A World Worth Protecting

Chapter 850: The Knowledgeable Old Ghost!

The bite tore a huge chunk of the old ghost’s soul, and rage and agony spiked through him. He immediately suppressed the pain and made an attempt at devouring Wang Baole’s soul.

At that moment, the scabbard and devouring seed that Wang Baole had summoned began shaking violently, appearing to be on the verge of blowing up. The sight made the old ghost fearful, so he carved a portion of his energy out to suppress them. In that moment of distraction, Dark Fire sparked and flared up inside Wang Baole’s soul, then surged outwards.

So you think you can possess your daddy’s body, old man? In your dreams! The Dark Fire surged outwards and exerted a suppressive force on all souls, causing the old ghost to feel like an ordinary man who had just been splashed with boiling oil. Screams of agony emerged from his mouth, and the rage and madness he had been feeling intensified.

He had traced whatever clues he had come across, done some analysis, and reached the conclusion that Wang Baole belonged to the Dark Sect. That had been why he had formulated his original plan. He had planned to fill Wang Baole’s body with souls that shared his bloodline and origins. Even if Wang Baole released his Dark Fire and tried to suppress him, he was confident that he could fight back successfully.

But his plan had failed, and the only option left to him was to devour Wang Baole by force. Madness overtook the old ghost as he roared and tried to fight back against the agony of having his soul burned using only his cultivation. Amidst his pained, furious roars, the fight between his soul and Wang Baole’s soul persisted and intensified.

The old ghost’s soul transformed into the shape of an eye, descending upon Wang Baole’s soul once more. Instead of attacking Wang Baole directly, it enveloped him completely.

“Divine Eye Assimilation Art!”

The ghost roared. The Divine Eye Assimilation Art was a divine power that he had prepared in the event that his original plan went off the rails and he had to possess Wang Baole forcibly. Instead of devouring Wang Baole’s soul, it allowed him to envelop and trap it, then assimilate it as a part of himself.

This divine power allowed him to exploit his strength and his cultivation. Even though the injury caused by Dark Fire was still unavoidable, the divine power allowed him to complete the process of possession in a single, swift step. He was well aware that allowing Wang Baole to continue unleashing his Dark Fire while he slowly devoured his soul was unsustainable. The longer he dragged it out, the worse his odds became.

That was why he had planned to end the fight as soon as possible when such a situation occurred!

Devouring involves destroying a soul and transforming it into a source of nourishment. It’s a great way of possessing someone, but the destroyed soul ends up becoming mere nourishment. It’s the same as eating a pill. Assimilation is the better option. If successful, Wang Baole will become a part of me, like an avatar. The strange entities inside his body will also belong to me!

He seemed to be consoling himself, but the old ghost had no other choice. His soul continued to spread outwards as he unleashed the Divine Eye Assimilation Art. As his soul transformed into the shape of an eye and enveloped Wang Baole… alarm bells sounded loudly in Wang Baole’s head. He instinctively wanted to move the parts of his body that he still had some semblance of control over and shatter either one of the jade slips in his hands.

Though, there was a price attached to Xie Haiyang’s jade slip. If he were to shatter the Flame Patriarch’s jade slip, the price he paid would be a change to the sect he belonged to. As a Dark Child of the Dark Sect, he truly didn’t want that to happen.

This is just my avatar. What am I afraid of? I can just wing it. I’m betting that this old ghost has no idea that this is my avatar form. I bet that he won’t be able to possess an avatar! Wang Baole was brutally decisive. Having made up his mind, he abandoned the idea of shattering his jade slips. Instead, he put all his efforts into unleashing his Dark Fire, causing the flames to flare up. However… the old ghost managed to suppress them with his cultivation. His strange Divine Eye Assimilation Art was fully unleashed.

Despite the pains of being burned by Dark Fire and the violent shudders wracking his body, he still managed to envelop Wang Baole’s soul and unleash his full cultivation and divine power.

Wang Baole’s soul vanished in a thunderous boom, and the gigantic eye that the old ghost had transformed into through his divine power took his place. The eye appeared to have taken over Wang Baole’s soul. The sight of that sent the old ghost trembling with excitement. He was about to assimilate Wang Baole completely in a single go when… something beyond his wildest dreams happened!

Wang Baole’s soul, which had been enveloped by his Divine Eye, suddenly passed right through the eye… It was as if his soul had lost its ability to hold Wang Baole’s soul back, leaving him to watch helplessly as it escaped.

What’s going on? The old ghost was flabbergasted. This wasn’t part of his plan. It left him off balance. As for Wang Baole, his soul slipped out of the old ghost’s hold and materialized again, his eyes shining with a bright light.

This old ghost definitely doesn’t know that I’m in my avatar form. Everything about this form is created from my true form’s essence. Even though such an avatar can be possessed and assimilated… this isn’t something that the old ghost is capable of at his current level of cultivation!

Excitement filled Wang Baole, as he was sure that he was going to succeed. However, there was still something strange going on. The old ghost had been hiding himself for many years. He knew many secrets about Wang Baole, including that he was from the Dark Sect. So, there was no way that he didn’t also know that this wasn’t his true form. Unless…

A powerful cultivator helped me by weakening this old ghost’s senses or by planting an incorrect perception in his mind!

Such tactics… seem familiar. It doesn’t seem to be by the hand of the Flame Patriarch. There’s no need for him to do something like that. It seems like something that… Senior Brother would do!

Wang Baole immediately thought of when his senior brother had taken him away and made him sleep inside his coffin. If it was something that his senior brother had done, then he would have done it during that particular period.

That was because his primary avatar, which had been formed from his essence technique, had been created after that.

Thoughts flashed through Wang Baole’s head rapidly. The analysis might have appeared to take a long time, but in reality, he had reached the conclusion in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he also realized that the small portion of the old ghost’s soul that he had devoured earlier hadn’t vanished but had been completely merged with his own.

He burst out into laughter at that thought, and greed shone in his eyes. He stared at the old ghost as if he were staring at some rare and incredible pill. His soul lunged towards the old ghost. Dark Fire surged out, holding down the old ghost as the flames burned and devoured him with a mad fervor.

As this happened… Wang Baole didn’t forget to wave his devouring seed and scabbard around, continuing to intimidate and distract his opponent.

The old ghost was going crazy. He had run through all kinds of scenarios, but he hadn’t expected this outcome when he had clearly succeeded. As he roared furiously, his first reaction was that he had made a mistake earlier.

That must be it! He continued howling, resisting the pain inflicted by the burning Dark Fire and seizing the opportunity granted by Wang Baole’s lunging at him to unleash his divine power again. The price he paid was another small part of his soul being devoured by Wang Baole. In order to prevent an unexpected mistake from happening again, he unleashed the Divine Eye Assimilation Art three times.

The Divine Eye Assimilation Art erupted with a thunderous boom. Soon, the old ghost had Wang Baole’s soul trapped once again. He was about to assimilate Wang Baole’s soul when… it slipped out of his hold for a second time.

Impossible! The ancient patriarch’s eyes were ready to pop out of his head. His will was wavering. The strange scene before him made his hair stand instinctively. However, he wasn’t willing to accept defeat.

Why have I failed again? Is there no way to possess Wang Baole’s body? I must be using the wrong techniques. Let me try another one! The old ghost raged and fumed. His soul continued to shudder as Wang Baole tried to devour him. He quickly unleashed another assimilation technique.

“Kun Lun Body Sharing Technique!”

“D*mn it, why doesn’t it work? Great Demonic Fusion Cultivation Technique!”

“What in the world is going on? Heaven and Earth Union Art!”

The old ghost had gone completely mad. He had gone through five or six different kinds of possession techniques, but all his attempts had failed. It was as if Wang Baole’s soul didn’t exist at all. No matter how he tried to possess his body, he couldn’t succeed.

Wang Baole’s Dark Fire had been burning for some time as he made his repeated attempts. The intense agony wrought upon the old ghost’s body gradually weakened him. Wang Baole hadn’t ceased his devouring all that while. Even though he only tore into a tiny part of the old ghost each time, the parts added up. Thirty percent of the old ghost’s soul had been devoured.

The damage to his spirit and soul drove the old ghost to the edge of his fury. But he had been the founding emperor of an empire. He was incredibly persistent and strong-willed. Despite numerous failed attempts, he didn’t give up. As his furious roars thundered, he tried to possess Wang Baole again.

“Nine Heavenly Clouds Devouring Technique!”

“Spiritless Soul Exorcism Art!”

“Moon and Stars Dao!”