"Heya." Kao Yu Hun waved his hands carefreely, with a wide smile on his face.
Upon noticing him, Kao Zha Ji's eyes widened.
"Y-You how are you alive?" His expression looked perplexed, and he even slowed down.
A tiny smile appeared on Kao Yu Hun's face.
"I was very lucky, while the attack started, I rapidly-" His eyes widened.
At the next moment, Kao Zha Ji raised his palm, and an overwhelming pressure surrounded him as he was pressed towards him.
"Don't bother. I already know the answer." Kao Zha Ji sighed.
Then he smiled bitterly.
"Crimson Soul appeared, you fought him, you lost, you got captured, and then enslaved.
And he wanted to use you as a pawn to kill me."
Then he snorted coldly.
"Does he believe the propaganda of Heavenly Court that we are so stupid? I, for one, will not be tricked by the equivalent of a five-year-old's scheme." Despite his words, his expression softened.
"Even so…This may not be the end for you." Using his strength, he immobilized Kao Yu Hun.
Staring at him was Da Chou Jidan at the horizon.
"Sigh. It seems the situation has changed yet again." Kao Zha Ji turned his head and glanced at him with a bitter smile.
"Will you allow me to take my leave?" He asked coldly.
Da Chou Jidan gritted his teeth whilst staring him down with fury.
He wanted to do nothing else than to rip him to pieces, yet he did not dare to push him further, especially because he may not be the only enemy targeting his Grotto Heaven.
With the situation being as chaotic as it was, he had no reason to linger further.
But just as he considered this.
Kao Yu Hun laughed heartily.
Kao Zha Ji turned his head to observe as the body of Kao Yu Hun expanded like a balloon.
His eyes widened, and he retreated.
Not even bothering to trap him, and then.
The body exploded towards his direction.
Kao Zha Ji was already prepared. He raised his hand to block, and the force was surprisingly light.
Even so, the sight of the mutilated torso of Kao Yu Hun being stopped by his barrier disturbed him greatly.
His eyes widened
Whilst his mind was distracted by the gore, a pair of hands appeared from the aperture in the middle of Kao Yu Hun's chest and forcefully dragged him down.
Da Chou Jidan stared at the scene with widened eyes; he was unsure whether to help or stand by.
But then he heard a voice.
"Heheheh. Are you sure you want to stay here? Whilst your precious people die, if so, be my guest." The head of Kao Yu Hun suddenly began to speak, but it was no longer his voice.
Da Chou Jidan turned his head towards the aperture. He inspected his Grotto Heaven.
And as he saw, the voice was telling the truth.
He gritted his teeth, knowing that those words were only meant to divide the two, but what else could he do? Let everyone die?
He could only go through the motions.
And so retreated without making a noise.
Even so, the resentment in his heart rose infinitely, if there was ever the chance he would repay this tenfold.
While this was happening, Kao Zha Ji, who was being pulled by his collar, gritted his teeth.
A thin layer was covering his body like armor, preventing him from being killed on the spot.
Even then, the hand gripping in his throat still hurt like hell.
Most importantly, he knew what those two hands were.
King Crimson!
Crimson Soul is here.
With rage in his heart, he activated two Rank 8 Immortal Gu 'Rolling Pressure.'
Immediately, King Crimson dematerialized, turning into a blood core.
But Kao Zha Ji snorted coldly.
He knew very well this Killer Move by now; how could he not prepare accordingly?
His hands waved in a spiral, shining with a celeste aura.
The edge of those clouds rapidly sharpened, and from its tips one could see a celeste aurora.
The attack was surprisingly effective.
King Crimson's figure rapidly destabilized, but before he could enjoy his victory, he widened his eyes.
He cancelled his current method, and instead.
He summoned a myriad of clouds to defend his body.
From behind, a figure opened his mouth.
Turning rapidly into a shark and prepared to swallow him.
As for who that figure was?
It was Gu Zhan Hu.
As he recognized the figure, Kao Zha Ji's fighting spirit roared.
"Courting death!" He shouted, stretching his hands into the air.
The clouds surrounding his body rapidly hardened and expanded, intent on blowing his body apart.
Yet.
His body was surprisingly tough and heavy, far stronger than his previous calculations.
And from the side.
Another recognizable figure could be seen, Hui Gui Yu.
Yet what surprised him was what he sensed from their presence.
Rank 7 aura.
And an astonishing 45,000 Dao Mark count!
How could someone's strength multiply so quickly?
The figure rapidly transformed into a massive man, who raised his comically big hands to punch him.
He was sent away flying.
"Absurd. This is absurd!" Kao Zha Ji muttered to himself whilst staring with horror at the scene.
There were over 20 Immortals in front of him, and they were all Rank 7.
The worst part was that most of them used to be mere Rank 6 weaklings, some were even at the bottom tier of their Rank.
Many of them had been found during that day when he forced almost a hundred Immortals to help him destroy the Uru Clan.
Whilst many of them were pardoned as there was no fault in their actions, several others were targeted using that as an excuse.
Especially lone Immortals who had nowhere to turn, in the end, many who escaped ended up begrudgingly joining Crimson Soul's Spectral Blood Association.
Precisely because he knew this, he could not believe the sight before his eyes.
King Crimson suddenly opened its mouth.
"How does it feel? To be on the receiving side of this? But unlike yours, my Immortals are not paper tigers, as you will soon find out." The message that Crimson Soul had arranged was relayed in a mocking tone.
The expression on Kao Zha Ji's face was ashen.
That ridiculous
But how could he possibly understand the beauty?
The power of Red Lotus, Future Self Killer Move!
…
"You cannot kill me." Crimson Soul grinned.
"Hmph! What do you look so proud about? All you did was delay the inevitable."
Crimson Soul chuckled.
"Is that so? But I think delaying things is rather favorable for me, or do you want me to believe that this barrier of yours can hold on forever?"
Then he added in his mind.
"Besides…If I truly wanted to, you'd be dead already. But this is not yet the time…" His eyes gleamed as he considered the situation on the other side.
And also, the Spring Autumn Cicada in his hands.
Since the day he received the Gu, everything had changed.
Not only was he taught several Killer Moves to grasp their power, but he was also able to traverse the whole River of Time effortlessly, and if that were not enough.
The Spring Autumn Cicada guided him to several 'Red Lotus Islands.'
Where there were several Immortal Gu ripe for the taking, which he gladly did.
The fact that the figure knew so much about those islands only further corroborated that he was indeed Red Lotus.
Finally, on top of all that he has already received. The Will inside the Gu also began to share precious Immortal Gu Recipes with him.
Those recipes were unlike anything else he had ever seen; they were so simple, so easy to perform, even those that were harder, he was assisted at all times by the Gu, making the difficulty almost trivial.
It was downright scary how much he had grown in such a short period.
Yet amidst those myriads of gifts, he could not rest easy.
The more he received, the more he feared the figure of 'Red Lotus.'
Even more so, because he could not discern what his real intent was.
Yet the thought of destroying Spring Autumn Cicada and gaining nothing in return made his heart ache like no other thing in the world.
"But sacrificing a Rank 9 Gu to destroy the forces of Heavenly Court is something I can accept." He grinned; the situation was almost ripe.
He only needed to be a bit more patient.
…
…
…
"I…Am still alive, so does that mean I won?" Kao Dao Ji muttered to himself.
But the memory of it was not clear; everything felt so dizzy.
He felt the urge to touch his head, as if forcing himself to remember.
Yet.
There were no hands.
He stared at his body, bewildered.
He no longer had anything resembling a human body, or even a Featherman's body.
He looked like a massive gaseous celeste substance.
Almost akin to a celeste slime.
"Did I reincarnate again? Am I in one of these Japanese Isekai--HOLY SHIT!" As his vision darted, he glimpsed a massive figure of three heads who was staring at him curiously.
"Spectral Soul…" He muttered in horror, realization dawning in his head.
"Did I fucking tire myself to death and ended up here?"
On the other side, the figure's curiosity only deepened.
"Oh? So, you do recognize me. So, I guess, it should be easy to guess where we are."
The expression of Kao Dao Ji twisted.
How could he not know?
This was the land of the dead!
"Just, just be quick! Damn it." Kao Dao Ji closed his eyes.
Spectral Soul squinted his eyes, scrutinizing him even more deeply.
Before he muttered.
"Relax. I do not have the intention of eating your soul."
"Huh, you do not?" Kao Dao Ji opened his eyes in bewilderment.
"I feel very tempted, but as I said, I won't. Or rather, I dare not.
While I cannot recognize its source, I can tell that there is a Rank 9 Immortal Killer Move protecting your soul…" As he spoke those words, he could not help but recall that Verdant Great Sun.
The consequences of his foolishness still torment him, with such a reminder currently hanging in his body; how could he commit the same mistake again?
"But while I will not eat your soul, I can still very well kill you. If I so please." Then the figure narrowed his eyes.
"I have so many questions to ask you, but the first one is:
What are you?
Your soul is unlike anything I have ever seen. The closest thing resembling your state is when a Land Spirit is in a nascent state, barely birthing."
Kao Dao Ji blinked several times.
"My situation is a bit particular, huh…Sir…Spectral Soul. Even I am not sure what I am, but. Could you tell me how you could know this much of me so quickly?"
Spectral Soul snorted coldly.
"Why? Sigh. The soul of most beings in this world tends to be related very closely to the body they inhabit, like a liquid, it takes the shape of the vessel.
Similarly, the vessel begins to resemble the soul, and thus, the species of a soul can be determined most frequently by the outline of its vessel.
But exceptions apply. Methods to transform the soul are abundant, but certain traits can still be measured; humans, especially, possess a specially dense soul core. Formed by wrinkles and folded onto itself, almost like a brain. It also holds a very bitter taste.
The core of a Featherman tends to be soft and have an odd spongy consistency, and a sweet scent and taste.
I can detect traits of both within you. So, I recognize them very well…"
Kao Dao Ji's eyes trembled.
"Why the hell did I end up with this hobo-murderer-cannibal?" He complained internally, but amidst his thoughts.
Spectral Soul then added.
"And I also felt something odd…Your soul density is at its very center, almost equal to that of a human.
Yet. It stretches endlessly, losing density as it stretches further until it becomes akin to a gaseous substance.
Properties rather similar to those of the Land Spirits I have studied in the past. Especially those who are yet to be born, and still possess a rather unstable soul core that is about to melt into their apertures, dissolving into an endless echo that stretches for eternity.
I have studied this phenomenon thoroughly hundreds of times."
Kao Dao Ji's eyelids trembled as he heard the word 'studied.'
"What study? You damned psycho. You just killed people for fun until you found results…"
Kao Dao Ji sighed to himself.
"So, this is how it ends? I will be stuck for the rest of my existence with this freak…"He muttered aloud, with resignation in his voice.
He did not even bother to conceal his thoughts.
Spectral Soul shook one of his heads.
"Not necessarily. Whilst you have seen my Realm, you are not quite dead yet…Or rather not all of you is dead."
"Huh?"
"Based on what I am seeing, you are probably a fusion between two or more souls. One of those souls still clings to life, and thus, you who are fused with it.
Have yet to perish completely.
Even so, like I said before. You are still in my domain, whether to push you out to life or to pull you down with me. Is completely up to me."
Then Spectral Soul stared down at him once more.
"I know one or more Venerables are backing you, but I do not know if their schemes benefit me or harm me. That doubt is what keeps you breathing."
"But I am running out of patience. So, I will begin to ask. What are you? Why do you know so much about me? Do you know or suspect the true identity of the one who used the Cicada? Are they Red Lotus inheritor, Fang Yuan?"
Then the figure paused.
Rage appeared in its cold eyes as he asked.
"And…Do you know who stole my status as the Dao Lord of Soul Path?"