One-Eyed Monster

The silent duel was still ongoing. Kuyi Tulan’s moves seemed to have no real effect.

No matter how much he chattered, how he launched his Verbal Attack, he still couldn’t pry open the mouth of this Shadow Ghost. Just as he himself said, this Shadow Ghost was indeed a unique villain.

The villain’s words were sparse, and he didn’t play by the rules, giving Kuyi Tulan no more than a word or two in response, completely refusing to fall into Kuyi Tulan’s rhythm.

Consumption seemed to be this Shadow Ghost’s greatest trump card.

Previously, when this Shadow Ghost was dueling with the Soul Guardians, he used this very strategy of consumption. It seemed that in front of this Shadow Ghost, time was his greatest weapon.

Kuyi Tulan had now somewhat grasped the style of this Soul Devourer, it seemed this guy disliked taking the initiative to attack, always remaining passive. The Shadow Ghost was like someone who always defends, using solid defense to relentlessly wear down the opponent’s will, and then suddenly launching an attack. Such a sneak attack often delivers a blow to those with weak wills, often resulting in fatal damage.

Just like now, Kuyi Tulan kept launching his verbal offensive, hoping to provoke the opponent into emotional instability, to extract more information. But unfortunately, the Shadow Ghost never gave him the chance; he never entered any trap Kuyi Tulan set. It seemed his taunts and attacks couldn’t touch the nerves of the Shadow Ghost at all.

It was as if everything Kuyi Tulan did was in vain. Instead, the Shadow Ghost’s occasional retorts brought him great humiliation, and his emotions were instead influenced by the Shadow Ghost.

This feeling was quite subtle. Originally, Kuyi Tulan was advancing step by step according to his plan, his Recoiling Energy would gradually be released alongside his pace, but now, he felt his rhythm was a bit chaotic. This confusion seemed to be caused by interference, but he still didn’t know how it was being interfered with.

He couldn’t perceive what the Shadow Ghost was doing. At first, he thought the Shadow Ghost was normally devouring him, but ultimately he realized that wasn’t the case.

The entire Shadow Ghost felt as if it did nothing, awaiting your actions, then reacting accordingly.

And precisely what the Shadow Ghost was displaying, what kind of power it had, Kuyi Tulan still hadn’t discovered.

This feeling gradually brought about a sense of agitation in Kuyi Tulan. He knew he couldn’t afford such emotions because once he became agitated, the whole plan would fall into disarray. After falling into chaos, his Recoiling Energy would become chaotic and disorganized, and at that time, it could very well be overwhelmed by the opponent’s power.

If he couldn’t release his Recoiling Energy, then the whole plan really would be a wasted effort. It’s important to remember that he had chosen to be devoured precisely to release his Recoiling Energy.

Yet this Shadow Ghost truly reached the pinnacle, ignoring all his taunts. It wasn’t obvious at first, but now, this Shadow Ghost was like a mute, not responding no matter what he said.

He felt a little bit like losing his mind, this feeling was indeed unbearable, like a boxer with the weight of a thousand pounds hitting nothing but air!

Kuyi Tulan wanted to dig up something from Willem and the others’ memories but was never able to because their understanding of the Shadow Ghost only skimmed the surface. It was either unconditional submission or unbounded fear of the Shadow Ghost; this superficial understanding left Kuyi Tulan feeling very frustrated.

However, to say he gained nothing might not be entirely accurate because, during the duel with the Shadow Ghost, Kuyi Tulan did seem to feel a bit of familiarity. This sense of familiarity was the degree of recognition of something, and Kuyi Tulan sensed it from the Shadow Ghost.

It was as if every single thing the Shadow Ghost did was something he had done before, and the methods used by the Shadow Ghost seemed to be types he was familiar with.

It was as though they were the Recoiling Energy.

Realizing this, Kuyi Tulan couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

This familiar feeling was indeed Recoiling Energy! Passive defense, finding an opportunity to counterattack, then slowly overwhelming the opponent until they were entirely resistant — was this not Recoiling Energy? Wasn’t this exactly what he always wanted to execute? Wasn’t this Shadow Ghost just waiting for the right moment to crush an enraged, disordered, and off-rhythm self?

Why was this happening? Was it devouring, was it the Blue Flame devouring, who exactly was devouring whom!

Kuyi Tulan felt a significant sense of oppression, which made him feel very uneasy. A faint fear gradually rose in his heart.

It was a perception spoken of. This feeling caused Kuyi Tulan to begin to feel disoriented, his thoughts could no longer be as smooth as they were before, as if everything had truly returned to the opponent’s control.

The opponent’s advantage seemed self-evident. This long-lasting silence was actually waiting for the opportunity, and Kuyi Tulan’s moment of confusion just happened to give the opponent a good chance to counterattack.

Oppression followed, this was the crushing of devouring, signifying the Shadow Ghost had begun its counterattack. This counterattack could be fatal, but Kuyi Tulan was obviously aware of this and took a bit of precaution.

It was precisely this bit of precaution that gave him a chance to catch his breath, or else the Shadow Ghost’s blow would have been enough to shatter half of his consciousness.

Kuyi Tulan’s resistance also surprised the Shadow Ghost. He had never encountered such resistance before.

His Recoiling Energy was being resisted for the first time.

”You truly surprised me.”

This was the first time the Shadow Ghost spoke, indeed because Kuyi Tulan had shocked him too much, that even his long-held silence couldn’t help but evoke a few words of admiration.

Kuyi Tulan was panting, unable to calm the tumult within his heart, everything appeared to have been a deception, and his previous preparations seemed to have turned into a trap set by others.

”I originally thought your Recoiling Energy was just a fluke, now I understand, it was your asset all along, no wonder you’d be so talkative,” the Shadow Ghost slowly said.

These words left Kuyi Tulan feeling quite helpless, given how the Shadow Ghost appeared completely oblivious. He had said so much before, and only now did this guy realize it was all preparation for Recoiling. It was indeed rather speechless...