Chapter 44 – Kill and scatter the ashes in one go
The fireball, condensed to its extreme, had turned into a deep black color, its heat distorting the air and melting the ground.
Xu Hei didn't care how many defensive measures this person had; this strike would turn him to ashes!
"Die!"
Xu Hei spat out a mouthful of black flames, which swept forward and shot towards the wall. At the same time, he activated the Gravity Technique from a distance, firmly locking the opponent in place, preventing any movement.
"Hmm?"
The beggar behind the wall immediately widened his eyes. As soon as he realized an attack was coming, his body was bound by an invisible force—this was the basic spell, Gravity Technique!
With his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, he could easily break free from this level of Gravity Technique, but it still slowed him down slightly.
"Ha!"
With a low shout, the beggar stepped forward. The fireball exploded behind him, striking his back. A series of light circles lit up on his back—this was the protective light of a Magical Treasure.
However, the power of the fireball was truly beyond imagination. The protective light quickly filled with cracks.
The jade pendant on his chest shattered, forming a water sphere that enveloped him, preventing the flames from touching him.
Just as the beggar was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the ground beside him exploded. A large number of talismans activated simultaneously, bombarding him like a torrential storm.
"What the hell is this?"
The beggar's face changed dramatically. As lightning, fire, and wind blades shot towards him, he almost instinctively placed a copper bell in front of him. But it was instantly slashed apart by three black-gold scales.
"No!!"
The beggar let out a miserable scream as various attacks descended, completely engulfing his figure.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."
The ground shook, and the entire street's buildings collapsed as if the sky had fallen.
All of this, though seemingly slow, happened in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Yiduo couldn't understand until his death why a mid-stage Spirit Communion demonic beast would launch such an outrageous attack.
His original plan was to sacrifice a puppet clone and join forces with Yu Qiang to kill that black dog. Even if they failed, he could use the opportunity to get rid of Yu Qiang and escape this burden.
But he never expected his true body to be caught!
"Fireball Technique! Fireball Technique!"
"Thunder Seal!"
Xu Hei continued to bombard the ruins in front of him relentlessly.
His Divine Sense could still detect a faint trace of the opponent's aura, though it was very weak.
"Thunder!"
Xu Hei activated the Thunder Seal, sending bolts of lightning towards the source of the aura, lifting the ground layer by layer, as if the sky was collapsing. The terrifying vibrations could be clearly heard even outside the East District.
Although Linjiang City often experienced bloody battles, such commotion was rare, causing nearby residents to flee in panic to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"Which gang is fighting?"
"This noise, it must be at least twenty late-stage Qi Refining cultivators clashing!"
The distant crowd looked towards the east, their hearts trembling.
It took a full stick of incense's time for the chaos to subside.
Xu Hei took a deep breath, exhausted and drained. The faint aura finally dissipated under his continuous bombardment.
Even after it dissipated, he continued to attack for a long time before sticking on an Invisibility Talisman and crawling forward to the massive crater.
The entire street's buildings were gone, and the crater looked like it had been bombarded countless times, full of pits and darkness. The person's body was completely gone, not even ashes remained, and the storage bag was blown to bits.
However, a few items remained intact.
There was a broken copper bell, a set of silver inner armor, a black jade stone, and a pile of unknown metal materials.
And Xu Hei's three scales.
Xu Hei stuck on an Invisibility Talisman, collected the treasures, swallowed the scales, and quickly left.
"These treasures didn't break after such a long attack; they must be extraordinary," Xu Hei thought excitedly.
He was almost certain that the beggar was the true body of that handsome young man, and the young man was just a puppet.
This person's life-saving treasures were indeed numerous. Fortunately, Xu Hei had prepared in advance; otherwise, if he hadn't killed him in one strike, he would have escaped.
"This guy is really afraid of death, using a puppet to deceive people. Haha, but I do admire this tactic!" Xu Hei chuckled to himself.
…………
At this moment, Hei Huang's dog paws were groping the heads of two people.
"Damn! It's a fake!"
He threw Zhao Yiduo's body aside, cursing.
However, he did find something in Yu Qiang's mind.
"After all this effort, I only got the first layer of puppet techniques. The Heavenly Puppet Sect is really stingy, not even teaching the full technique!"
Hei Huang's mouth twitched.
Since he had obtained a dog's body, he couldn't move around the human world as a dog; he needed a human identity.
In the short term, he couldn't perform body snatching, so he had to resort to puppet techniques to create a human-shaped puppet.
That's why he targeted the disciples of the Heavenly Puppet Sect.
Killing and soul-searching was the most convenient method.
However, he only found the first layer of puppet techniques, which could only create some mechanical beasts, not human puppets.
"There was some commotion over there just now, probably caused by that brat Xu Hei."
After destroying the evidence, Hei Huang donned a black robe and mask and swiftly left.
…………
Inside an inn.
Members of the Blood Wolf Gang crowded into Xu Hei's guest room, with shadows of people inside and outside, laying ambushes in layers.
The leader, with a pale face and cold eyes filled with killing intent, was none other than the innkeeper, Blood Wolf.
"Boss, that short cultivator is back! He's on his way!"
A black-clad subordinate ran over and reported respectfully.
Blood Wolf immediately stood up, sneering, "Good! Daring to dine and dash, I've finally caught you. Today, I'll make you vomit everything you ate and kneel before me, begging for mercy!"
A stick of incense later.
Blood Wolf, covered in blood, knelt on the ground, continuously kowtowing and begging for mercy.
As for Xu Hei, he hung from the beam, not even glancing at them.
"Senior, please spare me. I was blind and offended you. I deserve to die! I deserve to die! I'll do anything you ask!"
Blood Wolf kowtowed and slapped himself, his intestines turning green with regret for provoking these two fiends.
They had dined and dashed, and he thought they were weak, but they turned out to be so fierce.
"If you want to live, give me a reason," Hei Huang said coldly.
Blood Wolf trembled all over, taking out a piece of paper and a token, "This is the deed to the inn, and this is the token of the Blood Wolf Gang, and a censer for contacting the Heavenly Puppet Sect disciples..."
Blood Wolf took out various items from his storage bag, introducing them one by one.
"Not bad! I won't kill you; you can leave," Hei Huang nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Senior, for your mercy!"
Blood Wolf, as if granted amnesty, scrambled towards the door.
Xu Hei suddenly spat out a fire, setting Blood Wolf ablaze. He fell to the ground, screaming.
"He said he wouldn't kill you; I didn't say that," Xu Hei said.
"......"
Moments later, Blood Wolf was burned to ashes.
Xu Hei went up and picked up the miscellaneous items.
Hei Huang hesitated for a moment and said, "Did you take care of Zhao Yiduo's true body?"
Xu Hei was stunned, "Who's Zhao Yiduo?"
"The disciple of the Heavenly Puppet Sect?"
"What are you talking about?"
Xu Hei pretended to be confused.
Seeing that the other party wouldn't admit it, Hei Huang had no choice but to come clean, explaining what had happened.
He also admitted his mistake, saying he had kept some treasures for himself but had helped Xu Hei exchange them for pills to make up for it.
"Enough with the nonsense. You killed two Heavenly Puppet Sect disciples; shouldn't you be running? I'm leaving first," Xu Hei said.