I stared silently at the Wraithlord. Although I could completely evade his attacks, I couldn't suppress the overwhelming ghostly energy radiating from him. This energy was fundamentally different from any ghostly aura I'd encountered before.
Right now, I could distinctly sense that the nature of the Wraithlord's ghostly aura was beginning to change. At first, it was unmistakably ghostly, but after coming into contact with it, I realized it was nothing like the traditional ghostly energy—immune to Buddhist, Daoist, and human powers, and even capable of devouring the forces within my own body.
I gripped the sword in my hand. I wasn't sure how I'd obtained it, but I knew clearly that it was the manifestation of human power. The Wraithlord called it Starshard Radiance. I sneered coldly—the Wraithlord wasn't boasting; he truly intended to kill me.
At this moment, I could sense a trace of fear in my consciousness. The Wraithlord's murderous intent erupted from his entire body, his skin exuding black mist. This mutated ghostly aura was incomprehensible—even if extremes meet, it's impossible for ghostly energy to be so fearless of Buddhist, Daoist, and human powers. Now, the Wraithlord's aura felt like a monstrous beast capable of devouring everything. The power I released was completely consumed by his force, so I began to draw my energy back inside.
"You sensed it so quickly. It seems karmic power has greatly enhanced your perception."
With a thunderous boom, I flew down toward the floating cities made of my memory fragments. The moment I landed, the ground behind me caved in. The Wraithlord's fist, shrouded in black mist, smashed toward me, but didn't touch my body. Instead, a streak of red light flared on my chest—the power of Buddhist and Daoist energies combined—completely blocking his attack. Instantly, everything around us collapsed into dust, the entire island cracked open, and the surrounding buildings vanished one by one.
With a deafening crash, the Wraithlord's immense power pushed me straight through the fissure in the island. I continued to resist his force, with no intention of backing down.
The sound of impact echoed. My power collided with the Wraithlord's, turning the entire island into floating rubble. I halted mid-air, placing one hand on his right wrist, while the sword in my grip burst forth with intense white light.
Yet in the instant the light became blinding, it was absorbed. The black ghostly mist swirling around the Wraithlord was like writhing ribbons. Just as the human power within me prepared to strike, it was completely consumed by his ghostly energy. The Wraithlord's twisted, menacing face loomed closer.
"Good thing I arrived early. If I'd come any later, I wouldn't be confident I could kill you. Ethan Zhang, it's all over!"
I widened my eyes—my left eye transformed into a swirling Yin-Yang Symbol, while my right eye blazed with the blood-red Cycle Sigil. Instantly, golden light enveloped my body like armor, forming orderly blocks that sealed me from head to toe. My eyes burned fiercely, and the white sword in my hand split into countless needle-like blades, piercing straight through the Wraithlord’s body. Ghost Aura erupted in a violent storm.
A deafening roar shook the air as the devouring black radiance expanded endlessly in all directions, swallowing up countless floating islands in the blink of an eye.
With a heavy thud, I took a brutal punch to the chest, but I quickly shifted my position. Instantly, a swirling current of black and white energy wrapped around the Wraithlord. Just as he was about to strike with full force, I saw a massive black pillar of light pierce the sky in the distance, as if it had shattered the heavens. The sea of clouds and the ground below were punched through, leaving a gaping hole. I hovered silently in the air, wiping blood from the corner of my mouth.
“This is only the beginning. I can get even stronger.”
“So that's how it is.”
I calmed myself. If I fought the Wraithlord head-on, his overwhelming power would crush me. I had to use Karmic Force with agility to launch an effective counterattack. In this illusion, I’d battled many strange beasts and learned a crucial lesson: if your power can't harm your enemy, then the struggle is meaningless.
My attacks now had no effect on the Wraithlord. If I kept clashing with him, I’d only exhaust my strength, and when I was weakest, he’d deliver the fatal blow. This was his plan from the beginning, and now things were developing just as he’d expected.
I had to stall the Wraithlord as much as possible, then find a way to break through his Ghost Aura.
“What are you thinking?”
The Wraithlord’s twisted grin appeared before me, and the crushing pressure around us rendered me immobile. But as soon as I sensed a crack in the force, I used Karmic Force to instantly shift myself out of danger.