Chapter 703: Fixing Soul Eye, Ghost Copper Prison

Xu Xiaoshou finally saw the information panel appear.

"Received shock, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Since appearing, the masked figure in front of him had shown almost no emotional changes. The only thing that seemed to surprise him was Xu Xiaoshou's claim of being from Sheng Nu.

But right after, the information panel changed.

"Received suspicion, Beidong Zhi, 1."

"I don't believe it." The masked figure stroked the small iron figurine hanging at his waist, his voice full of conviction.

Xu Xiaoshou showed no fear, watching his subtle movements as he said, "I don't care if you believe it or not. Even if you're a Wangzuo, if you dare to touch me today, you're as good as dead. And it's not just you—your entire organization will go down with you."

"Oh?" The masked figure's hand paused. "You've heard of our organization?"

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled but didn't respond.

He had never actually heard of their organization.

But based on the masked figure's intentions, he could make an educated guess.

Any force bold enough to target something in the hands of the Bansheng Jiang clan couldn't be just one person.

The intelligence gathering, the confidence of those involved, and everything else pointed to the masked figure being backed by a massive organization.

At most, this person was a Wangzuo, without even a hint of Zhandao intent.

How could someone like that dare to challenge a Bansheng force?

So Xu Xiaoshou deduced that "Yan Wang" wasn't just this individual but a vast organization operating in the shadows, collecting "Lei Jia Tong".

This organization could be enormous, big enough to carefully plan and strike against even a Bansheng force.

Yet, in this world, could any evil force surpass Sheng Nu?

Xu Xiaoshou didn't think so.

When it came to the overlords of darkness, with the Eighth Jianxian in charge of Sheng Nu, who would dare claim first if they only claimed second?

Xu Xiaoshou was deep in thought.

But the masked figure, seeing his silence, stopped talking and started walking forward, stepping toward Xu Xiaoshou.

"Are you deaf?" Xu Xiaoshou's brow twitched; he didn't believe this person would actually attack.

"I didn't hear what you said just now." The masked figure ignored him, his steps seeming slow, yet in just a few strides, he had crossed the alley and was almost upon Xu Xiaoshou.

"Playing deaf?"

Xu Xiaoshou quickly pulled a token from his ring. "Do you recognize this?"

It was something given to him by Ba Zun An, meant for warding off trouble if he ran into issues in Wang Cheng.

Xu Xiaoshou believed that even if this person wasn't from the same era as Ba Zun An, as someone from the "Yan Wang" organization, he would surely know the token's authenticity.

Sure enough, as soon as the token was raised, the masked figure halted.

"Received recognition, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou felt a slight relief in his heart, but the next second...

"Received neglect, Beidong Zhi, 1."

"Received lock-on, Beidong Zhi, 1."

"Received restraint, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

The first message confirmed that the person recognized his Sheng Nu identity.

But what about the ones that followed?

Was this masked figure really going to pretend he didn't see the token and force his hand?

"Ha!" Xu Xiaoshou exploded into action, pushing off the ground with his feet, using the shattered floor's rebound to launch himself into the air.

Yet, within the Jiewei, the other controlled the heavenly dao rules.

Under those rules, even as a Zongshi, he was helpless.

"Freeze."

With a single word from the masked figure, Xu Xiaoshou was firmly immobilized, starting to panic a little.

He had fought Wangzuo before, but only through ambushes or prior setups to achieve victory against a higher level.

In a situation where he was controlled first and had to counterattack, as a Xiantian, turning the tables was nearly impossible.

"It's no use." The masked figure was now face-to-face, shaking his head. "You're just Xiantian. How could you resist a Wangzuo's Jiewei? Hand over the item, and I won't kill you."

"Zhiji Lianchi!"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't hold back; he activated his newly awakened passive skill in his mind.

He tried it with a glimmer of hope, wondering if the "rejection" power of Zhiji Lianchi could sever even the rules controlling him within the Jiewei.

His initial expectations weren't high.

But when the force field activated, Xu Xiaoshou was surprised to find that the restraining force... vanished!

He wiggled his toes hidden in his shoe and knew it wasn't an illusion. He realized that "Zhiji Lianchi" wasn't just about creating a cutting force field.

The word "Jie" in it implied a self-contained small world of his own.

"Go ahead and try to make a move!"

With that realization, Xu Xiaoshou's confidence soared. After discovering that Zhiji Lianchi could reject the Jiewei's restraints, he didn't act rashly.

He even suppressed his instinctive urge to retreat, steadied himself, and immediately deactivated the skill.

Activating and deactivating Zhiji Lianchi happened in the blink of an eye.

All the masked figure noticed was that this clown in front of him, after futilely trying to resist, was left with nothing but empty threats.

The masked figure extended his hand.

He didn't even glance at the token Xu Xiaoshou held up; instead, he went straight for the spatial ring on Xu Xiaoshou's finger.

"How dare you?!"

At that moment, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened in fury, as if the ring truly contained "Tian Zhi Zhi Yan," yet his body remained "frozen" in place.

"Annoying." The masked figure's hand touched Xu Xiaoshou's skin.

"How dare you touch my ring?!"

"What's there to fear?"

The masked figure's hand grasped Xu Xiaoshou's ring and yanked it outward.

"Sever."

Just then, Xu Xiaoshou's gaze dropped to the masked figure's fingers, and he shouted, "Zhiji Lianchi"—activating it in an instant.

The masked figure's two fingers, pinching the ring, pulled hard.

But the expected ring coming loose didn't happen. Instead, an intense pain shot from his fingers.

Sizzle.

The shattered flesh and blood of his fingers sprayed into the air with his backward pull.

Time seemed to slow down.

In that close proximity, Xu Xiaoshou could see, beneath the ferocious Yan Wang mask, the other's eyes glowing with an unusual greenish hue, pupils contracting as if witnessing something horrifying.

—It was indeed horrifying!

The masked figure hadn't pulled the ring free; instead, his fingers touching the ring had been torn off!

Not just broken—the flesh was completely pulverized, and even the blood turned into a mist under Zhiji Lianchi's cutting force, spraying everywhere.

"Received terror, Beidong Zhi, 1."

"Received suspicion, Beidong Zhi, 1."

"Hiss!"

Xu Xiaoshou even heard a faint intake of breath from the other side.

He didn't let the opportunity slip; in the instant the masked figure's fingers were severed, he lunged forward.

"Zhiji Lianchi, expand!"

After all, the effective radius of Zhiji Lianchi was a full zhang.

Xu Xiaoshou was ambitious—how could he let the enemy who tried to bully him off with just a broken finger?

He wanted the masked figure to be utterly destroyed the moment the force field expanded.

"Fix soul."

But at this critical juncture, a subtle greenish glow flashed from beneath the Yan Wang mask.

Boom.

Xu Xiaoshou felt as if his soul had been hit by an immense energy blast. In that moment, even his consciousness blurred, his mind going blank.

The Zhiji Lianchi, which was about to expand a zhang, halted before it could begin, stopping with his stalled thoughts.

"Ding Hun Jing!"

When his awareness returned, Xu Xiaoshou was truly shocked.

Even though he had never seen "Lei Jia's Ding Hun Jing," he had only heard the name from Luo Leilei.

But now, it didn't stop him from quickly deducing that, like Jiang Xian, this masked figure possessed "Lei Jia Tong".

And his was specifically "Ding Hun Jing".

Its function was to impose absolute restraint on the opponent's soul!

"Received restraint, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou tried to move.

But that ghost-pressing sensation—like being awake but completely unable to control his body—made his heart sink.

"What a bizarre ability..."

Echoing Xu Xiaoshou's astonishment, the masked figure was equally shocked by the unique Lingji of this Xiantian upstart.

A Xiantian Lingji that could harm a Wangzuo?

A domain-type skill that could reject Jiewei restraints?

The masked figure's eyes showed genuine interest.

The pain in his fingers only surprised him briefly; in moments, his wound had healed completely.

Yet, the abilities of this Zhou Tian Can from Sheng Nu were something he had never heard of or seen before.

"Worthy of Sheng Nu..."

Muttering to himself, the masked figure pondered for a moment, then drew a Lingjian from his ring and slowly thrust it toward Xu Xiaoshou's body.

He was testing it.

Clang, clang, clang—

A harsh sound of weapons clashing rang out. The Lingjian advanced but shattered completely within Zhiji Lianchi, not even touching Xu Xiaoshou's skin.

The test ended.

The masked figure stared at the remaining hilt in his hand, falling silent.

This was a fifth-grade Lingjian, Zongshi level, quite valuable.

But just like that... it was gone?

The spatial ring on Xu Xiaoshou's hand was right there, almost within reach, along with the "Tian Zhi Zhi Yan" inside.

However, Zhiji Lianchi's presence made that short distance feel like an unbridgeable chasm.

"Impressive." The masked figure spoke up.

"Received praise, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Then, he extended his hand again from his sleeve.

The hand, now healed, had skin that glowed smoothly, tender as a woman's, with slender, pale fingers.

But in the next second, his hand transformed into red-hot molten iron, dripping down drop by drop.

Sizzle.

The ground melted into pits where the hot iron touched, as if it were lava.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

More and more iron flowed and gathered on the ground, forming a pool, then a mass, and finally a larger puddle.

"Gui Tong Prison!"

Once the amount was sufficient, the masked figure waved his hand in front of his chest, and that pool of red-hot iron was manipulated to form a humanoid iron cage outside Zhiji Lianchi, completely enclosing Xu Xiaoshou from all sides.

Darkness enveloped him.

"Move, damn it..." Xu Xiaoshou screamed in his mind.

He could clearly see everything happening, but the masked figure's ability was too powerful!

Or rather, "Ding Hun Jing" was an unbeatable pupil technique!

After all this time, he still couldn't regain control of his body.

Xu Xiaoshou relied on his passive skills, thinking he was immune to any physical attack.

But he never imagined that the other's "Ding Hun Jing," much like Mo Mo's "seal" attribute, would counter him so perfectly.

"Refine."

The masked figure commanded again.

The iron swirling around Xu Xiaoshou surged like waves, pouring straight into Zhiji Lianchi.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

The cutting sounds returned.

But unlike the solid Lingjian, this fluid red-hot iron reformed and converged almost instantly after being shredded.

"It's over!"

Xu Xiaoshou had never thought someone could figure out how to counter Zhiji Lianchi so quickly.

The force field was thin but had immense cutting power.

Essentially, the iron would be sliced and repelled when trying to penetrate.

But there was just too much iron, pouring in from every direction!

As time passed, some of the flowing iron managed to pass through the force field haphazardly and splashed onto Xu Xiaoshou.

The first drop.

Sizzle.

"Received attack, Beidong Zhi, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou's Zongshi body was pierced by the hot iron, pain assaulting him as he felt it burning through from his shoulder blade toward his heart.

"A Jie!"

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't hold back any longer.

This masked figure, even as just a Wangzuo, was far stronger than any he had encountered—infinitely so.

Xu Xiaoshou guessed that only someone like Yu Ling Di could truly stand against him.

His mastery of "iron" attributes was extraordinarily refined!

"Mama..."

In this world, the only one who could respond to Xu Xiaoshou's mental call, bypassing soul and body, was A Jie.

As more iron seeped into Zhiji Lianchi and dripped onto Xu Xiaoshou, A Jie moved.

Two red lights burst from Xu Xiaoshou's chest.

The masked figure sensed the threat immediately and chose to retreat explosively!

Whoosh.

In the instant the masked figure pulled back, A Jie punched through "Gui Tong Prison" and through Zhiji Lianchi in a flash.

Its body, corroded by the hot iron and enduring the terrifying cuts of Zhiji Lianchi, didn't even let out a cry of pain.

A Jie felt no pain.

Its fist targeted only the one who dared harm "Mama."

No escape!

In a split second, another subtle greenish glow flashed beneath the Yan Wang mask.

"Fix soul!"

He shouted, but the usually infallible "Ding Hun Jing" had no effect on A Jie, a Tianji Puppet.

A Jie wasn't human.

The masked figure stared in horror as A Jie, still able to move freely after being targeted, closed in instantly. His mind raced with questions.

But he reacted quickly, discarding those thoughts and countering with a black iron fist to meet A Jie's punch.

Boom!

The shockwave exploded, rippling out hundreds of zhang, even shaking the Wangzuo Jiewei.

At the same time, Xu Xiaoshou's fingers twitched.

"My body—it's back!"

He activated his explosive stance immediately, golden light points bursting forth, shattering "Gui Tong Prison" as he soared into the air, looking toward the battle's center.

One glance, and Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

"Received fright, Beidong Zhi, 1."

In the field, the large and small figures locked in a standoff, neither budging an inch.

Both had failed to injure the other.

Xu Xiaoshou, hovering in midair and ready to join, froze, his mouth twitching.

Staring at the masked figure, whose dark purple sleeve had been torn apart, Xu Xiaoshou felt a chill on his scalp.

"This guy can take A Jie's punch with his physical body?!"