No sooner had the invisible barrier fallen than Ye Yang felt a tremendous force strike him. Before he could react, he was sent flying by the impact.
Bang! He slammed hard against the barrier, his vision swimming as he slid to the ground.
“Oww, oww, oww, oww, oww—” Ye Yang scrambled to his feet, wincing, and finally saw what had attacked him.
The creature did indeed have long black hair. Its body flickered in and out of visibility as it floated in midair, draped in a tattered black dress. No limbs were visible, nor a face—only the outline of what appeared to be a woman’s body.
Ye Yang stared at it, carefully sensing its presence. This thing looked like a female ghost but had no ghostly energy. Instead, it carried a crisp, clean aura. It was almost certainly his mission target.
He had to admit—it was genuinely terrifying to look at.
Ye Yang swallowed hard and tried to communicate. “Um—”
But the moment he spoke, the creature seemed provoked. It went berserk, its long hair whipping wildly as a piercing shriek nearly ruptured Ye Yang’s eardrums: “No… can’t! No—can’t—!”
Then came a relentless barrage of attacks.
Ye Yang dodged left and right, evading most of the strikes while occasionally tossing several sleep-inducing spells at the creature.
Unfortunately, this spirit creature seemed naturally immune to those spells. Not only did Ye Yang fail to achieve any effect, but he also enraged the spirit even further.
In its fury, the spirit’s attacks grew even more terrifying. The small barrier left barely any room to dodge.
Finally, the spirit’s assault eased slightly. But just as Ye Yang stopped to catch his breath, the creature came at him again. It kept inflicting small to medium wounds on him—nothing that hindered his movement, but it hurt!
Moreover, the self-healing energy he had stored up was being steadily drained by these wounds and was nearly depleted.
No one knew how long this went on. The sky gradually grew light, but Ye Yang still couldn’t break through. He could only keep dodging and evading, his stamina slowly failing.
He hoped that this yin-drenched, eerie spirit would be suppressed—or simply disappear—once the sun came out.
But heaven did not grant the little sea hare’s wish. This spirit only looked like a ghost; it wasn’t a real ghost.
The moment the sun appeared, Ye Yang’s special energy was replenished—but the spirit seemed to have drunk a potent tonic as well. Not only did its attacks grow stronger, but its body even expanded slightly.
Another shriek rang out. Ye Yang finally got a clear look: the face that was mostly hidden by the spirit’s long hair and collar was rosy and lustrous—almost like that of a healthy human. The one visible eye was large, round, and actually rather cute.
Hiss— As that thought flashed through his mind, a blast of energy grazed his cheek. A thin but not shallow wound appeared immediately, beads of blood rolling down with the sting and staining the collar of his white T-shirt.
Ye Yang quickly forced himself to focus.
He had tried other attack methods. But the spirit floated in midair, incredibly agile. Its dense barrage of attacks made it impossible for Ye Yang to get close. His great physical strength was useless at a distance.
The spirit’s attacks were fast and precise. Ye Yang exhausted all his energy just dodging, unable to spare the focus needed for more powerful spells.
The stalemate continued. The sun climbed to its zenith, yet this deserted wasteland remained empty. Only two incredibly fast figures moved back and forth within the barrier.
Ye Yang was nearing his limit. He couldn’t understand it—he hadn’t done anything at all! Why was this spirit so determined to take him out?
But he didn’t dare flee. And he couldn’t.
“This is nothing like the intelligence said! If this counts as C-rank, how terrifying must A-rank and S-rank be…”
His nerves had been taut for too long. Ye Yang finally couldn’t help but lose focus for a split second. In that single instant, an energy blast struck him square in the chest.
Bang! Another loud crash. Ye Yang was slammed directly into the dirt.
“Pff—” His chest seized, and he vomited a mouthful of blood.
The power behind that strike was far greater than Ye Yang had estimated. Piercing pain radiated from the impact site, and his forehead was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
At least four or five cracked ribs… Even as he thought this, Ye Yang didn’t dare waste a moment. He struggled to pull himself out of the dirt.
But he was no match for the spirit’s speed. In those few seconds he was trapped in the ground, several more energy blasts hurtled toward him. Amid his muffled groans, they consecutively snapped his limbs.
The powerful impact shattered most of both thigh bones. The damage to his arms was somewhat less severe, but both arms were still broken. The two bones in his left forearm had completely separated, the sharp, jagged ends piercing through skin and flesh—pale bone peeking out beneath bloody, shredded meat. His right arm was also snapped at a twisted, horrifying angle, bent awkwardly behind his back.
Fresh blood pooled over layers of dried gore. His thin T-shirt had become noticeably thicker and heavier.
“…” Ye Yang was in too much pain to make even a single sound.
Sensing the spirit’s movements slow slightly—yet its presence grow stronger—Ye Yang’s heart tightened. This is bad. It’s about to unleash a finishing move!
In his desperation, a sudden flash of insight struck Ye Yang, and he created another barrier.
BOOM—! The spirit’s ultimate attack, blazing with shimmering pale green light, crashed against the barrier before Ye Yang. It didn’t budge an inch.
Fortunately, Ye Yang was highly proficient in barrier-casting techniques—he could do it silently, without moving his hands or feet.
This barrier trapped him alone. He couldn’t go anywhere now, but it also blocked the spirit’s attacks, giving him a moment to catch his breath.
However, maintaining the outer barrier—to keep the spirit from escaping—already consumed a significant amount of Ye Yang’s magical energy and focus. Adding the inner barrier on top of that, plus his severe injuries, meant he couldn’t hold on for much longer.
Feeling his blood rapidly draining away, Ye Yang stared fixedly at the spirit outside. The spirit’s single eye was also locked onto Ye Yang, seething with bone-deep hatred.
Ye Yang felt terribly wronged.
The spirit had lost all reason. Even though it couldn’t reach Ye Yang, it kept ramming against the barrier, showing no sign of stopping until one of them was dead.
Ye Yang had to maintain both barriers while continuously healing himself to keep from dying on the spot. He soon reached his limit.
His innate ability couldn’t directly heal wounds. It could only stimulate his potential, borrowing some of his life force in advance to promote healing—just enough to keep him alive when critically injured.
But the amount of life force he could borrow in advance was limited. His ability had already been running for nearly a full day and night.
Time blurred. The spirit attacked tirelessly. Ye Yang’s consciousness began to fade, the barrier before him growing weaker and weaker, on the verge of collapse.
“If this continues, I’m really going to die here… and I haven’t accomplished what I set out to do…” Despair slowly spread, filling Ye Yang’s thoughts.
Pop— A sound so faint it was almost inaudible abruptly shattered all his thoughts—the inner barrier had broken.
Ye Yang’s mind went blank for a moment.
Suddenly, right then, a spirit appeared outside the outer barrier!
The spirit creature spun around, abandoning Ye Yang as it flew toward the newcomer. It seemed to completely forget about its enemy, only staring at the other spirit through the barrier.
Ye Yang felt as if someone had struck him with a hammer. His fading consciousness jolted back to alertness.
He looked as well. This was the spirit of a deceased person—he didn’t know why it was here, but its appearance had bought him precious time. Seizing the opportunity while the spirit creature was distracted, Ye Yang acted quickly.
He had no other options left. Only one final move—his most powerful attack spell: the Lightning Fire Technique.
With great difficulty, he raised his already broken arms a few inches. His fingers tried several times to form the hand seal. Finally, he succeeded. He summoned the lightning fire! Clusters of violet-glowing lightning fire materialized out of thin air, blazing brilliantly against the night.
Already hanging by a thread, casting the Lightning Fire Technique nearly made Ye Yang lose consciousness. But he stubbornly clung on, watching intently. Yet the rolling lightning fire barely harmed the lingering spirit at all.
Not good! Ye Yang’s pupils contracted. The lingering spirit even reached out, gathered the lightning fire in its hands, and snuffed out most of it with its bare hands! The remaining weak remnants of lightning force were simply tossed aside.
What… what is this thing?!
The lightning fire had been aimed at the spirit creature, but separated by the barrier, it couldn’t harm the spirit outside at all. However, this attack thoroughly enraged the creature. Its form swelled once more, its wildly flying hair standing on end, each strand turning into a sharp spike.
That cute, round eye had turned crimson red, dense with blood vessels that looked ready to burst.
An oppressive, terrifying aura suddenly appeared. An extremely dangerous presence brewed in the air.
The dizziness from blood loss grew heavier. Ye Yang could no longer hold on. He closed his eyes, but the injuries overwhelmed him. The moment his eyes shut, he lost consciousness.
Just before blacking out from his severe wounds, Ye Yang’s final memory was of a massive shadow descending from the sky, carrying a familiar aura. The barrier shattered instantly, accompanied by an extremely piercing, long shriek.
·
Ye Yang gradually regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, he found himself in what seemed to be a hospital room.
The pain all over his body had subsided considerably. His broken limbs had been set and secured. A vibrant, grassy aftertaste lingered in his mouth—he had probably been given some kind of healing medicine.
Turning his head slightly, he saw two figures with their backs to him: Director Tu and Yu Bei.
Licking his dry lips, Ye Yang was about to speak when he heard Director Tu’s angry voice. “How could you let him go alone? This was his first field mission! As his mentor, weren’t you worried at all?!”
Teacher Yu also let out a cold snort. “If you really don’t want to be Xiao Ye’s mentor, just say so. No one would force you. Who would dare force the God of the North?”
Only then did Ye Yang notice there was another person facing them—his mentor, Shen Ming.
They were genuinely furious. Director Tu and Yu Bei were audaciously laying into Shen Ming with all kinds of sarcastic jabs.
And Shen Ming sat there, not daring to say a single word in return. His eyes were lowered, the shadows of his lashes falling across his face—he actually looked a little pitiful.
Leave a Reply