Making a Move

"Ding!"

Rou Yan's entire body shook. She felt as though she had stabbed into darksteel; no matter how she strained, she could not advance even half a step.

The result of that strike also filled her with despair.

Her sword tip was pressed against the Ghost Infant's navel. Though she had struck its vital point dead-on, she had only pierced a little of the skin around it.

Foul-smelling black blood dripped from the wound onto the ground, immediately producing sizzling corrosive sounds.

"Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!!!"

With its vital point attacked, the Ghost Infant flew into a complete rage. Accompanied by the cries of an infant, a terrifying aura erupted from its tiny, gaunt body.

The black shadows binding it exploded almost all at once.

Rou Yan, standing so close, had no time to dodge. An ancient jade at her waist flashed faintly, then her body was sent flying like a torn sack. She crashed heavily into a stone wall, and as countless spiderweb-like cracks spread across it, the thick wall collapsed with a thunderous roar.

For a moment, dust and smoke billowed everywhere, and her fate was unknown.

"Damn it!"

Ma Xiu's eyes nearly split with rage, but with his own spirit having been almost completely dispersed, he could barely protect himself now.

He staggered two steps, then fell helplessly to his knees again.

Facing the frenzied Ghost Infant charging toward him, Ma Xiu's face filled with despair. He closed his eyes and waited for death to descend.

Yet after a moment, the expected attack never came. At the same time, a somewhat displeased voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.

"Hey! I say, ma'am, could you move your face a little farther away? It really stinks!"

Ma Xiu was puzzled. Isn't that the voice of that cowardly martial artist?

His eyelids twitched as he opened his eyes again, but the sight before him left him utterly dumbfounded.

Not far away, Ling Yun, who had been standing by with his arms folded all this time, was currently stepping on an Evil Spirit's head, even grinding it hard beneath his foot in disgust.

Though its face had been distorted somewhat from being stepped on, it was still faintly recognizable as the mother Evil Spirit of the Ghost Infant.

After giving birth to the Ghost Infant, this creature had become extremely weak itself and was desperately in need of flesh and blood to replenish itself.

To an Evil Spirit, a martial artist's Blood Qi Power held a fatal attraction. Thus, while everyone's attention had been diverted, it had secretly approached Ling Yun, intending to devour him.

Of course, the outcome was plain as day.

The Evil Spirit beneath Ling Yun's foot howled without end, but no matter how it attacked or struggled, the foot atop its head seemed to have taken root and could not be moved in the slightest.

Seemingly irritated by its noise, Ling Yun's foot slipped by accident.

"Psh!"

With a dull sound, the Evil Spirit's head burst like a watermelon suddenly crushed beneath a foot, splattering in all directions.

The Evil Spirit, which had been struggling endlessly just moments ago, immediately went rigid. Soon afterward, large amounts of foul, rotten black mist began to rise from its body.

Ling Yun had not expected the thing to be so fragile. Pinching his nose, he hurriedly retreated two steps, then looked toward the stunned man and Evil Spirit nearby with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, sorry. I interrupted you two. Please continue, don't mind me."

As soon as he spoke, no one knew what Ma Xiu thought, but the Ghost Infant had clearly been driven mad with rage.

It immediately abandoned the prey right before it and charged toward Ling Yun with an enraged roar.

Seeing the Ghost Infant suddenly turn its attention toward him, Ling Yun was also somewhat baffled. He had not provoked it, so what had suddenly gone wrong?

Ma Xiu also came back to his senses. Though the person before him was merely a martial artist he would normally never spare a glance, to someone drowning, even a straw would be clutched tightly without thought.

He hurriedly shouted, "Little brother, this thing is called a Ghost Infant. What it excels at most is speed."

"Try to lure it into a narrow place and stall for time until I recover... Hey! What are you doing? Why aren't you dodging already?!"

Ling Yun seemed not to hear him at all and remained standing there blankly.

As he watched the Ghost Infant rush toward him, Ling Yun stretched out a hand. It looked as though he intended to seize it directly in his grasp.

"Idiot!" Ma Xiu cursed fiercely in his heart. These martial artists were all the same, with muscles stuffed into their brains. The moment they had a little strength, they no longer knew the height of heaven or the depth of earth.

This guy was definitely dead. Ma Xiu had already pronounced his death sentence in his heart, while calming his mind and focusing his spirit in an attempt to recover even a trace of strength as quickly as possible.

"Hm? Why has it gone quiet over there?" Ma Xiu muttered to himself. When he looked up, the sight before him instantly overturned everything he believed.

Ling Yun, whom he had imagined had already been brutally killed, was still standing there completely unharmed.

And in his hand, he tightly held a small figure. From a distance, it looked like a kind father lifting his son high into the air.

"How is this possible?" Ma Xiu stared blankly at the Ghost Infant struggling wildly in Ling Yun's grip, yet unable to escape no matter what it did. He began to question life itself.

"Did I mistake it? Maybe that isn't a Ghost Infant at all, but merely a similar Evil Spirit."

But no matter how Ma Xiu tried to evade reality, Ling Yun's situation was not nearly as easy as it appeared.

Though this little thing was not large, the strength it could unleash was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Even with his strength having greatly increased, he still had to use nearly thirty percent of his power just to barely suppress the thing!

Its body was also quite tough. Ling Yun clenched his five fingers and slowly increased his strength, yet he only managed to make it spit out a few mouthfuls of black blood.

Just as he was studying it with great enjoyment, the Ghost Infant, trapped in his grip and unable to move, flashed a vicious glint in its eyes and savagely bit down on the back of his hand.

That terrifying bite force, enough to pierce steel plates, made even Ling Yun's Vajra Body at great completion clearly feel a trace of pain!

"Fuck! You little bastard, you dare bite me?!"

Seeing dozens of fresh tooth marks on the back of his hand, Ling Yun flared up and violently flung it away.

Yet before it could touch the ground, the Ghost Infant twisted its body nimbly, turning in midair like a cat before pouncing back at him at high speed.

Its target was his throat.

"Bang!"

Ling Yun stepped forward, kicking the Ghost Infant solidly with his right foot as though he were kicking a soccer ball.

Terrifying power burst forth. The Ghost Infant let out a shrill scream and was sent flying on the spot, smashing like a cannonball into a dilapidated house.

"Boom!"

With a tremendous crash, the entire house collapsed, burying the Ghost Infant beneath the rubble.

Ling Yun did not stop there. His body flashed as Phantom Step activated.

He vanished from where he stood in an instant, appearing atop the ruins of the collapsed house in the next moment.

Looking over the broken timbers and shattered tiles around him, he sensed the area briefly before lifting his foot and stomping heavily toward a certain spot.

"Crash!"

The seemingly quiet ruins suddenly exploded. Amid the scattering rubble, a black shadow shot out and fled swiftly into the distance.

Ling Yun's foot struck empty air, but his expression did not change. His body swayed, and he appeared before it once more, his speed plainly crushing it outright.

"Why are you running, little fellow? Play with me some more!"

Dodging its gaping mouth as it lunged to bite him again, Ling Yun delivered another side kick to the Ghost Infant's chin, sending its entire body soaring into the air.

Before it could adjust itself, Ling Yun planted his right foot heavily on the ground. The muscles in his right arm bulged high, several veins coiling around it like horned dragons. Using his palm as a blade, he swept it fiercely forward.

Tiger Blade Technique!

The Ghost Infant could not dodge in time and was struck cleanly across the neck.

Though it was only a flesh-and-blood palm, it seemed even sharper than a real blade.

With a soft "psh," a head was flung high into the air in the next instant, spinning as it fell into the distance.

Watching the Ghost Infant's headless corpse twitch and collapse backward, Ling Yun remained calm as he shook the filthy blood from his hand.

Only after the Ghost Infant had completely turned into a pile of black ashes did Ling Yun turn around and stride toward the dumbstruck Ma Xiu nearby.