"Now that I had reached the peak of the Strength Channeling Realm, I only needed to temper my physical strength to its limit before advancing to the Vitality Mirror Realm. As long as the straw men weren't Crimson Grade anomalies, I still had the strength to fight." Zhou Yi stared around him as he thought.
"Boss, the Signal Talisman has been sent," Lin De said excitedly in a low voice.
"Good! But my master still has quite a distance to cover before he gets here. Don't let your guard down," Zhou Yi told the two of them sternly.
"Yes, Boss." The two knew this was a dangerous moment. One misstep, and all three of them might be left here, so they became even more cautious.
Just as the three cautiously retreated toward the village entrance, every straw man in the wheat field suddenly turned its face toward them. Though the straw men had no eyes, Zhou Yi still felt that they were staring at him.
"Looks like we can only fight." Zhou Yi murmured softly.
With that, he stuck an Evil Exorcising Talisman onto Han Guang while secretly activating his Vital Energy.
The two behind him followed Zhou Yi's lead and affixed Evil Exorcising Talismans to their weapons.
The surrounding straw men suddenly began to move, encircling the three of them and slowly closing in.
Zhou Yi slashed at the nearest straw man.
With one slash, the straw man burst into flying wisps, and a voice sounded beside his ear: Yin Energy +1.
"Only one point of Yin Energy? It really is weak." Zhou Yi thought to himself. Still, no matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat. Zhou Yi would not turn his nose up at even a single point of Yin Energy.
Seeing Zhou Yi make his move, the two beside him did not lag behind. Each struck the nearest straw man, but lacking sufficient strength, they only carved deep wounds into the straw men. Yet with their second strikes, the straw men finally fell and turned into flying wisps.
To Zhou Yi, these straw men were pitifully weak, barely counting as anomalies that had just entered the Soul Grade.
As he pondered, Zhou Yi did not slow his movements, harvesting the straw men around him.
Suddenly, all the straw men retreated, no longer attacking the three.
Just as Zhou Yi was puzzled, a straw man completely different from the others walked out.
Zhou Yi glanced at the Evil Warding Talisman in his hand. Mm, it was not burning. It seemed this anomaly had not yet advanced into the Crimson Realm.
A human face was draped over the straw man's own face. Its features were incomparably twisted and vicious, its gaping mouth seeming as though it wanted to howl something out, yet not a sound emerged.
As the straw man approached, Zhou Yi knew this was the straw man anomaly his master had encountered before.
But rather than fear, Zhou Yi felt eager to try. He wanted to see just how far his strength had come.
Zhou Yi let out a roar, raised Han Guang, and unleashed the perfected Wave Breaking Saber Technique at the straw man. In an instant, he left an extremely deep Knife Mark across its body.
The straw man did not sit and await death either. It attacked Zhou Yi at astonishing speed, but every strike was evaded by Zhou Yi's perfected Star Picking Steps.
Their exchange lasted only an instant, yet Zhou Yi had already left more than ten wounds of varying sizes across the straw man's body.
By then, the other straw men had also been completely dealt with by Zhou Yi's companions.
Zhou Yi saw the wheat ears in the nearby fields stir and surge toward the extraordinarily strange straw man. In an instant, the wounds Zhou Yi had inflicted on it healed.
Zhou Yi's pupils contracted at the sight, and he immediately felt the trouble. Fortunately, his Star Picking Steps were at max level. Though the straw man's attacks were fast, that was only in the eyes of ordinary people. To Zhou Yi, they posed no great threat.
"Fine. Let's see whether you recover faster, or my saber cuts faster!" Zhou Yi muttered. Then he used the max-level Wave Breaking Saber Technique and continued hacking at the straw man. This time, however, Zhou Yi gave it no chance to recover, while his Vital Energy began to cling to Han Guang.
With the sharpness boost from the Evil Exorcising Talisman, Zhou Yi easily broke through the straw man's defenses. Its recovery speed might have been a headache for ordinary people, but Zhou Yi's Vital Energy, combined with Han Guang's natural ability to prevent wounds from healing easily, left dense wounds all over the straw man's body.
Zhou Yi could also feel his Vital Energy running low, so he increased the force of his attacks.
Seeing the dense wounds covering its body, the straw man took a step back and absorbed wheat ears from the fields to recover. This time, however, the Vital Energy lingering in its wounds made them heal extremely slowly.
Seeing that things were going badly, the straw man turned and tried to flee. But how could Zhou Yi give it such an opportunity? He immediately chased after it.
When the straw man saw Zhou Yi pursuing it, the wheat ears in the fields immediately surged toward Zhou Yi. Yet all of them were evaded by his footwork. As for those he could not dodge, a light sweep of Han Guang in his hand easily shattered the obstacles formed from the wheat ears.
Seeing that the straw man was about to flee beyond the boundary protected by the treasure statue, Zhou Yi leaped into the air and gripped Han Guang with both hands, blocking the straw man's path.
Seeing that it could not escape, the straw man prepared for a desperate final struggle. But its wounds had yet to heal, and there were no wheat fields around it anymore.
Zhou Yi merely held Han Guang in both hands and gave it a light sweep. The straw man's body was instantly torn into four pieces and five fragments.
"Let's see if you can still put yourself back together now." Zhou Yi stepped on the straw man's remains and said indifferently.
"Yin Energy +100"
Hearing the voice by his ear, Zhou Yi was finally certain that the straw man was dead beyond any doubt. Delighted, he thought, "Now that's another huge haul of Yin Energy. I probably won't need to fleece the storeroom for quite some time. After all, if I fleece it too much, Old Qin might notice."
At that moment, Old Qin was standing guard at the storeroom entrance when he suddenly sneezed for no reason. Then he muttered, "Who's badmouthing me behind my back?"
Zhou Yi then put away Han Guang, picked up a piece of the straw man's remains, and headed toward the village entrance. These remains could be exchanged for merit.
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