All this time, I never truly understood Yuna Ji. Maybe I was just too naïve before.
The rocky mountain before me had been completely leveled, leaving only a scorched wasteland. Mr. Brown crouched quietly on the ground, his six arms gone.
It happened in an instant. For the first time, I saw such an expression on Mr. Brown’s face—beyond anger, there was tension. His usual composure had vanished, replaced by the wariness of facing a formidable enemy.
"Is that really all you’ve got, Mr. Brown?"
Yuna Ji hovered in the air, gripping the Jade Spear with one hand. Her entire body radiated a black-green aura. Mr. Brown slowly stood up. I couldn’t see the previous strike clearly, but the only thing I felt was fear.
"What a terrifying monster!"
Mr. Brown spoke as he slowly rose. My heart tightened. In a flash, Yuna Ji was before him, a streak of black-green light flared, and with a thunderous crash, Mr. Brown’s six missing arms reappeared, crossing to block Yuna Ji’s strike.
Two powerful currents collided. Yuna Ji laughed wildly, thrusting the Jade Spear as thunderous booms echoed. The scorched earth beneath Mr. Brown’s feet began to sink.
Yuna Ji’s Jade Spear couldn’t pierce the green ghost aura surrounding Mr. Brown. The two remained locked in a stalemate, the ground sinking further, everything around them being crushed by the fierce clash.
I was far away, surrounded by flying debris. All I could do was dodge in the air.
Yuna Ji never really took me seriously from the start. Now, her strength is unfathomable, and even Mr. Brown is being suppressed.
Suddenly, Mr. Brown moved, stepping back with a crash. In an instant, a black-green radiance shot skyward from behind him, turning everything on the ground to ashes.
Yuna Ji was flung away, gliding through the air before coming to a stop. Mr. Brown immediately leapt up, his body glowing with green light as he turned sideways and attacked Yuna Ji.
"You really are interesting, Mr. Brown."
Mr. Brown’s six arms swung out with a thunderous roar. I cried out in shock.
"How is that possible?"
Yuna Ji dodged Mr. Brown’s attack in midair. All six arms brushed past her body, and at that moment, Yuna Ji was nearly pressed against Mr. Brown’s chest, her hand resting on his chest.
"You truly are a terrifying monster!"
With a thunderous boom, a black-green radiance flashed by. A violent explosion erupted behind Mr. Brown, leaving the ground charred and blackened once the blast faded.
A figure flew past, crashing down into a cluster of rocks dozens of meters away from me. Mr. Brown slowly crawled up as a distant black-green radiance rushed closer.
"You really are impressive."
After Mr. Brown stood up, I swallowed hard. There was a large hole in his chest—probably from the last attack—but it was rapidly healing.
"When are you finally going to show your true strength?"
With a swishing sound, the Jade Spear in Yuna Ji’s hand transformed into a flurry of spear shadows. Mr. Brown dodged, but the speed kept increasing. The shadows overlapped in an instant, converging on a single point.
Suddenly, I saw Yuna Ji make a motion to retract her spear. In an instant, all the afterimages converged, moving so fast I could barely see.
With a swish, Mr. Brown floated in the air, the left half of his body gone. A powerful current swept past me, and with a thunderous roar, a deep trench split the ground. Stones on either side rumbled and pressed together, sending smaller rocks flying.
"There’s no point in continuing, Mr. Brown."
Yuna Ji said coldly. Mr. Brown laughed, and his half-destroyed body quickly regenerated.
"Is it really okay for you to be so reckless?"
Mr. Brown asked. Yuna Ji seemed to understand, resting her chin on her hand and laughing loudly.
"If you’re uneasy, let’s change locations."
As Yuna Ji spoke, she pointed the Jade Spear skyward. There was a cracking sound—I swallowed hard.
"Shadow Realm?"
Yuna Ji glanced over at me.
"It’s an unfinished Shadow Realm. Or to put it another way, it’s where Battle Instinct resides."
Mr. Brown turned to me, gave a smile, and waved me over. I immediately floated toward him.
Entering the ruptured space, we instantly arrived before the palace I’d seen earlier—the one where Battle Instinct resided.
"So the fight ended up here after all!"
Battle Instinct spoke with helplessness. Just then, Coexistence flew toward me, and with a whoosh, entered my body.
"Let’s go somewhere better to watch the battle."
As Slaughter spoke, he pulled Coexistence and floated into the air. A bright white light appeared—I shielded my eyes with my hand. In the sky, a large black-green island appeared. Slaughter smiled and beckoned to me. I floated up, landing on the moving stones below, which shifted to the left of Mr. Brown and Yuna Ji, then stopped after traveling a distance.
Yuna Ji giggled, slowly floating up and sitting on the shattered palace plaque. With a thunderous crash, the massive plaque fell to the ground. She crossed her legs and, with a crisp clang, planted the Jade Spear beside her.
"The seven Ghost Sovereigns really are strange. We should have been condemned to eternal damnation in Netherhell, doomed to perish and accept our fate. But none of us wanted to stay there. So we came out, became Ghost Sovereigns, led our own factions, and roamed the ghostly path. Yet now, we’ve reached another dead end. Except for Red Hair, the rest of us have long since lost the right to be called Ghost Sovereigns—and so have I!"
"This is the cycle of ethics. Everything in the world flows like this, endlessly repeating in reincarnation. For ghosts, centuries pass in the blink of an eye, which is why we’re still here."
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Mr. Brown floated up, seemingly observing his surroundings.
"So this is the origin of your monstrous existence, Yuna Ji."
"She was just a woman, yet she chose to defend her country. Sadly, what she believed in and protected is long gone. In the end, I remain—this monster born from her intense obsession still exists here."
As Yuna Ji spoke, waves of black-green energy covered her body. She laughed maniacally as her surface was completely enveloped, like black-green liquid flowing over her skin. Black and green swirled together, and a pair of crimson eyes stared at Mr. Brown.
"It’s been ages since I’ve seen Yuna Ji like that. Sigh, what now?"
I gasped and looked at Battle Instinct beside me. He sat cross-legged on the ground, resting his chin in his hand, looking ready to watch a spectacle.
"Don’t look at me, Zhang Qingyuan. That monster is terrifying—I’m completely helpless, just a victim, so there’s nothing I can do."
Slaughter patted my shoulder.
"Watch closely, Zhang Qingyuan. That’s the mutation that occurs when the power of 'Li' reaches its limit. You’ve seen it before, in front of the Hall of Malice, when Yin Chou was fighting Ghost Rakshasa. He used the power of 'Li' and barely held on. This is the power you’ll need in the future."
I stared quietly at Yuna Ji, who had already stood up. Mr. Brown looked up, then shook his head in admiration and spoke to Yuna Ji.
"It really isn’t easy, is it? A young woman—there’s something about you that reminds me of our Miss, though she’s much cuter than you."
With a thunderous crash, Yuna Ji thrust the Jade Spear at Mr. Brown. His six arms bent, and he turned sideways to block the spear. Yuna Ji gripped the spear with both hands, trying to press it down.
"I don’t want to keep getting beaten, Yuna Ji."
Mr. Brown said softly. The green glow around Yuna Ji deepened, and suddenly, black energy surged from the six fists on Mr. Brown’s left. With a thunderous crash, after his right three arms released the spear, the left three transformed into fists and struck.
It was a very ordinary blow—I could see it. But at that moment, Yuna Ji seemed sluggish, turning sideways, and suddenly, all sound vanished from the world. I couldn’t hear anything.
Yuna Ji spun in the air and flew out.
"As expected, Mr. Brown is truly formidable. He must have triggered his instincts, haha!"
Slaughter spoke beside me. In an instant, Yuna Ji crashed onto the palace rooftop. A vast black curtain appeared over her, shrouding the entire palace.
With a splatter, Yuna Ji spat out black-green blood, clutching her abdomen. The curtain-like darkness gradually faded. I stared wide-eyed—behind Yuna Ji, dust was falling, and the palace had vanished.
"Are your arms alright?"
Yuna Ji asked coldly. Mr. Brown glanced at his right side—three of his arms began to crack with a crunch, shattering like broken stones and falling away.
"Things are getting troublesome. If this keeps up, Yuna Ji won’t be able to hold on!"
Yuna Ji, however, refused to relent and attacked Mr. Brown again. Earlier, Mr. Brown could only dodge and defend, but now, Yuna Ji couldn’t land a single blow. He simply hovered in the air, evading her attacks.
"Wait a moment."
Mr. Brown shouted, but Yuna Ji kept attacking.
"Didn’t I say, wait a moment..."
Suddenly, Yuna Ji stopped. I stared in amazement at the gray-white shadow behind Mr. Brown—a black figure with three heads and six arms appeared. Fists, half-visible, floated behind Mr. Brown, poised to strike at Yuna Ji.
"Qingyuan, can we fight in your Shadow Realm?"