But then the fire cloud began to pour down a torrential rain of fire.
Deep blue flecks of fire fell from the cloud like a deluge, densely packed without leaving a single gap.
As the drops hit the ground, they instantly melted bowl-sized pits into the bluestone slabs, and the lingering deep blue flames penetrated the earth, burning their way down in a tunnel that seemed intent on reaching the depths of the Underworld.
Xing Hechou, who faced the rain of fire head-on, had no time to dodge and was about to be engulfed by it when a figure enshrouded in golden light charged directly into the rain toward him.
Monk Hui Bin, who normally possessed the delicate features of a handsome youth, had now transformed into a demonic, muscular figure. His bodybuilder-like physique caused his grey monk's robe to bulge as if it were about to burst at the seams.
He extended his arms left and right above his head, joining them at the top with his palms facing upward and the middle fingers of each hand touching. A brilliant golden light radiated from the center of his palms, spreading outward like a giant bronze bell encompassing him.
[Skill Name: Golden Bell Shield (Level 3)]
[Type: Fighting]
[Special Effect: Actively blocks physical and Energy attacks from the outside world]
[Consumption: 20% stamina]
[Learning Condition: Strength Attribute must be at or above 8 points, Intelligence Attribute must be at or above 6 points, Perception Attribute must be at or above 7 points]
[Note: Indomitable as Vajra, strengthen the spirit through refinement]
Monk Hui Bin, protected by the Golden Bell Shield, charged into the rain of fire, casually kicking a Bronze Halberd embedded in a beam to Xing Hechou.
Xing Hechou caught the halberd. Holding it high above his head, he spun the bronze weapon like a propeller, briefly shielding himself against the fire rain until Monk Hui Bin reached his side, both now covered by the Golden Bell Shield.
The fire rain clicked and clattered against the bronze bell. Unable to penetrate, it quietly slid off its walls.
Wang Guan's face was as dark as still water. "Die!"
He swiped his palm toward Xing Hechou. In his palm hovered a Talisman with flickering lightning, ready to burst into an immense blast of thunder inside the Daxiong Bao Hall in the next second.
Palm Thunder!
WHOOSH—
The sound of cleaving air headed straight for Wang Guan's forehead. He had no time to think as he raised his still-accumulating Palm Thunder in front of his brow.
BOOM!
An arrow released from its string hit Wang Guan's palm. The half-charged Palm Thunder Talisman was directly ignited. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, brightening the hall as if it were broad daylight.
Wang Guan's palm was blasted through, leaving a huge hole through which the scene on the other side could be seen.
"AHHHHHH!"
Wang Guan clutched his wrist, his face twisted as if possessed by demons. He raised his head to look into the distance.
There, Liu Wu Dai, dressed in Night Clothes, resembled an agile and nimble black cat, crouching quietly behind a pile of rubble under the harsh moonlight, drawing his bow and readying another arrow.
The bow was a Hoyt Hunting Compound Bow, with an 85-pound draw weight and an IBO speed of 332 feet per second.
The arrow was an Aluminium Carbon Composite Hunting Heavy Arrow, with a 300 spine and weighing 850 grains.
With modern industrial capabilities, the draw weight of hunting compound bows could easily be increased to 90, 100, or even more than 100 pounds.
They could, but there was no need—because 80-pound class compound bows could already easily tear apart the flesh and bones of any creature, hunting predators like bears, lions, or even elephants, the apex predators of the terrestrial food chain.
So, what targets were bows with higher draw weights designed for?
Liu Wu Dai's answer was: demons.
Drawing the bow, pulling the string, the compound wheels turned smoothly. With a "ZING," the hunting heavy arrow was released, shooting once again toward Wang Guan.
The arrowhead spun, the shaft quivered, and a Thunder Python Electric Snake, as fine as a hair, clung to the shaft, pushing the arrow to accelerate even faster, tearing through the air and breaking forth.
Almost instantaneously, a cold, alien sense of crisis stabbed at Wang Guan's heart and lungs. It was a fear he hadn't felt in a long time, this sensation of hovering on the edge of life and death.
The last time had been at the execution ground on the outskirts of South Zhili city, just as the Executioner's ghostly blade was about to fall.
Without any hesitation, Wang Guan abandoned his human form, transforming into a towering, black-faced ape donning a Purple-gold Kasaya. One hand held a Buddhist bowl and the other wielded a Demon-Subduing Pestle—part demon, part Buddha, a demon in Buddha's guise.
The Vajra Devil Subduing Pestle, thick as a pillar, stopped the speeding arrow, but the cost was a chunk of the Demon-Subduing Pestle being blasted off, and the web of his hand was half-shattered as well.
"Two rotting palms, four powerful foes," the Mountain Demon said. Unfazed by the festering wounds in its palms, it cracked a ferocious smile, its beastly visage filled with bloodthirst and brutality. "You all... are quite impressive."
"Hold on! Four powerful foes?"
A voice broke the Mountain Demon's concentration. Li Ang raised his arm high, like a primary school student eager to ask a question in class. "Bro, have you forgotten about me?"
You? the Mountain Demon thought.
Its momentum faltered. It recalled the young man with the strange Mask, who seemed to be the decision-maker of this group. Yet, in the Mountain Demon's perception, he seemed to be the weakest of them all... A mere little flesh worm, of no consequence, of no importance.
The Mountain Demon didn't bother with him any further. Holding the Vajra Devil Subduing Pestle, it charged at Xing Hechou like a toppling mountain or a falling pillar. Meanwhile, outside the hall, the four Fierce Ghost Palanquin Drivers and the Ghost in white, as if under some command, surged toward Li Ang.
"Sigh..."
Li Ang let out a forlorn sigh and pulled out a Battle Axe and a dagger.
Compared to his companions, these two weapons he bought from Taobao seem rather shabby, he thought. But luckily, I have one more "cheat equipment."
As Li Ang watched the five Fierce Ghosts charge headlong toward him, he lazily said, "Miss Chai, it's time to punch back in."
"Mhm."
A barely perceptible female voice sounded from within him.
One arm, then two, then three... a total of eight arms extended from Li Ang's spine at his lower back. These slender, elongated limbs, reminiscent of a stick insect's, propped against the ground, hoisting Li Ang into midair. From a distance, he looked like a spider sprawling on the ground with eight legs.
The five ghastly apparitions flinched at this macabre and bizarre sight. This thing actually looks more monstrous than we do! they thought.
The Fierce Ghosts were shaken. Their pace slowed slightly, and before they could halt, they saw Li Ang, resembling an eight-legged spider, waving those slender arms at a ghastly frequency as he quickly advanced toward them.
The spider-like limbs rose high. THRUST!
The Green-faced Fanged Ghost was impaled from head to toe by one of the slender limbs. It was unable to speak, gasping weakly a few times before its body twitched and stilled.
A beautiful head emerged from the front of Li Ang's chest. Chai Cuiqiao's neck, like a serpent's, stretched out considerably. Her cherry lips gently sucked at the Green-faced Fanged Ghost.
ZII-LURP.
The Green-faced Fanged Ghost was swallowed by Chai Cuiqiao like a milkshake. Her snake-like neck even clearly showed a human silhouette passing down.
"Delicious," Chai Cuiqiao chirped, licking her lips and blinking her eyes playfully, her expression innocently adorable.
"AHHHHHHH!"
The remaining four Fierce Ghosts nearly wet themselves out of fear and lost all will to fight. They turned and ran. Even the demons lingering in the temple courtyard were scared witless, all rushing out.
Especially the foxes that had taken a Glass Marble from Li Ang; they hastily dropped the marbles and fled with their families from the Solitary Cold Temple. It wasn't until they reached the forest and looked back that they realized some of the demons in the courtyard were still spinning in place.
With the experience imparted by Chai Cuiqiao, a long-standing Fierce Ghost, the Illusion Technique triggered by Cat's Eye could now deceive not just humans and ghosts, but also demons and other dark creatures. The "fusion" of Li Ang and Chai Cuiqiao combined their Spiritual Power with Cat's Eye, temporarily creating a ghostly maze that covered the entire courtyard, achieving an effect far greater than the sum of their parts.
"Why the rush to flee?" Li Ang said leisurely as his spider-like limbs moved swiftly, precisely picking out those demons at the feast who had boasted of eating humans. One by one, he used his slender limbs to impale them.
Eventually, the stick-insect-like limbs were adorned with demons, akin to thin straws threaded with wild strawberries—a truly spectacular sight.
"I haven't eaten this well in a long time," Chai Cuiqiao murmured to herself as she lifted her limbs high, stuffing the demons into her throat and gulping them down whole.
So happy! she thought contentedly.
The fantastical, bizarre spectacle of one human and one ghost devouring demons had a profound psychological impact on the fox family outside the temple. Many of the young fox cubs trembled violently, likely never able to look a "spider"—that common insect—in the eye again for the rest of their lives.