Chapter 103: Kicked Away with One Kick (First of Two)

Lu Zhengyan thought Xu Yuan was keeping him away out of fear that he’d be dragged to death along with him, so he ignored Xu Yuan’s warning and kept sprinting forward, great sword in hand—only to suddenly face a boulder as massive as a mountain!

Old Lu couldn’t stop himself—he crashed into it with a loud thud.

He was flung backward and landed hard on his rear, his head ringing.

His vision blurred: What just happened?

Master Qin was still flying through the air, reveling in his arrogance, hoping the Snake Pole would kill Xu Yuan and come help him.

Controlling this artifact was no easy task; the severely wounded Master Qin was barely holding on.

Then suddenly, a massive boulder, thirty zhang on each side, erupted from the ground.

Master Qin froze, unsure what had occurred, but he felt… this didn’t seem like the Snake Pole’s trickery.

A premonition of dread rose in him, yet he still believed such a formidable monster like the Snake Pole couldn’t be defeated by a mere rookie like Xu Yuan.

Only when Xu Yuan absorbed Wang Shen’s spleen did the giant rock collapse with a thunderous roar, dissolving into nothingness—leaving only Xu Yuan standing there, the nine Snake Poles now reduced to nine flat, blood-smeared, flesh-chewed snake skins—only then did Master Qin realize, and without hesitation, turn and fly toward the Ghost Temple!

Once inside the Ghost Temple, he’d survive—and the mission could continue.

The ten-zhang skin figure seized a boulder and hurled it with all its strength.

With a whoosh, the boulder passed beneath Master Qin.

Master Qin frantically flapped his wings upward, but the boulder struck his feet—his feet shattered instantly!

“Ahh—”

Master Qin screamed, his body swaying as he plummeted several zhang.

The ten-zhang skin figure leapt violently upward, soaring dozens of zhang into the air, its massive hand outstretched to seize Master Qin’s leg.

Swarms of locusts buzzed in, endlessly slamming into the ten-zhang skin figure.

They forcibly knocked the airborne monster off course, missing Master Qin entirely.

The Locust Witch’s eyes glowed with malice as she shrieked: “Time to fight to the death! Haikou Toad, will you not appear?!”

Xu Yuan remained alert, but all around him was silent—the Haikou Toad remained nowhere to be seen.

Master Qin dodged the ten-zhang skin figure’s grab, retracted his iron wings behind him, and dove like a falcon straight toward the temple gate.

The temple gate opened, ready to welcome Master Qin inside.

Lu Zhengyan had already nocked and drawn his arrow, unleashing his famed Continuous Arrow Technique—five arrows shot in rapid succession toward Master Qin.

Xu Yuan flicked two fingers—the sword pellet shot forth, seeking the wounds on Master Qin’s body to pierce inward!

Suddenly, the Ghost Temple vanished from its spot.

It reappeared midair, directly engulfing Master Qin!

Without the Ghost Temple’s restraint, Fu Jingyu and Old Yan’s Doghead Guillotine came down—CRACK!—severing the Boy Spirit’s head.

Xu Yuan’s sword pellet and Lu Zhengyan’s continuous arrows both struck the Ghost Temple.

The five arrows vanished without a trace.

Xu Yuan also felt his sword pellet stick to the temple wall—some strange force pulled and sucked at it, as if an invisible mouth were trying to swallow it whole!

Unlike a cultivator’s “bait,” this was a corruption from a malevolent spirit—pollution, decay, assimilation!

Xu Yuan exerted all his control to pull back.

In that moment, he suddenly understood: the Ghost Temple’s legend—“those outside cannot enter, those inside cannot leave”—had already been transformed by this malevolence into something fluid and adaptable.

It had evolved into this “devour everything” trick.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth:

Puh—

A newly forged golden pellet shot out.

It was infused with abundant Golden Core essence.

You like to eat? Here, eat this!

The golden pellet spun straight toward the Ghost Temple—only to slam hard into the wall and bounce back with a loud bang.

The heavy pellet didn’t even leave a dent on the wall.

“Huh?” Xu Yuan was startled—could this malevolence see through the golden pellet’s true nature?

But if the wall had hardened, it wasn’t devouring anymore—it had become “those outside cannot enter.”

Xu Yuan gently retracted his control—the sword pellet zipped back from the Ghost Temple.

Xu Yuan pondered how to defeat this monster, when suddenly a little girl appeared at his feet.

Her cheeks were painted with two round red circles, her face deathly pale, and she looked up at Xu Yuan with innocent eyes: “Will you play with me?”

Her eyes were rotten; white maggots slithered out of their sockets. She flicked her crimson, snake-tongue-like tongue, snatching them into her mouth and chewing.

Fu Jingyu and Old Yan were stunned. Old Yan shouted: “Go help him—I’ll hold this!”

Old Yan gripped the blade’s handle tightly as Fu Jingyu prepared to release his hold and rush to Xu Yuan’s aid.

Fu Jingyu’s Maoshan techniques included many methods specifically targeting child spirits.

Earlier, the little ghost girl had tried every trick to lure Fu the Young Master into her game—but he’d deflected them all.

The little ghost girl turned to grab Old Yan.

But Old Yan calculated too quickly—he always found her position and dodged in advance.

The child spirit’s tricks were useless.

Moreover, child spirits inherently feared imperial talismans—this was why Fu Jingyu and Old Yan had been able to withstand both the Boy and Girl Spirits while restraining the Ghost Temple.

But now, seeing these two were too hard to handle, the little ghost girl slipped away quietly, seizing the moment when Xu Yuan retracted his sword pellet, crawling up to his feet.

Once this question is asked to a target, they cannot refuse.

If they refuse, the little ghost girl can accuse them of being “no good,” then swallow them whole like she did Tang Yue.

If they don’t refuse… the outcome will be even worse.

But Xu Yuan found her utterly repulsive!

His “Boundless Taboos” destiny activated, drastically increasing his resistance to trickery.

Xu Yuan lifted his foot—the fire wheel spun—BOOM!—he kicked the little ghost girl flying!

The child spirit let out a piercing scream, her body engulfed in “abdominal fire,” arcing through the air like a ball—right before crashing into the temple gate of the hovering Ghost Temple.

BOOM!

The “abdominal fire” on her body exploded, instantly engulfing half the Ghost Temple.

Yet after burning for only a moment, the abdominal fire vanished inexplicably!

Swallowed whole by the Ghost Temple!

“Abdominal fire” suppresses malevolent spirits—but it depends on the power disparity.

This amount of abdominal fire was simply swallowed and extinguished by the Ghost Temple.

The child spirit crashed hard to the ground, screamed “Aaah!”, then fled in terror from Xu Yuan, scuttling away like a worm.

Fu Jingyu and Old Yan exhaled in relief, raising the Doghead Guillotine toward the Ghost Temple.

The Ghost Temple was pulled by a tremendous force, swaying violently in midair.

As if sensing it couldn’t fight the Doghead Guillotine well in the air, the Ghost Temple silently descended, rooting itself into the earth.

The ten-zhang skin figure charged forward and swung its fists at the Ghost Temple!

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

It pounded relentlessly—but the Ghost Temple remained unscathed.

Xu Yuan nodded: No wonder it was called “those outside cannot enter”—this defense was indeed formidable.

After taking root, the Ghost Temple stood locked in stalemate with the Doghead Guillotine.

Old Yan’s fingers moved rapidly as he calculated—this was Wushan, a lawless land beyond imperial control, where imperial talismans lost potency—he felt his heart sink.

(End of Chapter)