Chapter 905: Side Story 4: 142

This problem is not hard to understand.

The Mòyù Bānzhǐ was originally forged from Five-Colored Earth; its owner back then was the woman before you, and she naturally came to possess the ring's abilities, including the power to use Five-Colored Earth.

But the woman died before she could complete her training.

When the Mòyù Bānzhǐ was summoned back, it was not whole.

Part of the method for using Five-Colored Earth remained… perhaps it was sealed by the Xuètóng Hānsī inside the woman's body.

The woman could be refined by the Xuètóng Hānsī into its puppet precisely because of this ability.

Xiao Jiu was invested as the Earth Deity Maiden; although she received the Mòyù Bānzhǐ as a symbol of her status, the corresponding abilities required someone's guidance at the right moment or her own awakening before she could gradually master these methods, and the reason lies here.

Xiao Jiu silently sighed in her heart.

How is this a promotion? It's practically grabbing a hot potato.

Or like being constantly tossed in a boiling oil pot.

But since she has taken on the role of Earth Deity Maiden, she must reclaim what rightfully belongs to her.

By reason and by emotion, the other side cannot be allowed to remain!

At this moment, the Xuètóng Hānsī pushes the woman forward: first, to wage psychological warfare and undermine Xiao Jiu's mental defenses from within; second, it hopes the woman can seize the Mòyù Bānzhǐ from Xiao Jiu's hands, which would be more than just a slap to Xiao Jiu's face.

The Xuètóng Hānsī's naked provocation against the Queen Mother Earth and against anyone who wishes to resist and reseal it!

Xiao Jiu involuntarily narrowed her eyes, looking at the woman in the blood mist.

Although her strike just now looked intimidating, she broke it with a single blow; the opponent didn't seem to have come out aiming to kill her right away, her target locked onto the Mòyù Bānzhǐ.

With such a clear target, one can see how important the Mòyù Bānzhǐ is to them.

As Xiao Jiu stepped and dodged, her gaze swept over the bloody ground; a horrifying thought flashed in her mind, and her heart gave a hard thump.

Earlier she had thought: since the Mòyù Bānzhǐ has a healing effect on Liu Junyan's wounds, could repairing the land corrupted by the Xuètóng Hānsī also be done with Five-Colored Earth?

And now, the Xuètóng Hānsī's desire to contend for the Mòyù Bānzhǐ makes its intentions as plain as the sight of Mount Song.

When the Mòyù Bānzhǐ capable of restoring the contaminated land, together with its complementary ability to control Five-Colored Earth, are both fully grasped by the Xuètóng Hānsī, who then could stop it from doing as it pleases?

By then, the fate of all the land in the world and of every living being that depends on it will be firmly held in the Xuètóng Hānsī's hands.

The ambition of the ancient fiend makes Xiao Jiu feel chilled to the bone.

Thinking this way, the Mòyù Bānzhǐ must not be lost, and the woman before us must not be spared!

Xiao Jiu tucked her right thumb inward, firmly securing the Mòyù Bānzhǐ in her palm for protection, then guarded her gaze toward the woman.

The woman's control of Five-Colored Earth exerts a certain restraint on the Mòyù Bānzhǐ; with her holding Xiao Jiu in check, the Xuètóng Hānsī gains enough time to expand its territory in all directions.

Every inch of land under its control, any living thing that fails to escape in time becomes its nourishment, boosting its power and making it ever stronger.

If left to grow like this, there will come a moment when even the Mòyù Bānzhǐ will no longer threaten it; then, wrapping itself from the outside, it will easily swallow Xiao Jiu whole.

This is why the woman's attack just now did not display the ferocity Xiao Jiu had imagined.

Most likely because the Xuètóng Hānsī has been attacked by Xiao Jiu before and knows she possesses many abilities beyond the Mòyù Bānzhǐ; even if it went all out, it might not be fully confident of defeating her.

The Xuètóng Hānsī has only just awakened not long ago, and it refuses to suffer another defeat.

Therefore it can only seek stability; from the start it merely wants the woman to restrain Xiao Jiu, rather than go all out.

Since the other side has this concern, Xiao Jiu will focus her strikes on their windpipe.

Isn't that what you call seeking stability?

Xiao Jiu stepped back a few paces, quickly distanced herself from the woman, one hand drawing the bow, the other gripping an arrow; she paid no heed to her surroundings, her gaze fixed on the woman's heart in the blood mist, and loosed a dozen arrows in succession.

This consumes a great deal of inner strength, but Xiao Jiu knows that only by densely and massively striking the woman with precise Nirvana fire could she possibly take her down in one go.

Even if the Xuètóng Hānsī's power is great enough to sustain the blood mist continually supplying the woman, Xiao Jiu's actions would still be enough to provoke it.

What Xiao Jiu wants is exactly this effect: hanging the opponent, draining their patience, and disrupting their rhythm.

The woman repeatedly blocked Xiao Jiu's arrows with Five-Colored Earth, deflecting the Nirvana fire, but her success rate was not high.

In this process, Xiao Jiu discovered that the woman seemed only able to activate Five-Colored Earth, having no other means.

She truly resembled a programmed robot, devoid of her own thoughts or initiative.

Whoosh~

When another arrow pierced the woman's heart, the body formed from condensed blood mist burst apart instantly, turning into fine blood mist that was instantly swallowed by the surrounding blood mist.

Xiao Jiu certainly would not naively think the woman had been killed by her, for if that were true she would immediately sense the return of Five-Colored Earth.

None at all.

This also made Xiao Jiu realize a problem: what state was the woman she had just faced actually in?

The woman's sluggish, mechanical, robot‑like demeanor, and even after being crushed by Xiao Jiu she re‑merged into the blood mist… all these signs indicate that the woman Xiao Jiu faced still had a main body.

What Xiao Jiu saw was merely her clone.

Even if Xiao Jiu completely dispelled that clone, she could not recover the ability to use Five-Colored Earth.

Xiao Jiu once again marveled at the Xuètóng Hānsī's spiritual intellect.

This guy's mind works faster than that of an ordinary person.

Xiao Jiu raised her hand and pinched her brow; the situation was far more troublesome than she had imagined, many times over.

To regain the ability to use Five-Colored Earth, she must first locate the woman's true body from just now.

Given how crucial the Five-Colored Earth ability is to the Xuètóng Hānsī, how could it possibly let Xiao Jiu easily find the woman's true body?

Xiao Jiu admits that, when facing the woman earlier, she was still able to keep a calm and composed mind.

But now, she also feels a bit anxious.

Xiao Jiu closed her eyes, shielding herself from all external influences, and soon calmed down.

At that moment, Xiao Jiu felt a tremor in the surrounding air currents.

She suddenly opened her eyes, before she could make out what was happening outside, and then heard a rustling sound rising from the blood mist.

Immediately afterward, Xiao Jiu saw in the blood mist a faint, shifting pattern of white dots moving about.

Before she could even see clearly what it was, the rustling sound had already reached her feet.

Xiao Jiu lowered her head to look, and suddenly discovered that, in the blood‑stained mud surrounding her, the countless white bones entangled within it, as if they had all received some command at once, rose to their feet...