A week later, after two and a half months here, my damaged Ghost Soul had finally fully recovered. These days, I couldn’t train at all—only think, constantly checking the state of my Ghost Soul.
Now that I could practice, I threw myself into training—but still had no clue how to use such a small amount of ghost aura to fly. I thought about how Isabelle Frost used just a trace of ghost aura to destroy an entire forest that day. If I wanted to reach that level, it would take decades, but for now, I just needed to fly.
That’s all I needed to achieve right now. Time ticked by, and whenever I thought about what was happening outside, I grew restless—especially thinking about my parents. It’s been two and a half months since I last called home.
Suddenly, I remembered my phone. Didn’t I bring it with me? I hurriedly reached into my pocket. My clothes were still the same as before I died—Ghost Burial Squad uniform, minus the bamboo hat, and the cloak was different. Black knee-high boots, a brown strap around one leg with a small pouch tied to it.
I found it—my phone. But now, staring in shock, I saw the screen was black, and in the darkness, there was an image of a Red Spider Lily. Confused, I stared at it. This had to be connected to Isabelle Frost.
I grabbed my phone and ran to the base of the Octagon Tower, shouting up. Isabelle Frost poked her head out and glanced at me.
"That was my doing."
"But what exactly..."
"That thing keeps sending you prompts, doesn’t it? It won’t help your cultivation at all. In fact, it’ll only harm you. For now, I’ve shut that annoying thing up."
I stared at Isabelle Frost in amazement. She seemed to know exactly what it was.
"Do you know what this Bing app actually is?"
But Isabelle Frost just shook her head and replied simply.
"It was probably made by a ghost, for some purpose. Be careful."
I looked at my phone, thought for a moment, but training was still more important.
Still, there was no way I could use this little bit of ghost aura to fly. In the end, for a ghost to float, they have to wrap ghost aura around their whole body. But right now, I couldn’t even manage that. There wasn’t enough ghost aura to cover my whole body—hell, I couldn’t even cover my fist, just my pinky finger at best.
I sighed. How was I supposed to pull this off? I thought of the Specter Webs, and just then, Isabelle Frost was suddenly beside me, watching coldly.
"If you can’t complete this stage, you’re not allowed to release your Specter Webs. Have you forgotten?"
Isabelle Frost reminded me again. I nodded and went back to training. I’d tried all sorts of methods, but none of them worked. Releasing the Ghost Soul’s body is connected to the Specter Webs. Isabelle Frost had said I couldn’t use them, but even if I could, I wouldn’t know how.
I raised my hand. A ball of black ghost aura slowly moved in my palm, swirling around it. I wasn’t allowed to use the Specter Webs, but they’re what connect power to the Ghost Soul. Inside my body, around the Ghost Soul, they can move freely.
Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I muttered to myself.
"She just said I’m not allowed to release the Specter Webs?"
I wasn’t sure, so I asked Isabelle Frost again. She nodded.
"Even if you’re forbidden from using the Specter Webs, they’ll still move inside your body. But this is the Forest of Desire. If you release the Specter Webs, you’ll be corrupted by desire. So you have to complete this without letting the Specter Webs leak out."
With that, Isabelle Frost left.
Excited, I watched the ghost aura in my hand move under the control of the Specter Webs. I thought I’d found a way: if I could release the Specter Webs, I could use them to wind the ghost aura around, like thread, filling out the Specter Webs and gradually expanding the ghost aura until it wrapped around my body.
For some reason, I now knew exactly how many Specter Webs were in my body—six. These are the main Specter Webs that emerge from the Ghost Soul, and once released outside the body, they can divide infinitely, as long as you have enough ghost aura. The more ghost aura, the wider the coverage of the Specter Webs.
Inside my body, these six Specter Webs belong to my Wrath Ghost, Grief Ghost, Vermilion Bird, Spirit Snake, and Yin Ghost. Each set of Ghost Souls only has one main Specter Web.
In other words, I have six lives, but I can’t lose a single one. Now, my Ghost Souls have fully merged. If I lose one, I’ll be in serious trouble. This was the vow I made with Rachel Lan—a promise I can never break.
I forced a bitter smile, moving the ghost aura with the seven Specter Webs inside my body. I started to doubt—could I really do this with so little ghost aura?
Three months and thirteen days, and I still had no clue. Every day I tried to use the Specter Webs, dividing the ghost aura into seven points at the moment of release, stretching it out to wrap myself. But it was impossible—the ghost aura scattered instantly, unable to hold together.
I even tried channeling ghost aura through the Thirteen Ghost Gates, but just getting it through one gate was exhausting. If I lost control for even a moment, the amount of ghost aura would surge—like a faucet where I could only squeeze out a single drop, but the slightest slip and water would gush out uncontrollably.
These Thirteen Ghost Gates are like thirteen faucets. I wanted to split a single drop of water into thirteen parts, letting each flow from a different faucet. It was so difficult, I couldn’t even imagine it working.
[This chapter is not finished yet~.~ Please click the next page to continue reading!]
I’d found a few clues, but was still lost. How could I possibly use this little bit of ghost aura to wrap myself up and fly?
“What’s wrong, Ethan Zhang? This time, it seems to be taking longer than last time.”
Isabelle Frost said from the side. I nodded.
“My Ghost Soul… there’s just not enough of it. I…”
“Stop making excuses, Ethan Zhang. Plenty of people in the ghost path can do this kind of training. If you can’t manage it with six Specter Webs, then there’s no point in continuing.”
I stared at Isabelle Frost in shock and quickly asked,
“What’s the minimum number of Specter Webs needed to pull this off?”
"One. I can do it, Yin Choujian can too, and all the Ghost Lords can. Usually, the stronger Specter Ghosts use two or three Specter Webs—it’s common. But you have six."
I stared blankly at Isabelle Frost, then went back to practicing. What I needed most now was control—precise, fine control.
When ghost aura passes through seven Specter Webs, it instantly wraps around the body. Later, if you want to use power, you release multiple Specter Webs outside the body to gather strength.
But the ghost aura also needs to pass through one of the Thirteen Ghost Gates via the Specter Webs, which makes things much harder. After hearing Isabelle Frost, I was shocked. Using just one Specter Web seemed impossible. I’d tried channeling ghost aura through one gate, then quickly splitting it into six strands outside the body—it worked a little, but only covered my palm.
All the Specter Webs in the Ghost Soul connect to the Thirteen Ghost Gates. Gradually, I started to find a method—release a tiny bit of ghost aura and send it through each of the Thirteen Ghost Gates.
Once I made up my mind, I kept trying. But the difficulties kept coming—splitting a single drop of water into thirteen parts and sending it through thirteen faucets was almost impossible.
Right now, I couldn’t even manage two Ghost Gates, let alone thirteen. Often, too much ghost aura would overflow. I’d have to repeat the previous stage, then move to the next. If my control slipped even a little, the stage I’d mastered would go wrong and too much ghost aura would spill out.
Day after day passed, and I still couldn’t do it. It was incredibly difficult—almost three months now. This stage was taking even longer than the last. Most of the time, I couldn’t do anything. In my mind, I understood the whole process, but how could I possibly float with so little ghost aura?
In fact, in all these steps, if even one process goes wrong, it all fails.
"Exactly ninety days."
I looked at the countless tally marks on the ground and sat on the edge of my bed as night fell. These days, I had nothing else to do—just endlessly repeating the two stages, failing again and again. But today, I was happy: I could finally get ghost aura to flow through two Ghost Gates.
Once released, the ghost aura moved incredibly fast. That was my biggest discovery today—it could instantly wrap around my arm before dissipating.
When released ghost aura touches, it immediately connects. All I need to do is get ghost aura through all thirteen Ghost Gates, then release it from six points in my body at once. These fast-moving streams of ghost aura would wrap me up—and I’d be able to fly.
“Ethan Zhang, you’d better hurry. I’ve finished all the books—I can’t wait any longer.”
Isabelle Frost stopped playing the guzheng upstairs and called out, her face full of helplessness. I could only smile.
“Can’t help it—I’m just slow by nature. Even when I eat or sleep, I’m thinking about this stuff. I still can’t pull it off right away. Just wait a little longer, Miss Isabelle. I’ll be able to do it soon.”