CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: FUSION OF CHAOS (THIRD UPDATE)

Jiang Yuan swiftly demolished the nearby houses, speculating, "If we didn’t destroy these houses, could they possibly transform into a giant monster while we’re not paying attention?"

Imagining battling monsters upfront while the houses silently transform like a Transformer into a big boss is quite unnerving.

"It’s very possible. In the Ghost Realm, anything can happen, better safe than sorry." Bai Yunqi kicked a tree, lowering his voice, "They might also change positions, causing us to lose our way further in. Let’s first demolish the city gate and walls; otherwise, if they ’come to life,’ we’ll get surrounded directly."

Indeed, they retreated to attack the city gate and walls; the blood-red gates trembled, wanting to swallow them whole.

But the nearby houses were destroyed, offering no support, and their massive size made them slow. Before the transformation was complete, Jiang Yuan and Bai Yunqi wrecked them together.

"Crack!"

"Rustle!"

Amid the dust from the collapsed walls, a dull sound came through, Bai Yunqi squinted slightly with a smile, "Venerable Family was right, look, they’re stacking up like acrobats."

High above the flags on five workshop poles, the signs trembled as all the blue-bricked houses seemed to come to life. They moved their massive bodies, stacking up amidst rumbling, forming a gigantic fortress.

From afar, it even appeared to have a body with limbs, emerging from the dust like a clumsy robot.

"Go now, children!" Jiang Yuan grabbed a handful of pangolins prepared for mining, blew on them to clear the path ahead. Behind were paper men carrying mining pickaxes; a golden eagle soared above; a few robust paper bulls aimed for a suicidal charge downward.

Bai Yunqi, without a handy weapon and remote skills consuming too much Spiritual Power, resorted to hand-to-hand combat to conserve energy.

He tore three corpse ghosts into pieces with his tail, reminding, "Venerable Family, the Ghost Realm is generally fragments of other collapsed worlds, experienced terrifying changes. When fused, perhaps every inch is eerie. You’ve been in twice, think carefully if there’s any overlooked area; we must ensure total eradication."

Overlooked areas?

Jiang Yuan pondered, he’d been following the quests diligently...

"Right! Those few largest houses have large spaces inside, filled with ghosts!" He couldn’t describe the scenes using humans and ghosts as raw materials, but all street tasks were killing corpse ghosts, never seeing other ghosts on Wufeng City’s streets.

Besides the rooftop beast, all "living things" he saw were in the workshops producing flavors.

"Hmm, it seems Wufeng City, after disasters, lost their physical forms for some reason, their residual souls adhering to the workshops; we must beware lest it swallows us."

Listening to Bai Yunqi, Jiang Yuan recalled seeing a shoddy bootleg mystery book on a stall in middle school. It mentioned failed foreign UFO experiments, where everyone disappeared after the aircraft rotated at supersonic speed, later found fused with the UFO...

Back then, those vague tales were taken as sci-fi stories; the theory now encountered within Riverfront Village’s quests was unexpected.

Could such operation beyond human understanding cause soul fusion with objects?

Not traditionally causing intelligent transformation into demons or monsters, this fusion style seems different; can it absorb Spiritual Power for cultivation?

While contemplating, the nearest vinegar workshop house monster was dismantled entirely. A black smoke emerged from the largest blue-bricked house failing head formation, carrying ghostly wails.

Sometimes clustering, sometimes spreading into a line, amidst mocking, scolding, screeching, and crying, vague twisted faces of men, women, elders, and children appeared.

"Oh shit!" Jiang Yuan gasped, almost instinctively revealing the empty Soul Refining Banner.

The wind howled fiercely.

From an aerial view, the scene was spectacular—paper figures charged forward without feeling pain, bashing, crashing against the house monster parts indiscriminately, raising dust clouds;

In the yellow dust haze, a shape-shifting mass of countless faces sought escape, resembling a black spot, while beneath this spot lay the swirling origin: the simple yet rustic Soul Refining Banner’s pocket opening its "big mouth" trying to swallow it.

Standing at the back, Jiang Yuan appeared small against the colossal backdrop, seeing the Soul Refining Banner struggling, released the golden eagle taking flight in place, wielding the jujube wood stick for a mindless beating on the black spot.

With a third of the health bar reduced, the black smoke couldn’t hold on any longer, sucked into the Soul Refining Banner.

The pocket suddenly tightened, bulging to thrash a few times before settling down.

[A fusion chaos ghost absorbed, estimated refining time of hostility: 24 hours]

[Soul Refining Banner usage rate: 15%]

Darn, figuring out this thing isn’t ordinary, refining one takes a day and night!

Luckily, the Soul Refining Banner’s capacity is large despite the low usage rate, able to contain several more.

The fragmented vinegar workshop house monster collapsed into dust upon losing its soul black smoke, Jiang Yuan had the golden eagle fly higher to avoid inhaling too much dust.

Meanwhile, Bai Yunqi revealed his true form, an enormous white snake with scales glimmering in colors, coiling around a tall house monster adorned with the sugar workshop’s flag, squeezing relentlessly. The peculiar castle-like creature struggled forcefully only to be snapped into dozens of pieces, hitting the ground and turning to dust.

"Woo~"

This black smoke forced out was even denser and more violent, forming a fierce black snake in the air confronting Bai Yunqi.

"Got it! Earlier mission progression was weakening the fusion chaos ghost’s strength!" Jiang Yuan saw the black snake’s head with a thick and long health bar, suddenly comprehending.

After completing tasks at the vinegar workshop and receiving reward items, demolishing a few houses caused slight deficiencies in the house monster even when the fusion chaos ghost escaped in a smaller and clumsier form.

Having not visited the sugar workshop, its raw power was naturally fiercer.

"Don’t worry about me, two black masses have entered the sculpture, quickly urge the paper figures to destroy it!" Bai Yunqi’s snake head raised, revealing sharp fangs with ferocious intent.

Naturally combative by nature, had it not been, he wouldn’t be left as the sole survivor dropping in Realm. Though usually arrogant, he maintains composure prioritizing self-safety without rushing recklessly. Affected by ghostly influence, his emotions stirred, angry upon seeing imitative ghosts, determined to destroy the bothersome entity.

"Be careful then." Jiang Yuan was indeed somewhat afraid of his true form; he feared cold and slimy moving snakes, not daring to approach and resorted to activating the Soul Refining Banner.

Flying mid-air, the Soul Refining Banner’s pocket flapped fiercely, aiming to engulf the massive figure.

Faced with strong opponents and overwhelming suction at its rear, the smoke-formed serpent became increasingly restless.