Chapter 111: Immense Power

"Boom!"

Jiu'er thrust her hands upward with a sudden, forceful movement, black light blazing from her palms. This strike was even more powerful than the one she had used to repel the two Night Walkers earlier. The massive black hand above shuddered, appearing on the verge of dissipating, but at the same moment, the sound of bones snapping echoed from Jiu'er's shoulders. Her hand bones and scapulae began to fracture. Beads of sweat broke out across her forehead, and her face contorted in agony, yet she continued to resist the colossal black hand with stubborn determination.

"Kill all the remaining Daoist disciples!"

Xin Quan issued the order to the surviving disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect. A chaotic melee erupted once again, but with the Nine-Direction Ghost Soul-Seizing Array shattered, the demonic cultivators had lost their tactical advantage, and the battle against the remaining Daoist disciples had become a stalemate.

Xin Quan did not join the fray himself. Instead, he let out a cold sneer, watching Jiu'er as she struggled to hold her ground.

Zhang Shouzheng felt as if his chest had been struck by a heavy blow. Although his cultivation level was the highest among them, the pressure he faced was second only to Jiu'er's. His eyes bloodshot, he sat down in a cross-legged position and calmly said to Jiang Puti, Jiang Mingyue, and Fatty Fan, "Everyone, I am going to perform an Ethereal Soul Projection. I entrust my physical body to you—please, you must protect it well."

He closed his eyes, and a pale golden light flew out from the crown of his head. It shot directly through the colossal black hand. Zhang Shouzheng’s soul felt a wave of dizziness; the giant hand was not made of spectral energy, but of condensed magical power, which dampened the impact somewhat, but it was enough to narrowly avert the crisis.

"Do you think an Ethereal Soul Projection can defeat me? Hui'er, this brat seems to have some tricks up his sleeve, and he has ties to the Li family. Go and destroy his body. Without a vessel, his soul will be reduced to a mere wandering ghost. Oh, and remember to check if he has any Pure Yang treasures on him."

Xin Quan grinned, suddenly pulling a strange doll from his pocket. He spat a mouthful of black mist onto it and tossed it toward Jiu'er. The doll erupted in black light, instantly transforming into a two-meter-tall giant. The giant’s features were blurred, but its muscles bulged with immense power. It swung a fist toward Jiu'er.

Jiu'er shook her arms, and the fractured bones instantly knit back together. As a zombie, her healing ability was terrifying. Usually, zombies felt no pain, but Jiu'er was different; she could feel pain, and she was even more sensitive to it than a normal human. Her face was drenched in sweat.

Seeing the puppet-turned-giant swing its fist, wrapped in black mist and accompanied by the muffled roar of displaced air, she knew the power behind the blow was enough to crush a person into a pulp. Her heart sank. She let out a hoarse, low growl and threw a punch of her own.

The two fists, one large and one small, collided with a thunderous roar. Jiu'er was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, while the giant puppet only staggered back a few steps, its body rippling with blood-red runes and appearing to shrink by a few inches.

Landing on the ground, Jiu'er immediately rose. Bending her knees, she leaped a dozen feet into the air, her fists raining down in a barrage of dense, overlapping strikes.

"Heaven and Earth Infinite, Green Dragon Righteous Law, Slay-Evil Dharma Blade, condense!"

Zhang Shouzheng’s soul hovered in mid-air. With a sweep of his hands, over a dozen cyan dharma blades condensed before him. He locked his gaze on Xin Quan and flung them forward with all his might.

"Hmph, a firefly daring to outshine the sun? Overestimating yourself!"

Under the pressure of an absolute difference in cultivation levels, Xin Quan’s methods were naturally far superior to those of his senior disciple. After all, Tu Mie was merely a ghost with limited potential, whereas a cultivator who had reached the Yin-Manifestation stage commanded heaven-defying abilities. Seeing the Green Dragon Slay-Evil Dharma Blades rushing toward him, Xin Quan remained unfazed. He chanted a low incantation and shouted:

"Heavenly Demon Hand!"

He grabbed at the empty air with five fingers. A massive, pitch-black hand manifested out of thin air. As he clenched his fist, the hand transformed into a giant fist wrapped in a layer of brilliant silver light, smashing into the Slay-Evil Dharma Blades.

Qian Hui sneered and dashed toward Zhang Shouzheng’s physical body. If Zhang Shouzheng could wield the Li family’s Taiqing Thunder Talisman, he was undeniably connected to them. The Qian family and the Li family were mortal enemies. The Qian family had even imprisoned two important members of the Li family, though their strength was so great that they could only be contained, not destroyed.

Zhang Shouzheng had to die. If the Li family were allowed to rise, the Qian family would be doomed.

Qian Hui produced a switchblade and lunged for Zhang Shouzheng’s chest. But before she could get close, the ground beneath her shifted violently, and sharp, foot-long earthen spikes erupted from the earth. Startled and enraged, she leaped aside, glaring fiercely at Fatty Fan. "Student Fan, you are being very disobedient. Do you really want to hurt your teacher like this?"

"A puppet of the Heavenly Demon Sect like you? You aren't fit to be Fatty's teacher! I wouldn't even care if you begged for mercy! As long as I'm alive, you won't touch a hair on Brother Shouzheng's head!"

Fatty Fan pressed his hands to the ground, staring at Qian Hui with utter contempt before spitting at her feet.

"Oh? Is that so, Student Fan? Then..."

With a few rapid strides, Qian Hui reached Fatty Fan. She kicked his head with the tip of her heel, sending his massive frame reeling backward as he vomited a mouthful of blood. Qian Hui gave a cruel laugh, stepping on the fatty’s face with her high heel. "Keep talking. I thought you had a foul mouth."

"You... filthy... hag!"

One side of Fatty Fan’s face was crushed and deformed, his eyes bloodshot, yet he glared at Qian Hui with undying fury.

Qian Hui’s expression darkened. She raised the switchblade to plunge it into Fatty Fan’s chest. At that critical moment, Jiang Puti grabbed a stone and hurled it at her. The air whistled as the stone flew; Qian Hui raised her switchblade to deflect it, sending the stone shattering into fragments. However, she had lost interest in killing Fatty Fan, as he had already fallen completely unconscious.

"Students, I don't mind sending you both on your way. Out of consideration for your status as Jiang family disciples, if you hand over the shards of the Investiture of the Gods and leave quietly, forgetting everything that happened here, I can spare your lives," Qian Hui said coldly, standing before the Jiang siblings.

"Don't even think about it! Even if we die, you won't get anywhere near Shouzheng!"

Jiang Mingyue’s brows furrowed, her teeth clenched as she glared at Qian Hui, holding a small, ancient mirror in her hand.

"Then die! The shards of the Investiture of the Gods in your possession are going to be taken anyway. If I let you live, the old geezers of the Jiang family will surely come looking for an account. It’s cleaner to just destroy the evidence."

Qian Hui laughed, springing toward the Jiang siblings like an agile leopard.

"Sister, if I die, don't be sad. Protect the shards of the Investiture of the Gods. Also... it would have been nice if Shouzheng could have been my future brother-in-law. Haha, sis, if I really die, remember to burn some wedding offerings for me!"

Jiang Puti glanced at his sister, his eyes slightly red, a desolate smile on his face. He took a deep breath and let out a roar. His body began to swell inch by inch, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on his skin, blood spraying out until he looked like a man made of gore.

"Puti, stop! You'll kill yourself!"

Jiang Mingyue screamed, her heart shattering as tears streamed down her face. Her brother was usually a constant source of bickering, but now that they were at the brink of life and death, her heart was overcome with unbearable agony. Jiang Puti was using a forbidden Jiang family technique to force his potential to the limit, but the power he was channeling was far too great for his body to withstand.