249: Methods to drive away the old man with the lantern

The rich power of the Divine Soul enveloped Xu Le's Soul. His Soul continuously absorbed the energy within, and his spirit slowly improved.

His Soul was also slowly transforming during its rapid elevation until the last bit of Impurities was ground away.

[spirit +0.01]

Xu Le's spirit jolted. The Bottleneck he had been stuck at for over three months finally underwent a Breakthrough, and his Rank simultaneously rose to Level 10.

As if breaking through some sort of restriction, he suddenly felt refreshed and clear-headed; even the entire world seemed different.

This kind of Breakthrough brought about changes he had only experienced when he first rose to the Divine-Grade. There was a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He could even faintly sense his surroundings within a one-meter radius.

It was somewhat similar to the feeling of birth of Divine Sense after a Breakthrough in a Xianxia novel.

He closed his eyes. Although he couldn't see his surroundings, he could roughly sense the outlines of objects within a one-meter range.

No, he could "see" them.

Within his perception, he "saw" a strand of wind as thin as a hair blowing past.

Opening his eyes, he saw a tiny crack in the window that hadn't been closed tightly—something he hadn't noticed before.

Xu Le let out a breath, clearly feeling his spirit surging.

[spirit +0.01]

[spirit +0.01]

...Compared to the previous frequency, it was at least twice as fast.

"It's two o'clock. Why hasn't Xu Huan returned yet?"

Xu Le frowned. Previously, she would head out around 9 PM and return around 1:30 AM. There were rarely exceptions.

After thinking for a moment, he opened his laptop. After performing some operations, he found that the familiar red dot was missing from the map of C City. His expression couldn't help but darken.

He tapped rapidly on the keyboard again. The time on the map slowly rewound until 1:36 AM, when the familiar red dot reappeared.

"Huangshan Village! Why did she go there?"

Ultimately worried, Xu Le slipped out, took out the motorcycle Father Xu had given him, and rushed toward Huangshan Village... within the silent village.

Xu Huan and Wang Xueting were holding hands and running for their lives. In the pitch blackness, they had already become separated from the others.

Even if they hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered. Even the captain in the Bright Moon Realm couldn't hold out for a minute. They, a group of small fry in the Morning Star Realm, probably couldn't withstand a single wave of the enemy's hand.

"Stop running! In a spirit Domain, there's no way to escape no matter what. Let's find a place to hide and wait for rescue." Wang Xueting suddenly stopped, pulling on Xu Huan's hand.

Xu Huan's mind quickly filtered through the knowledge she had learned. There were two ways to break a spirit Domain: one was to use a stronger spirit Domain to violently destroy the opponent's spirit Domain, and the other was to directly kill the evil spirit possessing the spirit Domain.

Obviously, both methods required great strength. Even Wu Xing hadn't attempted them, so what hope did the two of them have?

The two of them prudently hid beside a woodpile in a residence, placing several wicker baskets around them to barely conceal their figures.

Amidst a series of hurried footsteps, two staggering figures ran over, crying and shouting.

Xu Huan was about to speak when Wang Xueting covered her mouth and stealthily made a silencing gesture.

Xu Huan understood and watched silently, only to discover that the old man carrying the lantern had suddenly appeared in front of the two people.

"Ah—I just want to go home, let me go!" Ye Xin wailed, clutching his head.

The old man simply raised his hand silently, and Ye Xin burst into raging flames.

"Ah—No, it hurts, it hurts so much!" Ye Xin rolled on the ground in agony, but the flames on his body showed no sign of being extinguished; instead, they burned more and more intensely.

The old man squatted and watched quietly, like a five or six-year-old child waiting for his mother to finish cooking the food in the pot.

The flames burned brighter and brighter. Ye Xin's wails turned from high-pitched to low moans, finally disappearing completely.

From beginning to end, he had not summoned his ancestral spirit.

The old man stood up satisfied, gave a mysterious smile toward the two by the woodpile, and then vanished directly from their sight.

"He found us!"

Their hearts sank to the bottom.

Then they heard a familiar wail; that voice belonged to Ye Xin's companion.

The two could already imagine the scene of him rolling on the ground in terror while the old man squatted nearby, watching coldly.

"We have to escape!"

Gritting their teeth, the two slipped directly into the adjacent farmhouse.

The sounds outside gradually faded. The two looked out in fear.

!!!

Suddenly, they felt something was wrong. The surroundings were too bright!

A lantern illuminated a two-meter radius. The old man held the lantern, silently sizing the two of them up.

"Quick, go!"

Wang Xueting pushed Xu Huan aside and summoned her Snowman.

Amidst the whistling cold wind, the Snowman gripped an Ice Cone and smashed it hard against the lantern.

Boom!

The Ice Cone formed from ice and snow immediately began to burn, and the fire spread toward the Snowman's body. The Snowman instantly let go, then grabbed a snowball to continue smashing at the lantern.

Xu Huan didn't run. She followed suit by summoning the Golden Dragon. The Golden Dragon immediately spat out its Dragon Pearl. It also didn't attack the old man, but rather the lantern in his hand.

The lantern swayed rapidly in the air. The Dragon Pearl chased after it but was always just a bit short of the distance.

The Snowman disregarded everything and lunged forward. Seeing the lantern evade again, it flailed its limbs. Like a drowning person constantly waving, as the lantern was about to pull away, a Golden Dragon tail struck and extinguished the lantern.

The old man subsequently vanished from the spot.

"We succeeded!"

The two embraced in surprise, exchanging words of praise.

"Come on, let's go check on the others," Xu Huan suggested.

Opening the door, the two ran toward the distant sounds. They saw only two official members left, surrounded by nine lantern-bearing old men.

"Why are there so many?" The two girls were shocked.

However, they still voiced their discovery: "Hit the lanterns! If you blow out their lanterns, you can temporarily drive them away!"

The two bit their lips and tried, but before they could act, their ancestral spirits were set ablaze by the opponents.

The nine clusters of flames overlapped, seemingly possessing a special bonus, and quickly burned the two ancestral spirits to ashes.

Next were the two people themselves. Amidst despairing wails, they were burned to ashes.

From the ashes the two had turned into, two more lantern-bearing old men appeared.

The two girls were stunned, then began running frantically. If they weren't mistaken, how many lantern-bearing old men must there be in the entire village?

...Xu Le looked at the silent village and couldn't help but frown inwardly.

This village didn't look like a place where hundreds of people had come.

Soon, he saw three seven-seater business vans parked nearby.

With twenty or so people coming here, it was still deathly quiet.

There must be someone inside!

After taking a few steps, he felt as if he had passed through a membrane.

The world suddenly became different.

Black ashes seemed to be floating in the air.

He reached out and caught some. Indeed, they were black debris, as if something had been charred.

Screams could be heard in the distance.

"A barrier?"

"Interesting!"

A lantern turned the corner at the intersection. An old man carried the lantern, walking with faltering steps.

"Old man, walking is so difficult for you. You shouldn't be out late at night!"

The old man raised his hand. Xu Le suddenly felt a warm sensation on his body, like a freshly charged hand warmer pressed against his chest. After a while, it even felt a bit hot.