Ye Lingyuan’s expression turned cold, and a surge of spiritual energy was about to lash out at the shadow.
Zi Linling was just as quick. As the shadow was about to touch her, a barrier of flames abruptly appeared around her body.
Simultaneously, a paper figure, half of whose body had already turned to ash, materialized before them.
"What is this thing?"
Zi Linling frowned, staring at the strange paper figure.
Ye Lingyuan’s brow also furrowed slightly, his mind racing.
The paper figure had no life force, nor did it possess any spiritual fluctuations. Yet, something comparable to spiritual energy continuously emanated from it.
If one had to describe it, it was as if the paper figure was suffused with a dense yin energy.
The paper figure looked at its remaining half-body, its eyes instantly turning blood red.
It cast a venomous gaze upon Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan, then its remaining half-body exploded.
Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan, who were preparing to act, were taken aback, their faces darkening.
Because after the paper figure exploded, they discovered a strange aura had settled upon them.
And with their cultivation, this aura was impossible to remove.
Damn it!
Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan cursed inwardly, their gazes falling on the paper figure, now reduced to powder on the ground. Suda Novel Network.
A paper figure that could speak human words? Dense yin energy? This place is—
A flash of inspiration struck Ye Lingyuan’s mind, and he had a faint inkling of a guess.
However, whether this guess was correct or not required confirmation.
Thus, he grabbed Zi Linling’s hand with a little more force and said, "Lin’er, I think I know where we are. But—"
"Oh, what a coincidence, I think I've guessed it too!"
Zi Linling interrupted him with a mysterious smile, a hint of something meaningful in her grin.
She couldn’t help but remark: life truly is full of the bizarre.
It seemed some people really couldn’t be spoken ill of.
She had just been thinking of a certain person, and in the next moment, they had arrived in that person’s territory.
Ye Lingyuan looked at her with surprise and said with a wicked smile, "Oh? My Lin’er has also guessed it? I wonder if our guesses are the same?"
Zi Linling said slyly, "Let's walk forward a bit more, and we'll know, won't we?"
Ye Lingyuan’s eyes flickered. This was exactly what he had been about to say before Zi Linling interrupted him.
Knowing Zi Linling as he did, how could he not realize that his Lin’er was about to play a trick on someone again?
No! To be precise, they weren’t playing a trick on a person this time.
Therefore, he smiled faintly, "I'm happy to accompany you!"
With an unspoken understanding, the two strode forward.
However, they hadn’t gone far before they both stopped simultaneously.
Ye Lingyuan’s gaze turned sinister as he chuckled, "Lin’er, it seems we’ll have to deal with these pawns first before we can confirm."
Zi Linling smiled sweetly, "It seems that's the only way!"
As they spoke, a continuous stream of paper figures charged towards them in neat formations.
Their appearance was like that of a well-trained army.
An army composed of countless eerie paper figures was not just spectacular, but terrifying.
If it were an ordinary person, they would likely have been scared to death by this horrifying sight.
But were Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan ordinary people?
They exchanged a smile, and two walls of fire materialized before the army of paper figures.
The flames instantly illuminated half the sky in this dark place.
Then, they watched as wave after wave of paper figures charged towards the wall of fire.
Immediately, the acrid smell of burning paper filled the air.
Layer upon layer of flying ash fell to the ground, a scene both eerie and grand.
Even so, not a single paper figure retreated, fearlessly rushing towards the two walls of fire.
Under the onslaught of these paper figures, Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan's walls of fire extinguished one after another.
In total, these two walls of fire lasted only a dozen breaths from their appearance to their demise.
Of course, they weren’t extinguished by the paper figures themselves, but by the dense yin energy emanating from them.
Looking at the extinguished fire walls, Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan both raised their eyebrows almost imperceptibly.
In that very moment, as the fire walls died out, they felt the spiritual energy disappear.
In other words, any spiritual energy they unleashed in this realm, once it dissipated, was gone forever.
This meant that the spiritual energy they consumed could neither be recovered nor replenished.
Although the amount of spiritual energy they consumed this time could be described as negligible, if they continued to fight in this realm, their spiritual energy would eventually be depleted.
At that point, they would become lambs to the slaughter.
Of course, this analogy wasn't entirely accurate.
The strength and resilience of Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan were undeniable. Even if they became lambs, they would be lambs capable of devouring wolves and tigers.
Watching the endless stream of paper figures emerging from behind, the eyes of Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan gleamed.
They had already noticed that these paper figures lacked intelligence.
Their relentless and fearless advance was due to someone controlling them from behind.
As for who that controller was, Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan had already formed some suspicions.
Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously plunged into the army of paper figures.
In the blink of an eye, each of them held a fierce-looking paper figure.
As the paper figures were grabbed, their paper knives slashed towards them.
Hmph!
Zi Linling's eyes turned cold, and she sneered, "Just a pile of waste paper, yet you dare to be ferocious!"
As her voice fell, a cluster of flames appeared at her fingertips.
Under the terrified gaze of the paper figure, the flame licked its body.
Zi Linling grinned, and the paper figure in her hand was thrown back into the army of paper figures. A large swathe of the densely packed army instantly ignited.
The fire spread continuously, and a colossal fire dragon blazed through the entire paper army, its flames illuminating the entire realm.
On Ye Lingyuan’s side, a similar fire dragon appeared, closely connected to Zi Linling’s, rapidly extending towards the rear of the paper army.
Then, with a tacit understanding, they both took two steps back and stood there to observe.
At this point, the fire ignited by the paper figures had become ordinary fire, no longer requiring their spiritual energy.
These ordinary flames spread to each paper figure, instantly dividing the dense yin energy into small units with individual paper figures as their cores.
This way, the dispersed yin energy made it harder to extinguish these flames.
Soon, the paper army turned to dust, scattering across the ground like ashes.
Zi Linling smiled, "I hope that person likes this gift of ours!"