Chapter Forty-Nine: Ruthlessly Defeating the Spirit Controller

“Codename: Malevolent Wraith, Grade: D. Begin the capture operation!”
With that command, the entire Qianyou Town Bureau of Investigation for Anomalous Creatures launched an unprecedented operation.
It was hard to imagine that such a grand action was directed at a single anomalous entity.
Watching Xiao Zi stand motionless in the distance, Li Juetian slowly approached him. “It’s truly unbelievable. In just a few days, you’ve risen from Grade F to Grade D, and you’re hiding within the body of such an ordinary person.”

Even now, with the other standing right in front of him, he found it difficult to believe. Not long ago, the entity was merely Grade F, and now, in such a short time, it had become so powerful.

“How did you do it?”

Xiao Zi didn’t move, simply standing there.

“But it no longer matters. One Grade C, three Grade D, twelve Grade F—there’s no escape for you!”

As he spoke, more and more spirit controllers appeared in view, surrounding Xiao Zi completely.

Only then did Xiao Zi slowly turn around, locking eyes with the lone Grade C spirit controller.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come closer.”

Meng Tao was startled by his words, immediately enveloping himself in energy. “What do you mean?”

“Because if you don’t enter the range of my forbidden domain, things would get much more troublesome.”

Before his words faded, a wave of energy swept across the entire area. Everything around changed drastically in an instant; the world was shrouded in blood-red.

“Forbidden domain, deployed!”

Seeing the transformation, all the spirit controllers panicked. Li Juetian pointed at Xiao Zi, incredulous.

“You can deploy your forbidden domain at will?”

Xiao Zi didn’t reply, offering only a cold, mocking smile.

He made no attempt to manipulate the anomalous energy within the spirit controllers. He could see that each of them bore strange runes on their bodies. These runes looked ordinary, but emitted peculiar energies that counteracted the effects of his forbidden domain.

“Attack!”

At the command, countless streams of energy surged toward Xiao Zi. He merely raised his hand slightly, and several crimson tendrils emerged from the ground, shielding him from the assault.

The attacks vanished upon contact with the tendrils, as if they possessed no force at all.

“This is bad! These tendrils absorb our energy!”

---

Meng Tao was the first to react, hastily stopping his companions’ attacks.

But it was already too late. The energy within the forbidden domain began to riot, and in a blink, Xiao Zi vanished from sight.

“We have runes carved on us; this forbidden domain has no effect on us. Don’t be afraid!”

Meng Tao spoke to calm the group, but barely had he finished when his arm was severed from his body, shooting upward.

“Ah!!”

Clutching his severed limb, Meng Tao stared in terror at the direction where Xiao Zi stood, holding his arm and grinning coldly. Before Meng Tao could act, Xiao Zi disappeared again.

“He’s hiding inside that boy’s body; we can’t sense his presence!”

Only now did the spirit controllers realize the gravity of their predicament: they couldn’t detect their opponent’s presence, and this anomalous entity could vanish from their sight at any moment.

It was terrifying.

As long as Xiao Zi didn’t attack, they couldn’t sense him; whenever he did, they would suffer losses.

“My rune was carved on that arm!”

Immediately, Meng Tao delivered another grim piece of news.

Xiao Zi examined Meng Tao’s severed arm. The rune gave nothing away, except that it appeared to have been branded onto him by some special method.

“It seems humanity has devised quite a few ways to deal with anomalous creatures.”

He tossed the arm aside and looked again at the spirit controllers.

“This time, I want to play with you properly.”

Now, panic seized every spirit controller.

Their confidence had turned to terror. All they could think about was how to escape this forbidden domain.

For humans, there were only two ways to leave an anomalous creature’s domain: kill the domain’s owner, or have the owner release them voluntarily.

They all knew this, but in such circumstances, they would use any means necessary to escape.

Rather than a cage, this domain was more like a boundless, bizarre space.

No matter how desperately they tried to flee, they couldn’t escape this anomalous realm.

Feeling the elusive fluctuations of anomalous energy, the spirit controllers’ hearts raced.

They were convinced that Xiao Zi would appear the next moment and strike them down.

Li Juetian’s nerves were stretched to the limit. He circled warily, watching for Xiao Zi’s movements.

---

“Ah… ah…”

A muffled groan drew Li Juetian’s attention. “Senior Meng Tao, what’s wrong?”

“Hurry… kill me!”

Meng Tao trembled violently, uttering words that shocked Li Juetian.

“What do you mean?”

“Kill me quickly! The thing sealed inside me is about to awaken… Quick! Do it!”

Li Juetian was still bewildered, staring dumbfounded at Meng Tao before him.

In the next moment, Meng Tao’s eyes turned crimson, and he lunged at Li Juetian.

With a grade difference between them, Li Juetian had no power to resist and was instantly pinned to the ground.

Meng Tao pressed down on him, drool streaming from his mouth, as if he were about to devour Li Juetian alive.

“Is your brain seriously ill? I told you to kill me not because I’d attack you, but because I’m in excruciating pain!”

A glimmer of consciousness returned to Meng Tao’s eyes as he pressed on Li Juetian, though the pain made his eyes roll back.

“I… I… I can’t beat you…”

Li Juetian was on the verge of tears. Had his teammate turned traitor?

But in the next instant, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.

Xiao Zi stood at the center of the forbidden domain. The crimson aura seemed to solidify around him, floating like scarlet silk.

The red energy gradually seeped into the domain, and Xiao Zi gave a sinister smile. “All my sealed kin, awaken.”

No sooner had he spoken than all the Grade F spirit controllers began to writhe in agony.

Moments later, they stood again, their eyes blood-red, gazing reverently at Xiao Zi in the center.

Xiao Zi swept his hand. “Do as you please. Let these humans feel your wrath!”

At his command, the newly unsealed anomalous entities unleashed their full power.

The combined energy pressed down on the remaining spirit controllers, leaving them gasping for breath.

It was over. Everything was over.

Li Juetian watched it all unfold and was struck by an unprecedented despair.