Chapter 54: Newcomers and Senior Reincarnators

Previously, Yang Sheng had not revealed his true identity to Jiang Tianlei and the other man because he was unsure of the attitude he should adopt when dealing with fellow reincarnators.

Were they companions on the same path? Competitors? Or perhaps enemies?

Therefore, Yang Sheng had trailed them in hiding all the way, only deciding to make his move once the Mourning Ghost appeared.

Having spent so many days in this damned place and eliminated so many malevolent spirits, how could he possibly let Jiang Tianlei suddenly swoop in and steal his kill?

Thus, the Mourning Ghost had to die by his hand.

However, after killing the Mourning Ghost, Yang Sheng did not immediately turn hostile, as he was still uncertain whether attacking other reincarnators would violate any hidden rules.

Yet hearing Jiang Tianlei speak just now immediately set Yang Sheng at ease.

Liu Sisi was right; Yang Sheng was indeed feeling a touch of excitement.

Dealing with these grotesque entities day in and day out was starting to ruin his appetite.

His Imperial Guard Saber had not tasted blood—human blood, of course—for a very long time.

Jiang Tianlei regarded the natives of the reincarnation world as mere NPCs, slaughtering them at will.

In Yang Sheng's eyes, however, there was no distinction between reincarnators and the natives of the reincarnation world.

To him, there were only two kinds of people.

Those who could be killed, and those who could not.

Jiang Tianlei had no idea just how thoroughly he was courting death with his words. Directing the large and small spirits to close in on Yang Sheng, he sneered, "Killing each other? Wrong! It should be called the law of the jungle! Newcomer, since you couldn't make up your mind, let me make it for you!"

Yang Sheng shook his head and replied, "No, I've already made my choice. What you said is quite right; the law of the jungle holds true everywhere. It's just that in some places it takes the crude form of brute force and blades, while in others it's invisible oppression and rules. I prefer the former—it's simpler and saves trouble."

As Yang Sheng's words fell, the Imperial Guard Saber swept backward in a horizontal slash, heading straight for the massive spirit!

The narrow Imperial Guard Saber collided with the giant spirit's massive hammer, producing a deafening sound akin to clashing metal.

With blood pacts erupting and vital energy surging, Yang Sheng slashed repeatedly, a blinding, piercing brilliance bursting from the edge of the Imperial Guard Saber.

Piercing Edge!

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the heavy hammer in the giant spirit's hand shattered completely!

Piercing Edge was capable of directly destroying any weapon below the superior grade.

Although that giant hammer looked terrifying, it was actually just ordinary iron soaked in yin energy, meaning its grade was not high.

The blue-faced, fanged imp suddenly leaped onto Yang Sheng's back, but before it could bite down, Yang Sheng executed a fierce back-suplex, flinging it far away.

Following this, he unleashed a flurry of powerful kicks, the wind howling sharply.

The Ring-Step! The Mandarin Duck Kicks!

The half-height spirit was kicked away into a corner. Before it could even react, an Evil-Expelling Talisman stamped itself onto its forehead. With a single sweep of his blade, the spirit's head was sent flying, completely dissolving into scattered yin energy.

"You're courting death!"

Seeing the imp he had raised get slaughtered by Yang Sheng, Jiang Tianlei roared in fury as he shook the Soul-Detainment Banner. Massive waves of yin energy poured into the giant spirit, causing its entire body to expand significantly as it charged at Yang Sheng once more.

"What are you standing there for? Why aren't you firing?!"

Jiang Tianlei could no longer afford to be chivalrous and hastily urged Liu Sisi to shoot.

Liu Sisi hesitated for a moment, then raised the air cannon in her hand and fired repeatedly at Yang Sheng.

Yang Sheng had previously witnessed the power of this device; apart from a slightly slower rate of fire, it was no less formidable than a handgun—and an infinite-ammo handgun at that.

Had this been back in the Dragon City Hegemony world, Yang Sheng certainly would have found it troublesome.

Within seven steps, he might still have had a fighting chance; beyond seven steps, he would have had to rely entirely on cover to survive.

Yet Yang Sheng had now undergone physical enhancement through vital energy; his speed and strength had long since surpassed the limits of ordinary mortals.

Furthermore, he had acquired six Dharma-Borrowing Spiritual Seals, which had correspondingly strengthened his mental power, allowing him to perceive all spiritual energy fluctuations around him.

Thus, dodging the air cannon fire was no longer difficult for Yang Sheng.

The mere moment Liu Sisi raised her hand, even before she could discharge the air cannon, Yang Sheng could preemptively sense its landing point and evade it.

He could even dodge successfully after the air cannon had already been fired.

Yang Sheng's figure twisted like a swimming fish; all the air cannon blasts missed, some even striking the giant spirit itself.

With a single leap, Yang Sheng vaulted onto the giant spirit's neck, drawing talismans in the void. A Soul-Pacifying Talisman and an Evil-Expelling Talisman slammed down in succession, causing the giant spirit's entire body to shudder as the yin energy reinforced by the Soul-Detainment Banner abruptly dissipated.

Five-Fierces Military Soul, activate!

Golden radiance condensed into a golden-armored military spirit, the Imperial Guard Saber in its hand roaring as it slashed downward.

Simultaneously, Yang Sheng thrust his blade into the giant spirit's cervical vertebra from behind. The two blades descended almost in unison, and the massive spirit collapsed with a crash, dissolving into thick, swirling yin energy.

"A military soul spirit body?! How is that possible?! How could a newcomer possess such a thing?!"

Jiang Tianlei stared at the Five-Fierces Military Soul in utter shock.

In truth, both he and Liu Sisi had experienced newcomer worlds defined by very simple survival missions, where one merely had to follow the crowd and avoid dying.

Their mission evaluation ratings had hovered around the low Mysterious or Yellow tiers, lingering right on the edge of passing, and the reincarnation points they acquired were pitifully few.

Much like Yang Sheng, he too could have completely chosen a different method to complete the main quest of the Dragon City Hegemony world.

For instance, he could have surrendered and conceded defeat in the very first match, acting as a low-level street thug, avoiding combat as much as possible, abandoning side quests, and simply hiding out for three months to complete the main quest and return.

Yet Yang Sheng had chosen the most difficult path; his goal from the very beginning was to seize the Imperial Guard Saber, refusing to let even the side quests go.

Moreover, by stirring up massive chaos in the arena of the Dragon City Hegemony tournament and turning the entire Hong Kong underworld upside down, receiving a Heaven-tier evaluation for such actions was only natural.

Therefore, the benefits Yang Sheng could reap from a single reincarnation world actually far exceeded those of someone like Jiang Tianlei, who had scraped through five reincarnation worlds.

Following his shock, a flicker of greed surfaced in Jiang Tianlei's eyes.

Military souls were also spirit bodies and could likewise be subjugated by his Soul-Detainment Banner.

Furthermore, this entity was no weaker than the Mourning Ghost, and he wouldn't even need to worry about backlash.

In reality, Jiang Tianlei's Soul-Detainment Banner was somewhat similar to Yang Sheng's Five-Fierces Military Soul, the only difference being that one was an external mystic treasure while the other was a skill inherent to oneself.

Mystic treasures were difficult to upgrade and had a hard ceiling, but the Five-Fierces Military Soul could grow alongside Yang Sheng's personal strength, its upper limit increasing correspondingly. The latter was unquestionably much more precious.

Jiang Tianlei gritted his teeth and shook the Soul-Detainment Banner. Instantly, foul-smelling, churning water foamed beneath his feet, spreading outward toward Yang Sheng.

Amidst that foul current, a corpse swollen from soaking in water flickered in and out of sight. Its decayed eyes suddenly snapped open, weeping yellowish pus as they locked a murderous gaze onto Yang Sheng.

Jiang Tianlei had actually not wanted to release the final ghost inside the Soul-Detainment Banner, because he had not yet fully subjugated it.

That was an extremely terrifying water ghost. When Jiang Tianlei and eight other reincarnators were executing a mission, seven of them had been drowned. Jiang Tianlei had barely managed to escape with his life and succeeded in pulling the water ghost into the Soul-Detainment Banner.

Releasing this entity was easy, but recalling it was difficult. Still, if he could acquire the military soul, any losses would be well worth it.

Sensing the foul, flowing river water at his feet, a pair of bloated, decaying arms lunged fiercely to grab Yang Sheng.

Yang Sheng severed them with a single stroke of his blade, but this water ghost could regenerate infinitely as long as it remained in water, and the severed arms healed in an instant.

Soul-Pacifying, Five-Thunders, and Evil-Expelling talismans struck it in succession, yet none of these talismans completely destroyed it.

Even when the Five-Thunders spell utterly obliterated the water ghost's physical form, it merely regenerated within the water once more.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Yang Sheng's face.

The true body of the water ghost was not the spirit within the water, but this pool of foul river water itself!

Unless this river water was evaporated, the water ghost would remain an immortal entity, eventually exhausting a person's strength completely.

At that moment, Yang Sheng abruptly shifted his gaze to Jiang Tianlei.

Ghosts and spirit bodies also required a source of power; just as the power of the Five-Fierces Military Soul originated from Yang Sheng's mental energy, what about this water ghost? It ought to be the Soul-Detainment Banner.

Yang Sheng directly released the Five-Fierces Military Soul to entangle the water ghost. He himself leaped into the air, bounding off the walls surrounding the corridor, flipping left and right to cross the foul river water and charge straight at Jiang Tianlei!

Although Jiang Tianlei's methods of detaining souls and driving ghosts were bizarre and sinister, his physical body was actually extremely fragile.

The reincarnation points he had accumulated over the years had either been spent on strengthening his mental power or purchasing various props, leaving not a single bit invested in his own physical form.

Thus, seeing Yang Sheng charge at him, Jiang Tianlei hurriedly raised his Soul-Detainment Banner. Yin energy erupted from it, frantically blocking Yang Sheng's blade momentum.

Yet with every downward stroke of the Imperial Guard Saber, a chunk of the yin energy was blasted apart, vaguely revealing Jiang Tianlei's physical body behind it.

Overwhelmed with panic, Jiang Tianlei bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the Soul-Detainment Banner.

The next moment, dense yin energy burst forth from the banner, not only engulfing Yang Sheng entirely but also tugging at the water ghost behind Yang Sheng to pull it back into the banner.

The Five-Fierces Military Soul was slower than the water ghost. Seeing two decaying arms from the foul river water reach out to grab his neck, while the surrounding yin energy suddenly flared up once more, Yang Sheng refused to dodge or retreat, pressing his fierce assault relentlessly.

"Madman! Do you want to trade your life for mine?!"

Jiang Tianlei was utterly terrified. Things had reached this point, yet Yang Sheng still refused to evade?

Right at that instant, a blinding golden radiance erupted from within Yang Sheng's body—majestic and solemn. Within that golden light, the illusory figure of a golden body could even be faintly seen, suppressing an entire city.

City God's Golden Body!

This entity possessed only 5% inheritance completeness, meaning it could only be used passively.

However, Yang Sheng had estimated that whenever the power of malevolent yin entities exceeded a certain limit, the City God's Golden Body would passively erupt once—and naturally, only that once.

Just how long he would need to recuperate before he could use it again, Yang Sheng did not know, for he certainly couldn't court death by testing it with his own life.

Even so, a single time was more than enough.

Under the oppressive might of the City God's Golden Body, the yin energy of the Soul-Detainment Banner shattered completely, and when the golden light illuminated the water ghost, the foul river water evaporated instantly.

"Divine Official Inheritance?! How is that possible?! How could a newcomer possess a Divine Official Inheritance?!"

Jiang Tianlei's eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.

Yet at that very moment, a roar akin to a sniper rifle suddenly echoed through the air.

Yang Sheng abruptly raised his head and looked in the direction of Liu Sisi.