"The Five-Pointed Star rises..."
Just as I was about to rush forward, I saw a flash of silvery light. Suddenly, a silver Five-Pointed Star appeared, only to vanish from sight a moment later.
"Dodge, Ethan Zhang!"
My shadow immediately shouted. Only then did I realize something was wrong with my body. I quickly looked down and saw the silvery Five-Pointed Star had already appeared on my body, its five points pressing against my head, hands, and feet.
"What is this?"
No sooner had I spoken than I felt my body grow unbearably heavy. In an instant, just as I tried to flap my wings, I plummeted toward the ground, landing face-down with a thud.
The Taoist stepped through the air, brandishing his whisk. With a swishing sound, I saw five small flags fly out—green, red, yellow, white, and black. The white one bore a Taiji symbol, while the other four had different beasts depicted. They landed at the four corners around me, with the white Taiji flag planted above my head.
I hurriedly released a surge of Deathbane Aura, but in that instant, it felt as if my aura had weight. As soon as it left my body, it sank to the ground like a pool of black water.
Panic welled up in me. I tried to struggle, but found my Ghost Soul unbearably heavy. Just as Zhang Jizheng had warned, fighting someone from the Arcane Society was incredibly difficult. They had hundreds of ways to deal with ghosts like me.
"I command all spirits—wind, fire, thunder, lightning—erase all evil..."
Suddenly, wind and clouds swirled around me, thunder and lightning crackled, and streaks of red fire blazed forth, all surging toward me at once. Before I could even cry out, I was struck.
Caught in the midst of these forces, I screamed in agony. The Taoist was relentless, refusing to give me any chance. He tossed aside his whisk, pulled out a large brush from his sleeve, and traced a circle in the air with his left hand.
With a gurgling sound, a silver sphere of water appeared. The Taoist dipped his brush into it and, suspended in midair, drew a Taoist Talisman. In an instant, a silver talisman was completed, and as he chanted an incantation, it wrapped itself around me.
"Aah..."
I roared, raising my right hand. Suddenly, a surge of Deathbane Aura erupted at the Taoist's feet. In a flash, a giant Deathbane Aura Snake burst from the ground, jaws wide open. In the instant before the talisman was thrown, the snake swallowed both the Taoist and the talisman whole.
With a deafening boom, an explosion erupted. I screamed in pain, but the portion of my Ghost Soul left in the ground spared me from disaster. Still, my body felt unbearably heavy.
My body was already in tatters—some skin charred, some dissolved as if by acid. Blackened flesh mixed together, sticky and foul.
At that moment, I realized the Five-Pointed Star was only on the surface of my body. Without hesitation, I tore at my own skin, ripping off a large patch from my chest. Black blood splattered, and with a crack, the pentagram carved into my flesh shattered.
I immediately flapped my wings. With a snap, I turned into a mass of black mist, a hand reaching out from the fog to grab the Yin-Yang Banner. Sizzling sounds erupted as my hand was instantly scorched.
With a crack, I broke the Yin-Yang Banner, then tore the flag apart. The four surrounding flags collapsed, and the spells that had been harming me vanished in an instant. I roared, raising my fist as black mist surged, and I appeared in the center of the dissipating explosion.
"It's my turn now."
I roared, clenching my fist and striking at the Taoist whose position I'd pinpointed. But with a bang and a cloud of black smoke, my fist landed on a massive silver Taoist Talisman. The Taoist, holding his brush, stared at me in shock.
"Hmph, Ethan Zhang, do you know what this is..."
"I don't care what it is. I'm going to smash that face of yours—the one that kills without a second thought."
I roared, grabbing the silver Taoist Talisman with both hands. Instantly, Deathbane Aura surged behind me like a painful waterfall, flooding toward the talisman. Against overwhelming force, skill is meaningless.
The floating silver talisman tore apart in my grip. I raised my fist and punched the Taoist square in the face. With a bang, he flew backward, spitting blood.
I kept flapping my wings. In that brief moment, I poured all my strength into breaking through the Taoist's talisman. I couldn't give him a chance to recover—I had to finish him.
"You brat, Ethan Zhang..."
In both hands, I now gripped a pair of Deathbane Blades, slashing mercilessly at the Taoist. Just then, he clutched two silver Taoist Talismans, and with a flash of silver light, hurled them at me.
My Deathbane Twin Blades were already wrapped in dense aura, which I kept compressing. The short blades were on the verge of collapse. There was no time to think—I had to use every ounce of strength to suppress the Taoist's magic. It was my only way out.
With a ripping sound, I sliced through the two silver Taoist Talismans—they turned to ash. But my Deathbane Dagger shattered as well, two streaks of black light flaring. I raised my fist, and just then, the Taoist took out a square object—it looked like a seal.
"Heaven-Earth Seal..."
With a smack, the Taoist pressed the Heaven-Earth Seal onto my forehead. At the same time, my fist landed squarely on his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood, sizzling sounds erupting as small explosions went off all over my body, halting me in midair.
[Irrelevant system message: Skipping this line as it is not part of the novel's narrative.]
At that moment, the Taoist dipped two fingers in his own blood and quickly formed hand seals.
"Thunderfire Technique..."
With a bang, a mass of silver flames wrapped in silver lightning appeared before my eyes. With a crack, it struck my chest, and with another bang, my entire body was blown apart.
The immense pain nearly made me pass out. I screamed as my misty form sank to the ground and slowly tried to recondense. But my body was like mud, unable to take shape—my Ghost Soul was severely damaged.
The Taoist spat out another mouthful of blood and shakily stood up. I struggled on the ground, trying to recondense myself, but felt powerless. A red light glowed on my forehead—the mark left by the Heaven-Earth Seal—still damaging my Ghost Soul.
"Heh, Ethan Zhang, the reason humans have developed so many arcane arts to fight ghosts far stronger than themselves is simple—like a homing missile, their only goal is to strike the Ghost Soul as quickly as possible."
The Taoist spoke, then sat cross-legged on the ground. With a wave, his whisk flew back into his hand. He seemed to be regulating his breath, but he was wounded too—a deep dent in his chest, coughing blood repeatedly.
"I never thought you'd wound me like this. Hmph, Ethan Zhang, it seems I underestimated you. This thing is incredibly precious—I was reluctant to use it at all."
The Taoist took out a small transparent bottle with a streak of deep red inside—it looked like blood. I stared in surprise; the bottle was thumb-sized, covered in intricate patterns and talismanic symbols. Smiling, the Taoist uncorked it and drank the red liquid.
Instantly, I saw his caved-in chest begin to heal. The Taoist, who'd been coughing blood, was now suffused with golden energy. Even his battered face began to recover. In just a few seconds, he was completely restored.
"Do you know what this is, Ethan Zhang? Heh."
The Taoist laughed. I finally managed to recondense myself, though my Ghost Soul still ached. The red glow on my forehead gradually faded. I panted, staring at the now-empowered Taoist. What was that thing he just used?
Normally, humans can't recover from injuries—especially internal ones—so quickly. I tried to draw energy from the earth, but my ghostly veins couldn't penetrate the ground, blocked by something. No doubt, it was the Taoist's formation.
"This is Rufina Howard's blood, that little girl's. Heh, it took me a lot of effort to get just a few small bottles."
"You bastard."
I roared, spreading my wings and flying at the Taoist, my hands once again forming a pair of Deathbane Daggers.
"Let me show you, Ethan Zhang, just how powerful this thing really is."
My heart skipped a beat. The Taoist drew a sword that looked like a whisk with a deer's tail, its metallic blade engraved with the Big Dipper on both sides and a dragon symbol on the hilt, adorned with a string of colorful beads.
"Magic Sword, heed my command—summon all spirits, slay demons and evil, Thunder Glyph, unleash the torrent of lightning..."
Suddenly, as I charged forward, I tried to dodge, only to see the Taoist's Magic Sword erupt with streaks of silver lightning and flecks of gold, piercing through me like daggers. I froze, staring wide-eyed at my chest, now completely run through.
My body went completely numb. In an instant, my consciousness began to blur. All I saw was the Taoist's wicked grin. I was powerless, unable to feel anything, as I slowly drifted down toward the ground.