A legend rose unbidden to Zu An’s mind. It was said that, after Qin Shihuang unified the Central Plains, he gathered all of the weapons of his enemies in Xianyang, melted them down, and constructed twelve humongous copper sculptures, each weighing over a thousand boulders. He placed these copper sculptures in his imperial court. 

In ancient China, copper and gold were used interchangeably, so copper sculptures were considered golden sculptures as well. Also, the idea of them weighing over a thousand boulders should have been an exaggeration as well, but it seemed to have been realized in this world. For sure, the copper giants before him had to weigh at least tens of tonnes each.

“Be careful!” Seeing that Zu An was still spaced out even though the copper giants were already charging, Qiao Xueying quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him aside. 

With a loud crash, the foot of one of the copper giants planted itself directly on the spot that they had been standing earlier. When it finally removed its foot, it left a massive footprint behind. Had Zu An and Qiao Xueying not run away, they would have surely been smashed into pulp, regardless of whether their cultivation was at the third or fifth rank.

“You owe me yet another life,” Qiao Xueying said with annoyance.

“That one doesn’t count. I would have dodged it even if you didn’t pull me away,” retorted Zu An.

“You sure are shameless!” Qiao Xueying berated him.

There was no time for them to argue. Another copper giant had begun charging in their direction, and they hurriedly dodged once more.

These copper giants glowed golden, and their narrow eyes made them seem inexplicably imposing. There were weird symbols on each of their foreheads, which resembled the characters for ‘1’ to ‘12’.

Could these copper giants be called Copper Giant One, Copper Giant Two, so on and so forth? Hm. This kind of reminds me of those fellows from the Plum Blossom Sect.

As his mind wandered, he rushed toward the rear of the closest copper giant. He knew that, while the massive physique of these copper giants made them terrifying, it also limited their ability to maneuver. They weren’t agile, and it would be hard for them to turn their bodies or make small adjustments.

Zu An looked no more than an ant before these humongous copper giants, but he wasn’t afraid at all. He concentrated his ki in his leg and kicked its heel.

These copper giants were shaped like humans, which meant that the weight of their massive bodies was directed through their heels, making it one of their weaknesses. If he could just twist their heels, the copper giants might lose their balance and collapse to the ground. 

Unfortunately, theory and practice were often not the same thing.

Despite putting his full might into his strike, the copper giant he attacked remained completely unperturbed. Not even a single mark was left on its heel. Instead, the terrifying reaction force sent a stabbing pain reverberating through his bones, leaving him feeling as if he had fractured his leg.

All of a sudden, he remembered a joke he had read about in his previous life.

An ant saw an elephant on the road and dove into the earth, leaving just one of its legs exposed. A passing rabbit saw it and asked in confusion, “Why are you exposing your leg out in the open?”

To that, the ant replied, “Shh! Don’t make a noise. I’m going to trip the elephant over!”

Right now, Zu An felt that he was the overconfident ant, attempting to use his measly leg to trip the copper giant over.

The copper giant seemed to have been provoked by Zu An’s attack, and raised its leg to return the kick.

Zu An immediately sidestepped, but he felt another gush of wind headed in his direction, so he quickly executed the Sunflower Phantasm to flee several meters away.

Instantly, the jarring sound of scraping metal filled the air. Another copper giant had drawn a sword, several meters in length, and brought it down on where Zu An had been standing a moment ago. As it hit the ground, it drew sparks.

Zu An gulped fearfully. He had noticed right from the start that these copper giants had sword sheaths hanging by their waists, but he thought that they were just ornaments. Who could have known that they were real weapons?

It was a sword by the copper giants’ standards, but to Zu An, it looked more like someone was hurling a massive billboard straight at his face.

“What do we do? These copper giants are invulnerable to swords and spears. I shattered my sword while striking one of them!” Qiao Xueying dodged several of the copper giants’ attacks before hastily regrouping with Zu An. They stood back-to-back, gasping hard to catch their breath. It appeared that she wasn’t faring any better either.

Zu An noticed the broken sword in her grasp “I don’t believe that they’re really invulnerable to weapons,” he murmured.

He summoned the Poisonous Prick and dashed right at one of the copper giants.

Even if you can’t be hurt with kicks and swords, I don’t believe that you’ll be able to remain unharmed by my Poisonous Prick!

While these copper golems were clearly inanimate beings, which meant that the sure-kill effect of Poisonous Prick wouldn’t work, it was surely sharp enough to slice right through their defenses.

Zu An was moving so fast that Qiao Xueying was actually seeing multiple copies of Zu An around the battlefield. She knew that this was the effect of his extreme speed and his unique movement skill, and she couldn’t help but be impressed by his ability. No wonder so many of us were unable to kill him even though he’s only at the third rank.

Zu An executed his ‘Bixie Swordplay’ to its limits. With every dash, he would appear right beside one of the copper giants and swing his dagger at lighting speed, shaving off a large slab of ‘meat’ from the copper giant’s heels. 

The heat had really gotten to him. Now, he was more determined than ever to topple them.

A strange groaning filled the air.

The copper giants had begun howling out loud, frightening Qiao Xueying. Wait a minute… Do these copper giants feel pain?

The copper giants continued swinging their swords down towards Zu An. Their movements were slow, but this weakness was counteracted by their long limbs and massive swords. Each one of their strikes felt like a finishing blow from a boss monster. Even with Zu An’s powerful movement skill, he was almost swept away by their massive swords multiple times.

On top of that, the copper giants also did not hesitate to use their legs and fists whenever the situation warranted it. It made it look as though twelve humans were desperately trying to swat away a fly, which was rather ludicrous to behold. Putting the ridiculousness of the situation aside, though, their attacks were effective, especially since they generated powerful shockwaves that battered Zu An even if they missed their target.

A moment later, Zu An found himself staring at the twelve copper giants in shock. He was certain that he had already sliced off huge slabs of ‘meat’ from the copper giants, but for some reason, they were still moving perfectly normally, which did not make sense at all!

“Look, they’re regenerating their wounds!” Qiao Xueying pointed to the heels of the copper giants as she shouted.

Zu An quickly focused his vision on their heels. Just as Qiao Xueying had said, their wounds were healing at a visible rate. The copper slabs that he had sliced off slowly sunk into the ground as well, matching the rate of regeneration of those copper giants.

“It looks like they’re able to regenerate automatically in this environment,” said Qiao Xueying, her face pale. 

Even though these copper giants lacked agility, their attacks were powerful, and they were nigh indestructible. How could they possibly emerge victorious?

To make things worse, they were severely short on time. If they dragged things out, Chu Chuyan might die at the hands of Zhang Han before they could return to save her.

“I heard that fire naturally counters metal. Are you able to use any fire-element skills, like a fireball or something?” asked Zu An.

Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know better than anyone else that I’m a wood element cultivator? If I could use fire, I would be the first one to be burnt!”

Zu An clicked his tongue in disdain. “Trash. I don’t expect you to be a protagonist from a novel and pull out all five elements out of your ass, but shouldn’t you at least be at the level of a lesser villain who can wield two elements or something? Haa, I really shouldn’t harbor any expectations of you, lest I get disappointed again.” 

Qiao Xueying could not believe what she was hearing.

“What kind of nonsensical novels do you read? Cultivators in this world can only awaken a single element. This is common sense. Common sense!!!”

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 233 Rage points!

Qiao Xueying gnashed her teeth furiously. This fellow really is my nemesis. We must have been enemies in our previous lives!

“Since you’re full of common sense, why don’t you tell me what we should do now?” Zu An asked, dodging an attack from a copper giant.

Qiao Xueying was silent for a moment before murmuring, “As the saying goes, ‘The great dao is complete at fifty. Fate accounts for forty-nine, and the final one is unpredictable.’ There’s no such thing as an unbreakable seal in this world. These copper giants must have a weakness. We just haven’t stumbled upon it yet.”

“A load of nonsense. Give me something that I can work with!” scoffed Zu An.

Qiao Xueying’s face reddened. She glared at Zu An and said, “I’m saying that you should stop staring at their legs! They must have a weakness somewhere else!”

“Somewhere else?” Zu An examined the copper giants once more, specifically choosing to eye their crotches first. However, there was nothing there, which seemed to indicate that these copper giants weren’t gendered. If so, a kick to the balls was unlikely to be effective.

The two of them split up and continued to weave around the copper giants while searching for their weakness. Soon enough, Qiao Xueying noticed something.

“Hey, could their weakness possibly be that strange mark on their foreheads?” 

She noticed that the marks on their foreheads would glow dimly every single time the copper giants moved.

Zu An nodded in agreement. “Yes, that seems likely. I suppose there’s some truth to the common saying that big-breasted women aren’t that smart.”

Qiao Xueying was stunned. Huh? What does being big-breasted have to do with me? My breasts aren’t that big to begin with… 

Realization suddenly struck her. He was basically insulting her for having small breasts in an indirect manner!

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 666 Rage points!

“But these copper giants are way too tall. We can’t reach it even if we know what their weakness is,” grumbled Zu An.

Of course, as cultivators, both Zu An and Qiao Xueying were able to easily leap beyond twenty meters in height, but these copper giants that they were dealing with weren’t stationary objects. They would attack them as soon as they came close!

Zu An might have been able to outmaneuver them on the ground, but leaping up into their faces was the same as courting death.

He had no intention of being swatted down like a mosquito, so he hurriedly racked his brain for a solution. Soon, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “Aha, I’ve got it!”

“What is it?” asked Qiao Xueying.

“How long can your hair extend? How resilient are the strands?” asked Zu An.

Qiao Xueying’s ability to extend her hair as she pleased and lash them around like whips had left quite a deep impression on him.

Qiao Xueying was hesitant to answer those questions. These were secrets that a cultivator would never tell another soul, so that others could not make preparations against their attacks. However, seeing the earnest look on Zu An’s face, she eventually answered honestly. “I should be able to extend them over thirty meters. As for their resilience… it’s difficult for normal swords and sabers to sever them.”

“Good. I need you to extend your hair as long as possible now,” said Zu An, grabbing onto her ponytail and tugging on it.

Qiao Xueying was both enraged and humiliated that a man was actually holding onto her hair. Just as Zu An wished, though, she extended her hair outwards, the strands morphing into whips that threatened to lash at him.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down! I’m doing this in order to break the seal!” explained Zu An hurriedly. Holding onto her hair, he weaved around the copper giants and wrapped her hair around all of their legs.

The sharp-witted Qiao Xueying swiftly figured out his intentions. Hmm, he does carry some interesting ideas in that head of his. At the same time, she felt a slight trepidation. Given the strength of these copper giants, wouldn’t they simply tug out all of her hair and make her bald?

As soon as the thought arose in her head, she felt a strong tug on the back of her head. Before she could even react, the movement of the copper giants had already sent her flying. With tears brimming in her eyes, she cursed the culprit who put her in her miserable state. “Zu An, you bastarddddddd!”