Swoosh!!! In the sky, a scorched smell drifted through the air. Xu Yangyi hadn’t held anything back in this blade. Against such an ancient cultivator, whom he could barely sense the enormous pressure of, holding back would just make the fight harder on him.

The woman still hadn’t opened her eyes. Soon, Falling Moon was hacking straight down on her head, yet she was without any reaction.

The blade silently paused, chopped above the crown of the woman’s head.

No… Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes. Falling Moon hadn’t landed.

A finger, a sparkling, crystalline finger of jade, softly tapped down on the blade’s edge. Falling Moon had been firmly nailed a centimeter away from her head. It hadn’t advanced this inch.

“The Empress’s Hidden Merits,” the woman said apathetically. “To be able to die under the arcane effort of the Nalan Clan’s founder is your good fortune.”

Yet before her voice even fell, her hair bun suddenly scattered!

Swoosh! The woman opened her eyes for the first time and watched her ebony cascade of hair fall down, in some astonishment. Her hair draped over both of her shoulders.

Falling Moon was equipped with its own automatic GPS. So long as it took aim it was bound to hit target!

Even if she was stronger, Nalan Liusu was still Qi Condensation!

The woman’s pupils were strangely white, yet her sclera was black. She used her pinky finger to lift up a hair. “I underestimated you a little.” Her hair ornament followed the scattering of her hair and gently fell down. However, she caught it out of midair in her hand. She softly placed it in front of her. “I originally wanted to say a few more things to you, but the price of dragging this on a moment more is hundreds of spirit stones. For the purpose of the Nalan Clan, why don’t you die?”

“One move.”

Her voice yet to fade… the qi around her was already madly gathering! Behind her, a likeness of Guanyin formed, about two to three meters tall, brows kind and eyes amiable. At the same time, the hair ornament in her hand transformed into a pure-white beam of light! All that was visible was her faint shaking, and an alabaster light screen flashed in front of Xu Yangyi!

Behind the screen of light, her figure had become a white rainbow! She seemed not to hold a hair ornament, but rather a sword of peerless renown!

The hand without sword, the sword within the heart!

Bereft of any hesitation, the three dots of light on Xu Yangyi’s left arm shone in sync! A massive shield appeared in front of him!

He understood the woman’s manifestation wasn’t a screen of white light… On the edge of peril, she had instantly stabbed out with thousands of hair ornament phantasms! Irrespective of first or last, undivided by either strong or weak! Her attacks had all pierced out at the same time, to then form this dazzling curtain!

What godly speed!

Clang clang clang! Crisp rain played the sound of the pipa. Less than a second later, the enormous shield broke with a rumble!

Chunks of the red qi shield fell before Xu Yangyi’s astonished face. In the air, they transformed into spiritual light and disappeared.

One of the Ketu-Rahu Sword’s three forms… actually hadn’t managed to block for a second!

But at this moment, the woman’s white pupils flashed, and two butterfly wings quickly swung open at her back!

Behind her, though, was a domain of shadow weapons aiming at her mid-back. If she continued to press her attack, and stabbed Xu Yangyi at the same time like so, these weapons would destroy her fleshly body!

Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment!

“The Empress’s Hidden Merits…” The woman didn’t evade at all, golden light actually bursting out of her eyes. She said softly, “Dominating Body!”

Clang clang clang! Sharp echoes were heard. The two wings behind her wrapped around her entire body, like armor! The Ten Thousand Shadows Heavenly Punishment was actually unable to pierce through!

Yet in this instant of distraction, Xu Yangyi was no longer retreating but advancing, his body up above! He was facing the tide-like sea of white light!

“Wind Brandishes Traces! Starfire!” With a double combination, his body transformed into an afterimage! The woman’s expression was cold and detached. With Xu Yangyi’s cultivation, meeting her move was no doubt certain to bring his death.

In this twinkling, however, her gaze chilled. Hanging in the air, Xu Yangyi punched out. On his fist, a streak of resplendent golden light was unstably sucking in and spitting out of his hand! In the wake of this golden spark, the surrounding white light actually peeled away layer after layer!

Surprisingly, he was like a roaming dragon entering the sea! Endless waters parted!

“This…” The woman’s pupils suddenly needled. This streak of golden light was as fast as racing thunder, even causing her to feel a shred of danger!

“If you want to compare who is more fierce…” After recovering from her shock, her eyes likewise arose with a trace of determination!

One move to decide victory or defeat!

Good…. Since that’s how you’re thinking, I’ll help you accomplish your aim!

In the next second, the light screen changed.

It was like a celestial maiden sprinkling flowers! The entire space reflected her image! This attack was of different position and different angle, yet it was still just as swift and fearsome, shrouding each of Xu Yangyi’s vitals all over his body! [1]

One side was in a perilous state, between raging waves and stormy seas! The other side was a lone force to cleave through myriad methods! A single point to break the surface!

BANG!!! A loud noise boomed. At the collision site, the shock wave of a dazzling qi orb loudly exploded, turning the entire space pure-white!

Just as the duo’s silhouettes were on the verge of contact, they immediately separated! They were both like kites cut of their strings, flying back several meters away from each other! One after another, they slammed against walls!

Xu Yangyi was the first to stand, clenching down on his teeth. He seemed to be enduring something and said lowly, “This move… what’s its name?”

“Men cannot bear to see it. So long as you are a man, it goes unseen.” The woman’s feet finally fell to the ground, a trace of graveness rising in her gaze for the first time. She spread open her hand, and a golden sword point sparkled, deeply stabbed into her palm. She said calmly, “And this is?”

“Xuan Yuan.” Xu Yangyi licked his lips. In the next second, his entire body violently shivered, and countless lines of blood spilled out from under the Shadowlumen Armor! Those hair ornaments had actually penetrated his armor and turned him into a sieve!

At the same time, the woman released a heavy groan. The palm of her left hand loudly collapsed! Upon crumbling apart, though, the sword point also followed!

Xu Yangyi took a deep breath. It was very likely… that this sword point was from the counterfeit Xuan-Yuan Sword. The blade has accompanied him out of Danixa Temple and Tianzi Mountain. Now, however, it had been broken by this woman’s fleshly body!

“One move.” He wasn’t kneeling down because of sharp pain, but rather resisting the ache to step forward with great difficulty. Under his left eye, a deep scar of blood quietly appeared, adding a shade of wild charm to his originally firm and unswerving countenance. He wiped the blood away with his thumb and then placed it at his mouth and licked. “How long can you drag out your spiritual sense?”

The woman was silent for a second and uttered, “As long as you are willing.”

“You’ve given me quite a surprise… so I will grant you an unexpected delight.”

Following these words, all the air around her began to quake! Even space was vibrating!

Swoosh! A white strand of qi extended out from an unknown place and immediately zoomed as it rippled! It was like an ocean tide! In the space around them… legions of qi threads gushed forth like a tide!

Rumble… Xu Yangyi’s expression was incomparably grave, because he now sensed… all qi frantically bubbling into Nalan Liusu!

The holy maiden seemed to transform into the eye of a hurricane as she infinitely sucked in the surrounding qi! Her spiritual pressure was completely different from before, possessing a difference of substance and even carrying a shred of Foundation Establishment aura. Like a tsunami, it engulfed the entire area!

“Fuck…” Xu Yangyi tightened his hold over Falling Moon. “This… is her true cultivation…”

“Was she only fooling around with me just now?”

At the Bluedawn Winding Corridor, the ten-odd impermanants all looked at Nalan Liusu’s life slip in astonishment. Moments ago, this jade slip had erupted with endless golden light! It had struggled free of the impermanant’s hand and floated up in midair!

“A hundred percent…” an impermanant gasped. “The holy maiden… actually utilised her total cultivation… Where in the world does this d-divine sage come from?!”

“Unbelievable… When the holy maiden exterminated the Tao Clan, she mobilized sixty percent of her strength… but she’s now actually used her total cultivation!”

“T-This is the first time I’ve seen the holy maiden attack with full strength…”

“She should’ve demonized… The holy maiden actually revealed her demon form… Is the enemy too difficult?”

In the Crimson Rakshasa’s cave, Nalan Cuo raised a brow. Although his expression was soft, the Crimson Rakshasa beside him caught it in her eye.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Nalan Cuo bowed and said. “The seventh Reincarnation Puppet… Holy Maiden Liusu seems to have just used her complete strength.”

“All of it?” Unstirred by great billows, the woman-spider was stunned as well. She turned her head and looked at Nalan Cuo, sighing soon afterwards. “In that case… observe a moment of silence for her opponent...”

“If this woman was still alive, This Palace would be absolutely unconvinced if her name was not among the list of Core Formation.”

Inside the Reincarnation Puppet’s body, Xu Yangyi gnashed his teeth. His footsteps were in ceaseless retreat.

Presently, the entire space was a pure-white domain. In the sky above and the earth below, everything to the four reaches was a world of silk! In the middle of it was a two-meter-sized cocoon that was gently wiggling.

It wasn’t that Xu Yangyi wanted to flee, but a spiritual sense he was in no way capable of advancing towards was emanating through the air! The horrific spiritual pressure completely erupted! Unexpectedly like a hand, it pushed him back with no margin to forge ahead!

Crack… Crack… A slight cracking noise came from the cocoon. The entire process might’ve lasted for less than several seconds, yet in the wake of this sound an explosion of qi burst forth like a tide! It was as if Xu Yangyi’s stomach had become victim to sledgehammer blows, like an invisible hand was viciously swatting him away! He groaned heavily and suddenly fell back by over a meter! Crackling sounds were drawn from the ground!

Soundlessly, the cocoon split open. A graceful silhouette slowly stood out. Nothing could be clearly seen here, yet Nalan Liusu’s outer figure appeared no different from that of moments ago!

Meanwhile, the tiny cocoon inside Xu Yangyi’s dantian was also making nigh inaudible cracking noises! The cocoon’s surface split open with a faintly imperceptible crack! And yet the current Xu Yangyi had summoned his total concentration, simply not detecting the movement!

“Damn…” He glared daggers at the layers of silk behind him and then at the feminine silhouette that seemed to be looking at her hand. “She really is a fucking monster!”

“Her qi… can actually still advance!”

Indeed, what caused him to retreat was not Great Circle Qi Condensation. Instead… it was half-step Foundation Establishment!

Just as his voice fell, the view in front of him blurred, and an object shockingly emerged before his eyes! It wasn’t until that thing smiled at him did he jolt awake!

Fast! So fast!

His neurons hadn’t even reacted in time! That… thing... could no longer be called human.

She still wore Nalan Liusu’s face, but from head to toe, not a thread of clothing covered her modesty. Furthermore, she was unlike the low-level cultivators of the Nalan Clan, their upper-halves human and their lower-bodies spider. Instead, she was completely armored in keratin plates. If a comparison was to be insisted upon, he had once played a game called Starcraft. Nalan Liusu was about seventy percent similar to a character called the Queen of Blades. [2]

The maiden’s face was without a shred of emotion. She merely extended her hand in ease and slapped out at him! There were no fancy tricks whatsoever. A palm, light as a feather, not fast or even bringing the sound of wind. At the same time though, Xu Yangyi’s pupils violently constricted!

He felt a mountain!

An incredibly towering mountain rushing right at him!

“Ten Cardinals Red Lotus! Shield!” Without any hesitation, two wings criss-crossed to protect the front of his chest, and a black dragon coiled around the Shadowlumen Armor! In the next second… an indescribable momentum instantly slammed his body away!

BOOM!Bang bang! Three sounds rang out almost simultaneously!

“Puh!” Xu Yangyi was unable hold back a mouthful of blood, tracing a dark-red smear of blood in the air. His Shadowlumen Armor and Ketu-Rahu Sword had almost collapsed at the same time! The flame just risen from the Ten Cardinals Red Lotus went up in smoke!

That strike just now was as heavy as Mount Tai!

A momentary break had rose up in his consciousness. Immediately, he flipped back, and three dots of light on his left arm flickered to life!

Swoosh! A domain of black mist radiated around him. He couldn’t delay any longer, and used his strongest move. If he still couldn’t defeat this devil… then everything would end here!

His parents' enmity, the Xingtian Legion’s wild hopes, and… his life.

1. “A celestial maiden sprinkling flowers”. Popular imagery of a female immortal sprinkling flowers over a bodhisattva to test him.

2. Starcraft and the character “The Queen of Blades” are respectively a game and character from said game by Blizzard Entertainment.