Section 059: Isn't it as easy as having hands? What kind of divine being is this? An army of one? [Eight thousand words!]

Xu Ran spread his hands, a warm smile blooming on his face: "...Champion? Isn't that something you can easily get just by using your hands?"

Mighty Li Wei: "..."
Auntie Xiao Miao: "..."
Handsome Fu Lin: "..."

Hearing Xu Ran's seemingly brazen remark that "getting the championship is as easy as using one's hands"...

The three of them were rendered speechless simultaneously: "Were you corrupted by Ye Ping, or were you always this weird?"

"I remember the director doesn't have this kind of personality, and the cold-faced Li Qinghong certainly doesn't... For you to be warped like this, it can only be the pollution of that brat Ye Ping."

The three of them began to ponder.

Ye Ping defended himself: "I have never warped him. He was just speaking the truth just now. To him, the championship really is just something you can get with your hands."

The three of them said in unison: "And you still say you didn't warp him?!"

Ye Ping smiled without explaining: "Alright, I won't banter with you anymore. Xiao Ran's trial is what matters!"

Saying this, his expression turned serious: "Everyone, this trial will rely on your protection. Even if we encounter danger, you must keep Xu Ran safe."

Li Wei: "We will definitely fulfill the director's instructions with all our might."

"However... what is the content of the trial?"

Ye Ping's gaze shifted over, and Xu Ran calmly spoke: "I want to slay 10,000 ghost creatures with vital energy exceeding 100,000 points. Then, I need to kill fifty crystal beasts with 150,000 points of vital energy. Once those are killed, the trial is complete."

The three of them wore eccentric expressions: "Um... Are we supposed to beat the ghost creatures half to death, and then you deliver the finishing blow?"

Xu Ran shook his head: "No, I will complete everything myself. You are only responsible for protecting me from behind."

The three of them wore astonished expressions: "Ah? Are you serious?"

Ye Ping waved his hand: "No more ahs, let's move out."

As his voice fell, Ye Ping and Xu Ran directly climbed into the seven-seater special vehicle.

Li Wei, Cai Miao, and Fu Lin stood in place, looking at each other for a while with baffled, eccentric, complex, and above all, bewildered expressions.

Ye Ping had been pulling off a bit too many baffling stunts lately. He even came up with loaning a championship!

And along with his little nephew, he was actually spouting nonsense too...

Speechless!

Seeing the three of them looking at each other in place, Ye Ping rolled down the car window: "Hurry up and get in, stop dawdling. 10,000 ghost creatures with vital energy over 100,000 points is going to take a while to slaughter."

"Alright, coming."

The three of them sat in the very back row.

Li Wei: "Did we hear that right? Does the little nephew really have the strength to kill mountain-realm ghosts?"

Fu Lin: "He's only eight years old, his vital energy is at most 6,000-plus points. Back when we were his age, struggling to kill a monster with 20,000 vital energy points was already exhausting, okay?"

Cai Miao: "Not to mention eight-year-old us, even twelve-year-old us would give monsters with 100,000 vital energy points a wide berth."

Ye Ping smiled without explaining.

Seeing Ye Ping putting on an air of aloof superiority, the three of them leaned over the back of Xu Ran's seat.

Auntie Xiao Miao: "Little nephew, give us a hint. What's your vital energy count right now?"

Xu Ran: "Can I not say?"

Auntie Xiao Miao persevered: "Then what about your natural constitution? You can at least tell us your constitution, right?"

Xu Ran: "Comprehension constitution."

The three of them looked at each other in dismay: "Comprehension constitution? Isn't that used for scientific research? Um... What is your heaven-bestowed divine ability?"

Xu Ran: "It should be the Substitute Paper Doll..."

The three of them looked at each other, their eyes holding only one message: Substitute Paper Doll? Sounded like it wasn't anything special...

Just as they wanted to continue interrogating him to satisfy their curiosity.

Ye Ping waved his hand: "Stop asking. Once we hit the battlefield in a moment, keep your eyes wide open and witness the methods of this year's champion—no, the strongest champion since the establishment of the Demigod Kindergarten."

The three of them: "..."

Good grief, the bragging is getting more and more outrageous! Did they really need to exaggerate like this?

There had been forty-nine generations of the Demigod Kindergarten, spanning about 150 years... The strongest champion in all history? Is that even possible?

The suspicious expressions on the faces of the three grew stronger and stronger...

The special vehicle drove all the way toward the outskirts of the city. From far away, explosions could be heard echoing from the edge of the horizon—that was where Huaxia cultivators and monsters were battling.

The vehicle stopped.

The driver turned around: " Senior experts, I must trouble you to walk a short distance. The battle ahead is deadlocked, and the car cannot be damaged."

"Understood. We'll get off here, you can make a U-turn and head back."

The five of them got out of the car.

Xu Ran, Ye Ping, Li Wei, Auntie Xiao Miao, and Handsome Uncle Fu Lin all cast their gazes squarely toward the smoking city in the distance.

Ye Ping: "Just the weakest monsters leaked by the powerhouses have actually destroyed the outer city of the safe zone..."

The combat method of the safe zone operated like a sieve.

Peak-realm powerhouses fought against the strongest monsters on the defense line outside the safe zone, concentrating entirely on their battle without the mental capacity to slay mountain-realm monsters.

Mountain-realm monsters would encounter mountain-realm cultivators at the second sieve layer and get entangled by them.

Mountain-realm cultivators would in turn let hill-realm monsters slip through...

By the time they reached the outer city of the safe zone, human hill-realm cultivators would form a third defense line to fend off the monsters.

Yet never would they have expected that this wave of flying-head ghosts would cause the third defense line to collapse, sending soaring flames into the buildings of the outer city—a tragedy of the highest order!

Xu Ran narrowed his eyes.

He saw the ghost creatures!

Wreaking havoc inside the outer city of the safe zone!

Those were purplish-black decapitated heads flying mid-air!

Tiger heads, crocodile heads, snake heads, bear heads, and rotting human heads!

Their features differed, but each was just a lonely head with a neatly severed neck where blood vessels were visible, yet no blood flowed.

Their eyes bulged out, covered in bloodshot veins, resembling wrongfully killed ghosts that had died suddenly from a plague outbreak.

They possessed violent tempers, opening their bloody maws to reveal rows of fangs, emitting a mocking laughter from their throats harsher than the clashing of cracked cymbals, sending waves of mental pollution that induced nausea and dizziness.

"Get lost, you bastards!"

Human cultivators roared angrily, hurling a ball of golden spellcraft toward a flying-head ghost—that was a bear's head! The bear-head ghost neither dodged nor evaded, letting the purification spell smash its head to pieces.

However.

Scarcely ten seconds later, the fragments of the bear-head ghost rapidly gathered and re-glued themselves into a complete form...

Its bulging, bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the human cultivator.

Emitting mental pollution that filled human cultivators with nausea, fury, and despair.

Xu Ran raised an eyebrow: "Ugh... truly bizarre, as expected."

Li Wei: "Bizarre, right? This kind of ghost is definitely a new breed, with extremely weird abilities that are completely impossible to eradicate. Even with purification spells smashing them to pieces, they merely take a little extra time to glue themselves back together and resurrect."

"The upper echelons of the Sixth District suspect that some sort of ultra-tier ghost creature is manipulating them from behind..."

"By the way, it seems like they are searching for something."

Xu Ran was curious: "Searching for what?"

Li Wei: "Unknown. It seems there is something important inside the safe zone. Look at those flying-head ghosts, their eyes are wide open as they search."

Xu Ran raised an eyebrow. Could it be that mysterious little girl in blue?

There was a certain possibility.

What on earth was that mysterious little girl in blue? Perhaps she was extremely important to the ghost creatures?

Should he go back and look for her?

Just as he was pondering.

Fu Lin chimed in: "Rest assured, at most they'll let them destroy the outer city. They can never break into the inner city. We will block them."

"Besides, three extermination squads have already gone to search for its true body. But after killing over twenty suspicious ultra-tier flying-head ghosts, they still haven't found the true body. Its true body is just as hard to kill as its clones."

Xu Ran raised an eyebrow: "Oh."

Clones, huh?

It was a pity he had only just learned [Super Explosive Slash] and hadn't grinded it up to [Dimensional Reduction Slash], otherwise he could ignore the clones, strike straight at the origin, and give it a taste of true shock.

Xu Ran smiled faintly.

"Never mind all that, let's stabilize the outer city first."

Once the outer city was stabilized and the advance of the flying-head ghosts was repelled, he could return to look for the mysterious blue-clothed girl and trace the root of the matter.

As he spoke.

Xu Ran's figure flickered directly, entering stealth mode.

Seeing Xu Ran vanish into thin air without leaving the slightest trace, the three of them were greatly startled.

Li Wei: "...???"
Auntie Xiao Miao: "...???"
Handsome Fu Lin: "...???"

"In... Invisibility? A heaven-bestowed divine ability? A method vastly superior to the Shadow Assassin! This kind of heaven-bestowed divine ability... terrifying!"

"And we didn't even spot any flaws!"

"Such a monstrous concealment method?!"

The three of them drew in deep breaths. Possessing this kind of heaven-bestowed divine ability made one practically the king of assassination and reconnaissance!

Regarding the excessive fuss made by the three dimwits.

Ye Ping smiled without a word, his face brimming with unfathomable mystery.

The next second.

Xu Ran, now in stealth mode, produced a substitute paper doll and tossed it in front of the group.

The substitute paper doll inflated like a balloon, expanding into a lifelike, breathing human being.

Vivid and animated, virtually indistinguishable from the real thing!

Had they not witnessed the transformation process of the substitute paper doll, Li Wei and the others would never have been able to spot any anomaly.

Li Wei drew in a deep breath: "Is this the heaven-bestowed divine ability mentioned earlier, the Substitute Paper Doll?"

Cai Miao: "Something's not right. Wasn't that invisibility technique just now a heaven-bestowed divine ability? That's definitely a heaven-bestowed divine ability, but what is the meaning of the paper doll right in front of us? Hold on, my CPU is getting fried!"

Fu Lin: "What connection is there between the comprehension constitution, the invisibility technique heaven-bestowed divine ability, and the substitute paper doll heaven-bestowed divine ability? My neck is itching, my brain is about to fall out."

They were utterly incapable of coming up with a rational explanation.

Invisibility technique heaven-bestowed divine ability + Substitute Paper Doll heaven-bestowed divine ability?

Li Wei: "Two heaven-bestowed divine abilities? No way! Two hundred years have passed since the advent of the New Era, and no one has ever possessed two heaven-bestowed divine abilities! Is this a joke?! Am I seeing things, or is this actually a hallucinatory technique?"

Xu Ran's heaven-defying methods caused the three of them to jump in alarm, chattering noisily.

The substitute Xu Ran produced a mask, keeping his lips pursed as if he were mute.

However, from right behind the three of them came Xu Ran's youthful voice: "I'm right behind you, and the one in front is the substitute paper doll. If anyone attacks it, Uncle Li Wei, just cast a shield and act it out."

The three of them: "..."

Good grief, using the invisibility technique to hide behind us while putting a substitute paper doll out front to bamboozle the enemy—isn't this a bit too cautious? Do you really need protection?

Isn't this kid simply shady to the extreme?

The three of them wore eccentric expressions and glanced at Ye Ping.

Ye Ping spread his hands: "Don't look at me, the director just dotes on him, terrified that he might get hurt..."

While the four were speaking.

The substitute Xu Ran darted toward the battlefield.

And his speed was not slow!

In the midst of his flight, five assassin mantises, ten armored heavy-hammer-wielding generals, five clawed eagles, five tigers, five bears, fifteen modao-wielding generals, two bat origami, and three little bees—a total of fifty core origami creations—scattered outward, expanding rapidly against the wind.

The leaf-sized bat origami flew two hundred meters high into the air, circling at high speed to provide a panoramic view of the entire outer city battlefield.

The mantises hid behind the armored warriors, holding off on attacking for now.

The modao-wielding generals stood two meters tall, raising their long blades and fiercely slashing toward the targets.

The bear-head flying-head ghost neither dodged nor evaded, opening its fang-filled maw and laughing mockingly.

Its mockery carried pollution, entirely intended to disgust Xu Ran.

"Idiots!"

Xu Ran sneered inwardly.

"Crack—"

The modao general's chopping speed was extremely fast, kicking up a fierce whistling sound as it targeted the dog head of the bear-head flying-head ghost!

The bear head was cleaved in two on the spot.

Although split open, it still burst into wild laughter because it could gather energy to "resurrect." However, just as it waited for its resurrection...

A terrifying suction force suddenly emanated from the blade, and the bear head, split into two halves, was sucked forcefully into the origami body, transforming into the most-pure spirit-communicating energy.

"Awoo—"

Right before being devoured, the giant bear ghost emitted a terrified screech, like a stray dog whose tail had been stepped on.

The panicked screech instantly attracted the attention of a hundred-odd flying-head ghosts. Their bizarre eyes stared fixedly at the modao general, an aura of intense malice crawling over their pupils.

In an instant.

Wolf heads, snake heads, tiger heads, leopard heads, ghost heads, dog heads, crocodile heads, vulture heads... all locked onto their primary target for retaliation.

Their speed surged wildly, and with ferocious grins, they opened their bloody maws and lunged at the substitute Xu Ran, accompanied by a howling gale of wind.

Weird laughter, distorted facial expressions, and reeking blood odor.

Just look at how happily they were laughing!

Unfortunately...

They wouldn't be able to laugh much longer.

The core origami creations came with their own suppression buffs...

Lifting blades to shatter skulls, assassin stealth strikes, giant hammers smashing targets into pulp, tigers and leopards tearing them apart and devouring them... Wails echoed across a radius of several hundred meters.

Barely a minute passed.

The flying-head ghosts that lunged forward were entirely decimated.

The invisible Xu Ran sneered: "Each core origami probably needs to absorb the energy of about 100 flying-head ghosts to reach the peak of the current [Origami Spirit-Detention], which is around 150,000 vital energy points.

Only when the origami's strength is upgraded can it accommodate stronger souls. By then, I'll be able to slay monsters with 200,000 vital energy points."

"Alright. Let the slaughter begin! These flying-head ghosts—others can't finish them off, but killing them is a breeze for me. They'll serve nicely as nourishment to grow stronger!"

As he muttered to himself.

Xu Ran's thoughts shifted, and the core origami creations began hunting down their targets.

Within a radius of three hundred meters around the substitute Xu Ran, not a single living flying-head ghost could be found; the moment they were slashed down, they were immediately absorbed by the origami.

The details of the core origami creations were stepping by stepping refined, to the point of becoming lifelike.

Behind him.

Li Wei, Auntie Xiao Miao, and Handsome Uncle Fu Lin stood dumbfounded: "Uh..."

"The flying-head ghosts killed by the paper creations didn't resurrect? Do his paper dolls suppress ghosts?"

"And this combat power is so fierce! Every single one of them can instantly kill a flying-head ghost with over 60,000 vital energy points!"

"No wonder Ye Ping said he was the champion. Throwing out dozens of these puppets—even the hexathlon warrior [Mirror Supreme] would be left completely dazed, right?"

Ye Ping smiled without explaining, striking an aloof pose.

Auntie Xiao Miao wore a thoughtful look: "Will they be suppressed by fire? If they're suppressed by fire, that would be terrible."

Right as she spoke.

In front of the core origami creations, a fox-head ghost with a vividly crimson face blocked their path. Opening its bloody maw, it spewed a massive pillar of fire that rolled forward like a dragon, smashing toward the tiger and leopard origami.

The origami creations acted as if they didn't feel the pillar of fire at all, charging straight ahead against it as if the fiery pillar were merely blowing dust off them...

The column of fire grew shorter and shorter.

The modao general walked right up to the fox head.

With a flick of its hand, the blade fell.

The fox head split in two.

"Awoo—"

The fox head wailed and was absorbed by the modao blade.

Auntie Xiao Miao showed deep respect: "Alright... not afraid of fire!"

Handsome Fu Lin: "Now that's pretty formidable, they aren't even afraid of fire!!"

Li Wei pursed his lips, watching the origami creations fight without blinking: "..."

The more the three watched, the more shocked and stirred they became.

Too strong!
Too formidable!

Was this an eight-year-old?
Was this the kind of combat power an eight-year-old kid could possess?

Dozens of origami creations showed no intention of cooperating; in their eyes, there seemed to be only slaughter as they chased down flying-head ghosts across the battlefield.

Catching up meant a single slash!

Regardless of what kind of flying-head ghost they encountered, it was always just one slash!

And they grew stronger the more they fought!

Fifty origami creations marched forward unstoppably, slash after slash, hacking the outer city into a vacuum zone!

In a mere half hour, nearly ten thousand flying-head ghosts had been hacked to pieces, brutally slaughtered, and devoured, transforming the once omnipresent flying-head ghosts in the outer city into a scattered handful.

The cultivators: "..."

"What sacred entity is that?"
"Those are obviously controlled puppets?"
"Meaning... a one-man army? The collapsed third defense line had its rout reversed by just one person?"
"Damn, where did this super expert come from?"
"Blocking the third defense line all by himself?"