Chapter 1074: Heartache

Zu An was startled. "Paper Bride?"

Although he had been in this world for quite some time, he was unfamiliar with many of its strange people and phenomena.

Seeing that the other party had no immediate intention to attack, Yu Yanluo explained, "'Paper Bride' is a notorious villain from the evil faction. Legend has it that on the fifteenth of every month, she finds a man to marry and absorbs his yang energy. Several top righteous masters, aiming to eliminate a menace to the people, pursued and killed her multiple times. Yet, before long, news would spread of her reappearing in the jianghu, harming men again."

"Initially, everyone thought someone was impersonating her, but later investigations confirmed it was indeed her. This led to the gradual spread of rumors that she was unkillable, and people grew increasingly afraid of her."

"Only later was it discovered that her cultivation method was exceptionally bizarre; she could scatter paper to form soldiers, and each time she was 'killed,' it was merely a paper duplicate. That's why the legend of her being unkillable arose."

"However, she vanished a few years ago. I didn't expect her to become a subordinate of the Peacock Royal Clan."

"Be extremely careful. Because of her strange cultivation method, it's said she possesses combat strength comparable to a Grandmaster."

Although Yu Yanluo spoke quickly, her voice was clear and gentle, her articulation precise and melodious, making it a strangely pleasant sound to listen to.

The Paper Bride giggled. "This beautiful elder sister certainly knows a lot about me. Oh, if only I were as stunning as you, sister, why would I bother going through the trouble of finding men to marry? I'd guarantee countless men would flock to marry me every day."

Her tone was filled with envy, yet also a hint of self-pity.

While not a great beauty, her features were pleasant. However, her strange attire gave her an eerie, ghostly appearance.

Yu Yanluo snorted, clearly displeased to be compared with her.

At that moment, the Azure Wolf King roared, evidently impatient, and lunged directly at the two of them.

Yu Yanluo attempted to draw the fierce beast into her *Thousand Li Mountains and Rivers Scroll*, but several paper-cut flowers fluttered, shielding the Azure Wolf King and being absorbed into the painting instead.

Noticing that her painted world was being specifically countered by the Paper Bride's cultivation method, Zu An quickly shielded her, blocking the Azure Wolf King.

The force of the Azure Wolf King's pounce made even Zu An's current cultivation shake.

It was even slightly stronger than the Azure Moon Flood Dragon he encountered in the Crown Prince's trial secret realm.

Where did these demon races find so many masters?

At that moment, the Dark Elf moved, reappearing from the shadows. He ignored Zu An and instead attacked Yu Yanluo.

Clearly, he was resentful about almost being drawn into Yu Yanluo's painting moments ago and sought to redeem himself.

Because the Paper Bride was casting spells nearby, Yu Yanluo simply stopped using her painted world. Instead, she took out an exquisite brush and began to fight evasively with her opponent.

Zu An looked at her with concern, but then saw her effortlessly draw wondrous patterns with her brush, instantly blocking the Dark Elf's sharp attacks.

Moreover, from time to time, she would draw things in the void, and those objects would immediately materialize to help her combat the enemy.

Dressed in white as snow, with her long hair flowing, even her dodging and maneuvering postures were exceptionally graceful. Especially with each stroke of her brush, she appeared elegant and composed, truly like a lady stepping out of a painting, or a celestial fairy descending to the mortal world.

Even Kong Qing couldn't help but exclaim that this human woman was truly a peerless beauty; no wonder she had driven so many men crazy over the years.

Jian Taiding stared in a daze, thinking to himself that his 'sister-in-law' was indeed like a celestial concubine.

This woman was originally mine, she was mine!

It's all because of that person who suddenly appeared!

His gaze toward Zu An became intensely venomous. With the other's appearance, everything had changed.

Several of his 'younger sisters-inin-law' were gone, and more crucially, his main 'sister-in-law' had an ambiguous relationship with Zu An. He was even about to lose everything he had in Cloudtop Commandery.

Anger value from Jian Taiding +798+798+798...

He now wished Zu An would die immediately at the hands of these masters. So, seeing the Paper Bride merely standing there watching, never truly making a move, he couldn't help but feel annoyed: "Why aren't you attacking?"

The Paper Bride glanced at him with a hint of disdain in her eyes. This man looked utterly drained, with hardly any yang energy left in his body; he simply wasn't worth her attention.

In contrast, the man in the arena was brimming with yang energy, like a blazing sun in her eyes. It made her entire body tingle; she yearned to embrace him and take a deep, powerful absorb from him.

So, she ignored Jian Taiding and stared intently at Zu An in the arena, an infatuated smile on her face.

Jian Taiding: "???"

In Cloudtop Commandery, he wielded immense power, a dignified Grandmaster. When had he ever been so utterly ignored?

What he found most unbearable was that the other party ignored him, yet was more interested in Zu An. Didn't that mean yet another woman proved he was inferior to the one named Zu?

Are these women blind?!

Seeing him seething with anger, Kong Qing chuckled and explained, "She is a renowned master in the jianghu, and naturally possesses a master's pride. She disdains ganging up on others. Second Master, rest assured, if those two cannot be defeated, the Paper Bride will naturally make her move."

After all, they had cooperated for so long, and he didn't want to offend Jian Taiding too severely. Although his opponent was down on his luck now, he still had considerable resources in Cloudtop Commandery, and there might be opportunities for future cooperation.

Seeing Kong Qing personally step forward to explain, Jian Taiding's expression softened slightly. He cupped his hands and said, "Then we shall wait and see."

Yet, inwardly, he cursed, *These demon race individuals are more arrogant than the last. Kong Qing isn't making a move, and even his subordinates act high and mighty. Anyone who didn't know would think they were Grandmasters from some prestigious righteous sect.*

*Please, you're demon cultists! Shouldn't ganging up on fewer opponents be exactly what you do?*

Unfortunately, he was severely injured and recovering slowly; under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to humble himself. He could only swallow his frustration, looking toward the arena, hoping the Azure Wolf King would bite the one named Zu to death, or at the very least, bite off his 'root of trouble,' so he wouldn't corrupt his several 'sisters-in-law' again in the future.

With his Grandmaster's insight, he naturally perceived that the Azure Wolf King possessed strength around the ninth rank. It was commonly known that fierce beasts of the same rank were generally more powerful than human cultivators.

*Although this Zu An fellow has some tricks, his true cultivation is only around the ninth rank. This time, he was ambushed while severely injured and still recovering. The last time I was injured by him, it was because I didn't expect his body to be that hard...*

At this thought, his expression immediately stiffened. Images flashed through his mind: the rosy, satisfied faces of Zhang Ji, Liu Ji, and Chu Ji from recent days. These women's experiences must have been even more profound.

Then he imagined Lady Yu's delicate and tender body being ravaged by the iron-hard Zu An, her face flushed, softly gasping...

*Argh, I'm visualizing it! It feels like a knife twisting in my heart. Damn it!*

At this thought, his face turned exceedingly grim, as if he had just eaten a pile of dog faeces.

As if sensing his anticipation, the Azure Wolf King roared repeatedly, continuously swinging its sharp claws at Zu An.

Its speed was so great that observers only saw several faint blue claw trails lingering in the air.

Although Zu An's body was tough, he wasn't foolish enough to take the blows head-on. He swiftly employed the Sunflower Phantasm to evade.

On the ground and walls, shattered ice soon flew everywhere. The cave was unusually cold, and the ice within it was many times harder than ordinary ice, yet under the Azure Wolf King's sharp claws, it was no different from tofu.

Even with Zu An's quick movements, the Azure Wolf King was simply too agile. He looked down and saw a faint scratch on his chest where his clothes had been torn by the King's claws, and his skin throbbed faintly.

He didn't dare hold back and immediately deployed several shadow clones to attack the opponent. Each Zu An looked identical to his real self, making it impossible for others to distinguish the true from the false.

Kong Qing watched with immense surprise. Even he, a Grandmaster, couldn't discern the principle behind this profound movement technique. He wondered where Zu An had learned it.

No wonder the Commandery Princess regarded this human man so highly.

Jian Taiding was also momentarily stunned. He realized that he had been blinded by hatred earlier and had somewhat underestimated this fellow. He was by no means just tough-skinned and hard-bodied; merely with this miraculous movement technique, he was indeed much stronger than cultivators of the same level.

The Azure Wolf King changed its tactics from direct pounces. Its entire body spun several times, its sharp claws generating gusts of wind no less powerful than keen sword energy. It swept in a circle, indiscriminately destroying every figure, whether real or fake.

Jian Taiding watched with immense satisfaction. High-tier fierce beasts indeed possessed superior combat instincts compared to humans, easily breaking the opponent's exquisite movement technique.

However, his smile quickly froze, as the figures were swiftly shredded by the claws, yet none of them bled.

None of them were real?

"Watch out!" He suddenly realized something and looked up at the sky. Normally, he wouldn't care about the life or death of an Azure Wolf King, but now it was his hope for killing Zu An, so how could he not warn it?

No sooner had he spoken than Zu An descended from above the Azure Wolf King, striking its head directly with a punch.

Since Kong Qing had shown a willingness to hold back, Zu An didn't want to directly use his poisoned dagger; otherwise, it would create a mortal enmity, which was undesirable.

"Awoo!" The Azure Wolf King let out a miserable cry.

Zu An, however, had no time to celebrate, because in that instant, the wolf transformed into an ice sculpture, and his fist, which was in contact with it, began to freeze over at a visible rate.

Just then, a pungent gust of wind swept by. The ice sculpture remained, but the Azure Wolf King reappeared on the other side, opening its maw and lunging to bite him.