This paper talisman was a life saving trump card that Hu Shenwei had left within his spatial ring.

When Lu Tianzi finished off Hu Shenwei, he had taken the former's spatial ring. At that time, Lu Tianzi had naturally obtained the paper talisman as well.

Previously when Hu Shenwei activated the paper talisman, he had been forced to split the power of the flames into five separate streams. That was his attempt to take down the entire group of demon pursuers all at once.

Alas, Hu Shenwei's control over the paper talisman was still lacking.

In his attempt to split the flames into five separate streams, Hu Shenwei had unknowingly caused a drastic loss of might behind the attack, resulting in his failure to defeat even a single one of the demons.

But now, Lu Tianzi was not faced with such a problem. After all, there was only one opponent before him – Hu Yuanbo.

When activated, the paper talisman possessed sufficient strength to subdue any entity beneath the Origin Core realm.

With such a devastating power, it truly lived up to its name as a life saving trump card even for an Essence Condensation realm martial artist like Hu Shenwei.

And right now, no longer bound by the need to split the might of the flames, the paper talisman was finally able to display this overwhelming power in the hands of Lu Tianzi.

The flames surged forth in the form of an imposing fireball, blasting straight towards Hu Yuanbo!

If it was any other attack, Hu Yuanbo would definitely have been able to react instantaneously.

But this time, the paper talisman thrown out by Lu Tianzi was something that he recognised all too well – it was the life saving trump card that he had personally given to his son Hu Shenwei!

The fact that it was now in the hands of Lu Tianzi, what could have possible happened?

Hu Yuanbo had a rough estimate in his mind, but he dared not continue thinking down that lane. No matter what, simply thinking about it would not change a thing. All that mattered right now was to subdue this darned Lu Tianzi!

These thoughts only flashed through Hu Yuanbo's mind for the slightest of moments, but even the most negligible distraction would matter in a fight of this level.

In that moment while Hu Yuanbo was caught in his deep contemplation, the raging flames from the paper talisman arrived.

By now, it was already too late for him to retreat.

"You..!" Hu Yuanbo cursed in horror as he saw the raging flames before his eyes.

All Hu Yuanbo could do was to shield his body by bringing the flaming sword in his hand directly before him, attempting to mitigate as much damage as possible.

However, in the face of the raging fireball, the effect of his flaming sword was ever so insignificant.

The flames completely overwhelmed the measly defence of the flaming sword, surging right past it and smashing directly into Hu Yuanbo!

In his current weakened state, there was simply nothing he could do to save himself.

Bang-!

The sheer impact of the collision sent a terrifying shockwave throughout the room, smashing apart all furniture and setting the entire room ablaze.

Hu Yuanbo's body was flung through the air like a rag doll, crashing loudly into the wall behind him before sliding down to the floor.

With the sliver of consciousness that still remained within him despite receiving that devastating attack, Hu Yuanbo still managed to land on his feet.

However, that was already the best that he could do at that moment.

His breath was short, and his body felt weak.

A relentless ringing sound flooded his eardrums, as though perpetually reminding him of the terrible state that his body was in.

In his blurry vision, all Hu Yuanbo could see was bright flames everywhere. His study room had now effectively been reduced to a scene of blazing inferno.

From the midst of the flames, a figure could be seen running straight towards him, both hands raised by his sides.

This figure was naturally Lu Tianzi.

Seeing the state that Hu Yuanbo had ended up in, how could Lu Tianzi not grasp the opportunity to deal another quick blow?

With a sword in his right hand and a sabre in his left, Lu Tianzi rushed forth as he drove the Spiritual and Slaughter Essence within his inner world.

"Lu Tianzi!" Hu Yuanbo roared in rage as he tried to defend himself.

But his hands failed to move as he willed.

That last attack had not just ravaged his body. Due to him overexerting himself in a futile attempt to shield his body with Spiritual Essence, the poison within him had been triggered to spread even further as a result.

Right now, it was difficult for him to even remain standing.

The fact that Hu Yuanbo was still able to hold onto his sword was already a feat in and of itself, but there was simply no way for him to effectively defend against Lu Tianzi's next attack.

Slash-! Slash-!

Lu Tianzi mercilessly cut down with his two blades, drawing blood from the X-shaped wound that he just made on Hu Yuanbo's chest.

"Argh!" Hu Yuanbo let out a groan in agony as he fell to the ground, his eyes filled with indignation.

At this point, he realised that the fight had ended, and he was the eventual loser.

Hu Yuanbo sat there leaning against the wall, his eyes locked onto the young man who was standing domineeringly before him.

To think that he, the great Hu Yuanbo, Lord of Ivory Rock City, would actually end up in such a pitifuly state against Lu Tianzi!

In his mind, there was a mixture of indignation, anger, shame, shock, and even dumbfoundedness.

Only mere seconds had passed since the start of the fight.

All in all, Lu Tianzi had only used a total of three moves to take him down.

The first move was his own miscalculation and underestimation of Lu Tianzi's strength, resulting in him suffering a slight disadvantage.

The second move was his lack of mental resilience, resulting in a late response that caused him to suffer a major disadvantage.

At that moment, Lu Tianzi had acted to make his third move, draining him of his remaining strength and sealing the deal.

No, if he included the poison before the fight, then it should be four moves. After all, this ridiculously potent poison was the main reason for his loss!

All things considered, could this really be considered a fight?

Rather than calling this a fight between martial artists, it would be more fitting to call this a calculated assassination that was carried out to perfection!

Hu Yuanbo did not know if Lu Tianzi had planned out these moves by predicting how he would react, but if Lu Tianzi had truly predicted each outcome, then his combat instincts were far sharper than Hu Yuanbo ever imagined!

"Don't worry, I won't be killing you just yet," Lu Tianzi's eyes glinted with a cold light as he withdrew a small pouch from his spatial ring. "You do not deserve a quick death like this. Instead, I will publicly execute you in the middle of the Officials District tomorrow, and only after announcing all the good deeds that you have done behind the backs of the people!"

Hu Yuanbo let out a self-deprecating laughter, "Do you hate me for doing the things I did, sacrificing you to the demons?"

"Do you really need me to answer that question?" Lu Tianzi snorted in response. "As the City Lord, you blatantly lied to your people, sacrificing talents just so you can continue weaving this lie of impregnability, wrongfully drawing in the people's admiration and awe. Rather than the demons, you are the worst enemy of humanity! You should have seen this day coming!"

"Ignorant child.. you do not know a thing about how this world works!" Hu Yuanbo's voice was weak, but he still continued.

"If I had not chosen to sacrifice the few for the masses, do you think Ivory Rock City would have survived till this day? The demons would have attacked us long ago, depriving us of any chances to grow into the city that we are today! If I did not give the people hope that they are staying in a Holy City, do you think that the people would feel safe enough to concentrate on contributing to the society? They would never have the heart to live their lives to the fullest, contributing to the stability of Ivory Rock City! At your level, all you see are myopic views that revolve around yourself as the core of the world. A self-entitled young brat like you will never understand the responsibilities of adults, not to mention the burden that I have to carry as the leader of an entire race! You know nothing about the harsh decisions that I have to make in order to ensure our race's continued survival!"

"I might not understand the responsibilities of a leader, but what I understand is the heart of the people. As a member of humanity, I would rather die fighting than live a miserable life relying on the sacrifice of the ignorant!" Lu Tianzi argued.

"That is exactly why I say your view is myopic in nature!" Hu Yuanbo coughed from the agitation.

"Enough! I have no interest to continue arguing with someone like you!" Lu Tianzi stepped forth and held Hu Yuanbo by the head.

Lu Tianzi then proceeded to force the powdery contents within his small pouch down Hu Yuanbo's throat.

As weakened as he was, Hu Yuanbo was completely helpless to resist as he got force-fed even more of Lu Tianzi's powder poison. Having consumed this much poison meant that he would never be able to recover before the break of dawn.

At this time, the sound of footsteps sounded out as the guards of the City Lord manor arrived at the scene.

"City Lord!" the guards who arrived were shocked by the sight that greeted them.

The study room of City Lord Hu Yuanbo was actually reduced to such a state, furniture smashed apart and things burning everywhere.

But that was not even the most unbelievable part.

The strongest man in Ivory Rock City, Hu Yuanbo, was actually being casually held by the head, completely under the mercy of another man!

Who was this man, and just how strong was he exactly?

Seeing that the guards had arrived, Hu Yuanbo's eyes immediately regained their vibrant light. If he could distract Lu Tianzi with the guards, then he might be able to find a chance to escape!

However, just as Hu Yuanbo was about to call out to the guards, Lu Tianzi's hand moved quickly to tap him on the forehead.

A wave of Spiritual Essence flowed into Hu Yuanbo's body, temporarily locking down his vocal chords. With just that, he was no longer capable of speaking for the time being.

Lu Tianzi knew better than to allow Hu Yuanbo to keep shooting off his mouth.

He had been backfacing the guards who just arrived. As he turned to face them, all of the guards nervously took a step back in trepidation.

Even though they were meant to protect the intergrity of the compound, there were still entities that they were simply helpless against.

Facing such an enemy, if they still chose to charge forward valiantly, then that would be equivalent to rushing mindlessly to their deaths!

The guards were naturally unwilling to do so.

Yet when the guards finally saw the familiar face of the man, their jaws gaped open in shock.

To think that this powerful person who was casually holding City Lord Hu by the head was actually the Holy Guardian Lu Tianzi!

Just what in the world was going on here?