"Ethan Zhang, don't compare me to someone as vicious as John Chou."
I gave a noncommittal response and looked at Isabelle Frost. Her expression changed, and her smile vanished.
"The power of Bloodbane in John Chou is meant to utterly destroy an opponent's strength, while what I use is pure technique. Get that clear."
I nodded in acknowledgment. Indeed, the two powers seemed similar, but they were fundamentally different. Isabelle Frost could destroy the power her opponent released, but only that; whereas John Chou's power, as I'd heard, destroyed his opponent's strength from within.
Once I recovered a bit, I started thinking about how I could possibly defeat Isabelle Frost. But on closer thought, my real goal wasn't to beat her, but to train my own strength—completely.
My Ghost Souls emerged from my body one by one. I stood up. This time, I wouldn't give Isabelle Frost the chance to carefully search for and exploit the weak points in my released power.
With the Curse Ghost present, Isabelle Frost watched her warily.
"Looks like this is going to be troublesome."
As Isabelle Frost spoke, I suddenly charged at her. The Curse Ghost crouched low, one hand pressed to the ground, and then both her eyes turned red.
"Curse Killing, Death Mark..."
Suddenly, Isabelle Frost seemed rooted to the spot. She tried to move, but found herself unable. I saw a large black-and-red pattern beneath her feet—whatever that was, it was stopping her from moving.
Once I figured it out, I immediately drew my Spectral Shotgun. Using it still brought backlash, but with the Curse Ghost here, things were more stable. I rushed forward, gripping the Spectral Shotgun in both hands.
The Yin Ghost and Zhu Tang coordinated, wind and flame attacking Isabelle Frost. She crouched, extending a finger.
"Release..."
With a bang, the strange black-and-red pattern vanished from under her feet. She dodged the flames, but immediately, wind blades shot out from the fire, wild and chaotic, striking at Isabelle Frost.
The wind blades struck, but Isabelle Frost's ghostly aura blocked them all—they couldn't break through. I'd already reached her back, raised my Spectral Shotgun, and pulled the trigger.
With a thunderous boom, I was blasted backward. The seconds the Curse Ghost bought me kept Isabelle Frost from escaping.
A surge of black light shot skyward, the air shattered around us. Deathbane Bullets exploded, spreading a black cloud with Isabelle Frost at its center. I holstered the Spectral Shotgun, and my Ghost Souls returned to my body, quickly reducing the impact.
There's no way it would be that easy to hurt Isabelle Frost. I didn't stop. Raising both hands, Deathbane Aura Snakes split from my body. The Curse Ghost flew toward the blast zone.
Just as she reached the still-smoldering blast area, the Curse Ghost raised both hands.
"Curse Killing... Needle Spike..."
Suddenly, the lingering dust from the explosion transformed into tens of thousands of interconnected needle spikes, densely packed and appearing all at once.
With a bang, a hand burst from the mass of spikes, grabbing the Curse Ghost by the throat and flinging her toward me. It was Isabelle Frost—she emerged from the explosion unscathed. The spikes disintegrated into black fragments, drifting away.
"So fast."
Even as she spoke, Isabelle Frost appeared before me. The Curse Ghost barely had time to react before my chest was struck several times—I spat black blood and was sent flying.
As soon as I regained my footing, I saw a fierce green light surging toward me.
A creaking sound echoed as everything around me froze within the black mist. The thick fog drifted all around, and as soon as Isabelle Frost came close, the air around me would freeze into ice.
Yet Isabelle Frost still entered. Ice blocks began to form rapidly—black ice, connecting and quickly converging on me. Isabelle Frost was faster than the ice, raising her hand to slap me away.
"Miss Isabelle, I've won."
I shouted. Just before Isabelle Frost's hand touched me, she was completely frozen inside a block of black ice, a look of surprise on her face.
Gradually, Isabelle Frost melted into the black ice and disappeared. In the distance, a faint green light appeared—Isabelle Frost reemerged, a smile on her lips.
"You're becoming more and more like a ghost, Ethan Zhang."
I nodded. Everything I'd done was just setting up the battlefield. The mist began condensing from the outside in, giving Isabelle Frost the illusion that her speed far outpaced the ice's formation.
But this weapon was saturated with yin energy. If I wanted, I could freeze everything around me in an instant.
"Isn't that how ghosts fight? Using all sorts of ghostly powers to deceive the opponent, then waiting for the chance to strike and win."
Isabelle Frost drifted over. She hadn't been affected at all—she must have used some power, so I won.
"Then let's move to the next phase, Ethan Zhang. It seems raw power alone isn't enough to handle you anymore."
"Hold on a moment."
Just then, Jules spoke up. We turned to look at him; in a flash, he appeared between me and Isabelle Frost, raising a hand and pointing upward.
"Come with me first. That thing up there seems really unstable."
I gave a noncommittal response. Isabelle Frost followed Jules up first, and I hurried after them.
The two moved so fast that I had to speed up as well. At this point, my ghostly energy was already depleted.
[Irrelevant system message about reading. Skip translation.]
Gradually, we reached the top, where black, yellow, white, gray, and many other colors mingled together.
But now, I saw that in this multicolored place, many spots seemed to have something squirming inside—sometimes bulging, sometimes sinking. It made my scalp tingle, and there was a constant gurgling sound.
"What's inside here, really?"
I asked, but Jules just shook his head.
"Darren and I have been watching over this thing since we were born. We don't know what it is—it's all by the will of that lord."
"That lord?"
I muttered. I felt like I'd heard this before: at the bottom of Lake Desire, the one reading a blank book mentioned it; in the Hall of Myriad Serpents, I heard it again; the figure shrouded in black mist, always walking, spoke of it; on the shadowed side of Mount Immeasurable, I heard it once more; and the one striking the unbreakable pillar of light mentioned that lord as well.