Chapter 163: Retreat
Having heard Yun Ming shouting to Li Lang for him to continue with their combination attack, the mysterious assailant couldn’t help but erupt into laughter.
“Hahaha, you two seriously want to continue with a plan that doesn’t work? Even pigs have more brains than you two!”
In response, Yun Ming charged in once more. He would get sent flying around by earthen pillars erupting from the ground, while he tried to close the distance. His remote blades and needles soared through the air in retaliation, but none of them could do much damage. The stone layer of skin had proven too powerful for the early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to cut deep enough to inflict meaningful damage.
Many would say this was only a desperate resistance by Yun Ming. However, Li Lang, who had been standing atop the colossal wall, noticed something.
While Yun Ming continued to close the distance again and again, only to be pushed back, he was actually getting closer after each attempt.
On his fifth charge, he had actually forced his opponent to block with his sword. As they locked swords, he grinned while the assailant frowned.
“Don’t think you can fool me with your provocations,” Yun Ming said. “That poison-warding technique must be keeping you too occupied to fight normally, right?”
Hearing this, Li Lang finally realized why Yun Ming had told him to continue their plan despite his poison no longer working. Their enemy must’ve employed some Qi art to actively defend against poisons.
Even a beginner at cultivation techniques like Li Lang could immediately think up a simple way to do so. One simply had to constantly course a wave of Qi throughout their body to immediately destroy any foreign elements entering the body. While there may be more complicated techniques to do it more efficiently, it undoubtedly took some concentration and energy to maintain.
This distracted their attacker enough to allow Yun Ming to gain an edge. As a close-range expert against a preoccupied opponent, it evened the playing fields brought on by their gap in cultivation.
Still, that wasn’t enough for them to win the fight. As their assailant was in the middle stages of Foundation Establishment, his only advantage wasn’t in pure strength. He also had a vaster pool of Qi to rely on. In a battle of attrition, he would definitely win.
Thankfully, Yun Ming wasn’t alone.