"What did you say!" I said in a low voice, glancing at Ironmask beside me. His eyes looked at me with utter disdain.
"All this time, brother, I've never told you these things. Yet you still seem just as clueless as when I first met you. Always so dense, huh? Heh."
At this moment, Ji Yun'er stood up. The smile on her face vanished as she walked up to me.
"What are you trying to do, you bitch."
"Yin Choujian, watch your mouth. How long are you all planning to keep toying with Ethan Zhang?"
"It's not your place to meddle in my affairs, bitch."
Yin Choujian spoke, and at that moment, Lan Yin stood up as well, smiling as he walked step by step toward me.
"Ethan Zhang, there are some things you really ought to understand. Do you know why, since ancient times, ghosts have always been so difficult to deal with?"
I let out a sound of surprise and saw Felix Fu grinning at me.
"Sigh, this guy's brain doesn't work, and his talent is terrible. Sigh, how can he not grasp such a simple truth?"
I stood there awkwardly, realizing that I only understood these things superficially. When it came to spells or knowledge about ghosts, I only knew the basics. All along, I've been relying on the power within me to fight until now.
"You tell him, Lan Yin."
Yin Choujian finally spoke, and Lan Yin nodded in response.
"Ethan Zhang, your power right now isn't weak. If we're just talking about raw strength, you could easily injure that master over there."
Lan Yin said this, pointing to Vincent Swallow, who was drinking nearby. Vincent Swallow nodded as well.
"No way, there's no chance I could be a match for Master Vincent Swallow."
"Of course not. If that master took things seriously, you'd be subdued in an instant. Same goes for me. Even though I've already contended with the Will of the Underworld before, my fights with you have always been about clashes of brute force."
I nodded, starting to grasp what Lan Yin was trying to tell me.
"For example, Ethan Zhang, imagine a person who can lift a hundred kilograms and another who can only lift twenty. If the two compete to lift a hundred kilograms, who's stronger?"
I couldn't answer right away. I felt like I understood something in my mind, but it was still a struggle. When it came to specifics, I just couldn't figure it out.
"Let me explain it to him," said Hugh Thompson, who had been quietly sitting to the side. He stood up, smiling at me, adjusting his glasses. What Hugh Thompson said was always something I could grasp, and he always spoke in a simple, straightforward way.
"Qingyuan, from ancient times until now, ghosts have always been dark, terrifying, and powerful. To avoid being devoured by ghosts, humans had to create all sorts of spells to contend with them. As for the question just now, the difference between two people lifting a hundred kilograms is actually zero. If the person who can only lift twenty kilograms uses certain tools, like a lever, he can easily lift a hundred kilograms."
In that instant, I understood.
"Ghosts have their own spells too. You've already seen it—things ghosts can do, but we humans absolutely cannot."
As Hugh Thompson spoke, I suddenly felt a rush of joy, as if I had just realized something very important.
"Qingyuan, you're completely missing the crucial part." Hugh Thompson said, as Jason Su released golden threads. He seemed to understand that Hugh Thompson wanted to walk over from the area where the old man had just transformed. Jason Su slowly approached me.
"How do you use a hundred kilograms to unleash a ton of force? That's what true strength is about. You've been too fixated on Yin Choujian's shadow all this time, and you've forgotten—you're human, Qingyuan."
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at Yin Choujian, who burst out laughing.
"Those Ghost Sovereigns all became so powerful by taking one step at a time. But you're not like them. For humans to become strong, you have to clearly understand yourself and everything you possess, and then refine your own path. Their battles are basically brute force contests, because the things ghosts can do are useless in the face of overwhelming power—the only thing that matters is killing the enemy faster and more precisely."
I lowered my head and quietly pondered. It was just as Hugh Thompson said—my fighting style had always been based on what I'd seen before, the images of those ghosts fighting. Unconsciously, I'd been learning from them, but there were many things I could never master.
"Enough talking, Hugh Thompson. That's enough." Yin Choujian said. In an instant, I saw blood-red particles floating around him. Suddenly, those blood-red particles began to condense, forming human shapes. In the blink of an eye, ten Yin Choujians appeared.
"Just so Qingyuan can understand a little better—do you remember, Yin Choujian, how you used to be?"
Old Moe smiled as he spoke. Then, flames erupted from his back, accompanied by the cry of a Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird's wings unfurled from his back. With a wave of his hand, a blaze appeared in his right hand—it was the long-lost Phoenix Blade, now in Old Moe's grasp.
"Lan Qinmo, you'd better be careful, kid. You might get yourself killed. If you die, who's going to go out and gather resources for me?"
Lan Yin cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, grinning mischievously.
"Got it, Ancestor. I'll be careful."
Old Moe spoke, and in an instant, the ground on both sides suddenly flipped up, like a meat pie being folded. With a bang, the ground slammed shut, and the massive stones made a crunching sound, raising a huge cloud of dust.
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"Not even a word of warning before you start? Seriously."
A fiery red light emerged from the dust, and at that moment I saw ten Yin Choujians, each holding that ghost weapon, all rushing toward Old Moe one after another.
With a swishing sound, red threads scattered from Old Moe's left hand, sweeping up bits of rubble.
"Thunderstrike Stones..."
With a crackling sound, countless tiny stones, wrapped in purple lightning, shot toward the ten advancing Yin Choujians.
"Only one-tenth, Qingyuan. Did you know that?" Hugh Thompson said from the side, and I let out a sound of surprise.
"Yin Choujian split into ten, but only one of his ghost weapons is real and dangerous. That's the nature of ghosts. Our Ghost Burial Squad has encountered this before—ghosts create things to confuse the eyes. If you don't find a way to tell them apart, you'll suffer for it."
With a series of bangs, the flying stones struck the ten Yin Choujians. I saw all ten raise their ghost weapons, not dodging at all, letting the stones pass right through their bodies and fly off into the distance.
As the ten Yin Choujians drew near, they began to attack Old Moe from all sides.
"Damn it, Yin Choujian, that's not fair." Old Moe shouted. I saw the corners of all ten Yin Choujians' mouths curl into cold smiles, and then ten ghost weapons attacked Old Moe from every angle.
With nowhere left to retreat, Old Moe suddenly let out a roar. Red threads swirled around his body, and in a flash, with a ripping sound and a loud roar, Old Moe appeared above the ten Yin Choujians, panting heavily.
The ripping sounds continued. I couldn't see clearly how many times Yin Choujian slashed in that instant. The swirl of red threads was completely shredded, scattering like scraps of cloth in the air.
Amidst a whimpering sound, I saw a White Tiger appear among the scraps, its body covered in slashing wounds. Then, it gradually faded away.
At that moment, the ten Yin Choujians immediately launched another attack on Old Moe in midair. Through the Specter Web, I sensed that all ten Yin Choujians were real—identical in every way.
"It's the Ghost Soul, Qingyuan."
Just as I was surprised, Ji Yun'er spoke up from the side.
At that moment, I saw Old Moe smile, raising the Phoenix Blade. Facing the fierce attack of the ten Yin Choujians, he didn't hold back and slashed at one of them.
With a bang, flames exploded in midair. Nine Yin Choujians were knocked aside, but one of them blocked Old Moe's attack with his ghost weapon.
"When did this happen?"
In an instant, Yin Choujian was flung away by the tremendous force and hovered in the air. I saw him reach behind his back, pull out a tuft of White Tiger fur, and blow on it. The fur vanished.
"Brilliant." Amidst a round of applause, I saw Julian Lu stand up from his chair, clapping excitedly and cheering. We all turned to look at him.
"Well, let's be reasonable—when you see something amazing, you should applaud, right? So, why..."
"Shut up."
In that instant, as if in a chorus, all of us—humans and ghosts alike—shouted at once. Julian Lu looked wounded, pursed his lips, and sat back down in his chair.
"Qingyuan, do you know why we Ghost Sovereigns, unlike other Specter Green Ghosts, don't have multiple Ghost Souls?"
I shook my head.
"That's because a Ghost Sovereign's Ghost Soul is formed from countless Ghost Souls condensed together. So, unless it's necessary, a Ghost Sovereign will never separate his Ghost Soul. If Yin Choujian really wanted to, with his current power, he could split off thousands of Ghost Souls."
I looked at Yin Choujian in surprise. At that moment, he moved again, and the ten Yin Choujians merged back together and attacked Old Moe once more.
"Only one-tenth of the attack is actually troublesome."