On the outskirts of Longxing County.
Clang! Clang!
As the final 【Soul-Suppressing Nail】 pierced the head of the straw man on the altar, dark brown blood suddenly seeped from the originally ordinary-looking effigy.
“It’s done!”
Seeing this, a look of joy instantly appeared on the paper figure Li Yiran’s face: “The straw man weeps blood; that Gilded Cavalry Guard is dead. Commander Yan, turn the army back to Longxing County!”
Hearing this, Yan Weichuan, who had been observing from the sidelines, felt not the slightest bit of relief. Instead, his heart grew heavier. After all, despite standing on a different side than the Gilded Cavalry Guard, they were both martial artists. The other party was even the newly appointed first place on the Human List, yet he had been easily cursed to death from afar by a mere straw man.
Faced with such strange arts, what use was martial arts?
As a fellow martial artist, Yan Weichuan felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it, though he didn’t dare show it. He could only sigh and pull the Weapon Register from his clothes.
Then he froze.
A moment later, Yan Weichuan suddenly let out a long breath, then looked at the paper figure Li Yiran on the altar: “Lord Li, that Gilded Cavalry Guard isn’t dead yet.”
“…What did you say?”
Before he even finished speaking, the previously triumphant paper figure Li Yiran whipped his head around. His voice was a mix of shock and rage, yet the smile of accomplishing a grand objective still lingered on his face.
The interweaving of these two contradictory emotions made him look incredibly eerie.
However, the next second, the expression on the paper figure Li Yiran’s face rapidly shifted to match his emotions. The previous contradiction seemed like nothing more than an illusion.
Seeing this, Yan Weichuan swallowed hard, then spread open the Weapon Register in his hands: “My Lord, he really isn’t dead. His name remains on the Weapon Register.”
The Weapon Register, the divine artifact governing the realm’s reputation. The master list was located in the Great Shun capital, while branch lists were published in various regions. Not only could it sense the life and death of all martial artists on the list, but it could also reflect it in real-time. The moment a martial artist died, their name was immediately removed from the master list, and the branch lists would quickly follow suit.
What Yan Weichuan held was a branch list.
The paper figure Li Yiran quickly stepped forward and snatched it away. He saw the name 【Dragon Fist】 Wang Ping clearly displayed on it, without the slightest sign of being removed.
“How is this possible…”
At this moment, the expression on the paper figure Li Yiran’s face completely stiffened, turning entirely into a motionless painting, until another hand reached out from thin air.
The newcomer casually took the Weapon Register and examined it closely.
“Interesting.”
As the voice fell, Yan Weichuan jumped in fright. Upon recovering, he realized that at some point, a figure in a red Daoist robe had appeared beside Li Yiran.
It was none other than Wandering Spirit Perfected One.
“Greetings, Perfected One!” Yan Weichuan hurriedly bowed.
Wandering Spirit Perfected One ignored him, merely inspecting the Weapon Register earnestly before turning to retrieve the straw man bleeding from its seven orifices off the altar.
“Just as I expected, one of the seven Po-spirits missed.” Wandering Spirit Perfected One’s voice carried a hint of amusement: “Interesting. Separating a Po-spirit in advance? To think a mere mortal possesses such methods… He even detected the lock-on of the 【Soul-Descending Straw Man】 beforehand. Could his physique be somewhat special?”
Yan Weichuan completely failed to understand the other party’s mutterings.
Thus, he could only carefully ask: “Perfected One, since that Gilded Cavalry Guard isn’t dead… what should we do now? Are we still going to Longxing County?”
“Of course we are.”
Wandering Spirit Perfected One said flatly: “Rest assured, although he isn’t dead, with only one Po-spirit remaining, it’s like water without a source. It’s merely prolonging his agony before death.”
…
Longxing County, inside the county office official residence.
In a quiet room, Wang Ping felt his scalp tingle—or rather, he could only feel his head right now. Everything below his neck had completely lost connection.
Even more fatally, he wasn’t dead yet.
His head had clearly detached from his neck, yet not a single drop of blood spilled out. The cut was smooth and even, and his blood circulation remained normal.
Why?
This half-dead state was the absolute worst-case scenario for Wang Ping, because 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】 could only be triggered after his death.
If he remained suspended between life and death like this, he would never be able to activate 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】. And having only a head meant he couldn’t even commit suicide… At this thought, a terrifying notion uncontrollably leaped into Wang Ping’s mind: Could the enemy be doing this on purpose?
Deliberately keeping him half-dead precisely to prevent his resurrection.
Was 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】 exposed?
Wang Ping’s first thought was that old bastard Shouchong. After all, the White Lotus Cult Leader knew he could resurrect. Could it be him pulling the strings?
No, that doesn’t make sense.
The ones targeting me should be the people backing Xu Bingzheng and Li Yiran, while that old bastard Shouchong is a veteran rebel. Their identities don’t align.
Wang Ping rolled his head, desperately thinking.
So… it’s an accident?
The enemy actually intended to kill me but failed. Is it… because I did something that allowed me to luckily survive their method?
This method of decapitation from afar was undoubtedly a strange art.
So, setting aside the influence of martial arts, the only thing capable of countering a strange art was another, more advanced strange art—soon, the answer surfaced:
It’s 【Spirit Snatching】!
The paper figure double!
I previously used 【Spirit Snatching】 to create a paper figure double. If it’s because of that… then the strange art targeting me right now also attacks the soul!
With this thought, everything suddenly clicked for Wang Ping.
Mystery solved!
I see! It’s a strange art that attacks the soul. Because I created a paper figure double and transferred a portion of my soul into it, I didn’t die on the spot!
Fear stems from the unknown. Without knowing the truth, Wang Ping was helpless. But now that he knew the enemy’s specific method, the problem became simpler. After all, 【Spirit Snatching】 was also a spiritual art targeting the soul. Combining this knowledge, Wang Ping quickly reached a conclusion:
This method of cursing from afar and attacking the soul requires a medium.
So the best course of action is undoubtedly to acquire that medium and destroy it… However, looking at the current situation, the feasibility of that plan is low.
So I have to settle for the next best thing.
Instead of directly destroying the medium, I need to find a way to sever the connection between myself and the medium used by the enemy… What did the spellcaster use as a medium?
Hair? Name? Appearance?
Wang Ping’s thoughts raced: Hair… unlikely. I’ve already cultivated a Flawless True Body. After shedding my mortal body and exchanging my bones, there’s zero risk of me shedding hair.
Then it had to be his name and appearance.
A name alone definitely isn’t enough; after all, so many people share the same name. So they must have also used my appearance to lock onto me.
Wang Ping felt this guess was very close to the mark. At this thought, he immediately focused all his energy, attempting to manipulate the only part of him that still had sensation—his head. His eyes, ears, nose, tongue, facial features, and seven orifices began to gradually distort under his willpower. Flesh shifted, bones ground against each other, until his face completely transformed.
He actually forcefully changed his face!
This was something only a martial artist who had reached a certain level in body-tempering, possessed divine intent, and had attained peak control over their body could accomplish.
Having said that, the actual combat effectiveness of this move was quite poor.
Because this type of disguise was too forced—relying on brute strength to create a miracle. In the eyes of a true expert, it was full of flaws. If maintained for too long, he might not even be able to change back.
But this was the only face-changing method Wang Ping possessed. Since he was already completely clueless about what else to do, he might as well risk it all and treat a dead horse as a living one.
The next second, a miracle occurred.
Just as his facial features changed, Wang Ping finally sensed the body below his neck. Although the sensation was extremely weak, it was better than feeling absolutely nothing!
It really works!
Just as I thought, appearance is one of the mediums. After altering my appearance, the connection between the medium and me weakened, and consequently, the effect on me was massively reduced.
Wang Ping was overjoyed. He exerted all his strength to send commands to his body, urging it to slowly reach out and lift his head off the ground.
The entire process was incredibly arduous, as if his body had suddenly been burdened with a massive mountain. Let alone reaching out a hand, even moving a single finger required all the strength he could muster. The speed was agonizingly slow. It took nearly half an hour before Wang Ping barely managed to place his head back onto his neck.
Immediately after, Wang Ping attempted to cast 【Qi Ward】 to reattach his severed head.
However, the result greatly disappointed him. No matter how much true qi he injected, his neck and head remained separated, without the slightest sign of healing.
It seems the severed head is merely a symptom; the root cause still lies in the soul.
What should I do next?
By now, Wang Ping had calmed down considerably. On one hand, he had figured out the source of the crisis; on the other hand, he was now capable of committing suicide.
He could secure a victorious transition to the immortal sects at any time.
Having a way out eliminated panic and allowed him the luxury of thinking up countermeasures. After all, he was lucky this time; he might not be so lucky next time.
So he had to find a way to completely prevent similar situations from happening again.
It seems I can’t show my true face to others anymore.
That’s fine. If I use the same face every time I resurrect with 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】, and participate in the same event, the risk of exposure is too high.
Of course, Wang Ping wasn’t going to stop at mere prevention.
He was going to strike back!
And conveniently, he happened to have the perfect method right at hand.
The next second, Wang Ping took a deep breath, circulated his spiritual sense, remotely canceled the paper figure double, and absorbed the separated soul back into himself.
Crack!
Almost simultaneously, the previously smooth and even neck, which hadn’t spilled a drop of blood, abruptly began to spray blood. An intense wave of dizziness swept over Wang Ping’s consciousness.
As expected, the moment I canceled the paper figure double, the only Po-spirit of mine not locked onto by the enemy was locked onto again, subsequently causing my death.
At this thought, Wang Ping’s fading consciousness rapidly sank into the Morgue.
Time seemed to stand still in this moment. Wang Ping’s gaze fell on the towering book before him, watching it shimmer with light and slowly turn to the second page.
【Scroll Two: Perish with the Sun】!
Upon activating this scripture scroll, all injuries inflicted upon him by an enemy would be synchronously converted into retribution and fed back to the enemy!
This life probably can’t be saved.
Since that’s the case, I must at least give the enemy a vicious blow before I die!
Harboring this thought, Wang Ping decisively activated 【Perish with the Sun】. His consciousness returned to reality, and he rapidly sank into darkness.
…
On the outskirts of Longxing County.
Dressed in a red Daoist robe, Wandering Spirit Perfected One sat upright on the altar, looking with keen interest at the straw man bleeding from its seven orifices, as if admiring a fine piece of art.
“Not bad, very not bad.”
“This person clearly possesses a deep understanding of soul arts. He didn’t panic before death, and his judgment was highly accurate. To think he actually grasped that appearance was the key.”
Wandering Spirit Perfected One seemed to be able to judge Wang Ping’s actions and condition on the other side through the changes in the straw man. His words were full of irrepressible praise, yet also carried a hint of nonchalance. It was like an ordinary person suddenly seeing their pet cat do a backflip—surprising, but nothing more than that.
See it enough times, and it loses its charm.
“It’s useless, though.”
As his voice fell, Wandering Spirit Perfected One flicked his sleeve and stood up, not intending to pay any further attention—however, in the next second, his movement abruptly froze in place.
Immediately after, an invisible, mighty power descended from the heavens.
“Ugh… Ahhhh!”
In an instant, the paper figure Li Yiran standing beside Wandering Spirit Perfected One let out a sudden wail of agony as his entire body spontaneously erupted into roaring flames!
The whole process was incredibly swift. The roaring fire burned for mere moments before the paper figure Li Yiran was reduced to a sky full of flying ash, a wisp of a wandering soul drifting into the void.
“…Oh?”
Looking at the scattering paper ashes, Wandering Spirit Perfected One’s attitude finally changed: “To actually dare to enact mutually assured destruction right before death. He wasted one of my soul-summoning talisman papers.”
“This…”
Meanwhile, Yan Weichuan, who witnessed the entire process with his own eyes, was thoroughly terrified. He hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a low voice: “Perfected One, are you alright?”
Hearing this, Wandering Spirit Perfected One looked at him with a half-smile, then said casually: “What could happen to me? I wasn’t the one who cast the curse to kill him. Even if there was retaliation, following the medium wouldn’t lead back to me… Alright, this straw man is useless now. Find a random spot and burn it.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Weichuan was instantly rendered speechless.
Although he didn’t understand strange arts, he wasn’t stupid either. Since Wandering Spirit Perfected One had explained it so clearly, how could he not understand that Li Yiran had been used as a scapegoat?
He did it on purpose!
This strange art capable of killing from afar—if he had cast it himself, the effect would definitely have been better. Yet he deliberately handed the responsibility to Lord Li.
And it was precisely to guard against retaliation!
At this thought, Yan Weichuan felt a sense of horror: He’s an Extraordinary, possessing profound and miraculous methods, even capable of raising the dead… yet his style is still so incredibly cautious.
Using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, firing a cannon at a mosquito.
Bullying noobs with such seriousness… just which sect or lineage does this Extraordinary come from?