Chapter 923: Seizing The Prize (II)
In that brief moment, Guo Hongkang understood that he needed time to heal the wound on his neck, and Li Xijun needed time to expel the notoriously sinister and difficult Merging Fire from his body. One of them had to die within the next dozen or so exchanges.
"Guo Hongyao... how is that possible?! It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes since she left, and she still died to him when she had to fly part of the way?!"
At this point, he already regarded Li Xijun’s swordsmanship as equivalent to that of a direct descendant from a sword sect. One hand released several talismans to defend, while the other summoned Merging Fire to form two beams of gray light as he cast a spell and shouted, "Strike!"
The two beams of gray light instantly shot across the sea at high speed. They didn’t even bother to intercept the sword light, they simply slammed straight into Li Xijun, erupting into clusters of gray fire around him.
Li Xijun showed no fear. A band of color flared from his sleeve as the Chongming Profound Insight Screen, which he had held back earlier to avoid exposing his identity, lit up beside him. The mysterious golden light of the screen enveloped him and firmly blocked the gray fire.
Crimson Reef Island did not belong to the Jiangnan Dao lineage, and none of the seven of Chongming Hall practiced the Merging Fire Dao. So the paintings on the screen didn’t activate, but the Chongming Profound Insight Screen, as an ancient-technique dharma artifact, was more than enough to block this spell.
On the other side, Li Xijun’s sword light likewise didn’t bother cutting through the flames, it simply headed straight for Guo Hongkang. The three agile, cunning sword streaks danced as they struck, shattering his protective shield.
"Thank goodness!"
Guo Hongkang watched the sword light in fear. The distance between him and Li Xijun wasn’t great, and since he believed this was the sword cultivator who killed Guo Hongyao in just a few moves, he thought he’d be sliced clean through. But now he exhaled in relief, even feeling a touch of delight as he thought, It must be the pain from the Merging Fire causing his sword technique to be off!
Such things weren’t rare, and the situation was all too familiar for Merging Fire cultivators like him. Once Merging Fire latched onto someone, it damaged treasures and harmed life itself. The longer it lingered, the deadlier it became. The pain was beyond what ordinary people could bear.