Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

"What..."

Upon hearing the corpse begin to speak, Matthew's eyes were filled with a wariness so thick it seemed almost impenetrable.

He said coldly, "Who are you, really?"

Evil Spirits cannot speak.

The only creatures capable of conversation are humans.

The presence opposite him chuckled low and cold, "When you are dead, I will tell you."

What it had now become was the Evil Spirit Du Wei, or rather, the Evil Spirit as Du Wei.

Hypnosis was Du Wei's forte.

Being human is about thinking from a human perspective and acting on human cognition.

But if one were to become an Evil Spirit...

Then it would be all the more powerful.

The powers that naturally belonged to an Evil Spirit would be amplified even further.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei manipulated the corpse, its pupils constricting.

The ability to immobilize was triggered.

Matthew's expression changed slightly, and the next second, the Evil Spirit Du Wei appeared right in front of him, the Right Hand somehow already holding a sharp Dagger, its tip partially broken off.

Whoosh...

The Dagger aimed a swipe at Matthew.

But it hit nothing.

Matthew vanished from the spot, blending into the darkness.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei cocked its head and also disappeared into the darkness.

In the gloomy sky above, a colossal bolt of lightning streaked across, with thunder rumbling loudly, audible for miles around.

The sky brightened immensely, casting the entire highway in an eerie white glow.

A downpour lashed down.

Raindrops splattered on the ground, kicking up the dust into the air.

The Dagger in Mercer's chest, still lying on the ground with his life hanging in the balance, had not completely dislodged.

If one looked closely, one could even see one of his hands was broken, pinned under his back, appearing somewhat swollen.

Indeed.

He was feigning death, and had even prepared something, hoping to catch Matthew off guard and seize the chance to escape.

What he hadn't expected was the eerie twist of events.

From Alvin Dowqui's corpse had emerged an even more terrifying entity.

Mercer could feel it was something far more dreadful than the Demon Spirit in the mask he was wearing.

He couldn't help but think, "It makes sense that Matthew became so terrifying after merging with that thing, but why is there another presence? Although it couldn't possibly defeat Matthew, it's still very frightening."

"Could it be, as Matthew said, there really is a mastermind behind the scenes?"

"If that is the case, doesn't it mean that the so-called curse was concocted by this entity?"

This moment was extremely awkward for Mercer.

He wanted to run away, but he could also sense that both Matthew and that unknown presence were still in the darkness, ready to kill him if he made the slightest move.

He even thought that his feigning death would not fool either of those entities.

"Fortunately, the others are about to arrive; I just need to play dead a little longer, just a little longer..."

But just as he thought this,

A coughing sound suddenly echoed from the darkness.

Matthew appeared where he had been standing, a notable knife wound slicing open his chest.

"You are very strong..."

He coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood, wiped the corner of his mouth, and looked coldly at the other side.

On the other side,

The Evil Spirit Du Wei caressed the Dagger emotionlessly, but its chest had been gouged out, leaving a gaping hole, and its vitality was much weaker than before.

It was at a disadvantage.

And now, it was depleting its own strength, incomparable to when it had the continuous power surge from Pennywise.

The downpour continued, but when it fell near them, it eerily split apart on its own.

The next second.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei stretched out his left hand and clenched it fiercely.

Matthew did the same.

They both had the ability to manipulate objects from afar.

But this time, it was a difference in essence.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei levitated abruptly, the controlled corpse contorted uncontrollably, the sound of breaking bones densely filled the air.

In contrast, Matthew was unaffected.

"No..."

His tone was eerie as he immediately turned to look behind him, Mercer flew up from the ground and, unwillingly, crashed towards him.

"Is this all you've got?"

He was furious, grabbing Mercer by the throat, whose body instantly began swelling, as if it was about to burst.

Yet, the Evil Spirit Du Wei just sneered coldly, "Don't worry, next time we meet, you will surely see many more tricks."

With that said, its pupils constricted, taking advantage of the moment Matthew was distracted to neutralize the influence.

Then it appeared behind Matthew, the Dagger in its hand, sharp as a scalpel, capable of slicing off flesh at the slightest touch.

Matthew turned, gritting his teeth as he stared at the Evil Spirit Du Wei: "Do you really think you can kill me?"

The Evil Spirit Du Wei replied coldly: "I send the same words back to you!"

With a smack.

The Dagger chopped down in front of Matthew, only to be blocked; a rotting arm reached out from the bloody gash on his chest and grabbed the Dagger.

And another decaying arm emerged in an instant, reaching for the Evil Spirit Du Wei.

These arms looked identical to those depicted on the Wishing Card.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei narrowed its eyes: "Shadow."

As the arm reached for it, the shadow beneath it twisted violently.

The Shadow, with its bloodshot eyes, wielding another Dagger, chopped directly at the incoming arm.

It dared not hesitate.

After all, it had gained some intelligence and knew how dire the consequences of disobedience were.

Although it could not make a difference in such a high-level conflict, it was still able to sever a rotting arm.

As the Dagger cut through the rotting arm.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei's crisis was resolved.

The arm turned to ash.

But that was all it could do.

Matthew, with his experience and strength, was above the Evil Spirit Du Wei; he quickly came around, a dreadful malice spreading from his eyes.

The Shadow was forcibly shaken back into the shadows.

Mercer, meanwhile, made his move.

He was going insane, having been inexplicably hunted by Matthew for several days, and when he played dead, he was used by the Evil Spirit Du Wei like a tool.

"You're all crazy!"

Mercer roared in rage, and a miniature box appeared in his broken hand.

He crushed it directly.

A pool of blood burst forth from the box, and the outline of a human face could be seen, from the eyes to the nose and mouth, vividly outlined.

It targeted Matthew as soon as it appeared.

"Get lost!"

Matthew bellowed, flinging Mercer away like trash.

His voice seemed to carry a peculiar power, forcing the pool of blood to change its target, now heading towards the Evil Spirit Du Wei.

"Are you provoking me?"

The Evil Spirit Du Wei's pitch-black eyes were filled with icy murderous intent.

The mask pattern on its Right Hand twisted, seeming to sneer.

The pool of blood hovered between the two of them, as if caught between a tiger and a lion, hesitated and retracted, and then lunged at the terrified Mercer.

"fuck!"