Chapter 91: Battle with Core Disciple Yin Claws

"Young Master! What are your orders?" A cultivator dropped to one knee, head bowed, waiting for the command, afraid to even look at Yin Claws.

"Hmm... Let's wait for the first squad. She usually satiates herself quickly with new toys. Haha!" With his hands clasped behind his back, Yin Claws smiled, his greedy eyes fixed on the unconscious Ru Meng floating before him.

"Something's wrong... The mark on the first squad has vanished. Danger is approaching fast!" A black shadow appeared at his side.

Hearing this, Yin Claws frowned and dropped Ru Meng's unconscious body to the ground. He spun toward the direction the shadow had indicated. "Focus! Defensive formation! Now!"

At his command, his group immediately formed a wall before him, eyes fixed on the crimson forest.

Standing in complete silence for several minutes, Yin Claws finally lost his patience and shouted, "I know you're there! Stop hiding like filthy rats!"

"Watch out!" One of the cultivators in the defensive wall, at the ninth layer of cultivation, suddenly cried out.

Whoosh!

A wall of Qi Blades burst from the forest, piercing and destroying everything in its path. The blades moved so fast that the cultivators didn't even register what was happening.

"H-hold the line!" The blades slammed into the wall of shields. Some detonated on impact, disrupting the structural integrity of the Qi flow between the cultivators and their techniques, creating massive cracks in their defenses.

"UgH!"

"My arm-GHA!"

"My-AAH!"

Through the cracks, more blades poured in, piercing through the cultivators' bodies.

'Even without using vibration frequencies, the power of the blades, thanks to the Sharpness aspect, is more than enough for them.' Dropping from a tree, An began walking forward slowly, controlling and directing groups of blades along their movement patterns. Each time a Qi Blade found its target, he felt it through the energy, sensing it tear through flesh and fly onward in search of its next victim.

.

"UGH! How?! Why?! Who are you?!" Yin Claws, the last one standing, was enveloped in a black shield with two moving yellow eyes, staring at An before him.

"Wait! Y-you're the one who disappeared with the artifact! No... No! Why are you in Foundation Establishment?!" Feeling the pressure cutting his lungs with every breath, he finally understood that the cultivator before him was in an entirely different realm.

"S-senior! It's b-beneath you to fight cultivators below your status and rank! I beg you, I am Yin Claws, a disciple of Supreme Liya herself, the Vice Leader of the Blood Moon Sect! I beg you to show mercy for my Master's sake!"

"Wait! And I promise this misunderstanding will remain between us! I swear on my parents!" Realizing the situation he was in, he chose the only way out alive. Though it ate at him from the inside, how could he, with his status, grovel so low before some nameless righteous cultivator?

'Oh... His reaction is understandable. In his position, I'd probably do the same...' Taking a few steps closer, An stopped.

Yin Claws saw him tilt his head and, for the first time, heard his true calm voice, different from the one he'd heard when An had been playing along with Ru Meng. "If I let you go, won't I be creating a problem for myself in the future?"

"I-I can swear a heavenly oath that I will remain silent about everything that happened today!" Seeing a chance, Yin Claws grabbed it with both hands, all the while thinking, 'Once I return to the sect, my master can break the oath, and then I'll return today's humiliation tenfold!'

Watching him in silence, An suddenly smiled. For the first time since breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm, he noticed he could read far more information from Qi flows than before. 'Heh... Without any concealment, all his emotions are laid bare, even his toys? Hmm, when I was reading those filthy thoughts from the girl, I didn't look too closely, and that's why I missed these changes... Is this due to the fundamental change in Qi within me? Interesting.' Lowering his gaze to the bracelet on Yin Claws’s right arm, he recognized that it contained dozens of unknown entities.

'The only thing that comes to mind... Ghosts? A demonic cultivator controlling ghosts? And their power... one is definitely at Foundation Establishment.'

Taking two steps forward, An continued reading his Qi. 'His emotions... He's clearly plotting something, and judging by his hesitation... He's not sure whether to attack me and release the Foundation Establishment-level ghost...'

"Sorry, but what if your master has a way to break the oath without any harm? Then what would stop you?" Taking a few more steps forward, An smiled slightly.

<"His energy! It's unstable! The reason is the stealth technique he's using on the Qi within him! That means he just broke through! There's a chance!"> Hearing the whisper of the black shadow in his head, which had hidden itself the moment it sensed An, Yin Claws's expression immediately changed.

Observing him carefully, An noticed several energy streams exit the bracelet and enter Yin Claws's head. Reading them, he understood it was a voice transmission technique.

Feeling the abrupt changes in the cultivator's Qi, he stopped.

"Wall of White Death!" Shouting at the top of his lungs, Yin Claws channeled his energy into the bracelet, releasing all the ghosts at once.

"Huaaaa~ Buaaa~"

Bursting forth, the ghosts deliberately collided with one another, merging into a thick black wall filled with countless hollow mouths and eye sockets.

Standing only a few dozen meters away, An felt an intense cold envelop his body. 'I see you!' He immediately locked onto one of the ghosts, the one trying to hide among the others, clumsily suppressing its power.

Activating his Qi, he directed it to his outer armor membrane, completely nullifying the cold effect that had begun to consume him. 'And why did I give him time for this... I knew it would turn out like this. Again, it's all because of my curiosity...'

Without taking his eyes off the strongest ghost, he created several hundred Qi Blades, converting them into Fire Qi.

Directing all the blades at the strongest ghost, he began detonating them near it, trying to reduce its Yin Qi, the primary energy from which these ghosts were composed.

"Waraaaa!"

All the ghosts except the Foundation Establishment one, upon contact with the blades, dissolved into the air with shrieks, unable to withstand the density and power of the fiery explosions.

"UGH!" Clutching his bracelet, Yin Claws felt a sharp pain in his head each time a ghost died, severing the mental link with it.

Holding his head, he pulled three black eggs bound with white chains from his ring. Whispering something, he threw them toward the escalating battle.

"Hmm?" Fully focused on the strongest ghost, An caught a glimpse of his opponent throwing something his way. 'That's definitely something bad.'

Realizing that the more time he spent on this, the more problems he created for himself, he created another several hundred Fire Qi Blades and directed most of them at the ghosts, specifically the one equal to him in cultivation.

At the same time, he analyzed the Qi from the eggs flying toward him. 'Fire Qi mixed with Yin energy?' Understanding what kind of beings were inside the eggs, he created several hundred more Qi Blades, this time converted to the Waterelement. 'Judging by the Qi, I only have a chance to destroy the nearest egg!'

Without hesitation, he commanded all the Water Qi Blades and concentrated the attack on the closest of the three eggs.

BOOM!

Just as the shell of the egg began to crack and something inside tried to break free, a rain of blades descended upon it.

"WUUUAAAA!"

Unable to withstand the assault, a piercing, heart-rending scream erupted from the egg. The next moment.

Plop!

The egg burst, scattering fragments everywhere.

"N-no! AAH!" Having only managed to take a few steps back, Yin Claws felt the mental link with one of the beings in the eggs vanish, leaving an echo of screams that refused to subside inside his head.

Trying to silence those screams, he began shouting himself, "K-kill him! K-kill him for me!"

'I need to deal with the ghosts first. But I'm afraid that if I spend too much Qi at once, I'll have trouble with the two remaining beings inside the eggs...' Destroying the ghosts around him, which were equal to Qi Condensation in strength, he gave the Foundation Establishment ghost no moment to relax, constantly bombarding it with Fire Qi Blades, which perfectly countered the Yin element.

'Now!' Constantly watching the eggs, he finally seized the moment when their shells were about to shatter completely. At that instant, he felt their Qi weaken and become agitated.

Seizing that moment, he commanded the Waterblades and concentrated their attacks on a single point.

Whoosh!

Like a flock of birds, the Water Qi Blades furiously slammed into a single spot at the center of both eggs, one after another. Simultaneously, every third blade was coated with dozens of vibrating points at different frequencies.

"Zshaaa!"

"Huaaa!"

Hearing the furious roars from within the eggs, not of pain, but of blinding rage, An frowned and detonated all the Waterblades, trying to inflict as much damage as possible by creating chaotic Qi through the collision of Water and Fire, generating a dual effect of opposing energies.

BOOM!

The waves of chaotic energy were so powerful that they even caught several of the ghosts.

At the epicenter of the explosion, the eggs were sent flying several meters. In midair, their shells shattered, and two strange-looking ghosts emerged. Women with pale skin, wearing red dresses, their lower faces hidden by veils. Their eyes were like a snake's, bright, burning gold. Claws on their hands over half a meter long, hair completely white.

"GRAAAA! FRAAAAA!"

Their simultaneous shrieks made even their master, Yin Claws, shudder.

'Damn... What the hell are these?' Watching with wide eyes, even An was stunned, not expecting that the moment they broke free from the eggs, the density of their energy would change so drastically.

Watching the two ghosts emerge from eggs no larger than an ostrich's and begin to grow, reaching over three meters in height, he thought, 'Hmm... Should I run?' For the first time since intervening, he genuinely regretted it.

Whoosh! Woosh!

Both female ghosts lunged at him, closing the distance in an instant.

Without wasting time, he activated his Qi into his hands. He concentrated a massive amount of Water Qi in his palms. Clenching his fists, he detonated nearly all the blades that were still terrorizing the wall of ghosts, buying time to deal with the female ghosts.

"Gra!!"

"Fr~ agah!"

Lunging forward to meet them, An managed to catch the second ghost off guard with an unexpected attack.

Clenching his fist just before contact with the ghost's body, he created thousands of vibrating points.

The moment his clenched fist touched its body, he released two waves of energy. The first wave: a targeted attack of Water Qi with vibration focused on a single point. The second wave: neutral Qi, simply to push the ghost backward.

"FhAAA! MaAGHA!"

Sent flying to the ground and embedded in the earth from the force of the blow, the ghost began thrashing, trying to rise. At the same time, she sent her Yin Qi to neutralize An's attack, which was rampaging through the fresh, gaping hole in her stomach. But then something unexpected happened.

Her Yin Qi, clashing with the energy tearing her apart from within, became unstable due to the conflict and was swiftly absorbed. A small clump of black energy within her, wrapped in Water Qi, greedily devoured the unstable Yin energy.

Not understanding what was happening, the ghost shrieked in agony as she watched her body slowly disintegrate while her Yin Qi was consumed by the black clump, which grew larger and larger.

Whoosh!

Meanwhile, as the second ghost was grounded by his attack, An immediately ducked, dodging the first ghost's strike.

Simultaneously, he twisted his body and delivered an upward punch.

"FHAAA!"

This time, he only managed to catch the ghost's extended arm, tearing it off at the root.

"KhshAAA!" Spinning from the pain of her lost arm, the first ghost flew back toward the wall of black ghosts, landing beside the Foundation Establishment one.

Seeing this, An took a single step back to steady himself.

'Just as I thought, my Death Qi can easily absorb Yin Qi that has lost its stability and structure... Water, clashing with Fire, creates a conflict that draws in Yin Qi, which by nature should be calm... But due to the conflict, the Yin energy loses its serenity and becomes destabilized, opening up multiple weaknesses that my Death Qi exploits to absorb it quickly and without issue...' Without even glancing at the thrashing ghost, An could sense what was happening inside her wound, the one he had created with the first wave and the intense vibration, which had compromised the integrity of the body at the point of contact. In other words, weakening the spot on her body where his fist had struck.

Without taking his eyes off the semicircular black wall and the female ghost, who stared at him with a mixture of fear and fury, he exhaled. 'That was my only chance. Now that ghost won't let me get close... Besides, she's smart: realizing what my attack can do, she immediately severed her entire shoulder...'

'Qi Blades are an excellent attack technique, but because the energy is spread across so many blades, their power diminishes... I could try something more concentrated, something more focused and destructive in terms of Qi density...' Stepping back twice, he activated his Qi and, after a moment's thought, began creating a massive spear, horizontally split between Water and Fireelements, 'Ugh! Just stabilizing two elements at that distance between particles takes too much mental energy... But it's the only way to end this farce!'

"HAA!" Grabbing the spear with his hand, due to its massive size and the consequent mental drain required to control it, he decided to throw it with all his physical strength.

Seeing the raging energy, the female ghost and the lead ghost inside the semicircular wall screamed with all their might and began concentrating their energy on a single point, focusing their defenses there.

"HRAAA! FUAAAA!"

The moment the spear made contact with the Yin energy concentration point, instead of detonating as they expected, it began emitting minor energy waves that pushed aside the weaker particles within their defense. These small waves, propelled by the immense force of the throw, drove the spear deeper into the barrier.

Reaching the very edge of the wall, and the female ghost herself, who sensed something wrong and tried to retreat but was too late.

BOOM!

Both energies, Water and Fire, abruptly ended their fragile coexistence and clashed violently, detonating with such force that the female ghost, caught at the epicenter, lost half her body, her own uncontrolled Yin Qi bursting out through the wound.

Behind her, the lead ghost within the wall, who was at Foundation Establishment, was hurled backward like a pup.

Blasted out of the wall, he collapsed beside Yin Claws, who, from the constant loss of his servant ghosts, could only clutch his head, fighting sudden blackouts, struggling to stay on his feet and conscious.

A massive hole had been torn through the wall, giving An a clear view of Yin Claws himself.

"U-UH! I-it stopped! The attack stopped! W-we-" Fighting through the pain, Yin Claws rejoiced that the bastard's attack hadn't reached him.

"ShruAAA!"

Suddenly, the Foundation Establishment ghost, riddled with massive wounds that were slowly expanding from the residual energy of the spear, leapt up and stood before Yin Claws, shielding him with its body.

"Ah?" Before he could process what had happened,

<"M-my young master... F-forgive me..."> A trembling, weak voice sounded in his head.

Squinting, he saw the ghost's body explode at head level and instantly begin expanding. Black energy, like a parasite, devoured the erupting Yin energy along with the ghost's body.

"W-what?! N-no! I-" Then he saw a glint, not even registering what it was.

Thump!

His head burst like a watermelon, spraying white and red matter everywhere.

Plop!

His lifeless body, still twitching, collapsed to the ground, severing the Qi flow to the bracelet. The semicircular wall of ghosts, what remained of it, was drawn back into the bracelet.

Watching the body fall, An finally exhaled deeply. 'Phew... It worked... And I was doubting whether to release Death Qi or not...'

The reason: at the moment he detonated the spear, he had launched two daggers in quick succession. One, composed entirely of Death Qi, was meant to finish off, or at least create an opening to attack, Yin Claws himself. The second dagger, initially intended for the hand wearing the bracelet, he reconsidered and aimed directly at the head, eliminating the chance of missing, since the hand was a much smaller target than the head.

Bouncing lightly on his feet and shaking out his body, his first move was to approach the first female ghost, whose body continued to disintegrate from the residual spear energy. 'Though these two ghosts were between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment in cultivation... they were still difficult opponents... More complex than difficult, really... All because of their pure energy and their sturdy bodies, half flesh as tough as metal, half Yin energy.'

Approaching the dying ghost, he saw her eyes, begging for mercy. Having lost her master, the ghost had regained her free will. And understanding she was dying, anyone would resist.

Looking at her, he sighed and pressed his palm to her forehead. The ghost's eyes lit up, realizing she had a chance.

"ShraaA!"

Suddenly, intense pain began spreading from her forehead throughout her head. A mere second later, her golden eyes turned gray. Her entire body began to dry and thin, growing more and more transparent.

Inside her head, where An had pressed his palm, a black clump grew larger and larger, absorbing all the Yin energy and his Death Qi from her body.

Sucking her dry to the last drop, the ghost's body simply crumbled to ash and dissolved into the environment.

Reaching out his hand, he drew in the black clump of energy. 'I got a fair amount of Death Qi from her... Though it'll need filtering, the losses won't be significant.'

Absorbing the energy into his hand, An headed toward the other ghosts, who had long since dissipated, leaving only clumps of energy behind. 'By the way, when I killed those cultivators, because I was in a hurry, I forgot to absorb the Death Qi radiating from their bodies... Sigh, whatever. Most of that energy has probably dissipated already... Though it's only been about two minutes since I killed them...'

Approaching where the second ghost had died, he calculated that less than two minutes had passed since he'd killed the group led by the girl who liked submissive men. The journey had taken about a minute, and the battle itself barely thirty seconds, though for him, it had felt much longer due to his accelerated thought process.

After gathering all the energy and Yin Qi around him and absorbing it, he headed toward the headless body, which was still twitching slightly.

Standing beside it, he removed the bracelet from its arm and examined it with his Qi. 'Hmm... All that remains inside are weak ghosts. And converting their energy into Death Qi, I doubt I'll get more than from one female ghost... Sigh. Better than nothing.'

First sending Fire Qi into the bracelet to create conflict and clash with their Yin energy, he then sent in a small clump of black energy and began absorbing the Yin Qi of the panicked ghosts inside.

After cleaning out the bracelet, he withdrew his Qi, directing it toward the cloud of Death Dao within his inner world, merging it with the previous energies from the ghosts and leaving it to filter and integrate.

'Hmm... In theory, this is a spatial bracelet. Why not test it out?' He reasoned that ghosts are non-living and should easily qualify as objects.

Picking up a stone from under his feet, he tried to place it inside, but alas. 'Hmm, when I try, the runes on the inner side of the bracelet activate, but nothing happens. It just tries to drain my Qi... Sigh. Useless junk.'

Disappointed, he tossed the bracelet aside and continued examining the body. "Oh! Finally!"

Turning the body over, he spotted a gray ring on the left hand.

Removing it, he decided to test it with his Qi. 'Oh? A lock? I need to erase all traces of the previous owner's Qi, and only then can I claim this ring.' His energy was blocked by the ring itself, denying him access to its contents.

Tilting his head, he enveloped the entire ring in his Qi and began destroying any remaining trace of Yin Claws.

After a few seconds, he finally eliminated the last particle of the headless ghost cultivator's Qi. 'Even though he was at the peak of Qi Condensation, his energy can't even compare to mine... Hehe!'

"Oh?! Hohoho!" Finally peering inside the ring, he discovered a massive chest filled to the brim with spirit stones. Before he could examine the chest from all angles, his gaze caught something else, several cabinets arranged in two rows. 'So many things... Is this clothing? Huh? Wait...' Seeing the outfits, he glanced at the body before him, specifically its figure.

'Right, remembering his face and considering his build, it makes sense...' An unceremoniously tossed the clothing cabinets out of the ring, dropping them to the ground.

When they opened, a large number of lace undergarments tumbled out. Several dozen vulgar women's outfits, expertly tailored to fit the now-headless body. And many other strange items that even An, who had the internet in his first life, couldn't recognize or understand.

Continuing to search through the ring, he found several banners with strange runes. 'They radiate Yin energy. I'll keep them for now and absorb them later.'

Further in, on a small table, lay hundreds of vials filled with pills, each labeled. 'So many pills... They all have different Qi signatures, so he bought them... But why so many?' Shaking his head, he decided not to touch the pills for now, maybe some of them would be useful for future alchemy experiments.

Next, An's attention was caught by several books bearing the emblem of a skeletal dragon. Trying to open them, he realized he was blocked by some kind of restriction. Reading the Qi, he understood it was blood-related. He pulled out all these books and, creating a Qi Blade, stabbed it into the headless body. Gathering the blood on the blade, he splattered it across the covers.

The books immediately opened. He quickly flipped each to the first page to see their descriptions.

After reading all the prefaces, he was disappointed and tossed the books to the ground, completely losing interest. 'A history of the great Frederin family, Lords of Ghosts... The book is full of fluff, without any useful information about the world or the Frederin family itself... The other books are useless ghost-related and fire-element techniques... No point keeping them. The only somewhat useful technique is about creating a ghost clone. But that's another waste of my resources and time.'

The technique for creating a ghost clone had no cultivation restrictions on the caster. If he had enough resources, he could create a clone of any cultivation level. But to have full control, he would have to split off part of his soul and place it inside the ghost. The moment he saw that condition, An lost any desire to read further.

Even if creating the clone didn't cause irreversible damage to the cultivator, he would still lose a part of his soul, weakening it. And again, he was certain that such division left holes and weaknesses that would remain forever, just like the Light Breeze Soul Qi pills given to the disciples after the mental attack from the giant whale. Those pills were supposed to heal soul wounds, but in reality, they borrowed and partially healed, ultimately creating two weak points that would cause problems in the future, both in everyday life and in cultivation, especially when breaking through to higher realms.

As for the ghost clone, even though he could try to make a pill that truly restored the soul, the technique itself and the concept of clones repelled him.

'No plants... Not even any fruits... Sigh...' After checking everything inside, he tried to put the ring on his finger.

'Hmm? His fingers were too thin, and the ring is too narrow... There's no built-in size adjustment feature?' Holding the ring against his finger, he frowned, and suddenly the ring expanded slightly, sliding on easily and locking into place, firmly holding but not constricting. "Ho!"

Twirling his hand and admiring his new ring, he smiled and, with a single thought, transferred everything from the pouch tied around his stomach into his new ring. He made sure to lift his robe, opening the pouch to prevent any items from tearing his clothes.

'I'll sort everything later...' Lowering his hand, he looked at Ru Meng, lying unconscious nearby.