The dark figure's words quickened, his tone shifting with his speed. His voice boomed like a great bronze bell, resonating like a thousand thundering bolts or the collapse of ten thousand snow-capped mountains.
His body felt as if carved by knife and axe, every inch aching, as if he had fallen into a molten lava stream.
Instinctively, he wanted to cover his ears. If he continued to listen, he would surely be deafened by the divine sound and thunder of the black shadow. However, he was still a ball of light, lacking even hands and feet, let alone the ability to cover his ears.
Just as he was trembling, his soul body shaking from the impact of the voice, and on the verge of his soul body being scattered if he listened any longer, the figure finally stopped speaking. He stood there in the void, gazing at him from afar.
Though his face was unseen, the aura emanating from him carried a hint of regret.
"Rotten wood cannot be carved..." With a sigh of regret, tinged with a touch of disappointment, the dark figure vanished into the darkness.
Rotten wood cannot be carved?
Was he calling me that? I am... a genius, possessing photographic memory. If it weren't for the fact that your words were not of this era, how could I possibly not remember them?
A thousand words of rebuttal churned in his mind, but the dark figure had already disappeared. Simultaneously, a tiny, rice-sized light appeared before him, gradually growing larger. His body, transformed into a ball of light, was drawn towards it. Then, an irresistible force jolted his body, and he found himself back inside his own body.
Behind him, the Fox Soul Ghost General remained in the posture of soul capture. The numerous ghost generals before him stared at him with ferocious expressions, as if they had already devised a plan for their gluttonous feast.
Sun Chuang maintained his pose, controlling the Tiger Kui Seal, his ferocious roar frozen on his face. It was as if everything that had just happened was a dream, a rehearsal for an imminent death?
Yet, the vividness of the experience told him it was neither a dream nor an illusion, but something that had truly happened to him.
"What exactly is going on?"
His mind struggled to process it all.
Hadn't he just died? How had his soul body returned to his physical form? And who was that dark figure? Why did he speak in ancient Chinese, his tone so peculiar, not like modern Mandarin, yet it carried a sense of the Great Dao?
"My lord, I shall immediately seize his soul and offer it for your command." The Fox Soul Ghost General's words jolted him from his stupor.
His soul had just been captured, and then...
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. Though he didn't understand what had just transpired, he knew that the dark figure in the darkness had intervened, returning him to the moment just before his soul was to be captured.
His previously depleted Xuanyang True Qi now coursed through his meridians, stronger than before. If his Xuanyang True Qi had been a small stream the thickness of a thumb, it now resembled a torrent as thick as a wrist.
Feeling the Xuanyang True Qi filling his meridians, he clearly sensed the Yin energy the Fox Soul Ghost General was about to unleash into his body. Instinctively, he circulated his Xuanyang True Qi, and the Tian Qiao Seal was also activated.
At the very instant the Fox Soul Ghost General was about to touch his body, he had already evaded the attack, his body appearing behind the general.
Looking at the Fox Soul Ghost General, still in a grasping posture, he felt bewildered. He had been on the verge of death moments ago, and now, in the blink of an eye, he had evaded the general's attack and was controlling the Tiger Kui Seal to attack Sun Chuang.
"Hu... Human? Where did the human go?"
Facing his sudden disappearance, the Fox Soul Ghost General stared in terror at the empty space before him, unleashing a surge of potent ghost energy centered on itself.
However, the Xuanyang True Qi within him had grown countless times stronger. Dealing with the Fox Soul Ghost General, he no longer dodged or parried. He gathered his Xuanyang True Qi in his palm and struck the general's lower back.
Boom—
A radiant ball of crimson yang energy erupted from his palm. The Fox Soul Ghost General was like snow in sunlight, dissolving under the yang energy's assault, leaving behind only a roar of defiance.
Though this might sound simple, it happened in an instant. Within a single breath, the Fox Soul Ghost General dissipated before his eyes.
"You... How did you suddenly become so strong?"
The ghost generals who had rushed forward to devour his flesh and blood stared at him in horror. With a flash, the Fox Soul Ghost General had vanished like smoke, nearly dropping their eyeballs in their fright.
With a thought, the Tiger Kui Seal, which had been difficult to control moments ago, broke free from Sun Chuang's grasp. It circled him once before returning to his hand.
Sun Chuang, who had been looking smug, suddenly turned deathly pale. He pointed at him, stammering, "You... How did you suddenly become so strong?"
Facing the stuttering Sun Chuang, he didn't know how to explain. Nor was there any need to explain, as he himself didn't understand what had happened. He was still in a state of confusion about the events that had just transpired, and even if he wanted to explain, he wouldn't know where to begin.
He offered Sun Chuang a dismissive smile. "Doesn't everyone have secrets? How about we sit down and talk?"
Even as he spoke, his hands did not cease their movements. Before his words had fully fallen, the Tiger Kui Seal, under his control, transformed into black lightning once more. The dark silhouette was so fast that even he couldn't clearly discern it, only seeing a flash.
The other ghost generals surrounding him all wore expressions of terror, then watched helplessly as their bodies vanished into thin air, unable to utter even a final word.
"You..."
Seeing his ghost generals annihilated in an instant, Sun Chuang's pupils contracted violently. He twisted his body and turned to flee, letting out a ghostly howl.
Countless Yin souls became his pawns once more, all charging through the gate without regard for their lives.
If this had happened five minutes ago, Sun Chuang would have already killed him countless times over. But now, let alone these ordinary Yin souls, even if ghost generals were to come, he wouldn't pay them any mind.
He let out a cold snort, formed the Six Yao Xuanyang Seal with both hands, and channeled his Xuanyang True Qi into the formation's core. The Six Yao Yang Xuan Formation, previously dispersed by Yin energy, was reignited.
A golden light shield once again centered on the formation's core, spreading out like a tidal wave, instantly annihilating all the Yin souls that charged in. The golden light shield continued outward, extending a hundred meters beyond the courtyard before stopping.
After this strike, no Yin souls remained outside the small courtyard. Even the pairs of green eyes lurking in the darkness showed expressions of terror, then let out a mournful cry and turned to flee.
He thought that Sun Chuang, being a Yin soul entity, would be either killed or severely wounded by the yang energy passing through him.
However, to his surprise, the yang energy did not slow his escape; instead, it seemed to accelerate his running speed. Faintly, he could see something dragging him beneath him, as if it were some kind of animal.
"Think you can run that easily?" he thought with a cold laugh. He exerted himself and gave chase.
But as soon as he stepped over the threshold, he felt his Xuanyang True Qi surge uncontrollably within his body. His meridians throbbed with a scorching heat, as if what flowed within him was no longer Xuanyang True Qi, but molten lava.
"How can this be?" A question arose in his mind, and then, unable to bear the scorching pain, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily onto the ground.