Chapter 93: Trying to Seize My Body? I’ll Devour You!

The two-halved paper figures, after one was kicked away and the other hurled off, did not immediately surge back.

They drifted together and fused in an instant.

To the constables around them, nothing about it seemed strange.

In the strange mist earlier, they had seen too many serpents hacked into pieces only to grow back again, so they simply assumed the bird-riding paper figure possessed the same power.

But with the blessing of the Liver Deity, Shang Lu noticed that when the bird-riding paper figure joined together again, the two streams of black vapor also merged rapidly, returning to their original state.

By rights, after splitting apart, its attack should have grown even fiercer and stranger, yet it did not continue. Instead, it took the initiative to fuse back together...

A flicker passed through Shang Lu's eyes, and a thought took shape in his mind. Though the black vapor could divide into several strands, it could not endure for long. This was his chance.

At once, a plan formed in his head.

Seeing the bird-riding paper figure fuse back together and charge at him once more, Shang Lu thrust out his right hand and shouted, "Blade!"

The constables nearby were momentarily stunned, unsure at whom Shang Lu was shouting.

Some even instinctively moved as if to throw him their own sabers.

But just then, the "flame blade" Shang Lu had just flung out whooshed back into his hand.

This was Third Madam helping him put on a show by fetching the blade for him.

Yet none of the constables around him, nor the bird-riding paper figure, could see Third Madam.

All they saw was Shang Lu bellowing, "Blade!" and then the blade flying back into his hand.

For a moment, the constables were all astonished, unable to tell whether the blade itself was sentient or whether Shang Lu possessed some miraculous art of commanding steel with his qi.

The bird-riding paper figure, meanwhile, sneered inwardly, convinced Shang Lu was merely making a fuss to no purpose. Its form flickered as it accelerated into a killing rush.

"Die!"

With a thunderous roar, Shang Lu flung the blazing torch straight at the bird-riding paper figure.

The paper bird thrust out both claws and crushed the torch to splinters.

By then, Shang Lu had already closed in. With both hands on the saber, he unleashed the Wild Gale Saber Technique, one strike after another, like a storm of wind and rain, hacking at the bird-riding paper figure.

In an instant, blade light blazed brilliantly and fire burned dazzlingly. From afar, it looked as though a small sun had been born before Shang Lu.

His assault was ferocious, but the bird-riding paper figure paid it no mind.

It feared neither fire nor being cut to pieces; even if it were chopped apart, it could still continue to harm its foe, and its attacks would become all the more uncanny and difficult to guard against.

So in the face of Shang Lu's furious offense, the bird-riding paper figure neither dodged nor evaded, choosing to meet attack with attack.

In a flash, it was shredded by the savage blade qi.

But the black vapor immediately split into several strands, controlling the larger and smaller scraps of paper as they swarmed Shang Lu from all sides.

Shang Lu employed the Tiger Step Art and the Ape-Stride Method, weaving through the flying scraps at astonishing speed.

Even so, he could not avoid every strike. Before long, he had suffered multiple injuries.

Fortunately, they were only flesh wounds and not fatal.

Thanks to the recent days in which Third Madam had used flying leaves to spar with him, training his agility, reflexes, and all the rest, his body had been honed to a fine edge.

Thus, when surrounded and beset, he could respond calmly rather than panic.

Though wounded, Shang Lu's blade work did not weaken; instead, it grew even more savage.

He noticed that as the bird-riding paper figure was hacked into more and more scraps, the black vapor could no longer control them all.

Overstrained, the black vapor split into nine strands and controlled only nine of the larger fragments.

The remaining scraps, freed from its command, became ordinary bits of torn paper. Not only could they no longer attack Shang Lu, they were instead touched by the flames on the ox-tail saber and burned to ash.

The black vapor noticed this as well.

But at that moment, even if it wanted to gather the scraps back together, it was already too late.

It could only drive the nine scraps into a furious assault on Shang Lu, hoping to kill him first and think of a way afterward.

What it had not expected was that Shang Lu could actually see it.

Not only could he see it, he also discovered that after dividing into nine strands, the black vapor had lost much of its color, and its flow over the scraps had been greatly hindered, becoming noticeably sluggish.

This discovery instantly lifted Shang Lu's spirits.

His judgment had been right: the black vapor could split apart, but it could not last, and the strain on it was immense.

Now was the time to deal it a crushing blow and destroy it.

Shang Lu's blade style changed abruptly. From the brutal Wild Gale Saber Technique, he shifted to the precise Tendon-Severing, Bone-Splitting Saber Style.

And instead of slashing, he switched to thrusting, driving his saber toward one of the scraps that had just gashed his left arm.

That scrap moved like a living venomous snake. After biting Shang Lu once, it still tried to dart into his arms, tear open his chest, and rip out his heart and lungs.

Instead, it ran straight into the blade Shang Lu thrust out at lightning speed.

The point of the saber was aimed precisely at the place where the black vapor lurked within the scrap.

The black vapor sensed the danger and hastily tried to dart elsewhere to avoid the thrust.

But as it moved, Shang Lu's blade moved with it, even faster than it was.

With a sharp hiss, the ox-tail saber pierced the scrap of paper and through the black vapor.

The blood qi clinging to the tip of the blade erupted violently, striking the black vapor full on.

"Ahhh!"

A shrill, bloodcurdling scream detonated in everyone's ears.

Several of the low-rank constables had their eardrums torn by the cry, and blood streamed from their ear canals.

At the same time, the other eight scraps of paper went madly for Shang Lu.

Yet at this moment, Shang Lu changed his style completely and no longer chose to clash head-on.

He simply withdrew, avoiding the encirclement of the eight scraps, then used the Ape-Stride Method and Tiger Step Art to circle and weave among them. Whenever he found an opening, he would thrust with surgical precision, severely wounding the black vapor.

In just a few breaths, the scraps carved several gashes into Shang Lu's body.

But he also stabbed the black vapor several times.

Now it was a contest of endurance.

And Shang Lu was clearly the sturdier of the two.

He not only tempered his body day and night, he also ate blood-flecked flesh paste and soaked in cold baths.

These things, while increasing his cultivation, also strengthened his flesh and blood, making him not only more resilient but also able to recover quickly after injury.

At last, after enduring several more thrusts, the black vapor could take no more.

The nine scraps of paper rapidly gathered together, becoming a mangled and grotesque paper figure.

At the same time, the nine strands of black vapor fused back into one.

But whether in color or in the oppressive aura it gave off, it had weakened dramatically compared to before.

The moment the nine strands converged, Shang Lu's blade thrust in as well.

What no one had expected happened at that very instant.

The black vapor did not remain inside the ruined paper body. Instead, it burst out directly.

Not only did it evade the point of Shang Lu's blade in an instant, it shot straight for his face.

In that instant, Shang Lu understood its intent: it wanted to enter his body and possess him.

The black vapor was extremely fast, and Shang Lu was too close to it.

There was no time to dodge.

Shang Lu shoved his left hand into his robe, gripping the Nuo mask, while his ferocity was also fully aroused. He opened his mouth and bit at the black vapor.

Trying to possess me?

Come then.

Let's see whether my inner temple can refine you, or whether you can seize my body.