Ch. 342 - The One and Only Lord of the Land Between

The crowd erupted into chaos, voices clashing in anger as they turned on Lu Ziming.

Someone yelled, "You already made a fortune off of us because of Shen Yishuang, and now you want to keep another woman all to yourself? Keep dreaming!"

"Wei Xin and Shen Yishuang were under my control, and now that they’re dead, I deserve the biggest share!" Lu Ziming snapped, frustration clear in his voice.

No one was willing to back down. Profit was one thing, but when it came to women—one of the most valuable resources in The Land Between—compromise was out of the question. Controlling a woman meant controlling a steady stream of wealth. 

As the argument raged, Fang Xiu had already lost interest. Without a word, he turned and walked away. 

"Hey, hold it! Trying to run?" one guy yelled.

The bickering stopped instantly. The group shifted their focus, stepping in to block his path.

One man sneered. "Fang Xiu, you really think you’re leaving here alive?"

Lu Ziming crossed his arms, smirking. "Unless you settle your debt, you’re not going anywhere. In fact, not only are you not leaving—you’re dying right here."

Fang Xiu’s gaze swept over them, amused.

Without a flicker of emotion, he replied, "You know, there’s a limit to stupidity. Where exactly did you all find the courage to stand in my way?"

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

One of the men chuckled, shaking his head. "Fang Xiu, did you forget where you are? This isn’t the your world! You’re not the Chief Commander here."

Another voice chimed in mockingly, "Out there, sure, you could call the shots—mobilizing people across the nation. But in the Land Between? You’re nothing but third-tier trash!"

The man looked him up and down before sneering. "If we didn’t need living beings to keep the money flowing, do you really think you’d still be breathing?"

Fang Xiu let out a small sigh, a trace of nostalgia flickering in his eyes.

"It’s been a while," he mused. "Seems like no one’s dared to speak to me like this in ages. Fine. I just hope you all put up a good show—I’d hate to be disappointed."

The man who had been mocking him faltered for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Hah! Did I hear that right? A third-tier scrub talking to us like that? Looks like it’s about time we taught you a lesson."

Fang Xiu had already lost interest in the pointless banter. Spiritual energy surged around him in a violent torrent, distorting the air. He whispered softly—

"Come forth, Taotie."

The ground trembled. In an instant, a grotesque, mountainous mass of flesh erupted beneath his feet, towering into the sky.

Even as the monstrous entity loomed over them, the gathered fighters didn't panic. Though their expressions showed shock, they quickly steadied themselves.

"Lu Ziming, so this is the Taotie you warned us about? Impressive, but not enough to take us all on."

"Fang Xiu, your little trump card isn’t much of a secret. That thing might look terrifying, but at best, it can only hold off a fifth-tier. We have three fifth-tiers and seven fourth-tiers here. What do you have besides this overgrown beast?"

Another man sneered, "Be smart about this. Kneel down, hand over the woman, and maybe we’ll let you live."

A slow, sinister grin crept onto Fang Xiu’s face. "Heh… heh heh… ahahaha…"

A twisted, eerie laughter spilled from his lips.

"You guys are really entertaining. Do me a favor, will you? Keep that smug look on your faces for as long as possible—I’d like to enjoy this moment."

"Fang Xiu, you really don’t know when to quit. You’ve already broken the rules of The Land Between! If you want to live, get on your knees and—"

BOOOOOM!

Before the man could finish, a deafening explosion shook the land.

From the east, a thunderous roar echoed as the very ground beneath them trembled violently, as if struck by an earthquake.

"What the hell was that!?" The group instinctively turned toward the source of the commotion—and their faces paled in horror.

In the distance, an enormous, sky-piercing hand, vast as a mountain range, was emerging.

Another Taotie had arrived.

The moment the second Taotie emerged, the gathered fighters could no longer mask their shock. 

"You can summon two of these monsters at once?!" 

Fang Xiu chuckled coldly. "Two? You think that’s all?" 

BOOM! 

The earth trembled violently again. From the west, yet another Taotie erupted from the ground. 

"What the hell—?!" Panic flickered across their faces. 

But it didn’t stop there. 

BOOM! BOOM!

From the north and the south, two more monstrous figures emerged. 

Five. 

Five colossal, mountain-sized Taoties now loomed over them, enclosing the group in an inescapable fortress of flesh and horror. 

And at the peak of this terrifying spectacle, standing atop one of the Taoties’ heads like a god surveying the mortal realm, was Fang Xiu. 

The oppressive aura radiating from the five creatures was suffocating—so overwhelming it could probably jolt a comatose person awake. 

Their reactions were predictable. 

When the first Taotie appeared, they dismissed it. 

When the second emerged, they were surprised. 

By the third, they were stunned. 

By the fourth, they were uneasy. 

By the fifth… sheer terror set in. 

"Oh Lord…!" gasped the only foreigner among them, his face pale with disbelief. "How could anyone possibly control five of these things at once?!" 

Fang Xiu’s lips curled into a vicious grin. 

"Lord?" He let out a chilling laugh. "There are no other lords here. In the Land Between, I am the only lord." 

As the five Taotie projections took full form, the very air began to distort. Reality itself seemed to warp beneath their presence.

Incomprehensible whispers slithered through the atmosphere, laced with divine madness. 

A crushing sense of insignificance settled over the group. It was as if they had been reduced to nothing more than ants beneath the gaze of an uncaring god. 

They stared in horror, speechless. Moments ago, they had surrounded Fang Xiu. Now, it was they who were trapped. 

Towering shadows stretched over them as the five Taoties loomed, their monstrous energy corrupting the air, thickening it with the suffocating stench of decay. 

Fang Xiu’s voice rang out, calm and detached. "Regain your composure." 

He preferred them as they were before—prideful, arrogant. Their current expressions of terror were… disappointing. 

"Fang Xiu! Stop trying to intimidate us!" Lu Ziming shouted, though his voice carried unmistakable unease. "You think I don’t know the truth? These Taoties might be unkillable, but their attack power is a joke. They’re not even on par with a single Class-S Specter!" 

Fang Xiu tilted his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. 

"Oh? Is that what you think?" His grin widened, sharp as a blade. "Seems like you’ve misunderstood something fundamental about Taotie." 

His voice dropped to a whisper. 

"Let me show you… what it truly means to be a Specter God." 

"Taoties, merge." The moment the command left his lips, the five towering monstrosities began to shift. 

Flesh and shadow twisted together, merging into one. The sky darkened as their colossal bodies fused into a singular, incomprehensible entity—a nightmarish titan that stretched to the heavens themselves. 

A suffocating wave of energy exploded outward. 

This was no longer mere Specter energy. 

This was the energy of a Specter God. 

Reality trembled beneath its presence. The air rippled with unnatural whispers, their cadence alien, their meaning unknowable.

Just hearing them sent jagged pain lancing through the mind, as if something deep within their souls was unraveling. 

The fourth-tier fighters suddenly found their Spiritual Energy surging out of control, writhing chaotically inside them like a caged beast. Their very essence felt as though it were on the verge of collapse. 

The three fifth-tier combatants were in even worse shape. Faces pale, they hastily activated their Mindflare techniques, desperately trying to shield their minds from the creeping madness. 

Terror clawed at their hearts. 

"What… what kind of monster is this?!"

Fang Xiu’s voice echoed from above, devoid of emotion. "How boring." 

He had expected the Land Between to be more entertaining than this. Yet all it had taken was five projections—mere projections of the real Taotie—to reduce these so-called elites to a trembling mess.

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