Some disciples remained in their seal-forming poses until the very moment of death, while others were entangled with lunging malevolent ghosts or flying locusts, perishing together.
Jian Huaishuang, once the chief disciple of the White Jade Sword Sect, had witnessed the ghostly depths of the human heart and had been bullied by his own sect brothers. Yet, he had also once harbored the desire to slay demons, uphold the Dao, and protect all living beings.
Though the methods of the Corpse Soul Sect were extreme and eerie, and Sect Master Mo Yuan was shrouded in karmic sin, they were truly protecting this land in their own cruel way.
But now, the Sect Master had fallen, the elders had ignited their souls, and the younger generation of disciples was nearly wiped out. This price was far too heavy.
He felt he had no right to judge the right or wrong of their actions; their merits and faults would be left for future generations to decide.
All Jian Huaishuang wanted now was to protect this land and remain true to the Dao in his heart.
Jian Huaishuang gripped the giant sword in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He swung his blade repeatedly amidst the falling paper snow, grinding swaths of flying locusts into powder. But there were too many locusts, scattered like an endless tide.
As soon as he cleared one area, another swarm would surge from the cracks in the ruins.
Anxiety began to rise in his heart.
He wished he could divide himself into thousands, to strike down every single toxin-carrying locust with his sword.
He did not want to fail the task entrusted to him by his Lord, nor did he want the land his Lord had just cleansed of its greatest threat to fall back into poisonous ruin.
This feeling of helplessness—watching disaster spread while being unable to stop it—made his heart feel as if it were being seared in oil.
And in that moment, he heard a whisper from the god in his ear.
'You are My blade, the proxy of My will.'
'Use the authority I have granted you to do what you wish.'
It was the Lord!
Jian Huaishuang’s heart steadied, and his agitation vanished instantly.
He closed his eyes, no longer relying solely on sword techniques. Instead, he began to carefully sense and guide the new power within his body.
The paper armor surrounding Jian Huaishuang seemed to gain a life of its own, beginning to wriggle and extend like a living thing.
It then transformed into countless flexible paper tentacles, spreading out in all directions.
The tentacles gently wrapped around one corpse after another that still held some warmth.
Gurgle, gurgle.
A series of sucking sounds echoed. The corpses were rapidly digested, decomposed, and absorbed, returning to Jian Huaishuang’s body through the paper tentacles.
For every corpse sucked dry, a sheet of white paper would fall from Jian Huaishuang.
Like snowflakes, they drifted to the ground before quickly folding and shaping themselves, turning into flat humanoid paper effigies that stood up.
These paper effigies lifted their arms in confusion, looking down at their bodies composed purely of paper, unable to believe it.
"Am I not dead?"
"Senior Brother, help! I've gone flat!"
"My body... it’s so cool. I can actually do the splits now?"
They looked around, seeing the familiar ruins, their struggling sect brothers, and Jian Huaishuang, who stood there with paper ribbons fluttering around him like a master of life and death.
Jiang Ziang felt it was utterly absurd to witness this.
He recognized the voices of these paper effigies and the slightly scribbled features on their faces.
They were all the sect brothers who had fallen to the copper poison earlier.
They could actually stand up again in another form. Jiang Ziang’s heart was filled with a mix of emotions; the grief remained, but it was joined by a glimmer of indescribable hope.
"Sect brothers!" Jiang Ziang cried out, supporting himself despite half his body being turned to copper and the piercing pain in his heart. "Form the array! Help Fellow Daoist Jian purge the demon locusts!"
The newly born paper effigies, though their consciousness was still a bit muddled, still possessed their battle instincts and their trust in their eldest senior brother.
They quickly followed his command, joining the array and filling the gaps.
Within the array's range, the air turned suddenly cold as more malevolent ghost silhouettes were forcibly summoned to pounce on the locust swarm.
The malevolent ghosts and flying locusts tore into each other, black baleful qi and copper-colored poisonous mist eroding one another.
The paper effigies maintained the array. Their thin paper bodies were constantly struck by the locusts, and cracks soon appeared on their surfaces, but their ink-drawn features remained exceptionally firm.
Occasionally, a paper effigy would be hit by a stray current of copper poison gas, and their body would instantly be stained copper.
Those who had already died once had nothing left to fear. They had fought to the death while alive, and they would not retreat in death.
One paper effigy took a direct hit from the copper poison, and a copper patch rapidly spread across his chest. He sighed, "It's over."
He then lay stiffly on the ground, waiting for his consciousness to fade.
A moment passed.
A fellow paper disciple nearby saw this and, without a word, kicked him. "What are you doing playing dead on the ground? Get up! The array can't be missing a corner!"
The 'dying' paper effigy rolled half a circle from the kick. He blankly touched his copper-stained chest, then moved his limbs. His scribbled eyes widened.
"Eh? I'm fine? I'm actually fine? This copper poison has no effect on me?"
This discovery spread through the paper effigies like a wildfire!
"It’s true! I'm fine too! The copper poison can't hurt us!"
"Hahaha! These damn bugs are out of options!"
"Brothers! Kill them! Avenge our deaths!"
"Damn it, I died so miserably. If I don't get revenge for this, I fear I won't find peace of mind even in the next life."
Originally worried about their fragile paper bodies and holding back, the paper effigies were now filled with morale. Their offensive instantly became ferocious!
They no longer simply hunkered down in the array for defense but actively used their bodies to block the way.
Several paper effigies even joined hands to wrap around clusters of flying locusts, using their immunity to the copper poison to forcefully suppress the spread of the swarm.
The tide of battle turned abruptly.
As Piao devoured the last remnants of the Locust Mother along with most of the escaping locusts, the number of insects in the sky finally began to decrease visibly.
She lay prone on the ground, her body—a mixture of insect carapace and tattered human form—rising and falling slightly. She seemed to lack even the strength to move.
The massive energy and the chaotic instincts belonging to the Locust Mother were clashing within her, making her feel bloated yet even hungrier.
A paper effigy tried to go over and check on Piao's condition. Piao suddenly snapped her head up, opening her mouthparts to reveal rows of fine, sharp teeth, and bit off half the paper effigy's head in one go!
The paper effigy couldn't wrap his head around it as he was dragged away by a cold-faced senior sister.
"Don't be so reckless! Jumping in blindly... what grade are you, and what grade is she? Can't you see Miss Piao isn't in a right state of mind? Let her be for a while, don't disturb her!"
"We can't help her."
The paper effigy with half a head missing was still muttering to himself, "But Senior Sister... my head..."
"As long as you don't die, it's fine," the paper senior sister said, dragging him away by force.
Meanwhile, Piao did not continue her attack after that one bite.
Suppressing low growls in her throat, she clutched her battered insect body tightly with both hands, her sharp nails even piercing into the gaps of her own shell.
She was struggling.
Inside her was a devouring desire that almost drowned her reason—the primal instinct of the Locust Mother, the mad half of her monster self, screaming to devour every living thing in sight.
But the other half—the human side that Ugly Hag had gradually warmed with coarse kindness, teaching her to recognize joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—was desperately suppressing it.
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