Ba Zi calmed his rapid breathing as he stood in the rainy night on the hillside, then turned to Ji Yuan.

“Sir, that’s the Southern Great Stronghold.”

In reality, their entire journey, from when the left the deserted village, to surveying the battlefield, and finally reaching the bandit encampment, took only a very short time. Even if they were to soar through the clouds, flying short distances would still take some time. Furthermore, flying would make it more difficult to find their way, and increase the probability of them just flying past their destination. It was less efficient than simply using a technique to shrink the distances beneath their feet.

Although Ba Zi didn’t need to run the whole distance by himself, he still suffered a considerable strain in that short time, primarily due to mental stimulation.

Ji Yuan looked toward the massive dark silhouette of the stronghold in the distance. His supernatural eyes could see that the aura of vital energy was still burning strong, but he knew that this was only an illusion, as it had ceased to rise upwards, just like how smoke from a fire that had been extinguished turned from black to white: it appeared to be still burning, but in truth, it had died out.

Grabbing Ba Zi’s collar, Ji Yuan leaped, his foot lightly pushing off against the wind and rain in midair, soaring across hundreds of zhang, and landed directly in the Southern Great Stronghold.

The entire encampment was silent, completely devoid of sound. Even the horses in the stables lay motionless.

Ji Yuan’s eyes revealed not only a lifeless atmosphere, but also an environment completely devoid of souls. Clearly, both humans and horses had been drained dry of their vital essence.

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

“More than one? Underground?”

Ji Yuan frowned, and with a wave of his hand, the Green Vine Sword twirled and flew up.

“Gulp… what… more than one?”

Bazi swallowed and asked nervously, but before Ji Yuan could reply, he felt a powerful force against his collar, and his whole body suddenly lifted off the ground.

“Aaaahhhhhh!”

Ji Yuan flung Ba Zi directly into the sky. Almost precisely as Ba Zi took flight, the ground exploded.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

Three ragged corpses leaped out of the earth and rushed at Ji Yuan. Meanwhile, another approached from behind, clawing at his ankles.

These strange corpses moved at breakneck speed, so fast they left afterimages, but they were no match for Ji Yuan.

As if he were skating on ice, Ji Yuan moved to the left, dodging all the monsters’ attacks, and unleashed a fierce open-palm technique — the Iron Punishment Battle Guide — drawing on his spiritual energy. He struck one of the corpses hard on the side.

Bang… With a thud that sounded like hitting a thick layer of leather armor, the corpse flew backwards several feet, as though it had been struck by a giant beast, and slammed into one of the village houses with a crash. Then, with a bang, it continued on and exploded through the other wall, slamming heavily into the ground, clearly proving the power of Ji Yuan’s palm strike.

But after striking that blow, Ji Yuan himself felt a strange rebound force. However, he didn’t deliberately dissipate the force; the immense reactive force caused his body to slide sideways, his feet plowing into the muddy ground as he was moved.

The other two strange corpses seized the opportunity to change direction, creating afterimages as they pounced on the retreating Ji Yuan.

Whoosh…

There was a sound like an exhalation of whistling wind, and a reddish-gray fog of breath emanated from Ji Yuan’s mouth, striking the two pursuing demonic corpses.

As soon as this breath appeared, a faint glow emanated from it, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

Fwoosh… Suddenly, the two corpses were surrounded by fire, their bodies reduced to glowing charcoal in an instant. The heat and flames scorched even the raindrops that hit them, causing them to sizzle. A vast cloud of white steam rose into the air.

“Rooooar…!”

“Rooooar….!”

In the brief moment of consciousness as the two demonic corpses burned, their survival instinct drove them to dive into a nearby puddle, but the flames proved to be inextinguishable.

The entire burning process lasted only two breaths before the burning men lost their light, crumbling into scattered pieces of ash in the puddle.

Ji Yuan glanced at the ground; the one that had been grabbing his leg had vanished.

This “opportunity” that Ji Yuan had kindly created for them failed to lure that one lurking underground out, let alone the others who had emerged to attack. This proved that they weren’t merely evil creatures intent on killing and feeding, but rather that they possessed intelligence.

“Are they zombies or something? Can they burrow underground? They’re quite slippery and difficult to stop…”

Ji Yuan muttered to himself. He shrank the distances beneath him and leapt directly out of the destroyed house, arriving by the side of that demonic corpse he had struck with his palm.

It had barely risen to its feet when Ji Yuan, light as a feather, landed on a piece of broken wood next to it. He extended his right hand and flicked his sleeve.

With a swish, the demonic corpse on the ground vanished, tucked into his dimensional sleeve storage.

“It seems that there are several more? Hmph!”

Ji Yuan gazed intently around at the encampment. With a light leap, he caught the still-screaming Ba Zi midair and landed on the roof of a shed.1

In the sky, the blade of the Green Vine Sword glowed brightly.

Shiiing—

The immortal sword was unsheathed, and a silver slash suddenly flashed through the sky. A thin straight line appeared, connecting the stronghold base on the mountain and the immortal sword in the air.

Boom……

The ground was cut open by the sword energy…

At almost the same moment…

Bang–

Amidst the loud noise, silver sword light blasted out from the base of the hill, the sword energy directly penetrating the stone of the mountain.

For a moment, the entire mountain shook, rumbling slightly.

Ba Zi gripped Ji Yuan’s collar with one hand to keep himself from falling down, his legs having gone completely soft.

. . .

In the deserted village, on a beam of the big abandoned mansion, a paper crane hid in the rafters, titling its head and gazing down below.

There was a fire outside and a fire inside. The paper crane was right in the center of the beam, avoiding the heat rising from the fires.

Although the paper crane lacked any apparent spiritual intelligence, its instincts for seeking out good fortune and avoiding danger were extremely strong. It could often sense even the subtlest of shifts, and was exceptionally sensitive to faint auras and objects with unique properties.

Back then, when Du Changsheng had used the paper man talisman to summon a low-end version of the Warrior, a strange and mysterious transformation had occurred as the Golden-Armored Warrior had emerged from his paper form. The paper crane sensed this change and led Ji Yuan in search of it.

Ji Yuan had left this paper crane here as a precautionary measure. After all, ordinary people sometimes lacked the reflexes to detect danger in advance.

At this moment, the paper crane was not only focused on the yellow paper talisman Huang Zhixian was holding, but was also observing the actions of everyone below.

Some warriors had previously taken off their coats to dry, and were now having their companions help them take off the inner lining of their clothes, putting their coats back on as the inner clothes dried. On the other side of the room, a little girl nibbled on a softened biscuit and sipped warm water; a man, huddled in the corner, let out a slow fart, feigning innocence…

The paper cranes couldn’t quite understand these scenes, or even begin to grasp most of them; it simply observed. Especially the man who was farting. His movements seemed meaningless to the paper crane, yet it watched them very seriously.2

Just then, an unsettling aura emerged outside. It instinctively looked for Ji Yuan, but its master was absent. Then, the paper crane fixed its gaze on Huang Zhixian — or rather, on the yellow paper talisman he was holding.

Soon, the two horses outside also started to get restless.

“Neeiiigh…”

“Neeeiiigh…”

Swish-swish… “Neiiigh…”

Thump…Thump thump thump…

These horses were old, but they were quite intelligent. They stomped restlessly outside, neighing constantly, trying to break free from the shackles of the reins.

Hearing the movement of the horses, several people on Han Ming’s side were very concerned. Their horses were important property.

“We need to go out and check on our horses. What if they run away?”

“Yes, yes, go out and have a look!”

Han Ming and another young man stood up. Huang Zhixian first looked out into the darkness outside, then back at these two ordinary people, who didn’t know any martial arts. He stood up and spoke.

“Let me go and lead the way.”

Seeing Huang Zhixian looking like he was about to leave, the paper crane on the beam immediately flapped its wings and flew down from above, flying right in front of Huang Zhixian’s eyes. The latter only felt something pass quickly in front of his eyes, but before he could see what it was, he felt pain in his finger.

“Hiss… ah…”

Huang Zhixian’s left thumb was pecked open, leaving a small gash. He loosened his crip in pain, and the yellow talisman slipped from his hands.

“A bird bit me…”

“Maybe it’s hiding in the house to avoid the rain?”

“No, it’s a paper bird!”

“It– it can fly by itself?”

Huang Zhixian exclaimed in shock after seeing the situation clearly. Everyone around him jumped to their feet.

The sight of a paper bird flitting back and forth in front of the door was alarming, but not terrifying. Several people looked curious.

The paper crane flapped its wings and landed beside the yellow paper talisman on the ground. One wing flapped up and down, tapping the talisman.

Only then did some people belatedly realize that this yellow paper figure was emitting bursts of yellow light, like glowing smoke.

Huang Zhi looked at the wound on his finger. The paper figure on the ground had already been stained with blood.

The paper crane turned its head to look outside, changed its angle, and flew to the other side of the yellow paper figurine, tapping it again with its wing.

Huang Zhixian now understood what it meant to convey. He glanced outside, frowned, hesitated for a moment, and tried to shout.

“I await my Warrior!”

Whoosh–

The yellow paper suddenly vanished in a puff of radiant yellow smoke. An exceptionally majestic figure emerged from within it, then vanished in a fleeting moment.

In its place stood a towering, divine being, over ten feet tall, clad in a golden helmet and armor. His face was as red as ruby, his beard and hair like steel needles. The fluttering yellow cloth in front and behind him gave off a certain mystical air.

Huang Zhixian could be considered quite the formidable man himself, but in front of this Golden Armored Warrior, he resembled a half-grown child.

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

After two distinct breaths in silence, the Golden-Armored Warrior turned sideways at an angle, facing the paper crane hovering in the air, and bowed respectfully.

“Your Honor!”

After a respectful salute, the Golden-Armored Warrior turned toward the door, ducked his head to avoid the doorframe, and stepped outside.

Everyone in the room stared incredulously at the Golden-Armored Warrior.

As they watched, the Golden-Armored Warrior walked outside, took a lunging stance, swung his left arm forward, and raised his right fist. The yellow fabric around him fluttered in the air.

With the sound of the wind tearing through the air, the Golden-Armored Warrior’s fist blasted out like a cannonball, directly hitting the ground diagonally in front of him.

Whoosh… Boom…

The ground was immediately torn apart, and a crack extended dozens of feet in an instant.

Bang…

The ground over ten zhang away exploded, and a black shadow was directly smashed out of the ground by the blow.

Rumble rumble rumble…

The ground was shaking slightly, and everyone in the room behind the Golden-Armored Warrior felt unsteady. Dust kept falling from the roof, and it took a while for it to subside.

----------------------------------------

T/n: I see Golden-Armored Warrior subscribes to the philosophy of “big punch.” Meanwhile, paper crane is staring happily in the background as its crush absolutely dominates

1. T/n: Okay this image is just flipping hilarious. Team Ba Zi blasting off agaiii— Oh wait JY caught him XD

2. T/n: paper crane you adorable creature XD