[That attack just now, which seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth, didn't even leave a scratch on your skin when it hit you!]

[Huo Feihuo frantically rubbed his eyes, forgetting that he was in a soul state, and what he perceived wasn't through the physical sense of "sight."]

["How is this possible?! My 'Earth-Shattering Celestial Fire' is the most powerful killing technique of the Fire Dragon-Man lineage! How could you be completely unharmed?! Do you have some kind of treasure on you??"]

[You did not answer his question.]

[Instead, you stretched out your right hand, reaching out from a distance.]

["Didn't your mother teach you not to stand so high when talking to your elders?!"]

[A tremendous gravitational force suddenly appeared, forcibly dragging Huo Feihuo down from mid-air.]

["Impossible!"]

[Huo Feihuo knew you were using some kind of technique to amplify the gravity beneath him.]

[But this wasn't scientific!]

[He was currently a soul, how could he be affected by gravity?]

[Even if you wanted to pull him from a distance, it should be through Essence Energy, Soul Power, mental force, or other such metaphysical powers! That would be scientific!]

[Before Huo Feihuo could land, a massive, flame-wreathed palm materialized out of thin air, slapped his back, accelerated his fall, and ruthlessly suppressed him!]

[Cloud-Scorching Hand!]

["THUD!!"]

[Huo Feihuo hit the ground face-first. Dust billowed, shattered rocks flew, and a cacophony of cracking sounds erupted!]

[The 'Alien's Biological Father' trait boosted your Vitality Energy power by a hundredfold.]

[The resulting slap sent Huo Feihuo crashing down in a spectacular face-plant, the impact cratering the ground with cracks radiating out for over a hundred meters!]

[The imprisoned Qilin Soul and the surrounding Demon Souls watched in terror.]

[Their gazes seemed to say: 'Brother, you're this powerful, why didn't you act sooner?']

[The most frustrated one was undoubtedly Huo Feihuo.]

["What kind of joke is this?! I'm in a soul state! A soul state! A soul state! How can I collide with the ground?! What's going wrong here?!"]

[What made Huo Feihuo even more speechless was yet to come.]

[The Shen Family's Heaven-Grade technique, the Stellar River Divine Art, its ultimate killing move: Starfall!]

["RUMBLE…"]

[High in the sky, a shattered, burning star plummeted at high speed!]

["Good thing there are Starry Domains here too, otherwise this move wouldn't be usable…"]

[You were only at the Spirit Sea realm. Being able to manipulate the fall of a single fragmented star was your limit.]

[If your cultivation were higher, this technique could achieve effects similar to a 'Meteor Shower'.]

[Huo Feihuo looked up.]

["Don't tell me… this thing can hit me too?!"]

[Huo Feihuo refused to believe it. He shot skyward, his entire form igniting with blazing flames, resembling a phoenix.]

[A shattered star fell from the heavens, a demonic soul chased toward the sky!]

["BOOM!!"]

[The two collided, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth splitting. The shockwave from the explosion rippled outward in concentric circles, making mountains and rivers tremble and space itself ripple!]

[Huo Feihuo burst forth from the explosion's flames again, appearing before you in the blink of an eye, his claw thrusting straight for your heart!]

[Unfortunately, he grabbed nothing, passing right through your body.]

["Why?!"]

[Of course. He was a soul, incapable of directly interacting with physical matter.]

["Why can your attacks touch me, but I can't touch you? Why on earth is that??!"]

[At this moment, Huo Feihuo was like a pet cat overstimulated by a cat teaser.]

[His form twisted, his expression was ferocious, he scratched his head and ears, and flailed his limbs.]

[You possessed the 'Materialist Warrior' trait, not him.]

[If you didn't think he was a ghost, then he wasn't.]

[If he didn't think he himself was a ghost, that didn't matter—he was a ghost.]

[You calmly turned and executed the Cloud-Scorching Hand, slapping him once more.]

[Immediately after, slap after slap rained down, brutally striking his face.]

[The poor guy was utterly bewildered.]

[Huo Feihuo exhausted every method at his disposal but couldn't inflict the slightest harm on you, infuriating him to the point of seeing red.]

[The angrier he got, the slower his mind reacted, and the less he could discern your weakness.]

[Although Huo Feihuo couldn't hurt you, he had, after all, reached the Martial Saint level. Your attacks couldn't deal fatal damage to him either.]

[Thus, the two of you reached a stalemate.]

[Until the Qilin Soul spoke.]

["Young friend of the human world! If you cannot destroy him, please help me pull out these chains! I will deal with him!"]

[The Qilin Soul told you that the dark chains binding it originated from the Dragon-Man realm.]

[They possessed immense suppression power. Combined with the restrictions left by the Dragon-Man tribe beneath the ancient city ruins, they could suppress the soul of a Guardian like itself.]

[They also slowly eroded its power, causing its soul cultivation to continuously decline, so it no longer possessed the strength of its prime.]

[However, these chains themselves had no defensive capabilities. With external intervention, they could be pulled out from the one being suppressed.]

[This was also why Huo Feihuo was stationed here—someone needed to guard against accidents.]

[Yet, even though these chains themselves wouldn't resist…]

[Pulling them out from within the Qilin Soul's form was no easy task.]

[At the very least, with your Spirit Sea realm cultivation, you couldn't do it yet.]

[But you had help.]

["Shen Family Founding Ancestor! It's your time to shine!"]

[With a shake of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, the Shen Family Founding Ancestor, now a Soul Slave, obediently flew out and began pulling on the chains.]

[The Shen Family Founding Ancestor pulled them out much more easily, yanking them free one by one.]

["Stop!!"]

[Huo Feihuo tried to intervene.]

[You smashed the Nine Provinces Cauldron down on him.]

["Cauldron Suppresses Mount Tai!!"]

[The gravity control of the Stellar River Divine Art, combined with the Nine Provinces Cauldron's full-tonnage mode, firmly pinned Huo Feihuo beneath it.]

[The guy now resembled Brother Monkey just after being pinned under Five Finger Mountain, desperately doing push-ups, trying to crawl out from under the physical suppression of the Nine Provinces Cauldron.]

["Achita!! I've really seen a ghost! Why does it feel like I have a physical body when he hits me, but I don't when I hit him?!"]

[Huo Feihuo was now utterly exasperated. If only his physical body hadn't been shattered earlier.]

[At the start of the fight, how comfortably he had been bullying this kid!]

[Now the tables had turned!]

["Snap!"]

["Clatter…"]

[The sound of chains being pulled out came one after another.]

[Beneath the ancient city ruins, something seemed to be breaking as the chains were removed, emitting sharp, ear-piercing snapping sounds.]

[Finally, the Qilin Soul broke free from its restraints and let out a heaven-shaking, earth-quaking roar.]

[The souls of ten thousand demons prostrated!]

["Dragon-Man tribe! Return my Demon World!!"]

[The moment it broke free, the Qilin Soul pounced on Huo Feihuo.]

[In its eyes burned thirty thousand years of hatred!]

[Huo Feihuo's face turned green with fright.]

["Holy shit!"]

[An old Ferrari is still a Ferrari.]

[A starved camel is still bigger than a horse!]

[Even after thirty thousand years of torment, the Guardian's soul strength still surpassed Huo Feihuo's!]

[If Huo Feihuo still had his body, he wouldn't fear a vengeful spirit.]

[The problem was, he himself was now also a soul entity!]

[You moved the Nine Provinces Cauldron aside, letting the two of them settle their personal grudge.]

["I choose you! Go, Demon Tribe Guardian!"]

——

Just received news from the backend that the animated adaptation of this book has started production. Please look forward to it.