Although the demon ghost Aragawa no Aruji was immensely powerful, the might of heavenly lightning was not something any creature could casually withstand.
Above the water's surface, a remnant soul gazed blankly at the scene. This soul was all that remained of Aragawa no Aruji.
As a demon ghost with a thousand years of cultivation, its soul energy was incredibly potent. Even with its physical body destroyed, it had survived in the form of a soul!
Aragawa no Aruji found it unbelievable. Even Abe no Seimei, the most powerful onmyoji of Wa Country in his time, had not been capable of destroying his physical body, only sealing him within this ghostly realm barrier.
Yet now, his body was destroyed. What kind of monster was this? How had he achieved it?
"You regret it. I can only say, you brought this upon yourself!"
A message suddenly echoed in its mind. Aragawa no Aruji looked at Ling Tian in surprise.
"You... you can see me!"
"Naturally. Not only can I see you, but I can also eliminate you!"
"Don't boast. Although my physical body is destroyed, my soul is still incredibly powerful. Given enough time, I will surely reconstruct my body!"
"And do you think I will give you the time to reconstruct your body?"
Ling Tian looked at Aragawa no Aruji's remnant soul with amusement. Ling Tian was now certain that the entity before him was quite foolish.
"Mortal, I admit you are very powerful, but you cannot kill me. My divine soul is not so easily extinguished."
"Stop boasting. Oh, by the way, there's something I think I should tell you. There was a fellow named Ibaraki who once thought just like you, but now, he has been utterly annihilated!"
"What? That's impossible!"
As a demon ghost from the same era, Aragawa no Aruji naturally knew how formidable Ibaraki Dōji was.
But he could never have imagined that the arrogant fellow was dead. This was something even Seimei hadn't accomplished back then!
"You, who exactly are you!"
"I am from Huaxia. Oh, you might not understand that. Let me put it another way, I am from the prosperous Tang Dynasty!"
"Prosperous Tang Dynasty!"
Aragawa no Aruji's remnant soul's pupils contracted sharply. The words "Prosperous Tang Dynasty" undoubtedly carried immense weight. This was the foremost powerful nation from a thousand years ago!
Not only in the martial arts and onmyodo circles of Wa Country, but even in the demon realm of Wa Country, they knew of the terrifyingly monstrous individuals from the nation to the west!
"What happened today can be considered self-inflicted. I was inexplicably teleported here, and then your monsters, without any regard for right or wrong, attacked me!
They deserved to be killed!"
"You wait, I will have my revenge!"
As the remnant soul of Aragawa no Aruji spoke, it prepared to dive into the water. Its true form was a water spirit, and in the water, it could absorb energy more effectively. Then, it would find an opportunity to acquire a new body.
However, before it could reach the water's surface, Ling Tian casually threw out several talismans.
These talismans quickly bound the remnant soul of Aragawa no Aruji, rendering it immobile for the moment!
"Heh heh, with these few scraps of paper, you think you can make me surrender? This is too laughable..."
The remnant soul of Aragawa no Aruji spoke, unleashing its vast soul power to impact the temporary formation formed by these talismans.
Indeed, the formation shook precariously under the impact, and the light from the talismans gradually dimmed.
As the remnant soul was on the verge of breaking free, Ling Tian remained unhurried, even revealing a smile. He didn't expect these talismans to trap Aragawa no Aruji's remnant soul; he merely needed them to buy a little time!
Just as Aragawa no Aruji's remnant soul struggled, a peculiarly shaped furnace suddenly appeared in mid-air. The material of this furnace was indiscernible, and it stood about two meters tall.
On this furnace were inscribed several characters: Soul Refining Furnace!
With a flicker of Ling Tian's thought, the lid of the Soul Refining Furnace suddenly opened, and a powerful suction emanated from within.
Instantly, the talismans that had been restraining Aragawa no Aruji's soul scattered. Following that, the suction unceremoniously pulled Aragawa no Aruji's soul into the Soul Refining Furnace, and the lid was sealed shut!
Ling Tian could even clearly hear the remnant soul's screams from within the furnace!
Ling Tian stood on the water's surface, now completely at ease. After the bombardment of heavenly lightning, it was unlikely that any other creatures could exist above or below the water.
However, there was still a crucial problem: how to leave this damned place. Ling Tian took out his compass and searched in all directions. Soon, Ling Tian discovered that the core of the formation was actually underwater!
Thus, Ling Tian once again employed the Dragon Soaring Technique and plunged into the water...
Several hours later, Ling Tian arrived at his destination, an underwater forest located hundreds of meters below the water's surface.
Amidst the dense aquatic plants stood dozens of stone pillars, each about two meters tall and entirely crafted from obsidian!
Ling Tian directly summoned the Ice Soul Giant Bear at the bottom of the sea. A blue halo immediately erupted from the Ice Soul Giant Bear, and soon, this forest of stone pillars was frozen into a massive block of ice.
Next, Ling Tian summoned the Fire Spirits, melting the ice in the area where the stone pillars were located. Following that, these Fire Spirits began to release flames, scorching the bases of the obsidian pillars.
This was truly a dual experience of ice and fire. The sudden temperature change was something ingredients feared the most. Soon, the bases of the obsidian pillars began to crack. Ling Tian, without hesitation, collected these stone pillars into his Spirit Realm space...
In the White Fox Palace, Abe no Daishi's eyelids twitched incessantly. He seemed to have a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
Suddenly, he felt a significant change in the formation disk in his hand. Abe no Daishi quickly injected his spiritual power into the disk, only to discover that more than half of the energy stored within the ghostly realm barrier had been consumed!
This was not entirely unexpected. The spell cast by Aragawa no Aruji had consumed a large amount of heavenly and earthly power, which the ghostly realm barrier had accumulated over a thousand years.
Subsequently, Ling Tian used the Lightning Summoning Formation to draw down heavenly lightning, and the energy used for this lightning was precisely the energy from this formation!
Perhaps Ling Tian's formation was too ruthless, drawing too much energy at once, causing the energy reserves of the ghostly realm barrier to plummet to their lowest point!
Although Abe no Daishi held the formation disk, he could only perceive the general situation within the ghostly realm barrier. He still had no clear understanding of what had actually happened.
The water marsh where Ling Tian had been thrown into the ghostly realm barrier was intended for Aragawa no Aruji to eliminate Ling Tian.
But now, the anomalous situation of the formation disk indicated that something had likely gone wrong, something major!