“What’s going on here?” the ghosts yelled in alarm.
Of course, Sovereign Yunhai wasn’t going to reply. He simply chuckled and shot into the ranks of the ghosts like a lightning bolt.
Barriers and shields were so fragile that a single fingernail could tear through them. The fast and ethereal became like old oxen pulling along broken carts, pausing every three steps. And the agile and nimble suddenly became stiff and rigid as if they were moving through soil rather than air…
No matter what kind of ability or spell art it was, it was all weakened within this hall, the ghosts falling all the way from the Celestial Heart Realm to the Spirit Platform Realm, no longer able to pose any threat to Sovereign Yunhai.
Sovereign Yunhai seized this opportunity to assail the ghosts. His attacks were very simple, using his sharp bone claws to tear apart any existence that stood in his way.
The ghosts wailed under his fierce assault, but there was nothing they could do in this mysterious place except watch as they were slaughtered.
Sovereign Yunhai slew a Ghost King and then turned on his next target: Marasheng.
Marasheng saw that he couldn’t evade, so he clenched his teeth and punched back.
Claw and fist collided, and surprisingly, Sovereign Yunhai’s glossy white bone claw failed to shatter Marasheng’s fist, leaving only five deep impressions. Sovereign Yunhai intended to swing again, but Marasheng rapidly retreated, clearly terrified by the force behind Sovereign Yunhai’s attack.
But he kept silent for now, letting Sovereign Yunhai clear out some more ghosts for him.
Once around twenty Ghost Kings had died, Tang Jie called out, “I get it now! This place seals the power of spell arts, but it only has a limited effect on physical strength! Those who cultivate the body can beat him!”
The reaction of the ghosts was surprise, and then delight.
In truth, they had also sensed something wrong during the fight. It was just that the intense combat and fear of death meant that few of them were able to remain as clear-headed as Tang Jie. Now that Tang Jie had revealed the truth, they instantly understood what he was getting at and shouted, “Right, right! Iron Bone, Corpse King, Nether Devil, Heartless Ghost King, and also the Yakshas and armored corpses, you guys will be in charge of this battle.”
The ghosts named were all those with powerful physical bodies, and they immediately charged into the fray. Even Tang Jie couldn’t avoid being pushed onto the front line.
Fortunately, the ghosts valued his intelligence, so the Heartless Ghost King said, “Maraju, come to my side! I’ll protect you!”
“Many thanks, Ghost King!” Tang Jie swiftly moved to stand behind the Heartless Ghost King. Although his body was tough enough to endure this battle, if he was offered a chance to slack off, he was happy to take it.
The physically strong ghosts began to battle with Sovereign Yunhai.
Sovereign Yunhai had been able to deal with them when he was just engaging one or two of them, but now that they were all attacking together, his offensive was instantly stymied. His claw was still as strong as ever, but now, there were six or seven ghosts taking the blow. They were no match for him one-on-one, but they could not be ignored when they united their powers.
The other ghosts also weren’t just sitting back. While their attacks were no good, Tang Jie advised them on how to give support and protect their fellow ghosts. Even if those barriers were as thin as paper, sheets of paper stacked on top of each could still prove useful.
Tang Jie also organized the ghosts into groups that would take shifts in fighting, rotating in and out as if he was raiding a boss in a game. The ghosts of the Nether Domain had never experienced anything like this before, and under Tang Jie’s command, not only did they suffer no more losses, they found the fighting getting easier and easier. This only increased their admiration for Tang Jie.
Sovereign Yunhai saw that the tides of battle were turning against him. He cackled, “You juniors do have some skill, but this still isn’t enough!”
As he spoke, his aura exploded, a dense energy radiating from his body, sweeping through the hall like a hurricane. The ghosts were caught off guard and pushed away by the shockwave, their organized ranks sent into disarray.
Sovereign Yunhai raised his hand, and a giant claw appeared, reaching for the ghosts.
It was a mighty claw that sought to hold everything in the world in its clutches.
Even Tang Jie couldn’t help but pale. “Watch out!”
“This is… a Divine Connection!” the Heartless Ghost King said in shock.
Weren’t all spell arts supposed to be weakened here? Why was their foe able to use a Divine Connection? And didn’t being able to use a Divine Connection mean that this was a Nether Emperor they were dealing with?
While one hundred Ghost Kings were enough to deal with a single Nether Emperor, that was only if their spell arts weren’t being sealed.
Judging by the aura of this claw, this wasn’t a mere low-tier Nether Emperor, but a middle-tier one.
The Divine Connection from what was essentially a Deification expert would alarm anyone. But how had Sovereign Yunhai managed to hide his power, only revealing some of it now when he was using a Divine Connection?
The ghosts were in a panic, and even Tang Jie could only fend for himself.
The claw let out beams of light that struck the ghosts below, causing them to howl and wail. Some of them failed to endure the blow and were blasted into dust.
As his attack wreaked havoc, Sovereign Yunhai’s gaze stopped on Tang Jie. It was evident that he had recognized the pivotal role Tang Jie had played in this battle. “This brat is rather troublesome.”
He thrust a finger at Tang Jie, using yet another kind of Divine Connection. Even though it was just a finger, it appeared like a heavenly pillar in his eyes, so vast that there was simply no place he could hide.
Tang Jie knew that he was in trouble, and as he backed away, he shouted, “Attack the coffin!”
Sovereign Yunhai’s finger froze, its power weakening a little. It rammed into Tang Jie, sending him flying, and while he was heavily injured, his tough constitution allowed him to survive. Meanwhile, the other ghosts attacked the coffin on the altar.
Strangely, Sovereign Yunhai immediately turned nervous, and his intimidating aura vanished as he turned his attention to stopping the ghosts from attacking the coffin. This only invigorated the ghosts, who attacked even more fiercely. Sovereign Yunhai bellowed in fury, “DIE!!!”
With this roar, an aurora spread out, melting away the ghosts in its path.
As the aurora approached the Greenghost King, he grabbed a ghost general and threw it in front of him while retreating. But he ended up retreating toward Tang Jie’s position.
Tang Jie inwardly chuckled at this and silently thrust a finger at the Greenghost King’s back.
This finger paralyzed the Greenghost King, and the aurora engulfed him.
The Greenghost King immediately roared, his entire body radiating a green light. As one of the strongest of the ghosts present, he was able to resist the aurora for a few moments, and there was still time to save him.
But at this moment, Tang Jie shouted, “Attack the coffin! Hurry!”
The ghosts resumed attacking the coffin, ignoring the Greenghost King. The Greenghost King struggled and writhed within the aurora, but he ultimately couldn’t escape. But thanks to him, the aurora could no longer advance, and the Dragon Wood coffin began to groan under the weight of the ghost offensive.
Sovereign Yunhai grew even more anxious, and with a roar, he raised his hand, upon which countless ghost hands erupted from the floor to seize the ghosts.
This was the Call of the Nether, an extremely powerful art that could pull living beings into the Nether Domain. But in the eyes of the ghosts, it was nothing but a joke. “We’re already ghosts of the Nether Domain, so pulling us into the Nether Domain is just sending us home! There’s nothing to fear.”
Tang Jie warned, “Be careful! This isn’t the Call of the Nether! Don’t forget that this place isn’t linked to the Nether Domain!”
The ghosts froze, realizing that this was true, as Sovereign Yunhai had never entered the Nether Domain. But then how was he able to use the Call of the Nether?
Whatever the reason, it was bad news. As the ghost hands grabbed the ghosts and pulled them into the ground, what awaited them was not the Yellow Springs, but the actual ground, large quantities of soil engulfing them and hardening around them.
“This is Putrid Soil! Putrid Soil!!!” the ghosts shrieked.
Putrid Soil was an extremely rare kind of soil found in the Nether Domain that could bind ghosts and isolate the soul, and it could also allow one to nurture an extremely powerful ghost, so it was considered highly valuable. Sovereign Yunhai’s not entering the Nether Domain was most likely thanks to this soil.
This was the real treasure. The total value of all the art relics they had found before this was tiny in comparison to the Putrid Soil.
The prospect of getting their hands on Putrid Soil made the ghosts even more excited, and they attacked Sovereign Yunhai with even greater gusto.
Even though Sovereign Yunhai was powerful, he couldn’t hold back this pack of wolves. Moreover, as the coffin cracked and weakened, so did the seal on their spell arts, which made the ghosts realize that the coffin was the true source of the seal.
It was no wonder Maraju had told them to attack the coffin. Once the coffin was destroyed, they would regain all their strength, after which their combined might would be enough to take down the sovereign.
The ghosts redoubled their attacks.
Sovereign Yunhai bellowed and roared as he tried his best to stop them, but his efforts were futile.
In the end, the coffin finally shattered.
The power suppressing the ghosts vanished, and all the ghosts could once more use their spell arts as they wished. Sovereign Yunhai couldn’t hold out against so many ghosts and gradually began to lose ground.
Strangely, other than the few Nether Emperor Divine Connections he had used, he used only physical attacks, and he never used those Divine Connections again. This meant that the ghosts suffered few losses in the later stage of this battle.
In a blast of flames, Sovereign Yunhai finally collapsed.
As he fell to the floor, his entire body shattered, leaving behind only the two flickering Soul Flames in his eyes, which seemed to be lost in thought.
He let out a sigh.
This sigh sounded very weird to Tang Jie.
He could feel a strong sense of sympathy in this sigh.
Not for himself, but for the ghosts.
Sympathy, and derision.
Tang Jie didn’t understand why.
Meanwhile, the ghosts were beginning to celebrate their victory.
But at this moment, Tang Jie became overcome with a sense of danger.
A chill rising in his heart, he shouted, “WATCH OUT!!!”