Chapter 1297: Papersmith

Almost everyone on the Unbounded Platform was engaged in an epic battle, but not Ye Qing and Li Qingping. The duo had stopped fighting entirely.

Ye Qing’s presence was growing increasingly profound and unfathomable. His eyes were unfocused and pitch black as if he was absorbed in some sort of unspeakable enlightenment. At the same time, strange mirages were taking form here and there.

The black-robed Li Qingping and white-robed Li Qingping were standing not far away from Ye Qing. It looked like they were guarding him.

“You dare!”

Suddenly, the black-robed Li Qingping turned his head as if he sensed something and swung his sword.

There was nothing there, and yet a bloodcurdling scream broke out. The next moment, a paper doll popped into existence.

Shape wise, the paper doll looked exactly like the paper dolls the common people used during burial rites or sacrificial rituals. Color wise though, it was pale white from head to toe, and its facial features were completely cut out of paper. It was quite eerie-looking.

Right now, the paper doll was glaring at the black-robed Li Qingping with hate and resentment. There was a sword cut several inches long on its chest, and behind its chest were internal organs made out of paper. The heart, stomach, intestines and more were clearly throbbing as if they were alive.

“This has nothing to do with you, Li Qingping. Must you stop me?”

The paper doll said in an eerie voice while staring at the black-robed Li Qingping. It sounded like papers being rubbed together furiously, irritating and disturbing.

“I’m not trying to stop you. I just find your act of interrupting the Mad Lord during his breakthrough distasteful,” Li Qingping mumbled.

“Is that so?”

The paper doll sneered. The next moment, more paper dolls popped out of the sky, the mountains, the Unbounded Platform, everywhere.

In just the blink of an eye, a sea of paper dolls had invaded the entire East Radiance Mountain. Left or right, above or below, they were everywhere no matter where one looked.

The paper dolls all had different shapes and sizes. There were men, women, elderly, children. There were farmers, butchers, drifters, generals, aristocrats, and even princes and palace women.

Despite their differing appearance, there was one trait they all shared. They were pure white in color.

Besides that, the paper dolls were giving off terrifying auras. They were all at least on par with a Great Truemen or Great Grandmaster.

There were several thousand of them above and below the mountains. The sight of the paper dolls chilled the spectators to the bone.

“What about now? Are you still going to stop me?”

The paper dolls all looked at Li Qingping and asked.

“I see. You’re senior Papersmith. This junior greets you.”

Li Qingping did not look at the paper dolls though. Instead, he looked at an inconspicuous-looking old man standing at the edge of the Unbounded Platform.

The old man was wearing coarse rags and smoking a pipe. His hair was dirty white, and his face was old and wrinkly. Appearance wise, he looked no different from your ordinary farmer.

“Papersmith?”

The name caused everyone’s eyes to widen, and faces to turn as white as a sheet though.

It wasn’t that they were cowardly or meek. Papersmith was just that infamous.

For starters, Papersmith was a Sage. Not only that, he was a notorious Sage whose heartlessness and viciousness were well known throughout the world.

Papersmith might have a kind, benevolent face like that of an ordinary farmer, but it was no exaggeration that his body count exceeded everyone on this mountain combined.

See those paper dolls? Every single one was a human life once upon a time.

Papersmith practiced a martial art called the “Paper Soul Scripture”. It could extract a living being’s soul and inject them into a paper doll. Not only did the paper doll possess the same level of sapience as a human, it could cultivate and practice martial arts as well. So long as the soul remained intact, it would never grow old or die.

Even if the body was damaged for whatever reason, it could simply move to a new body.

Every time Papersmith created a paper doll, he must kill someone and extract their soul.

Not every soul was usable though. The stronger the human, the greater their talent, and the more powerful their mind, the better the paper doll would become.

That was why Papersmith did not kill ordinary people. He only targeted powerful, highly talented

wulin

elites and geniuses.

People such as them.

There were several thousand paper dolls across the East Radiance Mountain right now, and every one of them was a Great Trueman or a Great Grandmaster. In other words, at least thousands of elites and geniuses had perished in Papersmith’s hands.

How could they not be afraid of such a vicious, heartless man?

The crowd was holding their breaths before they knew it. No one dared to breathe too loudly for fear of catching his attention.

“To think you managed to locate my true body. You deserve your fame, number one!”

Papersmith let out a pair of smoke rings before knocking his smoke pipe against a nearby rock. He paid no attention to the terrified masses and looked directly at Li Qingping.

“You flatter me too much, senior. This junior cannot accept it,” Li Qingping responded with a salute.

“Spare me the humility. I was far inferior to you when I was your age.”

Papersmith did not waste any more breath on the pleasantries. “Now that you know exactly who your opponent is, are you still going to stop me?”

“Er...”

Li Qingping hesitated a little. “You are a Sage, senior. Don’t you think it’s a little undignified to bully the weak or take advantage of another’s difficulties?”

“I don’t see what’s so wrong with that. If I can solve a problem with just a-tenth of my strength, why would I opt for the more troublesome solution?”

Papersmith said slowly, “I only care about the outcome, not the process.”

“I’ll ask you again. Are you really going to stop me?”

“Does it have to be this way[1]?"

Suddenly, Li Qingping’s eyes lit up as if a great idea had suddenly occurred to him. “Why don’t you attack the Mad Lord

after

he’s made his breakthrough? If you agree, I swear I won’t interfere later. What do you say, senior?”

“Do you really think I don’t dare to kill you?”

A hint of anger entered Papersmith’s eyes. “This is my final warning. Get lost, or I’ll kill you with him!”

“Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!”

Dark, terrifying auras burst out of every paper doll after he said this. Although they were utterly silent, the killing intent filling the entire mountain made their intentions as clear as day.

“Ah!”

Li Qingping stuttered as if he was caught off guard. “If you insist on this unwise course of action, then this junior... has no choice but to entertain you until the end.”

“Hahaha... you think you can stop me?”

Papersmith was a little surprised, to be honest. He did not think that Li Qingping would actually dare to block his way. He asked angrily, “You really think your past self and future self are enough to stop

me

?”

Li Qingping’s eyes slowly became firm and determined. His timidness and hesitation also faded away into solemn dignity.

“Please, give me your guidance, senior!”

“Haha! Hahaha! If death is what you wish, who am I to stop you?”

Bloodthirst exploded out of Papersmith’s eyes as he ordered, “All units, kill him!”

The next moment, the paper dolls rushed toward Li Qingping like a snowstorm.

1. Senator Armstrong Theme - It Has To Be This Way - Lyrics ☜