Chapter 159: Slaying the Ghost Riang
Just as he was praising the last Black Coffin Emissary for being an honest fighter…
Chen Huai’an stared intensely at the ghastly old monster sitting atop the bronze coffin.
Fighting Night Crow hadn’t been stressful at all.
All his previous opponents had been dangerous, but none had given him the feeling of imminent death.
What was this thing’s cultivation?
Late Qi Refinement? Peak?
Black Coffin Emissaries were Master-ranked enemies.
That meant this thing had to be at least Elite-rank, possibly even General-rank.
Chen Huai’an licked his lips.
People called him Tyrant, KSC-0, whatever.
But all of that was because of the Cancerous Demon Dragon inside him.
He was barely at Elite rank.
Even if he used every low-grade Thunderfire Talisman he had, it probably wouldn’t make a difference.
"You guys go first. I'll hold him off."
He barely tilted his head, quietly signaling to the four paralyzed Demon Slayers behind him.
Then, he gripped Blackscale Sword tightly, bracing himself.
At his level, he could at least stall for time.
But anyone else here?
The two Master-ranked Demon Slayers had tears in their eyes.
"Don’t call me Tyrant. That sounds disgusting."
"Call me Supremely Handsome Chen Huai’an!"
The moment he finished speaking—
He launched himself into the air.
His Spiritual Qi was nearly depleted.
He couldn't afford drawn-out swordplay.
He had to treat himself like an assassin targeting a fragile mage.
Fast. Precise. Lethal.
Riang watched him approach…
Instead, he threw his head back and laughed.
"Good! At least you have spirit!"
"But let’s see if you can withstand my Soul Lanterns!"
Riang’s face split apart on both sides, revealing a black-toothed, fang-filled maw.
His skeletal claws reached out, and one of the thirteen bone lanterns drifted toward Chen Huai’an.
The light inside the lantern shifted from pale white to blood red.
The moment it touched Chen Huai’an’s sword—
The blade froze mid-air.
Rust spread rapidly across its surface, corroding it on the spot.
The Spiritual Qi within the sword was siphoned away.
The hand gripping the sword broke out in decay spots.
"Strange… why do you have so little lifespan left?"
Riang’s smugness flickered.
On the bronze pillars, the Soul Flames barely flickered.
The bone lantern, unable to extract enough lifespan, shuddered violently, nearly cracking apart.
Riang’s face darkened.
If a victim’s lifespan was too short, then his Soul Refining Secret Art would backfire.
He would lose an equal amount of his own lifespan and cultivation base instead.
"Didn’t expect that, did you? Your daddy’s dying!"
Chen Huai’an dropped to one knee, a strand of gray hair falling over his face.
But the old man looked even worse.
He still had a chance.
Even though his Spiritual Qi was drained, and his limbs screamed with exhaustion…
If he could just stall for time, recover even a little, then he could activate the Thunderfire Talismans.
Though he doubted low-grade ones would be enough.
He did have heaven-grade talismans, but…
They were all gifts to Li Qingran.
And in-game, any item gifted through microtransactions was permanently tagged:
【Usable Only By Li Qingran】
He couldn't take them back.
Something inside him stirred.
A whispering voice slithered into his ears, coaxing him to relinquish control.
The Cancerous Demon Cells were waking up.
"Hmph. If you have no lifespan left…"
"Your companions must."
Riang’s gaze shifted past Chen Huai’an, landing on the two female Demon Slayers who were still running for their lives.
The bone lanterns flew forth—
Straight for the girls.
They wouldn’t escape.
He would kill them all.
A blast of crimson light.
In an instant, the two young women aged into withered old crones.
They collapsed, horrified, scratching desperately at their sagging skin.
The pink-haired girl’s butterfly hairpin clattered to the ground, breaking into three pieces.
Chen Huai’an whipped around—
And nearly exploded with rage.
Riang absorbed their lifespan, his long gray hair turning silver once more.
And the bone lanterns flew again—
This time, toward the two Master-ranked Demon Slayers.
"DON’T LET THE LANTERNS TOUCH YOU!"
A massive block of concrete hurtled through the air, shattering one of the bronze pillars and disrupting Riang’s attack.
A hulking figure landed in front of Chen Huai’an.
His eyes glowed red, steam venting from his pores, purple veins writhing beneath his muscular frame.
He had tracked Riang here using the compass.
Riang swiped a claw, sending five black tendrils to wrap around Bearded Guy’s throat.
The bone lantern’s red glow enveloped him.
The black lines snapped.
Bearded Guy ripped off his shirt, revealing a mass of writhing black tumors.
The light from the lanterns did nothing—except make the tumors multiply faster.
"I heard you suck lifespan."
Bearded Guy grinned, tearing off a chunk of his own mutated flesh and hurling it at Riang.
"SUCK ME DRY, I DARE YOU."
【His weakness is the bronze pillars beneath the coffin.】
A flesh tendril extended from the back of Bearded Guy’s head, whispering directly into Chen Huai’an’s ear.
【What you see outside is a corpse puppet. His real body isn’t even in the coffin. It’s a trick. His limbs and heart are sealed inside the pillars. I’ll distract him—YOU DESTROY THE PILLARS.】
Chen Huai’an didn’t even have time to be disgusted by the biological whispering method.
In the time he had stalled, he had recovered a sliver of Spiritual Qi.
He reached into his robes.
His fingers closed around the Thunderfire Talismans.
Bearded Guy rushed in.
Riang, now unable to drain lifespan, was getting pummeled mercilessly.
But no matter how badly he was torn apart, his body kept regenerating.
"Killing me only makes my master stronger… Just like when you killed魑, 魅, and 魍…"
His broken mask twisted into a smirk.
"You’ll all die regardless."
Bearded Guy saw Chen Huai’an rise to his feet.
Tentacles erupted from his body, locking down Riang, the coffin, and the pillars.
Chen Huai’an’s eyes narrowed.
He flicked his wrist—
The Thunderfire Talismans shot forward.
A golden inferno erupted.
Bearded Guy barely jumped away in time.
His mask crumbled away, revealing a skull-like grin.
His final words echoed through the blaze.
"To the Corpse Ancestor…"
"Let the feast begin."