10: Taming Ghosts

Rip…

A piercing screech tore through the silence, as if countless fingernails were scraping against rock.

The hard stone wall was easily torn open Li Ke tofu, with a rift appearing and rubble falling.

Behind the wall, a terrifying, twisted Fusion Ghost, spider-Li Ke, clung to the stone house wall, deftly dodging the Zombie Old Ma Slave’s heavy iron arm attacks.

On the surface of its huge abdomen, over a dozen pained, twisted human faces flickered, constantly struggling and wriggling, from which seven or eight arms extended.

The arms were incredibly slender, Li Ke a spider's legs, ending in nearly half-meter long, jet-black claws that gleamed with a chilling light.

Boom!

The Zombie Old Ma Slave brutally smashed through the stone wall.

His iron arms, with a heavy whoosh, once again slammed towards the Spider Ghost.

The Spider Ghost’s several slender arms rapidly extended, retracted, and moved, climbing and scuttling between the surrounding stone houses.

It dodged attacks while searching for an opening to strike.

Whenever it attacked, its jet-black claws would become eerily translucent, allowing them to directly penetrate the Zombie Old Ma Slave’s physical defense and strike his internal flesh!

The Zombie Old Ma Slave continuously let out muffled, pained growls, clumsily swinging his arms to counterattack, but repeatedly being deftly dodged by the opponent.

Although his body now faintly shimmered with a dull bronze hue, his tough skin Li Ke cast metal, showing signs of transforming into a Bronze Armor Corpse, in the face of the Spider Ghost’s defense-ignoring ethereal claw attacks, black corpse blood continued to seep from his body.

For a moment, he was at a disadvantage.

However, just as the Spider Ghost once again dodged a lunge from the Zombie Old Ma Slave, its eight segmented limbs scuttled, climbing onto the wall of a stone house on the right.

From the shadow beneath the eaves of the stone house, a pale, bony hand silently reached out.

Five fingers slightly splayed.

“Phantom Building.”

A low voice sounded, devoid of emotion, yet possessing the power of a spoken spell.

The Spider Ghost, about to pounce again, suddenly froze.

Its eight segmented arms dug tightly into the wall crevices, but its entire body seemed to be entangled by an invisible spiderweb, frozen in mid-air, unable to move.

The dozen or so human faces in its abdomen, originally wailing in pain, instantly became blank and bewildered, finally transforming into a near-obsessive fanaticism.

Their eyes, fixedly, uncontrollably, all focused on the pale hand that extended from the shadows.

As if the most magnificent and alluring thing in the world existed there, causing their Souls to sink, unable to extricate themselves.

Black Qi surged within the ghost’s body, seemingly struggling violently, yet it could not break free from this strange mental restraint.

Bang!

The Zombie Old Ma Slave received the command, and his heavy body slammed into the stone wall Li Ke a cannonball!

Rumble!

The grey-white stone wall collapsed with a roar.

Rubble flew, and dust filled the air.

The Zombie violently pulled down the Spider Ghost, which stood motionless on the wall without resistance.

His lead-grey iron hand grabbed the ghost’s slender arm and tore it forcefully!

Rip! Rip!

Three or four spider-leg-Li Ke arms were forcibly ripped from their connection points on its abdomen!

Black Qi permeated the severed ends, making sizzling sounds.

The Zombie Old Ma Slave seemed unsatisfied, opening his corpse-spotted mouth, about to bite into the ghost’s wriggling abdomen to tear it completely to shreds.

“Come back.”

From the shadows, Li Ke’s voice sounded again, stopping the Zombie’s action.

The Zombie Old Ma Slave paused his movement, then took heavy steps, returning to Li Ke’s side, standing motionless with an expressionless face.

Li Ke emerged from the shadows.

He squatted down, ignoring the chilling black Qi drifting from the Spider Ghost’s severed arms, and carefully observed the dozen or so dazed human faces in the ghost’s abdomen.

The eyes of these human faces still followed Li Ke’s raised hand, as if they had lost all ability to think, leaving only instinctive pursuit.

Seeing this scene, a faint light flickered in Li Ke’s eyes.

The hand he had raised began to very slowly change into strange and complex fist seals.

His movements were not fast, but they carried an indescribable demonic quality.

As his hand movements changed, the expressions of the dozen or so human faces in the Spider Ghost’s abdomen also changed accordingly.

Sometimes bewildered, sometimes ecstatic, sometimes fearful, sometimes devout…

Finally, all expressions unified into an absolute, fanatical worship!

As if Li Ke was their only deity!

A moment later, Li Ke slowly stood up.

He retracted his hand.

The Spider Ghost on the ground rolled a few times, and black Qi surged and fluctuated violently in its abdomen.

At the wound, several new, slender, segmented black arms slowly grew out.

Then, it silently crawled behind Li Ke.

Its newly grown arms slightly raised, and sharp, dark claws slowly swayed around Li Ke’s body, protecting him in the center.

A cold, submissive mental intent was transmitted into Li Ke’s mind through the emitted mental fluctuations.

“It worked.”

A barely perceptible arc curled on Li Ke’s lips.

This mutated ghost, which had integrated physical attack capabilities, had been temporarily tamed by the Phantom Building Fist.

At least for a certain period, protecting his safety had become this ghost’s primary instinct.

Unlike Zombies without Soul or spirit, the core of Ghosts and skeletons lies at the Soul level, making them extremely susceptible to illusions.

No matter how they evolve or undergo Fusion, they cannot avoid being restrained by the Phantom Building Fist’s ability!

And using the Phantom Building Fist to tame magical creatures was also the most important part of his plan to deal with the Bronze Armor Corpse.

“Time is almost up, let’s go.”

Li Ke’s gaze was deep as he looked towards Charles Castle.

Then, he led the Zombie Old Ma Slave and the mutated ghost, which resembled a giant spider, behind him, quickly leaving the area where the battle had just occurred.

Their figures disappeared into the complex shadows of the surrounding buildings, retreating along the pre-planned route.

......

Less than fifteen minutes after they left, a tall, rigid figure radiating a terrifying aura suddenly leaped out from a distant shadow.

It was the Bronze Armor Corpse that had been pursuing them!

At this moment, a small half of its body was already tinged with a cold, heart-pounding silvery-white color!

It was clearly one step closer to completely transforming into a Silver Armor Corpse!

The Bronze Armor Corpse’s jet-black eyes scanned the chaotic battlefield, as well as the remnants of ghost limbs and zombie blood on the ground.

It paused for a moment, carefully distinguishing the faint residual Qi in the air.

Ultimately, it found nothing.

A suppressed growl emanated from deep within the Bronze Armor Corpse’s throat.

It suddenly slammed into a nearby stone house!

Boom! Boom!

Several loud crashes followed one after another.

The surrounding stone houses, already on the verge of collapse, instantly crumbled under the Bronze Armor Corpse’s violent impact, turning into a pile of rubble.

Having vented its rage, the Bronze Armor Corpse slowly rotated its stiff neck.

Then, its figure flickered, merging back into the ubiquitous shadows of the manor, disappearing once again.

…

From the rubble of the broken ruins, a yellow paper butterfly quietly flew out, then slowly drifted away.

At the same time, in different locations of the manor—under eaves, on treetops, in wall cracks—similar yellow paper butterflies gently took flight, covering every corner of the manor.

Li Ke sat cross-legged in a shadow, silently observing the Bronze Armor Corpse.

When he saw the silver-covered area, his eyes slowly narrowed.

“I can’t delay any longer.”

Once that Bronze Armor Corpse fully advances to a Silver Armor Corpse, its strength will undergo another massive transformation.

At that point, this game of hide-and-seek will likely be difficult to continue.