As he spoke, Zhang Chen’s hands didn’t stop drawing talismans, frantically casting the Six-Word Mantra against the mosquito legs and mouthparts that chased him.
The Black-Robed Monster knew this couldn’t continue any longer; without breaking the impasse, both would be finished. So he asked, "How to bet?"
"Can you shrink his body?" Zhang Chen asked.
"I can!" the Black-Robed Monster replied.
"I want you to use all your might to shrink his body to about one foot in size and maintain it for at least ten breaths. If you can do this, I’ll have a chance to sever his mouthparts," Zhang Chen said seriously.
Before the Black-Robed Monster could reply, the mocking voice of the Innate Mosquito rang out, "Hahaha! Hahaha! What did I hear? It sounds like the funniest joke I’ve ever heard—a mere ant saying it wants to cut off my mouthparts. Truly laughable to the utmost."
Then it turned to the Black-Robed Monster, "Old guy, you wouldn’t believe this kid, fall for his trickery, would you? Such wishful thinking—you wouldn’t believe it, would you?"
Yet the next moment, the Innate Mosquito’s body froze and then rapidly shrunk to the size of a hen in an instant.
"Whoa! You actually ignited the soul essence? You dare to bet your life on such impractical and wishful thinking?" The Innate Mosquito’s voice transmitted from within its body, full of disbelief.
Facing the Black-Robed Monster’s desperate counterattack by igniting the soul essence, at this moment, the Innate Mosquito’s soul didn’t resist hard, allowing him to control the body.
Why?
Because this was the final outburst from igniting the soul essence, after ten breaths the opponent would enter a weakened state, and defeating him would be effortless.
Going head-to-head when the opponent’s power peaks would be a thankless task—only a fool would do it.
Despite hearing the Innate Mosquito’s taunts, the Black-Robed person didn’t laugh. If there wasn’t the Nine Bends Yellow River Talisman array or Zhang Chen pulling his soul out, he wouldn’t have risked everything to believe Zhang Chen’s words.
Yet everyone whose soul had been pulled out, facing Zhang Chen’s unreasonable tactics, would feel their soul tremble with the wish to kill him directly.
One breath, the Innate Mosquito shrinks.
Second breath, the Innate Mosquito arrives in front of Zhang Chen and pauses.
The mosquito’s mouthparts resemble a screwdriver, exhibiting a dark black sheen, absorbing all light from heaven and earth, appearing fierce and terrifying.
At the third breath, Zhang Chen took out the Golden Scissors, determination in his eyes.
The Golden Scissors still seemed like they could shatter at any moment, covered in numerous cracks.
But upon seeing Zhang Chen take out the Golden Scissors, the Black-Robed Monster was startled, and the Innate Mosquito was shocked, voice full of disbelief: "Impossible! How can this ghost thing still exist? And how did it fall into your hands?"
"Return control of my body!" The Innate Mosquito panicked, flustering and starting to fight for control, even willing to ignite its essence to regain control.
Alas, the opponent acted too late; at this moment, the Black-Robed Monster definitively held control over the body, leaving no chance for the opponent to ignite the soul essence smoothly.
Fourth breath, the Golden Scissors in Zhang Chen’s hand opened and swiftly clamped onto the Innate Mosquito’s mouthparts.
"No! No!" The Innate Mosquito’s voice filled with panic.
But Zhang Chen ignored the shouting, fiercely infused magical power on the fifth breath, cutting down hard.
However, a cold impact sensation came, the Golden Scissors jammed, unable to cut through.
"How can this be? Even the Golden Scissors can’t cut through its mouthparts?" Zhang Chen’s face changed, despair glimmering in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the formerly panicked Innate Mosquito turned from sadness to joy, the pleading voice transformed into arrogance, "Hahaha! Hahaha! You, a mere ant, thought finding the Golden Scissors could cut off my mouthparts? Pure wishful thinking, and look at what you amount to; do you think your cultivation is fit to wield the Golden Scissors?"
The Innate Mosquito at this moment hurriedly extinguished its soon-to-burst essence, regarding Zhang Chen like a performing clown, voice full of mockery: "And the Golden Scissors? They’ve broken to pieces. Look at that broken pair of scissors; they seem ready to shatter at any moment, possessing hardly any power. You’re using broken scissors to bluff!"
At the fifth breath, Zhang Chen used all his power, channeling all his magical power but still unable to cut through like a mountain, not leaving any mark. The Innate Mosquito’s crazy laughter echoed in the void, utterly arrogant: "I say, old guy, you must be crazy, believing a mere ant’s words. No wonder you were swallowed by me; a fool without brains, it’s miraculous you survived this long. Living is wasting the creation of heaven and earth; better that everything is left to me."
"Is it a failure?" The Black-Robed Monster’s soul, within the Innate Mosquito’s body froze the smile on its face. Initially, seeing Zhang Chen take out the Golden Scissors, he rejoiced, thinking rescue was possible, but Zhang Chen’s power proved too weak, and the Golden Scissors too damaged to wield their sharpness.
"Chatter, chatter, chatter! I think you, old guy, should check your brain, wasting time battle with such a foolish opponent all these years, brought down my status," Innate Mosquito’s voice full of arrogance:
"Old guy, how would you like to die later? Completely consumed by me or voluntarily merging into my body?"
Except for Zhang Chen, the others’ words are thoughts in the spiritual world, integrating hundreds to thousands of sentences, so they don’t seem short.
"How could this happen?" Zhang Chen looked at the scissors, face red and full of force, sweats streaming down his temples, dripping down his hair.
At this moment, the fifth breath elapsed, and the sixth breath started counting.
"What to do? What to do? Am I truly going to die here today?" Zhang Chen faced a life-or-death crisis, his mind swarmed with countless distracting thoughts. At this moment, he suddenly realized he was terrified of dying! Absolutely to the extreme!
He didn’t want to die; he obtained the Qi cultivation technique and the Golden Finger. If he could survive, he had the hope to ascend the summit, achieving immortality and becoming a renowned giant through the ages—how could he die here?
Moreover, if he died, what would happen to his little brother, sister, mother?
He’d leave behind the mess of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion; without his presence, would the Inspection and Supervision Department continue to protect them?
In these troubled times, how would they survive?
In desperation, Zhang Chen didn’t want to die, but his cries for help met with silence from heaven and earth—what could he do?
Faced with such an old opponent, he was utterly powerless.
This old opponent wasn’t something he could resist.
As Zhang Chen’s heart filled with immense despair, his mind inundated with countless distracting thoughts like a tidal wave devouring him, those mouthparts unexpectedly emitted streaks of black light, transforming into mist wrapping toward the Golden Scissors, attempting to swallow them.
The mouthparts unexpectedly wanted to reverse and swallow the Golden Scissors!
Seemingly perceiving the danger, the Golden Scissors lightly trembled; two brushes emerged from the Golden Scissors’ blade, furiously sweeping at the mouthparts.
Not only did the Golden Scissors detect the danger, but even the black and white brushes captured by the Golden Scissors perceived where the danger lay.
If the Golden Scissors were absorbed by the mouthparts, would they meet a good end? Most likely, they’d accompany Zhang Chen to perish, vanishing simultaneously. So, at this critical moment, they had no choice but to work.