Chapter 355: Yang Qi Blade, Breaking the Ghost and Seizing Humanity

Ye Rui followed Qi Suian’s advice and ran toward the front hall.

He would be a dead man the moment the Golden Body Ghost met the Desire Ghost.

It wasn’t a matter of choice; he simply had nowhere else to run.

Because of the observation effect, the entire temple was changing, filled with all kinds of unknown dangers.

Only the path to the front hall was safe under Qi Suian’s protection.

As he forced himself into the front hall, enduring the burning sensation in his lungs, he saw the Golden Body Ghost sitting on the platform, munching away on something.

A closer look almost made him vomit.

Although his home planet’s resources had been depleted, cannibalism had never occurred.

The Golden Body Ghost was chewing on the two survivors who had sold him out. One was now just a bisected torso, the other only a head.

It seemed their bellies had been gouged out first and their organs devoured before it started eating the rest bit by bit.

"Incense... such a fragrant scent..." The Golden Body Ghost sensed Ye Rui’s living presence and snapped its head around, a piece of an arm still dangling from the corner of its mouth.

Then, it slurped the arm into its mouth like a noodle and began to chew.

Ye Rui naturally wanted to flee, but his escape was cut off. The twisted, writhing mass of the Desire Ghost had already rolled in.

An arm reached out and grabbed his ankle. Then, more arms swarmed him from all directions, rendering him completely immobile.

In his moment of despair, Qi Suian swept past and forcibly snatched Ye Rui back with immense strength.

But before Ye Rui could even feel a moment of relief, Qi Suian twisted his head off.

His body wasn’t wasted; it was tossed directly into the Melting Furnace as fuel.

Next, Qi Suian cracked open his skull with one hand, ripped out his Yang Qi structure, and carefully stored it.

It all happened so fast that Ye Rui wasn’t completely dead yet. His eyes, full of incomprehension, were still conscious.

Qi Suian had no intention of explaining. After getting what he wanted, he crushed the brain and casually tossed the head into the Melting Furnace as well.

He processed it cleanly, leaving not a single trace behind. One could say he had utilized everything.

Meanwhile, the moment the Golden Body Ghost saw the Desire Ghost, it pounced without hesitation.

It began to tear into the Desire Ghost with wide bites.

"You betrayed me! Betrayed me!!!"

"I’ll turn you all into incense..." The Golden Body Ghost’s frantic actions, coupled with its subconscious muttering, created an air of madness.

’I was right. The Desire Ghost is a part of the Golden Body Ghost.’

’It’s like the different stages of the Hanged Ghost. They only appear as separate individuals because of differences in perception and distribution.’

"The Golden Body Ghost isn’t devouring it; it’s restoring itself," Qi Suian said softly.

The Desire Ghost was strange and had no fixed form. However, from what Ye Rui had said, it took on different shapes depending on who triggered it.

Therefore, he suspected that the so-called Desire Ghost was a unique structure evolved from the past desires of the human tied to the Golden Body Ghost, manifested through the "truth layer."

The Desire Ghost shrieked, but it had no power to resist the Golden Body Ghost. In just a few bites, it was eaten clean.

After completely consuming it, the ghost’s expression returned to one of indifference as it fixed its cold gaze on Qi Suian.

"Those wretched beasts should have died long ago." Having apparently absorbed a flood of memories, the Golden Body Ghost seemed weathered, and it no longer even feared Qi Suian.

"But those so-called wretched beasts... are you," Qi Suian said.

The Golden Body Ghost didn’t answer, merely staring at him with cold eyes.

Suddenly, Qi Suian smelled a strong, fragrant aroma.

This wasn’t the scent of a woman, but the clean fragrance of burning incense from the temple.

At the same time, Qi Suian saw a golden sheen begin to coat his feet.

It was Gold.

He was being turned into a lump of Gold.

"It’s definitely much stronger than the Hanged Ghost, but... it’s still just average," Qi Suian said with a disdainful look.

Forcing his cells to transform into Gold through a rule did indeed involve extreme pain.

But Qi Suian’s cells were the Abyssal Virus. They were incredibly resilient and enhanced by numerous boons. The Golden Body Ghost couldn’t turn him into a golden statue even if it had three days and three nights.

Even if it could, it wouldn’t be able to keep up with Qi Suian’s regenerative and self-healing abilities.

It couldn’t convert him faster than he could regenerate.

"Filthy, money-grubbing man, you deserve to die." The Golden Body Ghost also noticed how slowly its ability was taking effect. Its entire form swelled, transforming into a golden phantom.

Qi Suian unhurriedly took out a corrupted version of the "Living Organism Observation Device." Through a link, he directly transferred the opponent’s gilding ability to the device.

Golden threads slowly appeared on the woman’s head.

In his other hand, an uncorrupted version of the Living Organism Observation Device was used to draw out Yang Qi, which he shaped into a sharp edge.

"As they say, everything has its weakness." As Qi Suian’s words fell, he surged forward, empowered by one flight and two acceleration modules.

The Yang Qi Blade plunged into the Golden Body Ghost’s throat.

A flicker of joy crossed Qi Suian’s face. ’Yang Qi can indeed break through a ghost’s body of rules.’

’The principle might be that the containment effect of the structured form creates a counter. After all, the Doomsday Game intended to use Yang Qi structures to contain ghosts.’

’Of course, it can only injure, not kill.’

But Qi Suian’s goal wasn’t to kill the Golden Body Ghost anyway. He had his own plans.

The blade in Qi Suian’s hand sliced downward, only shattering when it reached the ghost’s lower abdomen.

After all, the corruption resistance that formed the Yang Qi Blade was only D-rank, so its effect was rather limited.

However, his objective was achieved.

A huge wound appeared on the Golden Body Ghost’s torso, revealing a large amount of black, gelatinous substance to Qi Suian.

It didn’t flow out, however. Instead, it remained tightly bound within the Golden Body Ghost’s body.

Meanwhile, countless golden threads appeared at the edges of the gash and began to stitch it closed.

Seeing his goal accomplished, Qi Suian naturally reached out his hand without hesitation.

He scooped all of the black, gelatinous substance into his Melting Furnace.

Not only was he fast, but he also scooped out a huge amount each time.

In less than a second, more than half of the Golden Body Ghost’s memories and emotions vanished.

At the same time, the ancient temple in the deep mountains began to collapse, forming a sort of void.

Apparently, a problem had occurred because Qi Suian was scooping everything out too quickly.

The Golden Body Ghost reacted and began to fight back. Unfortunately, it was a creature of rules, not a Rule Powerhouse that had cultivated its strength over time.

Aside from its powerful rule-based ability and indestructible rule-based body, its physical strength was perhaps its only other notable attribute.

But in front of Qi Suian, that was completely useless.

Its two-handed attack was easily blocked by Fei. Fused with the Mad Cathedral, Fei pinned down the Golden Body Ghost with one hand.

The Golden Body Ghost’s gilding ability landed on Fei, was first transferred to Qi Suian, and then Qi Suian redirected it to the corrupted "Living Organism Observation Device."

With the two of them working together, Qi Suian completely emptied the Golden Body Ghost’s body of its memories and emotions.

At the same time, the entire ancient temple shattered, and Qi Suian fell directly into the ruins of a dilapidated temple.

This was the Sealing Layer, the area where the Golden Body Ghost had been sealed.

In the ruined temple, a statue of the Golden Body Ghost stood, but it showed no reaction at all.

It was as if it had become an empty shell.

’Has it become a vegetative ghost?’ Qi Suian did a quick check and found that no matter how he stimulated it, its behavioral rules could not be triggered.

It was as if it had crashed.

’The symbiosis between humans and ghosts... it seems it isn’t a one-sided advantage for the ghosts.’

’It needs humanity to drive the operation of its rules.’

’But their humanity exists on the "truth layer," which the Exorcism Bureau of the Ziyue Dynasty has no way of accessing.’

’That’s why the ghosts are an unsolvable problem for them, leaving them with no choice but to seal them away.’

Qi Suian muttered to himself, but he didn’t throw the Golden Body Ghost into the Melting Furnace.

He had to wait until the Melting Furnace had completely burned away the Golden Body Ghost’s memories and emotions—its humanity—before putting it inside.

’With this empty shell of a Golden Body Ghost, I might be able to trade for something good from the Ziyue Dynasty.’

Don’t be fooled by how wretchedly the Ziyue Dynasty lives; that’s only when facing ghosts. In reality, their civilization itself isn’t weak.

So they definitely had some knowledge, intelligence, or even resources that he needed.

Wary of the fact that every person in the Ziyue Dynasty was accompanied by two ghosts, Qi Suian decided to try trading first. If that didn’t work, he’d just take it by force.

Their overall strength was greater than his, so naturally, Qi Suian had to be a bit more cautious.

He was all for killing, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot.

There was no need to charge headfirst into a tiger’s den.

When killing couldn’t solve the problem, Qi Suian chose another solution.

When his own force was limited, he could shamelessly switch to reasoning.

-----------------

「In the Sealing Vault.」

Yan Jingxing arrived in a hurry, leading the Sealing Hall’s Hall Master and a group of members.

"Search and see if there’s a problem with any of the ghosts’ seals. I suspect a survivor has been locked in alone with a ghost again," Yan Jingxing said, and everyone immediately sprang into action.

About half an hour later, someone found it.

"The Golden Body Ghost’s seal! There’s an anomaly inside." A member of the Sealing Hall found the clue while examining the third seal.

Yan Jingxing quickly stopped his own inspection and took the Golden Body Ghost’s seal.

The case file for this seal flashed through his mind. It was about some unlucky soul who failed at amassing wealth, was betrayed as a show of allegiance, and finally committed suicide, releasing the Golden Body Ghost.

However, the Exorcism Bureau had launched a joint operation and easily sealed the Golden Body Ghost.

"Go get the case file, and... never mind." Yan Jingxing wanted to know the details, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw a familiar crack appear on the seal.

He had seen a crack like this on the Hanged Ghost’s seal. It was highly likely that this was the work of that survivor from the Doomsday Game.

The case file didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they’d found the person.

As for the Golden Body Ghost, it would probably disappear without a trace, just like the Hanged Ghost.

The Court placed great importance on this survivor. Yan Jingxing guessed it was because the survivor was suspected of possessing a way to kill ghosts.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be taking it this seriously.

"Everyone, spread out! On alert!" Yan Jingxing shouted. All the members present immediately dropped what they were doing, their eyes fixed on the seal in his hand.

The next moment, the seal shattered.

"Hold your fire! Do not attack!" Yan Jingxing shouted again as he saw the familiar figure of the Iron Armor Man survivor, a sigh of relief escaping him.

They’d finally found him.