Realm of the Night God

The cold wind scattered the dust, and the ground was slashed by wind blades into deep trenches, as if trying to cut the entire surface open.

The scene was quite spectacular, but there was not a trace of a smile on the man's face. Instead, his expression was twisted with anger, because his move had not achieved the desired effect!

The man's Guardian Spirit also noticed that Zhao Hong had successfully dodged this lethal strike. Without the slightest hesitation, her soul body turned into Yin Qi and rushed towards Zhao Hong again, looking like she was preparing to use the same technique and possess Zhao Hong once more!

However, before she could get close to Zhao Hong, a cluster of Yin Qi suddenly descended from the sky, blocking her path in front of Zhao Hong. The two Yin Qi collided and then merged together!

Seeing this, Zhao Hong quickly acted to forcibly separate the Yin Qi in front of her. The female malevolent spirit turned back into Yin Qi and returned to the man's side, then reformed her soul body.

The Yin Qi in front of Zhao Hong churned and coalesced, also revealing a soul body - that of a middle-aged man who appeared to be around the same age as Zhao Hong.

The middle-aged man's eyes were milky white, indicating that he was currently at the evil spirit realm. However, the strong Yin Qi emanating from his soul body suggested that he was likely a formidable existence among evil spirits.

The intense Yin Qi that had erupted from the other side of the mountain was released by this very evil spirit. His appearance here now meant he was likely Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit.

Seeing the wound on Zhao Hong's arm left by the wind blade, and realizing Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit was merely an evil spirit, the man's unsightly expression improved somewhat.

He knew Zhao Hong's previously cultivated Guardian Spirit was gone, and that Zhao Hong had signed a new Guardian Spirit contract. However, he did not know what realm this new Guardian Spirit was in.

Now, with Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit revealing itself as just an evil spirit, his mood immediately brightened from gloomy to sunny.

His biggest concern was that Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit, like his own, would be a malevolent spirit. That would make dealing with Zhao Hong much more troublesome, especially since Zhao Hong's own strength was already above his. If the Guardian Spirit could not suppress Zhao Hong, his chances of defeating her would decrease.

"Heh heh, it seems my guess was not wrong - your Guardian Spirit is indeed still at the evil spirit realm."

After glancing at Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit, the man couldn't help but laugh as he turned his gaze back to Zhao Hong.

Zhao Hong remained calm. First, she circulated her inner Yin spirit power to seal the wound. Only then did she look at the man.

"You don't even fully understand my strength yet, but you dare to actively seek trouble with me. Aren't you worried about dying here?" Zhao Hong asked.

"Don't spout such big talk in front of me. With your current strength, do you really think you can kill me?" The man coldly snorted before speaking.

"Whether I'm just talking big or not, you'll understand soon. If you think your Guardian Spirit becoming a malevolent spirit means you can kill me, then I can only say you're still too naive." Zhao Hong calmly said.

The man frowned, the smile on his face diminishing somewhat.

Truthfully, he was not very clear on just how powerful Zhao Hong really was. The main reason he dared to seek trouble with Zhao Hong this time was because his own Guardian Spirit had advanced to the malevolent spirit realm.

When a Guardian Spirit becomes a malevolent spirit, not only does the Guardian Spirit's strength increase dramatically, but the master also benefits greatly - their own spiritual power undergoes an explosive increase.

It was for this reason that he dared to provoke Zhao Hong, believing that with his newly soaring comprehensive strength, he was fully capable of slaying her.

However, Zhao Hong's words and demeanor now caused his confidence to waver somewhat.

"Do you know why I prepared that paper dummy as a decoy in advance? Because I knew you went looking for me at the crematorium, so I guessed you would definitely come to Liangshui Township. That's why I made preparations in advance to receive you," Zhao Hong said.

Zhao Hong's words left the man baffled. However, Yang Haoran and Bai Xue, who were secretly watching, understood what she meant.

"Zhao Hong, don't say things I can't understand. Since I've come looking for you tonight, it's either you die or I perish. Whatever tricks you've prepared, go ahead and use them. I want to see what you've got to deal with me!" The man coldly laughed.

"The reason I didn't show myself earlier, and let the decoy fight you instead, was twofold: First, my Guardian Spirit wasn't by my side, so direct conflict was unfavorable for me. Second, I wanted to use the decoy to gauge your current strength. If you were strong enough, I definitely wouldn't have appeared. However, your strength now hasn't reached the point where I need to avoid you. Since I dare to appear, that means I'm confident I can kill you!"

Zhao Hong's words exuded absolute confidence. Yet when the man heard this, he found it incredibly grating, feeling his dignity had been insulted and his strength challenged!

"Since you're so confident, let's not waste any more words here. Let's see tonight who lives and who dies!"

As the words fell, the man rapidly formed hand seals again, looking like he was preparing to perform spirit summoning once more. His Guardian Spirit turned into a cluster of Yin Qi and charged towards Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit!

"Leave the malevolent spirit to me, you deal with this reckless brat," Zhao Hong said to his own Guardian Spirit.

The Guardian Spirit nodded, then cast an illusion on the man who was rapidly forming seals.

Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit was only an evil spirit, so he could not control physical objects like a malevolent spirit, nor did he have the ability to possess others. He could only set up illusions to confuse the enemy!

While the Guardian Spirit cast an illusion on the man, Zhao Hong circulated her inner spiritual power to attack the incoming malevolent spirit.

Zhao Hong made this decision because the gap between a malevolent spirit and an evil spirit was enormous. If she let her Guardian Spirit deal with the man's Guardian Spirit, her Guardian Spirit would be devoured by his in no time.

Considering this, she made this choice - letting her Guardian Spirit stall the man first, while she aimed to eliminate the man's Guardian Spirit in the shortest possible time.

Affected by the illusion, the man's sealing movements slowed down, while the spiritual power Zhao Hong unleashed directly scattered the Yin Qi formed by the incoming female malevolent spirit!

Although the man's Guardian Spirit was a malevolent spirit, she had just recently advanced to that realm, so her strength was insignificant before Zhao Hong.

Of course, in the man's eyes, Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit was just as insignificant. The man's strength was weaker than Zhao Hong's, but far surpassed that of Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit.

The illusion set up by the evil spirit was soon broken through by the man. He understood Zhao Hong's intention, so he had no plans to let her succeed.

"Devour her Guardian Spirit! I'll stall her!"

The man roared at his Guardian Spirit, then abruptly stopped his sealing movements and let out another furious roar.

"Spirit summoning! Cage!"

As the man's roar rang out, cracks suddenly appeared on the ground where Zhao Hong stood. Four stone pillars as thick as barrels burst forth, and a large amount of spiritual power coalesced into chains that rapidly entwined around the four pillars. In an instant, an unconventional cage took shape, trapping Zhao Hong inside!

Performing this spirit summoning consumed a significant amount of the man's spiritual power, but he did not regret it at all. As long as he could confine Zhao Hong for a moment, he could eliminate her Guardian Spirit. Once rid of Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit, dealing with her would become much simpler.

Though unspoken, both were doing the same thing - trying to eliminate the other's Guardian Spirit in the shortest time possible. For a spirit master, the Guardian Spirit was far too crucial. Removing one's Guardian Spirit was akin to cutting off both hands!

Successfully trapping Zhao Hong in the spirit summoning cage, the man was overjoyed. His gaze turned towards where his Guardian Spirit was, only to see it had already fused with Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit!

At this rate, in just a moment, Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit would be completely devoured by his. Once he absorbed Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit, the final victory in tonight's battle would undoubtedly belong to him!

The man had just begun feeling joyful when a tremendous rumbling came from the spirit summoning cage trapping Zhao Hong, before he could even move to assist his Guardian Spirit!