The wave of Malevolent Ghosts swarmed Whitey and Boney. Their bodies spasmed as if they were being electrocuted.
With McRibbs barely showing signs of recovery and his two other skeletons suffering in pain, Alsis felt grim about their current situation.
A lucky Malevolent Ghost managed to slip past Alsis' finger and enter into his skull. He couldn't help but scream in pain. He immediately pulled the ghost out of his skull, but that split his attention.
More Malevolent Ghosts poured into his skull and feasted on his soul fire.
Alsis panicked and kept pulling out the ghosts. He didn't even bother tearing them apart anymore. He just wanted the pain to stop.
But no matter how much he tried, more ghosts entered into his skull. He covered his eye sockets with his boney hand, but they slipped through the gaps on his fingers.
"Ahhhhhhh!!"
Alsis saw blood, carnage, suffering, tears, and other horrible things. He was reliving the death of these ghosts. It was slowly corrupting his mind, and it showed signs of collapse.
In a last-ditch effort, Alsis grabbed the piles and piles of soul fire in his surroundings. He doesn't understand why the ghosts didn't target these soul fires, but he had no time to think about it right now.
He swallowed the soul fires with the ghosts pouring into all of the holes on his skull.
His soul fire burned brighter and brighter. The whole cave opening around them was slowly illuminated.
His powerful soul fire ignited the ghosts. Their jelly-like bodies melted and turned to pure soul fire.
Normally, the Malevolent Ghosts would burn and red mist would be released. But inside Alsis' skull, the red mist was trapped. It poured into his soul fire and changed its color bit by bit.
The blue color of his soul fire and the red color of the mist made his soul fire turn purple. When his soul fire fully turned purple, the Malevolent Ghosts around him suddenly scattered away like scared bats.
Even the Malevolent Ghosts inside Whitey and Boney left their skulls in fear.
Alsis fell on his knees and held his skull as the pain continued to linger. Soon, Alsis felt dizzy and dropped unconscious.
…
Alsis opened his eyes, and he was back in his previous world.
"I'm back!?"
Alsis sat up from his position and looked around. He was currently in a boundless plain. There was nothing but blue skies and the green scenery as far as the eye could see.
"Wait… This is not my previous world…"
Alsis was confused. He looked at his hands, and they were the same hands that he had when he was still alive.
"Could it all be a bad dream?" Alsis asked himself.
"You're pathetic," a voice said behind him.
Alsis turned around and saw his number one nemesis staring at him coldly.
"Henry!"
Alsis became solemn and gripped his fists tightly. He stirred his Peak-Core Formation stage cultivation, but as expected, he was as weak as a mortal.
"Do you want to kill me?" Henry asked and slowly walked towards him.
Suddenly, the sky changed color. The sky turned blood red, and the boundless green landscape turned to a land of blood and dead bodies. They were of women, men, young children, and the elderly.
Alsis immediately realized that this was a dream. The last thing he remembered was getting overwhelmed by the Malevolent Ghosts and absorbing the soul fires around him.
"Where am I?" Alsis asked.
Alsis felt nervous even though he clearly knew that this was an illusion. After getting killed by Henry, he developed a fear towards him. It was a feeling of inferiority.
"We are in your soul. If you can defeat me, you will be free, if you can't, then you will turn into a Malevolent Ghost," Henry replied.
Alsis gulped hard.
"Hahahaha! To make it fair, I'm also a mortal! It will be a battle of our technique and confidence," Henry laughed loudly.
Alsis was immediately reminded of the time before he died. Henry acted the same. He was very confident, and he gave the feeling that he was in control of the world.
Henry took the chance to attack when Alsis was stunned.
He moved like fluid water and twirled before launching a powerful kick at Alsis' abdomen. Alsis snapped out of it and flew back like a piece of paper blown by the wind.
The two of them were using the cultivation techniques that they used at the start of their cultivation path. These techniques allow them to mimic their suitable elements.
After dodging Henry's attack, Alsis planned to jump up into the air and dropkick his head, but when he was about to execute it, he doubted himself.
[Won't I die again?]
That thought was like poison. It shook Alsis' will and confidence.
This gave Henry the chance to attack again. He smiled and thrust his hand forward like a sharp spear.
Alsis felt a sense of crisis. Although they were mortals, the techniques that they were using boosted their strength. If that hand hit his stomach, it would surely pierce through him.
Alsis' life flashed before his eyes. He remembered the time before Henry killed him. At that time, he felt despair and helplessness. At this moment, it was the exact same feeling.
Alsis raised his eyes and stared at Henry's face. Everything slowed down and his thoughts became clear.
"No! I won't die at your hands again!!" Alsis shouted.
He stopped overthinking and punched Henry's hand away. It only moved it by several inches, but that was enough to avoid a fatal blow.
Henry's hand grazed the left side of Alsis' stomach and made a huge gash on it.
At this moment, Henry was at his vulnerable. Alsis became one with the wind and launched an uppercut.
Everything that he felt ever since he started seeing Henry as his rival was condensed into this punch. His anger, his wrath, his hate, and his unwillingness to die by his hands again!
The punch connected, and the world around Alsis shattered like glass…