As the Ghost King's voice fell, the air in the arena thickened, turning into a grayish-white fog. Thousands of vengeful spirits shrieked as they tore through the ground, their translucent, distorted faces swirling into a massive spiritual vortex.
"Soul-Leads Bell—Rise!"
The Ghost King reached into the air and grabbed a rusted bronze bell. As he shook it, the sound produced wasn't a chime, but a high-pitched, piercing wail that vibrated the very soul.
Ding—!
The sound hit like a physical shockwave. The spectator stands fell silent instantly, as many low-level ghost cultivators clutched their ears, blood trickling from their eyes.
Jiang Li felt as if a cold needle had been driven into her temple. Her vision blurred, and the Turbid Qi in her meridians began to flow backward. "Monk... be careful... this bell targets the Divine Sea!"
Beside her, Cang Yaochen's body jerked. The Rakshasa Phantasm behind him flickered violently, its four arms clutching its head as it let out a muffled, agonizing roar. The Asura Persona within him thrived on slaughter, but it feared the "Karma" carried by the Soul-Leads Bell.
"A-ha-ha! Ten thousand years ago, you were invincible! But today, you are merely a fragment of a soul trapped in a broken body!" The Ghost King leapt from his throne, his black heavy armor trailing a wake of black smoke. He raised his fist, wreathed in the power of a thousand spirits, and slammed it toward Cang Yaochen's skull.
"Get... out of my head!"
Cang Yaochen's right eye turned a bottomless black. He didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his bare palm to meet the Ghost King's fist.
BOOM—!
The collision sent a shockwave that shattered the stone slabs beneath their feet into powder. Cang Yaochen's arm let out a sickening crack, but his expression remained eerily calm.
"Jiang Li... the needle... now!" Cang Yaochen growled, blood dripping from his lips. He used his broken arm to lock the Ghost King's wrist in place, while his other hand grabbed the Ghost King's throat.
Jiang Li didn't hesitate. She knew this was the only opening.
She bit her fingertip and smeared her blood across the Mirror of Profound Inquiry. "By my blood, open the Gate of the Abyss!"
The mirror, now fused and complete, responded with a low, primal vibration. A beam of pitch-black light erupted from the mirror, but it didn't aim for the Ghost King. Instead, it struck the Soul-Leads Bell.
The mirror's power was the nemesis of all "spiritual" artifacts. The black light wrapped around the bell like a swarm of leeches, devouring the vengeful spirits infused within it.
Crack... A hairline fracture appeared on the bronze bell.
"NO! My artifact!" The Ghost King roared in panic.
With the bell's influence weakened, Cang Yaochen's Rakshasa Persona fully stabilized. He let out a chilling laugh, his fingers sinking deep into the Ghost King's armor.
"You like to play with souls?" Cang Yaochen leaned in, his voice sounding like a chorus of demons. "Then let me show you what an Asura does to a soul."
A dark red flame ignited on Cang Yaochen's palms. The Ghost King's heavy armor began to melt like wax, and the spirits trapped within his body were forcibly incinerated by the Asura's demonic fire.
"Die."
Cang Yaochen slammed his knee into the Ghost King's chest, the impact blasting the armored giant across the arena and through the stone wall.
Jiang Li flickered forward, her silhouette a red blur. Before the Ghost King could stand, she had already reached the throne. With a swift motion, she snatched the Nine Abyss Soul-Settling Needle from the armrest.
The moment her fingers touched the needle, a wave of profound calmness washed over her, suppressing the chaotic Turbid Qi in her body.
"Got it!" Jiang Li landed back beside Cang Yaochen.
Cang Yaochen stood amidst the carnage, his white robes now almost entirely red. The Rakshasa Phantasm behind him was slowly fading, but his own eyes remained fixed on the dust-filled crater where the Ghost King had fallen.
Suddenly, a withered, trembling hand reached out from the rubble.
"The mirror... the girl... don't go to the Heavens-Mender..." The Ghost King's voice was barely a croak, filled with a sudden, genuine terror. "The Heavens-Mender... is not a man... it's a 'Collector' sent by the Heavenly Dao..."
Jiang Li and Cang Yaochen froze.
"What did you say?" Jiang Li stepped forward, but the Ghost King's body suddenly stiffened. A golden, glowing seal appeared on his forehead—the same mark as the "Sequence" Jiang Li had seen on the scroll.
Poof.
The Ghost King turned into a pile of golden sand before their eyes, leaving only his empty armor behind.
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence. The spectators began to flee in terror, sensing that something far more dangerous than a Ghost King had arrived.
Jiang Li looked at the Soul-Settling Needle in her hand, then at Cang Yaochen, whose gaze was fixed on the golden sand.
"The Heavens-Mender is a trap," Cang Yaochen whispered, his voice trembling for the first time. "Every step we take... is being calculated."
Jiang Li gripped the Nine Abyss Soul-Settling Needle until it drew blood from her palm. "If it's a trap, we break the trap. If it's a 'Collector,' we kill the Collector."
She turned to look at the dark sky above the City of Sin.
"Cang Yaochen, stick the needle into your spine. We're going to find this 'Heavens-Mender,' and we're going to ask him exactly who is next on his list."