Amidst the swirling ice mist,
After a three-second disappearance, Nan Ming's presence reappeared.
But before Chu Yong'an could react, something cold touched his neck.
Having spent years on the battlefield, Chu Yong'an knew what it was without looking.
—A blade!
After holding his breath, Chu Yong'an exhaled.
"I lost."
Clang—
As the ghostly energy within Chu Yong'an subsided, the tridents that had surrounded Nan Ming upon his reappearance all lowered.
Nan Ming withdrew his hand and took a step back.
The ice-blue ghostly sword in his hand turned into smoke and returned to his body.
In the air, an eerie wind blew.
The ice mist on the arena dissipated.
Revealing the two figures standing there.
Chu Yong'an raised his hand and collected the countless tridents of various sizes that had fallen to the ground, all flying back towards him.
They then merged back into a single trident in his hand.
Although he had lost convincingly, Chu Yong'an turned to Nan Ming and asked directly, unable to hide his confusion.
"Sir, how did you disappear just now?"
He knew that all ghosts had ghostly energy within them.
If that ghostly energy was gone, the ghost would not be far from death.
His tridents directly locked onto ghostly energy.
How did this sir manage to make the ghostly energy within his body disappear?
Nan Ming's lips curved upwards, confident and powerful.
"It's not just sight and hearing that can be deceived; perception can be deceived too."
"What you see isn't always real, and feelings can also trick ghosts."
"Don't rely too much on perception."
Chu Yong'an was stunned and murmured absentmindedly,
"Perception can be deceived... I see."
He had trusted his perception too much, causing him to let down his guard.
I see.
Chu Yong'an cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your guidance, sir!"
As he was about to leap off the stage, Nan Ming added, "However, your tridents are quite well-used."
He used to enjoy such moves himself.
...
After two consecutive Great Captains failed to last more than three moves,
For a time, no other ghosts dared to step forward.
A ghost guard calculated that less than ten minutes had passed in the two matches.
This speed was too fast.
They had originally thought that with so many ghost guards present, the arena battles would last for several days.
By then, their friends who had gone on distant journeys would have returned and could still catch the matches.
But now, it seemed that the arena champion would sweep through them all in less than half a day.
The strength of this King Yama was far beyond their expectations.
"We're all at the same realm..."
"You don't understand, there's something called experience."
The ordinary ghost guards below the stage began to whisper amongst themselves.
The ghost guard in grey said, "The realm thing, you can't calculate it as one plus one equals two."
"With each advancement in realm, there are different insights and different things seen."
"This match isn't just about realms. In this situation, it should be considered guidance in skills and experience."
A little ghost asked curiously, "How do you know so much?"
The grey-clothed ghost guard replied, "I guessed."
"Oh."
...
"Perception can be deceived..."
Jiang Lin pondered the words of the Southern Hall King Yama, lost in thought.
The sentence was like a popsicle in winter, chilling Jiang Lin to the bone.
Before this, he had never considered such a possibility.
Because perception was not just a feeling, but an extension of spiritual power.
Spiritual power... could it also be deceived?
But if not, how could the disappearance of the Southern Hall King Yama just now be explained?
Could the same realm also achieve perceptual deception?
What requirements would be needed to do this?
If he encountered such an enemy in the future, how should he break it?
...
In the air.
Yan Luo propped her chin with one hand, her eyelids half-closed, looking down.
She lazily scanned the high-ranking ghost guards who were lost in thought.
She had to admit, Nan Ming seemed to have grown stronger again.
Examine your own strength carefully, little ones.
Everything you see now is merely the tip of the iceberg on your cultivation journey.
...
After a minute of silence,
Finally, the third challenger, dressed in green, gracefully landed on the arena.
Jiang Lin recognized her as Miss Shen Luo, who had brought him to the Heavenly Palace before.
Shen Luo stood on the arena, cupped her hands in a gesture of respect, and said,
"Please bestow your guidance, sir!"
Nan Ming glanced at her, assessing her strength.
His own aura surged, adjusting from the Ghost King realm to the Underworld Envoy realm.
The change in aura was so rapid, it was almost seamless.
"Come on."
As soon as the match began, an invisible barrier rose around the arena.
Separating the inside from the outside.
Thus, no matter how fierce the fight inside, the surrounding ghost guards would not be significantly affected.
At most, they would feel the aura, wind direction, and coldness.
There was almost no substantial damage.
Even if there were any unexpected incidents, with the two King Yamas present on site, there was no need to worry.
Upon realizing this, the ordinary ghost guards relaxed.
They watched while discussing in hushed tones.
"Who was that sir who went up just now? I don't think I've seen them before."
"They look very powerful. Perhaps some reclusive expert."
"It's possible!"
"I wonder what method she will use..."
Captain Liu used his fists earlier, and Captain Chu used the ghostly weapon, the trident.
Each was more formidable than the last.
Yet, they both failed.
What formidable abilities does this unknown expert possess?
...
On the stage.
Shen Luo maintained a distance from Nan Ming.
She neither charged forward nor drew a weapon.
Instead, she raised her left hand, pointing at Nan Ming.
She drew a symbol in the air, known to almost all ghost guards of the Eastern Hall.
Her red lips parted, "Seal!"
Instantly, a golden seal appeared around Nan Ming, enclosing him.
'Feng' characters of various sizes circled him.
At the same time, Shen Luo raised her hands to the sides, unfurling her wide, green sleeves.
The green sleeves were adorned with poetic landscapes of green mountains and clear waters.
Under Shen Luo's ghostly energy, the green mountains and clear waters stirred.
They floated, as if coming alive, spreading out from the sleeves.
Soon, they filled the entire arena.
"Seal!"
"Seal!"
"Seal!"
As Shen Luo cast one seal after another, golden 'Feng' characters appeared amidst the green mountains and clear waters.
"Playing with seals, huh..."
Nan Ming looked at the semi-circular sealing barrier that enveloped him.
Once, someone had trapped him with seals.
It took him two full days to break free then.
Compared to those seals, the sealing barrier before him was much weaker.
Nan Ming flexed his wrists, his ghostly energy circulating.
He stood firm and then punched the barrier before him.
Crash—
The sealing characters shattered like glass, turning into specks of light and dissipating into the air.
After emerging from the barrier, what appeared before Nan Ming was not the arena.
But a vast expanse of... green mountains and clear waters.
...