In a way, the stronger the lingering effects of Kang Shi's Way of the Scholar, the worse the side effects—and the more his colleagues trusted him. Heh. How could someone who'd been trying to infect them for over a decade without ever managing to kill them not be favored by fate? Kang Shi was a walking fate detector.
If not for that, his colleagues would have joined forces to get rid of him long ago.
After all, once he went mad, he didn't distinguish friend from foe.
Every colleague who worked with Kang Shi knew to keep their expectations low and prepare for the worst.
On top of that, after Kang Shi's Way of the Scholar reached perfection, he'd started messing around with this thing called Qi Yun installments. His destructive power seemed to have dropped considerably; it wasn't as terrifying as before. As long as they were mentally prepared, they could keep from breaking down.
Before this battle, Ning Yan had thought so too.
Reality gave her a huge surprise.
No, a huge shock!
With a single Word Spirit, every marked "water ghost" was laid bare. Besides the ones the soldiers had speared into the water and those clinging to the hull, ready to climb aboard and attack, she also saw blurry glimmers beneath the water.
A quick scan put their numbers at six or seven hundred.
The "water ghosts" on the surface couldn't communicate with those underwater in real time. A few breaths passed after the ones on the surface were exposed before the underwater group finally launched their attack. By then, it was too late. The arcs of light on their bodies made them walking targets in the darkness!
By contrast, every soldier on Kang's side wore black.
Under the cover of night, they were barely noticeable.