Growling, Ji Dongyang realized Liu Xing was a genuine threat, likely an inner disciple from the Purple Moon Sect known for generating exceptional talent. He was probably a candidate for their core disciples. Anger welled in Ji Dongyang's heart. He had grown up in a small sect, obtaining every pill and resource through blood, sweat, and tears. He wouldn't let a pampered brat from a great sect ruin his plans.

Despite the threat Liu Xing posed, Ji Dongyang hadn't lost yet. He needed to bide his time until a stronger spirit beast appeared that he could possess. For now, he would assist his army in eliminating this annoying bastard.

In the sky, a spirit beast resembling an almost human figure with chalk-white skin, a large eye covering its face, and snake arms dived down to attack Liu Xing. Hearing the whistle of sound, Liu Xing turned his head and casually raised his left hand. A blue bolt shot forth, causing the spirit beast to explode into green and yellow liquid that showered the area. A wolf fired two beams of light from its eyes, and he suddenly vanished and reappeared beside this wolf and swiftly beheading it with his lightning blade.

Ji Dongyang raised his two wooden arms, conjuring two red fruits surrounded by a greenish hue, and launched it toward Liu Xing.

Seeing the projectile, Liu Xing simply slashed it with his lightning blade, splitting these two fruits into four parts. Each part landed on a different spirit beasts—a giant red catfish, a three-legged creature with an eye in its center, a black jaguar with a snake for a tail, and humanoid spirit beast with red skin and dragonfly wings and a giant mouth in its stomach and a lump of flesh for a head. The fruits took root in their bodies, burrowing into their flesh and growing into small trees glowing with a dark hue. Ji Dongyang felt a mental connection with these four spirit beasts and began commanding them to attack.

Ji Dongyang realized his army of spirit beasts had been depleted. Only seven spirit beasts remained, including the four he controlled. Despite their numbers, his army of spirit beasts lacked cohesion and teamwork.

Liu Xing shot down black catfish, leaving six spirit beasts, and then dispatched a flying giant eye spirit beast with an explosion, reducing their numbers to five, and when Liu Xing suddenly appeared behind a giant made from boulder and shot it until it exploded into rubble, only Ji Dongyang and his remaining four spirit beasts were left.

"Attack him!"

His red catfish spewed blue fire from its mouth. Liu Xing dodged the attack and appeared behind the jaguar with snake as its tail, lightning blade ready to decapitate it. Anticipating this move, Ji Dongyang controlled his last humanoid spirit beast to intercept. It spat acid from its stomach-mouth, sending a glob of green liquid hurtling toward Liu Xing. Seeing the acid, Liu Xing halted his attack, appearing several meters from the humanoid spirit who spat acid and raised his left arm. Before he could strike, Ji Dongyang willed the three-legged spirit beast to attack. It moved like a wheel, its speed incredible. In the blink of an eye, it rammed into Liu Xing's side and sent him flying through the air. That was the only attack that landed on Liu Xing. Ji Dongyang then instructed the catfish to spat out a ball of blue fire. In mid-air, Liu Xing couldn't evade.

Seeing the impending attack, Liu Xing raised his left arm towards the blue fire and shot a blue bolt at it, causing it to explode and create a shockwave. Liu Xing landed and rolled over. The three-legged spirit beast tried to ram him again, but he raised his left arm once again and fired a blue bolt. When the bolt hit, the three-legged spirit beast exploded, scattering its remains across the clearing. Only three spirit beasts remained.

Before Ji Dongyang could command his dwindling army to attack, Liu Xing rapidly fired in three different directions. Each shot aimed at his remaining spirit beasts.

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"Dodge!" Ji Dongyang shouted.

His giant black catfish exploded in a shower of blood. His jaguar spirit beast managed to jump and land safely a few meters away from the explosion, and his humanoid spirit beast wasn't so lucky. The explosion caught it off guard and sent it flying. Unfortunately, Liu Xing jumped toward it and sliced it into three pieces with his lightning blade.

At this point, Ji Dongyang knew he was in trouble. Liu Xing solidified his belief by appearing atop his jaguar, sliced it in two and simultaneously fired a blue bolt that caused it to explode into smithereens.

The night fell silent once more. Liu Xing stood at the center of the clearing, surrounded by body parts and blood flooding the ground. His clothes, hair, and face were smeared with blood. As Liu Xing turned to face Ji Dongyang, the latter felt his nonexistent heart pounding with fear.

"Are you ready to talk about that 'shadow'?" asked Liu Xing.

That shadow was his greatest secret and the source of his power. Revealing it to his enemy would be akin to suicide, but he had no doubt Liu Xing would resort to torture and every heinous act to make him talk. After all, every cultivator was cruel, no matter how they claimed otherwise. That's what his suffering had taught him the hard way.

While Ji Dongyang was in this dilemma, a deafening screech rattled the world. He turned toward the sound and saw a glimmer of hope in this dire moment.

A two-legged monstrosity approached. Its skin was blood-red, its head resembled a deep-sea fish with razor-sharp teeth, soulless white eyes, glowing lures on its forehead and beard formed by thousands of writhing tentacles. It had two clawed hands and feet like those of a gazelle. As the spirit beast entered the clearing, the stench of rotten fish permeated the air, and Ji Dongyang smiled. His plan had succeeded!

While he could only summon spirit beasts of the same or lower realm than himself, gathering enough spirit beasts in one place increased the chance of attracting stronger ones. This spirit beast was at least seventh stage in strength, possibly on the cusp of achieving the Core Splitting realm. If Ji Dongyang could possess this monster, almost all the spirit beasts in the forest would gather here to ensure Liu Xing's demise!

Ji Dongyang hurled himself at the spirit beast. With his body of a walking tree, he moved slowly, and the monstrosity soon fixed its soulless white eyes on him.

The spirit beast roared and charged at him like a bull seeing red. In the blink of an eye, the beast was upon him. Its claw successfully split his tree body in two with barks and branches flying around. Ji Dongyang felt his soul begin to unravel, but as several of his dark leaves brushed against its claw, he sensed a connection to its consciousness and seized the opportunity. He released the body he possessed and latched onto the consciousness of this spirit beast.

Soon, he entered its consciousness. It was dark and gloomy, with only a single point emitting light. Ji Dongyang rushed toward the light and seized it. Suddenly, killing intent, hunger, hatred, arrogance, and numerous emotions assaulted his consciousness. Soul battles were always challenging, but spirit beasts, while typically stronger than humans, were also simpler. He attacked its basic instincts, convincing it that Ji Dongyang posed no threat. When the guard on its consciousness loosened, he squeezed himself into the white light. There was a sense of weightlessness, followed by pitch-black darkness, then light.

Ji Dongyang blinked several times. His viewpoint was now higher than before. His body felt lighter, his cultivation brimmed with power, and he felt like the world was his.

"Hahaha!" Ji Dongyang laughed, his voice deep and terrifying, reminiscent of a demon's laughter. "Let's see if you can handle this!"

Then he roared. His roar created a shock wave that uprooted the trees around him. This roar was imbued with his original technique, ensuring that many more spirit beasts would soon arrive.

***

Standing amidst the craters and scattered corpses of the spirit beasts, Liu Xing looked at the grotesque monster in front of him. It resembled a cross between an anglerfish and a minotaur, emitting a foul stench like rotting rat carcasses bloated with excrement until their bellies burst. Nausea rose in Liu Xing's throat, and he sensed this monster was stronger than any spirit beast he had encountered in Dragon Skull Forest.

Even worse, Ji Dongyang seemed to have successfully possessed its body, and his ear-splitting roar likely attracted even more spirit beasts.

Fighting a horde of spirit beasts had not been as challenging as he had imagined. His gun dispatched them with ease. However, it was wise to end this battle quickly while facing only one opponent. Liu Xing wanted to interrogate Ji Dongyang, but if necessary, he would kill him and seek information about the darkness elsewhere.

"Come and fight me!" Liu Xing taunted.

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