Yuna Ji stood silently before the icebound mountainside, raising one hand. With a crisp crack of bone, she broke off her own arm. I watched as the delicate skin on her arm began to decay, quickly revealing a white skeletal limb.
The sound of creaking continued as the skeletal arm in Yuna Ji’s hand began to change, gradually taking the shape of a dagger—a bone dagger. She handed the dagger to John Chou, who took it and started chiseling away at the icy surface.
A few crisp clangs rang out as John Chou tapped the ice with the dagger, leaving only faint scratches. He turned to look at Lord Shenyan, who approached and placed a hand on the ice. Crimson flames flickered to life, slowly beginning to melt the icy surface.
John Chou continued digging with the dagger. Soon, with a series of cracking sounds, a large chunk of ice broke away, revealing a pitch-black rock wall beneath.
John Chou reached out and touched the wall. Suddenly, layers of golden Sanskrit script appeared on the black surface.
"So that's it. This place was created by that Ksitigarbha fellow."
Red Hair spoke up immediately, and the other Ghost Sovereigns nodded. John Chou tried to cut into the wall with the dagger, but it was quickly destroyed. Yuna Ji bared her teeth at John Chou, clutching her severed arm and looking pained.
"John Chou, that really hurt. That was my arm."
"Don't worry. Once we find a way to restore ghost aura, you'll be able to recover soon."
I stared quietly at Yuna Ji’s severed arm, a bit surprised. Her body was different from the other Ghost Sovereigns—it was formed of bone aura. The vast Abyssal Hell was originally a burial ground for bones; the bone aura gathered there is far harder than other forces. It’s similar to baleful energy—tangible, yet fundamentally different.
"What do we do next? If we go in and forget the way out, we'll be in trouble."
Red Hair slumped down, leaning against the wall. Although their time had been locked for now, it was only a temporary solution.
"How long will this effect last, Yvonne?"
John Chou asked, and Yvonne shook her head.
"I'm not sure either. It varies from person to person."
"The only way now is to lure a Hell's Registrar in, deal with him, and then consume him."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Though the search continued, torturing prisoners was a duty for the Hell's Registrars. Sure enough, it wasn't long before one appeared on the ice field. John Chou and the others hid to the left of the path, quietly watching from a distance.
"The key is, who will go?"
"First, let's find a spacious spot that we can remember the way back from. I'll go."
John Chou spoke, and soon the group found a spacious area near the first intersection.
Basil Bertram used the last of his strength, casting it onto John Chou. Alone, John Chou walked out onto the ice field.
Most of the Hell's Registrars were gathered in small groups, leaving no chance at all. But time was running out. John Chou found a large pit filled with lost souls, threw out some of the dead souls, then found several similar spots.
"Something's wrong. It looks like someone ate the lost souls over there."
John Chou approached an ice table where five Hell's Registrars were gathered, drinking. As soon as they heard, they stood up. John Chou casually observed, then spoke to a Redskin Warden.
"Brother, come with me over there."
He led the Redskin Warden to a large pit—the closest one to the snowy mountain. Countless dead souls’ bodies were scattered, broken and trailing out onto the path.
"We need to report this to the four bosses right away."
Suddenly, John Chou grabbed the Redskin Warden.
"I think it’s better if we don’t report this."
"Remember a few days ago when the Hell's Registrars had a fight?"
The Redskin Warden nodded, as if something had occurred to him.
"There must be something to it. Brother, did you see anything?"
The Redskin Warden asked. John Chou, looking furtive, whispered in his ear.
"Actually, the ones eating the lost souls here are our own people."
The Redskin Warden was startled, but recalling the events from a few days ago, he seemed to believe it.
"Actually, I saw it that day. The two who were supposed to fight slipped inside, supposedly to brawl, but I think they were secretly eating lost souls."
John Chou spoke, his eyes constantly sweeping the surroundings, while the Redskin Warden looked at him in confusion.
"Why are you so weak?"
For a moment, John Chou didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, shadows flickered in the path, accompanied by the screams of women.
"Come on, let’s check it out."
As John Chou spoke, he started running. The Redskin Warden followed without hesitation, but when they reached the fork in the path, he stopped, staring at John Chou in confusion. Suddenly, he bared his fangs, a large club appearing in his hand as he swung it at John Chou.
With a whoosh, John Chou deftly ducked and rolled several times before sprinting away.
"Damn it, you dare trick me? You bastards are asking for death!"
The Redskin Warden shouted, his body suddenly flashing with green light. With a swoosh, he appeared right in front of John Chou. Just as he was about to strike, a black tendril yanked John Chou away, quickly pulling him aside.
"You’re all dead!"
The Redskin Warden, furious, floated up and rushed in. Suddenly, Lord Shenyan, who had been crouched by the mountainside, struck, stabbing the Hell's Registrar with a bone dagger. A faint crimson flame ignited.
Sure enough, the Redskin Warden burst out laughing.
"With so little ghost aura, what can you do to me?"
With a tearing sound, the Redskin Warden’s eyes widened as the dagger pierced his body, blood slowly oozing out.
"Do it, John Chou!"
Just as the Redskin Warden was about to go berserk, John Chou leapt up, his eyes bloodshot. Crimson particles formed at his fingertips, instantly burrowing into the Hell's Registrar's bloodstream. As the Registrar was about to strike, his hand slackened, the club fell to the ground, and the green glow vanished from his body. The Redskin Warden collapsed.
Immediately, Basil Bertram and Red Hair rushed in from both sides, quickly covering the Redskin Warden's mouth. John Chou and Lord Shenyan dragged the Warden away together.
"What's going on? What kind of power is this? What are you fiends trying to do?"
The Redskin Warden shouted, ghost aura occasionally leaking from his body. But I noticed the aura was wildly chaotic, as if something had scattered it, preventing it from forming smoothly.
"It's Bloodbane Power."
I stared, seeing Bloodbane Power this clearly for the first time. Bloodbane Power invades the body through the blood, destroying its strength.
At this moment, Yuna Ji had lost both arms. She glared at the Redskin Warden, visibly annoyed.
"This guy is so ugly, I can't eat him."
Suddenly, the Redskin Warden realized something.
"You bastards, this is a grave crime! I don't know what you did, but once my power returns, I'll torture you again and again, make you suffer forever..."
With a crack, John Chou twisted the Redskin Warden’s fingers while Lord Shenyan sliced with the dagger. As expected, the Warden’s body was formed of high-density ghost aura—Yuna Ji’s dagger was useless.
"My power isn’t mature yet. You’ll have to figure out how to eat this guy—otherwise, if he recovers, it’ll be trouble."
All the Ghost Sovereigns were at their limit. The Redskin Warden kept laughing, his mouth covered but still looking at the Sovereigns with contempt.
With a faint boom, a black flame ignited in Red Hair’s hand.
"Let me help you. I saw your malice—the malice that exists within you. You’ll understand soon enough."
A mass of black flame was fed into the Redskin Warden’s mouth. Instantly, his body began to change and struggle. The Sovereigns held him down as the violent thrashing weakened. Bumps appeared on the Warden’s body, and with a squelch, blood spurted out. John Chou immediately leaned in.
Soon, the other Sovereigns joined in, feeding on the Redskin Warden’s blood. The Warden whimpered, his ghost aura slowly breaking down. The Sovereigns, desperate, devoured hungrily.
Soon, the Redskin Warden vanished, leaving only wisps of ghost aura drifting around. At that moment, Mei Yun released the time lock on all the Sovereigns. I stared in astonishment as their ghost aura surged.
"Looks like if we eat them, we can live a little longer. More importantly, we’ll have the strength to deal with everything here. First, we need to break the mark left by the Underworld—only then can our ghost aura accumulate."
Soon, chaos erupted outside. The Sovereigns returned to the original fork in the path as a large group of Hell's Registrars arrived, advancing toward them.
"Looks like we’ll have to hide first."
As they spoke, the seven Sovereigns began to run. There was no time to hesitate—the Redskin Warden’s death was surely known to the others. Soon, waves of powerful ghost aura swept in, but the Registrars couldn’t fly directly inside.
"There’s a place over there—let’s go."
Lord Shenyan spotted something and led the group into the left fork in the path.