From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

The warehouse was engulfed in flames, thick smoke billowing out and carrying the smell of burning. The wooden cabinets and files on the second floor crackled and popped in the flames, and the fire spread wildly up the stairs, threatening to engulf the entire warehouse building in flames.

The old official surnamed Zhou, who was lying on the ground, had black smoke seeping from his mouth and nose and was convulsing all over. He was obviously being corrupted by the power of witchcraft and would not wake up for a while.

Zhang Zhixuan summoned two paper puppet soldiers to guard his sides, while Pei Daozhen, holding a large black iron spear, focused intently on searching for the sorcerer's whereabouts.

"A sinister and wicked man, he escaped after our failed ambush..." Pei Shouzhen frowned. The opponent left after a single strike, which clearly left Pei Shouzhen helpless, as he was not good at tracking.

Zhang Zhixuan remained silent and directly activated his Treasure-Seeing Eye. Before him, the treasures of all things manifested. Zhang Zhixuan noticed that the wooden witch figure, which had been shattered by Pei Shouzhen's thunder talisman, still retained some ominous gray-black aura.

However, a wisp of golden energy continued to destroy it completely, which was clearly the effect of the golden lightning talisman.

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Zhixuan discovered an extremely thin, grayish-black thread extending out from the remains of the wooden shaman, pointing directly to the southeast.

"Master Pei, chase him southeast, he can't escape." Zhang Zhixuan pointed and, as he spoke, commanded two paper puppet soldiers to follow the gray-black thread.

"Zhang Jushi is actually skilled in tracking?" Pei Shouzhen was slightly surprised. In just a few days, Zhang Zhixuan, who had awakened his innate destiny, had brought him quite a few surprises.

Zhang Zhixuan led the way, with Pei Shouzhen close behind, heading southeast.

No sooner had the two left than someone discovered thick smoke and fire coming from the direction of the warehouse.

"Fire! The warehouse is on fire!"

Several shouts were heard, and more than a dozen people rushed to put out the fire. There were also many onlookers who came just to watch the excitement, pointing and commenting from a distance.

Zhang Zhixuan led Pei Daozhen to follow the trail, almost leaving the city, and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated abandoned house.

The walls of the dilapidated house had collapsed, and the gate to the courtyard was long gone. It was pitch black inside, with a putrid smell emanating from it. No one knew what had died inside.

Zhang Zhixuan stopped and lowered his voice: "It's inside."

Pei Shouzhen nodded, gripped his spear, and the two approached the dilapidated house from the left and right.

"I'll use the paper puppet soldiers to scout ahead first..."

Zhang Zhixuan summoned a paper puppet soldier, and, communicating with it, stepped into the dark, dilapidated house.

This dilapidated house had been abandoned for who knows how long; the roof had long since leaked, and a few rays of moonlight shone through, barely illuminating a small area for Zhang Zhixuan.

After searching, Zhang Zhixuan found nothing in the dilapidated house except for a dead cat whose body was rotting and stinking.

"Strange, there's nothing there." Zhang Zhixuan frowned in confusion when he suddenly noticed a broken wooden plank in a dark corner.

Although the wooden plank was somewhat disguised, it looked out of place in this environment.

Zhang Zhixuan stepped forward to check, raised his hand and knocked, and found that it was hollow underneath. The wooden board was lifted up, revealing the entrance to a hole in the ground.

"Master Pei, come and look at this. There must be something more to it below."

Pei Shouzhen looked down into the cave, which was pitch black and deep, seemingly leading to the underworld.

"The enemy is in the dark, while we are in the light. If we go down rashly, we may be ambushed. Moreover, this cave must be narrow, and I'm afraid my body won't be able to maneuver properly..." Pei Shouzhen analyzed with a frown. As he spoke, he twisted the large iron spear in his hand and split it into two.

Zhang Zhixuan had always been curious about what was inside the coarse cloth roll that Pei Shouzhen carried on his back. Now he understood that it was actually a large spear. Other Taoists carried swords, but this man, who was over two meters tall, probably couldn't handle an ordinary sword. In his hands, it looked more like he was holding a chopstick.

"Perhaps I should send the paper puppet soldiers down to scout ahead. This is the enemy's home turf, so we need to be careful to see what the situation is like, lest we fall into an ambush," Zhang Zhixuan said.

Pei Shouzhen nodded in agreement: "Then I'll trouble you, Layman Zhang."

"It's alright." Zhang Zhixuan then commanded two paper puppet soldiers to go down into the underground cave to investigate.

Paper puppet soldiers are naturally advantageous for scout missions. They are light and agile, and move silently. However, their pale paper bodies are slightly conspicuous in the dark. Zhang Zhixuan considered making a black paper puppet when he got back. With one white and one black, they could play the roles of the Black and White Impermanence.

The cave is about three meters high and a little over one meter wide, only wide enough for one person to walk through.

Given its narrow size, if two people rashly descend into the tunnel without carefully assessing the situation, they could easily suffer a great loss.

Zhang Zhixuan, controlling the paper puppet soldiers, walked a short distance along the dark, narrow passage when he suddenly saw a faint light ahead.

The paper puppet slowly approached and peered in, only to find that the deep cave in front of them was connected to a naturally formed underground cave.

The cave was quite spacious, with several flickering, eerie green flames hanging near the walls, casting a chilling and terrifying light on the entire underground cave. Dark red banners hung on the four walls, covered with twisted symbols that looked like ghostly scribbles. In the center, dozens of cocoons of varying sizes were neatly arranged, each as tall as a person. The cocoons trembled slightly from time to time, as if something inside was still breathing.

On either side of the cocoon stood two short, strange figures, each less than 1.5 meters tall, draped in dark green robes. Their faces were hidden under their hoods, revealing only their pointed chins and chapped lips.

"How many more sacrifices are needed?" one of the short, strange men asked, his voice hoarse and unpleasant.

The other strange person spoke in a high-pitched voice: "Three more are needed."

The strange man with the hoarse voice complained, "The progress is too slow."

The strange man with the shrill voice said, "That Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain is keeping a close eye on us and has ruined our plans time and time again. They just went to the government treasury to check the files again. I'm worried that if this continues, they'll find out sooner or later..."

"So you made a move?"

"Yes."

"It failed?"

"Yes……"

"Useless!" The strange man with the hoarse voice was clearly furious and swung his hand to slap his companion with the shrill voice hard across the face.

"They've completely discovered our operation; we can't stay here any longer..."

Outside the cave, Zhang Zhixuan was in sync with the paper puppet soldier. He was controlling the paper puppet to hide in the shadows and listen intently when he suddenly felt something crawling up his feet.

Zhang Zhixuan, controlling the paper puppet, looked down and saw a toad, its body entirely green and covered in tumor-like bumps, about the size of an adult's fist, lying on the paper puppet's feet.

"A toad on my foot..." Zhang Zhixuan felt nauseous and was about to kick the toad away.

Suddenly, the toad puffed up its belly and let out a loud "croak!"

The cry echoed through the dark cave, like the sound of a broken drum. The two short, strange men turned their heads at the same time, and all four eyes were drawn to the paper puppet soldier lurking in the shadows at the cave entrance.

"We've been exposed!"

Zhang Zhixuan's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to make a move, he saw the toad suddenly open its mouth, and a stream of dark green venom spurted from its throat, hitting the paper puppet's thigh squarely.

When the paper puppet's leg came into contact with the venom, white smoke immediately rose from it, instantly corroding and burning off its thigh.

"Kill!" Two short, green-clad monsters simultaneously brandished their weapons and lunged at the paper puppet soldiers.

Helpless, Zhang Zhixuan could only manipulate the remaining paper puppet, which was half-crippled, to desperately resist.

"How is the situation?" Pei Shouzhen noticed that Zhang Zhixuan was not in a good mood and quickly asked.

Zhang Zhixuan frowned, his expression grave: "We've been discovered. One of the two paper puppet soldiers is already useless, and the remaining one won't last much longer..."

"The tunnel is too narrow; it will be difficult for us to get there immediately."

Upon hearing this, Pei Shouzhen pondered for a few seconds and immediately asked, "Can you estimate the approximate location of the tops of their heads? Take me there, I have a way."

Zhang Zhixuan nodded and immediately set off to lead the way. After walking about ten meters, he pointed to the spot where he was standing: "It's roughly around this location."

"Alright! Layman Zhang, immediately step back ten meters!"

Zhang Zhixuan was puzzled, but he still quickly left, keeping a sufficient distance from Pei Shouzhen.

Pei Shouzhen looked at Zhang Zhixuan and suddenly said loudly, "Isn't Layman Zhang curious about what the supernatural realm is like after awakening one's innate destiny?"

"Now I will demonstrate to you what my own innate supernatural power looks like!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Shouzhen suddenly roared, "Divine Power: Blood Qi Wolf Smoke!"

Then, Pei Shouzhen's aura suddenly surged, and his gray Taoist robe billowed without wind. Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, it exploded with a "bang," revealing Pei Shouzhen's strong and muscular body.

The next second, his entire body turned a visibly fiery red.

The pitch-black night was bathed in the crimson glow of Pei Shouzhen's massive body, and billowing smoke emanated from his body, quickly transforming into an even larger, more imposing shadow of smoke.