I Am Also a Lowborn

Zhang Xu was filled with surprise and uncertainty. Is this Yan Nu really a monster? But why didn't the talisman paper burn?

'Divination Talisman Paper' is extremely sensitive to demonic energy. Even a tiny bit will cause it to spontaneously combust at room temperature.

"Perhaps the talisman paper got damp? This kid is strange, he's definitely a demon!"

"Good thing I went back to the clan and invited the Old Ancestor's Iron Token!"

Zhang Xu's expression turned respectful as he took out a scroll cast from iron from his embrace. Engraved on it were eight characters: "Peaceful Divine Qi, Annihilate Fiends."

The day before yesterday, the spring eye on Tea Mountain dried up. He went to investigate and used talisman paper to detect a monster's presence on Tea Mountain.

Last night, nine more martial artists died. Instructor Ma advised him to return to the clan to retrieve a treasure, so he rushed back to Hua County that very night and retrieved one of the three great magic artifacts left by the Old Ancestor in the Zhang Family: the Jade Talisman, the Bronze Contract, and the Iron Token.

Talismans can connect with gods, contracts can command ghosts, and tokens can subdue demons.

Although he wasn't a mystic practitioner and lacked the magic power to unleash the Iron Token's true might, he could still offer his vital blood as a sacrifice to summon the Three Lights Divine Qi refined within by his ancestors.

Three Lights Divine Qi specifically counters demons and evil spirits, like sunlight melting snow or fire consuming dry wood.

"Please, Old Ancestor, bless me from the heavens..."

"Hek... Pfft!"

Zhang Xu calmed his mind, closed his eyes, clicked his teeth, bit his tongue, and spat out a stream of blood!

The vital blood sprinkled onto the Iron Token and was instantly absorbed. The next moment, something that was neither light nor mist, yet possessed all five colors, erupted like a rainbow, brilliant as a gushing spring.

Zhang Xu quickly rushed to Yan Nu's side, holding the Iron Token and waving it!

Yan Nu felt a blur before his eyes as the dazzling, multicolored substance sprayed all over his face.

"Demon, reveal yourself!" Zhang Xu's face was pale, but his expression was one of extreme excitement.

Instructors Han and Hu also looked on with anticipation. Although the Zhang Family's Old Ancestor had perished... no, ascended, the Zhang Family's foundation remained!

However, their expressions soon turned stiff.

"First strike!" Yan Nu, gripping the chain, swung his arm and punched through the Three Lights Divine Qi!

Before, he had been swinging the chain, but this sudden lunge, using the chain as a forearm guard to smash, caught everyone off guard.

Zhang Xu stood directly in front and had also been blinded by the Three Lights Divine Qi. By the time he realized Yan Nu was punching, it was too late to dodge, and he instinctively raised his hand.

"Clang!" The steel chain and the Iron Token collided violently! The sound of metal striking metal rang out!

Zhang Xu was sent flying backward, his fingers covered in blood. Looking at the Iron Token, he saw a slight crack.

"How could it not work? You... you're not a monster!" Zhang Xu knew that the Three Lights Divine Qi was incredibly powerful. Even the most formidable monster wouldn't be able to withstand it without any effect, unless Yan Nu was a living mortal!

The protective items left behind by cultivators from various powerful families usually weren't designed to affect mortals. If a family member accidentally harmed a mortal, the backlash from the Mortal World Fire would directly target the cultivator.

Unless there was a substitute! That is, if a magical artifact or talisman was placed in the home, and another cultivator had handled it... then if it later harmed a mortal, they would be the one to blame... even if that person had merely touched it, they would 'attract trouble.'

Ignoring distance, karma would find them!

With this consideration, the Zhang Family's Old Ancestor had not left behind any sharp weapons.

The Three Lights Divine Qi was useless against mortals. Zhang Xu and Instructors Han and Hu had been sprayed by it, yet they were completely unharmed, as if it were just a rainbow.

"Second strike!" Yan Nu pressed his advantage, charging forward while the opponent was disarmed. After his right hand struck, his left hand followed!

Zhang Xu dared not use his ancestor's relic to block again and could only circulate his True Qi to defend himself, using his arms to parry!

But how could his arms withstand a chain forged from fine steel?

"Urgh!" Zhang Xu was sent flying backward and crashed to the ground. This blow shattered the bones in his right arm on the spot, and he lost his grip on the Iron Token, sending it flying away.

"Third strike!" Yan Nu alternated his arms, his attacks relentless, like a blacksmith hammering iron, cycling back and forth, refusing to relent.

This time, he swung the chain with all his might, bringing it down in a vertical chop.

He was about to kill Zhang Xu!

"Neigh!" At the critical moment, a horse's neigh was heard! With a bang, Yan Nu was kicked flying!

Zhang Xu's beloved horse, loyal to its master, caught up, reared up, and stomped down again with its hooves!

Squelch! Yan Nu's abdomen was stomped, and blood and gore splattered.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

Zhang Xu and Instructors Han and Hu stared dumbfounded as the warhorse heavily injured Yan Nu, questioning their very existence.

What kind of logic was this? After a group of experts had fought for so long, they were no match for a horse's hoof?

"Warhorses can suppress sheep and cattle spirits?" Instructors Han and Hu began to speculate wildly again.

"Shut up!" Zhang Xu cursed loudly, "What kind of metaphysics is that! It's all your fault for misleading me, talking about some bullshit demonic art. He just learned some body-protection divine skill from who knows where!"

"He's just a mortal!"

Zhang Xu had nearly been beaten to death and was filled with lingering fear. Furthermore, now that he was certain Yan Nu was definitely a mortal, he naturally became enraged.

He no longer overthought things and fully circulated his True Qi, picked up his long spear, and lunged forward with a straight thrust! He was determined to kill Yan Nu!

Yan Nu swung his chain, sending the warhorse flying, and charged towards the nearby garden full of green grass.

But he was immediately pierced through from behind! The spearhead pinned him to the ground through his lower back!

Despite the agony, his liver, gall, intestines, and stomach seemed accustomed to such torment, and they still managed to function.

"Swish!" Yan Nu swung his chain backhand.

Zhang Xu immediately withdrew his spear and retreated, intending to parry, but found that Yan Nu hadn't even swung the chain!

A feint!

He couldn't swing it without True Qi!

"Hah!" Zhang Xu thrust his spear forward again.

But Yan Nu had bought himself time. He dodged and rolled, even slamming his head against the ground to gnaw on grass for sustenance.

Finally, his True Qi replenished, he instantly sprang up, using his chain to barely block the incoming spearhead.

But the subsequent killing blows came in a relentless barrage!

Zhang Xu was completely focused, each thrust aimed directly, each strike at full power! His long spear glinted with cold light, stabbing like a sudden downpour, each blow infused with a spiraling force.

Yan Nu saw nothing but spear shadows. He could only circulate the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture with all his might, wrapping his arms around the chain and holding it vertically in front of his chest, guarding his head, face, and chest, his vital areas.

In mere moments, he had over a dozen bloody wounds!

"This kid, he's lost several liters of blood! And... he's still not dead?" Han and Hu watched in stunned silence. A person only has four to five liters of blood in total. Yan Nu was truly fighting until he bled dry?

Was this something a human could do?

Fortunately, this kid didn't understand the techniques. As long as he focused on using his moves, Yan Nu was completely defenseless.

As expected, Yan Nu was pushed back step by step, leaping backward continuously, while Zhang Xu kept pace like a shadow, stabbing him until he could barely breathe.

"So, just stabbing him works? He's afraid of the spiraling force?" Instructor Han was overcome with shame. He was also a spearman and knew moves like the "Poisonous Dragon Drill," yet he had been intimidated into voluntarily abandoning his spear for a whip. If he had known it was this simple, he would have broken this Lowborn's golden body long ago.

Unfortunately, his spear had been left at the execution ground, and there were no other weapons around.

He simply stood to the side and cheered, "Fort Master is mighty!"

Zhang Xu's family lineage was profound. Although his cultivation was similar to Han and Hu's, his combat power far surpassed theirs.

Now that he had confirmed Yan Nu was a mortal, Zhang Xu's heart was free of any hindrances, and his spear technique grew faster and faster! It was a shame his right arm was fractured, or the battle would have been over in an instant!

"Ahhh!" Yan Nu had no choice but to fight desperately. He completely abandoned defense, consuming True Qi as if it were free. His two chains whirled with the force of tigers and wolves, shredding everything around him. This momentarily forced Zhang Xu to keep his distance.

However, keeping his distance was...

"Ridiculous..." Zhang Xu stood with his spear held horizontally, a cold smile on his face, standing just outside the range of attack and watching Yan Nu's wild flailing.

But then his expression changed as he saw Yan Nu, while flailing wildly, moving towards a specific direction.

He wasn't escaping, but rather...

"Iron Token!" Zhang Xu's right arm had been shattered earlier, and the Iron Token had been flung away. He hadn't had time to retrieve it amidst the subsequent fierce fighting.

Han and Hu were also oblivious, still cheering from the sidelines. It was Yan Nu who noticed the item's importance to Zhang Xu.

Yan Nu picked up the Iron Token, and Zhang Xu charged at him like a madman.

However, his spear technique became hesitant... He could suppress Yan Nu by aiming directly with each thrust, but with Yan Nu frequently blocking with the Iron Token, Zhang Xu became restricted!

This was an ancestral relic and a family treasure; how could Zhang Xu dare to damage it?

"Give it back!"

With a roar, Yan Nu actually threw the Iron Token to the ground.

Zhang Xu was stunned. He hadn't expected him to actually give it back. He quickly bent down to retrieve it, but suddenly felt his hair stand on end!

It turned out Yan Nu had simultaneously swung his chain, attempting to smash him to death.

"He's not an idiot!" At the critical moment, Zhang Xu still abandoned the Iron Token, twisting his body impossibly in mid-air to dodge the blow!

With a deafening roar, the bluestone slabs on the ground shattered.

"Where's the Iron Token?" Zhang Xu looked back again and saw the Iron Token had been broken by the chain!

"No!"

He lunged back like a madman, but before he could mourn, a blinding flash of light streaked past!

Zhang Xu then remembered a clan admonition he had almost forgotten...

"Boom!"

The broken Iron Token exploded with a roar! Debris flew everywhere, and dust filled the air!

The massive shockwave sent everyone flying!

Zhang Xu bore the brunt of it, followed by Yan Nu and the two, Han and Hu.

They were dazed, their ears ringing, their internal organs displaced!

When the ringing subsided and the dust settled, the scene was a complete mess.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Zhang Xu coughed up blood violently. Sitting up in a daze, he looked at the crater that had been blown open before him, on the verge of tears!

Magic artifacts are not the same as magical treasures; they are essentially still objects. If there are no protective talismans inside, their mere capacity to withstand damage is no different from ordinary objects of the same material.

A bronze mirror can be smashed with one hammer blow, and a magic artifact bronze mirror can also be smashed with one hammer blow.

The Iron Token stored the Old Ancestor's magic power. Once damaged, it could no longer contain it, and all the energy would erupt in an instant.

He was fortunate not to have been blown to death, as the Old Ancestor had not infused much magic power into it.

Even so, with his full True Qi protecting his body, he was still blown to the point where his clothes were tattered, his body was scorched black, his flesh was mangled, and some of his internal organs were displaced... both internal and external injuries were extremely severe.

As for Han and Hu, they were simply blown to death!

This was because neither of them knew that magic artifacts could explode and did not have time to fully protect themselves.

In fact, he himself had almost forgotten. The Old Ancestor was a figure from eighty years ago. Although he had left a warning, "Do not let magic artifacts explode and harm mortals," he had not experienced it firsthand. They would have normally kept the magic artifacts carefully, but after generations, people had almost forgotten that they could explode.

"My descendants are unfilial, failing to protect the ancestral artifact..." Zhang Xu touched a few fragments of the Iron Token, grief, shame, and fear surging within him.

At this moment, Yan Nu also slowly began to crawl, dragging a trail of blood as he moved towards a patch of grass in the distance.

Zhang Xu froze, then glared at Yan Nu with intense hatred!

"You're still alive? Damn it! You deserve to die!"

"Hmph~ You're the one who deserves to die!" Yan Nu trembled as he supported himself, his breathing like air being drawn through a broken bellows.

His injuries were also excruciating. Large swathes of his body were torn open, exposing bone! The meridians in his hands were severed, and the mangled flesh on his abdomen even revealed his intestines, but his intestines were surprisingly resilient and did not slide out.

For some reason, the displacement of his internal organs due to the shock was not fatal to him. However, he was genuinely enduring the pain of his displaced organs, but no matter how much it hurt, it didn't stop him from living.

"Cough..." Finally, he managed to reach the grass. Breathing was extremely difficult, and he had to endure the feeling of suffocation as he chewed.

"Can't... can't move anymore..." He had desperately crawled to the grass and, after taking one bite, Yan Nu collapsed, barely clinging to life.

He discovered that no matter how firm his will was, he couldn't lift his hands... the tendons there had snapped under the strain. His legs were better, but they were also torn and immobile.

The whip and spear wounds were manageable, but the magic artifact explosion was immensely powerful... He felt as if he were controlling a body on the verge of collapse.

As his limbs became paralyzed, Yan Nu suddenly realized that there was one organ he could still move: his intestines.

They obeyed him like a third arm, and could even break in the middle. He quickly manipulated his intestines to extend out, covering a patch of grass to eat.

Indeed, it worked. After consuming a good amount of Sheep Grass, his energy surged, and the Hammer True Qi faithfully refreshed, allowing him to silently circulate the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture, which did not require meridians to function.

"Heh heh... I deserve to die?" Zhang Xu slowly stood up. He was the only one present who knew that magic artifacts could explode.

Although his body was also swaying and he had exhausted his True Qi, it was precisely because he had protected himself with True Qi at the first moment that his injuries were the lightest.

Seeing Yan Nu collapse on the ground with his intestines spilling out, he thought this was surely his end.

So he walked closer, looked down, grabbed Yan Nu by the neck, and lifted him half a foot off the ground: "You said I deserve to die?"

"My distant ancestor was the Prime Minister of the former Han Dynasty and the Marquis of Beiping! My great-grandfather was the Grand Censor of the former Wei Dynasty!"

"My Old Ancestor cultivated on Mount Jiuhua for eighty years! My father was a Famous Scholar of Langya..."

Yan Nu listened, utterly confused, and rasped, "I don't understand..."

Just as Zhang Xu was about to sneer, he heard another sentence: "...but I'm feeling more and more useless."

His eyes sharpened. Indeed, the Zhang Clan had branched out and divided into many families over the centuries. His branch had become increasingly decadent.

Zhang Xu tightened his grip, fiercely squeezing Yan Nu's neck. If his True Qi hadn't been exhausted, he could have crushed Yan Nu's throat with this squeeze.

"What right do you have, you piece of trash, to judge my clan!"

"I am a Lowborn."

A surge of energy erupted from Yan Nu's body, and Zhang Xu's hand was jolted away as if by an electric shock. He staggered back and collapsed onto the ground.

His face changed drastically. How could this Lowborn still have True Qi!

Why! Again and again, was it inexhaustible!

"Impossible... impossible!"

Seeing Yan Nu banging his head against the ground, his limbs twitching like a worm, unable to stand up for a long time, Zhang Xu quickly looked around, searching for a weapon to kill him.

He knew that with Yan Nu's body now filled with True Qi, if he didn't kill him now, it would be his own end!

However, after the magic artifact explosion, there were no weapons left at the scene. His long spear had been destroyed, and its tip was nowhere to be found.

Zhang Xu could only pick up a stone and hurl it fiercely at Yan Nu.

"Bang!" Yan Nu's head tilted, still struggling to stand.

Zhang Xu cried out in pain, looking at his hand. He had cut his finger on the sharp edges of the broken gravel.

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you dead yet!"

Zhang Xu went mad, smashing the stone at Yan Nu's head.

"Die! Die! Die!"

"Bang, bang, bang!" The stones shattered on Yan Nu's head, scattering countless particles of dust and grit.

But it was useless. Yan Nu's body was like an impregnable fortress. No matter how fiercely the stones were thrown, they caused no damage.

He continued to writhe, trying to stand up, his eyes fixed on Zhang Xu, blood-red and staring. His expression wasn't particularly ferocious, but the sheer, unwavering focus sent a chill down one's spine.

"You, you, you..." Zhang Xu's pupils dilated, an extreme fear surging into his heart.

Seeing that he couldn't be killed, he turned and crawled away to escape.

"Help! Someone, kill him quickly!"

Zhang Xu crawled desperately and helplessly on the ground, but all around him were either corpses or the aftermath of explosions. There wasn't a single person.

He was on the verge of breaking down, tears welling in his eyes, his voice distorted.

It wasn't that he was weak, but he was utterly frustrated. Yan Nu was too unreasonable; his True Qi seemed inexhaustible, and he hadn't died even after losing several liters of blood!

An indescribable sense of helplessness and sorrow washed over him, and he started to cry.

"Damn it! D-damn... Right! Horse!"

"Where's my horse! Come and trample him to death!"

Zhang Xu remembered how his warhorse had once heavily injured Yan Nu, and now he clung to this memory like a drowning man grasping at a straw.

However, that horse had already been injured by Yan Nu and had fled. He called out for a long time, but it didn't appear.

"Where's the horse! Where's the horse! Help me!"

Zhang Xu crawled, looking back as he did. By the time he had crawled ten zhang away, Yan Nu had already used some rudimentary healing techniques on his leg muscles. Panting heavily, he slowly stood up, his intestines returning to their proper place.

Although his hands were still immobile, hanging limply at his sides, Yan Nu stomped his foot, channeling True Qi, and lunged forward ferociously!

He used his body to drag the chain, closing the distance... then threw his upper body back, bending at the waist!

Ignoring the agonizing pain in his abdomen that this movement exacerbated, he arched his back like a great bow!

Head held high, he flew through the air, dragging two chains, his posture like that of a phoenix.

"What kind of madman is this..."

Zhang Xu looked on in utter despair as the nearly paralyzed Yan Nu leaped through the air, using his body as a bow, breaking his own spine, swinging himself around, and channeling True Qi into his arms and the chains, finally drawing a deadly arc!

The chain in his hand whistled through the air, carrying the sound of wind and thunder! It descended with earth-shattering force!

Zhang Xu knew he was going to die. His eyes bulged with rage as he roared, "Lowborn! How dare you kill me!"

As he faced death, he only heard a sound like a bellows.

"Now is not then!"