Even in her soul state, Jia Ni could control the Shadowkhan.
A large number of ninjas filled the safe house.
"Go, kill him for me!"
Jia Ni waved her hand, and a large number of ninjas swarmed towards Bai Qi.
"Jia Ni, you're too inexperienced to play tricks on me."
A telekinetic wave sent all the charging ninjas flying back.
As it turned out, Jia Ni, knowing the Dark Lord's strength, never intended to fight head-on from the beginning. The ninjas she released were merely a distraction, her true target being the mask.
Jia Ni understood her own situation. Although unwilling to admit it, the mask was now her true form, and only by taking the mask could she have a chance at resurrection.
It was a pity, however, that Jia Ni's little scheme could not escape Bai Qi's eyes.
With a single telekinetic force, the ninja attempting to snatch the mask was pulverized.
With a gentle gesture, the mask, infused with telekinetic energy, returned to Bai Qi's hand.
Seeing that the ninjas were ineffective, Jia Ni decided to personally snatch it. However, this move would be like a sheep walking into a tiger's den.
Bai Qi moved, his entire body instantly vanishing from his spot. By the time Jia Ni reacted, he was already before her.
Then, a hand covered in the magic of the Sheep Talisman gripped Jia Ni's neck, and with the force of inertia, was pressed downwards.
*Bang!*
Jia Ni was slammed heavily onto the ground by Bai Qi. The impact caused the already strained ground to crack like a spiderweb.
It was strange, though. Jia Ni was, after all, a spirit; physical attacks should have been useless against her.
This was where the Sheep Talisman came into play.
Among the twelve talismans, the Dragon Talisman's fire, the Ox Talisman's strength, the Dog Talisman's immortality, and the Horse Talisman's rapid healing.
In comparison, the Sheep Talisman seemed much less useful.
But was that truly the case?
The twelve talismans represented the Dark Lord's original, complete power. After this power was sealed by Lo Pe, it was divided equally into twelve parts, which became the twelve talismans seen today.
Since they were all fragments of the Dark Lord's power, equally distributed, the power of the twelve talismans was equivalent in strength, merely differing in their respective domains.
The Ox Talisman's strength, when fully unleashed, could level a small mountain, but against a spirit, it might not even inflict a scratch after seven or eight years.
The Sheep Talisman, however, was different. It specifically targeted spirits.
The current scene was one of the Sheep Talisman's abilities: temporarily transforming a spirit into a physical form, rendering all physical attacks effective.
"This should be the end."
Holding Jia Ni down, Bai Qi pressed the watch dial and stuffed it into Jia Ni's mouth.
The watch dial activated, and Jia Ni vanished at a visible rate, being absorbed into the watch dial and forming it.
[Shadowkhan - Jia Ni]
Bai Qi looked at the watch dial bearing Jia Ni's likeness with great satisfaction.
He pressed a button, and with a mechanical whirring sound, Bai Qi absorbed the watch dial into his body.
In Zi-O, humans who used Another Rider watch dials would change their appearance to match the Another Rider, but this was ultimately because these individuals were too weak.
Just like now, although Bai Qi had absorbed Jia Ni's watch dial, his appearance remained unchanged.
Controlling the Shadowkhan was a unique ability of each Shadowkhan General. But in the end, Jia Ni was merely a minor Shadowkhan General. If even Tara, the leader, was no match for Bai Qi, then Jia Ni was even less so.
While absorbing one Jia Ni wouldn't significantly increase Bai Qi's power, within the Shadowkhan army, the ninja legion controlled by Jia Ni had broken free from Tara's control and become Bai Qi's pawns.
Bai Qi raised his hands slightly, and a large number of shadow ninjas appeared around him.
Unlike before, the ninjas summoned by Bai Qi now possessed greater strength, moved faster, and were more numerous. Their overall combat power had seen a huge leap compared to before.
The reason for this situation was quite simple.
The foundation of the Shadowkhan was derived from the various Shadowkhan Generals. Previously, Bai Qi had only been stealing Jia Ni's power, so the source supplying energy to the shadow ninjas was still Jia Ni, with Bai Qi playing only a supplementary role.
It was different now. Jia Ni had been absorbed into Bai Qi's body and became a part of his power. The energy source providing power to the ninjas had shifted from Jia Ni to Bai Qi.
With the addition of dark energy and demonic power, how could the ninjas' strength not increase?
Looking at the ninjas around him, Bai Qi took out the remaining four masks.
Should he turn them all into watch dials and absorb them in one go?
After considering it, Bai Qi ultimately gave up.
There was no need, or rather, it wasn't the right time.
Absorbing a single Shadowkhan General wouldn't grant Bai Qi a significant boost. If he wanted to absorb, he should absorb a big one, like all nine masks together. That would be much more satisfying.
But if he were to waste nine watch dials just for the strength of the Shadowkhan army, Bai Qi certainly wouldn't agree. Besides, he didn't have that many watch dials on hand.
However, absorbing all nine at once would be different.
After absorbing this watch dial, Bai Qi could clearly feel that Jia Ni's power alone was not enough to fill the watch dial; there was still more than half of its space unused.
In the original story, wasn't there a tenth mask used to imprison all the Shadowkhan and Shadowkhan Generals, including Tara?
When the entire Shadowkhan army was consolidated in one place and stored in a single watch dial, it would be easier to absorb and more cost-effective.
After absorbing Jia Ni, Bai Qi could not only re-enter the Shadowkhan Kingdom but also return to his own country. However, Bai Qi did not do so.
Since Tara had already been resurrected, and had even given him a friendly greeting, how could Bai Qi, who had been stealing the Shadowkhan's power for so long, not go and say hello?
Just then, the mirror beside Bai Qi reacted. After a ripple, a severely injured Afu rolled out from the mirror.
Afu was already struggling against Tara's attack. Even after being rescued by the Another Snake King and brought into the mirrored world, Afu had to exert all his effort to maintain his form to avoid disintegrating within the mirrored world. This, however, worsened his injuries.
Upon exiting the mirror, unable to bear it any longer, Afu disintegrated. The Another King Snake watch dial rolled to Bai Qi's feet.
"I seem to have warned you not to get into conflict with them."
Picking up the watch dial from the ground, Bai Qi said slowly.
Afu looked at Bai Qi with difficulty and weakly said, "I, I, I... I'm sorry, Master..."
"Forget it, forget it. You're too weak to even speak. Given that you still have some use, I'll spare your life."
The magic of the Horse Talisman activated. Afu, who moments ago was listless and felt like he was on the verge of death, his injuries instantly healed upon contact with Bai Qi's magic, and he came back to life.
"Thank you, Master..."
Bai Qi waved his hand and said, "Stop with the pleasantries. Tell me what you found out."
"Yes, Master. Tara and Fisk have indeed reached some form of cooperation."