The pitch-black, eerie courtyard had suddenly gained an icy, chilling aura out of thin air.
Shadows from trees fell in all directions, like the claws of demons twisting and dancing across the ground.
Taoist Changbai had long since vanished without a trace.
Only Jiang Dao remained in the empty courtyard.
"Hee..."
"Hee hee hee..."
The eerie, sinister laughter still echoed through the courtyard.
Jiang Dao pressed a hand against his steel blade, his brows standing on end and his gaze flashing like lightning as he swept his eyes around. His voice boomed like thunder as he shouted, "Come out!"
"Hee..."
"Hee hee hee..."
A crisp, eerie child's laugh suddenly came from his left.
Jiang Dao whirled around.
There was nothing beside him, but in the next instant, an immense sense of danger came from behind him.
He hurriedly spun back, only to see an eerie black shadow pouncing at him in an instant, swift as a gale and carrying a thick stench as it viciously bit toward Jiang Dao.
Jiang Dao's steel blade left its sheath in an instant. With a roar, the strength throughout his body erupted. Every vein and muscle swelled, and with a bang, the clothes over his entire upper body were forcibly shattered by his power.
Jiang Dao swung his steel blade and savagely chopped at the black shadow. His whole body seemed to have grown a size larger, towering and muscular, nearly two meters tall and covered from head to toe in ferocious muscles.
Bang!
The steel blade struck the black shadow with brutal force, unleashing a terrifying boom.
It was like two small iron mountains colliding in midair.
The next moment, both figures were sent flying backward.
Jiang Dao landed in the distance and staggered back rapidly. His palm was numb, his pupils contracted sharply, and his blazing gaze fixed firmly on the opposite side.
The black shadow he had blasted away also smashed heavily onto the ground. It let out eerie cries and bared its fangs at him.
It was unmistakably an eerie child.
It was exactly the same as the one from his dream.
Its entire body was pitch-black. It looked about seven or eight years old, with black eyes and a mouth split all the way to the roots of its ears. Yin energy swirled around it as it gave eerie giggles and stared fixedly at Jiang Dao.
It had taken Jiang Dao's slash without suffering the slightest wound!
"Malevolent Spirit!"
Jiang Dao drew a deep breath and quickly flexed his hand to ease the numbness. The power throughout his body condensed to the extreme.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the eerie child lunged at Jiang Dao again, like an afterimage, fast beyond measure.
Jiang Dao stomped his foot down. Like a ferocious tiger possessing him, he shattered the floor tiles beneath his feet on the spot, swung his steel blade, and charged at the eerie child in an instant.
Mad Demon Staff Art—Fourth Layer!
Baleful Intent!
Boom!
Using the blade as a staff, he swung it in a fierce horizontal sweep. A layer of black qi seemed to appear over the blade in an instant, baleful intent thick and chilling, terrifying beyond compare as it swept toward the child.
Yet at the instant his long blade swept through, the child suddenly vanished.
Jiang Dao's blade struck empty air and slashed viciously through the air to one side, causing his body to lurch violently. He nearly fell flat on his face, with the feeling that he might vomit blood.
His heart jolted, and he hurriedly spun around to look in every direction.
What speed!
"Hee..."
"Hee hee hee..."
Bursts of eerie laughter continued to ring out.
The empty courtyard was pitch-black.
Yet there was no longer any trace of the child.
Jiang Dao was both shocked and furious as he carefully listened for the source of the sound.
Suddenly, he snapped his head around and looked toward the room.
The eerie child's laughter was actually coming from the room just now!
Without another thought, Jiang Dao lunged toward the pitch-black room.
The moment he rushed inside, the eerie child let out a piercing shriek and charged out from within, clawing viciously at him.
"Die!"
Jiang Dao shouted fiercely, killing intent surging from his body as he swept his blade wildly across.
Boom!
Mad Demon Staff Art—Baleful Intent!
"Ah!"
The eerie child let out a piercing scream and was sent flying sideways by Jiang Dao's slash, smashing heavily into the room.
Jiang Dao charged forward right after it. Before it could rise, his broad foot stomped viciously down at its body while he swung his steel blade and hacked heavily at the eerie child's forehead.
Clang!
Crack!
With that one slash, the entire blade was jolted apart and shattered into more than a dozen pieces.
The eerie child suddenly turned around, splitting open its huge mouth to reveal a mouthful of sharp, dense teeth as it bit viciously toward Jiang Dao's foot.
Jiang Dao pulled back his foot and kicked out hard. With a bang, he sent the eerie child flying into the air, then charged after it, activating Poison Sand Palm. His palm turned scarlet as it struck viciously toward the eerie child.
Squelch!
An unimaginable force of poison flooded into the eerie child's body in an instant. Its skin sizzled as if it had been branded by red-hot iron, and it let out a miserable scream.
But the eerie child's entire body was slick as an eel. It twisted through the air, then rapidly lunged at Jiang Dao, raking its five fingers viciously across his body.
Though Jiang Dao reacted swiftly, the eerie child's sharp nails still grazed his chest.
Fortunately, his Eagle Claw Iron Shirt had reached Grand Completion, and his skin was terrifyingly tough. Only a shallow mark had been left behind. Otherwise, that claw would have disemboweled him.
Jiang Dao's face hardened. His five fingers, like refined iron, stabbed into the eerie child's forehead in an instant. With a savage pull backed by unimaginable strength, he tore off a large piece of its frontal bone with a squelch. Then his other palm instantly turned red and struck it again with a terrifying Poison Sand Palm.
Boom!
The solid second palm strike smashed viciously into the eerie child, making it let out a piercing shriek as it flew backward, shattered the window, and crashed heavily into the courtyard.
Jiang Dao's hulking body smashed straight through the window and appeared in the courtyard in an instant. The child had crashed in the distance, screeching as it scurried across the ground like an eel, fast beyond measure as it darted toward another courtyard.
Jiang Dao was shocked and enraged. He broke into a run and quickly gave chase.
He knew that no matter what, he could not let this thing escape!
Boom!
Jiang Dao's terrifying body suddenly smashed through a wall, sending stones flying everywhere. He finally intercepted the Malevolent Spirit in another courtyard and unleashed an explosive kick.
With a bang, the eerie child was kicked into the air.
Then Jiang Dao shouted fiercely and struck out with both hands. They had turned scarlet and terrifying, exuding a pungent scent as they slammed viciously onto the child's body.
Poison Sand Palm!
Puff! Puff!
"Ah!"
With one barrage, the eerie child was struck heavily by his poison palms once more. It let out a piercing scream, flew sideways, smashed hard onto the ground, twisted violently, and then rapidly turned into a pile of white powder.
Huff, huff, huff...
Jiang Dao panted heavily, his lungs like broken bellows and his chest burning with pain.
At the same time, an indescribable yin energy continuously drilled into his body through the wound on his chest.
Jiang Dao's body remained in its swollen, muscular state. Thick veins twisted and bulged all over him, while his muscles knotted and piled together, unspeakably ferocious and terrifying.
"So this is a Malevolent Spirit?"
He stepped forward, casually grabbed a handful of powder, and revealed a cold smile.
Who said martial arts could not kill Malevolent Spirits?
His five martial arts had reached Grand Completion and been modified to the realm of sixty years later. Hadn't he still killed a Malevolent Spirit?
"Heh heh..."
Jiang Dao gave a chilling laugh.
In his current state, he was unspeakably terrifying.
The darkness before him rapidly faded, and the light from the surrounding lanterns shone in once again.
To one side, Taoist Changbai stood dumbfounded, looking at Jiang Dao in his swollen, muscular state in utter disbelief.
A deep terror rose in his heart.
"How is that possible?"
This kid had truly killed a spirit child?
"You... what kind of monster are you?"
Taoist Changbai blurted out.
The Jiang Dao before him was absolutely not the sickly young master from before.
His body had swelled up, every inch covered in muscle and bulging veins. Bare-chested, his arms were as thick as Taoist Changbai's waist, making him look like a small giant.
This was simply inconceivable!
Jiang Dao's gaze flashed like lightning, his killing intent dense. Suppressing the discomfort in his chest, he suddenly turned around and strode toward Taoist Changbai step by step in his swollen state.
"Daoist, what were you doing just now?"
His tone was icy as he looked down at Taoist Changbai.
An indescribably terrifying oppression radiated from his entire body.
Taoist Changbai's small, thin body only reached Jiang Dao's abdomen. Compared to Jiang Dao's swollen, terrifying muscles, he was simply not worth mentioning.
At this moment, Old Daoist Changbai even felt an unprecedented pressure.
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