Chapter 32: Tactical Coordination
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“No good! Spirit possession is completely useless!” Kuang Lian was drenched in sweat. “The ghosts possessing me are sent flying with a single slash from her!”
“Can any of you help me?” Kuang Lian looked around. There were still plenty of powerful ghosts beside him...
Wait. Where were the ghosts?
Kuang Lian realized that every one of those faithless creatures had fled.
How was a Soul Refining Sect cultivator supposed to fight without any souls?
Watching the terrifying Jiang Baiqiu approach step by step, Kuang Lian clenched his teeth and tightened his fists.
That was right. Why should a Foundation Establishment cultivator be afraid?
So what if he had no ghosts to aid him? What was there to fear? Although the Soul Refining Sect did not place much emphasis on tempering the physical body, he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even without using spiritual power, defeating a mere Qi Refining cultivator should be effortless!
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid...” Kuang Lian muttered to himself.
“Are you hypnotizing yourself over there?”
A voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. Kuang Lian turned toward it and saw a young man, with two strange girls following behind him.
These people were together!
“You... you’re planning to force your way in?” Kuang Lian stared at the four menacing-looking intruders.
Changing his previous attitude, Qin Xi tried force before courtesy. “...No. If you stamp our papers for us, of course we won’t have to fight you.”
“Heh. We’ve already fought our way this far. Do you really think I’m going to stamp anything for you?”
Qin Xi tried courtesy after force, then returned to force. “Then don’t blame this humble student for no longer holding back! A-Ling, go beat him up!”
The instant he finished speaking, a blurred figure shot out from behind Qin Xi. Even the eyesight of a Foundation Establishment cultivator could not easily keep up with it.
“What kind of expert is this now?”
Kuang Lian felt numb with disbelief. Just moments ago, that Qi Refining girl had slapped his possessing ghost away. And now this Qi Refining body cultivator was moving so quickly that even he could not follow her?
He instinctively raised his arms to block, but Soul Refining Sect practitioners relied far too heavily on the power of ghosts in their daily lives. They had badly neglected physical training, creating a stark contrast with body cultivators who had tempered themselves through countless trials.
“Bang!”
Their fists collided. With an explosive crack, Kuang Lian was sent flying backward, unable to gain even the slightest advantage.
They were all monsters!
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“No... At this rate, I’ll lose sooner or later!”
Kuang Lian steeled himself and bit down hard on the web between his thumb and forefinger. Bright red blood welled from the wound.
As the drops scattered through the air, a strange force surged around them, causing the blood to twist and transform.
“Five Ghosts Transporting!”
Although most of the Soul Refining Sect’s ghost handlers got along well with their ghosts and could order them about freely, there were always times when the ghosts refused to obey for one reason or another. When that happened, a ghost handler facing an opponent of the same level would be placed at a tremendous disadvantage. Naturally, that was unacceptable.
That was why the Soul Refining Sect had become a sacred ground for ghost handlers: it possessed methods of forcibly controlling ghosts.
And now, Kuang Lian was using one of them.
The ghosts that had fled earlier were summoned back and once again possessed Kuang Lian. This time, the ghosts were not free of fear, but under pressure from his methods, they were forced to carry out his orders.
Next, Kuang Lian traced several symbols in the air. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood.
An invisibility spell!
Jiang Baiqiu could see through a ghost’s invisibility, but an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator’s concealment technique was beyond the current Qi Refining Jiang Baiqiu’s ability to penetrate.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack...
That was hardly good news.
Qin Xi frowned and glanced at the place where Kuang Lian had disappeared. Then inspiration struck.
“Bu Weiwei, calculate which direction he’s in now.”
“Okay!”
The compass in Bu Weiwei’s hands began to turn. She murmured, “The Twenty-Four Mountains!”
“Ren Mountain with Bing aligned to Zi... Xin-Hai facing Xin, gold division; seated at eleven and a half degrees in the Dangers Mansion, facing fourteen degrees in the Bow Mansion. Yang Water Robbery Formation.”
After seeing the result, Bu Weiwei swept her eyes around the area. She then confirmed the direction.
“He’s to the north-northwest!”
Qin Xi gave her a thumbs-up, then instructed, “Good. A-Ling, guard our south-southeast!”
“Didn’t I say north-northwest?!” Bu Weiwei grew frantic.
Hearing this, A-Ling looked bewildered and began to waver. Whose instructions was she supposed to follow?
“Don’t listen to her. Her calculations are always reversed. Just take everything she says as the opposite.”
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“Who said that...? My calculations are obviously, obviously very accurate...” Bu Weiwei lowered her head, looking aggrieved. “You’re insulting my profession!”
“...No. In a certain sense, your calculations really are accurate.” Qin Xi could only try to soothe her. “Besides, isn’t this a good thing? As long as people can decode your predictions by taking the opposite meaning, you’ll be the greatest diviner under Heaven.”
After hesitating for a moment, A-Ling drew an arc in front of herself with her left leg. She then stomped heavily toward the south-southeast, sending dust soaring into the sky.
Yet within the cloud of dust was a transparent, human-shaped hollow.
That had to be where he was!
A-Ling took another step forward, uniting her waist and legs as she twisted her torso and drove out her fist. It struck the hollow squarely.
“Bang!”
“Ah!”
The punch dispelled Kuang Lian’s invisibility spell outright. He spun seven hundred and twenty degrees through the air before crashing heavily to the ground like a flying vessel plummeting from the sky.
But a Foundation Establishment cultivator was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even after taking such a vicious blow, he had not lost his ability to fight. Supporting himself with one hand, he slowly rose and began considering how he could win.
First, he absolutely could not fight that body cultivator head-on. A ghost handler’s body and a body cultivator’s body were polar opposites. Even with a difference of an entire realm between them, physical contact was best avoided whenever possible.
As for that little fortune-teller... So far, she had shown no clear combat ability. All she could do was determine his position, so he could leave her alone for the time being.
And that white-haired girl...
Just thinking about her made Kuang Lian uneasy. Jiang Baiqiu’s righteous qi had left him traumatized, and instinctively, he did not want to deal with her first.
That left only one person.
The young man!
Kuang Lian fixed his gaze on Qin Xi. All the fighting so far had been directed by that young man, and he appeared to be the core of the group as well. If Kuang Lian could eliminate him quickly, the remaining three would probably become headless flies, and their threat would be greatly reduced.
Kuang Lian was very pleased with this strategy. He vanished once more and charged toward Qin Xi in a single burst of speed.
Qin Xi immediately sensed that something was wrong, but it was already too late. How could a mere Qi Refining cultivator withstand the full-force attack of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Seeing the panic on Qin Xi’s face, Kuang Lian could not help smiling in triumph. Even if all four Qi Refining cultivators possessed extraordinary abilities and were bizarre beyond belief, the gap between their realms was ultimately far too great. It was only natural that they would fall before him.
But just as his hand was about to seize Qin Xi, a blinding white light suddenly burst from Qin Xi’s body!
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