Chapter 320: Chapter 318: Tough Seeing that his spirit pet was still unable to capture Lou Yi, a flicker of surprise appeared in the evil cultivator’s eyes. He began to manipulate his Child and Mother Magical Artifact. Four nail-shaped magical artifacts, trailing black light, flew continuously through the air, aiming at Lou Yi’s body. ’Dang dang dang dang!’ Every attack from the nail-shaped magical artifacts was precisely intercepted by Lou Yi, who then struck them away. Lou Yi’s tenacity far exceeded the evil cultivator’s expectations. Even when facing simultaneous attacks from the mouse demon and the four artifacts, he defended seamlessly, leaving no openings for exploitation. "How is this possible!" The evil cultivator thought, shocked and furious. He had never seen someone wield a mundane weapon to block magical artifacts. It must be understood, the speed of magical artifacts is far faster than ordinary arrows, surpassing the limits of the naked eye. Intercepting magical artifacts with a weapon is no different from catching bullets bare-handed. But Lou Yi’s physical body was already many times beyond the limits of an ordinary martial artist. His vision, hearing, taste, touch, and nerve reaction speed had reached unimaginable realms for ordinary people. The sharp five senses, combined with a powerful physique, made his performance now resemble a biochemical human from a comic Lou Yi knew in a previous life. The evil cultivator, unable to break through after repeated attacks, felt vexed. Having manipulated the Child and Mother Magical Artifact for a long time, he also felt a headache, and his murderous intent rose sharply. A gleam of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, and he spat out a mouthful of thick, dense red blood, which flew onto the black nail magical artifact. After spitting out the blood, his complexion turned pale, as if he had suffered severe damage to his primordial qi. Yet, the black nail magical artifact shone brightly. The four black nails combined, suddenly merging into a single black-purple nail-shaped magical artifact. Around the magical artifact, a rolling gray mist rose, within which something seemed to be continually churning. Then one by one, lifelike, ferocious heads constructed by mist poked out from the fog. Simultaneously, the air was filled with a woman’s screams, the wails of the dead, eerie cries, maniacal laughter, and venomous curses... The black-purple nail-shaped magical artifact, now one, accelerated to another level, akin to a meteor, and in an instant reached close to Lou Yi. Affected by the strange gray mist surrounding it, Lou Yi’s eyes showed a momentary daze. The movement of the axe in his hand slowed slightly, evidently affected. The confrontation between masters happens in an instant. The black nail-shaped magical artifact took advantage and bypassed Lou Yi’s axe, aiming for his chest, stabbing fiercely! "Die!" The evil cultivator in a black robe showed a crazed, bloodthirsty look in his eyes. As if he already saw Lou Yi’s body pierced by the black nail magical artifact, resulting in shattered limbs and his blood drained dry. However, his expression changed the next moment. "Impossible!" He shouted in shocked anger, as if witnessing something inconceivable. In the previous breath, Lou Yi encountered the black nail magical artifact. The gray mist surrounding the artifact employed a spirit attack, ceaselessly affecting his mind, causing his thoughts to fray slightly. But in his mind, a tall, majestic eagle now had its feathers standing on end, revealing unprecedented rage in its eyes. ’Screeech!’ A sharp shriek enabled Lou Yi’s thoughts to return to normal instantly. Yet the black nail had bypassed the axe. The surface of the skin on his chest could even feel the chill of the nail tip, and the stabbing pain that was not yet in the body was maddening. There was absolutely no time to dodge, yet Lou Yi’s mind remained calm. "Black Skin." Activating the Skin Refining Technique, he mobilized the qi-blood within him, causing all his muscles to tighten instantly. The density and strength increased sharply, and the skin tone shifted to a metallic black-gray. With this change alone, ordinary profound iron could no longer penetrate his defense. "Petrification." The just-strengthened black-gray chest skin instantly morphed into a light gold-gray texture. This was the fourth phase of petrification, its hardness reaching an unimaginable state even for Lou Yi! Previously, the pure third phase change couldn’t be broken even by meteorite iron. Not stopping there, he applied the third layer of defense measures. "Golden Armor." A new talent gained from the insects in Zone Wujiu caused a thick layer of golden keratin to appear suddenly on Lou Yi’s chest. Finally, there was a fourth change. The Yellow Extreme Breathing Technique was frantically circulating inside, forcing the True Strength out of his chest instantly. On top of the golden keratin layer, he added a thin red qi membrane. True Strength outside, a technique of a Martial Artist! Four layers of defense made Lou Yi feel an unprecedented sense of security. Even as the exploded black nail magical artifact approached his body, he remained completely calm, unmoved as a mountain. Just as Lou Yi anticipated. The Black Nail Magical Artifact’s speed, which was originally as fast as lightning while breaking through a Martial Artist’s True Strength, had already decreased by more than half. Then, after piercing through the thick layer of keratin on the chest, its speed decreased again. By the time it landed on the petrified skin, its power was less than one-tenth. Only to be heard was the loud sound of ’clang’. It was actually bounced off Lou Yi’s chest, as if it had hit an indestructible mountain! "Impossible!" The Evil Cultivator was incredulous. He felt his worldview had suffered a massive shock. No magic was used to block it, no rare armor was worn. Merely with the flesh, not just blocked, but bounced off my blood-sacrificed artifact with increased power? And seizing the moment of his mental shock. Lou Yi’s counterattack began, his waist and back exerting force simultaneously, he fiercely threw out the Meteorite Iron Axe in his hand! ’Woo woo woo!’ The axe tore through the sky, spinning rapidly. As it advanced, white air currents surged along its sides, emitting a sound like the howling of a fierce ghost. The Evil Cultivator was terrified by the axe’s movement, unleashing his spiritual power as if it were free, conjuring a series of thick earth walls before him to block the axe’s advance. Only to be heard was the crashing ’boom boom boom’, as one earth wall after another shattered. And seizing the gap, the Evil Cultivator had already fled to the other side, no longer in the axe’s path. But before he could catch a breath. The axe, as it flew past the Evil Cultivator’s body, suddenly defied the laws of physics, pausing abruptly in mid-air, then returned at an even faster speed! The Evil Cultivator was startled, hurriedly attaching two Divine Movement Talismans on his legs, vastly increasing his speed, just barely dodging the Meteorite Iron Axe’s strike. And before he could steady himself, the axe traced a smooth arc in mid-air and came slashing toward him again, as if equipped with an automatic tracking system! This time, trying to dodge by force was simply impossible. A trace of determination flashed in the Evil Cultivator’s eyes, he again spat out a mouthful of blood, summoning back the Black Nail Magical Artifact he had just used, placing it in front of him. ’Clang!’ The Black Nail Magical Artifact burst with radiance, just barely blocking Lou Yi’s Meteorite Iron Axe. "Armor-Piercing." With Lou Yi’s gentle utterance, The Meteorite Iron Axe emitted an incomparably sharp invisible energy, fiercely striking into the Evil Cultivator’s head. It was as if someone were stirring his brain with a large stick! "Ah!" The Evil Cultivator let out a miserable scream, blood pouring from all his facial orifices. In his blurred vision, he saw Lou Yi standing with hands raised toward him, fingers spread open. ’Whoosh whoosh whoosh!’ Ten red True Strength beams burst forth, like ten lasers firing simultaneously. ’Pah pah pah pah!’ The protective spiritual power on the Evil Cultivator’s body was penetrated like a thin film, leaving his entire body riddled with holes. Despair filled his eyes, first falling to one knee, then his head made intimate contact with the ground, remaining silent ever after. Late-stage Qi Refining, dead! ’Might not need to shoot ten beams?’ Lou Yi thought, realizing he might have greatly underestimated the power of True Strength. In his recent battle with the Evil Cultivator, he fought rather conservatively, with some experimentation in mind. If not for this, he would find it difficult to understand the means of late-stage Qi Refining fully. The Evil Cultivator’s strength was not on par with Major Sect Cultivators, which made him the perfect touchstone. One wonders if the Evil Cultivator knew Lou Yi’s thoughts, whether he would die without peace even in the grave. "Crack!" Seeing its master brutally killed, the Mouse Demon turned and viciously lunged at Lou Yi. "Just playing with you earlier, did you really think I couldn’t handle you?" Lou Yi shook his head, instantly mobilizing all the muscles and bones throughout his body, with qi-blood soaring skyward, shining like a humanoid little sun. A terrifying force of eighty-eight thousand pounds concentrated at a point and then exploded! ’Boom!’ The Mouse Demon’s two short arms snapped instantly, followed by its chest covered in hard scales, penetrated by a golden human hand, with copious amounts of blood flowing down its fingers. The hand shook again, and the Mouse Demon’s body shattered into pieces, becoming a ground of minced meat. "If you had fled, I really couldn’t have done anything to you." Lou Yi shook his head, "A beast is a beast, ignorant and foolish." The Mouse Demon could have escaped with Earth Escape, but possibly due to loyal protection for its master, it chose to fight Lou Yi to the death. And after it and its master were successively killed, two consecutive notifications jumped on the Attribute Panel. Lou Yi felt a stir in his heart and began to research the newly acquired gifts. ...