Ghost King (3): The Artifact Spirit of the Ghost Orb

Just as the gray shadow was about to pierce straight through the black-robed man, a dazzling white light flared between them. With a strange screech, the gray shadow shot back as if deeply afraid of the white light.

Having barely escaped death, the black-robed man stood stunned for a moment, then immediately felt a surge of joy and relief. Without a second thought, he flew away at top speed, eventually reappearing beside Han Li in a flash of red light.

Han Li glanced at the black-robed man with some surprise. He had seen clearly what happened: amid the white flash, something like a giant bird had passed through in an instant, and it was that thing which had frightened off the gray shadow. Han Li was somewhat curious about this.

The black-robed man, however, had no good expression for Han Li. Having just escaped death, he was still shaken with lingering fear! In his heart, he deeply regretted not heeding others’ advice and recklessly coming to this Void Heaven Palace.

But then, remembering the white light that had saved him, he seemed to recall something. Hastily reaching into his bosom, he pulled out an ancient, mottled bronze mirror from his black robe.

Han Li cast a sidelong glance at it with mild curiosity. The mirror was oddly shaped and faintly emanated spiritual energy. Was it another ancient treasure?

Just as Han Li was pondering this, a “crack” sound came. The surface of the ancient mirror had suddenly split into seven or eight pieces without any warning. The spiritual energy originally contained within it vanished without a trace; the item had evidently become scrap metal.

Seeing this, the black-robed man’s eyes were filled with regret. He sighed, put the broken mirror away with some reluctance, and then looked up, catching Han Li’s gaze. This reminded him of how the man had deliberately not lent a hand earlier, and he gave a resentful snort before turning his head away.

Witnessing this, Han Li paused. Then, as if understanding something, he chuckled softly and, not bothering with the man, turned his gaze toward the ghostly beings across the way.

Fairy Zi Ling watched the black-robed man’s figure, her expression equally thoughtful.

By this time, the “Crying Soul” beast had already scurried over, climbing up the black robe on its own and sitting obediently on his shoulder, looking remarkably well-behaved.

Meanwhile, beside the black ghostly figure across the way, the gray shadow appeared faintly. With several “puffing” sounds, seven or eight more demonic ghosts of the same form scurried out from the surrounding mist.

Han Li recognized these ghosts at a glance. They were a type known as “Wéiwú” ferocious ghosts. If even a single one of these appeared in the mortal world, it would cause a great commotion. Yet here, a whole pack had appeared at once, and Han Li’s expression darkened.

These evil ghosts, with horns on their heads and extremely sharp claws, were far inferior to the two ghostly shadows, but still no weaker than late Foundation Establishment cultivators. Now they all crouched coldly nearby, encircling Han Li and the others in the middle.

Seeing this, Han Li knew a tough battle was inevitable. He wasted no time in giving succinct orders. “You two deal with the Wéiwú ghosts. I’ll handle the two ghost shadows. Buy me as much time as you can.”

Han Li’s voice was low and stern. The black-robed man, though full of resentment toward Han Li, recognized the gravity of the situation and grudgingly accepted the orders. After all, he knew he couldn’t possibly fight both ghost shadows. Since the other was willing to take them on, he was only too happy.

As soon as the words were spoken, the ferocious ghosts suddenly flashed a sinister light. Without hesitation, Han Li sacrificed his spirit beast pouch.

A great swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles turned into a golden-silver cloud, hovering in the air.

At that moment, the surrounding ghostly beings seemed to receive a command and simultaneously pounced on the three of them, spouting black ghost-fire.

The black-robed man and Fairy Zi Ling wasted no time in using their treasures and magical implements to intercept them. As for the Crying Soul beast, it was even more impressive. With a stretch and roll of the rosy light from its nose, it directly sucked a nearby ghost into its belly.

But that was all it could do! The two green-haired yakshas once again drove their bone forks, entangling it.

Han Li, however, paid no attention to these Wéiwú ghosts. He transformed into a green rainbow and shot toward the two distant ghost shadows. The beetles buzzed and followed.

When the ghost shadows saw Han Li approaching, the black one flickered with green light in its eyes, opened its mouth, and spat out the greenish orb. It shot forward, heading straight for the green rainbow that Han Li had become.

The gray one flickered a few times and disappeared from its spot.

Han Li frowned slightly. Not approaching the enemy, he stopped mid-flight with an expressionless face. But with a flick of his finger, two Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords turned into cyan rays of light, crossing as they shot out. The Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed once, and at his mental command, they scattered and then hovered around him, no longer flying erratically.

“Bang!”

The two green rays and the orb collided. The ghost orb quickly emitted a large amount of dark yin ghost qi, which wrapped around the two flying swords in an instant, sealing them completely within.

A cold light flashed in Han Li’s eyes as he clenched his sword arts. In an instant, the two flying swords expanded several times, turning into two several-zhang-long green flood dragons. They twisted and thrashed violently, breaking free from the black yin qi and turning back to fiercely strike the green ghost orb.

Seeing this, a hint of surprise appeared in the originally ice-cold eyes of the ghost shadow opposite. After all, this green ghost orb, though originally an ordinary protective treasure of a fallen cultivator, had been refined by this demonic ghost for centuries with yin ghost qi, becoming profoundly mysterious. The yin qi it spewed specially damaged the spirituality of treasures. Once a treasure was entangled in even a strand, it would be endlessly trapped and unable to break free.

But Han Li’s two flying swords, for some reason, were not afraid of this yin qi entanglement. The flood dragons they formed simply bit and tore, scattering the yin ghost qi into pieces, unable to approach the swords themselves.

The ghost shadow, now intelligent, could not help feeling wary. In its hundreds of years of sentient existence, it had never encountered such a situation.

After hesitating a moment, it suddenly raised a ghostly claw and made a void-pointing motion at the green orb. The orb shone brightly, flew back several zhang, spun in the air a few times, and then with a shake, transformed into a black demon tiger. This tiger was enormous, its eyes like bells, and as it roared, it spewed black-green phosphorescent fire, utterly ferocious.

But most strikingly, this giant tiger was not a virtual image like the flood dragons conjured by Han Li’s flying swords; it appeared to be a completely solid manifestation, extremely powerful.

“An artifact spirit?” Han Li was slightly startled, then narrowed his eyes.

The so-called “artifact spirit” refers to the fact that every magical treasure, from its forging onward, has a single opportunity to seal the primordial soul of a demon beast or ghost into the treasure as a spirit. When battling, these spirits can be driven to merge with the treasure, greatly enhancing its power and allowing it to take the form of the spirit’s original appearance, possessing its original abilities. It is considered a shortcut to rapidly increase a treasure’s power.

However, for unknown reasons, regardless of whether the sealing succeeds or fails, from its forging to its final destruction, a treasure can only be sealed with an artifact spirit once. If the first seal fails, it will never have another chance to obtain an artifact spirit. A second seal will cause the treasure to refuse any further primordial spirits.

Because of this, most cultivators treat this matter with great gravity. Unless they are urgently seeking to boost their treasure’s power, they generally wait until they have found a suitable target and feel confident before performing the sealing ritual.

Back in the Blood Forbidden Trial, when Nangong Wan captured the primordial spirit of that Ink Flood Dragon, she had likely intended to use it for an artifact spirit seal. Though that Ink Flood Dragon was young in grade, it still belonged to the flood dragon lineage and was extremely rare. That was why Nangong Wan had been so excited upon obtaining it.

Having slain so many demon beasts of various grades in the Chaotic Star Sea, Han Li had yet to encounter a single flood dragon, which had been a long-standing frustration for him, as he had always wanted to use a flood dragon as an artifact spirit.

But the success rate of sealing an artifact spirit was extremely difficult to control. There was almost no consistent rule. One thing was certain: the more powerful the spirit to be sealed, the lower the success rate. Yet a spirit too weak would not provide a satisfactory boost to the treasure’s power. Thus, most cultivators’ treasures ultimately remained without artifact spirits. Either they failed to find a satisfactory target, or the sealing failed because the spirit was too strong.

When Han Li saw that this ghost orb possessed an artifact spirit, he could not help being surprised.

But he quickly steadied himself. Licking his slightly dry lips, he gestured with one finger toward the two Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. They once again turned into two flood dragons and flew straight to engage the demon tiger.

His flying swords had no artifact spirit; they were merely a simple transformation of the treasure, having the form but not the true abilities of a flood dragon.

Still, Han Li wanted to test the power of this demon tiger artifact spirit first.