351: Chapter 296 351: Chapter 296 The black mist was scorched, emitting smoke as if alive, with a burnt smell.
The fog became thinner and thinner.
Eryao unleashed lightning that made the enemy retreat without making any other sound, as if it possessed life yet was not human.
It was a very strange sensation, impossible to guess whether the cause was human or creature.
Since his upgrade, Eryao hadn’t flexed his power in a long time.
The thrill of the hunt exhilarated him as he continuously unleashed lightning, thundering and flashing across the sky, turning the day to darkness, with clouds obscuring the sun and booming sounds echoing “boom, boom”…
Such a scene in the sky, the sudden abnormality of the day, made fellow cultivators aware that there was a battle, while ordinary people thought it was merely a change in weather, with torrents of rain driving everyone to seek shelter, especially fearful of the fierce lightning.
Eryao felt the enemy’s power dwindling but still attacking tenaciously despite the threat of annihilation.
“Quack quack quack”
A strange noise appeared in the sky, then the fog seemed to regain strength, growing stronger once again.
Eryao also released more powerful thunderous roars.
His dragon claws attacked incessantly, with thick bolts of lightning carrying tremendous force.
The enemy seemed empowered, fearless, as if driven by some purpose that made them unafraid of death.
They were not only attacking Jiang Tang and his companions but also constantly launching stronger attacks at Eryao.
Angered, Eryao realized this was the strongest opponent he had faced since his upgrade, yet he could not trace its origin.
He split his dragon claws into multiple slashing forces, assailing the enemy from all directions.
He could sense the enemy’s life force but could not find a trace of human qi.
This feeling was too bizarre; Eryao thought the enemy might be a Ghost Cultivator.
But if it were a Ghost Cultivator, it bravely charged into his lightning, showing no fear of death.
Eryao discovered the enemy was not counterattacking him but continuously attacking Jiang Tang’s flying ship.
Jiang Tang, using his powerful Divine Sense, tracked the mist to find clues of the adversary.
At that time, the mist changed its attack strategy, and the enemy began using a suckling force, drawing it towards a certain direction.
Jiang Tang had not yet detected any other anomalies, but those on the flying ship felt their Soul Power fading away.
“Jiang Tang, there’s something odd about this mist.
It seems to be trying to absorb our souls,” Xuanyuan Mengting was the first to speak up, and the other women, as well as another man, also felt it.
Jiang Tang had not suffered any attacks, and he speculated that perhaps due to their weaker powers, they were susceptible to the enemy’s control.
However, he had already activated a protective aura; they were under defense.
Why were they still under the enemy’s influence?
Could it be that the enemy also possessed the Star-absorbing Spell?
The enemy used a soul-sucking spell, similar to the statue at Yun Duoduo’s family door, which used souls to draw away Soul Power.
Could this time’s adversary be a Ghost Cultivator, and one with a strong soul-sucking technique at that?
Jiang Tang had a way to deal with this kind of Ghost Cultivator, which was to fight back with a taste of their own medicine…
Jiang Tang didn’t attack the mist with Divine Sense, but instead sent out an avatar from his mind, using a powerful mental avatar to confront the enemy.
His tiny self dispatched from his mind did not leave his body but remained within, utilizing the Golden Crystal Liquid to perform absorption.
The sucking force blasted by the mist was instantly absorbed by the tiny self, and the power emanating from the artifact posed no threat to the others on the flying ship.
Instead, the mist was absorbed by the tiny self.
The fog, which had previously been fearless before the electrifying assault, now retreated apprehensively after being drained.
Seemingly reluctant, the enemy used the same absorbing force to attack the tiny self in Jiang Tang’s mind.
The avatar in Jiang Tang’s mind, with even stronger Soul Power than his own, absorbed the enemy’s Soul Power, and as a result, his Soul Power increased further.
The opponent’s Soul Power was formidable yet carried a negative energy, as if not the spirit of a true person, but the Soul Cultivator power of a ghost who had been dead for eons.
Jiang Tang could infer from the feedback of the tiny self in his mind that the enemy was definitely a transformed Ghost Cultivator.
He wondered if they were attacking to find a substitute or had other purposes.
“Chirp chirp chirp”
This was not the sound of wind, this was a sound attempting to make a threat, yet unable to articulate the true speech of humans.
In the blink of an eye, the fog knew it couldn’t exert any slight force on the other party, and transformed into numerous palms, the palms striking inside the light rings.
The light rings Jiang Tang had cast were shattered several times, and in the face of these breaking palms, he ceaselessly produced more solid light rings.
He also dispatched the Qianji Fire, the Qianji Fire that had just gone back to rest, not having been in action for a long time, thought it would again have a good, long break from work.
Yet unexpectedly, so soon after, it was deployed again, the Qianji Fire, angry, spewed out a series of powerful flames at the black mist.
The Qianji Fire enveloped the flying arrows, with its flames continuing to blast great fire at the black mist palms.
The other party seemed not to fear the flames at all, the Qianji Fire’s immense flames actually being sucked towards it.
The Qianji Fire became enraged, having been a fire spirit for so long with great lethal power, it was frustrated that it could do nothing against some mist creature, and crazily surged forth even larger flames.
Jiang Tang discovered that the Qianji Fire was ineffective against the fog mist, the little figure in his head had unexpectedly yet again failed to eliminate the opponent.
What kind of ghostly entity was this?
Could it be an ancient remnant soul?
What kind of ancient remnant soul possessed such a powerful sense of threat?
Jiang Tang felt it strange, could it be that an ancient remnant soul was after something on his person?
Could it be his Primordial Treasure Lingtian Space?
This absolutely could not be returned to someone else, the Primordial Treasure Lingtian Space was his unless the space vanished on its own.
Hell Palace?
Hell Palace was very effective against ghostly spirits, could it be that the ancient remnant soul was after the Hell Palace?
As Jiang Tang thought this, he didn’t want to hand over his Hell Palace to the other party; since it was in his possession, it certainly belonged to him.
If the remnant soul took away the Hell Palace, might it harm the Mortal Realm?
Jiang Tang absolutely could not let a devil obtain the Hell Palace and use it to turn the Cultivation World into Hell.
Therefore, he could only resort to using the Star-absorbing Spell in front of everyone.
Jiang Tang also dispatched an avatar to use the Star-absorbing Spell, some abilities could not be known by others.
Listening to his command, the avatar in his mindscape extended both palms, and as the little figure used the Star Absorbing Great Law, it was directed towards the sky outside the light rings.
It was used with precision, and even Eryao outside in the sky, continuing to wield his Thunderous Lightning Spell, seemed unfazed by the thunder and lightning.
Eryao’s lightning had become as thick as a thigh, mixed with flames within the lightning.
As the lightning struck down, the black mist palms only dissipated momentarily before regrouping into more palms.
Jiang Tang’s little figure using the Star Absorbing Great Law, managed to suck away the growing black mist palms bit by bit with a “whoo whoo…”
It sounded like a cry, a terrifying sound akin to rabid dogs and piercing screams.
The girl on the flying arrow could not help but cover her ears, the sound was too horrifying, as if millions of ghostly souls were wailing.
Although the girls were cultivators, they were still women, and couldn’t help but tremble.
Such sounds made everyone but Jiang Tang, including another man, feel their hearts quiver.
Jiang Tang, having seen many ghostly souls, also seemed to hear the calls of ghosts, but these cries did not instill fear in him.
It seemed to him that the cries of the ghostly souls were not due to the avatar absorbing their mana, but rather as if the ghosts had found their kin, a joyful outcry of relatives reuniting.
Jiang Tang was puzzled, why would the ghostly spirit behave like this?
Could it be an ancestor of his?
No, that was not it.
The opponent used a sucking spell that absorbed souls, could it be because he here was using the Star Absorbing Great Law?
Jiang Tang had once heard the Artifact Spirit of the Hell Palace mention that its previous master was indeed using the Star Absorbing Great Law—and upon meeting her, said she was the reincarnation of its master.
Jiang Tang tentatively sacrificed the Hell Palace, and as soon as it appeared outside, the Artifact Spirit emitted a joyful sound: “Master, Master!”
Jiang Tang noticed that the Artifact Spirit aimed to rush towards the fog mist, but he wouldn’t be so foolish as to hand over the Hell Palace to the other party; with a wave of his hand, the Hell Palace entered the space within his body.