Chapter 39: Battle Against the Fierce Spirit! (II)

"I'm going to kill you! You will all be dead before the sun rises!" he exclaimed, his tone a mixture of many—hoarse, deep, sharp, and trembling—and imbued with a chilling and eerie malice that could send shivers down one's spine.

A certain aura that even Wang Sheng found unsettling emanated from the thick smoke, making him frown slightly. He wanted to charge forward with his sword, but his spiritual consciousness detected something strange about the smoke.

"Senior Brother Zhou, take Patron Li outside. Make sure the Li family stays as far away as possible to avoid unnecessary casualties," Wang Sheng instructed.

Zhou Yinglong, who had just reached the door, immediately nodded in agreement. He kicked the door open, hoisted Li Shishan onto his back, and rushed outside.

With a swing of his sword, Wang Sheng fired three sword energy waves toward the young security guard, but the thick smoke completely blocked them.

He didn't know exactly what the smoke was made of, but it was clearly toxic. Wherever the smoke spread, the wooden floorboards were rapidly corroded beyond recognition.

As wisps of green light in the corner were being absorbed into the smoke, faint breezes stirred in all directions, the dark and ominous aura of the midnight hour seemingly converging upon the area.

Wang Sheng took a quiet breath, having realized that his opponent was quite formidable. Though he hadn't killed the corrupt cultivator when he had the chance, he felt no regret. At the time, Zhou Yinglong had been in a dire situation. He wasn't some bloodthirsty killer who would prioritize taking lives over saving them.

Moreover, he had thought that disabling his opponent would be enough, never expecting him to have such a vicious and desperate technique up his sleeve.

The scene before him was certainly terrifying, but when broken down, it was actually quite simple.

The man was offering himself to the fierce spirit, allowing it to devour his own spiritual consciousness and life essence. In exchange, the spirit would rapidly grow stronger at the cost of his cultivation, lifespan, and possibly even half his life.

What kind of deep hatred could make him resort to such an extreme act?

Wang Sheng smirked slightly, already thinking about how to deal with the situation.

The thick smoke began to contract inward, sending waves of unsettling spiritual consciousness fluctuations rippling in all directions. Judging by their intensity, the ghost forming within had undoubtedly gone past the Spirit Convergence Realm. At the very least, it was as powerful as an early-stage Seed Formation cultivator.

"Junior Brother Wang! Fall back for now!" Zhou Yinglong shouted from outside.

After considering the option briefly, Wang Sheng slowly retreated.

From within the emerald-green smoke, a pair of cold, menacing eyes locked onto Wang Sheng, seemingly ready to devour him.

"True Five-Star Radiance, illuminate the dark!!" Wang Sheng chanted.

This time, he controlled his spiritual consciousness with more precision. Threads of power, as sharp as needles, thrust toward the spirit. The spirit growled lowly, then broke into a furious roar. It gradually became visible despite the thick smoke.

That malevolent spirit is terrifying!

Fierce spirits and vengeful ghosts had distinct differences. Vengeful ghosts were born from overwhelming hatred erupting at the moment of death, making the deceased's spiritual consciousness transform. Fierce spirits, on the other hand, were created through the mutual devouring of wandering spirits, refined into existence by cultivators.

Ninety-nine percent of the cultivators who practiced such an art were corrupt cultivators. They refined such entities purely to harm others.

It had only been two to three years since the primal qi of heaven and earth returned. Hence, most cultivators had yet to achieve deep levels of cultivation. However, corrupt cultivators could use corrupt artifacts and dark techniques to rapidly attain great power.

When Wang Sheng fought the security guard earlier, he could tell that the man was barely at the Spirit Convergence Realm. Even so, the green-scaled malevolent ghost that the man had summoned still gave Zhou Yinglong a difficult time.

The ghost forming within the smoke was clearly no weakling either.

By the time Wang Sheng reached the doorway, most of the smoke had been absorbed, and the fierce spirit had fully taken shape. A towering red-scaled ghost now hovered in the room, standing at over three meters tall and radiating sheer brutality as it locked eyes with Wang Sheng.

Bulbous, camel-like humps protruded from its head, and skull phantasms floated around it. Its skin was covered in fine, reddish scales, and its thick arms had jagged, backward-facing spikes protruding out of them, making it seem armored with a layer of natural plating.

That malevolent spirit... Just how many wandering spirits—how many souls—were sacrificed to create that abomination?

Wang Sheng's heart remained calm and cold, feeling no particular anger—only the need to strategize his next move.

Looking around, he casually pulled several talismans from the doorframe and stuck them onto himself.

Outside, he could hear the Li family panicking. Awakened by the alarm, they now rushed toward the attic.

Without turning his head, Wang Sheng sternly ordered, "Stay back! Get away from here, now!"

Meanwhile, the ghost in the attic finished absorbing the last wisps of smoke. It let out a deafening roar. Dark clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the stars and moon!

Lights flickered on throughout the Li residence, illuminating the attic clearly. The monstrous spirit threw its head back to roar once more, quickly becoming a nightmare seared into the minds of the approaching Li family members.

Wang Sheng put his left hand behind his back. With his right, he kept a steady grip on his longsword as he pointed it straight at the spirit, its tip angled slightly downward.

With a light tap of his foot, he drifted backward like a willow leaf in the wind.

Right after, a black shadow shot out from the attic. The spirit barreled through the redwood door, shattering it and splintering the surrounding walls as well.

The intense light outside illuminated the creature fully. Its hideous fangs, its sharp, vicious spikes—the mere sight of it made the Li family members collapse in terror.

"Senior Brother Zhou! Get them away from here!" Wang Sheng urged before swiftly forming the Seven-Star Sword Formation. He darted forward, weaving through the area, as sword phantasms arranged themselves in the formation's pattern.

He swung Abyss Listener fiercely at the red-scaled ghost, but it was proving far stronger than the green-scaled one. Abyss Listener only managed to leave shallow scratches, and his sword energy could barely make a dent in its thick scales!

Inside the fierce spirit was a corrupt cultivator, and the sinister creature he had refined was forged from the power of countless wandering spirits—how could it possibly be easy to deal with?

Wang Sheng decided not to take it head-on. Following the positions of the Seven Stars, he drifted unpredictably like a leaf in the wind, dodging several lunges from the spirit.

This kind of corrupt technique couldn't possibly last too long.

Having often been in the presence of his senior sister's Dao rhythm, Wang Sheng had long understood the principle that all things in the world had to remain balanced. If this corrupt technique were truly so defiant of the natural order, the Daoist heritage of corrupt cultivators would have already overturned the nascent cultivation world.

The spirit relentlessly chased after Wang Sheng. However, Wang Sheng's footwork was exquisite. Each attack appeared to put him in danger, yet he always managed to evade unscathed. Meanwhile, he constantly swung Abyss Listener to look for potential weaknesses.

In the small open space in front of the attic, a lone swordsman battled a fierce spirit in a dance of life and death.

Such an opportunity was rare.

Wang Sheng pushed the Seven-Star Sword Formation to its limits, and he soon entered a profound state in which he could seemingly predict the ghost's every movement in advance.

His sword strikes became more fluid, and his footwork grew ever more unpredictable.

This was the benefit of clarity in swordsmanship.

Zhou Yinglong had already led the Li family away. They were now busy calling the police and screaming, further adding to the chaotic atmosphere within the residence.

Meanwhile, Li Shishan stood at a closer distance to watch the battle in front of the attic. It seemed as though he wanted to see through the fierce spirit's terrifying outer shell and catch a glimpse of the young security guard whom he had personally hired.

The fierce spirit roared furiously. A punch from it could shatter the ornamental rockery into dust, and the decorative trees posed no obstacle to its massive body. In less than half a minute, the carefully arranged courtyard in front of the attic had been reduced to rubble, with uneven pits scattered across the ground.

Yet for all its destruction, the monstrous entity couldn't even graze Wang Sheng's clothing, let alone put him in any real danger.

Zhou Yinglong had considered stepping in to assist, but he knew that he would only be a burden to Wang Sheng. Even as an observer, he could barely track Wang Sheng's movements within the sword formation.

A bitter feeling welled up in Zhou Yinglong's heart. Earlier, the weaker, green-scaled ghost had left him injured. Meanwhile, Wang Sheng was standing toe-to-toe against the powerful spirit.

They were both Spirit Convergence Realm cultivators, so why was there such a vast gap in their strength?

Shaking off his thoughts, Zhou Yinglong quickly called out, "Junior Brother Wang! What can I do?"

In the middle of combat, Wang Sheng quickly thought it over and shouted back, "The talismans Martial Uncle left behind!"

"Got it!" Zhou Yinglong immediately turned around. "Patron Li, please bring me the talismans that Martial Uncle Li had left!"

Li Shishan showed commendable composure. He turned his head and shouted, "What are you all standing around for?! Go take down all the talismans posted around the residence and bring them here! I want someone to call the police and an ambulance, too!"

Call the police?

Zhou Yinglong hesitated for a moment but quickly dismissed his concerns.

Given the urgency of the situation, there was no time to argue. Instead, he anxiously watched the battle twenty meters away.

By now, Wang Sheng had begun to divide his focus. Having thoroughly analyzed the spirit's attacks, he no longer found evading them difficult. Hence, he started figuring out how he could eliminate the creature as quickly as possible.

He planned to use exorcism incantations to wear down its soul energy, trap its movements with the sword formation, and then—using the exorcism talismans crafted by the older generation of cultivators—perhaps...

Wang Sheng heard a whistle coming from the side, interrupting his thoughts. He caught sight of several small stones wrapped in talismans hurtling toward him.

With a swift turn, he raised his longsword and, for the first time, directly clashed with the fierce spirit's claws.

A resounding impact rang out. Wang Sheng arched backward as he was sent skidding across the ground. However, several talisman-wrapped stones soon hit the spirit in the head and back, momentarily stalling its rampage.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhou Yinglong immediately activated the spiritual consciousness embedded in the talismans. The three talismans unfurled and adhered firmly to the fierce spirit's back.