Assassins have an age-old rule: if they miss their target, they must flee a thousand miles away.
The person before him was clearly so powerful that even he at this stage had to look up to him. To provoke such a powerful opponent would be unwise.
Although the burlap freak has been out of that line of work for many years, he still adheres to the principles of an assassin. There is no benefit in going head-to-head with such a master; it is better to avoid the limelight for now and wait for an opportunity. He has plenty of ways to silently eliminate this seemingly invincible being.
However, when the burlap monster's eighteen fine, thread-like spiritual energy threads shot towards the eighteen black iron leaves, he immediately felt an extremely powerful repulsive force that instantly bounced his spiritual energy threads far away. The decisive force startled him.
Then the burlap monster saw the eighteen black iron leaves, which had been drifting aimlessly towards the pool below the waterfall, suddenly come to life. They not only stopped falling but also gathered together, forming a short sword shape. The eighteen black iron leaves then shot towards him like a streak of light.
"How is this possible? How is this possible? I've nurtured this magical artifact for decades, how could it... how could it have been taken by someone else? And... and in such a short time at that, completely taken away, how... how is this possible?"
The burlap freak was terrified, but he couldn't understand how the spiritual artifact he had nurtured for most of his life could suddenly become someone else's possession. It was quite possible that after losing his control over the eighteen black iron leaves, the other party took the opportunity to suppress them with powerful spiritual energy and forcibly take them away.
Even if his eighteen black iron leaves were taken by someone else, they would generally be unusable in a short period of time. It would take a long time each day to thoroughly erase the spiritual energy imprints that had seeped into the black iron leaves before they could be used again.
Otherwise... even if these eighteen broken black iron leaves were melted down and reforged into a new spiritual weapon, the spiritual energy imprints that the burlap monster had continuously infiltrated into these black iron leaves over the past decades would not be eliminated. No matter what kind of spiritual weapon these black iron leaves were reforged into, they would not be able to be used normally. The spiritual energy imprints inside would still need to be washed away little by little with different spiritual energies.
But... no matter how unwilling the burlap monster was to believe it, the facts were right in front of him. What could he do even if he didn't want to believe it? The fact was that Zhou Ziwei had not only subdued his eighteen black iron leaves, but... judging from the speed and agility displayed by these eighteen black iron leaves when they combined to attack in the air, they seemed to have truly developed sentience. The way he controlled them was simply divine. Even though the burlap monster had nurtured them for decades, he had never reached such a level of agility. But... the other party had only just subdued them, yet they had already shown a level of control far exceeding his own. This made the burlap monster feel utterly disheartened.
How can one be an enemy of such a foe...?
The Azabu Monster was initially confident that with his years of experience as an assassin, he could eliminate this enemy, even if he was far stronger than him, through assassination. However… now it seems that the gap between the two is not just a little bit, it's an absolute difference…
To be able to instantly erase the spiritual energy imprints he had spent decades nurturing within these black iron leaves—what level of cultivation would that require? Could a Great Spirit Master do that?
Although the burlap monster didn't know how strong someone would be if they truly reached the peak of the Great Spirit Master realm, he was almost certain that even a peak Great Spirit Master could not so easily erase the spiritual imprint he had accumulated over decades in an instant. So... wouldn't that mean that this seemingly small child in front of him had actually reached the legendary realm of a Divine Spirit Master?
As expected... This person couldn't possibly be a five or six-year-old child. How could a child be born with strength comparable to a Great Spirit Master? Moreover... he could actually transform water into a dragon and make the water dragon breathe fire... These abilities have completely exceeded the scope of a Spirit Warrior.
This...this person must be an elder who is at least over a hundred years old. He...he must have become young again. So the legends are true...Spirit Warriors are truly the darlings of heaven. Once a Spirit Warrior surpasses the realm of a Great Spirit Master, he becomes a legendary Spirit Master. God, God...once you become a Spirit Master, you are practically a true immortal.
Just as I thought... Just as I thought... Turning water into dragons and reversing aging are practically divine abilities. It's a pity that I only realized this now... How could I have been so foolish as to want to oppose a god?
Just as the eighteen black iron leaves condensed into a short sword and shot towards him, the burlap monster's mind raced with a mix of surprise and regret. He then let out a strange cry and used his spiritual energy to drive the two short branches that had just split off from the black iron branch into two streaks of black light, which formed a cross on the left and right and fiercely met the short sword formed from the black iron leaves.
The burlap monster himself dared not hope that his attack could withstand the attack of the eighteen black iron leaves. After gathering a large amount of spiritual energy in his body and launching an attack with almost all his might, he immediately poured all the remaining spiritual energy into the main trunk of the black iron branch in his hand. Then, he instantly turned into a phantom and disappeared without a trace with a "whoosh".
He even abandoned the two short black iron branches he had used to block Zhou Ziwei's attack, and didn't even dare to turn around to check the consequences of that block. He simply fled for his life.
The speed at which the burlap monster moved was more than ten times faster than when it arrived, and it even far exceeded the speed of sound.
With sufficient spiritual energy, a spiritual warrior can fully control their most favored spiritual weapon to achieve speeds close to the speed of light.
Even though ordinary martial artists can activate their magical artifacts very quickly, they would never dare to fly too fast when using a magical artifact to propel their bodies into flight.
This is because when the speed reaches a certain level, it will put a strong load on the human body. Most spiritual warriors only cultivate spiritual energy and do not train their bodies. As a spiritual warrior, few can withstand the strong load pressure brought about by the speed exceeding the speed of sound.
The burlap monster is not only a spiritual warrior, but also an excellent assassin. In addition to the spiritual power of a spiritual warrior, he has also trained his body with a physical warrior, so his physical fitness is much stronger than that of most ordinary spiritual warriors.
However... even with his current speed of flight, it will still have a very serious impact on him.
However, once the burlap monster realized that the child he was facing was actually a shaman, he was so terrified that he didn't care about anything else and just wanted to escape for his life at all costs.
And so... this expert who had just advanced to the Great Spirit Master realm did not suffer any injury in his battle with Zhou Ziwei. On the contrary, his internal organs were severely injured due to his desperate escape. If it weren't for the fact that people who have reached the Great Spirit Master realm already know how to use spiritual energy to heal, this guy would probably have died because of it.
With a "crack," just as the burlap monster turned and fled, the two short black iron branches it had left behind collided heavily with the short sword formed from the eighteen black iron leaves in mid-air. Sparks flew everywhere, and the short sword formed from the black iron branches was blasted into pieces by the two branches. Zhou Ziwei clearly sensed a powerful surge of spiritual energy, like a landslide or tsunami, emanating from the two branches. With just one impact, it shattered the independent souls that had just condensed in the eighteen black iron leaves, causing them to completely lose consciousness.
The already somewhat damaged iron leaves were further damaged by such a strong impact, making the cracks on them even clearer. Some leaves even broke into two or three pieces, turning into pieces of broken iron that drifted down.
Looking at the two short black iron branches used by the strange man in the burlap sack, they were still as lively as ever, without any abnormalities whatsoever.
After all, each of those black iron leaves was as thin as a cicada's wing, and they were already covered in scars from the fireball explosion, so they were not going to gain any advantage in the collision with the short black iron branches.
However, those two short branches of the black iron tree, although not large in size, were much thicker and heavier than the leaves of the black iron tree.
The combined weight of the eighteen black iron leaves is probably not as heavy as a single black iron twig. What's even more terrifying is that, before leaving, the burlap monster almost used all his strength to block the short swords formed from the eighteen black iron leaves. The spiritual energy accompanying that all-out attack was incredibly vast. Under such a collision, how could the short swords formed from the black iron leaves possibly withstand it?
Although the two short black iron branches were fierce, their owner abandoned them and fled thousands of miles away. Without the support of spiritual energy, the two short black iron branches lost their luster after unleashing their powerful force, turning into two short sticks of ordinary iron. The black iron leaves that they had knocked down also fell straight into the pool.
"Wow... is that guy a rabbit? He ran away so fast."
Zhou Ziwei felt that the eighteen independent souls he had just painstakingly created had been completely destroyed in the blink of an eye. He was just shocked and was planning how to deal with the next attack when he saw that the burlap monster had disappeared without a trace. The guy didn't even want his weapon anymore, as if he had just seen a man-eating ghost, and he escaped so cleanly and neatly.
What a talent... Zhou Ziwei really didn't know what adjectives to use to describe that guy's extremely bad character. Although when facing the burlap monster that was aggressively pursuing him, Zhou Ziwei neither chose to use his soul ability to fight the enemy, nor did he use ordinary water arrows or fireballs to attack the enemy. Instead, he chose to create that pretty but useless water dragon. He originally intended to play tricks and scare the old zombie.
Zhou Ziwei never dreamed that his underhanded tricks would not only succeed, but also be so effective that the guy would immediately associate him with a peerless master who could reverse aging, or even an omnipotent spirit master comparable to a god. As a result, the burlap monster was terrified and didn't even have the courage to fight, choosing to flee for his life.
Although Zhou Ziwei couldn't figure out what that guy was up to, it didn't stop him from looting the spoils. Seeing that the eighteen black iron leaves and two black iron twigs seemed to be ownerless again, Zhou Ziwei naturally wouldn't let them go. His soul power surged out again, barely managing to catch all the broken black iron leaves. However... although the two black iron twigs were no longer controlled by the burlap monster, the spiritual imprint of the burlap monster was still inside them, and Zhou Ziwei's spiritual energy couldn't penetrate into the interior of the two black iron twigs at all.
This is such a hassle...
Zhou Ziwei sensed the stubborn spiritual imprints contained within the two short black iron branches, knowing that completely taming them wouldn't be easy. However, he could use the same method he employed against the eighteen black iron leaves: first, unleash a powerful fireball to blast the branches to pieces, leaving them riddled with holes. This would temporarily blur or burn the spiritual imprints embedded within the branches. Then, Zhou Ziwei could seize the opportunity to directly collect the branches as his spiritual weapons, or even create an independent soul within them. In that case… further refining wouldn't be necessary.
However, Zhou Ziwei had just discovered that this kind of spiritual artifact could be directly controlled by him using his soul power, or he could create an independent soul entity within the artifact, just like using a new type of cross dart. He only needed to control the independent soul entity within the artifact, without needing to remotely control the artifact itself.
However, both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Directly controlling with soul power has two main drawbacks. First, there is a strict attack range. So far, Zhou Ziwei's soul power can only extend to a distance of 240 meters. Therefore, when controlling a magical artifact with soul power, the artifact can only reach a maximum distance of 240 meters. Second, if Zhou Ziwei only uses his soul power to control one or two magical artifacts at a time, the flexibility is acceptable. However, if he controls a dozen or more magical artifacts at once, the flexibility problem becomes difficult to solve.
If Zhou Ziwei were to condense an independent soul within the spiritual weapon, the advantage would be that the spiritual weapon could fly to a much farther place. At least within a range of 2,400 meters, it would be within Zhou Ziwei's control. Moreover, with each individual independent soul controlling its own spiritual weapon, other spiritual warriors would certainly be unable to match its flexibility.
However, this kind of magical artifact, which directly creates an independent soul entity and is then controlled by that independent soul entity, also has significant drawbacks. That is, Zhou Ziwei cannot continuously provide the magical artifact with a large amount of soul power as the power required for its flight and attacks.
Therefore... the attack power of a magical weapon controlled in this way is much weaker.
Zhou Ziwei didn't have time to worry about this problem. After all, there were still a group of people waiting for him in the forest, and he couldn't leave them behind and linger here for too long. Without waiting for the two short black iron branches to fall into the deep pool below, he immediately condensed them into a whirlwind and shot out. With a "whoosh," he firmly wrapped the two heavy short black iron branches and then put them into his hand.
Although the spiritual imprint of the burlap monster contained in these black iron short branches has an extremely strong repulsive effect on the spiritual energy of others, this is only in terms of spiritual energy. When Zhou Ziwei used wind energy to collect the two black iron short branches, he did not encounter any repulsion.
These two things are so heavy...
He caught the two short black iron branches in his hand and weighed them in his hand. He couldn't help but be a little surprised. These two short black iron branches were not much longer than the chopsticks used by Chinese people to eat, but they weighed at least ten kilograms. Ordinary metals are not that heavy.
Moreover, even the weight of Zhou Ziwei's three butterfly darts was insignificant compared to this metal; the difference was far too great.
What kind of metal is this? Why is there no mention of this metallic substance in any records to date?
But at that moment, something strange happened.
The eerie white light that hadn't appeared since leaving the pilot plane suddenly reappeared from Zhou Ziwei's body. In a flash, it wrapped around the two short black iron branches in Zhou Ziwei's hand, and then... the white light shrank, disappearing along with the two short black iron branches.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 541: The Ghost Face
As Zhou Ziwei was holding the two short black iron branches, pondering whether to remelt them into a weapon more suitable for his use, or simply make do with them as they were, a sudden change occurred.
A flash of white light disappeared in an instant, and along with it, the two trophies he had managed to snatch from the burlap monster also vanished.
The source of divine power!
Since experiencing that great battle in the pilot plane, which caused the source of divine power to disappear, Zhou Ziwei had become accustomed to it. He thought that the source of divine power might no longer be on his body, or that the so-called source of divine power was just a consumable that was slowly consumed with each process of absorbing metal.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, this thing that Zhou Ziwei had long forgotten suddenly reappeared on its own. Unlike before, when this divine power source would usually emerge on its own when Zhou Ziwei was attacked by metal weapons, it was a very passive reaction.
If Zhou Ziwei's body is not attacked, then even if his body directly touches any metal material, the divine power within him will not spontaneously emerge.
But this time... the source of divine power no longer appeared passively, but clearly emerged on its own initiative, its purpose being to snatch this limited amount of spoils from Zhou Ziwei's hands!
Zhou Ziwei was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. What the hell was this?! I finally managed to get this little bit of precious treasure, and you just ate it all?! If you were hungry and wanted to eat metal, why didn't you tell me? I could have bought a whole bunch of platinum and gold and put them in front of you so you could eat your fill, however you wanted. But… these two short black iron branches are different! Gold and platinum, no matter how precious, are still ordinary things in the world, they all have their inherent value. But these… these two short black iron branches are priceless! You just ate them like that… isn't that wasteful?
"Divine power source, you...you...where are you? If you have the guts, get out here!" Zhou Ziwei frantically tore at his clothes, shouting incoherently for a while. Then, he looked up and saw the eighteen broken black iron leaves that he had already regained control of with his soul power. Suddenly, a thought struck him.
Zhou Ziwei separated a wisp of his spiritual consciousness and controlled the half-broken black iron leaf to float over. He carefully caught it in his palm, but after a while, the white light still did not appear, and the half-broken black iron leaf remained quietly in his palm.
Strange... They're all made of the same metal, so how... how come the two short black iron branches were swallowed up by the suddenly appearing divine power source as soon as they were obtained, while this half-piece of black iron leaf is completely unharmed? Could it be that the divine power source thought this piece of metal was too small, not even enough to fill its teeth?
Zhou Ziwei was puzzled, but he quickly mustered up his courage and summoned back all the remaining black iron leaves at once, stacking them high in his palm.
All eighteen black iron leaves gathered together were not much smaller in volume than a single black iron twig, but... the source of divine power still did not appear. It seemed as if it had been full after swallowing the two black iron twigs and refused to appear again!
What the hell is this?! It comes and goes as it pleases, what kind of lousy divine power source is this?! It's not letting anyone live!
Zhou Ziwei couldn't figure out the pattern of the white light's appearance, which made him extremely annoyed.
He originally thought that although the source of divine power was temporarily dormant in his body, it might no longer have any interest in ordinary metals, and might only have an interest in devouring rare and exotic metals that could be used to forge spiritual weapons.
If that's the case, then Zhou Ziwei will probably never have the chance to possess his own spiritual weapon again, but similarly... other spiritual warriors will no longer be able to harm him with spiritual weapons.
I don't care if you're a spiritual master or a great spiritual master! As someone who plays with spiritual energy, if you want to fight me, you have to use spiritual weapons to attack, right? Well, I don't care if your skills are high or low, or how much spiritual energy you have. As long as you use spiritual weapons to attack, I won't even dodge. I'll just stand there obediently and see who can hurt me!
However, Zhou Ziwei now discovered that the two short black iron branches, which were also disassembled from the same type of spiritual weapon called Black Iron Branch, were completely devoured by the divine power source, but the eighteen broken black iron leaves showed no interest whatsoever.
In this way, if he were to encounter another martial artist who wanted to fight him, Zhou Ziwei would definitely not dare to stand there foolishly waiting when he saw the magical weapon flying towards him.
If Zhou Ziwei places his hopes on a white light that might appear at any moment, he might not even know how he died!
Somewhat reluctantly, Zhou Ziwei put all eighteen broken pieces of black iron into his alloy suit. After carefully sensing it for a while, he found that the source of divine power still showed no signs of emerging. Only then did Zhou Ziwei finally realize that swallowing the black iron twig earlier was probably just the source of divine power dormant in his body acting up. He probably couldn't rely on this guy in the future!
Zhou Ziwei cursed under his breath, shook his head angrily, and released the water dragon he had been controlling, letting it transform into a waterfall that plunged from the sky into the pool below. Zhou Ziwei then turned around, riding a tornado, and vanished from the spot in a flash.
Zhou Ziwei had thought that he had encountered a formidable opponent he had never faced before, so he had just told the people in the Dragon Group that he was likely to be in some trouble this time. He told them to either leave immediately or wait for him for at most an hour. If he did not return after an hour, they would not have to wait any longer.
But who knew that the guy he encountered this time was indeed quite skilled, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a formidable enemy that Zhou Ziwei had never encountered in his life. However, the guy was cowardly as ever, and he was so frightened by Zhou Ziwei's trickery that he fled in panic.
In this way, it didn't even take Zhou Ziwei a few minutes from meeting the strange man in burlap to now.
Presumably, the old monster was frightened this time and probably wouldn't dare to come and cause trouble again, so Zhou Ziwei hurriedly returned to the place where he had parted ways with the Dragon Group members.
In just a few minutes, Zhou Ziwei returned to the place he had left earlier. From afar, he saw a huge, spherical object, about the size of a house, made entirely of sand and soil, appearing abruptly in the mountains and forests.
However, beneath that spherical sandy space, there was a large hole with a diameter of two meters.
The cave was pitch black, but Zhou Ziwei didn't need to go down to look to know that there was no one inside at all; everyone had already left!
Damn, these guys are really heartless!
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes, feeling rather aggrieved. He had separated from his comrades here because he sensed a powerful expert relentlessly pursuing them.
In Zhou Ziwei's opinion, not all members of the Dragon Group were benevolent, but there were a few good ones, such as Jiang Chunshui, Zidan, and Long Wu. Therefore, although Zhou Ziwei told them that they could choose to leave immediately or wait for him there for an hour, he was not entirely without merit.
However, Zhou Ziwei believed that they would definitely wait here. Even if they couldn't wait for an hour, waiting for half an hour shouldn't be a problem!
However, Zhou Ziwei's confidence in them was misplaced. In just a few minutes, not a single person remained.
Damn it... people's hearts have changed! These guys are so disloyal!
Zhou Ziwei landed with a slight sense of melancholy. He casually swept his soul power across the empty sandy space, then paused slightly... He discovered that there was a ghost face on the wall of the sandy space, which looked as if it had been carved with a finger.
The face was simply drawn with just a few strokes, but it was so lifelike that it immediately struck a chord with people, making them feel both amused and entertained.
But Zhou Ziwei didn't find it amusing at all. A sinister smirk played on the corner of the ghost face's mouth, a smile that seemed to be both mockery and smugness. The ghost face's two eyes were like two empty holes without pupils, constantly emitting a strange and dark feeling.
Zhou Ziwei's face instantly darkened. If he hadn't seen that grotesque face, he could have cursed those guys in his heart for being so spineless, not even willing to wait for him for a little while.
However, seeing such a ghost face pattern in this sandy space, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but start to let his imagination run wild.
Could it be that... they were all kidnapped, or... there was an enemy agent among them who, right after I left, all fell into the enemy's trap and were captured in one fell swoop?