"Aha, a completely unintentional act has drawn such a large swarm of Soul Devourers here," Qin Shilei mused.
He had already confirmed that the soul attacks of the Soul Devourers were ineffective against him, thanks to the Xuan Ling Jade Pendant he wore. He no longer felt apprehensive about the sudden appearance of two Golden Soul Devourers.
However, there was no need to revert to his true form just yet. With a thought, he flew down and concealed himself within the dense foliage below.
He absolutely could not let any of these Soul Devourers escape.
The Soul Devourer on the ground, already battered by heavenly lightning, was on the verge of breaking into several clones to flee. Upon seeing its reinforcements arrive, it abandoned this plan, which would have severely depleted its energy.
Qin Shilei then directed his phantom to unleash another雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragon) at the weakened Soul Devourer. Afterward, he casually chose a direction and charged towards the encircling Soul Devourers.
噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei - Devouring Annihilation Thunder)!
Countless Soul Devourers dissolved into the air with a blast of heavenly lightning, leaving behind only bronze treasure chests.
"Ah!"
The two Golden Soul Devourers, leading numerous Silver Soul Devourers, let out piercing shrieks. A visible wave of energy erupted and struck the phantom.
"This thing is immune to our soul attacks! Quickly, use Soul Fire!"
Soul Devourer 006, extremely weak, flew up from the ground and loudly alerted its companions. In response, fist-sized fireballs shot out from the bodies of numerous Soul Devourers and rapidly drifted towards the phantom.
Among these fireballs, only two were deep purple; the rest were tinged with blue and purple. The two deep purple Soul Fires could easily withstand the barrage of 噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei), while the other fireballs rapidly shrank under the heavenly lightning. By the time these fireballs reached ten meters in front of the phantom, they had already shrunk by more than half.
瞬移 (Shun Yi - Teleportation)!
Qin Shilei controlled the phantom to instantly move away from the encirclement of Soul Fires and appear in the midst of another group of Soul Devourers. Another blast of 噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei) descended.
Amidst countless screams, more treasure chests clattered to the ground. In this manner, in less than three minutes, Qin Shilei had annihilated two to three thousand Soul Devourers.
"007, 005, let's merge quickly! If this continues, none of us will escape death," Soul Devourer 006 urged loudly.
Merge?
Damn it, do these Soul Devourers have some ultimate move? Qin Shilei, hidden in the shadows, felt a sudden sense of unease.
Golden Soul Devourers 005 and 007 swiftly moved towards each other, like two cups of water, naturally merging into a new Soul Devourer. Simultaneously, a more powerful aura emanated from the newly formed entity. Subsequently, countless ordinary Soul Devourers rapidly flew towards this fused creature. As more Soul Devourers joined the fusion, its aura grew stronger and stronger.
Qin Shilei, of course, wouldn't wait foolishly for the fusion to complete. He controlled the phantom to activate the 法相天地 (Fa Xiang Tian Di - Dharma Appearance of Heaven and Earth) and the attribute for One-Punch Man, firing them backward. Then, he raised his hand and summoned wave after wave of 噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei), unleashing them at the fusing Soul Devourers as if they were free.
"You despicable wretch, I will rip out your soul and torture it for a thousand years!" the Soul Devourer roared in fury. It dodged the barrage of 噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei) while attempting to fuse with more of its kind.
"Old Five, Old Seven, and me, come and merge with me!" As heavenly lightning continued to rain down, Soul Devourer 006 cried out in alarm. However, as soon as it spoke, the continuous heavenly lightning abruptly vanished. The phantom, which had been unleashing devastating attacks, dissipated into the air like a bubble.
The continuous use of powerful and energy-consuming techniques such as 噬灭之雷 (Shi Mie Zhi Lei) and 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragon) had finally exhausted the phantom's energy, causing it to vanish. The remaining Soul Devourers were left dumbfounded, looking at each other.
"Why did the lightning stop?"
"Where did that detestable enemy go?"
"Should we still merge now?"
"Heh heh, 006, don't run! Come and merge with your brother."
"Merge with what? We're much happier being separate and living freely."
The fused Soul Devourer chased after Soul Devourer 006, determined to absorb it into its own body. As the two Soul Devourers pursued each other, they suddenly saw a flash of bright light.
"Damn it, the heavenly lightning is back!"
"Didn't that guy disappear earlier? How did he reappear?"
"Quick, merge!"
The phantom, summoned once more, unleashed another round of powerful assaults. In the end, three Golden Soul Devourers did manage to merge, along with hundreds of Silver Soul Devourers. The remaining Silver Soul Devourers were all annihilated by Qin Shilei's phantom.
The fused Soul Devourer's cultivation also rose to the peak of Golden Nine Stars. With a raised hand, it unleashed a purple fireball the size of a head. The fireball shot towards the phantom like lightning.
The phantom used 瞬移 (Shun Yi - Teleportation) to appear on the other side of the Soul Devourer and summoned two 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons) to attack. The Soul Devourer opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of gray mist to meet the雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons).
Boom!
The 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons) struck the seemingly light gray mist, but it was like hitting a massive mountain, resulting in a thunderous roar. As the sound reverberated, both sides began to wear each other down.
Meanwhile, the Soul Fires rapidly approached again. As they flew, they continuously split, quickly becoming hundreds of Soul Fires. Each Soul Fire, though only the size of an egg, maintained its speed and exuded an imposing aura. The hundreds of Soul Fires formed a pincer formation, closing in on the phantom.
瞬移 (Shun Yi - Teleportation)!
The phantom easily evaded the pincer attack of the Soul Fires.
"Damn it, this fellow possesses the heaven-defying skill of teleportation, and he's so cautious, not letting the Soul Fires get close at all," the Soul Devourer cursed under its breath. With a thought, it caused the Soul Fires to split again, becoming hundreds of pigeon-egg-sized orbs scattered within a radius of several hundred meters.
The phantom, while dodging the Soul Fires, unleashed 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons) at the Soul Devourer. The energies of both sides were being continuously depleted.
"My clones are countless; you can't outlast me. Surrender quickly!" the Soul Devourer attempted to psych Qin Shilei out. However, it was met with two even more powerful 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons). Ultimately, the Soul Devourer possessed more internal energy, and the phantom vanished into the air first.
"This fellow shows no characteristics of a soul; it's likely a puppet summoned by someone." The Soul Devourer looked around in disbelief, trying to locate the summoner behind the scenes. It searched the vicinity carefully and soon discovered Qin Shilei hidden in the shadows.
"Hey, what number are you? Why didn't you merge with me earlier?"
"I'm 9527. I couldn't merge with you earlier because I was dodging the heavenly lightning." The Soul Devourer eyed Qin Shilei suspiciously but found no anomalies. "Let's split up and search. If you find any living creatures, immediately give a loud warning." With that, the Soul Devourer turned and continued searching the area for potential summoners.
About ten minutes later.
Qin Shilei's lips curled slightly. With a wave of his hand, he summoned the phantom once more. A brand-new phantom versus a half-crippled Soul Devourer—the outcome was predictable. Soon, the Soul Devourer was heavily wounded. It suddenly unleashed a large burst of gray energy, pushing back the 雷龙 (Lei Long - Lightning Dragons) surrounding it, and then split into eight, fleeing rapidly in all directions.
"I was expecting this move." Qin Shilei instantly teleported over, unleashing torrents of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, annihilated four of its clones. One of the reasons he had remained hidden was precisely to prevent it from escaping by splitting into clones. Simultaneously, the phantom swiftly destroyed three more of its clones. Qin Shilei and the phantom, using their lightning escape technique, pursued the last remaining clone. Although this life-saving ultimate technique of the Soul Devourer was incredibly fast, it was still slightly inferior to the even faster lightning escape. It was soon intercepted.