Paper Figure

Zhou Yi looked up. There was less and less light in the sky, darkness gradually becoming the dominant color. He had arrived early and stood in the east courtyard of the Provincial Governor's Office.

After what had happened yesterday, Huang Ming no longer dared come looking for trouble with Zhou Yi. The entire east courtyard knew that he had been knocked unconscious and left lying in the square for a whole day. Now, whenever anyone looked at him, Huang Ming felt they were mocking him.

Despite Du Wei's warning, Huang Ming's hatred for Zhou Yi had reached its peak.

After turning the matter over and over in his mind, Huang Ming decided to use a tiger to devour the wolf. He glared viciously at Zhou Yi's back.

Zhou Yi sensed Huang Ming's gaze, but he did not care. He merely regarded Huang Ming as a clown hopping about on a stage.

Zhou Yi was still racking his brains over how to improve his Vital Energy. Opening his panel, he noticed the supernatural abilities section. When he had first cultivated this supernatural ability to the beginner stage, it had increased his Vital Energy by ten points. After reaching the first level, it had added another twenty points.

Could he rely on supernatural abilities to raise his Vital Energy? Zhou Yi wanted to try. Even if it did not raise it by much, he could still upgrade the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill. No matter how he counted it, he would not lose out.

Soon, Zhou Yi was assigned to patrol another street. But unlike yesterday, the street was not bustling today. There were few pedestrians as Zhou Yi walked through it with New Moon in hand.

Near midnight, just as Zhou Yi finished one round of patrols, he had thought he would not encounter any strange being tonight. Yet when he reached a street, a figure blocked his path.

This strange being was the second largest Zhou Yi had encountered. As for the largest, it was naturally the giant snake he had met at Middle Snake Temple.

The strange being resembled a ball of flesh, with five human heads protruding from its body. Their faces were full of panic and terror. The instant they saw Zhou Yi, the heads on its body began to wail.

At the same time, densely packed fingers grew all over the flesh ball, enough to make anyone feel their mind had been polluted.

What puzzled Zhou Yi was that this strange being seemed to have been waiting specifically for him. He looked around and saw no damaged buildings. This creature might be somewhat unusual.

As Zhou Yi pondered this, the flesh ball had already charged at him. Despite its enormous size, it made no sound at all as it rushed forward.

Rather than being alarmed, Zhou Yi was delighted when he saw the flesh ball charging toward him. He roared at it.

"Good! Let me test the Spiritual Skill I just learned on you!"

Zhou Yi treated the flesh ball as a sparring partner. After activating his Vital Energy, a pale red glow radiated from his entire body. This was the sign of Vital Energy being compressed to a certain extent.

Zhou Yi did not use his blade. Instead, he attacked the strange being with the Azure Wave Fist. Blow after blow landed on its flesh. Vital Energy coated his fists, yet each punch left only a scorched black mark on the creature's body. This was the collision between Vital Energy and Yin Energy.

The moment the two met, it was like pouring cold water into boiling oil, producing a sizzling sound.

Seeing that his fist technique could not break through the strange being's defense, Zhou Yi turned and drew New Moon from his back.

The blade was snow-white, but after Zhou Yi covered it in Vital Energy, a layer of red aura stained its surface.

The flesh-ball strange being possessed considerable attacking power due to its immense body. Yet its movements appeared slowed in Zhou Yi's eyes. After using Thousand Mechanisms Steps, Zhou Yi easily dodged all its attacks.

Zhou Yi began to execute the first saber form of the Seven Great Limits—Mountain. With a single slash, white light flashed, and a chunk of flesh was carved from the meatball's body.

The strange being howled in pain at Zhou Yi. Then Zhou Yi watched as the expressions on its five human faces shifted from terror to fury, as though they were enraged that Zhou Yi had injured it.

Once the strange being entered its enraged state, its speed visibly increased. Several attacks came within a hair's breadth of striking Zhou Yi.

Yet Zhou Yi found something odd. They had been fighting for so long and caused such a huge commotion, but not a single person from the Provincial Governor's Office had come to investigate.

With that in mind, Zhou Yi decided to end this quickly. Sheathing his blade, he activated the Indestructible Golden Body. This time, his muscles did not swell as massively as usual. Instead, they tightened, and his bones crackled loudly. Clearly, his muscles had become heavier.

At this moment, Zhou Yi was no less imposing in size than the flesh ball opposite him. His muscles were as taut as steel. The blue bricks beneath his feet began to crack under his weight. He merely stood there, yet seemed to emanate boundless pressure.

The strange being thought Zhou Yi had put away his blade to beg for mercy. Yet in the instant Zhou Yi sheathed it, his body became nearly as large as its own.

In the moment the strange being froze, Zhou Yi kicked off with both feet. The bricks beneath him shattered into powder, and he appeared before the creature almost instantly. His punch sent the massive flesh ball crashing to the ground.

Without giving it a chance to react, Zhou Yi pounced forward, pressed it beneath him, and rained punch after punch upon it.

This time, with the Indestructible Golden Body activated, Zhou Yi unleashed the Azure Wave Fist. Each blow was stronger than the last. In the end, Zhou Yi had nearly hammered out a massive pit with brute force, and the flesh ball lay at its bottom.

Drawing New Moon, Zhou Yi slashed again and again. The strange being could no longer resist. Like a fish on a chopping board in Zhou Yi's hands, it had strips of flesh sliced from it one blade at a time.

Finally, Zhou Yi chopped off all five heads from the strange being's body.

"Yin Energy +1000"

Only after hearing the panel's notification did Zhou Yi breathe a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to investigate why no one from the Provincial Governor's Office had come, applause sounded behind him.

Clap~ Clap~ Clap~

Zhou Yi spun around quickly. A man in black walked toward him while applauding. Zhou Yi raised New Moon before his chest and assumed a defensive stance.

"So you do have some skill! No wonder you're someone I've taken a liking to," the man in black said as he approached Zhou Yi.

"What do you mean?" Zhou Yi asked warily.

"It means you come with me now, and you'll suffer a little less in the future," the man in black said arrogantly.

Hearing that, Zhou Yi roared, "Playing tricks and pretending to be a ghost!" Then he slashed at the man in black. The feeling was somewhat familiar.

"Yin Energy +1"

Was this man in black really this weak? Zhou Yi stepped forward and sliced open his outer garment. Inside was, astonishingly, a Paper Figure.

The instant Zhou Yi saw the Paper Figure, he recalled the one he had encountered last night.

Zhou Yi immediately felt the matter was troublesome. This man in black's clothing and appearance suggested an organization, and they could even control strange beings artificially. Zhou Yi had never heard of such a thing before.

After thinking for a long time without reaching an answer, Zhou Yi prepared to take the black robe and Paper Figure back to ask Uncle Du about them. But just as he bent down to pick them up, the Paper Figure began to combust on its own, and the black robe beside it burned to ash as well.

Well, now even the evidence was gone.

Once the Paper Figure burned to ash, the world around Zhou Yi seemed to come alive all at once. Insects chirped and birds cried out everywhere. Seeing this, Zhou Yi could not help thinking of a type of talisman: a soundproof talisman. So long as one was within the barrier of a soundproof talisman, no matter how loud the noise inside was, those outside could not hear it.

Sure enough, Zhou Yi found a soundproof talisman at a corner of the street. It had already failed, and the red runes upon it had turned gray.

He put away the soundproof talisman as well, intending to give it to Du Wei as evidence.

After patrolling another round, Zhou Yi returned to the Provincial Governor's Office and found Uncle Du. Hearing that Zhou Yi had encountered another strange being, Du Wei did not know just how terrible his nephew's luck was. But when Zhou Yi told Uncle Du that someone had been controlling the strange being—

Uncle Du's expression gradually turned grave. Zhou Yi wanted to ask him about it, but Uncle Du merely waved a hand and said, "I need to investigate this matter. Wait for my news."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Du Wei continued, "If you encounter that kind of situation again, send a Signal Talisman immediately. Don't think about charging in alone."

Zhou Yi answered, "All right," then took his leave of Uncle Du.

But the moment he stepped out of the Provincial Governor's Office, Zhou Yi saw Huang Ming. Huang Ming stood behind a young man and said to Zhou Yi with an arrogant expression, "Zhou Yi, this is my big brother, Wang Tianba..."

Before Huang Ming could finish, Zhou Yi cut him off. The events of tonight had already left him irritable, and he had no mood to deal with these two. He said directly to Huang Ming, "I'm not interested in knowing who he is."

At this point, the young man standing before Huang Ming spoke. "Kid, do you know who I am?"

Zhou Yi replied calmly, "No. And I'm not interested in knowing."

Then Zhou Yi walked past them. Wang Tianba had wanted to stop him, but one glance from Zhou Yi made the hand he had stretched into the air retract. His instincts told him that if he had grabbed the person before him just now, he would have lost that arm.

Wang Tianba was just about to throw out a few threats to save face, but when he turned around, Zhou Yi had already gone far away.

Wang Tianba could only let it go resentfully.

Zhou Yi did not return home immediately. He first went to the Treasure Pavilion. After what had happened tonight, he had the feeling that wind and rain were about to descend. He wanted to raise his strength as quickly as possible.

But after asking at the Treasure Pavilion, he learned that they did not have Will Heart, this material. They did, however, possess an inside lead. Zhou Yi spent ten thousand taels of silver to buy information from a Treasure Pavilion attendant concerning Will Heart.

An auction would be held in Bai Feng City, not far from Luoshi City. Among the many items being auctioned would be the material Will Heart.