Crash—
With a thought, energy flickered, and five points were deducted outright.
This was merely the breakthrough to the first layer, yet its energy consumption had already pulled far ahead of other cultivation arts. It was clear just how extraordinary the Iron Shirt was.
Energy turned into a warm current and surged into his body.
Rumble!
The flesh and blood within him thundered. His muscles rippled violently, as though they had been tempered a thousand times over. His skin grew tougher, faint layers of black-iron color emerging over it. To the touch, it was like being wrapped in layers of iron garments.
Iron Shirt, first layer—Iron Garment Realm!
Screech—
Red leaves pressed against the surface of the Scarlet-Forged Golden Bell Shield, striking up blinding sparks. The golden bell shuddered and rang, barely sustaining its basic form.
His remaining vitality and blood were exhausted in the blink of an eye!
The sharpness carried by the red leaves still stung his skin.
Chu He's eyes held a savage, desperate resolve.
Still not enough...
Then keep raising it!
This time, his energy was emptied in one go. A full fifteen energy points were deducted, consuming every last gain from killing the paper effigies.
But immediately afterward, his body underwent a tremendous transformation.
It was as if he had returned to the womb and been reforged in the furnace. Every part of his body—muscles, bones, even cells—was rapidly renewed.
A great amount of waste and impurities was expelled, forming a layer of cocoon shell.
"No..."
Not far from Chu He, the paper shield condensed by Paper Lord abruptly collapsed beneath the barrage of red leaves. He let out a shrill wail as the red leaves pierced straight through his flesh, blasting him into minced meat without hesitation.
Crack! Crack!
In an instant, fragments of