CHAPTER 370: CHAPTER 370: CLUE LEFT BY THE RED-HAIRED GHOST KING, UNDERSTANDING SOUL ATTACKS

After the big earthquake in the Realm of the Dead, a being named Merciful Mother of Deliverance from Suffering quietly appeared and completely changed the situation in the Realm of the Dead.

It started eating ordinary souls, but no longer went crazy or lost its mind. Wicked ghosts could just look at the statue of the Merciful Mother of Deliverance from Suffering after eating, and they would stay calm and normal.

Since the earthquake, The Palace of the Dead, which used to keep the Realm of the Dead peaceful, had disappeared without a trace.

White and Black Reapers, The Ox-Head and Horse-Face — the strong beings who used to control and catch wicked ghosts — had all gone off the rails. Some were like machines, just wandering around. Others were completely crazy, eating any soul that came near them.

"The Red-Haired Ghost King is one of the Ghost Kings under the Mother’s command." the messenger said, his voice full of fear. "Three days from now, the Offering Ceremony will begin. All the statues must be returned. If even one is missing, even the Red-Haired Ghost King will be punished."

Johnnie quickly asked."Where is Terra Lady?"

Terra Lady had transformed into the Six Realms, and she was the one keeping the Realm of the Dead in balance. If such a big disaster happened, why hadn’t she shown up?

Suddenly, after hearing Johnnie’s question, the messenger’s eyes widened. He shouted.

"You’re not from another Ghost King’s region!"

Terra Lady hasn’t appeared for many years. That’s something all ghosts know!"

"Who are you?" The messenger asked again, still confused and suspicious.

Johnnie sighed a little. He had been a bit too eager before. If he had asked more carefully, he might have learned more.

"You’re right." he said. "I’m not from another Ghost King’s area. Last question — where is the Red-Haired Ghost King?"

He wasn’t going to waste any more time. He needed to find that Red-Haired Ghost King.

The messenger didn’t answer. Instead, he slowly lifted his hand and picked up a small bunch of red ghost hair.

"Ghost King Lord has always been..." His voice trembled as he looked at the shaking red hair, crying out in despair.

"Ghost King Lord, no, don’t..."

In an instant, the red ghost hair on the messenger’s body grew wildly, rushing into his mouth and swelling his body rapidly.

Johnnie’s eyes turned cold. He wanted to use his flying sword to save the messenger — he still needed to find out where the Red-Haired Ghost King was!

But the Soul Power inside the messenger had become extremely thick, like a bomb about to explode.

Johnnie didn’t have time to stop him. The messenger’s soul body suddenly exploded, and red ghost hair filled the sky, wriggling and forming a shadowy figure with no clear face.

"Un-dead one." the figure spoke immediately."no matter how strong you are in the real world, this is not a place for you. Get out!"

Johnnie guessed who this figure was — it had to be a manifestation of the Red-Haired Ghost King.

So, when a Ghost King reached that level, they could see that his physical body was still alive — he had just entered the Realm of the Dead.

"What’s going on here?" Johnnie asked. "Who is this Merciful Mother of Deliverance from Suffering? What kind of demon is she?"

He showed no fear, even if the Red-Haired Ghost King himself was here.

The manifestation of the Red-Haired Ghost King slowly landed in front of Johnnie.

"Demons? How dare you speak like that about the Holy Mother!"

"In no time, the Holy Mother will find you and kill you completely — just like my messenger!"

"Any ghost who goes against the Holy Mother’s will will be completely destroyed!"

After saying that, the manifestation of the Red-Haired Ghost King gradually faded, and the red ghost hair slowly dissolved.

Johnnie looked puzzled, staring at the place where the ghost king’s form had been.

He felt something was wrong. The manifestation had just shouted at him, but from some small movements, Johnnie had sensed something strange — a hint.

"Messenger, going against the Holy Mother’s will?" Johnnie muttered to himself. He quickly walked over to where the messenger’s soul had exploded, and looked closely at the remains.

"Johnnie, that guy was way too arrogant! I couldn’t stand it. If he showed up in front of me, I’d swallow him whole!" Dragon Soul said, clearly annoyed.

He saw Johnnie staring at the fragments of the messenger’s soul slowly melting on the ground and asked."What are you doing?"

"Shouldn’t we be looking for that Red-Haired Ghost King and this so-called Holy Mother right now?"

Johnnie just pointed at the soul fragments on the ground. To his surprise, a few pieces were arranged in a way that looked like an arrow, pointing to the west.

Dragon Soul’s eyes widened immediately. He looked at Johnnie in shock.

Johnnie thought for a moment. It seemed the Red-Haired Ghost King wasn’t that loyal to the Holy Mother. The way he mentioned the Holy Mother’s will, it probably meant he was being controlled by her.

He called the Holy Mother a demon, and the Ghost King’s form scolded him for being too bold.

"Johnnie, what if this is a trap set by the Red-Haired Ghost King? He’s trying to lure us in so he can attack us." Dragon Soul said, looking worried.

Johnnie shook his head. "It’s too complicated. We have no clue where to start. If he wanted to trap us, he could’ve done it right then."

"But you’re right, Dragon Soul. Right now, how strong can you actually get?"

The Realm of the Dead was Dragon Soul’s home ground.

Dragon Soul answered straight away."Ghost Kings in the Realm of the Dead are like Divine Powerhouses in the real world. In the real world, I’m at The Core God level. But here, I can fight at a much stronger level."

"The Red-Haired Ghost King’s manifestation didn’t feel too strong — maybe a mid-level Ghost King. I could beat him easily."

Johnnie nodded. He was just a soul now, and his power was limited. He had to be careful.

He collected all the statues in the village, as well as the ones brought by the Red-Haired Ghost King’s messenger. Then he and Dragon Soul headed west together.

Along the way, they met a few wicked ghosts, but none were strong. Johnnie dealt with them quickly and easily.

But Dragon Soul spoke up: "Kid, your way of using Soul Power is really rough. Any Ghost King here would be way stronger than you."

"How about this — let’s slow down a bit. This is a rare chance. I’ll teach you how to use Soul Power the right way."

Johnnie wasn’t arrogant. He knew his weakness in soul power, so he agreed right away.

Before starting, Dragon Soul gave a quick explanation:

"Soul Power is kind of like real-world power, but it’s not exactly the same. It’s more about your mind, your will, your strong desires..."

"To me, Soul Power is purer. When you improve your Soul Power, you can control your body better in the real world and fight much stronger."

"Okay, now do as I say..."

Dragon Soul’s first method was simple. He caught a few weak wicked ghosts and told Johnnie to kill them — without using Soul Power to summon a flying sword.

Johnnie blinked. Was he supposed to kill them with just his eyes?

Dragon Soul must have guessed his thought and said right away: "Yeah, that’s right — with your eyes. But not exactly. It’s more like using your soul’s power to press down, attack, and kill the enemy."

"Try it."

From that moment on, Johnnie kept looking for that feeling Dragon Soul was talking about.

At first, he always wanted to use Soul Power to make a flying sword and kill the ghost.

But he knew that to improve his Soul Power and fix his weakness, he had to calm down and take it step by step.

Johnnie tried again and again, slowly.

And Dragon Soul was watching quietly. He thought to himself."Kid, I spent three whole years using this method to understand strong soul attacks."

"Once you really try it, you’ll know how strong I am."

In all the previous battles, Dragon Soul was either sleeping inside Johnnie’s soul or hadn’t met an enemy who used soul attacks.

His presence was very weak. Now that he finally had a chance to show off, he definitely wanted Johnnie to realize how strong he was.

He planned to wait until Johnnie made no progress, and then share his own experiences.

Just as Dragon Soul was imagining the look of surprise and admiration on Johnnie’s face, the wicked ghost he had caught suddenly started to tremble.

Dragon Soul quickly looked over and realized the ghost was probably just hungry.

He thought maybe Johnnie had made some progress — that would have been scary.

But just as he was relieved, the ghost suddenly let out a loud, painful scream.

"Ah! Ah!"

On the ghost’s soul body, a deep wound had suddenly appeared.

Dragon Soul’s eyes widened. He turned around and looked at Johnnie, asking."When did you summon the flying sword?"

"I told you — to improve your Soul Power, you shouldn’t keep summoning a flying sword to attack..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Johnnie’s eyes narrowed. A flying sword shot out of them and pierced the ghost’s heart.

Dragon Soul was so shocked he forgot to flap his wings and fell straight to the ground.

"Y-you... you... you got it?" Dragon Soul quickly flew up, his face full of disbelief.

This kind of attack was something he knew too well.

Johnnie nodded and looked at the message that appeared.

[Ding, You’ve mastered soul attack. ****####]

"Hmph, kid, you actually have some talent. Your speed is almost like mine when I first learned soul attacks. Not bad, not bad." Dragon Soul said, clearly satisfied.