Chapter 168 - 167: Anyone Can Talk Tough

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Anyone Can Talk Tough

The Paper Palanquin Master never expected that the arrows fired by her Golden Boy and Jade Maiden would end up bringing an unwelcome third party into the mix.

"Who?!"

Seeing this, the head had a bad feeling.

He was only here to scout the enemy and see if there was any advantage to be gained.

He hadn’t come to fight to the death in a battle royale.

Besides, the Paperman family was not to be trifled with; their methods were bizarre!

And that muscle-bound brute in the courtyard with arms as thick as tree trunks? Don’t even get him started.

It wasn’t that the man was hard to deal with—it was that whoever tried to deal with him would die.

The head floated up, about to leave.

But He Xiaotian gave it no such chance.

From within the black fog, a large hand shot out, its fingers clamping down hard on the crown of its head.

"Don’t try any tricks, or I’ll crush your skull."

He had noticed this thing observing them from the shadows ever since the fight with the Paper Palanquin Master began.

He’d been afraid of startling it and letting it escape.

So for the time being, he had suppressed the urge to make a move.

Then, using the cover of the arrows fired by the paper effigies, He Xiaotian had followed close behind them.

He had already reached the base of the wall right as the head hiccuped.

Feeling the pressure on its skull, the head immediately became docile, not daring to make a single move.

"Big Bro, I was just passing through. Why don’t you let me go, and you can get back to it with the little lady in the palanquin?"

"BOOM!!"

He Xiaotian curled his lip and, with a casual flick of his wrist, sent it flying into the meditation room.

"Yang, watch him for me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shouyangzi felt something appear in his hands.

He looked down.

"..."

A disembodied head was looking at him with a fawning expression.

In that instant, his heart nearly stopped beating.

There were three people buried in the courtyard in the middle of the night, not to mention a freakishly evil Paperman.

With a disembodied head suddenly appearing in his hands, it wasn’t just that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to take it; even Shouyangzi, a Daoist cultivator, found it a bit much to handle.

Ever since He Xiaotian had taken up residence at the Divine Void Temple, things had been spiraling out of control, testing the limits of his psychological endurance every single day.

"Master, how about we talk this over? Just let me go, eh?"

The group of Daoists on the beds inside the room rolled their eyes back and fainted in unison.

Daoxuan, who was huddled in a corner trembling, nervously gripped the human-faced sunflower’s... neck?

"GURGLE GURGLE!"

Clearly, the sunflower was having some trouble breathing.

The old Daoist casually pulled out a corpse-suppressing talisman, planning to slap it on the head’s forehead.

A disembodied head trying to suck up to you in the middle of the night—wouldn’t you be scared?

"PUFF!"

The head opened its mouth, and a cloud of black smoke shot straight toward Shouyangzi’s face.

"HUMMM!"

A golden light flared to life, and the black smoke, as if meeting its nemesis, instantly melted away like snow in the sun.

"Huh?!"

The head’s eyes went wide. It hadn’t expected its technique to fail.

’Damn it all!’

The old Daoist was furious. ’In X’s hands, you were as obedient as a grandson, not daring to pull any tricks.’

’But when it’s my turn, you think I’m a pushover, huh?’

’It’s a good thing I put on the talisman robe. Its defense is Unrivaled.’

’Otherwise, if that had hit me, it would’ve been a disaster.’

"SMACK!"

The corpse-suppressing talisman was slapped hard onto the head’s forehead, and the expression on its face immediately froze.

"Off you go!"

Shouyangzi let go, and the head fell.

Then, his right foot shot out and kicked it square in the face.

"BANG!"

The head flew into the wardrobe.

After doing all this, the old Daoist dusted off his hands. At the same time, the battle in the courtyard had reached a fever pitch.

He Xiaotian swung his two Big Hammers with the force of a tempest. Like a hungry wolf, he relentlessly pursued and hammered away at the paper palanquin.

The remaining Golden Boy and Jade Maiden wanted to leave the Divine Void Temple.

But he gave them no chance!

Every time, He Xiaotian used his heavy hammers to force them back.

The paper palanquin’s room to maneuver was growing smaller and smaller.

In a few more moments, capturing it alive would be no problem.

"Brave warrior, let’s talk about this! It’s always best to leave a way out for others, so we can meet again on good terms," a woman’s urgent voice came from within the paper palanquin.

How could she not be anxious?

Her two remaining paper effigies were in imminent danger.

At any moment, they were at risk of being hammered to pieces.

Once that happened, how could she, all alone, possibly fight against He Xiaotian?

She reckoned she wouldn’t be able to escape a hammering either.

"Brave warrior my ass! This is the modern world, you think you can play those ancient tricks with me?" ’As for "leaving a way out to meet again on good terms," are you nuts? After I’m done with this, I’d rather never see you again for the rest of my life.’

Not only did He Xiaotian not stop, but his attacks grew even more ferocious.

He was like a storm at sea, and the paper palanquin was but a tiny boat.

It seemed as if it would capsize in the next second, be smashed to pieces, and buried at the bottom of the fathomless sea.

The blade-seller and Feng Yu were trembling so hard their heads were a blur.

The battle was raging right around them.

A single mistake from either fighter would be enough to get them into serious trouble.

Especially when He Xiaotian’s Big Hammers slammed into the ground, the impact made their ears ring.

"BOOM!!"

One of the paper effigies carrying the palanquin was careless and took a direct hit from a hammer.

Shredded paper exploded into the air, and the black fog thickened by several degrees.

[Ding! You have killed an Exquisite Golden Boy. You have gained 1200 Experience Points.]

"Essence Convergence!"

Following the sharp cry, the billowing black gas surged and poured into the body of the remaining paper effigy.

The effigy, as if empowered by a buff, turned completely jet-black and emanated a faint, dark glow.

"Hold him back!"

The woman inside the paper palanquin gave the order, and the palanquin itself flew toward the courtyard wall, attempting to escape.

She was confident that her last paper effigy could halt He Xiaotian’s advance.

This was her family’s proud Secret Technique, after all.

They had used this very move to kill many powerful enemies!

He Xiaotian’s eyes lit up as he watched the jet-black paper effigy charge at him.

He wasn’t afraid of enemies who faced him head-on; he was only wary of opponents who used hit-and-run tactics.

Because no one could defeat him in a direct confrontation!

This was the confidence he had in his own power.

"Nice of you to come!"

He raised his iron hammers high. With a shift of his feet, he launched himself forward like a cannonball, seeming to tear the very wind apart.

"BOOM!!"

With one strike, the jet-black paper effigy that had made intimate contact with his hammer exploded.

[Ding! You have killed a Fiend-rank Jade Maiden. You have gained 2000 Experience Points.]

’So-so. It wasn’t that much stronger.’

Before the black fog could completely envelop the small courtyard, He Xiaotian shot toward the paper palanquin.

"Monster!!"

The Paper Palanquin Master cursed resentfully, feeling her paper effigy get blown apart in an instant.

Her empowered, jet-black paper effigy had the strength of a peak Hidden Dragon Realm expert, at the very least.

It was just one step away from entering the Transformed Dragon Realm.

Never mind the mortal world; even the well-resourced Cleaners didn’t have many experts of that caliber.

And yet, He Xiaotian had obliterated it with a single swing of his hammer.

What more could she say?!

From the very start of the battle, this man had been constantly shattering her worldview and her estimations of his strength.

"Escape!!"

A plume of black gas erupted from within the palanquin, rapidly enveloping the entire frame.

Then, the paper palanquin suddenly shrank, quickly becoming the size of a palm.

"You just wait, you bastard!"

In order to escape, she had paid the price of damaging her vital energy to use a technique she shouldn’t have been able to use right now.

And so, her hatred for He Xiaotian was cemented.

"Trying to run? In your dreams!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, over four hundred years’ worth of Inner Strength surged forth.

"Stubborn Rock Qi Seal!"