30. Ghost Soldiers Passing Through

As Lin Fan took another step, a sudden "Hum!" resonated through the chamber, and hundreds of night-pearls lit up. Lin Fan was struck by a mind-bending sight: there were no pearls here at all. The purple glow was, in fact, pairs of eyes.

If the purple lights hadn't converged together, Lin Fan would have surely mistaken them for night-pearls.

"What kind of monsters are these?"

By the dim, ghostly light, he finally saw them clearly. They were humanoid spirits clad in ancient, mysterious armor, gathered together like an army of old. Beside each spirit stood a spectral camel.

"Ghost soldiers!"

The term flashed into his mind. Were these the same ghost soldiers Chu Yucheng had seen? They were indeed terrifying; imagine walking through the darkness and suddenly finding yourself stared at by a legion of spirits.

"Gulp!"

Lin Fan swallowed hard, his hair standing on end. The sixth floor was not large—had Qi Lingshan wandered into the middle of this ghostly troop? It was entirely possible.

He moved with extreme caution, terrified of provoking the legion. As he shifted, the ghostly blue eyes of the soldiers tracked his every movement.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers blocked his path. Its face was a featureless blur that seemed to meld with the surrounding darkness. The soldier raised a pitch-black spear and thrust it toward him. Lin Fan was caught off guard and raised his sword to parry. *Clang!* The force was immense, and in an instant, Lin Fan was sent flying backward.

*Swish, swish, swish!*

As if a trigger had been pulled, the hundreds of soldiers mobilized. They brandished their weapons—three-meter-long, ink-black spears—creating a deafening roar of wind as they swung. Panicked, Lin Fan unleashed his "Sword-Song Heavenly Drum." Sword qi surged like the breaking dawn, pushing back the soldiers to his left as he leapt out of the encirclement.

Being surrounded by a squadron of camel-riding ghosts was enough to make anyone panic, but fortunately, his training over the past night had significantly bolstered his strength.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

As Lin Fan parried blow after blow, he scanned his surroundings. Suddenly, catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, he cried out in alarm, "Senior!"

Not far away, Qi Lingshan lay slumped against the wall in her sportswear, appearing unconscious and unresponsive. As a mortal, the consequences of her body absorbing the intense yin energy of this place for an entire night were dire.

"Damn it!"

Lin Fan’s heart burned with anxiety. He poured his primordial energy into the Pure Yang Sword without reserve. The blade let out a cry like a phoenix soaring to the heavens, its brilliant light rising like a full moon over a lake. He swung it in a sweeping arc, carving a crescent of light through the air.

*Boom!*

Three soldiers, along with their camels, were vaporized in a single strike. Their spirit-forms dissipated like smoke. Because Qi Lingshan was deep within the palace, Lin Fan knew that to save her, he would have to find a way to eradicate all hundred soldiers.

*Clatter, clatter!*

Suddenly, the soldiers surrounding Lin Fan retreated like a receding tide. A hulking figure emerged in the palace—a giant in silver-white armor riding a camel, clearly the commander of these spectral troops. As he appeared, the ghost soldiers stood at attention. The camel leapt forward, and the commander swung his spear like a dragon rising from the sea or a mountain tiger pouncing from a ravine. A terrifying, icy wind howled, within which seemed to lurk the screams of a hundred savage ghosts.

With his arrival, the temperature plummeted drastically.

The commander’s simple, unadorned spear thrust easily knocked Lin Fan aside. The force behind it was overwhelming, imbued with the momentum of a thunderbolt; compared to it, Lin Fan’s strength felt like that of a child against an adult.

"Yu Nanfei, I do not slay the nameless!"

The giant’s words were like thunder, echoing in his ears. The ancient syllables traveled into Lin Fan’s mind, which automatically translated them.

"So his name is Yu Nanfei... This terrifying power—we are on completely different levels." Lin Fan gasped. He didn't know how he understood the ancient language, but the information simply manifested in his brain.

After taking that blow, his entire body felt as if it were falling apart. If he hadn't opened three silver meridians, that single strike would have killed him.

Should he flee? But what about Qi Lingshan? He would not abandon her, just as she had not abandoned him when he was unconscious.

*Hum!*

As he pondered, Yu Nanfei charged again. This thrust was faster and more powerful, seemingly capable of shattering mountains and defying rivers; the sheer terror of it was chilling.

"I have no choice but to blood-sacrifice the Pure Yang Sword..."

Just as Lin Fan prepared to execute the ritual, Yu Nanfei suddenly veered his spear, executing a backhanded strike toward his right. Even the subtle movements of his spear carried horrific destructive power. *Boom!* Everything in its path—walls, ancient timber—was pulverized into dust.

Lin Fan was stunned. The deafening roar echoed in his ears, underscoring the magnitude of the power.

Turning his head, Lin Fan saw a woman standing at the entrance of the sixth floor. She was barefoot, dressed in a vibrant red wedding gown. In just one night, the skeleton he had encountered had grown flesh and blood.

Flesh from bone?

Her eyes were like two pools of clear spring water, her eyebrows long and willow-like. Her skin radiated an ethereal, jade-like luster, making her look like a celestial being walking the earth. Yet, Lin Fan felt no appreciation, only profound dread.

"It’s her! How did she get out of the Stele Forest?"

Lin Fan couldn't help but exclaim. The woman in the wedding dress was the humanoid skeleton he had encountered when he retrieved the sword. He could recognize that scarlet dress even if it were reduced to ashes.

Unlike the first time he saw her, she had grown flesh. When they first met, she was nothing but a pile of bones, yet somehow, she had suddenly come back to life. Perhaps it was this flesh that allowed her to leave the Stele Forest. No one knew what the Stele Forest truly was.

Lin Fan only knew that the woman was terrifying. If he hadn't activated the Pure Yang Sword, he wouldn't have survived.

Facing Yu Nanfei’s spear, the woman didn't dodge. A ghostly wind swirled around her, her robes fluttering. Her long black hair suddenly whipped out, coiling around the spear and halting its advance.

"Yu Nanfei, you haven't perished yet?"

The woman’s icy voice rang out. As she spoke, she moved, suddenly appearing before Yu Nanfei and striking at his head with her palm.

"Yuan Lingyu, dressing up in this ghostly fashion—are you trying to resurrect yourself through the 'Earthen Dawn'? It’s a pity your symbiosis ritual was only one-third complete." Yu Nanfei tilted his head to dodge, his spear vibrating to shatter the strands of hair before he lunged at her again.

They seemed to be old acquaintances, and every move was a killing blow.

Yu Nanfei’s spear came crashing down like a golden dragon emerging from the sea, its pressure suffocating. To his surprise, the woman made no move to evade. She simply reached out and caught the spear with a single hand. Her palm movements were complex and illusory, leaving endless afterimages. *Bang!* Yu Nanfei was pushed back several paces.

"Aren't you the same? Neither human nor ghost, skulking about in these 'Ghost Camel Bells' just to eke out an existence?" The woman’s voice was filled with disdain. She added, "When you were alive, your strength was not even one-third of mine; death has changed nothing."

"I never imagined you would actually find a way to resurrect. But let's see if you can hold off the Ghost Camel Army!" As Yu Nanfei’s voice fell, the ghost soldiers swarmed, surrounding the woman.

Lin Fan seized the opportunity instantly. Without a second thought, he scooped up Qi Lingshan and ran toward the exit. It was his only chance. He had prepared to fight Yu Nanfei to the death, but with the appearance of the woman in the wedding dress, it was truly a heaven-sent opportunity.

Suddenly, in a hollow of the palace wall, he spotted a uniquely shaped bell. Its patterns were strikingly similar to those on Yu Nanfei’s armor.

"This must be the 'Ghost Camel Bell' she mentioned!"