The Blood Moon vanished. Sunlight returned to the world.It was sunset now. Golden light spilled from the horizon, gilding the entire Lotus Forest Park in a sheen of gold leaf.Figures appeared abruptly across the park, collapsing onto the grass and gasping for air, their faces bright with the joy of survival.Chen Zhengkai, unlike the others, did not relax. For some reason, an uneasy feeling lingered in his chest.“Zhou Su won’t be in trouble, right?”He began orienting himself. The General’s Residence had vanished, but the general direction remained the same.After sprinting for several minutes, he caught sight of Gu Zhiyuan. He recognized her at once—Zhou Su’s wealthy friend, whom he’d once teased him about.There was no time to question why she was here. All he wanted now was to find Zhou Su.A thick flowerbed blocked his view. When he crossed it, he froze as if struck by lightning, his whole body trembling before collapsing to the ground.“Zhou Su!” Chen Zhengkai’s voice tore through the air in a raw, broken scream.Zhou Su lay beneath the flowerbed, motionless, eyes wide open.“How… how could this be?” Chen Zhengkai muttered, disbelief written across his face.Tears welled up—but before they could fall, Gu Zhiyuan’s calm voice cut through.“He’s not dead.”“Wha—” Chen Zhengkai’s breath hitched, the sob choking in his throat. He almost couldn’t draw his next breath.Ignoring the pain in his throat, he scrambled over to Zhou Su, pressing his fingers against the side of his neck. A steady pulse beat beneath the skin.“Scared me half to death!” Chen Zhengkai slumped down, soaked in cold sweat. In mere seconds his back was drenched.He tried to lift Zhou Su, but the instant his hands touched him, he shuddered violently.Zhou Su’s body was ice-cold, like a sculpture carved from frozen stone. If not for his breathing and heartbeat, Chen might have thought he’d just been carried out of a morgue.“What’s wrong with him?” Chen Zhengkai had never encountered anything like this.Gu Zhiyuan shook her head. She didn’t know either, but suspected it was tied to some malevolent spirit—no ordinary illness could cause something this strange.“I’ve already called an ambulance. Let’s carry him to the park gate first.”She had planned to pay someone to help, but with Chen Zhengkai here, there was no need.⋯⋯Zhou Su slowly opened his eyes. Above him stretched an iron-gray sky, with blood-colored rain drizzling down. The scorched ground below was stained red.“Where is this?” His temples throbbed dully. After a few moments, the memory returned.He had activated God’s Theft against the Headless White General, and the retaliation had struck him.“Did I die? Is this hell?”The thought barely formed when the crimson book appeared before him, shedding a faint light that illuminated his eyes.Understanding rose in his mind—this wasn’t hell.This was his spirit sea.The very thing he had tried and failed to sense during Dusk Power cultivation—now he was standing inside it by sheer accident.“But why… why does my spirit sea look like this?”Everywhere he turned, malice pressed in. The air felt viscous, foul, reeking of rot.Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his shadow—and a chill shot up from the base of his spine.The figure on the ground wasn’t his. It was massive, armored, and headless.The Headless White General’s shadow.He instantly understood why his inner world had become a nightmare. It was the General’s final attack.That last strike had been a spiritual invasion—a soul possession attempt.The nature of such an attack was to plunge one’s own consciousness into another’s spirit sea, then crush the target’s soul through sheer spiritual might.Under normal circumstances, Zhou would have been doomed.But the three White Tiger Amulets had intercepted that fatal instant, and as the Blood Moon vanished, the General’s power had been severed—leaving Zhou barely alive.Yet his soul was now trapped inside this mental realm, unable to leave.“Seriously? He defied the Blood Moon’s dispel just to kill me? What kind of grudge is that?” Zhou muttered, frustrated.Still, another thought gnawed at him: What exactly did I steal that made him this furious?The crimson book flipped open. The words that appeared made his eyes widen in shock.【God’s Theft activated. You have successfully stolen “Tang Dao: Ghost Hong (Green-Mythical — Upgradable).”】【Tang Dao: Ghost Hong — A long blade forged from heavenly ore by Emperor Hong of the Ghost Nation. Said to devour souls and possess infinite potential for growth.】【You may choose: “Fuse” / “Recycle.”】【Fusion Effect: Tang Dao: Ghost Hong is a physical weapon bearing three abilities—“Soul Devour,” “Spirit Radiance,” and “Emperor Hong.” Successful fusion unlocks all abilities.】【Fusion Defect: Warning! If the wielder’s soul is not recognized by Emperor Hong, forced fusion will result in extreme spiritual contamination.】【Recycle Value: 9,999 Dusk Crystals.】The long string of digits made Zhou’s vision blur. Nearly ten thousand Dusk Crystals!If he sold it now, he’d be rich instantly.But he wasn’t that stupid. The blade’s true worth clearly far exceeded that number.Despite being only a Green-tier item, it possessed the ultra-rare trait of infinite growth.“No wonder he fought to the death.”For a moment, Zhou almost sympathized with the Headless General. Even for a being like that, such a weapon was a priceless treasure.He studied the Tang Dao’s depiction on the page, eyes glinting with excitement—until the sound of heavy footsteps froze his expression.A dark silhouette emerged within his field of vision, armored head to toe in pitch-black steel. Blood rain struck its surface and rose as a steaming red mist.Two ghostly lights glowed within the helmet—its eyes.Those lights illuminated a hideous, skinless face of blue-iron bone, like a yaksha demon out of hell.The footsteps multiplied—three, five, a tide of them. Countless yaksha ghosts charged at once, a black torrent surging toward him.Zhou’s face drained of color. He had known the General’s attack wouldn’t be that simple.If the intent was to kill him, how could it end with just a shadow?He turned to # Nоvеlight # flee—but the yaksha ghosts were far faster. In seconds they overtook him, blades weaving a dense net of death.Cold. Tremor.Zhou opened his eyes again—to find himself still under that iron-gray sky. He had resurrected.This was, after all, his own spirit sea. Here, death did not exist. As long as his soul power endured, he could revive endlessly.In other words, once his soul power was exhausted, he would truly die.But Zhou doubted he’d last that long.Looking down, he saw shadows spreading over his feet. The Headless General’s silhouette was growing more vivid, more alive.He realized the General’s intent—it was a twofold plan.If he could kill Zhou outright and reclaim the Tang Dao: Ghost Hong, perfect.If not, he would use the lingering spiritual contamination to erode Zhou bit by bit, until full possession was achieved.When the next Blood Moon descended and they met again, the Headless White General would easily take back the blade.This time Zhou didn’t wait for the yaksha legion to appear. He turned and ran, mind racing for a way out.The situation was critical beyond measure.Each time the yaksha ghosts killed him, another layer of his soul was tainted. Once all reason was gone, he would become nothing more than the Headless General’s puppet on strings.

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