James continued his cultivation. The extent of the violent energies in this place suited him well.
Hiss! A cold wind blew toward him. Following an uncanny growl, James stood up immediately and left the Time Formation. He
looked toward the distance from the peak of the mountain he was on. A cloud of black mist could be seen. The mist transformed
into different shapes, first resembling that of a human and then followed by an animal.
James was slightly taken aback. “What’s that?” Emperor Jabari from the Celestial Abode answered him, “It’s a fiend.”
“A fiend?”
“Yes”. Emperor Jabari confirmed and elaborated on his answer, “This place was once a huge realm inhabited by many living
beings. When they died, they left their soul sigils. These sigils continuously merged with one another, forming a fiend as time
passed. In other words, what you see in front of you is an evil spirit.”
James understood upon hearing the Emperor’s elaboration. Prior to this, the reason why the Sanctuary headed to Mount Baidi
was to collect soul sigils. They wanted to use Curse Magic to merge the sigils to create a powerful evil spirit.
“James, be careful.” Emperor Jabari reminded him, “Once they merge, these soul sigils will become an evil spirit. This spirit
before us isn’t powerful, but mind you, there must be a more menacing one in a world as abandoned as this.”
James was a little too enthusiastic to listen to Emperor Jabari’s words carefully. He could sense that the evil spirit in front of him
was at the Divine Rank. An opponent as such would make a good practice target.
When this thought came into mind, the black mist from afar materialized into a dark shadow that clawed toward him. It came at a
speed so fast that it exceeded James’ own limits. Before he realized it, the evil spirit was already before him. Its illusory hands
snatched at him, and its frightening energy tore the void apart, releasing a hissing sound.
James’ chest was penetrated in a split second. His body was tossed away by the immense reverberation of the energy. He had
to keep his distance to be able to handle the extent of the spirit’s strength.
He summoned his mind. As the Elemental Inversion Formation returned to his body and the Crepe Myrtle Divine Sword
materialized in his hand, he charged toward the evil spirit. As he held up his arm, frightening sword energy emanated from it,
slashing the void apart and heading for the evil spirit.
The spirit’s afterimage was uncanny as it split into two, avoiding the attack from the sword. It merged immediately after and
continued advancing toward James.
“Seems like someone’s prepared.” He attempted to avoid the spirit as quickly as he could. However, he was not fast enough.
The spirit got to his arm, and a piece of his skin was torn away, exposing his bloody bones. Even though his physical strength
was at the Divine Rank’s First Stage, he was still vulnerable to the attack of the evil spirit.
As Demonic Energy circulated in his body, he attacked again, even though his injuries had yet to recover. As if it was afraid of
the Crepe Myrtle Divine Sword in James’ hand, the spirit quickly avoided James before resuming an offensive position. The spirit
moved at a speed so quick that James could not process it. Every time the spirit attempted an attack, he would get injured.
James was infuriated. He catalyzed an unparalleled sword technique and charged at the evil spirit with his sword, but he missed
every time.
James’ mind stirred, and his body became illusory. Within a split second, the entire sky was filled with his afterimage.
Innumerable afterimages surrounded the void, standing in the spirit’s way. All of them charged at the evil spirit at the same time.
However, as the spirit had no body and was a product of merged black mist, it had no pain points. James’ attack had no bearing
on it.
Suddenly, all of these afterimages merged, creating an immensely powerful Sword Energy and piercing through the evil spirit.