Forge a path to success

"—The talisman opens, and the blood seals the mystery."

A smile emanated from the corpse, the power of the talisman activated by the ritual. The innocent sacrificial body suddenly exploded, spraying out red light far exceeding the total amount of its blood, forming hundreds of blood-red barriers that imprisoned the ground.

Chu Hengkong's heart pounded uncontrollably, almost beyond his control. He suddenly vomited blood, and in his fragmented vision, the steel insect formed from the Immortal Machine reappeared, its steel limbs piercing his bones.

His body went out of control. The talisman shattered the balance, and in his weakest moment, the Immortal Machine launched a counterattack, and he was now utterly powerless to fight!

Chapter 136 The Talisman's Infant Movement

Dozens of seconds ago, on the top floor of the Saint-Lar luxury hotel.

An old-fashioned gramophone sat on the large bed, its green vinyl record spinning crookedly, straining music from its trumpet-shaped tubes. On the balcony, Wu He tapped his foot to the beat, gazing down at the distant dust. Debris from the collapsed buildings continued to fall; before these two crazed, powerful figures, the city seemed like fragile building blocks.

He hummed an unpleasant tune without uttering a sound, until a fiery red surge erupted within his Qi perception network. Wu He stared in astonishment at the direction of the battlefield, his eyes filled with a complex, swirling expression.

"Even Chenjun Palace...is it trying to raise a second Peerless General?" He shook his head. "You are truly spoiled to the extreme by your teachers."

The plan didn't need to be changed; in fact, it went more smoothly because of it. Wu He sighed at the different fates of people and took out his small handbook. The cartoon map showed the movements of the powerful, where each person was and what they were doing. His gaze moved past the ascendants and landed on a small, unnoticed place.

"Alright, let's begin. Bring me the final footage."

Wu He took out a paper figure.

·

"This is outrageous!" "Dinner's served in two minutes." "Is that even food? That's swill!" "The food I eat when I'm washing the deck is better than this..."

The painting tools had long been abandoned, and a dozen or so pirates huddled under the low wall, cursing and swearing as they tried to escape the cold wind. The bricklayer, carrying two large bags of boxed lunches, came over, looking rather displeased: "Heh heh! What are you doing!"

"Fuck you!" "Why isn't there any alcohol?" "I told you not to bring trash to this old man!"

The pirates snatched the bags and sat on the ground to eat their cheap boxed lunches. The bricklayer, seeing their menacing appearance, didn't want to provoke them and tried to turn away after saying only a few words.

"When have I ever suffered this humiliation while following the boss?" "Why the hell don't you swim out?" "I heard the boss speak." "Ahhh. Ahhh. Sigh."

Wu He wiped the paper figure clean.

It was a piece of origami cut out by skillful hands, with many layers of paper figures stacked together, looking exactly like a single piece. When he opened his palms, the paper figures stretched out, each connected to the other with its hands, like a snow-white line.

"Ah." "It hurts so much." The pirates stood up at the same time. The boxed lunches they had only taken two bites of fell to the ground. "Head still there." "Blood." "Ahhh." The pirates grabbed each other's hands. "Ahhh, vomit." "Spinning around." "Beautiful." They stood holding hands in perfect unison, as if playing a game. Their eyes, with empty smiles, were as bright as children's.

Snapped!

Inside the hotel, Wu He clapped his hands, and the many paper figures that had been stretched out turned back into one.

It was as if two invisible hands had struck simultaneously, crushing the sixteen pirates against the low wall together at once. Their flesh was crushed by the immense force, and blood gushed out like a fountain. First, the bones supporting their bodies were shattered, followed by the muscles torn apart by the excessive density. Sixteen pieces of flesh were forcibly stuffed into one body, and their heads rolled and bulged in the blood, transforming into a blood-red humanoid with sixteen heads!

“Understood.” “Completely understood.” “Leave it to us.” Its sixteen heads spoke and laughed independently. Amidst the bricklayer’s terrified screams, the multi-headed monster leaped into the air. They easily leaped over trees, over tall buildings, and jumped to a height that overlooked the city. Previously, they were nothing more than sixteen arrogant pirates, but under the control of the strange runes, their power was comparable to the particle 3 of the Path of Unifying Destiny.

They fell from the highest point, like blood-red demonic stars!

·

"Ah Kong! Ah Kong, if you're angry, say something!"

Ji Huaisu shouted towards the communication relic for the third time, but there was still no response from the other side. She looked at the chaos in the distance with great anxiety.

Unfortunately, the duel location chosen by Shaks was further south than they had anticipated, and this temporary position was almost a ten-minute drive from the battlefield. Currently, everyone involved in the Stone Demon battle was around the position, as Chu Hengkong, worried about potential accidents during his duel, repeatedly emphasized not to interfere, and Ji Huaisu and the others dared not make any rash moves.

Vande was so nervous he nearly twisted his tentacles into a pretzel, pacing back and forth in the room: "Don't panic, damn it, don't be so hasty! Chu Hengkong is a professional assassin! If I could beat him in my past life, I won't lose in this one!"

"He didn't lose the last time he fought the Immortal Machine, but he died!" Ji Huaisu said confidently.

“We brought him supplies,” Gulibo whispered.

"Does a dead person still have the strength to eat supplies?"

This made perfect sense, further exacerbating everyone's anxiety. Sethlen looked around and weakly suggested, "How about we all go to the battlefield... that way we can get medical aid in time..."

Ji Huaisu slapped his thigh: "The Ice Man is right, let's do it now—"

She suddenly erected a shield of light and charged straight towards the ceiling. At the same moment, the roof was smashed open by a bloody light, and a deformed monster crashed into the room!

Blood splattered against the light shield, and it was the defensive side that retreated. Ji Huaisu's arm went numb, and she could barely hold onto her shield. The monster's power was tinged with an eerie quality; it wasn't just simple physical strength.

It had six bony white legs and six skeletal arms. Most of its body was just bones, with all the flesh concentrated above its chest, like a blood and flesh bag forcibly compressed together. That nauseating giant blood bag throbbed like a heart, and the sixteen pirate heads slid along with the throbbing, their eyes bright like those of children.

The heads spoke in turn: "Hello." "Excuse me." "Please." "Stone seed." "Give it to me!"

A wave of nausea washed over her, a feeling she hadn't experienced even during the battle to clean up the club. She drew her Shadow Blade and stabbed it into the ground, immediately aiming to control the shadow and manipulate its movements. At the same moment, Vande released a twilight glow, intending to use hypnosis to control the demon's actions.

"Calling the wind." "Summoning the rain." "Blood flowing." "Poisonous fog."

The four heads opened simultaneously, spewing out poisonous water and acid rain, along with a mist of blood. The thick poison and foul blood formed a barrier, blocking Vande's hypnotic spell. With his vision obscured, hypnosis through eye contact was no longer effective; now, further physical contact was the only option.

Fan De tried to move forward, but was injured by the poisonous fog and couldn't open his eyes for a moment. At this moment, Ji Huaisu pierced the shadow with his strength and was about to control the monster's movements when he discovered that only one head was silent, while the other fifteen heads were still laughing and their movements were not affected in any way.

The demon's shadow suddenly dispersed, splitting into eight, then sixteen, and Ji Huaisu's shadow blade only struck one of them. This demon was formed from the flesh and blood of sixteen people, and it had exactly sixteen shadows to use.

In the distance, Wu He bit his fingertip and drew a talisman with his blood, inside which was the character "chaos". He stuck the blood talisman onto a paper figure, and the blood color instantly dissipated, revealing the laughter of pirates coming from within the paper figure.

"Light proves shadow." "Darkness reflects light." "It can protect against swords, spears, water, and fire." "It cannot protect against brothers of the same origin."

The demon unleashed a series of kicks, its three bony legs striking the light shield. The immense power surged into Ji Huaisu's arm, nearly causing her defense to collapse. She took a deep breath, intending to regroup, but then noticed a blood-red talisman on the light shield, bearing the character "chaos."

A strange power forced into her body, and her right hand moved uncontrollably, swinging the knife straight at her own head!

Ji Huaisu hurriedly defended himself, while the demon laughed loudly. Behind the two, Sethlen slammed his fists into the ground, unleashing waves of icy cold air. The multi-headed demon leaped up as if it had anticipated this, dodging the attack of the cold air. Blood surged within its heart-like fleshy sac, and new blood runes burst forth from its body.

"Dark water arises." "The heart is chilled by yin." "It hastens the flow of water to freeze." "It reverses the flow of blood and obstructs the flow of qi."

In the distance, Wuhetuo raised his palm, and the demons on the battlefield mimicked his movement. His bony hand struck Sethlen, and the character "凝" (condense) instantly appeared on the ice crystal. Sethlen's movements ceased instantly; he clutched his throat in agony, blood-red needles erupting from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—the talisman had wounded itself with its own power!

Vande was hindered by the poisonous smoke, Ji Huaisu was trapped in the chaos, and Sethlen was injured by Ning. The three warriors were defeated by the demon in a single exchange. It raised its bone palm and grabbed at the stone seed with great force, and the stone seed's spiritual power carved out solemn characters.

[Planting a talisman on the body and using a poisonous insect connected to the heart—what an insidious and evil method! Longquan Township has no such wicked and vicious techniques!]

"That's why I never wanted to be a pretentious martial arts practitioner from Dragon Township," Wu He said with a smile.

The sac of flesh and blood opened like a mouth, swallowing the stone seed whole. The demon soared into the sky, crashing into the heavens at the same speed as before.

It leaped out like a blood-red rocket, traversing half the city in the blink of an eye. The two dying assassins had been stopped, and the guards protecting the stone were no match for it. After returning to the stronghold personally built by Wu He, no one could do anything to it anymore.

It could see the hotel in the distance, bright red and warm, its home awaiting its return. It couldn't help but laugh, but suddenly felt a subtle discomfort. It was a faint pain, easily overlooked, like a fingertip gently rubbing against a pen tip. The pain spread throughout its body, tracing red marks on the surface of its sac.

Those were threads. Black threads, the same color as the night. Countless black threads shrouded the air, weaving an impenetrable, sharp net. The demon, rushing at breakneck speed, crashed into the net, its motion so great it nearly tore itself to pieces.

It brandished its bone claws, attempting to tear through the netting, but the threads snapped and shot out like countless worms biting into the demon's body. Its movements froze, and a flashing arc of light pierced the night, slicing into its flesh!

"It hurts!" "Ouch!" "It's burning!" "So painful!"

A web of silk threads surged forth, piercing through flesh and blood with immense weight, slamming the demon to the ground. The girl weaving the web descended from the sky, landing on a telephone pole. Stained blood dripped from her knife; she covered her face with a scarf, meeting the demon's astonished gaze.

“I’ve been watching you secretly for a long time.” Qing Ye wiped the blood off his blade. “You evil heretics, kill without mercy.”

Chapter 137 A coincidence

"So heavy." "I can't get up." "What's that?" "A heartless person?"

Each of the sixteen heads emitted a sound of doubt, and the hideous demon struggled fiercely. Its grip was strong enough to easily crush bricks and stones, and its wildly flailing limbs smashed the ground into fine sand. But the black threads carried a terrifying weight, and no matter how hard it struggled, it could not stand up, but only sank deeper and deeper into the sand, as if digging its own grave.

Super-Heavy Sin Net, a new technique independently improved by Qingye based on the original, simplifies the shuriken array into threads of shadow element, reducing the lethality of weight but enhancing its binding ability. She cautiously maintained her distance, not advancing rashly even if the enemy fell for her trap. The power of shadow gathered and swirled in her hands, forming sharp, cross-shaped hidden weapons.

"A corpse gu controlled by a talisman..." Qingye calmly assessed, "There's no saving him. Kill him."

Qingye swung her arm like a whip, hurling shadow shurikens at the multi-headed corpse gu! Ten, thirty, fifty! The hidden weapons rained down, and the corpse gu cried out in agony under the brutal onslaught!

"Pain!" "It hurts so much!" "Boss!" "Help!" "Boss!"

"Disperse," the man coldly ordered.

Bang! Under the relentless onslaught, the blood-soaked flesh sac exploded, scattering organs and blood everywhere. The flesh and blood that constituted the corpse gu dispersed in the filthy rain, abandoning the parts of the body pierced by the shadow lines, and reassembled in the distance.

After reuniting, it lost two skeletal hands but gained four skeletal legs. With its human head and fleshy sac atop its head, it crawled swiftly on its many legs, like a hideous worm lurking in the shadows of the city. It leaped onto the road, easily overtaking water trucks on the nighttime highway, its speed comparable to that of a martial arts cultivator.

But look! On the right side of the lane where the ugly corpse worm lurked, the yellow-clad, remnant of the spirit was moving parallel to it on foot. His arms crossed over his chest indicated he undoubtedly still had energy to spare. The man and the corpse worm drifted past the "100" mark on the highway like phantoms! They far exceeded 100 kilometers per hour!

"Come here!" The multi-headed corpse worm extended its bony claws, and the Remnant Heart retaliated with a slash. "Don't follow me!" One of its heads spewed out thick green poisonous smoke, which the Remnant Heart shattered with a flashing finger. "Are you underestimating me!" Several heads lunged to prey, only to have their throats pierced by shurikens that arrived first. Seizing the opportunity, Qingye unleashed a low kick while running at full speed. The corpse worm struck by the kick tumbled past the "120" emergency number, losing its balance and falling off the overpass!

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh!!" The Corpse Gu spat out its snake-like tongue, which wrapped around the overpass as it fell. It swung up using its tongue as a rope, passed under the bridge, and came behind Qingye to launch a sneak attack with a heel strike aimed at its head.

The bone claws smashed the girl's head, then tore her entire body apart, the violence shattering the corpse into glass-like fragments. Transparent, like real glass shards. "?!" The corpse-devouring insect was astonished by the strange sight. The fragments drifted past it, bringing a chilling, icy cold. Its limbs were freezing.

It didn't strike the heartbroken one; it was a mirror formed of ice crystals!

Suddenly, countless thin, cicada-wing-like ice crystals rose up on the overpass, piecing together a dazzling maze of mirrors. In the eerie chill, girls who should have been dead emerged from the mirrors—not just one, but ten, then twenty—surrounding the corpse-devouring insects like an army.

They simultaneously swung their blades, unleashing an equal number of ice blades as their clones. The Corpse Gu raised its bony claws and slammed them wildly, shattering the ice blades. But the more it destroyed the enemy, the more icy fragments it created, constantly generating new ice mirrors, making the enemy's attacks increasingly dense. It couldn't find the Heartbreaker's true form; the pervasive chill grew stronger, slowing its speed and preventing it from leaping for a moment.

"Boss!" "What?" "I don't understand!" The corpse worms were in a state of confusion.

In the hotel, Wu He twirled a stray strand of hair, lost in thought. He had seen the enemy's Heart-Binding Technique on the battlefield; the Cold Track Technique, which used ice mirrors and hidden weapons to toy with opponents, was a specialty of the Cold Intent Sect on Shura Island. But ordinary Cold Track Techniques didn't have such a wide range, nor could they last that long, especially since it was a skill that only a "Secret Soul" Heart-Binding Technique practitioner who had mastered the power of Turbid Tears could master.

Did he absorb the Iceman's power with his sinful bones to unleash a technique exceeding his own physical level? That would be such a waste; the Remnant Souls usually use their trump cards for a one-hit kill...

"Intending to gather your strength?" Wu He sneered. He flipped his palms, revealing a new blood talisman, a "Burning" character that flickered like fire. It was the Blood Burning Qi Control Talisman that Chu Hengkong had used.

The talisman fell upon the paper figure, and the multi-headed corpse gu immediately let out a wail. The blood in its body began to burn violently, and the spirit gained by recklessly sacrificing its life force exploded, violently shattering the ice crystals within a hundred meters!

Wu He took control of the Corpse Gu. The wide field of vision brought by his multiple eyes allowed him to accurately capture all the information in the environment. Qing Ye, who had just put on the Shadow Robe and was trying to sneak into the night, was as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and slashed out with his right palm with immense force. The flowing energy made the palm wind as red as blood.

The Crimson Sun Subduing Demon Palm is one of the signature martial arts of the Yueque Palace. Its attack range is as wide as the sun shining. As long as a trace of palm force touches the opponent, the rest of the force will be transferred and follow up. Every strike is 100% accurate without wasting any power, making it perfect for dealing with opponents who hide their true intentions.

"Crimson Sun." "Subduing Demons." "Palm!"

The corpse gu, controlled by Wu He, unleashed a twisted bone claw, its force transforming into a fiery red wall that slammed forward. Qing Ye couldn't dodge in time, barely grazing a streak of red. Her outward-flowing energy instantly contracted, transforming in a flash into a palm that struck Qing Ye's abdomen, piercing her through.

The one struck by the broken spirit was engulfed in flames. Her fierce will burned away her flesh like a raging fire, and the ashes fell, turning into shuriken the same color as the night!

"what?!"

Amidst the Corpse Gu's gasp, the shuriken spun in a wide arc like a thrown discus, its tip trailing a thin line of shadow. This was the foundation of the Sinful Bone and Broken Heart: the Weapon Substitution Technique. Ordinary techniques, when used at the right moment, could become deadly moves. Only now did the Broken Heart's true form appear, clinging to the Corpse Gu like a true shadow, her twin blades thrusting out simultaneously, their blades gleaming with an otherworldly light.

The Way of the Broken Heart Sword. The Unthinking Reversal Style: Twin Wind Kill.

The blade pierced the corpse worm's body, and two opposing forces of energy erupted within it like two gusts of wind from the blade, instantly shattering the talisman controlling the corpse worm at its deepest point. Blood gushed from the eyes of the corpse worm's sixteen heads simultaneously, and the deformed flesh sacs were pierced by the blade wind, forming a hole the size of a human head, inside which the stolen stone seed lay.

Qingye grabbed the stone seed, turned, and ran away. The corpse gu, having lost its core, struggled and trembled on the spot, then erupted into a towering flower of flesh and blood.

She stepped back and carefully observed the stone's rock-like surface, her grip on the dagger never loosening.

“It doesn’t appear to be contaminated.” Qingye remained unfazed. “Do you recognize the monster’s true nature?”

[A Gu-poisonous corpse that controls the body with talismans, consuming life force to gain power. Its foundation is the talismanic arts of the Zhengxuan Palace, but its application is far too wicked. It requires the reckless stacking of methods to strengthen the body; it cannot be achieved by the sheer madness of one person. That is probably…]

"I had my doubts from the very beginning."

Qingye tried to activate the communication relic, but to no avail; Wu He had somehow managed to interfere with the communication. However, a competent Remnant of the Heart always has a contingency plan. She then took out a black paper cup, the bottom of which was connected to the group's base by an extremely thin thread. This was a small communication device created using elemental resonance; it could be used if there was a similar force on the other side.

"Sister Huaisu, how is the situation?"

“We can’t count on Sethlen and Vande for now, but I can still fight,” Ji Huaisu replied quickly.

"I brought back the stone seed, but the situation is very bad." Qingye was caught in a dilemma. "There's an aura of heresy around Mr. Chu, and the talisman master's place is also..."

"Don't be reckless. You and I alone can't defeat a talisman master. I'll set off with the supplies now and meet up with Akong."

"Okay." Qingye nodded emphatically. Sister Huaisu was indeed a seasoned veteran; her composure under pressure was something Qingye couldn't learn. She grabbed the stone seed and rushed towards the battlefield, not forgetting to check the details: "Is that dragon-something tree talisman ready?"

[Don't underestimate me, kid. I just finished...] Shi Zhong's handwriting suddenly paused, [Oh no!]

Qingye was startled: "I've been trying really hard not to underestimate you!! What happened again?!"

The talisman has been stolen! The Purification Talisman is in the hands of a talisman master!

Qingye felt a wave of relief wash over her. She informed Ji Huaisu, "Thankfully, it was just a lost talisman; nothing serious happened..."

"Damn it! This is terrible!" Ji Huaisu was truly panicked this time. "Ah Kong!"

Qingye suddenly realized. The talisman in the stone seed was key to suppressing heretical power. There was a clear heretical aura emanating from Chu Hengkong. He had just finished a life-or-death battle. His spine was an immortal machine…

The power of the true machine is about to go berserk!

But how did that talisman master manage to do it? The corpse gu, which was used as a pawn, had already been killed by her, and no third person was involved in the process. How did he manage to steal a talisman without anyone noticing?

·

Luxury hotel suite in northern Jinye City.

The record was still playing, and Wu He hummed along. The useless paper figure was casually tossed into the trash can, where it was pierced by a bullet.

The blood of the clown ape, the scales of the juggling sprite, the bark of plant beasts, and a third of humor. The "transfer bullet," handcrafted by the strange gunslinger, is activated through a paper doll—the Gu Hand Heart-Connecting Talisman. This bullet was originally intended for him to forcibly transfer the stone seeds, but unexpectedly, another gain came into his hands while capturing the stone seeds.

He went to great lengths to obtain the stone so that he could use it as material to make a talisman, a talisman that was of utmost importance to him.