The great battle commenced.
Everyone had found their opponents.
The outcome of any single match could influence the ultimate victory or defeat of the entire war.
Therefore, everyone fought with all their might.
After repelling three disciples of the Lu Shan Sect, Chi was intercepted by Yan Shouyi.
As a ghoul, Chi's senses were far more acute than those of ordinary humans. The instant it saw Yan Shouyi, it sensed his difference from everyone else.
It wasn't just a matter of strength…
"Eeey!"
Chi's grotesquely twisted face let out an incredibly strange cry, and then it lunged at Yan Shouyi!
Yan Shouyi, wielding his Zanpakuto, dodged Chi's charge and, in the same motion, slashed at Chi's back!
An ordinary person struck by this blade would likely be rushed to the emergency room immediately.
Even formidable ghouls were susceptible to the Zanpakuto's suppression.
However, when the Zanpakuto struck Chi's back, the expected scene of torn flesh did not materialize.
On the contrary, the Zanpakuto seemed to leave Chi completely unharmed!
How could this be?!
Yan Shouyi withdrew his blade and retreated, composing himself.
Although the Zanpakuto in his hand was not the true Zanpakuto, but a spiritual projection summoned by a burning talisman, Zanpakuto naturally possessed a suppressing effect on ghouls.
Even a summoned Zanpakuto projection, while perhaps not capable of slicing through metal, was at least as sharp as any ordinary blade.
Why could this Chi in front of him disregard even the Zanpakuto's attack?
Chi turned around, cast a disdainful glance at Yan Shouyi, and let out a mocking laugh.
Then, it punched away two Lu Shan Sect disciples, picking up the swords they dropped.
Under the horrified gazes of those around, Chi actually crushed the hilts of the two swords with its bare hands and then fused them into one.
The two swords became a double-headed sword in its hands, with blades at both ends, yet even this weapon was like a toy in Chi's grip.
Now armed, Chi let out an excited cry and charged at Yan Shouyi once more!
"If the Zanpakuto is ineffective against it, then I'll try something else!"
Yan Shouyi did not dwell on the matter. He planted the Zanpakuto by his feet and quickly formed hand seals.
"Essence of Jiao Ji, spirits of Jia and Yi. Raise the waves, stir the clouds and thunder. All demons roam, their forms dissolved by lightning. Thousand heads severed, ten thousand shapes cut. Those who obey me live, those who defy me fall. Deviate from my command, and face heavenly wrath. Hasten, as the law commands!"
Palm Thunder!
Several bolts of lightning, like silver serpents, shot from Yan Shouyi's hands.
These electric serpentines, at tricky angles, sealed off all of Chi's escape routes.
Chi's face indeed revealed a look of panic. It seemed to be genuinely afraid of the Palm Thunder.
But just then, a dark shadow appeared in front of Chi.
It was "Mei" from the Chi Mei Wang Liang quartet!
Mei's back sprouted a pair of wings from its clothes.
These wings were incredibly tough and could even withstand the Palm Thunder's attack!
Mei first used its wings to block the Palm Thunder, then flapped them, diverting the remaining lightning towards some nearby lesser ghouls.
The lesser ghouls shrieked as they were electrocuted, their souls scattered on the spot.
After protecting Chi, Mei was snatched away by a massive figure the very next second.
Yan Shouyi focused his eyes and saw that it was Agong, riding the paper-carved male eagle, carrying Mei away.
"Brother Yan, leave Mei to me. You can focus on Chi, and I won't let it interfere again!" Agong called back.
"Good!"
Yan Shouyi snapped back to attention, about to attack Chi again, when unexpectedly, Chi had already appeared before him at some point!
The double-headed sword lunged rapidly towards Yan Shouyi's chest!
Even with Yan Shouyi's swift reaction, he was still wounded in the arm by the double-headed sword.
Blood flowed out, and its腥味 made Chi even more excited.
Yan Shouyi ignored his wound, as his body, being a Heavenly Corpse Puppet, should heal quickly.
But this situation could not continue; he needed to find the key to breaking through as soon as possible!
Thus, Yan Shouyi threw out a piece of Yin wood: "Yan Gui, come out and lend me a hand!"
The faceless ghoul Yan Gui instantly appeared, transforming into a cloud of ghostly energy that enveloped Chi.
This cloud of energy was like a thorny tornado, not only trapping Chi but also tearing apart its black robe.
Chi's true form was finally revealed to Yan Shouyi!
Its body had no skin, no muscle, but rather seemed to have hard stones plastered onto a human form!
No wonder even the Zanpakuto could not harm it!
"Chi… In ancient times, Chi represented the mountain god. It's no wonder Fang Qiu named this fellow Chi!" Yan Shouyi gradually understood.
At this moment, Chi suddenly moved, forcefully breaking free from Yan Gui's restraint!
Yan Gui revealed its true form and said somewhat helplessly, "Brother, I am no match for it!"
"It's alright, I've already thought of a way to deal with it!"
Yan Shouyi withdrew Yan Gui and quickly created distance between himself and Chi.
Chi, thinking Yan Shouyi was about to use Palm Thunder again, pursued him relentlessly.
In the blink of an eye, the two reached the stairs, where Chi transformed into a beast, pounding its surroundings incessantly.
The marble stairs were quickly half-destroyed by Chi's onslaught, while Yan Shouyi, intent only on dodging, remained completely unharmed.
The more it failed to catch Yan Shouyi, the angrier Chi became.
Just as it was beating its chest like a gorilla to vent its fury.
Yan Shouyi suddenly stopped, no longer intending to flee.
Chi watched Yan Shouyi warily.
"I can sense that your body harbors more than one soul," Yan Shouyi stated coldly.
Chi looked at Yan Shouyi with confusion.
Through observation, Yan Shouyi had discovered that Fang Qiu seemed to have used some method to seal dozens of souls together, then used the stones on Chi's surface to forge them into an emotionless killing machine.
The souls sealed within Chi were both its source of power and its life force.
They yearned for salvation but could only be trapped in this stone-made humanoid prison forever.
The way to defeat Chi was precisely to save these trapped souls!!
"Hoo!"
Yan Shouyi grunted and stepped forward.
He stomped his foot!
A massive Yin Yang Bagua diagram unfolded beneath Yan Shouyi's feet!
Fang Qiu, who was fighting Lü Jing, couldn't help but be astonished:
"This kid knows Qimen Dunjia?!"
Lü Jing laughed heartily:
"Ignoramus! Look at you, acting like you've never seen the world! Yan Shouyi doesn't just *know* Qimen Dunjia; he's a master of it! He was the one who caused the West Lake diversion last time!!!"
Lü Jing's proud demeanor completely forgot that Yan Shouyi had used Qimen Dunjia to humiliate him last time.
The waters of West Lake had also been diverted for his sake…
Chi's face revealed a look of panic.
It desperately tried to flee.
But as it fled, Yan Shouyi followed.
It could never escape the range of the Bagua array!!
Yan Shouyi wasted no time and began reciting an incantation:
"Yin and Yang, forward and reverse, their mystery is endless. The two solstices return to the one nine palace. If one understands the principles of Yin and Yang, heaven and earth are within a single palm!"
"The character 'Kun'! The Kun Palace! Earthly Master, mountains collapse and the earth cracks!!"
BOOM!!!
The marble that Chi had previously smashed began to float in mid-air, and then, like magnets, piece by piece, they flew towards Chi!
Chi, already massive in size, was encased by the pieces of marble, eventually transforming into a small mountain!
All the shattered stones adhered to its body, and despite its immense strength, it had nowhere to exert it.
Only its head was exposed, roaring in impotent fury.
Seeing Chi trapped, Yan Shouyi directly grabbed his Zanpakuto and climbed over the stones to Chi's head.
"Don't worry, I'll break this seal and give you your freedom!!"
He raised his Zanpakuto high.
This scene made Fang Qiu sneer dismissively: "I already tried that. My Chi is impervious to weapons. This kid really doesn't learn his lesson!"
Lü Jing, engaged with Fang Qiu, took the opportunity to kick him.
He thought to himself: I also looked down on Yan Shouyi like this back then and suffered greatly for it!
Yan Shouyi's Zanpakuto descended rapidly.
It struck Chi's head, but only managed to cut half a centimeter deep.
For Chi, this was completely insignificant.
However, Yan Shouyi did not withdraw his Zanpakuto.
Instead, he swiftly unleashed Palm Thunder, channeling it into the blade of the Zanpakuto!!
"Essence of Jiao Ji, spirits of Jia and Yi. Raise the waves, stir the clouds and thunder. All demons roam, their forms dissolved by lightning. Thousand heads severed, ten thousand shapes cut. Those who obey me live, those who defy me fall. Deviate from my command, and face heavenly wrath. Hasten, as the law commands!"
Silver lightning coursed along the Zanpakuto.
Following the blade, it penetrated Chi's head!!
Chi immediately writhed in agony, letting out earth-shattering moans!!
Subsequently, the silver lightning spread throughout Chi's body, clearly outlining the stones on its form.
Yan Shouyi performed a backflip, leaping off Chi, and simultaneously withdrew the Qimen Dunjia's restraint on Chi.
Chi, now freed, did not attack Yan Shouyi but instead pounded the ground in pain.
One punch!
Two punches!
Three punches!
With the third punch landing, cracks appeared in the rocks attached to Chi's body!
Chi became even more agitated. It looked around, found Mei, who was fighting Zhu Shanzhao, and rammed into it headfirst.
This impact dazed Mei significantly.
And the restraint on Chi's body also cracked at a visible rate!
CRACK!!
Finally, a crisp sound echoed, and Chi's body shattered like an eggshell.
Souls, unable to wait, began to escape from Chi's body!!
As the souls fled, Chi's body gradually lost its strength.
It knelt on the ground, and then collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of powerless, broken stones.
The escaped souls, filled with immense gratitude, circled around Yan Shouyi. Some, having formed into human shapes, even remembered to kneel and kowtow to Yan Shouyi in thanks!
They had been captured by Fang Qiu and trapped within Chi, never to be free.
It was Yan Shouyi who had saved them!
After kowtowing, these souls then turned their vengeful gazes towards Fang Qiu.
They wanted revenge!
Before Yan Shouyi could intervene, these souls had already flown towards Fang Qiu.
What kind of person was Fang Qiu? He was a match for Lü Jing.
How could he fear these souls?
Yan Shouyi inwardly thought it was bad. These souls, having just gained freedom, would likely be annihilated.
However, before these souls could reach Fang Qiu, they were suddenly pulled by a powerful force!
Yan Shouyi looked back and saw Bai Shixi above the stairs!
Bai Shixi opened his mouth and a gust of wind swept out, sucking all the souls into his belly!
His body had grown significantly, subtly nearing Liu Jingkang in size!!
"Ancestor Liu, can you hold on?" Yan Shouyi called out worriedly.
Liu Jingkang grinned: "This old body can still manage! Bai Shixi isn't a Ghost King after all!!!"
Despite Liu Jingkang's answer, Yan Shouyi still felt that he had to go and help Liu Jingkang as soon as possible.
Liu Jingkang had been too weak before; even with Old Jin's help, he couldn't have recovered to his peak condition.
Now that Chi was dealt with, Yan Shouyi shifted his gaze to the remaining opponents.
Of the four ghouls, Chi, Mei, Wang, and Liang, three remained: Mei, Wang, and Liang!
Agong was dealing with Mei, and Luo Ning was dealing with Wang.
And Zhu Shanzhao was fighting Liang!
Among everyone, Yan Shouyi was most concerned about Zhu Shanzhao. Furthermore, Liang had been heavily injured by the out-of-control Chi earlier, so Yan Shouyi decided to tackle the weaker opponent first.
He would kill Liang!
Liang was an incredibly small ghoul, appearing like a child of five or six.
But it was by no means as weak as it looked.
While fighting Liang, Zhu Shanzhao inexplicably developed small wounds all over his body.
They didn't hurt, but they were incredibly itchy!
Seeing Yan Shouyi arrive to help, Zhu Shanzhao kindly warned him: "Boss, be careful, this guy is really strange. It looks like it can spit out disgusting things!"
Spit out disgusting things?
A fleeting thought of confusion crossed Yan Shouyi's mind as Liang opened its mouth and spat out a glob of green mucus!
This mucus flew directly towards Yan Shouyi as if shot from a slingshot!
Yan Shouyi's expression changed, and he dodged to the side using the most clumsy but effective maneuver of rolling like a donkey.
The green mucus splattered onto a Lu Shan Sect disciple!
This innocent disciple's body immediately began to emit black smoke, and its flesh was being corroded at a visible rate!
Yan Shouyi felt a pang of guilt but had no time to apologize. He quickly ordered someone to take the disciple to Old Jin.
And Liang's attack had not yet ended!
Seemingly having witnessed Yan Shouyi dealing with Chi, Liang became extremely cautious of Yan Shouyi.
Before Yan Shouyi could even make a proper move, Liang unleashed all its capabilities!
Liang's belly rapidly expanded like a balloon.
Finally, it spat out balls of white, silk-like substances from its mouth!
These substances quickly formed into large nets, blocking all of Yan Shouyi's escape routes.
Even Zhu Shanzhao was trapped outside!
Seeing this, Zhu Shanzhao exclaimed, "Damn, thank goodness it's you, Boss! If Liang had used this move on me earlier, then I, Old Pig, would have been finished…"
Yan Shouyi shot Zhu Shanzhao a glare.
When is this, and you're still cracking jokes?
Don't you know to help?
Zhu Shanzhao chuckled and used his pig's head to ram into the spider web.
However, the web was not only incredibly tough but also poisonous!
A large scar was immediately burned onto Zhu Shanzhao's head, leaving hardly any hair!
Author's notes:
This chapter is a large one with four thousand characters. One chapter is better than two! Also, there will be another update at midnight tonight~~