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"Don't rush, there's one final step."
After calming himself down, Xu Taiping's gaze fell on the jars of strong liquor by his bedside.
Ignoring the malevolent ghost's incessant taunts and provocations outside the courtyard, he carried the jars to the front yard, stopping by the trap he had dug earlier in the center of the courtyard.
"If I can force your spirit out of its vessel, these jars will be your farewell drink."
Xu Taiping glanced at the courtyard gate, then hung the jars above the trap.
...
Late at night.
"Bang! Bang!"
Sensing that the barrier's power had weakened further, the malevolent ghost began driving the three demon wolves to repeatedly charge at the gate of Green Bamboo Residence.
By this time, Xu Taiping had already taken his position in the center of the courtyard.
He drew his bowstring taut, the arrow coated in Remnant Glow true qi transforming into an ice arrow, continuously emitting a chilling aura.
"Bang!"
Under the relentless assault of the three demon wolves, the last remnants of the barrier's spiritual energy were exhausted, and the courtyard gate was smashed open by one of the wolves.
"Roar!"
The wolves, having long since caught Xu Taiping's scent, howled and pounced toward him like three gusts of wind, with the cautious malevolent ghost following closely behind.
"Whoosh!"
Xu Taiping released the arrow, which shot through the air with a piercing sound, striking the neck of the leading demon wolf. The Remnant Glow true qi coating the arrow instantly crystallized into ice, freezing the wolf solid.
Seeing this, the malevolent ghost was shocked, as Xu Taiping had never used this technique in their previous encounters.
"Thud!"
In the brief moment the ghost was distracted, Xu Taiping dropped his bow, rolled forward, and, as if he had calculated it perfectly, narrowly avoided the second wolf's pounce.
"Swish!"
Without hesitation, Xu Taiping drew the steel longsword from his waist as he stood up, channeling his Remnant Glow true qi and slashing downward.
Having never formally studied swordsmanship, Xu Taiping's strike was clumsy. Under normal circumstances, the wolf could have easily dodged by twisting its body. However, this was the wolf with the injured hind leg, and it failed to evade in time. The blade struck true, severing one of its legs.
In the blink of an eye, two of the three demon wolves were incapacitated, leaving only the one ridden by the malevolent ghost.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
After killing the two wolves, Xu Taiping didn't pause for a moment. His small figure darted forward like the wind, charging straight at the ghost riding the remaining wolf.
"You're seeking death!"
The ghost, both shocked and furious, swung its sword at Xu Taiping from a distance of about ten feet.
"Boom!"
Before the sword could reach him, the sword qi arrived first.
A black sword qi, over ten feet long and resembling a massive, sharp scythe, swept toward Xu Taiping with terrifying precision.
Instead of dodging, Xu Taiping leaped toward the ghost, seemingly throwing caution to the wind as he swung his fist at the ghost.
"Bang!"
A deafening crash echoed.
The Remnant Glow Shield around Xu Taiping shattered upon contact with the sword qi, scattering into icy fragments. However, Xu Taiping himself remained unharmed. Still mid-air, he continued his trajectory, fist aimed squarely at the ghost riding the wolf.
"How is this possible? How could he withstand my sword strike?"
The ghost was baffled. It had expected its strike to either kill Xu Taiping outright or at least leave him severely injured. At the very least, it should have halted his advance. Never had it imagined that Xu Taiping's Remnant Glow Shield could withstand such an attack.
"Boom!"
Before the ghost could process its shock, Xu Taiping's fist came crashing down.
Unable to swing its sword again in time, the ghost had no choice but to gather its ghostly energy, using its arm as a shield to block the blow.
"Thud!"
To the ghost's horror, the force behind Xu Taiping's punch far exceeded its expectations. The impact sent the ghost tumbling off the wolf's back.
"Has this brat been hiding his true strength all along? Damn it! I should have used my full power in that last strike!"
As it hit the ground, the ghost suddenly realized its mistake.
But Xu Taiping had no intention of giving it a chance to recover.
"Green Bull Shatters the Mountain!"
As if rallying himself, Xu Taiping let out a fierce roar, his youthful voice echoing through the night. In an instant, a burst of icy frost erupted around him, coalescing into the massive head of a green bull. With Xu Taiping's fist as its driving force, the bull's head slammed into the ghost with devastating force.
"Boom!"
Another deafening crash. The thick ghostly energy surrounding the malevolent ghost was shattered by Xu Taiping's "Green Bull Charges the Mountain," and its corpse-like body was sent sprawling to the ground.
"Galloping Bull Pierces the Formation!"
Before the ghost could rise, Xu Taiping's ice-covered fists rained down upon it.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The most unique aspect of the "Galloping Bull Pierces the Formation" technique was that, as long as the user had sufficient true qi, the momentum of the punches would not cease. Moreover, the power of each strike would continuously build. Unless the opponent possessed overwhelming cultivation strength, there was no way to interrupt the onslaught.
Coupled with Xu Taiping's Remnant Glow true qi, each punch not only struck the ghost but also coated its body in a layer of ice. Within just four or five strikes, the ghost's corpse-like body had turned into a massive block of ice.
Of course, this technique had a glaring weakness: once the punches stopped, the user would need a significant amount of time to recover their true qi, leaving them extremely vulnerable during that period.
"Brat... no matter how fierce your punches are... you'll eventually run out of true qi... If you stop now... I might consider giving you a quick death!"
The ghost, realizing the flaw in Xu Taiping's technique, gritted its teeth and tried to intimidate him.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Xu Taiping ignored the ghost's threats, continuing to pummel it with his fists. Even as his knuckles split and bled, he didn't so much as blink.
However, after delivering over twenty punches, his strikes began to slow, the weight of each punch becoming more apparent.
"Come on, keep punching! The moment you falter, I'll cut you down with a single strike!"
Seeing Xu Taiping's punches weaken, the ghost let out a sinister laugh.
"Bang!"
At that moment, Xu Taiping's right fist landed a heavy blow, but his left arm hesitated, failing to follow up.
"Hahaha, you've finally run out of true qi..."
The ghost burst into maniacal laughter, preparing to separate its spirit from its vessel. But its laughter was abruptly cut short.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous crash, the ground beneath the ghost gave way, and its icy body plummeted into the deep pit Xu Taiping had prepared earlier.
Indeed, Xu Taiping had expended so much effort using the "Galloping Bull Pierces the Formation" technique for one purpose: to force the ghost into the ten-foot-deep trap he had dug in advance.