At this moment, Miles Mo also flew toward John Chou, his hands flickering with clusters of yellow light that he hurled at John Chou.
I didn’t have time to worry about anything else. I immediately unleashed a torrent of baleful energy, transforming it into a rain of arrows that shot toward the approaching scholar, Julian Lu.
"Miss, your skills are remarkable."
With a crisp clang, I saw Vivian Maple draw her blade. She held it sideways, blocking the Dragon Chant in Julian Lu’s hand. Vivian Maple’s blade hovered in midair, aimed straight at Julian Lu’s neck.
But none of my black arrows struck their target. I watched as Julian Lu walked gracefully among them, as if strolling through a downpour, effortlessly dodging every falling raindrop.
Master Ethan, you only need to find Miss Lan. Leave this place to me. Miss Vivian Maple, please assist Young Master Zhang.
As Samantha Simons spoke, her body transformed into a flurry of cherry blossoms, surging toward Julian Lu in a grand wave.
"These cherry blossoms are beautiful, yet hide deadly intent. Miss, if fate allows, I truly wish to share tea and poetry with you one day—wouldn’t that be delightful..."
As Julian Lu spoke, he raised the Dragon Chant, and the sounds of clashing weapons rang out instantly.
"Go."
Vivian Maple came up to me, and I nodded. At that moment, a green spectral web entwined with my own black web, and images flashed in my mind. Vivian Maple seemed able to teleport, leaping through the air as if breaking through the atmosphere, motioning for me to follow her.
I didn’t hesitate. I spread my wings and followed, unable to match her speed but able to trace her path.
Yet what puzzled me was that Vivian Maple’s movement was erratic, not in a straight line, as if she were deliberately avoiding unseen obstacles.
Gradually, I sensed it too—though faintly, it felt as if invisible walls divided the air. With time, this sensation grew clearer.
The whole place felt like a labyrinth. Vivian Maple stopped.
"Ethan, from here on, you must search alone."
As she spoke, Zifeng suddenly drew her blade. With a metallic ring, a woman ranked in the Tenth Hall, Mu Yun, appeared. She held two blades, one long—about a meter—and one short, nearly half a meter. Long blade in her right hand, short blade in her left.
"I don’t like fighting men. Come play with me, big sister."
Her voice, like her demeanor, was playful and charming.
I didn’t dwell on it. I continued to release spectral webs. I realized that the circular, well-like structure hadn’t vanished; after the recent upheaval, we just couldn’t see it.
My spectral web kept probing, and I headed toward the right side of the Trial Marriage Stone, where Yuna Ji was fighting. On the platform, it was impossible to find the Ten Guides directly, so I circled around. I felt this was the right approach.
Though I couldn’t see clearly, my flight slowed to a crawl. The scene was chaotic—four battles raging at once.
The old freak and Tunjiu had ascended into the sky. At the base of the giant glowing pattern, six intensely radiant points shone below, and Huangfu Ruofei and Hu Tianshuo were there too, trying to open an escape route.
With a bang, I crashed into something and stopped immediately. At the edge, I reached out, my feet landing with a real sense of solidity. I had only one chance—I had to pinpoint Lan Ruoxi’s location and escape with everyone.
Not far away, Yuna Ji was completely on the defensive. In the sky, fireballs shot from Wendy Hsieh’s hands tormented her, forcing her to dodge constantly while evading the golden threads raining down.
Jason Su and Wendy Hsieh worked together seamlessly. Yuna Ji looked cornered and weak—understandable, given all she’d endured in the Corpse Realm. She couldn’t recover so quickly.
I kept circling the platform, releasing spectral webs, sensing the presence of other Yellow Ghosts. But in my mind, all I saw were yellow humanoid figures, impossible to distinguish.
I hesitated, wanting to help Ji Yuner, but yesterday Hu Tianshuo had warned me repeatedly: never act on impulse, stick to the plan. Recklessness could ruin everything.
Here, we were like trapped beasts, caught in the territory of the Yellow Ghosts. The Yellow Ghosts recovered instantly from injuries, never losing the upper hand.
With two violent bangs, Yuna Ji wielded her emerald spear, knocking away two blazing fireballs. She was panting heavily. I couldn’t worry about anything else—what flashed in my mind was Yuna Ji’s final moment before death.
"Qingyuan, help me."
Before I could reach her, Ji Yuner appeared before me.
"Alright, let’s go, we..."
Before I could finish, Ji Yuner suddenly tore open my shoulder and bit down hard. I cried out in shock.
I hadn’t even processed what happened when Ji Yuner’s body flared with green light. She released me, looking satisfied.
"You... What are you doing?"
I saw blood on Ji Yuner’s mouth—my blood, though black, unmistakably mine.
"Qingyuan, do you know why your body heals so quickly? It’s not because of ghost power, but corpse energy. The things I gave you to eat were essence condensed from corpse energy, to make sure your body wasn’t easily destroyed."
Suddenly, my stomach churned, but Ji Yuner had already rushed toward Xie Wanyun and Su Yuanjie, brandishing her spear and shouting loudly.
"Grimclaw, come forth!"
With a roar and a burst of green light, the monstrous creature I’d seen in the Styx—like a heap of bones—appeared in the glow.
A massive bony claw seized Su Yuanjie, but he wrapped himself in golden threads just in time.
Ji Yuner shouted, running swiftly along Grimclaw’s back toward the advancing Xie Wanyun. Nine streams of green energy swirled around her emerald spear.
"Nine Ethereal Green Currents..."
With a thunderous crash, a pillar of green light engulfed Xie Wanyun, released from Ji Yuner’s spear.
"Qingyuan, hurry up. Once we find her, we leave. There’s no point exhausting ourselves against these undead creatures."
A phoenix’s cry rang out. Amidst the falling green light, a surge of fiery red appeared, followed by a blaze. Gradually, Xie Wanyun emerged—is this Nirvana?
Amazed, I kept searching the invisible paths. I had to find Lan Ruoxi. My spectral web sensed many people, but not her. She was nowhere to be found.
Only a few guides remained in the fray. Lan Yin still sat motionless, merely observing. Wang Su was nowhere to be seen, and the child, Fu Lin and Zhao Yan, also sat still, not intending to act.
I stopped. Behind them were many Yellow Springs people, but none were Lan Ruoxi. Panic rose in me.
At that moment, I noticed something wrong with Yin Choujian’s side. Looking closely, I saw he was only taking blows from Duan Tianyou, surrounded by clusters of yellow light controlled by Mo Jue.
Yin Choujian wore a smile, but he was clearly suffering. His body was being slashed repeatedly, completely outmatched by Duan Tianyou.
"The time is right."
Just then, I heard a voice. Suddenly, Zhao Yan, who had been sitting with eyes closed, opened them. A red light flashed behind him.
"Dragon Break..."
Suddenly, Duan Tianyou roared, thunder crackled, and Yin Choujian’s body was pierced through. Purple electricity crackled over his body.
A man dressed as an underworld official—I recognized his small mustache from his visits to my building—handed a crimson spike to Zhao Yan, who immediately charged at Yin Choujian.
"Yin Choujian!"
I shouted, spreading my wings and flying over.
Suddenly, behind Yin Choujian, another me appeared—an exact duplicate. All around, black ice flowers bloomed in the space.
With a metallic ring, Zhao Yan tried to stab the red spike into Yin Choujian, but it struck a block of black ice instead. With a crash, the ice shattered, scattering shards.
The yellow light spheres surrounding Yin Choujian froze, gradually turning black.