Volume 2 Chapter 13: Trapped in Despair
In the green world, threads of black smoke transformed into various shapes, slowly approaching Lu Yun. With a serious expression, Lu Yun gazed at the slowly approaching black fog, and outside his body, he deployed seventeen strands of spiritual energy to tightly guard himself within.
With a surge of power, Lu Yun's strength suddenly increased by three levels, and the black vacuum sphere instantly shone brightly. Countless talismans slowly flew outwards from it. Inside the sphere, the ghost immortal let out a loud wail, as the rapidly spinning vortex of energy flashed erratically, clearly in extreme danger. Just after the ghost immortal's terrified wails, Lu Yun's body was enveloped by an unstable dark green glow, accompanied by numerous dense explosions that invaded the mental waves he had set up with great force.
A green light flashed, and twelve ghosts and a ghost fairy suddenly appeared around Lu Yun, forming a strange formation to launch a fierce attack. In the distance, a black shadowy figure was vaguely visible in the green world, like clouds and mist.
Lu Yun's body trembled slightly, and he glanced around cautiously. The enemy's attack this time was very strange, with a power that far exceeded the combined strength of the twelve ghostly apparitions, stronger by half. Watching the ghostly apparitions continuously attacking, Lu Yun naturally understood that they were trying to take advantage of the situation to rescue the ghost fairy trapped in his hands. With a cold laugh, Lu Yun suddenly retracted the strange true vacuum sphere and launched a destructive blow at the trapped ghost fairy with an instantaneous speed of 21,360 times per second. The ghost fairy's body dimmed, and a mournful cry lasted only for an instant before it disappeared. The black air mass transformed into thin black smoke that slowly dispersed in the air.
With a swift movement, Lu Yun's body spun rapidly, continuously changing positions to dodge the attacks of the twelve ghostly apparitions. However, after making 120 forceful changes, Lu Yun finally realized that the formation composed of these ghostly apparitions was incredibly mysterious and couldn't be shaken off. Stopping his body, Lu Yun coldly gazed at the intersecting ghostly shadows, his eyes slightly sunken, as a divine thought wave instantly formed an "井" shape, separating the surrounding space into sections.
The sky was filled with eerie shadows, and the chilling howls were like the wails of restless spirits from hell, doubling the terror. The twelve ghostly apparitions were launching their most ferocious attack on Lu Yun with the Twelve Fierce Souls Formation, the most overbearing formation in the Ghost Domain. Sensing Lu Yun's evasive movements, the ghostly apparitions let out chilling cold laughs. At the top, the ghostly sage howled: "Human, don't think you can escape. In one of the three ultimate formations of the Ghost Domain, the Twelve Fierce Souls Formation, it's impossible to survive even if you have the Ghost King Battle Armor on you, heh heh. Prepare to taste the flavor of death."
Lu Yun's lips were tightly closed, his eyes cold and detached, as the external spiritual energy was rapidly analyzing the principles and weaknesses of this ghost array. As he watched those ghosts approach, Lu Yun's body suddenly burst forth with a brilliant light, and the separating spatial spiritual energy surged threefold, fully blocking the enemy's attack. The ghostly energy exploded, the light flashing, several cries piercing the air. Finally, the twelve ghosts crashed into the invisible spiritual energy barrier, and were sent flying by the high-speed rotating true energy flow. At this moment, a thread of weakness appeared before Lu Yun's eyes.
A figure flashed by, and Lu Yun's body instantly broke through the ghostly siege, appearing in front of that ghost fairy. Looking at the weak energy cluster in the ghost fairy's hand, Lu Yun couldn't help but secretly sigh at the strength of the ghost domain's ghost fairies, which was almost impossible to kill. The ghost fairy that had been trapped by him earlier, under his high-frequency mental wave attacks, hadn't even been destroyed.
With a disdainful smile, Lu Yun spread his hands and launched an attack on the ghost fairy with the darkest and most evil aura in the world. The green eyes of the ghost fairy shot out a green light, and its black body suddenly split into nine ghostly shadows. Each shadow then transformed into nine more dark silhouettes, surrounding Lu Yun from all sides. At this moment, Lu Yun was surrounded by a dense green glow, countless ghostly shadows, and eerie laughter echoed through the green space. The ghost fairy sneered: "Not bad, you are the strongest human to enter the Ghost Domain in so many years. Unfortunately, although you are strong, you shouldn't have come here. Now, prepare to die! Evil Spirit Refining!" The last sentence was extremely ominous, shaking the heavens.
All around, those scattered ghosts heard the words and showed a faint sorrow in their pale green eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. Only twelve ghosts let out a loud whistle at the same time, and then the twelve ghosts turned into twelve clusters of green mist, swirling around Lu Yun Cheng in all directions like ghostly fire. From afar, it looked like a huge ball of light flashing with green light, and Lu Yun was surrounded by it.
A powerful air current, carrying the power of invading and devouring souls, began to compress. Lu Yun was in the midst of it, feeling that the atmosphere around him was unusual, and couldn't help but pay attention to the movements around him. In just a moment, the green light ball had shrunk to about three feet in diameter, with an overwhelming aura that made it impossible for Lu Yun to breathe. Feeling the enemy's attack was ferocious, Lu Yun's entire body burst out with black light, transforming his soul and absorbing all living souls with a fierce and violent aura, fully absorbing the strange power around him.
However, something shocking happened to Lu Yun. The original soul that could devour all the ghost energy suddenly became ineffective at this moment. Lu Yun's eyes hidden under the ghost face showed a look of horror, and he clearly felt the oppressive power around him getting stronger and stronger, as if it was about to crush himself. With a wave of his hands, a powerful aura burst out, and Lu Yun instantly displayed his tenth-level cultivation, trying to shake off this strange light ball.
Looking far away, all that can be seen is a green light ball, with a black light spreading outwards. When the expansion reaches a diameter of one zhang, it seems to have encountered an extremely strong resistance, and in an instant, it was compressed back. In the light ball, Lu Yun spat out a mouthful of blood, and his eyes suddenly dimmed a lot. Lu Yun never thought that this strange array formed by the twelve ghostly apparitions would be so tough and unbreakable, causing him to be bounced back with great force, severely injuring himself.
The outer layer, the twelve green light halos spinning faster and faster, had completely enveloped Lu Yun inside. Not far away, the ghostly immortal let out a cold laugh, with an evil glint in his green eyes. Inside the light sphere, Lu Yun was constantly trying to counterattack, but unfortunately, the increasingly strong pressure was gradually forcing him to stiffen up, almost unable to move. At this moment, Lu Yun finally felt the crisis and realized that he had underestimated the enemy too much. He had originally thought that he would be able to transcend his soul and reach the Great Completion realm, and wouldn't fear any ghostly creature in the Ghost Domain, but now he discovered that he was greatly mistaken.
With his lips tightly closed, Lu Yun's eyes kept flashing with light as he considered how to break through this powerful and mysterious attack. Time flew by quickly, the pressure stepped up one step at a time, and Lu Yun's eyes had already begun to reveal a hint of panic. Suddenly, Lu Yun's eyes flashed with light, his left hand flipped over and slapped outward, while his right palm, containing a seven-colored glow, also slapped out.
A flash of silver light, the Soul-Sealing Charm appeared out of thin air and quietly imprinted itself on the layer of green light. With his right hand, Lu Yun also fully unleashed the "Heaven and Earth Without Bounds" technique. At this critical moment, he couldn't care about hiding it anymore, and simultaneously released the Soul-Sealing Charm and the Heaven and Earth Without Bounds technique. The silver light flashed again, and the two characters of the Soul-Sealing Charm flickered with an eerie silver glow, countering the encroaching green halo. On the right side, a seven-colored radiance containing immense attractive force fully engulfed and devoured the surrounding green light.
Dazzling light, green and silver auras clashed violently, countless strange lights scattered everywhere, dense thunder rumbled, growing louder. The Soul-Sealing Symbol was said to be able to suppress all vengeful spirits, ghostly apparitions, and any other intangible entities. The Vengeful Spirit Refining Technique was known as the most overbearing and extraordinary art in the Ghost Domain, requiring twelve ghostly entities with immense power to execute it together. Once executed, even gods would be refined by its power. This technique was so overbearing not only because of its immense power but also because the twelve ghostly entities that executed the technique would transform into vengeful spirits after activation, completely losing their memories until death, or else they would never stop.
The two diametrically opposed techniques collided, and it was unclear who would emerge victorious. The powerful green light sphere fluctuated wildly, with layers of green light expanding and contracting in a constant transformation. A silver light flickered within the green sphere, growing stronger by the second. Meanwhile, on Lu Yun's right hand, a cluster of eerie black light coalesced at the center of his palm, which was radiating a seven-colored glow. The black light resembled a half-inch diameter light sphere that rotated rapidly, emitting an intense attractive force that wildly absorbed all the surrounding air.
The ghostly figure's green eyes revealed a hint of surprise, and her silent form appeared behind Lu Yun, intently gazing at him. In the distance, two eerie glows, one red and one green, flashed within the dark light. At the same time, a strange voice echoed in mid-air, seemingly hinting at something. As soon as the voice sounded, the ghostly figure slightly turned her head to glance at the dark light, before her body instantly dissipated, hiding into the night sky.
Silver light suddenly burst, the Town Soul Symbol violently burst out a strong light, fully resisting that gradually thinning green light. At the same time, in Lu Yun's right palm, the rotating and dancing light ball was slowly getting bigger. Around him, the originally dazzling green light balls were gradually fading away, threads of green light slowly being absorbed into Lu Yun's right palm. In the light ball, Lu Yun's body slightly trembled, fresh blood constantly flowing out from the corner of his mouth, a hint of stubbornness and refusal to give up in his dull eyes, coldly resisting this fierce ghost refining technique. Feeling the pressure around him getting bigger and bigger, Lu Yun's eyes shot out a cold glare, but instantly dimmed again.
At this moment, Lu Yun's body was in a state of extreme danger. He had been severely injured by his own powerful backlash force and then, within the eerie light ball that consumed everything, he was crushed by an overwhelming power, rendering him completely immobile, with internal injuries worsening once again. At this point, using all his strength to deploy the Town Soul Symbol and the Heaven and Earth Unbound, his heavily wounded body had almost reached the point of exhaustion. Now, his only hope was to see who could hold on until the end. In his heart, he knew that the Town Soul Symbol could suppress the vengeful spirit's cultivation method, but whether he could hold on until then was an unknown quantity. For the first time encountering such a domineering and eerie technique, Lu Yun had fallen into an unprecedented crisis due to his carelessness.
Watching the green light ball gradually thin out, the ghost fairy hiding in the dark also changed his expression greatly, unexpectedly someone could resist the fierce ghost's soul-refining technique. Feeling the boundless power of Lu Yun's Soul-Sealing Charm, a hint of sinister intent flashed across the ghost fairy's eyes, and his body suddenly floated up, with both hands standing still in front of his chest, forming a black shiny light ball that invades the soul and destroys the bones at his chest.
A flash of silver light, a loud roar echoed out, and the twelve ghostly apparitions let out their final mournful cries. Immediately after that, the tough green light ball disappeared. However, at the exact same moment as the light ball's disappearance, an extremely ominous cold laugh, like the chill of polar ice, entered Lu Yun's ears. Before Lu Yun could even react, a black glow, accompanied by an evil aura that devoured everything in its path, heavily struck Lu Yun's back.
There was no chance to dodge, and the powerful and evil force instantly struck Lu Yun's body. Only to see Lu Yun's whole body flashing with a faint black light, the Ghost King War Armor played its unique defensive effect at this moment, blocking part of the attack. With a muffled hum, Lu Yun's body was hit by the powerful force and flew forward. In mid-air, blood splattered like lotus flowers, dancing and scattering.
His figure swayed, and before he could steady himself, the scene of the ghost fairy attacking from behind appeared in Lu Yun's mind. At this moment, Lu Yun was already too late to dodge, his speed was absolutely no match for that of the ghost fairy, so Lu Yun chose to counterattack. With his severe injuries, the best weapon he had at this moment was his unique mental wave. Without thinking much, Lu Yun instantly released three mental waves, launching a full-force attack on the ambushing ghost fairy.
Only a scream was heard, the ghostly figure trembled, and was struck by Lu Yun's powerful and mysterious mind wave three times in a row, causing it to suffer greatly, and its attack stopped instantly. Lu Yun took advantage of the opportunity to stabilize his figure and shot out with all his might. A strange and cold hum came, and the entire Ghost King City suddenly rotated, the directions around became blurred, and Lu Yun fell into confusion.
No time to hesitate, Lu Yun randomly chose a direction, took out the Like-minded Heart Soul Sword, and flew away with his sword. Behind him, the ghost fairy let out a loud roar, chasing after him relentlessly. At the same time, a flash of light flickered by, and a faint, ominous laugh echoed through the air from mid-air. Lu Yun felt a slight sense of unease in his heart; from young to old, this was the first time he had been severely injured and still trapped in a precarious situation, which made him feel somewhat angry and frenzied. He was extremely confident in his own cultivation, but unexpectedly, it was precisely because of his overconfidence that he had landed himself in such a desperate predicament.
One side escaped, Lu Yun was sizing up the situation around him, after all, this place was unfamiliar. The intention of the divine wave automatically rotated, and the ghost fairy behind him, who was getting closer and closer, forced Lu Yun to repeatedly exert his strength, hoping to rush out of the Ghost King City first, cross the Black River, and go back for help. However, at this moment, Lu Yun had no idea which direction he was rushing towards.
Above, a black light shadow quietly gazed at the panicked and fleeing Lu Yun, unable to help but emit a low, muffled, sinister laugh. Watching as Lu Yun became more and more trapped, slowly entering the depths of Gui Wang City, that light shadow suddenly faded and disappeared. The ghost immortal who was chasing after him suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked back, with a hint of cunning flashing through his green eyes. Immediately afterwards, he turned around again and went off in another direction.
Lu Yun's body swayed, stopping at a corner of the wall, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood. His eyes were dull and lifeless. The Like-Intent Sword hovered above his head, quietly guarding him. Lu Yun turned around to look at his surroundings, wondering why the ghostly immortal hadn't chased after him, and what it was planning. Accidentally, he glanced at the wall that flickered with green light, and Lu Yun's eyes widened slightly before he let out a bitter laugh. On the wall, a clear figure floated into view - under the Ghost Specter mask, those vacant eyes, the faint bloodstains at the corners of his mouth all indicated that the person in front of him was someone who wasn't far from death. After carefully examining the meridians within his body, he discovered that the eight layers above were severely damaged, and his entire body's true yuan had almost been depleted. At this moment, Lu Yun was completely an empty shell; it was only his strong willpower that kept him standing.
He lightly emitted a thought wave, Lu Yun carefully searched the surroundings, his body slowly advancing. Feeling the dense ghost energy around him, Lu Yun strongly raised his true qi and cast the Wan Yuan Gui Yi incantation, trying his best to absorb the surrounding ghost energy to make up for his depleted true yuan. Slowly, a faint black gas appeared on the surface of Lu Yun's body, and a large amount of ghost energy began to gather towards him.
Lu Yun's speed wasn't fast, but before long, he arrived at a fork in the road. His body shook slightly as he firmly stood on the ground, and the Joyful Heart Soul Sword on his head began to accelerate its rotation. A layer of red light emanated from the sword, enveloping Lu Yun. Looking ahead at the black ghostly shadow, Lu Yun's heart sank slightly, and his mind rapidly spun with thoughts of how to shake it off. Without turning around, Lu Yun's divine sense probed the path behind him, and another ghost immortal appeared. Moreover, this ghost immortal's aura was extremely familiar - it was actually the same ghost immortal that Lu Yun had dispersed earlier, yet still retained a wisp of its aura. It was unthinkable that it could recover so quickly; truly unbelievable.
He looked up, gazing at the sky, and Lu Yun's eyes were tinged with a faint sorrow. The dark light in the air seemed like an illusion, as if mocking him, making his plan to escape from above also fall through. His mouth twitched, and a hint of a worn-out smile appeared between his eyebrows, and at this moment, Lu Yun deeply felt the threat of death. He turned back, gazing into the distance, and Lu Yun's eyes carried a faint desolation, a silent farewell message, soundlessly transmitted to the distance.
"Hah, you're quite impressive, actually breaking through the Ghost Domain's fierce ghostly energy. That's truly remarkable. Unfortunately, this is the Ghost Domain, where all the world's vengeful spirits and ghosts reside. As a living person, you're destined to leave your life behind here. Now, let's send you on your way, hah, it's time for you to take your leave."
Lu Yun ignored it, his gaze slightly slanted upwards at the light shadow above. From the moment this light shadow appeared, Lu Yun felt a very strange feeling on his body. At this time, Lu Yun was almost certain that the black light shadow above his head was the ghost king of the Ghost King City. Although he couldn't see its appearance, Lu Yun vaguely sensed that the ghost king's cultivation was much stronger than the ghost immortal, which was what he was worried about at present. If it were just a ghost immortal, Lu Yun believed that with the Soul-Sealing Symbol and the Like-Intent Sword, he still had a great chance of breaking out, but with this mysterious and unpredictable ghost king on the scene, Lu Yun could only sigh and had nothing else to say.
The residual shadow transformed, and the ghostly shadows linked together. One in front and one behind, the two ghostly immortals launched a simultaneous attack, with a powerful offensive that made Lu Yun's breathing difficult and his body shake violently. With a fierce cry, Lu Yun tried to muster his strength, wanting to unleash the "Five Thunder Heavenly Seal", but unfortunately, his entire meridian was blocked, and he couldn't raise his true yuan at all. He let out a bitter laugh, and Lu Yun's eyes immediately turned cold. The devilish training from his childhood had tempered his strong will, and even in this desperate situation, Lu Yun still didn't give up. His proud heart was filled with an unyielding spirit, stubbornly supporting him.
The Five Thunder Heavenly Seal couldn't be used, so Lu Yun continued to cast the Soul Transformation spell. His right palm shone with a black light, while his left hand's Soul-Sealing Symbol flashed with silver light, meeting the two ghostly immortals' attack from both sides. One of them sneered and swung its palm, shooting out a beam of light that struck Lu Yun's right palm. The immense force sent Lu Yun flying. The other ghostly immortal knew about the Soul-Sealing Symbol's dominance, so it dodged to the side and took advantage of Lu Yun being knocked back to launch a flurry of ninety-six claws, filling the sky with ghostly claws imbued with overbearing power that brutally struck Lu Yun.
In mid-air, Lu Yun let out a pained groan as the Ghost King's war armor dissipated more than half of the attack, reducing the extent of his injuries. Without strength to counterattack, Lu Yun's body flashed with silver light and suddenly executed the Spatial Leap technique, reappearing hundreds of meters away, his sword flying wildly. The two ghostly immortals let out a shrill cry and rapidly gave chase. They hadn't expected that this Lu Yun was actually resilient enough to withstand such severe injuries and still manage to execute an extraordinary technique, transferring through space - truly not simple.
In the blind escape, Lu Yun relied on his mysterious mind wave to avoid the pursuit of the two ghostly fairies while changing direction. But what's even stranger is that at this moment, the entire Ghost King City seemed to be rotating, and it was impossible to distinguish directions. Lu Yun had no choice but to flee randomly. Feeling the rapid consumption of his true yuan, Lu Yun's eyes shot out a resolute gaze, and a defiant mentality supported him.
I don't know how long I've been spinning, but Lu Yun can't shake off the pursuit of the two ghostly fairies. Finally, in a strange alley, he was caught up by the two ghostly fairies. This place is strange because there is a very strange stone monument here, with faintly engraved characters that are obscured by a layer of black light and cannot be seen clearly. Next to the monument is a well, with an octagonal mouth, divided into eight fierce ghost heads, each with a different ferocious expression, looking quite eerie.
He looked up and glanced at the top, that black light shadow was like a shadow, firmly following Lu Yun, no matter how he escaped, he could not escape the sight of the light shadow. A hint of chill appeared in his eyes, Lu Yun's gaze slowly swept over the two ghostly immortals, finally stopping on that strange well.
"A ghostly figure spoke up, 'You've been running for a long time, but in the end, you can't escape. I didn't expect you to end up here, perhaps this is where you're destined to die. You're curious about this well, aren't you? Let me tell you. This well is one of a kind in the Ghost Realm, we call it the Locking Soul Well. All ghostly creatures in the Ghost Realm, including the almighty Ghost King, dare not approach within three feet of this well. Once they get close, they'll be swallowed up and never have a chance to survive. This well contains the legendary Splitting Soul Ring, anything that enters will be torn apart, soul scattered and lost. It's also said that one of the two most ferocious spirits in the Ghost Realm, the Thousand Shadow Blood Demon, resides within this well. For thousands of years, we've been disposing of those ghostly generals who disobeyed orders by throwing them into this well. Countless ghost soldiers and generals have been thrown in, but not a single one has ever escaped. Since you've chosen your own burial ground, I'll grant your wish. Before you die, do you have any last words? I'll let you die with a clear conscience. Hehe.' The eerie smile on the ghostly face looked particularly frightening."
Lu Yun's mind was shaken, he glanced at the Soul Locking Well and then looked away, asking Gui Xian: "Since it has come to this point, I don't plan on escaping either. I just want to ask, about the origin of this Ghost King Armor on my body. At the same time, I'd like to ask, that powerful expert from the Demon Realm stole the Soul Sealing Symbol and said it was thrown into the Soul Dissolving Pool, but where is the Soul Dissolving Pool?"
The ghost sage who had spoken earlier smiled slyly and said, "The so-called Ghost King Jia, also known as the Ghost King Battle Armor, can withstand all attacks from the Yang Gang True Yuan. Mainly referring to attacks from the human realm. As for the Ghost Domain, although it has some defensive capabilities, the effect is not very good. This Ghost King Battle Armor is said to be able to break through the 12th layer of the boundary after reaching the Great Completion Realm through the refinement of the soul, and then enter the most mysterious 'King's Rebirth' realm. As for what kind of effects this battle armor has, no one can say clearly, because you are the first to cultivate it successfully, and there has never been anyone before. What a pity, you will definitely die, otherwise, you might have discovered some new effects. As for the Soul-Sealing Symbol and the Soul-Refining Pool, that's not something you should know about. Now, let's send you on your final journey, heh heh."
After finishing, they exchanged a glance with another ghost fairy, and the two ghost fairies advanced simultaneously. Two clusters of black light aura carrying evil energy slowly approached Lu Yun, forming two whirlwinds around him with their powerful momentum, causing his body to shake violently, as the cold yin energy wildly invaded his body.
He tightly grasped the Ruyi Heart Soul Sword, and a thread of warm true yuan flowed from the sword to nourish Lu Yun's dry body. His eyes gazed fiercely at the two ghost immortals, as black true energy surged throughout his body, forming a thin layer of ghostly aura outside his body that valiantly resisted those two powerful auras. With his right hand slightly extended, the divine sword held horizontally, Lu Yun prepared for this final battle before death.
All around, the dark wind howled, and the eerie atmosphere filled with an aura of death. Without looking up at the ghost king, Lu Yun only took a fleeting glance at the distance, where his heart was tied. There was no time to bid farewell, and that parting smile became eternal. Perhaps it was only in this moment that he realized how brief that smile had been.
