Chapter 291: Using Strength to Overcome Strength

On the rain-soaked hill, Ba Zi steadied his rapid breathing and spoke to Ji Yuan.

“Sir, that’s Nanwang Stronghold.”

In fact, the entire process, from leaving the desolate village to surveying the battlefield and arriving at the bandit stronghold, took an extremely short time. Even traveling by cloud, short-distance flight wouldn't have been very fast, and given the need for navigation and the risk of overshooting, a rapid ground travel method (like "shrinking ground") was far more efficient.

Although Ba Zi didn't have to run himself, he expended a considerable amount of energy during this short period, mainly due to the mental stimulation.

Ji Yuan looked at the dark mass of the stronghold in the distance on the hill. Through his Dharma Eye, the 'fire energy' still appeared vigorous, but he knew this was an illusion. The energy was no longer rising, like smoke turning from black to white after a great fire is extinguished—it might still seem strong, but the flames are truly out.

Grabbing Ba Zi by the collar, Ji Yuan leaped, lightly tapping the wind and rain with his feet in mid-air, covering several hundred zhang directly into Nanwang Stronghold.

The entire stronghold was eerily silent; not a sound could be heard, and even the horses in the stables were completely still.

In Ji Yuan's Dharma Eye, the entire stronghold was not only lifeless but also devoid of any soul energy. It was clear that both humans and horses had their vital essence completely drained while still alive.

At such a close distance, Ji Yuan could also smell the thick stench of corpses.

"More than one? Underground?"

Ji Yuan frowned, waved his hand, and the Green Vine Sword spun and flew upwards.

“Gulp… Wh-what do you mean, 'more than one'?”

Ba Zi swallowed, asking hesitantly, but before Ji Yuan could answer, he felt a tremendous force on his collar, and suddenly, he became weightless.

“Whoa—!”

Ji Yuan directly flung Ba Zi into the sky. Almost at the same instant Ba Zi was airborne, the ground burst open in several places.

Three ragged corpses sprang out and lunged at Ji Yuan. At the same time, another approached from underground behind him, extending its claws towards Ji Yuan's ankles.

These grotesque corpses were incredibly fast, moving like afterimages, but they were no match for Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan dodged the grotesque corpses' lunges by twisting to the left, as if skating. He unleashed the powerful palm technique of the Iron Punishment Battle Scroll, based on spiritual energy, striking one of the grotesque corpses heavily on its side.

With a sound like striking a thousand layers of leather, the struck corpse was sent flying several zhang backward, as if hit by a giant beast. It crashed with a *bang* into one of the stronghold's houses, then burst through the wall on the other side with a *boom*, slamming heavily onto the ground. This demonstrated the immense power of Ji Yuan's palm strike.

However, after that single strike, Ji Yuan himself felt a strange rebounding force. He intentionally didn't dissipate this power, allowing his body to slide backward to one side due to the immense impact, his feet plowing through the muddy ground as he moved.

The other two grotesque corpses seized the opportunity, changed direction, and transformed into afterimages, lunging once again at the retreating Ji Yuan.

"Whoosh..."

A breath, sounding like a whistling wind, emerged from Ji Yuan's mouth—a red-grey mist that directly struck the two malevolent corpses pursuing him.

The moment this breath appeared, it emitted a faint glow, illuminating the surrounding dark night.

In an instant, with a *whoosh*, the two grotesque corpses were engulfed in flames. Their bodies seemed to turn into glowing red charcoal; the heat and fire were so intense that raindrops falling on them hissed and sizzled, and a large cloud of white vapor rose around them.

"Roar..." "Roar..."

While still conscious for a brief moment, the burning corpses, driven by their survival instinct, rolled into nearby puddles, but the flames could not be extinguished.

The entire burning process lasted only two breaths, after which the two "fire-men" lost their glow and completely disintegrated into ashes in the puddles.

Ji Yuan glanced at the ground; the one that had tried to grab his leg had vanished.

Ji Yuan had intentionally created this "good opportunity" for them, yet it failed to lure out the one underground, let alone coax the others out for a pincer attack. This indicated that they were not merely malevolent creatures driven by killing and draining, but rather possessed intelligence.

"Zombies or something else? Can they burrow? Slippery..."

As he mumbled to himself, he used his "shrinking ground" ability, leaping directly over the damaged house to the side of the grotesque corpse he had struck with his palm.

It had just begun to rise, but Ji Yuan, light as a wisp of cotton, had already stepped onto a piece of broken wooden board beside it, extending his right hand and flicking his sleeve.

With a *whoosh*, the grotesque corpse on the ground vanished, instantly drawn into his sleeve.

"Seems there are still a few more? Hmph!"

Ji Yuan focused his gaze on the stronghold's surroundings, then lightly leaped, grabbing the shrieking Ba Zi, and landed on the roof of one of the stronghold's sheds.

In the sky, the Green Vine Sword's blade glowed with phosphorescence.

"Zhengg—"

The immortal sword was unsheathed, and a silvery streak of light suddenly appeared, forming a thin, straight line connecting the stronghold's mountain body to the immortal sword in the sky.

The ground was split open by the sword energy, creating a large gash...

Almost at the same instant...

"Boom—"

Amidst a thunderous roar, the silver sword light burst forth from diagonally below the peak, the sword energy having directly pierced through the entire hill.

For a moment, the hill itself rumbled and trembled slightly.

Ba Zi stayed upright only because Ji Yuan held him by the collar with one hand; his legs had completely turned to jelly.

In the desolate village, on the rafters of the abandoned large house, a paper crane hid, craning its head to look down.

There was a fire outside and another inside, and the paper crane was precisely at the center of the rafter, avoiding the rising heat from the fires.

Although the paper crane did not yet possess clear sentience, its instinct for seeking fortune and avoiding disaster was extremely strong. It could often perceive very subtle things and was exceptionally sensitive to minute auras and objects with special properties.

When Du Changsheng first used the paper effigy talisman to summon a lower-grade warrior, a strange and profound transformation occurred as the warrior emerged from the talisman paper. It was the little paper crane that sensed this at the time, leading Ji Yuan to investigate.

Ji Yuan left the paper crane here as a precautionary measure, as ordinary people sometimes lack sufficient reaction time or the ability to detect danger in advance.

At this moment, the paper crane not only intently watched the yellow paper talisman in Huang Zhixian's hand but also observed the actions of everyone below.

Some martial artists, having dried their outer garments, had companions shield them while they removed their undershirts and put their coats back on, then dried their other clothes. Over there, a little girl nibbled on a softened dry biscuit with warm water. And a man, tensing his body, discreetly let out a fart while pretending as if nothing happened...

The paper crane couldn't quite understand these scenes; in many cases, it didn't even have a concept of what was happening, merely observing. Especially the man who farted—his actions seemed utterly meaningless to the paper crane, yet it still watched him with extreme seriousness.

Just then, however, an unsettling aura appeared outside. The paper crane instinctively sought Ji Yuan's figure, but its master wasn't there. It then fixed its gaze on Huang Zhixian, or rather, on the yellow paper talisman in his hand.

A moment later, the two horses outside began to grow restless.

“Neigh! Neigh!”

“Hiss... splutter...” “Thump-thump... thump-thump-thump-thump...”

These were two aged, gaunt but spirited horses. Outside, they restlessly stamped their feet, neighing incessantly, agitated and eager to break free from their tethers.

Hearing the horses' commotion, Han Ming's group paid close attention; the horses were their important property.

"Our horses, we need to go check on them. What if they run away?"

"Yes, yes, let's go look!"

Han Ming and another young man stood up. Huang Zhixian looked at the pitch-black outside, and seeing that both were ordinary people without martial arts skills, he also stood up and said,

"I'll go take a look for you."

Seeing Huang Zhixian about to go outside, the paper crane on the rafters immediately flapped its wings and flew down, directly in front of his eyes. Huang Zhixian felt something flash past him; before he could clearly see what it was, he felt a sharp pain in his finger.

"Hiss... Ah..."

The thumb of Huang Zhixian's left hand had been directly pecked, leaving a small cut. In pain, he let go, and the yellow talisman paper slipped from his palm.

"There's a bird that bites..." "Was it hiding in the house from the rain?"

"No, it's a paper bird!"

"It... it can fly on its own?"

Huang Zhixian gasped in astonishment after seeing the situation clearly, and everyone else instinctively stood up.

However, a paper bird flying back and forth by the door, while alarming, wasn't yet terrifying, and several people wore expressions of curiosity.

The paper crane flapped its wings, landed beside the talisman paper on the ground, and began tapping the yellow talisman with one of its wings, flapping it up and down.

It was only then that some people belatedly noticed that the yellow paper figure was emitting a faint, wispy yellow phosphorescence.

Huang Zhixian looked at the wound on his finger; the yellow paper figure on the ground was already stained with blood.

The paper crane turned its head to look outside, then flew to the other side of the yellow paper figure, still tapping the talisman with its wing.

This time, Huang Zhixian understood its meaning. He looked outside, frowned in hesitation for a moment, then tried to call out,

"Warrior, come forth."

The yellow paper suddenly transformed into a swirling, phosphorescent yellow mist, within which an exceptionally mighty figure emerged. In an incredibly brief moment, the yellow mist dispersed, leaving in its place an extremely robust divine being. Its height exceeded ten feet, its body clad in golden helmet and armor. Its face was red as jade, and its beard and hair were like steel needles. The yellow streamers fluttering before and behind it also exuded a mystical aura.

Huang Zhixian was originally considered a strong man, but standing before the Golden Armored Warrior, he seemed like a mere child.

The Golden Armored Warrior looked down at Huang Zhixian, then at the paper crane to the side.

After a noticeable silence of two breaths, the Golden Armored Warrior turned sideways, facing the paper crane fluttering in the air, and respectfully cupped its hands in a bow.

"My Lord!"

After respectfully saluting, the Golden Armored Warrior turned towards the door, ducking its head to clear the doorframe, and stepped out.

The eyes of everyone inside were filled with disbelief as they stared intently at the Golden Armored Divine Being.

Once outside, the Golden Armored Divine Being assumed a bow stance. Its left arm swung forward, and its right hand, clenched into a fist, raised upward, as the yellow streamers before and behind it fluttered back and forth.

With a sound of air being torn apart, the Golden Armored Warrior's fist shot out like a cannonball, striking directly at the ground diagonally in front of it.

"Whoosh..." "Boom..."

The ground instantly ripped open, and a crack extended over ten zhang in an instant.

The ground exploded a dozen zhang away, and a dark figure was directly thrown from underground by the impact.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The ground trembled slightly, and the people inside the house behind the Golden Armored Warrior felt unsteady on their feet. Dust continuously fell from the roof, and it took a while for everything to settle.