Chapter 2264 - 1204: The Victor Becomes King (Part 4)

The battle erupted in the blink of an eye. To enhance the combat power of the samurai puppet, Yang Xiao took out the Ghost Fog Bottle hidden in the Mirror World.

Before long, ghostly fog filled the space, accompanied by cold rains pouring down from above. It looked like a horror film scene, convincing the onlookers.

With the ghostly fog’s blessing, the injuries on the samurai puppet’s wrist were slowly healing. Although its strength was no match for the enhanced Duan Jiqing, fortunately, Duan Jiqing was also severely weakened at this moment. With one side reduced and the other side enhanced, both of them were evenly matched.

In truth, the samurai puppet was still at a slight disadvantage, but that was no longer important. As long as it could hold him back, that would be enough.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiao was on guard against any possible killer moves from the other party while he carefully searched for the hiding place of that mysterious magic artifact.

Unfortunately, with his current strength, he could only vaguely sense the existence and approximate location of the magic artifact but could not pinpoint it precisely.

However, after searching for a while, he still couldn’t find it. It felt strange — he knew the thing was here, but he couldn’t see it, as if it was invisible.

"Invisibility..." Yang Xiao was momentarily stunned, as if he had thought of something.

The next second, he tentatively took out the Ghost Lantern, infusing it with spiritual power, expanding the green glow bit by bit, until——

On a stone less than five meters from where Yang Xiao stood, something that shouldn’t have been there vaguely appeared.

It was a semi-transparent glass hourglass, elegantly intricate, not of domestic style, but rather like a product from Western Europe. The glass surface had a dark yellow sheen, as if coated with a layer of copper, seemingly engraved with inscriptions.

"Found it!"

Yang Xiao immediately ran to the hourglass. He saw that the black sand inside the hourglass was still trickling down, but strangely, the sand that was black in the upper hemisphere turned white in the lower hemisphere.

At that moment, there wasn’t much black sand left in the upper hemisphere. At this rate, it would be gone in no more than two minutes.

Yang Xiao roughly understood. This object was a time limit. As the black sand completely trickled away and turned into white sand below, Duan Jiqing’s monstrous state would likely be undone.

However, as the hourglass was discovered by Yang Xiao, Duan Jiqing’s attacks became increasingly frenzied, reaching a point where he disregarded the cost. Even with the enhancement of the Ghost Fog Bottle, the samurai puppet was barely holding up.

Without hesitation, Yang Xiao attempted to envelop his hand with the green glow of the Ghost Lantern and then picked up the Ghost Hourglass.

The object in hand was bone-chillingly cold, a biting cold. A strange thought surged in Yang Xiao’s mind: what he was holding seemed alive.

Driven by curiosity, Yang Xiao intended to invert the hourglass, but the hourglass didn’t give him the opportunity. As his hand touched the hourglass, the black sand inside accelerated instantly and, in the blink of an eye, was completely depleted.

As the black sand was emptied, Duan Jiqing, who had been exceedingly vicious a moment ago, deflated like a punctured balloon, with his body returning to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In fact, Duan Jiqing’s so-called enhancement wasn’t strictly a transformation. Yang Xiao had noticed earlier that under the illumination of the Ghost Lantern, Duan Jiqing retained his original appearance; only his power was greatly enhanced.

However, with the naked eye, he appeared to be a thorough fierce ghost.

In truth, this trick was quite intimidating. Even just a glance could induce nightmares for those unaware.

With his ability broken, Duan Jiqing could no longer hold on. The Jade Ruyi in his hand slipped, and he staggered. If not for clutching a withered tree, he would have fallen.

Seeing the samurai puppet approaching, the one-armed Duan Jiqing gasped for breath, ignoring the searing pain of his severed arm, and immediately pleaded loudly:

"Yang... Yang my brother, let’s end this sparring here. Our two factions should value peace, peace above all!"

"Ha." Yang Xiao sneered, and the samurai puppet, receiving its signal, strode forward, grabbed Duan Jiqing by his clothes as if picking up a chick, and slapped his face relentlessly, swelling it up with several slaps.

Even with blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, Duan Jiqing continued to speak nothing but pleasantries, repeatedly asking Yang Xiao for mercy.

He promised Yang Xiao that if he was released, he would immediately take the people from Bone Painting Tower and retreat, and swear never to meddle with Yiling Academy’s affairs again.

"Now that the children are dead, you think you can breastfeed them, too late!"

Yang Xiao’s right arm hurt so much he couldn’t lift it. He had fought many tough battles, but had rarely suffered so badly. The Mirror Ghost was still lying in the muddy ground, refusing to get up like a spoiled child.

"Yang Bro, Yang Bro, I know my mistake. Please give me a chance, a chance to make amends!"

Duan Jiqing, the Master of Ruyi Sect, had a survival instinct stronger than Yang Xiao’s. He swallowed the broken teeth mixed with blood in his mouth and buttered Yang Xiao up:

"Yang Bro, even if not for me, please think of Master Huagubiao. I am still his adopted son. If you kill me, it will cause trouble."

"I know you, Brother, enjoy befriending prominent figures in the world of martial arts. How about we do this: you let me go, and I’ll go back and tell my godfather to speak highly of you."

"You are a man of talent and strength, unrivaled under the Half-step Nether Realm. My godfather will certainly like you."

"Then you can be like me, we can both be adopted by the Big House Master as brothers, and then... then we’ll be brothers. I’ll be... still your elder brother by adoption."