Chapter 34

After Wang Yu clearly saw the dwarf’s face, his heart sank straight down.

The masked youth’s gaze darkened upon hearing the words “Firebird Li Clan” and “thousand-year phoenix tree wood.”

At that moment, a rustling came from the trees behind the dwarf; a massive, six-legged, ten-foot-long filth-bone fish crawled out, its back bearing an old woman dressed in garish green and red, her hair gray-white.

It was Lady Yin.

At this moment, her face was pressed downward, motionless upon the giant filth-bone fish’s back, like a corpse.

Seeing this, Wang Yu’s expression changed again.

“Whoever dares spy on the thousand-year phoenix tree wood shall die!”

The masked youth spoke each word slowly, then his body surged forward like a crossbow bolt, shooting straight at the dwarf.

“Hah! A mere brat who just formed his spiritual root dares attack me? Since you’re a remnant of the Li family, you deserve to die and enrich me.” The dwarf laughed wildly, slapping his black leather pouch at his waist, releasing a vast cloud of black mist.

Amid the swirling black mist, over a dozen filth-bone fish flickered in and out, surrounding and lunging at the masked youth.

The masked youth swung his long spear in a flawless circle, blocking every filth-bone fish that attacked.

Wang Yu watched the battle before him, then glanced at Lady Yin atop the giant filth-bone fish, his expression shifting between doubt and calculation.

“Boy, since you know about the Li family remnants, you’ll leave your life here too.” The dwarf glanced at Wang Yu dismissively.

He shook his arms, and two golden rings on his forearms shot upward, transforming into twin beams of golden light that hurtled straight down toward Wang Yu and the masked youth. Simultaneously, his fingers moved rapidly, forming seals as he muttered incantations.

“Crack!”

Without hesitation, Wang Yu raised his iron shield upward—and instantly felt a muffled impact, his body staggering, both feet sinking a foot deep into the ground.

His heart froze; his other hand slashed out with his long knife—but missed entirely.

The golden ring spun once, then swiftly circled behind him and struck again with brutal force.

With no choice, Wang Yu flipped his iron shield backward.

“Crack!”

Another muffled blow—he stumbled forward two steps, but his long knife whipped backward in a slash—and missed again.

The golden ring kept whirling, slippery as an alive thing, relentlessly attacking Wang Yu, each strike carrying immense force.

Within mere breaths, it had battered him into staggering, stumbling chaos—he could only dodge, with no chance to counter.

Had his physical strength not far exceeded that of an ordinary man, and had his hyperfocus mode not granted him lightning reflexes, he’d have been crushed into pulp within seconds.

This was the “Art of Weapon Control” mentioned in Master Chongyun’s notes—a deadly technique only cultivators at the late Qi Condensation stage could master!

Overwhelmed by shock and fury, Wang Yu stole a glance at the masked youth.

There, rolling black mist had completely engulfed the masked youth, while the other golden ring darted unpredictably within the gloom.

The clashing sounds of “ping-ping-pa-pa” and the filth-bone fish’s shrill shrieks rose and fell in an unbroken chorus.

Wang Yu sucked in a sharp breath.

The “Li family remnant’s” situation was far worse than his own.

Fortunately, the dwarf, fully focused on controlling both golden rings, remained rooted in place, too occupied even to summon the giant filth-bone fish to join the assault.

Thinking this, Wang Yu’s mind raced at hyper-speed—but before he could react, the masked youth suddenly roared:

“Fire, come!”

“Puff!”

A pillar of flame erupted from the black mist; faintly visible was a thick, writhing fire serpent that swiftly devoured all surrounding black mist, turning the dozen filth-bone fish into gray smoke.

The golden ring, struck hard by the fire serpent, flew backward several zhang.

The fire serpent twisted its body and surged upward toward the dwarf, with the masked youth faintly visible behind it.

Wang Yu blinked in surprise, then stared closely—he realized it wasn’t a fire serpent at all, but the earlier crimson long spear, now wreathed in roaring flames like a divine or demonic weapon.

The masked youth gripped the spear with both hands, enveloped in flame, lunged forward with swift steps, and reached the dwarf’s side, swinging the flaming spear wildly.

Vast waves of fire surged outward, instantly engulfing the dwarf; flames shot skyward, temperature skyrocketing.

The masked youth kept swinging his spear, but beads of sweat appeared on his forehead—he was clearly straining.

“So this is the famed Li family’s Firebird bloodline? How disappointing.”

From within the flames came the dwarf’s mocking voice.

The next instant, black mist surged from the fire’s center, rising over ten feet high; wherever it passed, flames vanished, and in moments, all fire was extinguished.

The dwarf’s figure emerged slowly from the black mist, one hand forming a seal, the other holding the black leather pouch.

The black leather pouch continuously spewed thick black mist.

“You lowly cultivator dare belittle the Li family’s bloodline!” The masked youth’s face paled; he opened his mouth to speak further—but suddenly spat a gout of blood, the flames on his spear vanishing instantly.

Seeing this, the dwarf chuckled, preparing to activate his artifact and finish off the masked youth—when suddenly he heard a “woo-woo” sound.

The next moment, a dark streak shot from afar, blurred past, and slammed into him with a vicious wind.

“Die!”

The dwarf’s face twisted in rage; he channeled his seal, and the surrounding black mist surged forward, coalescing into a giant hand the size of a water jar, snatching the dark streak mid-air.

“Boom!”

The black hand shattered into swirling mist—but the dark streak wobbled, then was forcibly halted by other black mist, stopping just before the dwarf, revealing its true form.

It was a small iron shield!

Wang Yu, noticing the golden rings attacking him had suddenly slowed and stalled, had thrown the shield with all his strength without thinking.

Now, seeing his shield so easily blocked, his heart lurched—but he suddenly lunged backward, snatching the slowly circling golden ring right from the air.

“Whirrr!”

The golden ring writhed wildly in his grip, thrashing left and right.

Wang Yu roared, his arm thickening two-fold in girth, his sleeve shattering into fragments, revealing a bare arm crisscrossed with bulging veins.

The once-mobile ring was now clamped tightly in his palm, trembling helplessly—unable to move freely.

“You dare touch my artifact!”

The dwarf, far away, flew into a rage, shaking his black leather pouch to activate another technique.

But at that moment, the masked youth glared fiercely at the dwarf, tore off his mask, revealing a vividly detailed firebird tattoo.

“Fire Phoenix, Scorch the Plains!”

The masked youth’s voice turned brutally hoarse, yet his words were ice-cold,