The veins on Zhou Su’s hand bulged as he gripped the blade. It felt less like he was holding a sword and more like clutching a chained dragon straining to break free. Tang Dao: Ghost Hong trembled violently, its blade-song echoing like the cries of countless ravens.A vast shadow loomed over Zhou Su. He abruptly realized the cawing didn’t come from the Tang Dao—it came from behind him.A dense mass of black ravens surged forward, a suffocating storm cloud heavy enough to crush the sky itself.Within this spirit sea, the spiritual contamination of Tang Dao: Ghost Hong had taken form. Each raven was capable of devouring souls.One raven let out a sharp, piercing cry. ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) It suddenly accelerated, breaking away from the flock and diving straight toward Zhou Su—its body stretched and distorted by speed, like a black arrow.Zhou Su had no chance to dodge. The raven pierced his chest. No blood spilled—only a fist-sized hole appeared.The good news: the wound began healing the next second.The bad news: the healing consumed his soul power.Once his soul power was exhausted, that would mean his true death.More ravens streaked down, their arcs like meteors cutting the heavens.Zhou Su couldn’t defend. Even the Heart-Clearing Jade Pendant couldn’t affect these ravens; they existed as if in another dimension.Several more holes appeared across his body—but a smile rose on his pale face.Because most ravens merely circled above him, cawing sharply, showing no intention to attack.Zhou Su exhaled slowly. His gamble had been correct.These ravens embodied the will of the Tang Dao.If one failed to receive Emperor Hong’s recognition and attempted fusion by force, tens of thousands of ravens would descend at once and tear the intruder apart.Naturally, Zhou Su could never gain Emperor Hong’s recognition—he didn’t even know who Emperor Hong was.But he had fused with the Headless White General’s shadow. His body carried the General’s aura.The Tang Dao’s original wielder, the Headless White General, certainly would have been recognized by Emperor Hong.As for why the ravens still attacked—because Zhou Su hadn’t fully merged with the shadow, and parts of his own aura leaked through.But a complete fusion would mean death. That was impossible.“No telling if I can hold out…” Zhou Su muttered, watching the occasional swooping raven.But soon, he realized he had underestimated the ravens.Their attacks did more than harm the soul—they stirred killing intent.Most terrifying of all, that killing intent could stack infinitely.Veins bulged around Zhou Su’s eyes. His scarlet pupils held no trace of clarity. His consciousness drowned beneath boundless bloodlust.The yaksha ghost army was already close. Zhou Su abruptly stepped forward. The movement was stiff, like a toddler learning to walk.At this moment, it was no longer Zhou Su controlling his body—but the remnants of the Headless General’s consciousness.After five or six steps, the stiffness vanished. His movements grew smooth.Zhou Su could no longer perceive the outside world. He had fallen fully into a long, long dream.In that dream, he became the Headless White General—encountering countless foes. He swung his blade over and over, using the slaughtering techniques of a lifetime to dismember each enemy.He exulted in killing, intoxicated by the art of slaughter.Under the iron-gray heavens, “Zhou Su” gazed at the endless tide of yaksha ghosts with joy on his face—as if they were not terrifying monsters but toys meant to entertain him.A barrage of yaksha ghosts slashed down, the dense net of blades closing over “Zhou Su,” about to tear him apart—when he suddenly moved. His body twisted into an impossible angle, squeezing through the blade-net.That one motion alone revealed terrifying mastery over his body—and flawless control over timing.Black blade-light erupted. Tang Dao: Ghost Hong danced like a swift swallow darting through the night.Armor split open. Bone beneath shattered. The blade was unimaginably sharp.“Zhou Su” passed through the yaksha ghost. A moment later, its head flew upward, and when it fell, the light faded from its eyes.A mad grin twisted “Zhou Su’s” face. He swung his blade like a demon, tearing yaksha ghosts apart in arcs of steel.Not even the Headless White General could have imagined this outcome.Logically, the General’s shadow should not have attacked yaksha ghosts—they were kin.But while devouring Zhou Su’s soul, the shadow had been influenced by him. Possession was a two-way process.Normally it wouldn’t matter—but Zhou Su was fusing with Tang Dao: Ghost Hong, overwhelmed by a torrent of killing intent… and that killing intent naturally influenced the shadow as well.If the Headless White General himself were present, this wouldn’t happen.But this was only a fragment of his consciousness—cut off from his true power by the Blood Moon.Suddenly, several black cracks tore across the iron-gray sky, as though an invisible claw had raked it.The entire space trembled, destabilizing. Earthquakes rippled through it—because too many yaksha ghosts had been slain. With their source destroyed, the cage holding Zhou Su was no longer indestructible.But Zhou Su’s soul was on the verge of being swallowed. Thick shadow engulfed him—rising from his feet to his shoulders, leaving only his head.The shadow crept upward, staining his neck, covering his chin…Just as it prepared to spread further—radiant light burst out.It came from the Heart-Clearing Jade Pendant held in Zhou Su’s mouth.This was Zhou Su’s final line of defense. He didn’t need to activate it—the pendant reacted on its own, resisting the shadow’s invasion.Light surged. The shadow could no longer advance.The Headless General’s shadow roared silently, shadows boiling like ink-black waves.The pendant blazed brighter, a lone rock in a storm-tossed sea.The two forces clashed—deadlocked. But the pendant’s energy drained rapidly; it wouldn’t last long.At that moment, the circling ravens tilted their heads upward in unison and screamed—sharp cries like thunder.The next second, the ravens dissolved like foam under sunlight.The shadow controlling Zhou Su’s body felt a sudden tremor in the right hand. Tang Dao: Ghost Hong slipped from its grasp.An impossible event. A peerless blade-master like the Headless General could never lose hold of his own weapon.More importantly—as the blade’s rightful owner, he felt the sword reject him.The crimson book appeared above Zhou Su’s head. The page belonging to Tang Dao: Ghost Hong erupted with dazzling light.Fusion successful.This was the power of the crimson book. Once fusion succeeded, the material became entirely Zhou Su’s.The blood-red in Zhou Su’s pupils faded swiftly. With the killing intent no longer overwhelming him, clarity returned in an instant.The moment his consciousness returned, the shadow’s possession collapsed. Under the combined pressure of his restored mind and the jade pendant, it could not complete soul devouring.The shadow retreated rapidly—falling back from neck to chest, to legs… until finally, it was forced entirely out of his body.Zhou Su regained control. But instead of relief, his expression grew even more grim.He looked around.The yaksha ghosts, blades raised, were swelling toward him from every direction.

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