"Horus Guardian Number One?"
Ye Feng was quite surprised as he looked at the silver figure with blue glowing eyes that had appeared beside him.
"Ye Feng, find a way to lure them in my direction. There's an Annihilation Array behind me that can be used against intruders!"
Under Ye Feng's gaze, Horus Guardian Number One spoke with a mechanical voice entirely different from their first encounter, the female voice he had heard in the control core.
"Ying Yue?"
Not only Ye Feng but also Xiao Xiao and Shen Yun Yao were quite surprised.
"Yes!"
Horus Guardian Number One nodded slightly.
"An Annihilation Array?"
Ye Feng glanced at the enormous Stone of Hope beside him, and a bold plan surfaced in his mind.
"Whizz! Bang! Crackle!"
"Whoosh! Splash! Clang!"
Suddenly, a barrage of stone spikes, sand arrows, and flames swept towards the three of them. Tu Yan, Sand Ghoul, and Ji Hei had attacked simultaneously.
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, Shen Yun Yao, and Horus Guardian Number One cooperated to fend off the roaring assault.
"Kid, your body's resilience is quite good. I'm very satisfied... This means I won't need to change bodies for a long time!"
At this moment, Sand Ghoul, after clashing with A Jin, approached Ye Feng and licked his lips with a sinister grin, speaking creepily.
"That Sand Ghoul is a monster who has abandoned his physical body. It's said he survived an experiment involving exposure to a divine stone..."
"Legend has it that exposure to a divine stone grants immense power or bizarre abilities... Sand Ghoul's ability is to survive without a physical body, existing as a pure spiritual entity... He can invade other people's bodies and take over their shells for his own use!"
As Ye Feng pondered, A Jin spoke rapidly, his tone somewhat anxious.
"Apart from Arcane energy attacks, firearms and cannons are useless against Sand Ghoul!"
"But this immense power seems to have limitations. If I'm not mistaken, after a certain period, Sand Ghoul, existing as a spiritual entity, must find a new host, otherwise... he might die..."
"And even if Sand Ghoul re-occupies another's body, his flesh will eventually rot again, forcing him to seek another shell..."
A Jin paused before continuing.
After hearing A Jin's words, Xiao Xiao and Shen Yun Yao instinctively moved closer to Ye Feng. Both women understood why Sand Ghoul was targeting Ye Feng.
It was because Ye Feng had directly used his body to block attacks, whether they were stone spikes, sand arrows, or arcane energy.
"A spiritual entity?"
Ye Feng narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the person named Xue Gui he had encountered in the City of Ice.
At that time, firearms and cannons had indeed been ineffective against him, until later with the Tang saber...
"Xiao Xiao, Yun Yao, you two, later..."
After a moment of thought, Ye Feng whispered into Xiao Xiao and Shen Yun Yao's ears.
"Okay!"
After hearing Ye Feng's plan, Xiao Xiao tightened her grip on the Angel's Blade and nodded. Shen Yun Yao also began to prepare herself.
"Rustle, rustle!"
Meanwhile, Sand Ghoul had controlled a large mass of sand and was lunging towards Ye Feng.
"Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!"
"Whoosh! Boom!"
Facing a torrent of sand arrows, Xiao Xiao instantly unleashed a large ball of fire towards Sand Ghoul. However, a portion of it dissipated in mid-air, absorbed by the floating island.
Shen Yun Yao cooperated by launching several water orbs. Upon contact with Xiao Xiao's flames, the water orbs rapidly transformed into mist.
Ye Feng, on the other hand, threw flashbangs, smoke grenades, and C4 explosives at Sand Ghoul.
"Bang! Boom! Bang bang!"
Instantaneous explosions and blinding flashes of light occurred simultaneously, creating immense visual interference with the steam.
"Damn it, can't you understand what I'm saying, brat?"
Seeing this, A Jin cursed, his figure blurring as he swiftly moved to Ye Feng's side. He punched the sand where Sand Ghoul was, imbued with water-attributed arcane energy.
"Boom!"
A Jin's water-infused fist struck the sand, creating a large hole.
"Argh... Ah! Ah~!"
Almost simultaneously, Sand Ghoul's suppressed, pained screams echoed.
"What?"
Ji Hei, Tu Yan, and even A Jin showed expressions of surprise.
A Jin, in particular, knew very well that his punch hadn't been that powerful.
There must have been something else involved amidst the smoke and explosions...
Within a large mass of sand, Sand Ghoul's semi-transparent silhouette slowly emerged. His expression was ferocious, his gaze rapidly shifting between Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao...
It was Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao who had taken advantage of the cover provided by the explosions, smoke, and steam to launch a surprise attack.
Initially, Sand Ghoul had not cared about their attacks. However, the intense pain in his back and knees told him he was injured...
"You two... it wasn't arcane energy just now... who was it?"
Sand Ghoul's eyes gleamed menacingly, his gaze finally settling on Xiao Xiao, or more precisely, the Angel's Blade in her hand.
"Hey, you plump guy, isn't that the Angel's Blade in the little girl's hand?"
At this moment, a somber voice rang out, and a masked man with only blood-red eyes visible appeared in their sight. It was Number 11 from the Brad Base.
"Indeed, we've discovered something quite interesting!"
"It seems the Angel's Blade can also injure Sand Ghoul, who is a pure spiritual entity!"
Tu Yan chimed in, without turning his head, seemingly unconcerned about Number 11 suddenly ambushing him from the side.
Seeing everyone's attention focused on Xiao Xiao's Angel's Blade, Ye Feng felt quite satisfied. In reality, he had also attacked Sand Ghoul with his Tang saber. He had merely switched to an ordinary cleaver amidst the explosions.
"Hmph!"
Sand Ghoul snorted and retreated a considerable distance, clearly unwilling to engage in a protracted fight with Xiao Xiao and risk being exploited by others.
"What useless trash!"
At this moment, a contemptuous voice sounded, belonging to Ji Hei.
"Boom! Sizzle! Sizzle!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, crimson lightning flashed across Ji Hei's body, and then he suddenly exploded into a cloud of black mist.
"Awooo!"
A wolf's howl emanated from the black mist, followed by the appearance of a large black wolf over two meters tall.
"Ye Feng, that might be a Tengu... The rumors before were true. Ji Hei... actually obtained the Phantom Beast-type enhanced serum, the Tengu!"
A Jin looked at Ji Hei's transformed wolf form with great seriousness.
"Tengu?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao's hand flashed, and she threw several beef ribs towards Ji Hei.
The beef ribs were clearly gnawed, with only a few scraps of meat and sinew remaining...
"Xiao... Xiao, what are you doing?"
Ye Feng was stunned by Xiao Xiao's action.