Translator: CinderTL
Before the crimson flying sword could reach Song Wen, Xue Cangqiong suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound approaching from behind.
With a thought, a shield several meters tall suddenly materialized, protecting his back.
A dull "thud" echoed.
It was a black Soul Breaking Awl, striking the shield.
Having blocked the Soul Breaking Awl, Xue Cangqiong didn't pay much attention to Xue Mei's sneak attack. Instead, he focused on controlling the flying sword, determined to eliminate Song Wen first.
At that moment, another Soul Breaking Awl descended from above, aiming straight for Xue Cangqiong's head.
Xue Cangqiong hastily maneuvered the shield to block above him.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Before the Soul Breaking Awl above could land, more whistling sounds followed, as several Soul Breaking Awls shot toward him from all directions.
The Spiritual Power within Xue Cangqiong surged like a torrent into the shield.
In an instant, the shield's power intensified, manifesting multiple phantom images that surrounded him, protecting every angle.
The shield's true form remained in front of him.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The Soul Breaking Awls rained down on the shield like a storm.
Though they failed to break through the shield's defense, they didn't bounce off either. Instead, they melted eerily into black liquid, clinging to the phantom images of the shield.
Where the black liquid adhered, the phantom images began to corrode visibly, becoming pitted and uneven.
The phantoms gradually dimmed and, with faint cracking sounds, suddenly shattered.
Xue Cangqiong's expression darkened. This black liquid was far too strange.
He could no longer afford to continue attacking Song Wen. He urged the shield forward, pushing through the two blobs of black liquid, and broke free from their encirclement.
The two blobs clung to the shield, immediately beginning to corrode it.
He quickly channeled his Spiritual Power, shaking off the black liquid and narrowly avoiding the destruction of his Mystic Treasure.
While dealing with the black liquid, Xue Cangqiong naturally weakened his control over the flying sword, allowing Song Wen to easily evade its attack.
Song Wen swiftly retreated, moving toward Xue Mei.
"Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist Xue Mei," Song Wen said.
"No need for thanks, Fellow Daoist. You've helped me many times before," Xue Mei replied.
"Do you have a way to kill Xue Cangqiong?" Song Wen asked.
Xue Mei softly uttered two words.
"Thunder Magic!"
The Thunder Magic she referred to wasn't her own but Song Wen's.
The Thunder Magic Xue Mei could wield wasn't powerful enough to threaten Xue Cangqiong.
Song Wen glanced at Gui Ni in the distance and shook his head slightly.
Xue Mei immediately understood.
Though Gui Ni had been observing from the sidelines, he couldn't be ignored. Song Wen's Thunder Magic had to be reserved to guard against Gui Ni.
If Gui Ni discovered that Song Wen possessed Thunder Magic and its immense power, he would surely prepare for it. In that case, the element of surprise would be lost.
"That makes things a bit tricky," Xue Mei said gravely.
In truth, Song Wen had other methods to deal with the injured Xue Cangqiong, but they came at a high cost and would expose many of his hidden cards.
This wasn't something Song Wen desired.
He was wary not only of Gui Ni but also of Xue Mei.
He needed to keep some trump cards unknown to Xue Mei to ensure his survival in critical moments.
...
As Song Wen and Xue Mei discussed how to deal with Xue Cangqiong, Xue Cangqiong himself watched them with a cautious expression.
When he was transported to the Endless Prison, he was already injured.
Then, he was pursued by the Three-Corpse Dog, without any chance to catch his breath.
At this moment, the Spiritual Power within him was nearly depleted, and his injuries were worsening due to the continuous battles.
Originally, he had planned to swiftly eliminate the greatest threat, Song Wen, and then deal with Xue Mei.
However, things did not go as planned, and his strategy failed.
Just as he was contemplating how to handle Song Wen and Xue Mei, the two of them took the initiative.
Suddenly, a dark red flame appeared in Xue Mei's palm.
With a wave of her hand, the flame soared into the air, instantly transforming into a towering inferno several zhang high.
The raging flames surged towards Xue Cangqiong.
This dark red flame was none other than the Illusory Karma Heart Flame that Xue Mei had recently obtained.
It was unclear how she had managed to refine and control this flame in such a short time, but she was now able to wield it freely in battle.
Before the flames could reach him, Xue Cangqiong summoned his flying sword and slashed towards the inferno.
The sword pierced into the flames.
Sword energy crisscrossed.
The flames were instantly shattered, turning into a rain of fire.
The fire rain did not dissipate with the wind but continued to rush towards Xue Cangqiong.
A surge of blood-colored evil spirit erupted from Xue Cangqiong's body, sweeping like a gale and scattering the fire rain before it could get within several dozen zhang of him.
Looking at the scattered fire rain around him, Xue Cangqiong sneered.
An attack of this level posed no threat to him whatsoever.
Suddenly, a blood mist appeared less than a hundred zhang away from Xue Cangqiong.
"Another Blood Escape Technique?"
Xue Cangqiong chuckled lightly. With a point of his finger, the flying sword immediately slashed towards the blood mist.
The blood mist abruptly dispersed.
However, there was no trace of anyone within the blood mist, and even the mist itself vanished, revealing instead a small dark red flame.
"Illusion?"
Xue Cangqiong frowned slightly.
He suddenly realized that Xue Mei had summoned the dark red flame not to attack him, but to prepare for the use of an illusion.
The countless fire rain surrounding him could all potentially turn into illusions.
Xue Cangqiong was about to cast a spell to dispel the fire rain.
However, several blood mists suddenly appeared around him simultaneously.
Xue Cangqiong dared not be careless. Xue Mei's use of flames to create blood mist illusions must have a purpose.
To be safe, he could only destroy each illusion one by one.
The flying sword traced a crimson trajectory in the air.
The path twisted and turned, and at every bend, a blood mist illusion was shattered.
When the sword pierced into the twelfth blood mist, something finally changed. The sword was stained with a black, sticky substance.
The speed and power of the flying sword were immediately reduced.
As the blood mist was dispersed by the sword energy, Xue Mei's figure was revealed.
Seeing this, Xue Cangqiong didn't bother to remove the black liquid from his sword but instead focused all his energy on driving the flying sword straight towards Xue Mei, who was now within striking distance.
The flying sword met no resistance and easily pierced through Xue Mei's body.
Xue Mei's figure suddenly began to fade, then vanished without a trace.
This Xue Mei was also an illusion.
Her true body appeared several zhang away.
From within Xue Mei's body, eight more figures emerged.
These figures were identical to Xue Mei.
Unable to distinguish the real one, Xue Cangqiong simply summoned his flying sword and slashed towards each of the nine Xue Mei figures.
One of them had to be the real Xue Mei.
Since the flying sword was still coated with the black liquid, its speed and power were greatly diminished, giving Xue Mei the opportunity to escape.
Nine Xue Meis flew off in different directions.
As the flying sword destroyed two of Xue Mei's Illusion Clones, a cloud of blood mist once again emerged beside Xue Cangqiong.
Xue Cangqiong instinctively thought that this blood mist was also an illusion.
However, to be on the safe side, he diverted his attention and shot out a burst of Spiritual Power, intending to test the true nature of the blood mist.
(End of the Chapter)
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