As the battle dragged on, the sinister sneer on the Remnant Sword Prison Elder's face slowly froze.
He had originally resolved to rely on his vastly superior combat experience and demonic qi recovery to dance around Su Yi, patiently waiting for the backlash from the "domineering pills" to arrive.
He firmly believed that gaining such a massive surge in power in such a short window surely came with an unbearable price—whether damaged meridians, berserk spiritual power, or a fatigued divine soul... As long as he dragged it out, victory would inevitably be his!
Yet ten breaths passed, thirty breaths, the burn of an incense stick...
Half a shichen!!!
Far from showing any signs of exhaustion, pain, or unstable aura, the Su Yi before him only grew bolder and fiercer with each blow!
The purple lightning coiling around him remained as tempestuous and blazing as ever. Each strike packed a terrifying force capable of cleaving mountains and splitting rocks, while his speed, reflexes, and the sheer density of his spiritual power held steadily at their absolute peak.
What was worse... in their head-on clashes, the pure lightning power, imbued with magnificent heavenly might, was faintly eroding and purifying his demonic qi, making it increasingly arduous for him to withstand the onslaught!
This defied all common sense!
Watching his opponent's shifting expression, Su Yi sneered inwardly. The system's pills were simple and blunt: when they were active, they worked; when the timer ran out, they stopped. Things like side effects or drug tolerance simply did not exist for the system.
The sole limitation was the duration. The moment time was up, the buffs instantly vanished—lingering not a second longer, nor leaving behind any hidden debuffs.
Combined with the vast stockpile of spirit stones he had amassed over the years in Divine Might Manor, this mechanic was enough to transform him into the most enduring "burst-type" combatant.
‘Fortunately, that Soul Lost Ridge Elder who specializes in soul attacks isn't here,’ Su Yi's thoughts flashed. ‘If I were hit by an unexpected hard crowd-control and one-shot before I could pop pills, it'd be over.’
‘I wonder how Yunzhi is handling things on her end.’
His gaze turned stern as he pushed his assault up another notch. His lightning arts shifted dynamically—at times like a torrential downpour, at times like a massive warhammer shaking the mountain—forcing the Remnant Sword Prison Elder to parry left and right in utter disarray.
“You're getting slower and slower, Senior. Just how long can you drag this out with me?” Su Yi pressed the attack without pause. If anything, he could now feel the side effects of his foe absorbing his own kin's demonic qi beginning to surface.
Those vengeful souls were eroding his sanity, and his swordsmanship was becoming increasingly erratic and impure.
Seeing this, the unease in the Remnant Sword Prison Elder's heart grew stronger and stronger. The meager demonic qi he had recovered by devouring his kin was rapidly being depleted under Su Yi's seemingly endless, frenzied assault.
At present, he was only relying on his seasoned experience and sword arts to defuse each crisis, but every parry and every dodge only heightened his dread.
On top of that, not only did the kid show zero side effects, but he himself was finding it harder and harder to hold on, leaving him utterly exhausted in both mind and spirit.
‘Dammit! This is bloody absurd!’ the Remnant Sword Prison Elder roared inwardly. ‘Is this brat’s spiritual power truly endless? Just what kind of pill was that?! How could something so heaven-defying exist in this world?!’
The vengeful souls seemed to be affecting his mind. He began to doubt his own judgment, and even the fundamental common sense of cultivation.
He understood better than anyone that a defense held too long was bound to fall. If this went on, he might truly be ground to death right here!
A heavy surge of regret washed over him.
‘Curse it! Why did I have to fight those old bastards for the credit of being the first into the secret realm and bringing back the sacred beast?!’
Right now, he desperately missed his complete Nascent Soul power. Under normal circumstances, crushing a Foundation Establishment junior like this would truly take nothing more than a glance.
Why would he ever be reduced to such humiliation, treated like a whetstone and pummeled back and forth!
His fighting will was being steadily eroded by fear and regret. Involuntarily, his gaze darted once more toward the steadily swirling seven-colored vortex passage in midair, a fierce longing rising within him.
‘That Soul Lost Ridge woman... has she found the sacred beast or not?! Why hasn't there been any movement after all this time?!’
He no longer harbored any extravagant hopes of slaying Su Yi. He only wished his colleague inside would succeed quickly, then use the power of the sacred beast or other trump cards to swiftly extract him from this damned place—away from this bizarre monster before him who refused to play by the rules!
Inside the spatial rift...
The Soul Lost Ridge Elder was likewise panting heavily at this moment, her once poised, sinister face now etched with shock, fury, and dishevelment.
The soul fire around her was dim, her ornate robes torn in several places, and even her hair bun was in disarray. Her crimson eyes glared fixatedly at the pure, ethereal figure bathed in five-colored spiritual light ahead of her.
She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that this little girl, who had only just reached Foundation Establishment, would not only possess an impossibly solid foundation, but that her Five Elements Dao Physique would prove so extraordinarily troublesome, boasting formidable resistance and conversion capabilities against all elemental attacks.
What stifled her even more was that the secret realm's numerous restrictions and protective formations seemed to acknowledge the little girl as their master!
“Kan position, Gui Water Lightning Call!” Seeing her opponent hesitate, the ancient, ethereal, and urgent voice echoed in Tantai Yunzhi's mind once more with unquestionable precision.
Her gaze calm and cool, Tantai Yunzhi didn't hesitate in the slightest, lightly tapping her slender foot upon a flowing pathway of blue light.
Amidst a hum, the blue light beneath her feet surged brilliantly. A thick streak of Gui Water Yin Lightning, like a coiled viper, abruptly struck out from the void, shooting straight toward where the Soul Lost Ridge Elder was about to land!
“Curse you!” Shrieking, the Soul Lost Ridge Elder morphed into a soul phantom to dodge. The yin lightning grazed past her soul body, its utmost yin and bone-chilling aura causing her soul fire to sway violently and sending a piercing ache through her.
She had barely steadied her footing when the voice in Tantai Yunzhi's mind guided her again: “Three cun from the Li position, Heaven-Burning formation core, activate it with fire-attribute spiritual power!”
Hearing this, Tantai Yunzhi pressed her fingers together like a sword, shooting a wisp of pure fire-attribute spiritual power accurately into an unassuming scarlet stele floating to her front left.
Boom!
The stele abruptly flared to life, instantly triggering flame runes across a vast area! Towering flames erupted out of thin air, coalescing into a roaring fire dragon that opened its maw and lunged to swallow the elder whole! These were no ordinary flames—they held a terrifying will meant to incinerate divine souls to ashes!
Seeing this, the Soul Lost Ridge Elder frantically channeled her spiritual power and demonic qi, erecting layers of twisted soul shields before her.
The fire dragon crashed into the soul shields, detonating into a tempest of sparks as the shields melted away at a visible rate.
She was forced to retreat repeatedly once more, her soul body dimming further and her aura growing increasingly erratic.
“Is there no end to this?!” she roared in fury. “Is this secret realm your home or something?!”
“No, there isn't!” Killing intent surfaced on Tantai Yunzhi's delicate face.
Thinking about how this woman was the sole reason things had devolved to this point only stoked her rage.
“I want you dead!” She pointed at the woman before her, while the senior in her mind helpfully continued to call out coordinates.
“Zhen position, Geng Metal Slaughter!”
“Kun position, Thick Earth Collapse!”
“Xun position, Soul-Tearing Wind!”
Guided by that mysterious senior, Tantai Yunzhi's figure darted nimbly between the light pathways and floating steles.
Each move she made perfectly triggered another formation or restriction within the secret realm.
Geng metal qi transformed into an invisible sword net of slaughter; earth power manifested a quagmire of gravitational pull to slow her down; astral winds capable of shredding divine souls blew from all directions...
Taken individually, the elder might have barely managed to cope using her Nascent Soul insights and experience.
Yet now, triggered by Tantai Yunzhi in an effortless, interlocked sequence where each complemented the other, their might multiplied exponentially!
Despite possessing soul cultivation and bizarre techniques far beyond the Foundation Establishment realm, the Soul Lost Ridge Elder could find no opening to launch an effective attack against Tantai Yunzhi.
Having lost the initiative, she had zero opportunities to counterattack.
Like a moth trapped in an inescapable web, she could only scramble desperately, defending and evading without pause as wounds accumulated and her soul power drained at a breakneck pace.
She felt as though she were not battling a mere Foundation Establishment junior, but fighting against the entire secret realm itself! That little girl was practically the natural-born master of this place!
‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!’ She cursed frantically in her heart. Her former greed and composure had long been tossed beyond the nine heavens, replaced by endless grievance and an ever-deepening terror.
‘What on earth is that old geezer outside doing?! It's just a slightly troublesome junior—how has he not dealt with him after this long?! Hurry up and get in here to help me!’
Where would she dare entertain extravagant hopes of capturing Tantai Yunzhi alone and hoarding the glory now?
She only hoped the Remnant Sword Prison Elder outside would quickly finish off Su Yi and come in to rendezvous with her.
Combining the power of two, they could subdue this bizarre girl as soon as possible, find the sacred beast, and immediately leave this godforsaken place that was driving her mad!
Rate on N.U.
