The clash raged on, with Lord Shenyan and Yuna Ji's coordinated attacks leaving the Wraithlord completely unable to retaliate. He couldn't approach John Chou, who was still watching from the sidelines, showing no intention of joining the fight.
With two sharp whistles, Yuna Ji's spear and Lord Shenyan's sword slashed at the Wraithlord from both sides. As the weapons crossed, the Wraithlord instantly rolled aside, narrowly dodging the attack. The violent ghost energy twisted the space around them.
I found it strange—why wasn't the Wraithlord dodging as deftly as before? With a swoosh, Yuna Ji's lightning-fast thrust shot toward the Wraithlord, who had just landed, but he chose to evade. John Chou's smile grew even wider.
Just as the Wraithlord dodged Yuna Ji's spear, Lord Shenyan's sword followed up immediately. The Wraithlord dodged again, refusing to counterattack. This made me question the reality before my eyes—could it all be a dream? But then I remembered how John Chou wounded the Wraithlord earlier. The injury was real; this was the first time I'd seen the Wraithlord hurt since his resurrection.
Lord Shenyan and Yuna Ji shifted positions, attacking the Wraithlord from front and back. Yet the Wraithlord seemed to anticipate every move, dodging without pause and avoiding their strikes by a hair's breadth. No matter how swift or sharp their attacks, they couldn't land a single blow.
The surge of ghost energy shook the entire Nether Syndicate, but the shockwave faded after a brief moment. I kept searching for the root of desire.
With two rapid swishes, the Wraithlord retreated under attack, making no effort to dodge or block—he simply stepped back. This series of actions seemed bizarre to me, completely out of character for the Wraithlord.
"What's wrong? Not going to fight back?"
John Chou smiled from above and asked. The Wraithlord stopped, and Yuna Ji and Lord Shenyan ceased their attacks as well.
"Weren't you going to send me to my beloved? What's the matter? If this keeps up, it'll never work!"
Yuna Ji spoke swiftly, her face like a gust of wind. At that moment, Lord Shenyan's twin swords had merged into one—black on the upper half, red on the lower. He stared intently at the Wraithlord.
"Do you really think these little tricks of yours will work on me?"
The Wraithlord retorted. Just as I wondered, Lord Shenyan and Yuna Ji's expressions suddenly changed. I felt it too, but then Yvonne May appeared behind them, pressing her hands to their backs.
"If you keep fighting like this, you'll destroy yourselves even if I don't lift a finger. Your Ghost Souls can't withstand the power you're unleashing right now."
I remembered that inside Yvonne May's primal space, seven Ghost Sovereigns were sealed away—the damage they had accumulated over centuries was locked in time. The Wraithlord seemed to sense this too.
"Enough talk."
With a swoosh, Yuna Ji attacked again, and the Wraithlord dodged as usual. I noticed he seemed afraid of getting hurt. It dawned on me—though he'd been resurrected, after many battles with Tan Tian, his ghost body was still new, not yet fully fused with his Ghost Soul.
If his ghost body kept taking damage, it would take longer for it to perfectly fuse with his Ghost Soul. I couldn't help but smile.
Blazing flames kept flying at the Wraithlord. Lord Shenyan stood his ground, manipulating waves of seductive fire to pursue the Wraithlord, while Yuna Ji continued her rapid thrusts. The Wraithlord dodged unhurriedly, moving constantly.
Spatial movement was now impossible. The collision of such dense power had compressed all the surrounding space to its limit—there was no way to create an independent path for teleportation.
"Hmph, all you can do is dodge?"
Yuna Ji shouted, and a surge of black-green energy erupted from her body. Fierce black-green spikes shot toward the Wraithlord, but he dodged them all effortlessly, unaffected. Lord Shenyan's flames kept chasing the Wraithlord, but each time the fire blocked his path, he escaped just in time.
The Wraithlord seemed to be waiting for something. John Chou kept Rage Blood hidden behind his back, watching the Wraithlord with a sly expression. The Wraithlord appeared to know what John Chou was planning. Meanwhile, Redmond hovered in the air, looking displeased at the ongoing battle below—clearly unhappy with John Chou's arrangements.
Though the Wraithlord's ghost energy was powerful, the moment he released it, Redmond's Disaster Force shattered it completely.
Suddenly, after dodging another strike from Yuna Ji, the Wraithlord found an opening and charged straight at John Chou. But Lord Shenyan, anticipating the move, blocked the Wraithlord's path with a wall of fire.
With a thunderous roar, the Wraithlord burst through the flames, his body instantly covered in black smoke and his skin scorched. His fist was already at John Chou's chest.
"I've been waiting for you."
John Chou sneered. Suddenly, a crimson flame flickered before the Wraithlord's eyes, and with it, Lord Shenyan appeared. Without hesitation, he drove his sword straight into the Wraithlord's chest.
With a harsh screech, the Wraithlord's eyes widened in rage, roaring as his heart was pierced.
Furious ghost energy surged in all directions, but was instantly snuffed out by a rain of black flames. The ghost energy vanished in the fire, while John Chou, wielding Rage Blood, slashed across the Wraithlord's head.
I stared in shock at the scene before me—John Chou had severed the Wraithlord's head, sending it flying high. But in the blink of an eye, the Wraithlord's body shoved John Chou and Lord Shenyan aside, then rejoined with its own head.
The Wraithlord let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"I've told you before—there's no need to wonder how this fight will end. The outcome was set from the start, because... I'm stronger than you."
With a metallic clang, the Wraithlord spun around and blocked Yuna Ji's spear from behind with a single finger. Suddenly, his other hand made a grabbing motion, and both John Chou and Lord Shenyan's faces changed.
"We'll start with you, Yuna Ji. Like I said before—go die."
The Wraithlord seized Yuna Ji, immobilizing her. With a thunderous boom, Yuna Ji turned to ash before my eyes. I stared in horror as the Wraithlord suddenly spun around, both fists already striking out.
With two explosive impacts, John Chou and Lord Shenyan were sent flying. The air thundered with noise as I anxiously watched a streak of black-green light fall to the ground—Yuna Ji, panting and leaning on her spear, badly shaken.
At that moment, the Wraithlord raised a hand.
"This is the Bloodbane Power you left behind when you attacked me just now. It's an impressive instinct, but if it can't kill in one blow, you'll be in trouble, John Chou. After all, using this power against someone far stronger than yourself is dangerous."
As he spoke, the Wraithlord flicked the blood-red particles in his hand, sending them drifting toward John Chou.
"You used Bloodbane Power to break my ghost aura defenses. That let you harm my ghost body, disrupt the bond with my Ghost Soul, and slowly consume my ghost flesh, scattering my Three Souls and Seven Spirits. Then you planned to open the Corpse Realm, and use those outsiders from the Ritual Society to seal my Three Souls and Seven Spirits away. Clever—but unfortunately..."
The Ghost Ancestor paused, then burst into crazed, feverish laughter—a sound that chilled the marrow.
"I saw through everything from the very beginning."
John Chou rose, his form drifting toward the Ghost Ancestor like a shadow slipping across a grave.
"I told you before, there was no need for all this trouble. We should attack together—no more games."
Redmond shouted, but John Chou only shook his head.
"If you think that was our only plan, you underestimate us, Ghost Ancestor."
As John Chou spoke, the Ghost Ancestor lunged at Yuna Ji on the ground. But Yuna Ji was utterly enraged. As she stood, nine bands of colored light—twisting like haunted ribbons—whirled around her, startling the Ghost Ancestor.
With a sharp hiss, Yuna Ji's spear pierced through the Ghost Ancestor's palm and thrust for his skull. This time, the Ghost Ancestor dodged, his gaze locked on Yuna Ji in shock as a streak of violet light drifted past his eyes.
"From the start, we never planned to finish you head-on. Your power is too great—breaking through your ghost aura is harder than reaching the heavens. So we had to find another way."