Chapter 162: The Old Ghost of Shanyin

"Momo, do you know what is going on here?"
"Hmm, I don't know either. But... it looks amazing!"
The flower soul of the black flower orbited around Jiang Yan, her voice overflowing with undisguised excitement.
Was she really that powerful?
Hmph, those stinking crows deserved it!
"..."
Faced with the black flower's bewilderment, Jiang Yan lowered his gaze to his own body, which was wrapped as tightly as a traditional rice dumpling, and a sense of surrealism welled up within him.
"If it doesn't re-enter the vessel soon, we will miss the auspicious hour," the man in black reminded him in a timely manner.
The man in white added, "Jiang Yan, we still need to return and report on our mission. Please make your soul return to its rightful place immediately."
"Understood," Jiang Yan agreed with a nod.
Wasn't it just soul reunification?
He, Long Aotian himself, was no coward!
Jiang Yan's figure drifted slowly toward the body awaiting him, but just as he was about to pass through those black vines, a powerful surge of black mist suddenly repelled him.
A sharp and evil-laden voice pierced the sky:
"Hahaha, brat, your physical body belongs to me, the Shanyin Old Ghost, now! You had better crawl back to the Underworld obediently."
Jiang Yan watched as the gale-like black mist swept toward him.
The man in black's expression sank. "Oh no, it's the Shanyin Old Ghost!"
Without time for lengthy explanations, the man in black and the man in white immediately cast a secret Underworld technique—the Soul-Binding Art.
Their figures, one black and one white, intertwined like yin and yang as they launched a fierce assault on the Shanyin Old Ghost.
"Hahaha..."
The Shanyin Old Ghost's laughter was shrill and grating, resembling the cry of a night owl. With a flick of his figure, he nimbly dodged the joint attack of the man in black and the man in white.
Jiang Yan had no time to spare for distractions; he had to concentrate and make another attempt to return his soul to his body.
Yet how could the Shanyin Old Ghost let Jiang Yan succeed?
He unexpectedly released another stream of black mist to attack Jiang Yan once more.
"You disgusting wretch, do you really think my, Jiang Yan's, body is something you can just seize at will?"
Jiang Yan's fury burned within his chest. A pair of massive black wings suddenly unfurled behind him, making him look like a demon god descending from hell. He lunged fearlessly toward the Shanyin Old Ghost.
If such an entity that coveted his body was not eradicated, there was no telling when it might actually succeed!
Since both were existences of soul form, the black vines released by Jiang Yan could naturally reach and harm the Shanyin Old Ghost's soul body.
Countless slender vines erupted from his palms, as flexible and swift as poisonous snakes as they fiercely stabbed at the Shanyin Old Ghost.
The Shanyin Old Ghost, seeing the attack approach, drifted his soul body with agility, effortlessly evading Jiang Yan's strike.
Jiang Yan felt the Shanyin Old Ghost's voice echoing in his ears like a demonic incantation, reverberating endlessly.
"Brat, your body is innately suited for cultivating the demonic path."
"I was once the invincible Demon Lord of this world. Hahaha, hand your body over to me!"
"As long as I possess your vessel, I can return to my peak and become the Demon Lord once more!"
"No, I want even more. I will ascend to the God Realm and become a Demon God, ahahaha!"
The Shanyin Old Ghost's voice was like a persistent, buzzing fly, driving Jiang Yan to the point of utter exasperation—he wished nothing more than to slap him into annihilation with a single strike.
Jiang Yan deduced in his heart that the Shanyin Old Ghost was temporarily unable to occupy his body; otherwise, he would have entered it long ago and would not need to drag things out until now.
That being the case, he had to seize the opportunity to return to his own body as quickly as possible.
"Man in black, man in white, please stall this Shanyin Old Ghost for me."
Before his voice had even faded, Jiang Yan transformed into a stream of light, speeding rapidly toward his own body.
However, at the very moment he was about to succeed, the Shanyin Old Ghost abruptly materialized beside him, an iron-pincer-like hand clamping tightly around Jiang Yan's throat.
"Hahaha, I've just thought of a good method. If I absorb you, won't your body instantly accept me?"
"Ahahaha..."
A greedy light gleamed in the Shanyin Old Ghost's eyes as his right hand gathered thick black mist and launched a fierce assault on Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan's soul was entangled by the black mist, and he could feel those dark vapors attempting to control him, to dominate him...
"You... don't even dream of it!!"
[Jiang Yan, hold on!]
The vines within Jiang Yan's palms stabbed toward the Shanyin Old Ghost with lightning speed.
Due to the close proximity and his own carelessness, the Shanyin Old Ghost was struck squarely by the vines.
"I underestimated you after all..."
The Shanyin Old Ghost forcefully yanked out the vines, and in his fury, tightened his grip around Jiang Yan's neck even further.
"Not good, Jiang Yan's soul is destabilizing."
Sensing that the situation was turning perilous, the man in black and the man in white joined forces to attack the Shanyin Old Ghost.
Cunningly, the Shanyin Old Ghost shifted while carrying Jiang Yan, simultaneously releasing black mist designed to mislead the man in black and the man in white.
He let out a mocking laugh. "Hahaha, I never knew your Underworld had become so fond of meddling in other people's business."
"Shanyin Old Ghost, you should have come to the Underworld to face punishment long ago, but you've managed to escape every time. This time, there is no way you're getting away!"
The man in black angrily attacked the Shanyin Old Ghost.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan was remarkably calm. What he was currently doing was a astonishing feat—absorbing the Shanyin Old Ghost's power.
[Jiang Yan, I am ready.]
"Alright, Momo."
With those words, countless vines shot forth from Jiang Yan's palms, hurtling toward the Shanyin Old Ghost like a torrential downpour.
These vines contained Jiang Yan's soul power, every single one carrying lethal potency.
The Shanyin Old Ghost had grown careless; he never expected Jiang Yan to launch a counterattack while in such an inferior position.
The vines pierced through his black mist defense like sharp arrows, stabbing directly into his soul body.
"How is this possible?!"
Shocked and angered, the Shanyin Old Ghost watched as his soul body began to twist unstably.
Jiang Yan's vines were not merely meant to deal with the Shanyin Old Ghost; they wove themselves into a giant net in mid-air, trapping the Shanyin Old Ghost securely in the center.
Black light surged along the vines—that was the power Jiang Yan was absorbing from the Shanyin Old Ghost.
"The voice I heard on the cliff, was that made by you?"
Jiang Yan interrogated him like a supreme judge.
"And those broken chains, was that your doing as well?"
Jiang Yan understood in his heart that this Shanyin Old Ghost had likely targeted him from the very first step he took into the Land of Evil Ancestors.
"Hahaha, so what if it was? What if it wasn't?"
The Shanyin Old Ghost laughed arrogantly, not a trace of fear in his eyes, seemingly entirely unconcerned by Jiang Yan's questioning.
"You deserve to die!"
Jiang Yan's gaze turned chillingly cold, and the speed at which the vines absorbed power accelerated even further.
Countless streams of black mist poured into Jiang Yan's soul body like a tidal wave, causing his power to steadily grow.
"Demonic... demonic qi! Jiang Yan has absorbed demonic qi!"
The man in white stared at the scene in utter disbelief.
"He probably absorbed demonic qi long ago."
The man in black looked thoughtful, believing that the black vines Jiang Yan wielded were far from simple.
Moreover, those black vines enveloping Jiang Yan's physical body...
That flower soul did not look like the product of the righteous path.
However, righteous or evil, none of that mattered to the Underworld.