I pressed down hard on Deathcurse. Black curse energy surged across his whole body, growing more and more overwhelming.
"Wait a second. Calm down."
I stared intently at Phantom Sage. He kept laughing, and as for what he'd said about Zhou Fulai earlier, I still couldn't quite believe it—or anything Phantom Sage said.
Right now, Deathcurse was extremely agitated. The curse energy pouring from him was immense—I had never felt anything so powerful before.
Deathcurse’s consciousness was close to slipping out of control. If he rushed in recklessly, it would be pointless. Luna Quay and Luo Yu were both present, and those two revenants, Luo Yichen and Luo Yu, were still kneeling on the ground. They hadn’t expected Luna Quay to show up, and were clearly caught off guard.
"Tell me, what kind of agreement did you two reach with those people from the Dark Banquet?"
Luna Quay asked softly.
Luo Yichen’s eyes were dazed, but there wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in them.
"Everything we’ve done was for the Corpse Realm. I hope you can understand our intentions, Lord Luna Quay."
Luna Quay floated up and drifted toward Luo Yichen and the others. Phantom Sage burst out laughing and instantly blocked Luna Quay’s path.
"You look exactly like James Grant. So, what do you say? Judging by your expression, why not persuade Ethan Zhang, and let’s have a proper talk?"
Luna Quay gazed quietly at Phantom Sage and shook his head.
"We’re only here because of issues within the Juejue family. Please don’t interfere, or things will get ugly…"
Phantom Sage stepped aside, staring at us in silence. Deathcurse shook off my hand and charged straight at Phantom Sage.
"Where’s Felix Zhou? Speak—"
"Everything I said just now wasn’t meant to threaten you. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself."
As Phantom Sage spoke, he waved his hand. A wisp of white energy appeared, and an image formed. My eyes widened—it was inside my Shadow Realm.
In that instant when I lost consciousness, my Shadow Realm was collapsing. At that moment, Felix Zhou stepped forward, trying to stop Emperor God and Phantom Sage from taking me. But Phantom Sage appeared before Felix Zhou in a flash and stabbed right through him. Felix Zhou could only collapse slowly to the ground.
"See? I wasn’t lying."
"Let me go, Ethan Zhang, let me go—"
Deathcurse roared in fury. I clung tightly to him, while the others looked ready to charge forward too. I shouted loudly.
"Calm down!"
Luna Quay had already reached Luo Yichen and Luo Yu. He seemed to be checking something—one hand pressed to Luo Yichen’s forehead, the other to Luo Yu’s head.
Suddenly, Luna Quay pressed both hands to Luo Yichen and Luo Yu. They turned into a mass of mud and vanished. I immediately floated to Luna Quay’s side. He glanced at me.
"Qingyuan, they won’t be causing trouble anymore. I’ll take care of them. Jiujing, stay here and help Ethan Zhang."
As Luna Quay spoke, his figure blurred and disappeared.
I glanced at Sylvia Yan and Phantom Sage. Neither of them showed any reaction to our numbers—they weren’t worried at all.
"So that’s my corpse in the Living World?"
James Grant approached me and asked. I nodded, and he broke into a delighted smile.
"Sylvia Yan, no matter what you say, I won’t compromise this time. If you refuse to talk, then we fight—until I fall. I won’t let you manipulate me ever again."
Sylvia Yan watched us quietly. Deathcurse crouched on the ground, still in his werewolf form, black mist pouring from his mouth. Ghost Painting Book Immortal seemed to realize Deathcurse was on the brink of an outburst and walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Don’t get worked up. Everything has its order—calm down first."
I stepped up to Sylvia Yan and Phantom Sage, watching them silently.
"Tell me—what are you after, working with those people? You can’t possibly trust them."
"It’s all just mutual exploitation. That’s the nature of our relationship with them—nothing more needs to be said. Ethan Zhang, we need your Instinct to connect this world with the Living World. If you refuse, then we’ll have to fight. That’s the only way to resolve this."
"Fine."
The moment I finished speaking, Deathcurse suddenly broke free of Ghost Painting Book Immortal’s grip and glared at me in fury.
"Ethan Zhang, what are you trying to do, you bastard?"
A massive claw swung at me. Suddenly, Kane and Victor Duan rushed over and grabbed hold of Deathcurse, restraining him tightly.
"First condition: hand over Felix Zhou. Otherwise, there’s nothing to talk about. If it’s a fight you want, Blackfang will go all out—even if it means destroying this world."
I shouted back firmly. Phantom Sage waved his hand and smiled.
Sylvia Yan glanced at Phantom Sage, then stepped up to me. With a wave of her hand, a stream of white energy appeared before us. Gradually, Felix Zhou materialized, looking as if he were asleep. With a sudden motion, Deathcurse yanked Felix Zhou back.
"What did you do to him?"
Deathcurse demanded sharply.
"Nothing much—just stripped him of his consciousness. If he can’t get it back, you know perfectly well what will happen."
"State your terms."
"It’s simple, Ethan Zhang—completely connect this world with the Living World. Your Instinct is at its full power now, so it should be easy."
I nodded, looking at Phantom Sage and clenching my fists. Behind me, Deathcurse was being held down by Ghost Painting Book Immortal, Ray Lin, and Victor Duan.
"Fine, but you must return Felix Zhou’s consciousness to us."
"Ethan Zhang, every deal in this world is built on equality. If we return that kid’s consciousness and you fail to uphold your end, we don’t want that kind of trouble."
"You, the rulers and creators of this world—don’t you have any dignity at all? Relax, Ethan Zhang isn’t the type to go back on his word."
Lance Quinn stepped forward. I was surprised—he’d never spoken like this before.
Sylvia Yan looked at Phantom Sage and nodded.
"One more thing—Emperor God is still missing. At least let us know his status."
"That’s beyond my power."
As I spoke, I stepped back. No matter how I called out to Isabelle Frost with Ghost Network, I couldn’t reach her—I couldn’t sense her presence at all.
Ghost Painting Book Immortal sighed.
"Endless fighting will never bring a conclusion. Sigh."
As he spoke, he stepped in front of us, then reached out a hand and began drawing strange symbols on the ground—symbols only Ghost Painting Book Immortal could create.