Chapter 97: Firecracker Bamboo, Boundary-Breaking Needle, and the Shock of the Blood Spirit Venerable!

"The effect is really not bad." Zhao Xing looked at Wu Mei's miserable state and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

At the end of October, he had gone to Old Chen's residence and seen a new plant in the pear garden — 【Firecracker Bamboo】

At that time, what he saw in the pear garden was only third-tier.

That was because in the south, the growth ceiling of Firecracker Bamboo would be lowered — as the saying goes, an orange grown south of the Huai River is an orange, but grown north of the Huai River, it becomes a bitter orange.

In fact, 【Firecracker Bamboo】 can generally grow up to the fifth tier.

It has very high demands on earth veins, and they must be 'Fire-Attributed Earth Veins'.

After Firecracker Bamboo grows to the fifth tier, its bamboo joints contain incomparably violent fire-attribute power within.

The color of the bamboo's surface also changes from green to red. After the 'kill-green' process, upon sensing condensed Yuan Qi, it will easily explode.

Although Long Xiao came alone, he brought a hundred portions of fifth-tier Firecracker Bamboo from the Divine Might Army for Chen Shijie.

Chen Shijie himself had also planted quite a few young bamboos.

At that time, Zhao Xing asked for a small portion of seedlings to try planting himself.

However, Old Chen felt that planting them himself was too dangerous, so he only gave him one plant to try his hand.

What was prepared later in this room were all products after replanting, at the level of top-grade third-tier.

But under Zhao Xing's strong insistence, Chen Shijie still gave him one 【Fifth-Tier Firecracker Bamboo】.

After it was cut into ten bamboo joint segments, Zhao Xing buried them around the fence.

The one Wu Mei stepped on was precisely one of those segments.

"Not killed instantly — this person's physique should have reached eighth-rank." Zhao Xing stared at Wu Mei.

For a fifth-tier Firecracker Bamboo to naturally explode, there is a standard: the external force of stepping pressure, and the intensity of the Yuan Qi body.

If one is unranked, or merely ninth-rank, it might not necessarily be triggered.

Once the concentration of Yuan Qi contained within the body reaches eighth-rank, the fire-attribute power inside will be ignited, as if finding an outlet — upon exploding, it will also ignite this mass of Yuan Qi.

Therefore, now Wu Mei's legs — her flesh and blood will find it very hard to heal.

Moreover, the more she circulates Yuan Qi to repair her body, the worse the injuries become.

Zhao Xing can also actively detonate the remaining Firecracker Bamboos. Although he did not use the Earth Palace Method, 【King Di Zang's Return to Origin】 was shrouding the surrounding area.

Now around the fenced courtyard, there is a minefield!

"Puchi~" Wu Mei drew out a knife, cutting away the flesh and blood from the bone, while also peeling off the bamboo fragments embedded within.

After discovering the poor healing effect, she decisively chose the most direct method.

At this moment, time is life.

"Ahhh~" The pain made her suffer terribly — cutting her own flesh and scraping her own bone, how could it not hurt?

"You little bastard! How dare you scheme against this old lady…" Wu Mei's eyes were filled with venomous hatred.

"Do you have anything valuable on you?" Zhao Xing's voice came drifting on the wind. "Did you bring any treasures like a Boundary-Breaking Needle, or a Profound Heaven Mirror, or a Soul-Protecting Garment?"

Hearing these words, Wu Mei froze again, for a moment even forgetting the pain, and subconsciously replied: "No, how did you know…"

"Didn't bring any?"

"Then what's the point of you staying alive?"

Hoo~ Zhao Xing's voice came accompanied by a Yin wind, sounding somewhat eerie and cold. Taking advantage of the time Wu Mei was cutting her flesh and scraping her bone, the Yin wind swept toward her body.

The Yin wind seemed to drill into Wu Mei's body through every pore, the wind as if scraping directly at her soul.

"Hiss~"

Wu Mei shivered, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

This coldness upon her soul made her, before she could even clear the aftereffects brought by the Firecracker Bamboo, force herself to retreat with her body. A ball of fiery-red Blood Sha surged forth from her body.

The Blood Sha protected her body, resisting the erosion of the Yin wind.

"Pata~"

A drop of rain landed on Wu Mei's forehead.

"Rain — is it raining?"

Wu Mei raised her head, her crimson, bewitching eyes lifting upward.

She only saw that at some unknown time, a pitch-black dark cloud had appeared overhead — the blackness of this cloud had completely merged with the night.

When did he summon the clouds?

Why had this cloud formed a black vortex?

This is…

"Pata, pata~"

The cold raindrops interrupted Wu Mei's train of thought.

Cold, so cold.

If the Yin wind was coldness upon the soul, then the icy rain at this moment was coldness upon the flesh.

Wu Mei had originally been able to exert the strength of a proper eighth-rank; whether in physique or spells, she was fully comparable to a proper eighth-rank of the Great Zhou.

But now, she found herself as fragile as a clerk! And she was still growing continuously weaker!

"Profound Heaven Blood Sha! Blood Spirit Body Protection!"

"Divine Lord Seize the Soul, Possess My True Body!"

The Blood Sha on Wu Mei's body pulsed in and out. While resisting the Yin wind and icy rain, her body began to ooze a layer of fine, dense crimson blood.

The blood flowed, sweeping over her skin and flesh, as if something was about to break out from within her body.

"Transform? Can you transform?"

Zhao Xing spread his five fingers, Lei Ting coiling around his fingertips, quickly forming a palm composed of Lei Ting, which swiftly imprinted onto the Blood Sha on Wu Mei's body surface.

"Boom-crack~"

A layer of Blood Sha was torn open, exposing Wu Mei's bloody, dripping muscle.

"Puh!"

The purple palm bent its fingers and jabbed swiftly into Wu Mei's abdomen.

The spread of the Blood Sha instantly stalled, as if a turning gear had been jammed.

"Boom~"

Lei Ting's palm shifted direction and struck again, first blasting open the protective Blood Sha, then bending the palm and extending the fingers.

He jabbed six spots on Wu Mei's body in succession.

"Spirit Court, Spirit Gate, Spirit Path, Origin Gate, Stone Gate, Yin Crossing… where was that last one again?"

"Forget it, I'll just jab the last spot randomly."

Zhao Xing didn't remember clearly, but these six key positions were enough to interrupt the opponent's transformation.

"You…" Terror surfaced on Wu Mei's face.

Seeing the situation turn bad, she had immediately unleashed her full power, employing a secret art of the Xuantian Sect, wanting to play her trump card for a desperate gamble.

But Zhao Xing's Lei Ting palm had forcibly interrupted her casting.

Just who is from the Xuantian Sect here, me or him?

How does he know all this so well?

Wu Mei couldn't figure it out, but she was greatly shaken.

"Stop jabbing, please stop jabbing…" Wu Mei's voice carried a sobbing tone.

"I shouldn't die here, I should have caught you and taken you back… stop jabbing."

"Come away with me, you'll definitely be valued in the Xuantian Sect, I never intended to kill you, I only wanted to take you with me… stop jabbing."

Wu Mei pleaded desperately.

The Blood Sha on her body was now as thin as a cicada's wing, and the Blood Spirit Possession had been completely broken.

She had lain潜伏 for over a dozen years, all for this operation.

She never expected it would all turn to foam; the mission couldn't be completed, and she herself was trapped here as well.

Unwilling, she was truly unwilling.

Unlike other Xuantian Sect personnel—some of whom were approaching their end and willing to die, others who had been controlled and brainwashed, losing their self-awareness—

Wu Mei's consciousness was entirely autonomous.

She still possessed a very strong will to live.

"Come away with me, come away with me…" Wu Mei raised her hand, and a needle burst out from her flesh and blood.

It aimed straight for Zhao Xing's Heavenly Spirit acupoint.

The Boundary-Breaking Needle—this was her final gamble.

"So treacherous, I knew you'd brought one." Zhao Xing muttered.

The Boundary-Breaking Needle passed through his body and pinned itself into the door plank behind.

Hum~

The phantom vanished, leaving only a pearl on the ground, glinting with cold light.

A projection of a fourth-tier East Lake Pearl.

"You tricked me, you bastard…" Seeing this, Wu Mei's hand dropped, her words left unfinished, and with intense unwillingness she collapsed to the ground.

If it had hit Zhao Xing, with the Boundary-Breaking Needle she could have immediately taken control of him and turned defeat into victory, letting Zhao Xing carry her away.

With this final gamble missed, she knew there was no hope left.

She had lain潜伏 for over a dozen years, living only for this hope.

With her hope shattered, Wu Mei completely lost the will to resist, her soul scattered to pieces by the Yin wind.

"I really did trick you. Someone at your level would definitely carry a Boundary-Breaking Needle. Just a different model, that's all. When I asked if you had one, it was to stop you from retreating when you saw things going badly, to make you think you had a chance to use the Blood Spirit Needle to control my body and walk me out of the courtyard yourself—giving you the hope of a turnaround." Zhao Xing thought silently to himself.

He looked at the dark-red nail pinned in the door plank.

The nail's material was extremely special—seemingly metal yet not metal—and it was wrapped in a layer of something resembling sinew.

The Blood Spirit Needle is a type of Boundary-Breaking Needle, and one of the Xuantian Sect's classic magical treasures.

Its effect targets flesh and blood, not the soul.

"This nail." Zhao Xing didn't dare touch it, only looked at it from afar. "It can bypass a person's Life Soul and directly control the physical body."

"Once struck by it, you essentially lose control of your body. Though your consciousness remains clear, your body is controlled by the Xuantian Sect."

The Xuantian Sect's success in abducting people owes much to the Blood Spirit Needle.

Although the Divine Temples across the Great Zhou mostly only scan within the city most of the time, during the monthly sacrifice or in emergencies, they expand their search range.

Using soul-controlling methods to take someone away makes it easy for Yin Gods to detect anomalies.

But the Blood Spirit Needle controls the physical body; the three souls remain normal, so no anomaly can be detected.

"Once struck by the Blood Spirit Needle, the next step can alter the writhing of flesh, blood, tendons, and bones, achieving an effect of changing appearance and form."

"Standing right in front of someone, they wouldn't even be able to tell."

This can be said to be an item beyond the current era—a treasure that could only be refined in the age of ancient sects.

The Fangwaizong Sect relies precisely on some inheritances from that ancient era to harass the Great Zhou behemoth.

"Meow~" The mountain cat was also staring at that needle.

"Don't even think about eating it, want to turn into a dead cat?" Zhao Xing glared at the mountain cat.

The mountain cat immediately shrank its head back and retreated half a step.

Then it wouldn't eat it; it wasn't that hungry anyway.

Outside the ruined factory, on a high hillside.

At this moment, officials of the Agricultural Supervisorate such as Chen Shijie, Tang Wanchun, Xue Wenzhong, Pang Yuan, and Gao Linong had already been surrounded.

"Lord Chen." Pang Yuan and Tang Wanchun, who had successively broken free from the soul-dreaming, woke up and, seeing this scene, all looked toward Chen Shijie. "The demon invasion — isn't this assessment over? Why are they still here? What's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing. They're not fakes, they're real." Chen Shijie said with a smile. "Gentlemen, it's time to scoop up some merit — these are genuine Xuantian demonic cultivators."

"???" Hearing these words, the assistant officials of the Agricultural Supervisorate were completely dumbfounded.

Look at the state of us — do we look like we can fight?

You're a military agricultural official, we're not!

"I knew following this bastard Chen Shijie would lead to nothing good." Gao Linong saw this formation and couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle. "He gave me enough hell here a few years ago, and now he's actually drawn so many Xuantian Sect demons."

"Lord Chen, you must have coordinated with the county magistrate, right?" Tang Wanchun's voice trembled slightly. "Is there an ambush of a large army outside?"

"No." Chen Shijie looked at the approaching encirclement.

"... Chen Shijie, you bastard!" Gao Linong really couldn't hold back and started cursing. In his heart he instantly cursed Chen Shijie's entire lineage eight generations back. He felt he was bound to die this time — how could he still care about superior or not superior?

Pang Yuan and Tang Wanchun also felt resentful in their hearts, but they were still half in doubt, half in belief, thinking Chen Shijie wouldn't easily place himself in danger.

Xue Wenzhong, on the other hand, was very calm — he had become open to everything now.

A thundercloud immediately appeared in his palm, and with a light flick, the thundercloud began to swim around his body.

One, two, five, ten...

A total of thirty-two thunderclouds, not only shielding himself but also circling around his colleagues.

"We eat the lord's grain, we share the lord's worries — the Fangwaizong Sect, anyone may slay them." Xue Wenzhong said in a deep voice.

"Enough, it's nothing but death." Tang Wanchun and Pang Yuan each summoned their clouds, casting spells to block the enemy.

Celestial-timed four arts and terrestrial-blessed spells instantly filled the entire hillside.

Although their grade was one realm lower than the eighth-grade experts brought by the Falcon, under their desperate casting, the Xuantian Sect's movement became extremely slow — once they charged within a hundred meters, their mobility dropped sharply.

"Hahaha, didn't expect this official's Earth-Separating Art to be this fierce — take another bolt of lightning from me!" Gao Linong guided lightning to strike at one of the black shadows.

The lightning actually struck the target, freezing it in place. Not only that, it even emitted a burst of fiery red light.

"Misread it — they're not eighth-grade?" Tang Wanchun saw how easily the opponent fell and his eyes lit up at once.

"Lord Gao, you're overthinking it — it's not that you're fierce, it's that they've gotten weaker." Xue Wenzhong looked at the ground beneath his feet, then looked at Chen Shijie. "What a fine underground palace."

"Sharp eyes, Elder Xue." Chen Shijie smiled slightly, then stopped pretending.

The outer perimeter of the entire hillside suddenly split open, forming an encirclement.

Then a line of fire ignited — bright flames erupted from underground, reaching four meters high, forming a wall of fire.

"What? Fire-element Earth-Splitting Art, and this binding force — it's an underground palace art?!" The Falcon Protector felt the heavy pressure on his body and couldn't help being shocked. The rest of the eighth-grade cultivators also found every step incredibly difficult, each footfall extremely heavy, as if bearing a mountain on their backs.

And just as they had stepped within the hundred-meter range—

Suddenly, the ground arched upward.

"Boom!"

A massive surge of fire-element power exploded!

One of the black-clad men stepped on a firecracker and was blasted away!

"What? Halt!" The Falcon Protector looked at his subordinate — both legs had been blown off, half his body was gone, clearly not going to survive.

"Xuantian True Art — Northern Dipser Ascending Dragon!" The Falcon Protector shouted at the sight.

The black-clad men beside him immediately began chanting as well.

"Xuan Claw!" A black-clad man clenched his empty hand, and a cyan battle saber appeared in his grip.

"Xuan Horn!" Before the second black-clad man, a golden ramming horn materialized.

"Extreme Wing!" Above the third black-clad man's head, an armored iron fist condensed.

"Xuan Yin!" Around the fourth black-clad man, a bright moon appeared.

"Yuan Pin!" The fifth black-clad man cupped his hands together, and a pearl appeared.

"Flying Dragon!" The sixth black-clad man's body swelled violently, a ferocious dragon head enveloping his entire form.

The Falcon Protector unleashed the Xuantian Sect's Northern Dipser Ascending Dragon Formation right from the start. Including the Falcon himself, the seven of them resembled a flying dragon descending to earth, chasing the sun and moon.

The surrounding wall of fire was immediately pressed down to two meters. The firecrackers buried in the ground, once stepped on, no longer detonated — the binding force greatly reduced, and their mobility instantly rose.

"Chen Shijie, I didn't expect that with your aptitude, you could reach Perfect Spirit Bridge in your thirties. But my Xuan Sect needs exactly a talent like you!" The Falcon Protector shouted lowly. "Strike now!"

"Lord Chen!" Tang Wanchun saw these demons instantly come alive again and said with reddened eyes: "The county magistrate and East Lake Army truly don't know?"

"They're not here." Chen Shijie said calmly. "But I have a sword cultivator."

"Sword cultivator? What sword cultivator?" Pang Yuan was baffled.

Chen Shijie simply pointed.

The ground split open into a square pit two meters across, its depths pitch-black.

Just as they were wondering, a streak of sword light whistled out from the pit.

"Damn it, suffocating me in there — don't bury me so deep next time!"

A rough voice came from underground.

Then this golden sword swam through the air like a fish.

After emerging from the pit, the golden sword immediately shot toward the Xuantian demonic cultivators below the hillside.

"Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh!"

The golden sword reflected in the eyes of every Xuantian Sect member. The Falcon Protector's pupils dilated — he struggled desperately to resist, sensing the danger, but his hands and feet couldn't keep up.

"Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft!"

The golden sword pierced through his skull, and blood holes appeared in the heads of the others at the same instant.

"Thud!"

In an instant, all seven collapsed!

"Clang!"

The golden sword traced a perfect arc and landed in Long Xiao's raised hand.

"This…" Tang Wanchun and the others stared at the scene, utterly dumbfounded. "Is this a martial artist?"

The crude, rough warriors in their impressions — how could they be this fierce, this dashing?

"As everyone knows, martial artists are martial artists, sword cultivators are sword cultivators." Long Xiao sheathed his sword with a cool flourish, then his expression shifted: "Who was it just now that cursed my brother?"

"Swish swish~" Tang Wanchun and Pang Yuan both looked toward Gao Linong at once, decisively selling out their teammate.

"I…" Gao Linong instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

"He was only speaking carelessly — don't worry about it." Chen Shijie looked ahead. "There's still a big fish; quickly follow my wind to track it."

"You got it." Long Xiao dropped his intimidating act and swiftly leaped down the hillside.

Anping Town, Maple Leaf Manor — the blood pool altar beneath the rockery.

At this moment, a purple-robed phantom floated above the blood pool. From outside, clusters of red light flew back from time to time and sank into the phantom's body — these were split souls returning to the main body after invading.

"It failed." The purple-robed phantom sensed the movement above. "A large number of officials went and came back; this operation has failed completely."

In his perception, Li Wenzheng was leading a large force of East Lake soldiers, forming an even larger encirclement and closing in from the distance.

It was easy to imagine — this operation had been premeditated.

"Willing to risk his own body, using himself and all those officials as bait — ruthless enough, decisive enough." The purple-robed phantom knew it was time to abandon this incarnation.

But he was waiting for all the split souls to return. Failure was not terrible; he wanted to recall the split souls, perceive everything that had happened, and review the detailed process of this failure.

"Such firm resolve — ten years in the army, never once summoned a god?" After drawing back a wisp of red light, Blood Spirit Venerable also learned of the conversation with Chen Shijie in the dream realm. "A pity — I can't take him with me."

Whoosh~ another wisp of red light flew back, but this time the red light was far weaker, as though it had been greatly depleted, drained — less than half the size of the previous cluster.

"Hm? How could the consumption be this great?" Blood Spirit Venerable opened his mouth in some puzzlement and swallowed the red light in one gulp.

Then in his mind he saw a fenced courtyard, and within it a disheveled youth — it was Zhao Xing.

"What? This bastard!" Blood Spirit Venerable's blood pressure shot up halfway through watching.