Upon hearing this, Yang Kai's expression shifted. Almost without thinking, he threw a punch straight into the skeleton before him, shouting, "Dream on!"
The skeleton, who knew how many centuries old, shattered on impact without the slightest surprise.
Yang Kai's expression didn't relax in the slightest — if anything, it grew more solemn.
"Decisive enough, but you chose the wrong target!" The voice came through brimming with smugness. The orb suddenly emitted a burst of eerie light, and Yang Kai watched as a phantom, hideous human face flew out of it, wreathed in black mist, baring its teeth as it lunged at him like a vengeful ghost.
The soul hadn't been hiding in the skeleton at all — it had been concealed inside the glowing orb!
Yang Kai was about to strike again when the flying face let out a piercing shriek. The sound drilled straight into his ears, and his mind suddenly felt as though it were being stabbed by ten thousand needles.
A pained grunt escaped him, and Yang Kai's movements faltered. He knew now that the voice hadn't been lying — something had definitely been tampered with inside his head, otherwise this couldn't have happened.
Taking advantage of the opening, the face cackled and burrowed into Yang Kai's body.
Yang Kai's body shuddered and went completely rigid. He couldn't even twitch an eyelid, as if he had lost all control over his own flesh.
A voice echoed from within his body: "Hahaha, ignorant brat, to think you could resist me! Watch as I erase your consciousness and claim your body!"
A flicker of alarm crossed Yang Kai's face, but his eyes blazed with defiance.
"Hmm. Your body is rather poor, and your strength is lacking — but no matter, it'll do for now. Once I get out of here, I can always find a better one later. Rest assured, after I take your body, any grudges you have, I'll settle them all for you. Come now, stop resisting and save yourself the pain. I'll save some time as well."
"Not a chance!" Yang Kai sent back a thought.
"Hehe, at this point you still want to resist? Being chosen by me is your fortune, brat — don't be ungrateful!" The face had indeed heard Yang Kai's thoughts. It let out a few eerie laughs and said, "Fine. Since you won't cooperate, I'll just have to use some methods. Brace yourself — the pain of having your consciousness erased isn't something an ordinary person can endure."
He offered this warning with what seemed like genuine concern. Then, employing some unknown technique, Yang Kai's head exploded with a deafening roar, and pain a thousand times worse than before erupted from within.
This pain was nothing like a blade wound — it was the kind that came from the very soul. Involuntarily, a piercing scream tore from Yang Kai's throat. Sweat soaked through his clothes in an instant, and his body trembled as if struck by a violent fever.
"You brought this on yourself — don't blame me," the face snorted coldly. Even more excruciating pain followed.
Yang Kai felt as though his entire being was about to collapse. His consciousness flickered like a candle in a storm, on the verge of being snuffed out at any moment. Yet in those bloodshot eyes, a stubborn defiance still burned.
"Hmm?" The face grew surprised. "How are you still resisting? Now that's strange!"
As it spoke, Yang Kai clearly felt an intense warmth spreading from deep within his bones. As the warmth radiated outward, his wavering soul steadied. Even the searing pain eased considerably.
At the same time, a tremendous suction force surged directly into his mind.
"What is this?!" The face's voice suddenly turned shrill with panic, as if it had encountered the most terrifying thing in existence. "What is this? No, no — aargh!"
As its screams echoed, Yang Kai's mind suddenly cleared. He vaguely felt something being drawn into his Golden Body.
His entire body went light. Yang Kai gasped for air in great heaving breaths.
The whole ordeal had happened with startling speed — from the moment the face had burrowed into his body to now, no more than ten breaths had passed. Yet to Yang Kai, it felt like an eternity.
Moreover, having successfully repelled the face's invasion, Yang Kai distinctly sensed that his willpower had grown a fraction stronger.
The face's miserable wailing poured in without end. But now it was like a mouse that had run into a cat — its voice was shrill and trembling, begging for mercy over and over.
Reaching out with his senses, Yang Kai found the face cowering in some corner of his Golden Body, its expression one of abject terror, trembling from head to toe.
"Young hero, young hero, I was wrong! Let me out, I'll never dare do it again!" The face's terrified voice rang out. It didn't know where it was, but it could feel a pair of ill-intentioned eyes staring at it — as if regarding a particularly delicious meal.
Yang Kai's expression turned peculiar.
The last time he'd been in Nine Yin Valley, the Golden Body had directly absorbed half of the Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew, storing it within his body to be used when he broke through to the Zhenyuan Realm.
And now the Golden Body had absorbed that face as well.
Yang Kai knew the Golden Body could absorb any energy of a non-Yang attribute, but he had never imagined it could absorb a person's soul as well.
A strong cultivator's soul was also a form of energy, and an incredibly nourishing one at that. To the Golden Body, the face was nothing more than a dish on a plate. It just wasn't cooked yet — it had to be refined by True Yang Energy before it could be absorbed.
With a thought, ignoring the face's pleas, Yang Kai quietly circulated the True Yang Technique.
Under the pull of the True Yang Technique, the face was finally drawn out of the Golden Body. But before it could celebrate its escape, it found itself dropped into a torrent of pure, scorching Yang energy.
Screams erupted immediately. "What are you doing?! Stop this, no!"
The moment Yang Kai had made his move, the face had realized what he was planning.
"Young hero, don't do this! If you keep going, I'll be refined!"