Top-tier Unruly Master

"Do I have the power to decide your life and death? Heh heh... let me show you..." The Straw-hat weirdo said, his figure lunging directly at Ding Fan.

Ding Fan could not make out the cultivation level of the Straw-hat weirdo, but the opponent's speed was something Ding Fan could not match at all.

Keep in mind that even the attacks by Gusu Qingwen had been dodged by this Straw-hat weirdo.

Boom... The man kicked out, and Ding Fan did not even have time to react before he was sent tumbling to the spot.

"You see, do I have the power to determine your life and death?" The Straw-hat weirdo laughed wildly after kicking Ding Fan over.

"Such strength determines my life and death? What a joke!" Ding Fan spat out a mouthful of blood, then stood up directly from the ground.

Seeing Ding Fan stand up, the Straw-hat weirdo was momentarily stunned. "Kid, you can still stand?"

Ding Fan snorted coldly. "I can not only stand up, but it's also no problem for me to slay you."

After Ding Fan finished speaking, the Immortal Sword in his hand directly slashed out.

Swish swish swish... In an instant, sword shadows enveloped the Straw-hat weirdo.

The Straw-hat weirdo snorted. "Kid, go to hell!"

The Straw-hat weirdo took advantage of an opening, kicking out once again, and Ding Fan was once more sent flying to the ground.

The opponent's cultivation was simply too much for Ding Fan, who really lacked the ability to fight back. If he had not been wearing armor made of War Dragon Scales at this time, Ding Fan would probably have been unable to get up already.

Gusu Qingwen's eyebrows were tightly furrowed. She could clearly see that Ding Fan was by no means a match for that weirdo, yet with her legs badly injured, she was utterly unable to help Ding Fan.

It was just as Ding Fan had said before, she, Gusu Qingwen, and Ding Fan were now one, linked together like two grasshoppers on a string.

At this moment, the Straw-hat weirdo laughed wildly, feeling refreshed after venting for the first time in hundreds of years. He was convinced that Ding Fan could not get up anymore.

A mere mortal enduring one of his kicks was quite remarkable, let alone two.

"But you..." Just as the Straw-hat weirdo was sure that Ding Fan could not get up from the kick, Ding Fan once again rose.

Ding Fan propped himself up with the Immortal Sword, preventing himself from falling.

"Go to hell!" Ding Fan swung his Immortal Sword, chopping directly at the Straw-hat weirdo's head.

Ding Fan would not simply concede defeat just because his adversary was of a higher cultivation level.

Back in the Cultivation World, there had been those with higher cultivation than Ding Fan, and they had wanted him to kneel and hand over Spirit Grass. Didn't Ding Fan end up perishing together with that cultivator in the end?

That's the kind of person Ding Fan was; if you bullied him, even if you were a god, he would bite a chunk of flesh off you.

The Straw-hat weirdo, seeing Ding Fan swinging his sword again, seemed a bit impatient. "Troublesome! I'll give you a quick death!"

With that, the Straw-hat weirdo kicked out with all his might...

A thunderous boom... For a time, Ding Fan was like a cannonball being shot out, sent flying and smashing through a wall.

At this moment, the palace was filled with dust.

Gusu Qingwen was very anxious. "How are you?"

At this moment, the weirdo began to cackle eerily. "What do you think happens to a mortal after taking such a kick? There's only death... Now, it's finally our turn!"

As the Straw-hat weirdo spoke, he slowly walked towards Gusu Qingwen.

Gusu Qingwen's expression instantly tensed.

Ding Fan had just protective of her, managing to stave off the Straw-hat weirdo. Now, Ding Fan was in grave danger, and with her legs rendered immobile, she feared it would be difficult to escape disaster today.

"Heh heh... after being imprisoned for hundreds of years, I didn't expect to come across such nourishing flesh upon my release... I'll swallow you whole, not even spitting out your bones," said the Straw-hat weirdo as he extended his withered hands towards Gusu Qingwen.

Whoosh...

Just as his hand was about to grab her, Gusu Qingwen unleashed a powerful blast of wind.

The force of the wind was considerable.

However, the Straw-hat weirdo's cultivation was not in vain; as the blast of wind approached, his figure severely swayed, easily neutralizing Gusu Qingwen's strong attack.

"Stop this meaningless resistance..." The Straw-hat weirdo had already approached Gusu Qingwen's side, and his large hand reached directly for her chest.

Now, the two were very close, and it was impossible for Gusu Qingwen to escape.

At this moment, Gusu Qingwen's heart turned cold. With her legs immobilized, if she were caught by the Straw-hat weirdo, her only fate would be death.

Swish...

At that moment, a sharp screeching sound suddenly pierced the air.

A Wind Blade chopped toward the Straw-hat weirdo.

Not to mention Gusu Qingwen, even the weirdo beside her was taken aback. The sound had been so unexpected.

The Straw-hat weirdo felt a wave of chill approaching, and without any carelessness, he hurriedly tried to evade.

But since he hadn't been prepared, and the Wind Blade was indeed very fast, the Straw-hat weirdo managed to avoid his vital parts, but the hand that was reaching for Gusu Qingwen's chest was completely chopped off.

Gusu Qingwen, seeing this, was stunned, then looked aside in surprise.

At that time, Ding Fan stood amid the rubble he had collapsed before.

It was clear that just moments ago, Ding Fan had used Wind Blade to sever the right hand of the Straw-hat weirdo.

"How... how is this possible? You can actually stand up!" The Straw-hat weirdo was not so concerned about his hand; instead, he coldly stared at Ding Fan.

Ordinary people would have been killed by a single kick, yet Ding Fan had taken two without much trouble, naturally leaving the Straw-hat weirdo full of confusion.

At this time, Ding Fan was not paying attention to the Straw-hat weirdo's words. He looked at the severed right hand on the ground; the hand, now separated, had turned into a shriveled husk.

There was hardly any flesh on this palm.

Ding Fan's eyes lit up. Although the hand appeared withered while attached to the Straw-hat weirdo, it still had some vitality, but as soon as it fell, it immediately turned into what it was now—a dead man's hand.

But how could the hand still have vitality when attached to the Straw-hat man?

For a moment, Ding Fan seemed to have thought of something.

"Duorou..." Ding Fan communicated with Duorou directly through Divine Sense.

At this time, Duorou was practicing in the first room, having swallowed so much Poison, she still needed some time to digest it.

And now, with Ding Fan calling her, Duorou did not dare to delay, and she quickly scurried to sit atop Ding Fan's shoulder.

"Huh? You actually have the Illusory Palm too?!" Upon seeing Duorou, the tone of the Straw-hat weirdo turned somewhat nervous.

Seeing his reaction, Ding Fan became even more certain of his hypothesis. "Duorou, can you see the opponent's true form?"

After a brief glance at the Straw-hat weirdo, Duorou nodded. "The opponent has been transformed by the Illusory Palm..."

Indeed!

Ding Fan's doubts were instantly resolved.

A creature with a tiger's head and human body not exuding any demonic aura, and severed limbs that looked like they'd been withered for years... All of these points could only be explained by one thing—that the opponent had been transformed.

At that moment, Gusu Qingwen was also taken aback. She hadn't expected the opponent to be transformed. After all, she doesn't have Telekinesis, and with her naked eyes, she truly couldn't see whether the opponent was transformed.

Ding Fan spat out a mouthful of bloody spit and raised the Immortal Sword in his right hand. His eyes were filled with determination.

From the looks of the severed palm, whoever was controlling the Puppet before him was certainly not a Soul Body, as a Soul Body couldn't possibly reach this level of prowess.

Ding Fan then concluded that it must be the Nascent Soul controlling this Puppet.

Aside from that, there was no other explanation for such a formidable level of cultivation other than the Nascent Soul.

Yet, dealing with a Nascent Soul was much simpler.

After all, a Nascent Soul is merely an infantile form coalesced within a Cultivator's body, and Nascent Souls are exceedingly frail...

"Kid, I really want to see how you're going to die..." The Straw-hat weirdo's gaze emitted bursts of eerie blue light, looking extremely fearsome.

"Knowing that it's transformed by the Illusory Palm, why bother with this scary facade?" Ding Fan said with contempt.

"Die!" Ding Fan suddenly threw the Immortal Sword in his hand.

The Immortal Sword, wrapped in strong wind, shot directly towards the Straw-hat weirdo's chest.

The Straw-hat weirdo was taken aback but still managed to dodge Ding Fan's Flying Sword by slightly shifting his position.

"Having thrown away your Immortal Sword, what makes you think you can still fight me…"

The Straw-hat weirdo hadn't finished his sentence when he turned to look at Ding Fan and was momentarily frozen in shock.

By that time, Ding Fan had already shouldered Gusu Qingwen. "Now I'll let you see what I'm capable of!"

Ding Fan swiftly pulled out an Explosive Talisman from his storage ring with a flick of his wrist.

"Go!" After saying this, Ding Fan chucked all of the Explosive Talismans at once.

These Explosive Runes detonated instantly. Since the blast covered such a large area, the Straw-hat weirdo had no chance to dodge.

Amidst the explosions, the Straw-hat weirdo wailed in pain.

Gusu Qingwen, lying on Ding Fan's back, was puzzled by the scene. In her view, those Explosive Runes used by Ding Fan were as low level as could be.

Yet even in the face of such rudimentary runes, the Straw-hat weirdo was bombed to the point of being utterly defenseless.

Gusu Qingwen was filled with confusion.

Of course, what Gusu Qingwen didn't realize was that Ding Fan had understood that the true entity controlling the Puppet was the Nascent Soul.

Nascent Souls are incredibly delicate, and if it is destroyed, so is the Primordial Spirit. When it comes to defensive capabilities, a Nascent Soul's defense is even weaker than a Soul Body's.

That's why when Ding Fan hurled those Explosive Runes, the Straw-hat weirdo dared not take it lightly, shielding his Nascent Soul with the Puppet's body.

Seeing his success, Ding Fan didn't hesitate to continue his assault, relentlessly throwing Burst Runes. The Straw-hat weirdo was soon engulfed in a sea of flames.

"I give up, I admit defeat, spare me…" From within the inferno, the Straw-hat weirdo screamed, "Please, no more... stop bombing me..."

Gusu Qingwen watched in shock.

The Straw-hat weirdo's cultivation might have been beyond even her capabilities to confront, yet Ding Fan had managed to force a complete surrender with just a few ordinary Explosive Talismans...

Yet at this moment, Ding Fan clearly had no intention of stopping.

Ding Fan's Divine Sense continued to monitor the Straw-hat weirdo's condition, fully intent on blasting the Puppet to bits without mercy. Once the Puppet was destroyed, that formidable Nascent Soul would have no choice but to capitulate...