Chapter 143: Harvesting a Vast Number of Soul Fragments

The tremendous roar of thunder had just awakened Song Tiantian as well. When she saw the scene outside the door, her face instantly went pale with terror. Her strength had yet to recover, and every magical weapon she possessed had long since been destroyed. She could not help in the slightest.

What was she to do?

Song Tiantian stared anxiously at Su Yang’s back.

In another room, Gu Chen was also jolted awake by the thunder. Hearing the commotion outside, he hurried to the window and peered out.

When he saw the densely packed horde of wild ghosts charging fiercely toward Su Yang, he was so terrified that he nearly lost control of himself. He hastily crouched in the corner, not daring to move, his body trembling faintly.

Blazing Sun Broadblade!

As wild ghosts rushed toward him from every direction, a broad blade suddenly appeared in Su Yang’s hand. Intense fire poison roiled above it—the natural bane of wild ghosts.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The wind shrieked. The power of Su Yang’s blood and qi erupted at full force, and the broad blade in his hand whistled through the air. One wild ghost after another at the front of the charge was instantly scattered into oblivion.

Fragments of their souls were absorbed by the panel within Su Yang’s body.

Blazing Flame Slash!

Su Yang gathered power into the Blazing Sun Broadblade, then suddenly swept it forward. Within a radius ahead of him, the world became a sea of fire. More than a dozen wild ghosts vanished in an instant, reduced to soul fragments and absorbed by the panel.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A Third-Rank wild ghost rapidly closed in on Su Yang. Yin energy swirled around its entire body, and its strength was already not far below his own. Su Yang held only a slight advantage thanks to the Blazing Sun Broadblade.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two clashed. Su Yang was able to suppress his opponent by a narrow margin, but there were simply too many wild ghosts surrounding them. It was impossible for him to defeat this Third-Rank ghost and scatter its soul.

Several more powerful waves of yin energy approached. They were likely more Third-Rank wild ghosts.

Xiao Qian herself was a Second-Rank wild ghost. It was only natural that several Third-Rank wild ghosts would be hiding in this temple. If they attacked him together, Su Yang would truly have to use his trump card—the Thunder Bead.

But that item was meant to save his life, and Su Yang was reluctant to use it.

He had no choice.

He opened the panel and looked at his incense value, which was nearing one hundred and eighty thousand. He clicked the plus sign beside his realm. He could already have increased his strength before leaving, but Su Yang had felt that the incense value might prove useful later. There was no harm in raising his realm at a critical moment.

Now, however, it seemed that if he did not advance, he would have to pay dearly tonight.

In an instant, a vast amount of incense power condensed within the panel into a yellow radiance and entered Su Yang’s body.

The incense value displayed on the panel fell from 179,600 to 8,700.

The words “Third-Rank Martial Artist” gradually faded, replaced by “Second-Rank Martial Artist.” Su Yang clearly felt his blood and qi surging wildly within him. At that moment, it seemed as though inexhaustible strength filled every inch of his body.

As Su Yang advanced to the Second Rank, the remaining Third-Rank wild ghosts charged in one after another. Without making a sound, they vanished into the ghostly horde, waiting for the chance to ambush and attack him.

Whoosh!

A Third-Rank wild ghost seized its opportunity and drove its razor-sharp claws viciously toward Su Yang’s back. If he failed to react in time, those claws could easily tear out a man’s heart from behind.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, Su Yang moved far faster than before, and the force of his blood and qi had become much more ferocious. With the support of the Blazing Sun Broadblade, the fire poison surging from it was terrifying. He instantly knocked the wild ghost behind him flying.

The yin energy throughout its body had become faint and unstable. It was already hovering on the brink of having its soul scattered.

“Not good!”

The other two Third-Rank wild ghosts were horrified when they saw this. They rushed forward, trying to stop Su Yang from pressing his advantage.

Blazing Flame Slash!

Su Yang gathered power into the Blazing Sun Broadblade and swung it fiercely. The space before him once again transformed into a sea of fire. The fire poison was brutally powerful and merciless. More than twenty wild ghosts ahead of him instantly had their souls scattered, their fragments absorbed by Su Yang’s panel.

The two ghosts that had rushed forward to stop him were also destroyed in an instant.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Su Yang easily finished off the other Third-Rank wild ghost that he had severely wounded moments earlier.

Xiao Qian lay on the ground, watching anxiously, yet utterly helpless. She did not even have the strength to speak, and her spirit body had become exceedingly faint.

After entering the Second Rank, Su Yang felt the blood and qi within him grow immensely stronger. These wild ghosts were nothing more than offerings delivered straight to him.

Nevertheless, Su Yang gradually put on an appearance of having suffered heavy injuries, as though his strength were nearly exhausted.

At the same time, he used the Heaven-Concealing Art to mask his true strength as Third Rank.

Only then would these wild ghosts continue attacking him without end, wearing him down until they could finally kill him.

“Everyone, attack! This man is only a Third-Rank martial artist. He must have killed those three Third-Rank ghosts with the help of his weapon and martial technique. But using such weapons and techniques consumes a great deal of blood and qi. He is merely Third Rank—he will soon be unable to hold out. Hurry and attack!”

A Third-Rank wild ghost boldly analyzed the situation.

“He’s right! Everyone, attack!”

“You dared injure our hall master? I’ll take your life!”

“Just surrender yourself to death!”

The wild ghosts howled one after another. A cold smile flickered at the corner of Su Yang’s mouth as he continued harvesting their lives, their soul fragments absorbed by the panel.

Time passed second by second.

There were simply too many wild ghosts. Even after reaching the Second Rank, Su Yang was beginning to find it difficult to withstand them.

The ghosts seemed endless, surging forward in an unceasing tide. Fortunately, none of the Second-Rank wild ghosts had yet joined the battle. Otherwise…

“How dare you injure our master’s woman? You’re courting death!”

Just then, a mass of yin energy swept over like a dark cloud.

It was a Second-Rank wild ghost.

Su Yang’s eyes widened, and he cursed inwardly. How could such a small temple be hiding another ghost of this level?

His blood and qi were nearly depleted. Even with the magical weapon’s assistance, he would have difficulty lasting through the night if he fought head-on. Su Yang could only retreat again and again.

“The steward has arrived! Wonderful!”

“The steward is Second Rank. He can certainly kill this man!”

“He injured our hall master! This man is doomed!”

The wild ghosts shrieked, their eyes filled with hatred and madness as they stared at Su Yang.

Xiao Qian was as beautiful as a goddess. Even the wild ghosts had admired her for a long time. It could be said that most of the ghosts in the entire temple worshiped her, serving her as though she were a divine being.

Now that they had seen their goddess beaten until her spirit body was faint and unstable, how could they not be furious? They yearned to strip the skin from Su Yang and tear him to pieces.

“Die!”

The Second-Rank wild ghost within the dark cloud let out a low growl and rapidly closed in on Su Yang. Even the temperature of the air dropped sharply.

This ghost was a steward under the Ghost King, specially assigned to protect Xiao Qian before her marriage into his household. Yet he had failed to keep watch for a moment, and Xiao Qian had been injured so severely.

If the Ghost King learned of this, he would certainly make the steward suffer terribly.

Therefore, this martial artist before him had to die.

Only then could his anger be appeased.

“Go!”

A Thunder Bead was thrown out.

Boom!

In an instant, the area around the Second-Rank wild ghost transformed into a sea of thunder. Every wild ghost within it had its soul scattered immediately, without even a chance to resist.

Vast quantities of soul fragments were absorbed by the panel within Su Yang’s body.