Chapter 465: Reverse Engineering the Totem to Dismantle the Witch Banner

"Jade Shell Golden Turtle" Pei Li vibrated his outer robe, and a multicolored radiance rose from where he stood.

This outer robe of his was by no means an ordinary item; it was a battle robe paired with his signature fist technique, possessing both defensive properties and...

The outer robe swelled with power, instantly tightening until it was harder than steel.

Swish—a vast sheet of black rain fell overhead; the black specks, the size of needle tips, were actually cunning, tiny poisonous insects.

These poisonous insects were pervasive; even if a martial artist closed their breath and facial orifices, they could still burrow into the pores, traveling rapidly beneath the skin and flesh, stripping a person of their flesh and blood in just a few breaths, leaving behind only a human skin.

Even more terrifying was that the king of the insect swarm had already transformed into a Gu, making the gnawing of metal and iron or the piercing of defenses an effortless feat.

The halo of Pei Li's outer robe flowed, and the insect swarm, rushing up in a mass, was repelled three zhang away, only to return and be dazed by the radiant, colorful light.

"Back Armor Hides Blades."

Pei Li suddenly erupted with force; beneath the robe, which had swelled into a round shape, two semicircular blades suddenly unfurled, like two thin, spread wings, sharp and silent as they cut through the air.

The sharp blades extended from beneath the outer robe, catching the enemy completely off guard.

The Witch person manipulating the poisonous insects saw a flash before their eyes, their pupils slashed by Pei Li's twin blades, and they stumbled backward, clutching their eyes.

Pei Li, having succeeded with one strike, did not let up; he gripped the twin blades in reverse and charged forward, rotating the sharp blades like a windmill.

Swish, swish, swish! Under his wind-fast blade technique, the Witch person's Beast Robe and flesh were slashed away one after another, leaving them covered in wounds.

Suddenly, they stumbled and lunged forward, as if melting into the earth.

A living person just disappeared like that.

Pei Li frowned; he did not want to believe in any tricks of "Out of Nothing" or making a person vanish; all changes in the world had a root, and finding the root would reveal the method to break it.

What's more...

Pei Li shook his robe, a halo emerged, and the outline of his body actually became transparent.

This was one of the special abilities of this fist technique: using a secret treasure as cover to briefly escape into the void and conceal one's form.

Simply put, it was... invisibility.

The Witch person disappearing right in front of him was nothing short of a provocation, and Pei Li could not let this go.

He activated the invisibility function of his robe, circled the spot where the Witch person had vanished seven or eight times, and suddenly vibrated his cuffs.

A corner of his robe brushed against a corner of the void that seemed empty, and it actually touched something.

A nearly transparent soft screen, under the interference of the robe's halo, revealed a faintly visible outline, which was captured by Pei Li.

Half a day later, information about the Witch Banner spread like wildfire among the martial artists.

The paths back to Fucheng and other cities were cut off.

The Witch people held the advantage; even if they couldn't win, they could rely on the Witch Banner to cover their escape, whereas the martial artists, once defeated, were certain to die; even in a situation where they were sure to win, they would be ambushed and overturned by the Witch people using the Witch Banner for cover.

"Huan Yang Lie Yan Zhan!"

That night, a powerful martial artist from the martial artist side made a move.

At the dead of night, a scorching sun suddenly rose in the pitch-black sky, illuminating the night as if it were broad daylight.

The blinding sunlight spilled across the earth, alarming all parties; martial artists and Witch people alike were parched by the sudden sunlight.

This scene felt as if time had been compressed, with the morning sunrise arriving early.

Under the blazing sun, the Witch Banners hidden between heaven and earth were fully exposed, appearing before everyone.

The transparent soft screens, like overlapping and folded curtains, hung from the firmament and draped to the earth, distributed randomly in all directions.

However, the distribution of the soft screens had effectively trapped this battlefield, separating it from the area radiated by Fucheng.

"What a vicious heart; fortunately, the powerful martial artist took action."

The martial artists, seeing the truth of the Witch Banner, gnashed their teeth in hatred, yet felt incredibly fortunate.

The sun overhead was clearly a move by a powerful martial artist who practiced the powerful martial art "Huan Yang Bu Jie Lu," with the goal of breaking the Witch Banner.

"It's coming, it's coming." Zhou You heard the voices in the wind and couldn't help but close his eyes.

He had studied the internal structure of the Witch Banner and found that it was based on biological materials, carrying the power of the Totem.

This object could never be broken by brute force; it had to be countered and dismantled through reverse engineering.

The sound of the blazing sun crashing into the area covered by the Witch Banner reached his ears, like a heavy stone hitting a quilt—a muffled, short thud.

The corner of the Witch Banner held between Zhou You's fingertips quickly became scorching hot, and countless orange-red patterns lit up and bulged.

The soil beneath his feet was roaring and boiling, undulating like the surface of the sea as a great ship passed, with hidden undercurrents in the depths.

The clouds overhead were dyed deep red, evaporating as if burned by fire, and the intense light obscured even the stars of the night.

Under the assault of the blazing sun, the Witch Banner displayed astonishing adaptability.

The high heat of the flames and the immense force were transmitted by the Witch Banner to the high-altitude clouds and the deep underground, while it remained light and unaffected by the force itself.

"Overcoming hardness with softness?"

"No, it's not overcoming hardness with softness; it's a layout of heaven and earth, a seamless whole."

The Witch Banner had already merged with this space, and any strike was dispersed to all parts of the space.

Unless the powerful martial artist who struck could shatter this space in one blow, the Witch Banner would never be destroyed.

To achieve that, one would need to be at least at the level of a Monarch.

And the only Monarch, the Grandmaster Mansion, was currently being held back by the Witch Chief of the Witch tribe and could not spare any effort.

This was terrible! The martial artists began to save themselves, using every sharp weapon at hand to try and cut through the Witch Banner.

However, the composition of the Witch Banner was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.

Ordinary cloth, once torn or cut, would shrink from large to small, eventually becoming mere scraps and losing its original function.

But the Witch Banner was different; the cracks and holes made by sharp weapons were instantly sealed by other drifting Witch Banners.

The transparent soft screens between heaven and earth were neither more nor less, neither increasing nor decreasing; they were always there, always blocking the way home.

Since they couldn't escape, they would kill all the Witch people and then find a way out.

Now, the battlefield had turned into a man-made coliseum, leaving only a path of life or death.

Zhou You pinched that Witch Banner, his eyes fixed on the flickering patterns, "Since it is a Totem, things are much easier to handle."

Totems and Seal Script are two different scripts originating from the Nine Cauldrons, with principles that are roughly the same; look at the Monarch, even Kunpengzi practices Totems as well, and his attainments are not low, even passing them on to a Disciple.

Zhou You had reverse-engineered the basics of Totems from his apprentice's Talisman Book, but had kept it shelved and ignored.

Now, if he wants to break through the restrictions of the Witch Banner, the Totem is the breakthrough point, the key to unlocking this predicament.

What's more, he has plenty of Witch corpses on hand, as well as the Blood Merit Book; the data he has for deducing Totems is far richer than that of any martial artist.

Sharpening the axe will not delay the woodcutting; do it now.

"Deducing Totem..."

"Experience Points -30,000, Totem Lv3→Lv4."

"Experience Points -40,000, Totem Lv4→Lv5."

"By recalling the details of the Totem's changes during battle and combining them with the similar mechanisms of Seal Script, you have gained an epiphany, Totem Lv5→Lv6, Experience Points +50,000."

"By decomposing 2 Blood Merit Books, the upper limit for the Totem you can upgrade is set to Lv15."

"Experience Points -60,000, Totem Lv6→Lv7."

"After scanning and analyzing the internal structure of the Witch Banner, the Totem level cap is Lv10."

Zhou You glanced at the remaining Experience Points on the panel, 325,000, enough to use; upgrade.

(End of chapter)