Chapter 215: Spear Greatness Achieved

Some were fooled, naturally, others were not.

Those who stood their ground sneered at the bearded man as he retreated.

A clanging rang out ahead, followed by screams.

Not long after, the group pulled back.

Five more paper soldiers with sword and shield had shattered, and eight martial artists who charged forward lay dead.

All were pierced by spears.

Paper soldiers carrying ten-foot-long paper spears remained formidable, even with sword-and-shield troops blocking the front.

Others watching these paper figures found them stubbornly difficult.

But in An Xin’s eyes, sparks of excitement flashed repeatedly.

If these paper figures could form formations, what if there were two or three hundred of them organized into an army?

One such figure would be a small army unto itself.

And one with minimal logistical burden.

Our Tianyi Sect can learn from Li Lin without paying too high a price.

So… these two figures beneath the Concealing Ghost Robe, he must protect them.

“Listen to me, all of you. The Tianyi Sect will protect the two beneath the Concealing Ghost Robe. As for the rest, handle it yourselves.”

The bearded man snorted: “The Linglong Jade Box is in their hands—you protect them, and you’re just stealing the Linglong Jade Box by proxy.”

An Xin frowned: “So what? This matter is on the Tianyi Sect’s shoulders.”

“I fear you can’t bear it,” the bearded middle-aged man said coldly. “I hear you’re still just the senior disciple, not the Sect Master. Talking like this, you might twist your waist.”

“What I say is what our Sect Master would say,” An Xin replied confidently.

This naturally stirred much discontent among those around him.

The bearded man snorted: “Others may fear your Tianyi Sect, but our Black Blade Gang does not.”

An Xin smiled at the man.

Others were drawing closer to the paper figures.

Though earlier attacks had failed, everyone could see the paper army’s formation was growing increasingly vulnerable.

An Xin watched them all advancing, ready to call Ji Feng for help—but he didn’t notice Ji Feng had already led the Qingcheng Sect forward.

To oppose every martial artist here?

An Xin had to consider this question.

Was it worth it?

The paper soldier technique was indeed powerful, but it required talent—Tianyi Sect might not have such a person.

My relationship with Li Lin is good, but my bond with my fellow sect brothers is even stronger.

Should I ask my brothers to die for Li Lin?

This question kept surfacing in his mind.

Finally, he stood firm—and ordered his men to retreat a few steps.

He wasn’t refusing to help—he was waiting to see.

If… those people failed to break the paper army, he would act.

And at that moment, another paper figure rose beside the dark, shapeless mass.

This paper figure had a long serpent tail, a strikingly beautiful face, yet carried a sharp, piercing aura.

The Tree Immortal Lady!

An Xin had investigated Li Lin’s background and knew this was the True Lord of Yulin County.

Though no one who investigated had seen the Tree Immortal Lady, they could still gather a general description of her.

Only the Tree Immortal Lady had a human torso with a serpent tail—and was a beautiful woman.

As soon as the Tree Immortal Lady appeared, everyone around her stepped back.

Clearly, this paper figure was unlike the others.

Different in appearance, different in aura.

Clearly of the “commander” tier.

The Tree Immortal Lady scanned the crowd, then whipped her long serpent tail, snatching up the mother and child beneath the Concealing Ghost Robe, and leapt backward as if flying, vanishing into the night sky.

Everyone froze for a moment, then reacted.

They escaped!

The bearded man roared: “Chase them!”

But at that instant, the paper army shifted—sword-and-shield troops surged forward, spear troops followed, charging straight into the martial artists.

Screams erupted.

Over twenty sword-and-shield troops and thirty spear troops pushed forward, impaling many martial artists on the spot.

But this also provoked even fiercer resistance.

Many martial artists slipped away to the sides, then sprinted toward where the Tree Immortal Lady had vanished.

They believed the serpent demon paper figure must be weak—otherwise, why just carry them off and not fight?

If they caught up, everything would be theirs.

At this moment, the bearded middle-aged man swung his long blade, knocking one sword-and-shield paper soldier flying, then rushed in and slashed it to pieces.

He ignored the paper spears stabbing at him.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The spears pierced his body—but snapped on impact.

Not even a white mark remained on his skin.

He charged into the paper soldiers, slashing down several spear troops, then retreated, exhaling deeply.

His companions stepped forward to take his place.

This middle-aged man was not strong in hard qigong—he simply possessed astonishing primordial energy and had mastered internal Gang protection.

His invulnerability to blades and spears came at the cost of consuming primordial energy.

This barrage drained his primordial energy heavily.

Though not exhausted, it was wise to preserve some for emergencies.

Thanks to the middle-aged bearded man’s breakthrough, the paper army’s formation collapsed—most crucially, it had no more paper arrows left; otherwise, it could have held out much longer.

Dozens of martial artists rushed forward and chopped every paper figure into fragments.

The bearded man glanced at the night sky, ready to charge—then suddenly grunted.

He screamed, his lower back gone numb with pain.

Li Lin struck and moved to retreat.

But at that moment, several white objects flew through the air and smashed around him, exploding into clouds of white powder.

Then Li Lin’s figure became visible to all.

A thin old man smiled sweetly: “After you’ve ambushed us so many times, if we still couldn’t find a way to counter you, we’d be fools.”

Li Lin brushed the dust off his clothes, then looked at the bearded man lying on the ground, barely breathing, and smiled: “You’re clever indeed—you found me even like this.”

Li Lin should have been invincible.

But his repeated ambushes had revealed openings.

There was no choice—he had to ambush others repeatedly to slow them down and save Zhou Qingqing and her child.

But that gave others more chances.

Li Lin flicked his toe, and the ten-foot paper spear landed in his hand, blocking the path of the martial artists.

He swung it casually, then planted it behind him, smiling: “Then… this path is closed.”

Truly, he was elegant and striking.

An Xin watched this scene—and smiled.

Then he said to his junior brothers: “Let’s go back.”

Everyone was puzzled, but no one objected.

The senior disciple was the future Sect Master—if he said to return, they returned.

“You dare stand alone against so many? Bold. You use a spear too—I’m Iron Ball Dragon Spear. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

With that, a man charged forward with spear in hand.

“Ahh!”

The man collapsed to his knees, staring in disbelief at Li Lin.

“Spear… Greatness Achieved!”

Blood gushed from his chest like a fountain.

The man knelt two zhang away from Li Lin.

And Li Lin’s spear was only one zhang long.

A chill surged through every heart.

(End of Chapter)