Chapter 968: Chapter 852: Cleaving Clay Idols, Shattering the Broken Heavens (Part 2)

"In a duel, there is a winner and a loser. Losing might still mean survival, but they... they are seeking death!"

"Should we let them into the town to face us..."

"..."

Facing Zhao Sanyi’s tense expression, the Zhao Family Master seemed somewhat weary, only staring at the copper coin in his hand, as if confused and yet seemingly waking from a long dream.

After a long while, he finally looked up at Zhao Sanyi and said in a low voice, "Sanyi, is our Zhao Family truly part of the jianghu, or are we merely nobles at court?"

Zhao Sanyi was bewildered upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "You usually have twenty attendants serving you for meals, and you ask me this?"

Hearing this, the Zhao Family Master could only offer a bitter smile, then slowly shook his head, "Then, you should know what our Zhao Family’s true trump card is, after all."

Zhao Sanyi even shivered before swallowing and whispered, "It’s... it’s the Skin Stripping Method!"

The Zhao Family mother form, comprising three portions of the Heaven Hand, can steal everything between heaven and earth.

Yet, the Zhao Family’s most formidable technique is skin stripping, originating from the Clothes Stripping Pavilion, one of the Eight Sceneries of Netherworld.

It is said that all living beings on earth, whether human, bird, or beast, must return to the underworld after death to be weighed for karma, rewarded for good, and punished for evil. No matter who they were in life, they must arrive at the Clothes Stripping Pavilion, stripping away their mortal attire, which is their identity.

Bare and unadorned, they become indistinguishable as human or beast. To reincarnate, they must don a skin again—human, beast, or bird—and return to the human world.

The Zhao Family worships the Clothes Stripping Pavilion, even stealing a portion of its power to bring it into the human world, becoming the trickster’s unique skin stripping technique. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But this method is truly too cruel, which is why even Zhao Sanyi became hesitant when mentioning this name.

"So..."

The Zhao Family Master sighed, tightly clutching the copper coin in his hand, slowly raised his head, and sighed, "We have already lost this duel."

"Because we have no skin left to strip!"

In Zhao Sanyi’s puzzled eyes, the Zhao Family Master looked toward the angry faces filling the town, a voice seemingly filled with endless despair: "They only have mouths left for eating."

"Previously, we could wrap them in rat skins to scare them, wielding power over them, but now they no longer recognize it, Sanyi. Those outsiders have opened eyes for them, not to show how we use our every trick..."

"But to make them, and ourselves, clearly see the layer of skin we have wrapped around ourselves in the Zhao Family..."

"..."

Zhao Sanyi never thought he would witness such a scene, with his father, who seemingly always held superior wisdom and vision, now full of old tears, pointing at the angry townsfolk:

"Strip their skin?"

"Or strip the skin of those reincarnated people?"

"Sanyi, if we strike against them, not to mention maintaining our dignity in life, even in death, our ancestral graves will be dug up..."

"Admit defeat!"

It seemed he used all his strength to say this: "Power can deceive morality, morality can deceive the conscience, our Zhao Family is best at skin stripping, but they, from the start, first stripped our skin!"

...

...

In the Northern Land, the forces of the Iron Threshold King and the Long Hero King were arrayed on two sides, and on the battlefield, the blood had already begun to flow.

The Long-winning King came forth to battle but had not yet determined a victor when someone else eagerly rushed to kill, shouting words of heroism, yet they looked as if they feared losing their chance to challenge.

On the side of the Long Hero King, all were Shousui up the bridge, possessing true skills, now choosing to duel, they could not even imagine losing. On this battlefield, any Shousui who had crossed the bridge could dare claim invincibility within an army.

Unless they encounter each other.

But when the duel began, it immediately went beyond expectations, with the Long-winning King qualifying to issue a challenge being a given.

The Zhou Family had long taken notice of him, he was originally Shousui, who had early on mustered soldiers and horses, honing on the battlefield, and thereafter borrowing the Meng family’s bridge, mastering skills of blending water and fire, already forming his own distinct style.

When dueling with the Zhou Family’s second uncle, exchanging hundreds of blows, they struck fierce winds, sending sand and stones flying, astonishing onlookers, yet it was still within expectations.

But as others made their moves, the Zhou Family immediately sensed something was amiss, as the people from the Path recognized names and the origins of these skills, not expecting each person coming out to be unfamiliar, yet each possessing vicious skills.

Someone used the Haishou technique, borrowing strength ceaselessly, channeling the others’ power into themselves.

Borrowing the strength of three or five was manageable, but borrowing that of twenty, a hundred people, made him a monster, with each man’s strength increased by ten jin, collectively thousands of jin of force.

When a hammer struck down, even a Shousui on the bridge found it hard to withstand.

Yet, unaware of life and death, he virtually borrowed all their power, amassing ten thousand jin of force, bearing these thousands on his shoulders, becoming maniacally ferocious, leaving the Shousui commanders struggling to contend.

However, although his own body was clearly torn, with all five organs burning, this Madman was actually still laughing.

Someone used the Siming Technique, Silver Needle Acupuncture, igniting their Divine Soul, swallowing abundant Blood Tai Sui, Purple Qi, transforming themselves into a half-human, half-ghost monster.

Someone employed the Method of Spirit Carrying, perfectly countering, for it was known in the jianghu that Spirit Carrying counters Shousui.

But since the Meng family’s downfall, no Spirit Carrier dared to claim superiority over the Zhou Family, yet they encountered one today, for while others bore only one spirit, he summoned hundreds of fierce ghosts.