The strange black snowflakes appearing before my eyes truly shocked me. The area covered by the snow was growing larger and, with the fierce battle between the two, was already spreading toward us.
I swallowed hard, raised a hand, and caught a black snowflake drifting down from the sky. Instantly, black smoke billowed from my palm, burning it painfully. I recoiled in shock—the snowflake was scorching hot, as if I had caught molten lava. I retreated several steps, staring at the burn in my palm, the pain drilling into my nerves. Grimacing, I hurriedly backed away.
With a thunderous crash, Ronan Wu dodged John Chou’s attack and kicked him in the abdomen, sending John plummeting straight toward the sea. The surface of the water boiled furiously, bubbling without a trace of steam—a bizarre sight that left me stunned.
John Chou stopped on the surface of the sea, twisting his body, a slender tail swaying slightly. I had already retreated twenty or thirty meters, and the spread of the black snowflakes finally stopped.
With a whoosh, a strange red arc appeared in the sky. John Chou raised his mountain-splitting blade and slashed at Ronan Wu. The instant their weapons clashed, I saw both men simultaneously reach for each other’s chest with their free hand.
With a harsh screech, a faint red glow surfaced on John Chou’s body, forming the shape of armor—like a suit of scale mail. But now, the armor was covered in scars, many of them looking as if they’d been scorched by flames.
With a crack, John Chou’s left arm was twisted completely out of joint. He slid backward at once, while Ronan Wu grabbed one of John’s arms with his left hand, laughing wildly. The green flames on the Soulflame Blade gradually turned into a row of skulls, burning even fiercer and leaping chaotically.
"I told you, you can’t defeat me in this form, John Chou."
Ronan Wu hunched over, gripping his great blade, body slightly angled. Suddenly, with a thunderous boom, a green beam of light shot through the air. Instantly, John Chou reacted, plunging toward the sea, but Ronan Wu shifted his attack trajectory in a flash and chased after him.
The moment John Chou’s severed arm regenerated, he raised the mountain-splitting blade high with both hands. With another thunderous crash, a chorus of wails erupted, and clusters of skull-shaped flames scattered in all directions like falling meteors. As they hit the sea, the water was instantly incinerated. John’s body curled, his legs slowly sinking, leaving a vast, pitch-black crater on the surface below him.
With a grating noise, the scale mail on John Chou’s body reappeared, but this time, holes had begun to appear in it.
Green skull flames swept and intertwined over the surrounding sea, gathering toward us. Ronan Wu’s ghost energy completely suppressed John Chou’s.
Clusters of skull flames closed in around John Chou, the red scale mail on his body twisting and warping bit by bit.
"This is my soul’s true strength. Taste the bitterness of defeat, John Chou!"
Ronan Wu let out a strange hiss. With a thunderous crash, John Chou, blocking with Soulflame, darted left at high speed, breaking through the green skull flames. His scale mail had been burned away until only half remained. He skidded across the surface of the sea, finally steadying himself. Then, with a casual grab, he sent a flash of red light flying toward me.
With a bang, my eyes widened. The green flames left only a chunk of red-black metal in front of me. I swallowed hard. When the flames finally died out, all that remained was a finger-sized rod of red-black iron.
"Hold onto this for me, Rachel Lan. After all, it’s a relic of the Netherworld. If it’s destroyed completely, there’ll be trouble explaining it."
I looked at John Chou. Many places on his body bore scorch marks where the snowflakes had fallen.
Ronan Wu raised his flaming blade, resting it on his shoulder.
"You’ve gotten stronger, Ronan!"
John Chou’s voice held a trace of delight as he spoke, while Ronan Wu laughed heartily.
"You really have gotten much stronger. In the past, I could only last half an incense stick’s time against you in this form before total defeat. But now it’s different, John Chou—go ahead and use your third form. Even if you unleash Bloodbane’s second form, you still can’t beat me."
John Chou slowly floated up from the surface of the sea, then shook his head.
"I don’t want to lose a critical advantage right away. If I use Bloodbane Power on you, you’ll die, Ronan. My Bloodbane Power now is... a little different than before."
Ronan Wu’s eyes widened instantly, then he laughed excitedly, pressing a hand to his chest.
"So strong! You really are the best, John Chou. I want to see it again—it’s been so long since I last did."
With a thunderous crash, Ronan Wu charged at John Chou again. This time, I noticed John gripping his mountain-splitting blade tightly, holding it behind him. Gradually, I saw rings of blood-spattered patterns appear on the blade’s surface.
With a swish, while Ronan was still more than ten meters away, John Chou suddenly swung the blade. Instantly, a spray of blood splashed toward Ronan Wu.
The moment Ronan stopped, he raised a hand, and layers of green, semi-transparent shields appeared. But the blood droplets quickly burned tiny holes through them. Ronan immediately retreated, unaware that John Chou had already moved behind him. Ronan twisted in midair and slashed down with his flaming great blade.
With a bang, their weapons collided again. But the blood droplets that had pierced the green shields landed on Ronan’s back, sizzling. A large patch of his back began to rot, green smoke billowing out. He roared in anger, pressing his blade down inch by inch, its edge now bearing down on John Chou’s shoulder.
With a swish, a large chunk of John Chou’s left side was carved away. Instantly, the two separated. Ronan Wu, panting, glanced back at his own body; the rotting area began to heal, but his ghost energy had sharply decreased.
John Chou’s body was also healing, but he didn’t look any better off.
"What was that just now?"
"This mountain-splitting blade has a special property—it instantly absorbs the power from your body and then releases it at maximum strength. You know what I mean by power: my soul’s own strength, the power of curses."
I stared at John Chou in shock. Curse power—something I never expected. I’d never seen him use it before. But then I remembered: he’s siblings with Yixue Han, whose strongest ability is curse power.
"Didn’t you say before that this power would hinder your progress, that you sealed your curse away completely?"
Ronan Wu asked coldly. John Chou shook his head.
"Maybe that was true before, but now things are different. I’ve broken through something. That’s why I came to you first, not anyone else. Ronan, let it go—there’s no need to keep fighting. Or do you want me... to kill you!"
Ronan Wu sneered, raising his Soulflame Blade again. His body began to mutate: black lumps appeared on his skin, sending chills down my spine.
Thunderous sounds erupted as the green skull flames on Ronan’s Soulflame Blade gave off human-like wails. The flames gradually turned black, and a faint layer of black mist appeared over his body.
"This is a losing proposition, Ronan, burning your own soul as fuel."
John Chou spoke, raising his now glowing red mountain-splitting blade, staring quietly at Ronan Wu.
"This is the final strike, Ronan. I don’t want to drag this out. You’ve gotten much stronger, but you’re still too young. You were born an extraordinary evil ghost, but at your current level, you couldn’t even beat Ding Dacheng."
Ronan Wu’s eyes widened, then he burst out laughing.
"You think I’d lose to that idiot? John Chou, don’t joke with me. I have other, even stronger powers—this is just one of them."
"You’ve just awakened your instincts, haven’t you, Ronan!"
Ronan Wu’s eyes widened instantly.
"How do you know?"
The moment the words left his mouth, John Chou was already in front of Ronan Wu, moving so fast I couldn’t predict it. But Ronan had already reacted.
"Instinct..."
With a boom, a massive black skull flame ignited behind Ronan Wu. But John Chou’s mountain-splitting blade sliced precisely through Ronan’s Soulflame, striking his chest. Ronan spat out a mouthful of green blood. Suddenly, John Chou raised his left hand, which instantly became crystalline, covered in scabs, and steaming blood mist erupted from it.
"How... is this possible!"
With a bang, my eyes widened as Ronan Wu flew toward me at high speed. I scrambled to my feet and bolted to the side.
With a crack, Ronan Wu’s body began to split apart, his surface cracking and turning to fragments. John Chou reached him, holding his falling body with one hand. With a boom, a fierce gust of wind swept in. I immediately crouched, plunging Beauty into the ground and gripping the hilt tightly.
"Ronan, you’re strong. Someday you might surpass me. But if you keep falling without ever looking up, you’ll never truly grow stronger."