With a loud bang, I crashed to the ground. Blood spurted from my mouth with a wet splatter. I stared at my caved-in body—my lips, nose, and eye sockets all bleeding.
Stunned, I looked at my own body as blood kept pouring out. I was still human, but my ribs and internal organs were surely shattered. I coughed violently, spitting blood again and again. I glanced at John He—he was grinning wickedly.
“Ethan Zhang, since you’re human, I naturally have ways to strike at you as a human.”
In a flash, John He appeared right in front of me. The Specter Web I had cast around him immediately dissolved into mist as he vanished. All I saw was a hand gripping my throat, and then, suddenly, John He raised his right fist toward my cheek.
With a sharp whoosh, I even saw blue smoke in the air from the friction. Bang! I screamed as I was hurled through a pile of cars. A shard of metal pierced my chest, and I howled in agony.
Then I immediately turned into a cloud of mist—even as a ghost, the pain didn’t stop. I roared in fury.
Wailing Ghost suddenly appeared behind John He, instantly turning into mist and wrapping around him. In that moment, I heard crisp, biting sounds—like something hard was being gnawed apart.
Two loud bangs rang out. I saw Wailing Ghost emerge from the mist, but I didn’t see how John He had struck—Wailing Ghost was already sent flying.
Why couldn’t it pierce his skin? I started thinking inside the mist, but John He gave me no chance. He was already in the mist with me, and I immediately tried to move using the Specter Web.
Suddenly, John He spun around and punched at empty air. In that instant, just as I was about to move out of his attack range, I was forced out of hiding at his feet. The Specter Web linking me to Wailing Ghost was completely severed.
"Qingyuan, if the enemy's attack speed and movement are both faster than the speed of sound, you don't stand a chance. At times like this, you need to figure out how to make use of those two guys."
Hugh Thompson's words from a few days ago echoed in my mind. The situation now was exactly as he had described. Suddenly, I felt a kick land on my head, and with a loud thud, I was slammed to the ground.
The moment I hit the ground, icicles formed in the sky and shot down at John He. But all I saw was a blur of movement in the air, and in an instant, those icicles were shattered into pieces with a sharp crackling sound. Around John He, more black ice began to form.
In an instant, John He had already moved to the other side, where there were no black ice blocks. I finally caught my breath and desperately tried to think of a strategy.
"It's the Five Elements."
I remembered: members of the Immortality Society inject Deathbane Aura into their bodies. To counter the power of Earth, I needed to use the power of Wood.
I willed it immediately. In an instant, I felt the Deathbane Aura inside me almost drained away—Wailing Ghost took most of it. I braced myself on the ground, releasing Specter Webs into the earth. As I sensed the power of Earth, I began to absorb it frantically.
A thick cloud of black mist surged toward John He. He seemed to sense something and charged desperately at me, but the black mist blocked his path. He kept shifting his position, and Wailing Ghost couldn't keep up with his speed.
He kept coming toward me. At that moment, I thought to convert all the absorbed Earth power into Deathbane Aura and inject it into Resentful Ghost, letting it lurk in my shadow.
"Reflection."
Suddenly, I shouted, and John He's fist swung toward me. In an instant, I was standing atop what seemed like a black mirror. At that moment, the Resentful Ghost opened its mouth wide and, with a splatter, sprayed out some black liquid.
The liquid splashed across John He's body in an instant, sizzling as it landed. It worked—extremes meet. I had poured a surge of Deathbane Aura into the Resentful Ghost in a flash, greatly amplifying its power.
Wood overcomes earth; with enough strength, it could pierce John He's skin. His Deathbane Aura was earth-based, while the Resentful Ghost's power was water-aligned. By boosting its strength, I could trigger a reversal and injure him.
Earlier, I sensed that the power I gave to the Wailing Ghost was only a third of my total, and even that made John He wary. Now, I had poured all my strength into the Resentful Ghost.
John He's skin seemed to scorch and crackle, the sizzling sound filling the air. Soon, blackened bone was exposed beneath the charred flesh.
"It's up to you now, Wailing Ghost."
I shouted, and the Wailing Ghost transformed into a mass of black mist, surging furiously toward John He.
"Clever little trick."
Suddenly, John He roared, his entire body trembling. In an instant, the black liquid clinging to him was flung off. I watched as his flesh began to regenerate, bit by bit. Without waiting for the Wailing Ghost to reach him, he lunged in front of me, raising his fist and swinging it down.
I was too exhausted to dodge, planning to swap places with the Wailing Ghost and move away. But John He kicked backward, severing my Specter Web once again.