"I will become a god! A Death God free from anyone's control! I will establish a Death God Kingdom for our Holy Spirit Cult!"
"But I've already hit the ceiling of my talent. Otherwise, I wouldn't have tried the unorthodox method of fusing my four-word battle armor with my own skeletal remains in an attempt to break through."
"In terms of pure martial soul cultivation talent, I'm actually inferior to the Nether Emperor and Nanalie."
"Seizing Your Majesty the Demon Emperor's body and using your talent to ascend the path of divinity was indeed my original plan. But I refuse to become a stepping stone for the Abyssal Plane."
"The Wisdom Emperor has been guiding me to possess your body. He definitely harbors hidden secrets and schemes, and I will never let him get his way."
"I've long been searching for a way to break the trap the Wisdom Emperor set, until I thought of Di Tian. When I sensed Di Tian locked in a desperate battle against a supreme enemy through the Blood River God-Slaying Array, I finally found a solution."
"Using Your Majesty's body as a springboard to possess the Beast God Di Tian!"
"With Di Tian's talent, I will surely catch up to that once-supreme Asura God who ruled the birthplace of Evil Soul Masters!"
"So I only need to control your body briefly, Your Majesty."
"Then, using full command over the Doomsday Skeleton Array and the Blood River God-Slaying Array, and cloaking myself in your aura, I can ambush and possess Di Tian. Isn't that a brilliant plan with huge potential?"
"And who says I'm out of energy sources?"
The Ghost Emperor's tone suddenly rose as he said the last sentence.
Immediately, the Doomsday Skeleton began to rage.
The fully formed Doomsday Skeleton, already with limbs and torso, had its right arm suddenly thicken. It raised upward in a sky-supporting gesture.
The giant skeletal hand pierced through over a thousand high-ranking evil soul masters who were operating the smaller Doomsday Skeletons, tearing apart the grand formation.
The inverted tetrahedral array collapsed at once, and the soul power energy waves transmitted downward in resonance fell into chaos.
At this moment, the bone hand that had shattered the formation clenched in midair, and an immense stream of energy was absorbed and devoured like a whale drinking.
One by one, the high-level evil soul masters operating the skeletons had their soul power and life force forcibly stripped away. Their vitality and flesh disintegrated, leaving behind only cold, white bones.
At this point, how could the evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Cult not realize the situation?
The Ghost Emperor—actually the true leader of the Holy Spirit Cult—had deceived them all!
They had been promised a collective divine ascension!
But now, the Ghost Emperor was using them—all the members of the cult—as stepping stones for his own advancement!
Outrage and curses erupted.
"Ghost Emperor!"
"Ghost Emperor! You've chosen a path to destruction! It won't be long before you join us in death!"
"Ghost Emperor! Screw your ancestors!"
"…!!"
Yet, despite the wild barrage of insults aimed at his mother and eighteen generations of ancestors, the Ghost Emperor was unfazed.
Instead, his face was lit with a smile, as if not being cursed but rather applauded by a cheering crowd.
As he felt the endless energy filling him, the Ghost Emperor seized full control over the Demon Emperor's body in an instant.
The red glow that had previously filled the Demon Emperor's eyes was replaced with a chilling green ghostfire.
The Ghost Emperor slowly opened the Demon Emperor's broad chest, spreading his arms as if embracing the fallen high-level soul masters, and sighed:
"To devote your all to the Death God Kingdom—this is your honor!"
Now reduced to bone, the high-level evil soul masters could no longer control their skeletal puppets. One after another, the skeletons fell to the earth.
Meanwhile, those like the Nether Emperor who were within the Doomsday Skeleton alongside the Ghost Emperor showed no reaction.
They had known all of this beforehand. They were guaranteed a place in the future Death God Kingdom.
Only Nanalie, hidden from the Ghost Emperor's line of sight, flashed a glimmer of cunning light in her eyes. Her delicate fist clenched tightly—then released just as quickly.
After devouring the energy of over a thousand high-level evil soul masters, the Doomsday Skeleton reached its peak state. All this energy was channeled into the Demon Emperor's body.
With full control of the Blood River God-Slaying Array as well, his aura surged dramatically, nearing the threshold of the next realm.
Now, the Ghost Emperor, using the Demon Emperor's divine-level body, bolstered by the Skeleton and the Array, charged toward the battlefield between the Beast God Di Tian and the Sea God Tang San.
In an instant, the battle came into view.
It was nothing short of brutal. Di Tian had been forced into a corner, his many divine artifacts nearly destroyed by the Sea God Trident, an ultra-divine weapon.
His divine armor and mecha were in tatters.
Drops of true dragon blood fell to the earth, piercing the ground.
Even the divine status of "Divine Beast" behind him was on the brink of collapse.
Of course, Tang San wasn't in great shape either.
The explosion from detonating the Sea God inheritance seed had already burned through most of his power.
Inside, he was ready to scream. He had fought so long, and Di Tian still hadn't fallen!
Seeing both enemies battered, the Ghost Emperor was overjoyed:
"Hahaha…"
Truly, the heavens favored him!
It was the perfect time to place his big bet.
As the saying goes: gamblers don't always lose, and children don't always cry.
Take the risk, and your bicycle turns into a motorcycle.
Now was the Ghost Emperor's best chance to sweep the board.
First, strike while the iron's hot and kill Di Tian.
Then, use the power boost from that kill to tilt the scales of victory and take out the blue shrimp holding the trident—Tang San!
With that thought, the Ghost Emperor, wielding the Demon Emperor's true god body and enhanced by the two massive formations, activated the artifact Dirge of the Netherworld Crossblade's special ability—Hundred Piercings.
He locked onto Di Tian's back, infused the strike with immense Death God energy, and stabbed with full force.
Tang San, facing the Ghost Emperor, naturally sensed his approach.
Seeing that the Ghost Emperor was trying to ambush Di Tian, he was secretly delighted.
Normally, he wouldn't care about this clown—he wasn't even worthy to carry his shoes.
But this was different.
Both he and Di Tian were exhausted. The Ghost Emperor's interference was a crucial variable.
Too frustrated to care about more calculations, Tang San immediately prepared to create an opportunity for the Ghost Emperor's ambush.
Unstable Storm!
This bug-level divine control technique had been on standby for a long time—and now it was finally time to use it.
Why only now?
Because Di Tian would dodge.
To ensure the move hit, he had to deliberately expose a weak point and bait Di Tian into a full-force attack.
A mutually damaging strategy.
A thousand damage to the enemy, a thousand to yourself.
Experienced Di Tian instantly took the bait. He had also been waiting for such a flaw.
The dual divine weapons—Sentimental Sword and Ruthless Sword—that had been winding up the whole time, finally burst forth in a radiant divine glow.
(End of Chapter)