Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 124 Deceiving Heaven and Earth, Inviting the Defeat to the Ruin

The heavy stone door slid slowly open to both sides, making a dry, rumbling sound like an old ox pulling a cart.

A strong gust of wind rushed towards me.

The area outside the gate was no longer the quiet ferry crossing, but a wide, gray-white square.

The ground was covered with countless broken weapon fragments.

Over time, these weapons have been worn down and blended into the soil, forming a hard and sharp reddish-brown road surface.

On both sides of the square, there are more than a dozen thick stone pillars, with carved evil spirits being tortured, which look extremely ferocious.

The fog was so thick that even with the eyesight of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the visibility was less than ten zhang.

Deep within the mist, several figures could be vaguely seen rapidly approaching. The spiritual energy emanating from them surged in the silent air, as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the night.

Gu Yan stood inside the threshold, not rushing out immediately.

He squinted, his eyes gleaming, and quickly scanned his surroundings.

"Princess."

Gu Yan turned his head and lowered his voice, saying, "That old ghost gave us half an hour, but he didn't say we had to fight fair and square. This place is open, yet shrouded in mist, making it perfect for tampering with things."

Li Qingge lowered her longsword, the tip touching the ground, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes icy: "What do you want to do?"

"We're that old ghost's henchmen now, and as henchmen, we need to learn to leverage his power."

Gu Yan smiled and pulled out a stack of poorly cut paper figures from his sleeve.

These paper figures are only the size of a palm, crudely made, and covered with twisted runes drawn on their bodies with cinnabar.

"No matter what happens later, you only need to remember one thing," Gu Yan tossed the paper figure in his hand into the air, "My life is precious, and your life is also valuable, so, it's better for you to die than for me."

The dozen or so paper figures seemed to come alive the moment they landed, then floated lightly into the ground filled with weapon debris and disappeared.

Li Qingge looked at the crack in the ground, lost in thought.

"They're here."

Gu Yan's expression hardened, and the playful smile on his face vanished, replaced by extreme fear and panic.

He took a sudden step back, as if terrified by something, and cried out in a trembling, shrill voice, "Don't kill me! I'll give you all the treasure! All of it!"

Li Qingge was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Although her acting skills weren't as natural as Gu Yan's, she still managed to swing her sword and slash at the air beside her, producing a crisp metallic clang. She then staggered back, feigning defeat.

The fog dissipated.

Several figures rushed in.

The leader was Elder Wang, who had only one arm, but he was not the core of the group at this time.

Beside him stood an old man dressed in a black robe, his back hunched.

The old man leaned on a cane made of animal bone, his face was as dry as tree bark, and his eyes were an eerie emerald green, exuding a captivating and sinister aura.

It's the late stage of the Golden Core realm!

Gu Yan's heart sank.

This old monster's aura was several times more terrifying than Elder Wang's in his prime, and he exuded a strong smell of decaying corpses, clearly indicating that he was an evil cultivator who dealt with corpses for many years.

"Are these the two little babies?"

The old man in the black robe had a hoarse voice, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

He greedily scanned Gu Yan and Li Qingge with his emerald green eyes, and finally his gaze passed over the two of them, landing deep inside the open doorway.

There, a phantom image of a pitch-black giant sword was emanating an aura that drove people mad.

"It truly is a priceless treasure!"

A glint of light flashed in the old man's eyes, and he slammed his bone staff heavily on the ground, his tone urgent: "Elder Wang, you were right, this demonic energy is at least a Nascent Soul level inheritance!"

Elder Wang's severed arm had stopped bleeding, his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with resentment as he looked at Gu Yan: "Elder Tuo, this kid is very cunning and is also proficient in some unorthodox methods. Be careful not to fall into his trap."

The old man, known as Elder Camel, sneered and said disdainfully, "A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator is nothing but an ant before me, even if the heavens were turned upside down. Elder Wang, you're really getting more and more out of touch with reality."

Having said that, Elder Tuo took a step forward, shrinking the distance to an inch, instantly crossing a distance of more than ten feet, and appeared directly in the center of the square.

An immense pressure, like Mount Tai crashing down, slammed into Gu Yan and his companion.

"Little brats, hand over that jade box, and I might consider leaving you with a complete corpse."

Old Camel stretched out his withered hand and grabbed at the void.

The surrounding mist slowly solidified, transforming into a giant green ghost claw that blocked all their escape routes.

Gu Yan's face turned pale and his legs trembled under the pressure, looking as if he was about to kneel down at any moment.

"Please spare me, senior! Please spare me, senior!"

Gu Yan held the empty jade box in both hands as if it were a hot potato: "This thing is too strange! This junior is not worthy of enjoying it! If you want it, I'll give it to you right away!"

With that, he used all his strength to throw the jade box in his hand toward Old Camel.

At the same time, he winked at Li Qingge, conveying a message: Retreat!

The two rolled to either side with perfect coordination.

"You're smart to know what's good for you."

A hint of disdain flashed in the old man's eyes as he reached out to catch the jade box that had been thrown at him.

However, just as the jade box was about to fall into his hands...

"burst!"

Gu Yan hid behind the stone pillar and parted his lips slightly.

He had already placed a specially made divine fire and thunder talisman inside the jade box.

"boom!"

A loud bang.

The jade box exploded in Old Camel's palm.

Although the power of the explosion was at most a tickle to a late-stage Golden Core expert, causing a few of his fingers to turn black.

But this sudden change, and the shock of finding a ball of flame instead of a treasure in the jade box, enraged Old Camel.

"You little bastard! How dare you play me!"

Old Camel roared, and green energy surged around him, causing his black robe to billow like a sail.

He brandished his bone staff, and the rubble and weapons on the ground were drawn by an invisible force, transforming into a storm of steel that swept indiscriminately in all directions.

"Now!"

A cold glint flashed in Gu Yan's eyes.

He slammed his hands together, interlacing his fingers to form a strange hand seal.

"The world of paper art is a labyrinth!"

The dozen or so paper figures that had been buried underground burst into flames at that moment.

The fog over the square suddenly changed from grayish-white to a ghastly green.

Space was distorted dramatically.

Old Tuo was staring intently at Gu Yan and Li Qingge, but he noticed that their figures suddenly became blurry, like reflections rippled in water.

The surging steel storm seemed to have lost its target, and strangely changed direction, heading straight for Elder Wang and the others who were following closely behind.

"What's going on?!"

Elder Wang was shocked and quickly used his remaining right hand to summon the green wooden shield to defend himself.

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of impacts rang out, and Elder Wang was so shaken that his blood and qi surged, causing him to stagger backward, blood spilling from his mouth once more.

"Old Camel! You've hit the wrong person!"

Elder Wang cried out in grief and indignation.

Old Camel also looked astonished.

He was clearly aiming at those two little kids, so why did the attack seem to hit a mirror and reflect back to them?

"Is it a formation?"

As a seasoned veteran, Old Camel immediately reacted: "A mere trick, yet you dare to show off your meager skills before an expert! Break it!"

He pulled a black command flag from his pocket and waved it forcefully into the air.

A foul-smelling black wind howled out, attempting to disperse the eerie mist.

However, Gu Yan's paper world is not an ordinary fog.

Every wisp of mist here is imbued with the spiritual properties of paper-crafting.

As the black wind blew, the mist did not dissipate; instead, it conjured up countless figures of Gu Yan and Li Qingge.

Some of them were crying out, some were begging for mercy, and some were sneering.

Hundreds and thousands of shadows intertwined in the square, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

"Princess, make your move! Elder Wang's position is three zhang to the left front!"

Gu Yan's voice echoed in Li Qingge's mind.

Without any hesitation, Li Qingge merged with her sword, transforming into a chilling beam of light that pierced into the mist.

Her goal was clear: it's better to break one finger than to injure all ten.

Old Camel is too tough to chew, so let's kill Elder Wang first!

Elder Wang was frantically trying to fend off the rebounding attack when he suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness coming from his side.

"not good!"

He instinctively tried to dodge, but suddenly several pale white paper hands reached out from the surrounding mist and grabbed his ankles tightly.

"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"

Elder Wang looked down and saw that countless paper arms had grown from the soil that did not exist on the ground.

Because of that brief delay, the cold light had already arrived.

"Pfft!"

The sound of the longsword piercing flesh was exceptionally clear.

Li Qingge's sword pierced Elder Wang's left chest with pinpoint accuracy, penetrating his lung.

The extremely cold sword energy erupted instantly, freezing half of Elder Wang's body.

"ah!!!"

Elder Wang let out a piercing scream, desperately activating his golden core. A burst of emerald green true essence erupted, forcefully blasting Li Qingge away.

Li Qingge used the momentum to retreat, her figure disappearing into the mist once more.

"Elder Wang!"

The few disciples of the Green Bamboo Sect who followed then realized what was happening and cried out in alarm, wanting to rush forward to help.

"Don't move!"

Gu Yan's voice rang in their ears like a ghost.

"Whoever makes a move dies."

The next second, a disciple who had just taken a step suddenly clutched his neck and collapsed.

A thin, hair-like bloodstain appeared on his throat, unnoticed by anyone.

Behind him, a transparent paper talisman was slowly burning away in the air.

At this, the remaining disciples panicked completely, huddled together back to back, and dared not move at all.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Upon seeing this, Old Camel was consumed by rage.

I, a dignified late-stage Golden Core cultivator, was actually tricked to this extent by two juniors!

If word gets out, will he still be able to survive in the cultivation world?

A madness flashed in Old Camel's eyes. He bit his tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the bone staff in his hand.

"Amidst the decay and flourishing of countless bones, the earth dragon rises anew!"

"Boom!"

The entire square began to tremble violently.

The reddish-brown ground churned like waves, and countless bone spikes burst forth from the ground, indiscriminately piercing every living thing on the surface.

This is a wide-range, indiscriminate attack spell that doesn't require aiming at all.

This is a wide-range, indiscriminate attack spell that doesn't require aiming at all.

The paper figures that Gu Yan had placed on the ground turned to dust in the face of the earth's tremors, and the eerie green mist also dissipated.

Visibility returned, but the situation became even more dangerous.

Gu Yan and Li Qingge's figures were completely exposed, and the two were desperately dodging the bone spikes that kept piercing their feet.

"We've found you!"

Old Camel grinned maliciously, his figure flashing like lightning, appearing above Gu Yan's head in the blink of an eye.

This time, he showed no mercy.

The bone staff, carrying immense force and imbued with a dense aura of death, crashed down upon them!

This blow was enough to smash Gu Yan into a pulp.

Gu Yan had nowhere to hide; he was surrounded by bone spikes, and his escape route had been completely cut off.

Upon seeing this, Li Qingge was about to offer assistance when she was held back by the severely injured and berserk Elder Wang.

"Kid, die!"

The murderous intent in Old Camel's eyes was about to solidify into a tangible form.

At this boundary between life and death, Gu Yan raised his head. Instead of the expected fear and despair, his face bore an extremely strange smile.

That was the hunter's smile as he watched the wild beast step into the trap.

Gu Yan suddenly tore open his shirt, revealing a golden paper talisman stuck to his chest.

On the paper talisman was drawn a small figure with its eyes closed.

The little man's appearance bore a striking resemblance to the Sword Burial Venerable deep within the main hall, with seven-tenths of his features being similar!

"Gods and demons lend their way, please let the gods possess me!"

Gu Yan roared and punched himself in the chest.

"Bang!"

The golden paper talisman burned.

An aura that did not belong to Gu Yan, and even surpassed the Nascent Soul stage, suddenly erupted from his body.

It was a sword intent that was pure to the extreme and sharp to the extreme.

Gu Yan's eyes suddenly became blank, and then a sense of vicissitude appeared in his pupils.

Facing the falling bone staff, he neither dodged nor avoided it, but simply slowly raised his right hand and gently tapped it with his index finger.

The movement was so casual, as if brushing dust off a sleeve.

"bite."

A soft sound.

That bone staff, powerful enough to shatter rocks, crumbled inch by inch under Gu Yan's single finger!

"What?!"

Old Camel's pupils dilated violently as an unprecedented life-or-death crisis surged into his heart.

"You are too weak."

Gu Yan spoke slowly, his voice becoming gentle and refined, yet exuding an undeniable air of authority.

This voice was exactly the same as that of the Sword Burial Venerable inside the main hall!

Gu Yan changed his fingers into a palm and slapped the old hunchback in the air.

"boom!"

The old man looked as if he had been slapped by a mountain.

His protective true energy couldn't even last ten breaths before he was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing heavily into a stone pillar in the distance.

"Wow!"

The old hunchback coughed up blood, his eyes filled with horror as he looked at Gu Yan, stammering, "The will of a Nascent Soul cultivator?!"

The square was deathly silent.

Even Elder Wang, who was locked in combat with Li Qingge, was startled by this sudden turn of events and stopped fighting, staring blankly at the young man standing there, his clothes torn, yet exuding an aura of overwhelming power.

Gu Yan slowly withdrew his hand, his body swayed, and the terrifying aura gradually faded away, his eyes regaining their clarity.

He grimaced in pain, his face as white as a sheet, but he forced himself to remain calm, thinking to himself, "The aftereffects of this summoning spell are too strong; it almost tore my whole body apart."

That move just now wasn't actually invoking a deity.

Instead, he used a wisp of the sword intent of the Burial Sword Venerable that he had secretly copied from the chess game, combined with the deceptive nature of the paper-making technique, to forcibly simulate an attack.

Although it only has the power for one strike, it will be weak after that.

But the effect of this strike undoubtedly shocked everyone present.

Elder Tuo was seriously injured, Elder Wang was terrified, and the other disciples were trembling with fear.

Gu Yan managed to stay upright and, with his hands behind his back, took a step forward amidst the horrified gazes of the two Golden Core experts.

He cleared his throat, his eyes looking down dismissively, and said indifferently:

"Who else?"

At this moment, despite being a Foundation Establishment cultivator at his last gasp, he forced himself to project an aura of invincibility.

Elder Wang subconsciously took a step back.

Even the old camel, embedded in the stone pillar in the distance, struggled to move, afraid that the kid would come at him again.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

However, just as Gu Yan was preparing to scare them away.

A sudden change occurred.

From deep within the main hall, a metallic scraping sound suddenly rang out.

"Click...click..."

That was the sound of chains breaking.

Immediately afterwards, a red mist surged out from the open gate and quickly covered the entire square.

All the remains of the weapons began to tremble the moment they came into contact with the red mist.

A surge of mental energy, filled with madness, brutality, and bloodlust, shattered everyone's mental defenses.

The voice of the Sword Burial Venerable, tinged with anxiety, boomed in Gu Yan's mind: "Boy! Come back quickly! The Demon Sword has gone out of control!"

Gu Yan's expression changed.

Before he could move, he saw the heavily injured old man with the hunchback, shrouded in the red mist, his eyes suddenly turning bloodshot, and his previously listless aura beginning to expand strangely.

"Power...this is...power..."

The old camel crawled out of the stone pillar, letting out a low growl like a wild beast.

His wounds were healing at a visible speed, and black scales were gradually growing back.

It was obvious that he had been corrupted by the sword intent of the demonic sword and turned into a puppet who only knew how to kill!

"roar!"

Old Camel let out a roar and charged at Gu Yan again.

This time, he felt no fear, only a thirst for killing.