76: Slay

An Aura far more violent and sinister than before erupted from him, like a dormant Vicious Beast awakening! Under the pressure of this Aura, the gravel on the street trembled slightly and floated into the air.

At the same time, the black Buddhist prayer beads hovering in the air began to explode one after another with a series of bangs! As each bead shattered, the evil, filthy power inside the Seal was released, transforming into several ghostly apparitions of women—dressed in gaudy, revealing clothes, yet with twisted faces.

They emitted strange noises that intertwined seductive sounds with shrill wails, and a strange, sickly-sweet scent of decay began to permeate the air.

Seeing this, a flash of realization and absolute coldness crossed Lin Luo's eyes.

"So that's it... Using yourself as a crucible, practicing such a filthy and devious Dao, absorbing power by engaging with monstrosities, and refining their resentment and evil spirits. No wonder your strength could have such a Breakthrough in such a short time."

This was no longer a simple unorthodox path, but an evil art that desecrated life and extinguished humanity! Those female ghosts were undoubtedly innocent spirits he had harmed and imprisoned during his 'Cultivate' journey.

A sickly flush and smugness appeared on Kongō Masarao's face, as if he were displaying his proudest 'collection'.

"It is their honor to become a part of my power! Now, let you all merge into one as well!"

Boom!

A lightning bolt tore through the night sky again without warning, striking down directly towards Kongō Masarao!

However, this time, Kongō Masarao did not dodge or evade! He laughed wildly, and the monk's staff in his hand, with scriptures glowing in blood-red light, spun like a wheel, fiercely meeting the strike head-on!

"Disperse!"

The tip of the monk's staff collided violently with the lightning bolt!

Blinding electric light exploded instantly, producing a deafening bang. But that bolt of lightning did not cut through like before; instead, under the impact of the blood-red staff light, it was like a torn silver snake, turning into countless tiny electric arcs that scattered and vanished!

After all, this was just an ordinary lightning bolt summoned instantly by Lin Luo using his own spiritual power; its power naturally could not compare to the Nine Heavens Purple Lightning summoned by a powerful Talisman that required careful drawing and the invocation of heaven and earth's might.

"Haha! Did you see that?!" Kongō Masarao, having succeeded with one strike, grew even more imposing. He pointed his staff directly at Lin Luo, "Your lightning technique is ineffective against me now! Whatever other tricks you have, use them!"

The female ghosts around him also let out even sharper howls, and their sinister Aura surged toward Lin Luo like a tide.

Lin Luo's eyes narrowed slightly. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a beam of spiritual power condensed with pure, yang-harmonious breath shot out from his fingertips, precisely piercing through the ghostly apparition of the woman rushing at the front.

"Ah—!"

The female ghost let out a short, shrill wail. Her already illusory soul body, like snow cast into a scorching sun, instantly disintegrated and vanished into wisps of green smoke without a trace.

These female ghosts were not powerful in themselves; they couldn't even withstand a casual strike from Lin Luo. However, the key to the problem was—

Almost at the same time, the blood-red monk's staff in Kongō Masarao's hand vibrated slightly, and another dark red light mixed with resentment and evil power shot out, landing on another female ghost. The soul body of that ghost, which had been somewhat scattered, immediately re-condensed, and its Aura was even more vicious than before!

They were like parasites attached to Masarao's evil power; as long as the source did not run dry, they could be continuously 'resurrected' and 'strengthened' by him, nearly endless in number.

"It's useless! Lin Luo!" Masarao laughed wildly, "They share the same origin as me. As long as I do not fall, they are immortal and indestructible! Let's see how long you can keep killing!"

"It is a bit troublesome."

Lin Luo frowned slightly. Facing the tide of female ghosts surging forward while shrieking, the spiritual power around his body billowed, transforming into countless invisible, sharp blades. As if possessing self-awareness, they precisely shredded and purified the soul bodies that lunged at him.

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—!

The soft sounds of soul bodies being annihilated were continuous, like boiling soup poured over snow.

Although these female ghosts were weak individually and could not pose a substantial threat to him, their existence itself constituted a vicious trap. Every time he expended spiritual power to purify them, it was a real, tangible drain. Moreover, he had already used a significant amount of power today while hunting village evil spirits, deploying the Talisman net, and casting lightning techniques.

At this moment, facing this seemingly endless tide of souls and Kongō Masarao, who was watching like a tiger and accumulating a more powerful strike, the continuous consumption was extremely disadvantageous for him.

"How is this guy's power only increasing, not decreasing or weakening?"

While efficiently clearing the seemingly endless tide of souls, Lin Luo calmly observed Kongō Masarao's state. The opponent's Aura was vicious and manic; not only did he show no signs of fatigue from maintaining the resurrection of so many female ghosts, but the blood-red staff light actually showed signs of growing ever stronger.

This was highly unusual!

"Is the core maintaining the resurrection of these female ghosts the monk's staff in his hand? No..." Lin Luo's gaze was like lightning as he swept over the sinister monk's staff, immediately negating this preliminary judgment, "The staff is more like a Magical Artifact for amplification and control, not the true source of power. The trajectory of energy circulation... the root is within his body!"

Kongō Masarao's power had already climbed to its Peak; the blood-red light around him soared to the sky, staining that patch of the night sky with an ominous hue. The monk's staff in his hand hummed incessantly, and the scriptures engraved upon it, like flowing blood, emitted a heart-palpitating, sinister pressure!

"Break... for me!" With a ferocious expression and bulging muscles in his arms, he poured all the power he had accumulated to the limit into the monk's staff. His figure erupted, and holding the staff with the force to split mountains and seas, he smashed it down from above directly towards the top of Lin Luo's head!

Before the monk's staff arrived, the terrifying pressure had already descended. The ground cracked inch by inch, the air emitted an unbearable shriek, and the blood-red light, like a tangible shackle, attempted to completely imprison Lin Luo's figure in place, forcing him to take this destructive blow head-on!

The space around him was completely locked by the blood-red evil power; he could no longer escape and had to withstand it!

The cicada song collection instantly drifted out from the pendant around Lin Luo's neck, transforming into a thick scroll barrier that blocked above his head.

At the same time, the pages turned automatically without wind, rustling rapidly. The ancient haikus recorded upon them actually flew out as if possessing life, transforming into corresponding poetic imagery—sharp sword winds, chilling autumn frost, rushing river water—one part attacking the soul bodies entangling him, and the other part layering upon layer to meet the mountain-shaking, blood-red monk's staff!

Bang—!!!

The golden bell apparition that took the brunt of the impact shattered instantly, turning into golden specks of light filling the sky. Immediately following, that destructive power slammed fiercely into the scroll barrier transformed from the cicada song collection!

"Hum—!" The scroll let out a mournful cry, its radiance suddenly dimming, and it was actually sent flying by the terrifying shockwave!

The pages flipped uncontrollably in the air, finally stopping at a certain page—on the left was Hanako in the toilet, wearing a traditional sailor uniform with hollow eyes; on the right was Mary in the mirror, with blonde hair and blue eyes, yet bleeding from her seven orifices.

Just as the page settled, a sudden change occurred! The portraits of the two people on the page suddenly lit up, and two illusory yet solid figures were forcibly summoned out, crossing like shields to block in front of Lin Luo! Clearly visible was a pitch-black, ice-cold chain emerging on each of their necks, the ends of which were deeply connected to the cicada song collection floating behind them.

"Urgh ah—!"

"No—!"

Hanako and Mary simultaneously let out incomparably shrill screams. The moment their figures appeared, they replaced Lin Luo and took the full force of the residual destructive energy from the blood-red monk's staff! Their soul bodies vibrated violently, becoming flickering and uncertain, as if they would completely disintegrate at any moment.

The autonomous protective mechanism of the cicada song collection was actually to use the sealed entities as shields to protect its master and survive!

The golden light around Lin Luo, which had been flickering uncertainly, suddenly stabilized and flared brilliantly!

He ignored Hanako and Mary, who were on the verge of disintegration before him, and his gaze was like lightning, locking onto Kongō Masarao, whose power had momentarily stalled because his attack was blocked.

"Bind!" A short, powerful command sounded like a thunderclap!

A rope wrapped in cinnabar Talismans, which he had long secretly held in his hand, flew out in response. It grew as it met the wind, transforming into a golden light like a swimming Dragon, wrapping around Kongō Masarao's burly body with lightning speed!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—! The Talismans on the rope collided fiercely with the blood-red evil light protecting Masarao, emitting a burning, strange sound.

"It's just a broken hemp rope; how long do you think you can bind me!"

Kongō Masarao, who was tightly bound along with his monk's staff, roared, veins bulging on his neck. Relying on pure physical strength, he exerted force with his legs!

Bang! The ground was kicked into a shallow pit by him, and he surged toward the side rear like a wild bull, narrowly avoiding several sharp slashes evolved from Lin Luo's spiritual power.

The runes on the hemp rope flickered, clearly unable to imprison this force, which was a combination of brute strength and evil power, for long. Although he could not freely wield his monk's staff to cast high-power evil arts, his legs' mobility remained. Relying on beast-like intuition and explosive power, he constantly dodged and maneuvered among the ruins of the street, evading the spiritual power blades that pursued him like maggots on a bone.

"Break for me—!" Kongō Masarao let out a heaven-shaking roar. His muscles bulged like solid rock, and veins crawled all over his upper body like twisted living creatures! The hemp rope emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and the cinnabar runes on it rapidly dimmed—Snap! The hemp rope broke in response!

However, at that very moment when the binding vanished and new force had yet to be born—the old force spent, it was the moment he was most relaxed—Stab! With a soft sound, a sharp blade pierced into his body.

Kongō Masarao's surging power, like a punctured balloon, instantly stalled and disintegrated. The fury and ferocity on his face froze. He slowly lowered his head, looking in disbelief at the peach wood sword that had pierced through his heart.

The sword body was ancient and simple, without any metallic sharpness, yet inside it surged the purest power to break evil, like a scorching sun melting snow, crazily purifying the evil energy entrenched within his body. The yellow paper and cinnabar Talisman on the hilt swayed gently with the final tremors of his body, like a silent requiem.

"Urgh... How... How could it be..."

He struggled to raise his hand, but his arm only traced a weak arc in the air before dropping powerlessly. The boiling blood-red color and madness in his eyes receded like a tide, leaving only emptiness and horror at the end of his life.

As Kongō Masarao's life and evil power were completely erased, that peach wood sword also exhausted all its spirituality; its color turned gray instantly, and it became ordinary wood, completely ruined.

At the same time, the female ghost souls in the vicinity that had survived by attaching to his evil power, like Puppets with their strings cut, all simultaneously let out a short, hollow whimper, then their figures twisted, faded, and finally turned into countless wisps of green smoke, completely dissipating in the night wind.

The sickly-sweet, decaying scent that had been permeating the streets and alleys was also completely swept away.

Under the night sky, only the chaotic battlefield remained, along with the monk's corpse that was rapidly shriveling and decaying, silently recounting the tragedy of the battle between good and evil that had just taken place.

Everything was silent, with only the cold moonlight quietly spilling onto this patch of land where the battle had just ended.

And the final witness to all of this—was that angel-like girl, as delicate as a porcelain doll, standing on the apartment balcony.