I stared silently at the proxies for Phantom Sage and Emperor God that had appeared behind me. The two stood there, their eyes vacant, staring at us.
"It looks grim. Their power is inexhaustible, endless."
Xu Fu spoke, and I nodded. Indeed, after regaining my strength, I could sense it clearly. The force Sylvia Yan just unleashed against us only grew stronger. Now, everyone in the city had vanished, transformed into their power. Only the three of them could devise such a way to augment their strength.
"They create people with independent will, then implant unwavering faith in you three. You can then endlessly draw power from the faith of these manufactured, conscious beings. Such a clever method—why have I never heard of it before?"
Xu Fu sneered, and at that moment, Sylvia Yan let out a cold snort.
"You’re so fickle, Xu Fu. I remember you promised us to cooperate till the end, but you betrayed us instead."
Xu Fu shook his head.
"If you truly believe in absolute cooperation in this world, then you must be more naïve than a child. Did you ever actually want to work with me? Our relationship was always about mutual exploitation. Polite words are meaningless; only interests bind us. Once interests diverge, that bond breaks. Especially after I realized you wanted to resurrect the Wraithlord, our cooperation ended. We seek immortality, but resurrecting the Wraithlord would hinder us. So, there’s no more partnership. If anyone broke the agreement first, it was you."
Sylvia Yan grew furious. The flame giant she controlled roared violently, shaking the ground once more.
"What we want isn’t to resurrect my father and let him destroy everything, but to revive him only to seal him away for good."
Emperor God, radiating golden light behind us, spoke up.
Xu Fu and I turned around in shock. Emperor God continued.
"My father is already beginning to reassemble. If you want to seal him, you can't do it in his current state. Only a complete entity—whether human, ghost, or otherwise—can be sealed permanently. We've prepared everything."
"Heh, then tell me—what is your sealing plan?"
Xu Fu asked, but Emperor God immediately shook his head.
"You don't need to know. Leave this world, or die here."
Xu Fu and I scanned our surroundings. I could feel their power completely sealing us in. If the fight started, one of us would have to become the breakthrough point. Their power was converging from all sides, ready to crush us in an instant. If we didn't break out, even if we survived, we'd be trapped. This force was like a ritual array.
After exchanging a glance with Xu Fu, he nodded, his body beginning to swell, dense black muscles bulging. Xu Fu was ready to be the point of breakthrough. I started to unleash my power, resisting the force of the three.
As long as we could break through, and prevent their powers from merging, we still had a chance to win.
That was when I noticed the space around Xu Fu's body twisting violently. He raised his right fist, staring at Sylvia Yan ahead—he was planning to break through her. I nodded, and in an instant, red flames, blue mist, and streams of golden energy pressed in from all directions. Everything around us turned to ash.
With a whoosh, Xu Fu charged at Sylvia Yan with his fist raised. I’d never seen him fight like this before—crystal-like substances formed on his skin, and the air around him seemed frozen. Flames near Xu Fu slowed to a crawl. I felt a surge of power burst out, and I followed behind him.
The flame giant ahead roared, swinging its blazing broadsword down at us.
With a thunderous crash, Xu Fu leapt onto the giant’s chest and struck with a massive punch. I raised both hands, letting streams of white energy flow from my body to envelop the erupting flames.
A cracking sound echoed as the giant’s chest began to shatter. Suddenly, with a boom, a spiral of black energy pierced through. As Xu Fu’s power peaked and he faltered, I appeared behind him, grabbed Xu Fu, and pulled us through the breach in the giant’s chest.
The white energy streaming from the broadsword behind us vanished, and in an instant, a torrent of flames shot skyward. I felt a scorching wave sweep over us from behind, threatening to burn us alive. Xu Fu and I rushed into the distant city. As soon as we landed, Xu Fu sprang up and smashed his fist into a nearby crimson statue, shattering it.
Instantly, the power converging from all directions stopped. Xu Fu gasped for breath. I looked back—a massive, meteor-like fireball was hurtling toward us.
"Think of something, Soul of Heaven. I’m exhausted."
As I spoke, I sprang to my feet, raising one hand, my eyes blazing with intense white light.
"Instinct... Origin..."
In an instant, the fireball that had begun to scorch my skin vanished. I scanned the surroundings—the beams of light from Sylvia Yan’s statues had disappeared. Xu Fu stared at me in astonishment.
"That’s a powerful instinct—you can force their gathered power to disperse again."
I nodded. This was only a temporary fix. Though it took them time to regroup, their power wasn’t gone—just scattered. Even if I could do this endlessly, nullifying their attacks each time, it wouldn’t solve the real problem. We had to defeat them.
Then I sensed the power that had turned into people starting to gather again. A gentle blue mist drifted toward us, carrying a sweet fragrance. I immediately covered my nose.
Suddenly, I was submerged in a sea of flowers. Beautiful blossoms surrounded me, and I kept sinking deeper. I could tell this was Phantom Sage’s power, overwhelming my senses and trapping me in his illusion. Danger lurked here, hidden in the hallucination. I looked around, trying to stop myself from sinking, but I was powerless. I had no idea what threat lay within this illusion.
I kept falling, plunging into the bottomless sea of flowers. The blossoms around me scattered, then regrouped. My nose was assaulted by a mix of scents, all tangled together and unpleasant.
Suddenly, I felt something strange on my back. My eyes widened as I realized someone had grabbed me.
With a whoosh, I snapped out of it—Xu Fu had dragged me far away. The spot where I’d just been was now shrouded in blue mist.
"Illusions don’t work on me."
Xu Fu spoke, and I noticed his eyes had turned gold and red, his eyeballs bulging, surrounded by black, tentacle-like growths.
With a crash, Xu Fu smashed a blue Phantom Sage statue. We landed in a house—several statues had already been destroyed while I was trapped in the flower illusion.
"I think what you’re doing is pointless—a waste of effort."
As I spoke, Xu Fu noticed that the statue he’d just smashed had already restored itself. Beams of light shot out again. The three were proving extremely troublesome. I tried to find their source, but discovered it could be either a single, powerful entity or countless people they’d created. This was a severe disadvantage for us—our power would inevitably weaken over time, and once we were exhausted, they could trap us. That would be disastrous.
"Now, our only choice is to escape—get out of their power’s range."
I said, and Xu Fu nodded. We ran without looking back. I grabbed Xu Fu—he was too slow—and instantly teleported us farther away. But after a while, I stopped.
"It seems escaping is impossible. Their power is limitless. No matter how we attack, the scattered power just regroups."
Xu Fu spoke, and I calmly scanned the surroundings.
"Let me try unleashing enough power to destroy this place in an instant. Maybe then..."
"Forget it, Soul of Heaven. Your power is strong, but unless you can instantly destroy this world, it’s pointless. Their array is built on the foundation of this world’s rebirth, so we can’t find its source to break it. Their power will always scatter and regroup here, and as faith grows, so does their strength."
Suddenly, Xu Fu and I heard a tremendous dragon’s roar overhead. As we looked up, a colossal golden dragon descended from the sky.