Chapter 263: You Can

As it moved, the Fallen Petal Wraith's form grew strange.

It punched with extreme speed, then immediately retracted. Then instantly punched a second time, a third, a fourth…

Each punch stopped short—never aimed at Fang Yue's body.

And every punch was delivered at the utmost speed, leaving afterimages.

Though standing still, it left layer upon layer of punching afterimages.

Fang Yue didn't know what it was doing, but a faint sense of threat stirred in his heart.

Without hesitation, Fang Yue's Cold Moon Blade slashed straight at the Fallen Petal Wraith's true body.

Boom!!

The wild blade light slashed across the Fallen Petal Wraith's neck… and passed through.

That's right!

Fang Yue's strike had cut through empty air, passing clean through.

This sensation resembled his earlier clash with Ni Dongmei, yet was vastly different.

When facing Ni Dongmei, Fang Yue had felt resistance, like cutting through a waterfall.

But the Cold Moon Blade slicing the Fallen Petal Wraith's neck felt like cutting through air.

As if the stationary punching afterimages had truly become mere illusions.

Just as Fang Yue was momentarily distracted…

Illusion and reality switched in an instant!

The Fallen Petal Wraith's relentless phantom punches suddenly halted.

The next moment, all those afterimages vanished at once.

A crescent-shaped black shadow appeared out of nowhere, slicing horizontally toward Fang Yue's eyes.

Young wraith, no honor!

Fang Yue's face turned pale—he ducked desperately.

Shhh—

Half his hair was sheared off; the black shadow skimmed his scalp.

Only then did their figures pass each other. Fang Yue steadied himself, ignoring his bizarrely shorn hair, glaring coldly at the Fallen Petal Wraith.

The Fallen Petal Wraith finally stopped, retracting the black slash extending from its right hand into its body, while tightly clutching Fang Yue's scattered locks in its palm.

When the Fallen Petal Wraith turned to face Fang Yue, he felt as if it were saying: Fire Blade Sect—each generation grows weaker.

That smug, vengeful expression surprised Fang Yue, but he quickly dismissed it.

"Snap! You just gave me a haircut? Great technique! But is this fair? Ambushing a young man in his twenties? Not honorable! If you had a normal body, you'd already be a dead wraith. Using illusions like that? No honor!"

Fang Yue mocked, but the Fallen Petal Wraith's expression grew icy.

It extended its right hand straight toward Fang Yue.

"Oh? Following the old rules, then? Just a touch?" Fang Yue retreated warily, shouting aloud. Zhang Dashou had long since fled the battlefield, watching from afar.

At that moment, the Fallen Petal Wraith's outstretched hand clenched tightly—as if crushing something.

Sssssss—

The next instant, an unbelievable sight appeared!

Dozens of trees around them erupted with hundreds of black thorns, surging forth in a frenzy toward Fang Yue.

Hundreds of thorns, like merciless chains, locked Fang Yue in place and sealed every escape route.

Fang Yue's face changed—he gritted his teeth and advanced instead of retreating!

Sssss!

The closest wave of black thorns pierced the ground where Fang Yue had just stood.

The remaining thorns plunged into the earth, then exploded upward from the surface like landmines, instantly altering the battlefield.

Ding ding ding ding!!

Almost the instant the thorns erupted, Fang Yue leapt high, wildly swinging his blade, channeling inner energy to slash at the relentless black thorns rising from the ground.

But the black thorns were too numerous—and endless.

Soon, Fang Yue felt his inner energy beginning to falter.

Fortunately, by then he had leapt above the Fallen Petal Wraith. As he descended, his blade, wreathed in flame, slashed downward.

Wild flames ignited the pursuing black thorns and swept toward the Fallen Petal Wraith on the ground.

But the Fallen Petal Wraith began punching again.

One punch, two punches, three punches, four punches…

Its body grew hazy once more. Fang Yue's face darkened—he knew it was repeating its trick.

Without hesitation, the already fierce flames surged again, exploding outward from within, burning his own body!

Self-immolation state!!

Power surged forth!

His blade speed instantly rose another level!

Shhh—

In an instant, a blazing blade light condensed into a single point, slicing straight at the Fallen Petal Wraith, whose body had not yet fully faded.

Crrrrr!!!

With overwhelming force, the blade split the Fallen Petal Wraith's stunned head in two, then carved straight through its chest.

Clearly, the Fallen Petal Wraith had never expected Fang Yue to accelerate mid-attack—his move had shattered its timing.

2252!

A massive amount of damage popped up from the top of Falling Flower Ghost's head, and this time, Falling Flower Ghost merely retreated violently backward, while the black spikes behind immediately attacked Fang Yue, tying up his movements.

The retreat and pulling happened simultaneously, and Fang Yue was indeed entangled for a while, dealing with the black spikes behind him.

After Fang Yue pulled away some distance from those pursuing black spikes, he raised his head to look in Falling Flower Ghost's direction, and his expression immediately darkened.

Because he saw that on Falling Flower Ghost's head... another +2252 healing number had actually popped up again!

How did it heal again?

Could my earlier guess have been wrong? That guy doesn't heal through those tree tubes, but rather has this kind of ability himself?

What should I do about this? Although this guy's offensive methods aren't that great, its survival ability is truly strong—constantly healing + phasing attacks, the two combined make it practically a turtle shell!

Moreover, Fang Yue had never actually been hit by those black spikes.

Suppose one were pierced by those black spikes, causing a wound, then the Life Flower that absorbs lifespan that Zhang Dashou mentioned earlier would appear on the body.

That thing sounds a bit like a curse, and won't be easy to deal with.

Honestly, at this moment, a hint of retreat arose in Fang Yue's heart.

Falling Flower Ghost was only discovered by accident; even if he didn't deal with it, others would come to handle it in the future.

But having just advanced to the Postnatal Second-rate Realm, only to be driven off by a Black-Level Intermediate anomaly—this result was rather unsightly...

Huh?! Wait!

Fang Yue's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly.

He noticed that the feet Falling Flower Ghost stood on seemed to have become considerably thicker.

No! Not just considerably thicker, but a full size larger all around!

Looking closely, he could faintly see tiny wood-like transport tubes wriggling under its feet, channeling power into it.

"So that's how it is."

An undying monster does indeed discourage people.

But if a method to truly kill this monster is found, then everything becomes interesting.

Without hesitation, Fang Yue, like he was popping pills, swallowed over thirty Zha Yuan Pills in one breath.

No choice—this kind of low-grade pill for restoring internal force just has such poor effects.

"Swallowing so many Zha Yuan Pills in one breath?!"

Seeing Fang Yue suddenly do such a reckless thing, Zhang Dashou, who was hiding in the distance, instantly bulged his eyes wide.

Zha Yuan Pills can only be taken one at a time with intervals; if too many are swallowed at once, the accumulated pill poison in the body will damage the body, rapidly burn lifespan, or even kill outright!

So in Zhang Dashou's view, treating Zha Yuan Pills like candy was simply suicidal behavior.

But... Fang Yue, acting as if nothing was wrong, after swallowing so many Zha Yuan Pills in one breath to restore internal force, actually kept popping pills while charging toward Falling Flower Ghost.

That death-defying pill-popping look simply didn't treat pill poison as a serious matter, but Zhang Dashou knew that accumulated pill poison would absolutely kill!

"The expert's way of popping pills... so damn cool! Is this the correct way to pop pills?"

Zhang Dashou fell into thought, even considering whether to post a strategy guide on the forum or something, to let those forum bumpkins see what a true pill-guzzler looks like.

And while Zhang Dashou was thinking about such things, Fang Yue had already charged to Falling Flower Ghost's front.

For some reason, although Falling Flower Ghost clearly had enough mobility, it didn't dodge at all.

Without thinking further, Fang Yue struck directly.

Blazing Heart Method!

Star Fire Blade Technique!

Ignoring the black spikes madly chasing behind, Fang Yue slashed three consecutive blades, every single one wreathed in fire!!

Each blade seemed to cut into Falling Flower Ghost's main artery, erupting with fierce flames.

However... Falling Flower Ghost was throwing punches.

Phasing Punches!

All three blades missed in succession, but Fang Yue didn't stop; as the black spikes pursued, Fang Yue unleashed a fourth slash!

1862!

Damage abruptly burst out, and a "+1862" prompt immediately popped up.

Although the damage had clearly been avoided, the already split-in-two head of Falling Flower Ghost twisted its face into a distorted, furious expression, and reached out to grab at Fang Yue's forehead.

Splat.

The moment that withered right hand covered Fang Yue's forehead, it was chopped off by Fang Yue's blade and fell to the ground; fresh blood burst out, temporarily obscuring Fang Yue's vision.

But relying on instinct, Fang Yue still immediately turned and continuously slashed, cutting down the pursuing black spikes.

But after only a few slashes, Fang Yue's expression suddenly changed, and he violently rolled to the left—but... it was too late!

Time seemed to freeze for an instant on Fang Yue's rolling motion.

And then the next moment...

Squelch—

Fresh blood burst out from his left waist, dyeing his clothes red.

112!

"... It's over!"

Simultaneously, Falling Flower Ghost's gloomy voice rang out.

Boom!!!

The waist wound that had just been a small cut now suddenly burst like a hemorrhage, spraying blood wildly outward; the blood, as if possessing its own consciousness, rapidly condensed into an emerald-green flower.

Lifespan began to drain away!

One hour, two hours, one day, two days, three days...

The draining speed grew faster and faster, and the emerald-green Life Flower gradually bloomed, its bud forming.

Just as Fang Yue's face changed drastically and he was about to shout for the parchment to activate 【Time Rewind】 to save his life, he suddenly froze.

"Die!"

The Falling Flower Ghost opposite was also grinning ferociously, but the next second, its smile suddenly froze too, an expression of disbelief on its face.

Because the Life Flower had stopped growing.

And at the junction between the Life Flower and the wound on its waist, the wound that had just been torn open... had actually healed.

"How... is that possible..."

As the wound healed, the Life Flower's connection with its host was immediately severed.

In other words, the Life Flower that others found terrifying to the point that one touch meant death—

For Fang Yue, even if he got hit, it only drained three to five days of his lifespan.

Night Breathing, my superhero.

Coming back to his senses in an instant, Fang Yue immediately understood what was going on and immediately revealed a strange smile.

"Compete with me on health regeneration? You're not worthy!"

The blood lost from the wound just now had long been pulled back up by the crazy regeneration of 【Night Breathing】.

The Life Flower that only absorbed lifespan had startled Fang Yue; he thought 【Night Breathing】 wouldn't be able to pull it back up.

The result... was just this?

Grinning ferociously, he raised the Leng Yue blade, the Starfire Blade Technique ignited directly, and Fang Yue hacked at the stunned Falling Flower Ghost's legs without hesitation.

Boom!!

Two blade aces lit up, flames exploded high, illuminating the entire camp.

The Falling Flower Ghost's legs, accompanied by raging flames, were directly chopped off onto the ground.

1921!

1966!

Two high damage numbers burst out simultaneously.

And... no health regeneration prompt!

The Falling Flower Ghost, now with its legs severed, also came back to its senses at this moment. Having lost its legs, as it tilted and fell to the ground, it adjusted its posture and pressed both hands to the ground.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!!!

Hundreds of black spikes surged up from the ground again like ground spikes, crazily.

Almost at the moment the ground spikes erupted, Fang Yue had already swung his blade at the ground.

Every blade burst forth with brilliant flames, cutting down the black spikes emerging below.

Clang clang clang clang!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle! -

8!

55!

7!

32!

9!

48!

5!

Dense blood-loss prompts crazily popped up above Fang Yue's head.

Although Fang Yue's reaction speed was already very fast, facing a large-area, large-scale attack, it was still inevitable that he got stabbed a few times.

And those double-digit numbers were the blood-loss results from Fang Yue being directly attacked.

As for the single-digit damage values, those were the effect of Fang Yue using 【Force Deflection】 to block the attacks.

Although Fang Yue handled it perfectly, feeling the small wounds on his body beginning to brew Life Flowers, Fang Yue knew he couldn't keep being dragged on like this.

After deflecting a large batch of black spikes with one blade, Fang Yue swung his blade to chop at the Falling Flower Ghost on the ground!

Hemu Shield!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The black spikes that had originally been attacking Fang Yue, after Fang Yue turned to attack the Falling Flower Ghost, suddenly retracted into the ground in unison, and rose up from the location where the Falling Flower Ghost was, weaving together rapidly, before Fang Yue's Starfire Blade Technique could fall, quickly weaving a large wooden shield.

"Break!"

Flames self-immolating, blade after blade of raging fire!

With no worries left behind, Fang Yue immediately went all out.

The Leng Yue blade was instantly wielded by him like a butcher's cleaver, hacking at the wooden shield like chopping bones, blade after blade, simply violent to the extreme.

"Holy crap! Is this the idol's fighting style? This is way too awesome! Suppressing a Black-Level Intermediate ghost and hacking wildly! Simply not treating the ghost as a person at all! Is this still the invincible ghost that just wiped out our Meng Clan Hunting Group?"

(End of this chapter)