My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

The Soul-Binding Silk is her secret technique; its soul power fluctuations are extremely weak, making it very difficult for even cultivators of the same level to detect.

Not only did the Taoist priest notice, but he could also pinpoint the location precisely. What's even more terrifying is that he actually used the "shrinking the earth to an inch" technique to step from the long street to the secret room of the county government office in one step!

Such methods are simply unheard of!

"What...what do you want?" The Painted Skin Goddess tried to remain calm, secretly activating the formation in an attempt to break free from the suppression of that hand.

But Ye Qingfeng's hand was like a mountain, and no matter how much magic she used, it remained unmoved.

"I don't want anything," Ye Qingfeng said calmly. "I just came to tell you two things."

He extended his left index finger:

"First, your tricks of manipulating people are nothing compared to mine. I can break the restrictions on Magistrate Zhou with a wave of my hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gently hooked the index finger of his right hand, which was resting on the shoulder of the Painted Skin Goddess.

A blazing sword intent appeared.

"puff!"

Zhou Wenchang, who was far away on the long street, suddenly shuddered and dozens of gray-black threads shot out from his seven orifices at the same time!

The silk threads snapped inch by inch in mid-air, turning into black smoke and dissipating.

Zhou Wenchang rolled his eyes back, collapsed limply to the ground, and completely lost consciousness.

Inside the secret chamber, the Painted Skin Goddess was struck as if by a heavy blow. She groaned, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth—the Soul-Binding Thread had been forcibly severed, and she suffered a backlash!

Ye Qingfeng remained unmoved and extended his second finger:

"Secondly, you hid in the county government office, borrowing the Taoist fortune of Magistrate Zhou to cultivate, thinking that this would prevent me from harming you?"

He suddenly leaned down and whispered in the Painted Skin Goddess's ear, his voice so soft that only the two of them could hear:

"Do you know that my greatest skill lies in slaying evil spirits within the bounds of the 'rules'?"

The Painted Skin Goddess's pupils suddenly contracted.

impossible!impossible!

Her efforts over the years have already tainted her with a bit of officialdom, and of course, she can also receive the protection of human fortune.

Could it be that he can strip me of my human destiny?

Suddenly, the Painted Skin Goddess felt a little panicked. She remembered that this stinky Taoist priest had unfathomable abilities, and perhaps he really did have a way!

Ye Qingfeng straightened up, raised his Autumn Water Sword in his right hand, and pointed the tip of the sword at the bronze mirror in the center of the formation:

"The humanitarian aura surrounding Zhou Wenchang protects him personally and the county government."

But your secret chamber, your array, and these evil artifacts... are not included in its protection.

At the tip of the sword, a wisp of golden-red flame quietly ignited.

Samadhi Fire!

The Painted Skin Queen's expression changed drastically, and she screamed, "You can't kill me! If I die, my master will ensure that your soul is scattered and you are never reincarnated!"

The fear in the Painted Skin Queen's heart grew deeper and deeper. Just now, she clearly sensed the official aura that she had cultivated and painstakingly intercepted over the years.

Suddenly, I lost contact with her.

This…this stinky Taoist priest really does have that ability!

Ye Qingfeng watched this scene and smiled without saying a word.

He doesn't need to know how; all you need to do is believe.

Just as he was about to speak, a rustling sound suddenly came from the corner of the secret room.

Ye Qingfeng shifted his gaze slightly, looking towards the source of the sound—

There was a black wooden altar there, and on the altar, besides a bronze mirror, there was also a three-inch-tall paper figure.

The paper figure was crudely made, cut from yellow paper and dotted with cinnabar. It was now standing up unsteadily, hands on its hips—though its paper waist was barely visible—looking up at Ye Qingfeng.

The paper figure spoke, its voice shrill and venomous:

"You stinking old man! Didn't expect that, did you? I'm not quite dead yet!"

It was the voice of the Paper Goddess!

Ye Qingfeng raised an eyebrow slightly.

He was indeed somewhat surprised—the Samadhi Fire burned away all evil spirits, destroying both their form and spirit, yet this paper goddess could still leave behind a wisp of her remnant soul, which was resurrected through this rough paper figure.

It seems the other party possesses some kind of secret technique, such as "escaping unscathed" or "taking someone else's place."

These kinds of techniques often come at a great cost and require a substitute vessel to be prepared in advance.

The fact that this paper figure has been preserved to this day is probably due to the secret assistance of the Painted Skin Goddess.

"I underestimated you," Ye Qingfeng said calmly. "How dare you, a mere remnant soul, act so presumptuously before me?"

The paper doll sneered: "Living on in a stalemate? Heh... You stinking Taoist priest, you'll soon find out who's really living on in a stalemate!"

As it spoke, it suddenly raised its paper arm and pointed at the bronze mirror on the offering table.

The mirror suddenly shimmered with a bloody light!

Almost simultaneously, the Painted Skin Goddess bit her tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence, which splashed onto the blood-red array beneath her.

The array runes glowed with a blinding red light, echoing the blood-red light from the bronze mirror, weaving together to form a complex three-dimensional array in the center of the secret chamber.

At the center of the magic circle, a black jade altar, half a foot high, slowly rose.

On the altar, there was an object—

It was a jade carving about the size of a palm.

The jade is warm and lustrous, and the carving is simple and unadorned, depicting a Taoist priest sitting cross-legged.

The Taoist's face was blurred, his features indistinct, but he exuded an extremely subtle yet chillingly sinister aura.

The moment Ye Qingfeng saw the jade carving, his pupils contracted slightly.

This aura... he'd seen it before.

Isn't this the old coin from Wild Boar Forest?

"I see..." Ye Qingfeng understood.

The master behind the Paper Goddess and the Painted Skin Goddess is the Jade Carving Manipulator.

The fact that these two were able to lie low in Wen'an County for so many years and set up such an evil den as Lan Yue Fang is probably the work of the mastermind behind it all.

Seeing the change in Ye Qingfeng's expression, the Paper Goddess assumed he was afraid and laughed smugly:

"You stinking old man, you recognize it now? This is a token of my lord! We have already communicated through the magic array, and my lord will arrive immediately!"

"You have ruined my lord's grand plan and killed my lord's servants. Today is your death day!"

The Painted Skin Goddess chimed in shrill voice, "Our Lord is all-powerful; even immortals are but ants before him! You ignorant little Taoist priest, just wait for your soul to be scattered!"

The two ghosts talked back and forth, their tone arrogant, as if victory was assured.

Ye Qingfeng, however, had a strange expression.

He looked at the jade carving, then at the two laughing ghosts, and suddenly asked:

"Are you sure... your Lord will come?"

The Paper Goddess was taken aback, then retorted angrily, "Nonsense! Our master values ​​promises above all else. Having taken us as his servants, he will not stand idly by and watch us be killed!"

"Is that so?" Ye Qingfeng stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That's good. I hope you can do that."

Ye Qingfeng was just worrying about how to quickly improve his strength, and look, this medium has arrived!

He wasn't afraid of the other party testing him.

He guessed that the other side would not dare to use too much of their strength here.

Because he himself is like that.

After cultivating for over five hundred years, Ye Qingfeng clearly sensed an insurmountable barrier looming over him.

The higher one's cultivation level, the closer one gets to that insurmountable barrier.

That's a suppression of cultivation level.

It was as if this world did not allow those with higher cultivation levels to appear.

That's why Ye Qingfeng was so certain that the other party wouldn't make a move.

Even if such beings projected their power, they would never be able to overcome this insurmountable barrier.