Night of Despair

Chapter 330: Situation 328 Part 2

One hour later...

Yu Hong closed the courtyard gate, sending off the last Wild Mage who had come to visit.

The emergence of the Mutual Assistance Alliance was a stroke of his genius.

The power of the Magic wielded by these Wild Mages was not weak, and those who came to visit were all aging Magicians on the cusp of rapid decline, facing the dilemma of their bodies quickly deteriorating and completely losing their ability to cast spells.

At this age, which Magician didn’t have enemies from past grudges? Once they lost control of their Magic, their future lives were bound to be very difficult.

This also led to Wild Mages acting extremely ruthlessly, often cutting the weeds and digging up the roots, merciless and heavy-handed.

Many of them weren’t inherently bad, but they dared not show mercy.

And facing such a group on the brink of the end, Yu Hong’s Spirit Light offered them a glimmer of hope.

The Spirit Light of the Tai Ling Skill could not only be bestowed upon others but could also slowly absorb their Life Force and spiritual power from their bodies to mend their deficiencies.

He passed on the Spirit Light to these people, then separated out a small part of the Tai Ling Skill that was only about cultivating and strengthening the Spirit Light. His aim was to selflessly assist others, help everyone, help this world. It was definitely not to cultivate the Spirit Light for his own enlargement.

Because these Wild Mages were like fragile porcelain vases on the verge of shattering, covered in cracks. The Spirit Light was akin to first mending the cracks, then slowly absorbing a bit of water from inside the vase as a price.

As long as they did not leave the Alliance, did not commit malicious deeds, Yu Hong would not withdraw the Spirit Light.

As long as he did not completely take back the Spirit Light, no harm would come to them.

The Alliance could thus continue to thrive and grow rapidly.

"In this way, when needed, everyone can have a bright future, and the whole world can have a stronger power of self-preservation...."

Yu Hong sighed softly.

The Wild Mages with their deficiencies mended were actually not much different from orthodox Magicians anymore, the only difference probably lying in the possession of Inheritance Dao Artifacts and the accumulation of a large number of resources.

Turning around, he lifted his foot intending to return to the inner room to rest.

Suddenly, his steps paused, and he turned his head towards a shadowy corner of the right side of the courtyard.

"Who’s there?!"

From the shadow, a tall figure quietly emerged, walked into the light, and stood still.

It was none other than the elderly man wearing the Phoenix Silver Mask that he had seen in Five Star Town before.

The Dark Gold Armor on his hands was gone, exposing his skinny, wrinkled hands that hung by his sides.

"Truly selfless indeed... Sharing your powerful Magic with so many people, rescuing them in their time of crisis, while you only give without expecting any return..." the old man remarked with a concealed hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"You saw all that?" Yu Hong was surprised by the other’s ability to conceal himself, gaining more insight into the powerful Magicians of this world.

To be exact, he also gained a new understanding of his own shortcomings and deficiencies.

It was necessary to make up for the weakness in his perception...

"I saw it, that exquisite Fluid Spirit Light, very impressive," the old man nodded.

He watched Yu Hong, the burly young man who now stood backlit, his face obscured by shadows, unclear.

"But I don’t believe you are so selfless."

"...I naturally have my own goals, but I can assure you, everything I do is with a clear conscience!" Yu Hong said firmly.

"Never mind what you want to do, Killing Lin Shan and Yuan Ming, the Mud Doll Sect paid a great price to hire me to take care of you once and for all. Do you have any last words?" the old man said calmly.

"Do you know this place is being monitored and protected all the time?" Yu Hong countered.

"I know, but it’s meaningless to me," the old man said indifferently, "In their eyes at this moment, what they see of me is just a shadow. Nothing more..."

"A Hypnosis Technique?" Yu Hong’s eyes went cold. "Who the hell are you?"

"What does it matter who I am once you know?" the old man replied.

"No, it’s just that I feel better asking clearly before I strike you down."

Whoosh!

In a flash, Yu Hong’s figure instantly traversed more than ten meters, appearing beside the old man.

A punch.

Boom!

The fist produced a sharp whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

But it hit nothing.

The old man’s figure shattered like a bubble.

At the same time, a black spike suddenly rose from the ground, aiming for Yu Hong’s foot.

Bang!!

The spike was crushed underfoot, turning into countless illusory fragments of shadow.

"Shadow Viewing," the old man’s voice quietly sounded.

In an instant, the air throughout the yard stirred up, twisting and blurring as if a giant mass of transparent gel had completely filled every corner of the yard.

Missing with his first strike, Yu Hong’s expression remained unchanged as he rapidly retreated, dodging the attack, and his figure flashed like lightning over the high walls of the courtyard, disappearing into the streets of the night.

At the same time, a gloomy shadow followed him, leaping over the wall, closely pursuing him, disappearing at the end of the street.

This was the old man’s unique way of moving.

The whistling sound of the wind continuously buzzed in his ears as Yu Hong moved at high speed, breaking out of Taizhou City in no time, entering the desolate highway lined with palm trees.

’This way.’ He suddenly made a turn and dashed rapidly toward the seaside on the right.

Passing through the palm trees, on the black sandy beach at night, another old man wearing the Phoenix Silver Mask was slowly getting up, looking this way.

"Impressive," the old man said softly as he clapped, "You realized right away that the body of mine over there was just a construct of Magic, and then you directly chased after the real body based on the sensation..."

Thump.

His body was once again dispersed by a punch, turning into a shadow, reassembling a dozen meters away.

Then another punch.

The newly reassembled body was once again caught up to by Yu Hong and directly dispersed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Time and time again, the old man’s body was continuously dismantled and reassembled, as if he was not a living person and took no damage whatsoever.

Finally.

With a whoosh, Yu Hong came to a stop, standing on the beach, quietly observing the old man taking shape again.

"What kind of magic is this?" he asked, frowning.

"Undying Triple Body." The old man answered, his voice calm and serious.

There was silence.

"And you, what kind of movement technique is that??" The old man also asked.

"Thunderbolt Leg." Yu Hong replied with equal seriousness.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Yu Hong was subdued by the opponent’s continuously condensing magic.

The old man was frightened by Yu Hong’s physique, which allowed him to strike so many times at such speed.

With such speed, fortunately, he had not truly taken action in Five Star Town, otherwise... back then, without using Undying Triple Body, he would probably have been blown into severe injuries in an instant!

Both sides developed a deep wariness of the other.

"With your strength, why would you stoop to stay in the mere Qingchen Temple? Why not directly join the Seven Evil Alliance? I can recommend you for the position of Dark Sky Master. Only the Alliance Hierarch and the Seven Evils stand above you, and the rest of us interact as equals. How about that?" the old man persuaded.

"What is your identity? With your level of strength as a magician, what is your status in the Seven Evil Alliance?" Yu Hong countered.

"I am the Dark Sky Master. Currently, there are three Dark Sky Masters in the alliance, and I, Qing Huang, am one of them." The old man stated indifferently.

"Did you create the Yin Qi Sky Pillar?" Yu Hong asked again.

"Heh heh... That was the Alliance Hierarch’s doing. The Alliance Hierarch has a deep enmity with the orthodox Taoist Sects, well aware that the world order has long been rigid, with incapable beings dwelling in high positions, cruelly destroying and suppressing the capable ones below. To achieve fairness, the only way is to disrupt everything, reshape the world, and then we can have clear skies!" Qing Huang said solemnly.

"I don’t care about that. All I care about is that you unleashed the Yin Qi Sky Pillar, and that’s enough." Yu Hong’s eyes darkened.

The Black Disaster descended, causing countless deaths. It was not merely a trampling of order but an indiscriminate slaughter against all people.

Those who dared to do such a thing had never cared for the world’s most numerous innocent people.

And he, Yu Hong, was once such an innocent person, struggling desperately in the midst of the Black Disaster...

"Wait, think about it carefully. The upper echelons of the Taoist Sects are extremely rigid. Even if you have talent, have the ability, you will never receive the same treatment you get at Qingchen Temple. They will do everything they can to suppress you, exploit you, making you like a dog continually paying the price for them..."

"It’s okay." Yu Hong stepped forward, "When the time comes, I’ll just kill them."

Swoosh!

He suddenly surged forward, closing in on Qing Huang’s side.

For the first time, his right fist was covered with shimmering white Inner Qi.

Boom!

He swung his fist.

The air was blasted away, forming a circle of white ripples.

Qing Huang’s figure shattered and dissipated again.

"It’s useless; no matter how you disperse it, it has no impact on my true body..." Qing Huang’s voice was deep.

But before his voice fell, he suddenly saw Yu Hong rushing to the left.

Not to his newly condensed body, but to an unrelated empty space on another part of the beach.

"Form a circle!" Qing Huang’s expression drastically changed, quickly forming hand seals.

Invisibly, a massive and sharp transparent Spiritual Fluctuation, like a long spear, shot through the air in an instant, flying from behind toward Yu Hong.

The over ten-meter-long spiritual power spear crossed tens of meters in the blink of an eye, reaching Yu Hong’s back of the head.

This pure Spiritual Technique, with its incredibly fast speed, far exceeded special techniques that condensed external forces.

Aside from having no effect on material reality, such techniques are very effective against living beings.

This was Qing Huang’s fatal weakness.

He primarily cultivated Spiritual Techniques and couldn’t affect material reality. That is to say, once his true body was found, even an ordinary fruit knife, in the hands of an ordinary person, could kill him with a single cut.

That’s why he used all sorts of techniques to conceal and hide himself.

But at this moment, somehow, Yu Hong had managed to find the place where his real body was hiding!

Pfft!

The spiritual power spear collided with Yu Hong in the blink of an eye.

But at that moment, the spear’s tip seemed to encounter some tough barrier and was blocked by a thin layer of shimmering white light.

At first glance, the light was white, but on closer inspection, the thicker parts appeared silver.

That was Spirit Light!

Crack.

The spear’s tip exploded with terrifying spiritual power, a consciousness far stronger than Yu Hong’s penetrating the Spirit Light and continuing inward.

But beneath the Spirit Light, a new layer of silver-blue light emerged automatically.

This layer of silver-blue light was like a net, perfectly covering the whole back of his head.

Bang!

The spear’s tip collided with the silver-blue light, forcefully stabbing it inward.

But just then.

The spear stopped abruptly, completely still, hanging in mid-air.

Yu Hong stopped as well.

He was crouched on the sand, his right hand gripping the neck of a gaunt masked old man — with just a little force, he could break the other party’s neck.

"Looks like I was quicker."

Yu Hong’s breath was calm, as if the outburst had just now not cost him anything at all.

"You...!!" Qing Huang breathed heavily, his eyes under the mask staring intensely at him.

"Your true body is pitifully weak, so you’ve put a lot of effort into studying concealment and hypnotism, haven’t you?"

Yu Hong didn’t kill him right away but continued to speak.

"I can give you the techniques I have mastered, but these are taboos. Once you learn them, you’ll be labeled as a devil!" Qing Huang said breathlessly.

"It doesn’t matter, power, does not differentiate between right and wrong, only the person using the power does." Yu Hong said earnestly. "And I am that ’right’."

"Good... I agree to this," Qing Huang quickly said, his face twitching.

"Additionally, as compensation, I can help you complete your biggest weakness." Yu Hong said in a low voice. "Do you want a physical body as powerful as mine..."

His words at that moment were like the temptation of a devil, causing Qing Huang to momentarily forget the threat of death, his heart beating rapidly.