Heaven-Rank Battle Skill: Ghost Possession

Night quietly fell, and the world sank into silence.

The city's neon lights flickered beyond the window, like stars flowing through a river of galaxies.

The honking of soul-guided cars came from the far end of the street, distant and indistinct, gradually fading away.

At that moment, Tang Wulin had exhausted his spiritual power through meditation and was fast asleep in his single room.

His breathing was long and even. The golden trident at his brow did not light up, and Tang San's divine soul had also fallen into an extremely weakened state.

Just as Tang Wulin slept, the space inside his room suddenly shattered.

Austin Griffin stepped out of the rift. Its three heads turned toward the bed at the same time, their gazes reflecting the sleeping boy.

"Boss, hurry, hurry! That's him!" it said excitedly.

Ziyang's figure appeared beside the Chimera. He looked at Tang Wulin on the bed, his gaze clear and calm.

Tang Wulin was not awakened.

His dream continued. In it, he was still running freely across the field, chasing after a youthful, beautiful girl.

Within Tang Wulin's body, Tang San's divine soul awakened from its slumber.

He looked at Ziyang, and his cheek twitched uncontrollably—his expression was difficult to describe, as though he had seen someone who should not have appeared, yet also as though it had been expected.

Ziyang made his move. His third Soul Ring lit up, and a faint gleam flashed. A thread as thin as a hair flew from his fingertips and silently entered Tang Wulin's chest.

The thread passed through flesh and blood, through bone, and burrowed deeper, toward the sleeping Golden Dragon King's Divine Core, like a heart still slowly beating.

The instant the thread entered Tang Wulin's chest, Tang San's gaze followed it in.

That thread was so thin it was nearly transparent, yet it carried an ancient rhythm, bright and trembling like a plucked string.

It pierced flesh and blood, pierced bone, and pierced through the seventeen layers of golden seals—

Every time a seal was pierced, Tang San's divine soul trembled slightly.

Those restrictions had been laid down by his own hand. The Golden Dragon King's power had been compressed, restrained, and sealed away layer by layer, like seventeen gates locking a furious beast beneath the seals.

Yet wherever the thread passed, the seals were simply ignored.

Tang San's pupils contracted slightly, as though he had witnessed something unbelievable.

The thread continued downward and finally touched that Divine Core.

It was a golden heart the size of a fist, suspended in the Abyss within Tang Wulin's body, beating slowly. With every beat, golden ripples spread outward, struck the surrounding seals, then slowly receded.

The thread wrapped around it and gave a gentle tug.

The heart swayed, then obediently rose an inch along the thread.

Tang San suddenly understood. They were trying to take the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core.

But to prevent the possibility of an even greater crisis, he acted without hesitation. His divine soul condensed into a blurry shadow in the void, raising a hand to slash down at the thread.

The instant the sword fell, Tang Wulin opened his eyes. Something vast beyond description was awakening in the depths of his pupils. Those were not the eyes a ten-year-old boy should possess.

Ziyang's smile froze on his face.

That pressure came too quickly, like an invisible wall crashing straight into him. He did not even have time to think before his body reacted instinctively.

He took a step back, and the thread snapped.

"Leave."

Ziyang's voice was soft, but Austin Griffin understood. All three heads turned toward the rift at once, preparing to wrap around their master and retreat.

But it was too late. Golden light surged out like a tide, gathering in the air, stretching, taking shape. A trident appeared in the center of the room, barring the way between Ziyang and the rift.

A translucent hand gripped the trident.

The owner of that hand was walking out from Tang Wulin's body. He moved slowly, as though wading through water. With every step, his figure became more solid.

Blue hair, blue eyes, and the hem of a Sea God robe fluttering gently despite the absence of wind.

It was Tang San. He had made his move, sealing off the surrounding space.

His face was so pale it was nearly transparent, and he looked so weak that he seemed as though he could dissipate at any moment. Yet the trident before him was steady, as steady as if it had been nailed into the void.

The room suddenly became very quiet.

Ziyang and Austin Griffin prepared to retreat from another direction, jumping directly out the window before opening a spatial passage. But before God Rank Tang San, even the two of them together were no match for him.

"Trying to leave? Do you think you can?"

Tang San's voice was soft, as soft as a night breeze brushing past the window frame. But his eyes were cold, cold as the undercurrents at the deepest part of the sea.

"You broke in at night, dared to tamper with my seals, and even tried to take my son's Golden Dragon King's Divine Core." He took a step forward, his translucent figure swaying in the air as the tip of his trident rose with it. "You have chosen the path to death."

The instant those final words fell, the trident moved.

It was only a thrust.

Simple and direct, yet as fast as a beam of light.

Ziyang twisted aside, but the light still reached him. The trident's tip sliced across his chest, leaving behind a bloody mark. Drops of blood seeped out and spread across his white robes, like a plum blossom suddenly blooming.

Ziyang lowered his head and looked at his chest.

Then he raised a hand and lightly patted it.

The blood vanished. The wound healed. That plum blossom seemed never to have bloomed.

"I won't die. Sorry to disappoint you."

His mind raced as he considered how to deal with Tang San. As he thought, time around him seemed to pause, and a voice sounded by his ear.

"Successor, you truly are a sorry sight."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. Let me teach you how to use the power within you."

The moment those words fell, his mind began to turn.

How could he deal with the opponent before him? Even weakened, that was still Tang San—the Sea God, a name that had once stood at the pinnacle of this world. Meeting him head-on was a dead end. Austin Griffin's spatial ability was their only path of retreat, but Tang San was not giving them any time to escape.

He himself could also wield the power of space.

Thoughts came in a flurry, like countless threads tangled together.

Then the world fell silent.

Not the kind of silence where the neon lights beyond the window vanished, but something deeper—the wind stopped, the light stopped, even his own heartbeat stopped. Everything around him froze into amber, yet Ziyang's consciousness continued to flow.

A voice rang by his ear.

It was soft, yet it seemed to descend from an impossibly high vault of heaven, carrying an indescribable quality.

"Successor who inherited my power, you truly are a sorry sight."

Ziyang's pupils contracted slightly, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important."

"Let me teach you how to use the power within you."

Within the frozen world, Ziyang felt something inside him awaken. His body grew warm as he slowly raised his head in response to that voice.

He opened his eyes, which radiated a pale pink light, like the eyes of a sleeping god opening.

Heaven-Rank Battle Skill: Ghost Possession!