles.
"Ronan, are you getting a little carried away?"
John Chou's voice came from behind Ronan Wu. In an instant, Belle had pierced through Ronan's body. Ronan Wu sneered coldly, his face growing even more twisted.
"Where's your Rage Blood, John Chou? Don't tell me you think you can beat me with a trick like that!"
With a whoosh, John Chou withdrew Belle and stepped away from Ronan Wu, coldly toying with the sword in his hand.
"Of course not. There's no need to drag this out any longer. Ronan, show me the power you've built up over all these years."
Ronan Wu burst out laughing. As he turned, the strange sword in his hand flew toward John Chou. He crossed his arms, fingers stretching out as if pulling at something invisible.
Suddenly, I saw black and white lines weaving around John Chou—life and death energies. With two metallic clangs, John Chou blocked Ronan Wu's sword with Belle. It seemed he couldn't retreat any further, and soon, the world was filled with countless intertwining black and white threads.
"Impressive, Ronan. These intertwined lines of life and death energy—if I force my way through, I'll only get tangled up. Fine, I'll get a little more serious and play along."
With a whoosh, this time John Chou attacked first. I watched quietly as Belle in his hand danced lightly, thrusting at Ronan Wu again and again. Ronan dodged continuously, and the black sword knocked away by John Chou still floated in the air.
With a swishing sound, John Chou's strikes completely sealed off Ronan Wu's space for attack. I was amazed—he seemed to anticipate exactly where Ronan would dodge, slashing at those spots right after each move. But Ronan still managed to evade with agility.
I swallowed hard. I'd never seen a fight like this before. Both sides seemed to be waiting for the moment the other made a mistake.
The black and white lines in the air closed in like a fishing net, tightening around the two of them. John Chou's face showed irritation.
With a whoosh, John Chou split into ten copies as he attacked, each from a different angle, all wielding Belle and stabbing at Ronan Wu. There was nowhere left to dodge—blade after blade pierced Ronan's body, and the stabbed areas turned to mush. Suddenly, John Chou let go of Belle and his true self retreated.
(Irrelevant passage skipped: 'This chapter isn't over ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!')
With a buzz, all the copies of John Chou were instantly absorbed into Ronan Wu's body. He appeared right in front of John Chou, moving so fast I couldn't even see it happen.
With a bang, Ronan Wu punched John Chou in the gut.
"Is this the extent of your restored power, John Chou? You're nowhere near what you used to be!"
John Chou seemed completely trapped, the black-and-white web closing in around him. Ronan Wu's eyes widened as he grabbed John Chou by the throat.
"Did you escape?"
As Ronan spoke, he let go of John Chou's throat. Instantly, the figure in front of him turned into a wisp of blood-red mist, while the real John Chou appeared behind Ronan, holding Belle.
"You used the Soulreaver Blade's power, didn't you? But that's useless against me. It's been a long time since I've seen your Bloodbane Shadow Realm—why not show it to me?"
Ronan Wu grabbed the blade in John Chou's hand and suddenly flung him toward the sea. With a thunderous crash, John Chou skidded violently across the water, sending up massive waves.
Water splashed everywhere as John Chou steadied himself, slowly floating into the air.
"You'll die, Ronan—or is it..."
Ronan Wu instantly turned into a streak of green light, grabbing the black sword in midair and launching attack after attack at John Chou. I stared in shock as, despite blocking the sword, John Chou kept getting wounded—the blade cut him every time.
"Or are you just unwilling to bring it out?"
Ronan Wu attacked John Chou with growing excitement. At this point, John Chou was completely on the defensive, barely able to block Ronan's black sword.
I couldn't make sense of their battle, but I clearly remembered what John Chou once told me about the difference between us.
With a metallic clang, Ronan Wu's sword slammed down again at John Chou. The moment John Chou blocked it, his entire body was instantly torn open, covered in fine wounds, blood spraying through the air.
Ronan's attacks were visible, but impossible to defend against. That was what struck me most about this fight—no matter how many times John Chou dodged, he still got hurt. The wounds healed quickly, but Ronan's ghost energy kept growing, while John Chou's remained steady. That shocked me.
"Not bad. Just like before, you never show a single weakness. Even if you do, it's just a trap. I know you too well, Boss John."
With a thunderous crash, John Chou was knocked into the sea again. This time, the force blasted a huge crater in the water, sending massive waves rushing toward me. I jumped up in a hurry.
With a rumble, the waves crashed onto the shore, cracking the ground. John Chou floated back into the air, while Ronan Wu laughed loudly on the other side.
"Unbelievable, Boss John. No matter what, you refuse to show your true power, don't you?"
With a whoosh, I saw John Chou flash past Ronan Wu like smoke and illusion. Ronan's whole head flew off, and with a splatter, he spat out blood.
"Ronan, I told you a thousand years ago what a ghost's battle is like."
"Ephemeral, right?"
Ronan Wu's body reformed itself.
"I see. That move—you must've learned it from another ghost, right? Not bad, but I've already seen through it."
Ronan Wu's eyes slowly turned gold and black. A surge of immense life and death energy welled up from his body, merging together.