Kapitel 24: The Blood ghost hands
Gui Bingwen pulled out an aged wooden tablet, its surface etched with markings that seemed carved by the edge of a sword. The engravings were sharp and fluid, radiating an air of precision. The words on the tablet read: Mountain River Strike.
Dong Yanlin's brow furrowed the moment his eyes fell upon it. The tablet exuded a faint, oppressive energy, far more potent than the bark Peng Zhen held. As Gui Bingwen gripped the tablet tightly, his hand was suddenly engulfed in green flames that licked hungrily at its surface.
"Ignite!" Gui shouted, his voice strained with effort. The wooden tablet erupted in a brilliant green blaze, the flames enveloping it entirely before being drawn into the Mountain River Strike inscription.
Gui's complexion turned deathly pale as he continued feeding his spiritual flames into the tablet. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, and he hastily swallowed several pills to bolster his dwindling strength. Finally, the insatiable markings were appeased. The tablet crumbled into ash, leaving only the glowing words Mountain River Strike floating in the air, shimmering with green sword energy.
The words coalesced, transforming into a green-blue bamboo sword that radiated an overwhelming pressure. The sword shot forward, slashing at Dong Yanlin with a force that summoned a massive surge of water imbued with the unyielding weight of a mountain. The towering wave crashed toward Dong Yanlin, who bared his teeth in defiance and lunged straight into it, his arms stretched wide to tear through its imposing force.
The reckless charge pushed Dong Yanlin back several paces before he managed to halt the sword's advance. His robes at the chest were shredded, revealing his bloodied torso, while his hands bore a gruesome wound—deep gashes that exposed the white of bone.
"Good! Very good!" Dong Yanlin barked, his expression twisting into a savage grin. "It seems you've come prepared, Peng Zhen. I always wondered what you said to sway straight-laced Gui Bingwen into joining you."
He cast a glance at the dissipating sword energy and sneered. "You even prepared a Core Formation-level attack just for me. Too bad it wasn't enough. This doesn't feel like Cheng Yuan's work. Did you enlist some outside help?"
Dong Yanlin licked the blood seeping from his arm, his eyes glinting with menace. "It doesn't matter. Both of you—DIE!"
With a roar, Dong Yanlin surged forward, the bone saber in his hand slicing through the air as the Ao Yin silhouette mirrored his movements, delivering a devastating punch.
The green bark in Peng Zhen's hand pulsed with a brilliant white glow that enveloped both him and Gui Bingwen. The light twisted and expanded, transforming into a towering ten-meter-tall tree, its branches shimmering with alternating hues of red, orange, and green.
The Ao Yin's punch collided with the radiant white barrier of the tree, producing a deafening gong-like sound. At the point of impact, cracks spiderwebbed across the glowing surface like fractured glass. The barrier flickered, the light dimming dangerously, as if on the verge of shattering entirely.
Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen wore grim expressions as they watched the white glowing barrier flicker. If it shattered, Ao Yin's devastating attack would obliterate them without leaving a trace. Each flash of light from the barrier grew dimmer, and cracks continued to spread across its surface. Just as the barrier was about to break completely, Dong Yanlin felt an abrupt shift from the leopard pouch at his waist.
Before he could investigate, Peng Zhen's panicked voice rang out.
"Tupelo, NO! DON'T DO IT! It doesn't matter what happens to us—you've already helped us more than enough! Don't sacrifice yourself!" Peng Zhen pleaded desperately, trying to push past the barrier, but his efforts were futile. The protective glow refused to let him through, no matter how hard he tried.
Dong Yanlin's pupils constricted as he caught Peng Zhen's words.
Is something happening to the tree? he thought, immediately probing the leopard pouch with his spiritual sense. What he saw made his heart lurch—the tupelo tree was rapidly shrinking, its body pulsing with the same white light as the barrier outside.
"No, no, no! This can't be happening! Stop it, you dumb tree!" Dong Yanlin roared, yanking the tree from the pouch. It was already half its original size, its radiance intensifying with every second.
Frantically, Dong Yanlin formed a flurry of seals with his hands, slamming them toward the tree in an attempt to suppress whatever process it had initiated. The seals shattered like brittle glass the moment they came close. His panic deepened.
The tupelo tree trembled violently before launching itself toward the green bark within its projection. The bark melded seamlessly into the tree, and the projection shrank inward, wrapping itself around the tree like a protective cocoon.
The flickering barrier outside was instantly renewed, shining with a brilliance several times greater than before. The cracks vanished, and the barrier stood firm, radiating an imposing strength that pressed down on everything in the vicinity. Meanwhile, the tupelo tree continued to shrink, its towering 30-meter form compressing into a compact figure less than two meters tall.
Despite its smaller size, the energy within the tree condensed into something monstrous. Waves of power rippled out, carrying the unmistakable pressure of a peak Core Formation expert. Dong Yanlin's instincts screamed danger.
His reaction was immediate and desperate. He drew the bone saber and, without hesitation, slashed across his stomach from left to right. A torrent of blood poured out as he fed the saber, its tendrils greedily devouring the offering.
Dong Yanlin ignored the excruciating pain and the immense toll on his vitality and qi. The risks didn't matter—if he didn't go all out now, the energy radiating from the tupelo tree would surely claim his life.
Dong Yanlin roared madly, his voice filled with desperation as he poured more blood and qi into the bone saber. Veins bulged grotesquely across his body, and his hair turned white at an alarming rate. His face grew gaunt, cheeks hollowing as his body aged in mere seconds. From the robust appearance of a man in his thirties, he now looked like someone teetering on the edge of their eighties, his vitality rapidly slipping away.
Meanwhile, the silhouette of Ao Yin became increasingly distinct. Faint colors emerged on its spectral coat—a mix of black and crimson. The red resembled raw, exposed muscle, unprotected by skin, adding a grotesque ferocity to its form. Though still ethereal, more like an illusion than a physical entity, the projection radiated an overwhelming pressure.
With a bone-chilling roar, the Ao Yin broke free of Dong Yanlin's grip, the bone saber snapping out of his hand as its tendrils dug deeper into his navel, greedily siphoning what little vitality remained. The roar reverberated across the land, shaking the air with deafening waves that traveled for miles.
Simultaneously, the Tupelo tree reacted. A dazzling tri-colored light—green, red, and orange—burst forth, taking the shape of a smooth, radiant branch. The branch shot forward like a spear of light, hurtling toward Ao Yin with unrelenting force. The spectral beast met the attack head-on, its massive claws reaching out to grip the glowing branch between its colossal palms.
BAAM!
The collision unleashed a thunderous explosion that echoed across the battlefield. The ground beneath Ao Yin cratered from the impact, debris flying in all directions. The spectral beast roared in fury as it wrestled with the branch of light, its sinewy hands straining to snap it apart. Despite its monstrous strength, the glowing branch held firm.
For a moment, the two forces seemed locked in a deadly stalemate.
But the toll was visible on both sides. Dong Yanlin, drained to the brink of collapse, swayed on his feet. His skin turned ashen, and his qi reserves dwindled to a dangerously low level. At this rate, if Ao Yin didn't prevail soon, the saber's tendrils would devour him entirely, leaving him a hollow husk—just as it had with Hao Ye and Jia Tingfeng before him.
On the other side, Peng Zhen stood frozen, his expression etched with worry, regret, and anguish. His gaze lingered on the Tupelo tree, the emotions in his eyes betraying a deep connection.
"Why did you do this?" he muttered, his voice trembling with pain. "You're at a critical stage in your cultivation... You were preparing for dormancy. Without enough energy, you might never wake again..."
His words were tinged with a guilt that seemed to crush him as he watched the tree pour its essence into the fight.
The fragile balance between the two forces was nearing its breaking point. The Tupelo tree's glow intensified, its tri-colored light flashing brighter with every pulse. The hues of green, red, and orange intertwined in a brilliant display, coalescing into a blinding white radiance.
Meanwhile, the Ao Yin pushed harder, its roars growing louder, but it came at a cost. The bone saber, its conduit, was mercilessly draining Dong Yanlin. His vitality teetered on the edge of nothingness, his lifeforce nearly consumed. If this dragged on any longer, his cultivation would be crippled—or worse, the saber would claim him entirely.
His saggy skin hung loosely from his bones, and his once-formidable frame seemed swallowed by the oversized robes draped over him. Weakly kneeling, he appeared utterly drained—yet a fierce fire still burned in his hollow eyes. Trembling, he retrieved a jar from his storage ring. Unsealing it with effort, he pulled out pale white leech-like creatures and devoured them ravenously, like a starving wolf. His complexion briefly regained a touch of rosiness, only for the deathly pallor to swiftly reclaim him.
Dong Yanlin gritted his teeth as a small grey crucible appeared in his hand. The object was engraved with intricate patterns of a three-headed vulture. Moving with a blend of caution and desperation, he carefully removed its lid and tilted it above his mouth. A slimy, dark-grey creature with faint grey and white rings across its writhing body slid out. It resembled an earthworm drenched in viscous mud, twisting frantically as if sensing its doom.
Without hesitation, Dong Yanlin swallowed the creature whole. Instantly, his eyes grew hollow and lifeless, like those of a specter, while his skin turned an ash-grey hue. The tendrils that had latched onto his body recoiled violently, writhing in apparent fear, before abruptly detaching themselves.
Despite the saber now losing its energy source, the Ao Yin silhouette showed no signs of diminishing. It continued its relentless clash with the Tupelo tree, seemingly gaining a narrow edge in the battle.
Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen watched Dong Yanlin with expressions of pure horror. They recognized the creature he had consumed. It was a rare and sinister worm associated with the infamous Blood Ghost Hands Syndicate, a name that sent shivers through even the most hardened cultivators.
The Blood Ghost Hands Syndicate was infamous across the continent for its brutality and mastery of forbidden techniques. One of its high-ranking leaders had once massacred an entire province of a Rank 3 empire—close to a million lives snuffed out—all to refine a single cultivation method.
Yet, this atrocity was far from the most earth-shattering act the syndicate had committed. Their notoriety also stemmed from high-profile assassinations that sent shockwaves throughout the cultivation world. Among their victims was a domain-level expert, a high-ranking elder of the Rank One Mao Clan. Despite the clan's immense power and resources, they could neither avenge the elder's death nor bring the syndicate to justice.
Rumors claimed the leader of the Blood Ghost Hands Syndicate was a profound expert in the Soul Formation realm. This explained how the organization had endured centuries of audacious crimes, remaining untouchable. Even after thousands of years, no one had even discovered the location of their main grounds, adding an air of impenetrable mystery to their fearsome reputation.
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein