Daoist Competition

In an instant, Xie Ke Ming was struck by more than ten sword lights, not only was the protective treasure light slashed away, but even the vermilion radiance, was visibly diminishing. He hurriedly turned his mana again, hoping to operate the marvelous technique to protect himself.

But at this moment, hundreds of talisman papers attacked, each one hitting him produced a thunderous explosion. His body trembled incessantly like a candle in the wind, and the protective treasure light he had just conjured was scattered once more.

Elder Shen’s timing was extremely shrewd, making his move at the exact moment when the treasure light was about to be raised but hadn’t fully emerged, causing only a needless loss of mana.

With extreme anxiety, Xie Ke Ming thought secretly, "Why hasn’t Senior Brother Zhou arrived yet, could he have encountered some trouble?"

The exchange between the three so far, though seemingly lengthy, was actually just a matter of a few dozen breaths. He felt he was hard-pressed to continue, not because of insufficient mana, but because he was overwhelmed by the tidal attacks of the two, giving him no chance to adjust or transform.

Seeing the red glow on him gradually dissipate, Xie Ke Ming suddenly realized that if Zhou Huang truly didn’t make it in time, he might die here. Though harboring deep-seated hatred, faced with imminent death, he couldn’t help but feel panic.

A few breaths later, Zhang Yan sensed his opponent’s aura weakening a bit more. He formed a spell with his fingers, silently operating for a moment, the gang cloud atop surged, purple haze flickered briefly, with a crack, a thick bolt of lightning slashed diagonally down, striking precisely on the crown of Xie Ke Ming, the remaining protective red glow on his body dissipated entirely.

Xie Ke Ming, struck by a bolt of Purple Cloud Divine Thunder, heard ringing in both ears and his mind went blurry, but he retained his consciousness, fiercely resisting the discomfort on his body, channeling mana into the Hengyue Treasure Robe, still struggling when a ray of red light swept over, instantly stripping away the brilliance from the robe.

Seeing him already unable to defend, Zhang Yan shouted, shaking his sleeve, a drop of Xuanming Heavy Water flew out, traversing dozens of yards, with a thud, it hit his back.

Xie Ke Ming let out a tragic cry, his spine shattered, collapsed onto the cloud, a flying sword came from the side, with a crack, slicing off his head, blood gushed from his neck.

At this moment, from the corpse flew out a beast-eared Copper Furnace, steaming white smoke billowed, swayed a bit, absorbed the Primordial Spirit, transformed into a green light and tunneled westward.

Zhang Yan recognized it as a Protective Spiritual Treasure Furnace, capable of temporarily storing a cultivator’s Nascent Soul, preventing it from dispersing. Just as he was about to take it, his expression subtly shifted, looking up.

Unnoticed, the sky was already covered with dense clouds.

Elder Shen, seeing him not move, became anxious.

Zhang Yan, unfearing the Yuxiao Sect’s people, and even the Zhou Clan’s disciples, killed without hesitation. Knowing that killing Xie Ke Ming would not be a concern even if discovered, but his Guangyuan Sect was weak, and offending the Nanhua Sect could at least have Mingcang’s backing. Yuxiao Sect, however, was different, if discovered to have joined Zhang Yan in attacking its disciple, the consequences would be severe. He couldn’t let the Primordial Spirit escape, hence said, "True Master Zhang..."

Zhang Yan understood his intentions, nodded, and said solemnly, "Fellow Daoist, please proceed swiftly and return quickly."

Elder Shen immediately breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly clasped hands, quickly summoned tunneling light, and flew in pursuit.

Once the old Daoist’s figure vanished, Zhang Yan smiled faintly, loudly saying, "Fellow Daoist has been hiding beside for quite some time, now that it’s only me here, why not show yourself?"

He possessed numerous skills, even without Elder Shen’s assistance, killing Xie Ke Ming could be achieved in a mere moment. But being cautious, after arriving here, he had been wary of someone watching from the side, observing his methods, hence mostly resorted to techniques used during the swordfight to confront adversaries, unexpectedly, someone indeed was lurking nearby.

He had suspected it might be Zhou Huang, but remembering the opponent didn’t appear even when Xie Ke Ming died, it evidently was not.

Just after his words, he saw the dense lead clouds start to churn and stir, then heard the gradual rumble of muffled thunder, the surrounding spiritual energy swirled furiously, converging there, as if something Great Divine Power was brewing behind the cloud cover.

Moments later, the clouds split open, the sky seemed to have a hole, a gigantic blood-red hand, a thousand feet in size, emerged, carrying a rolling blood mist, pressing down with immense force.

Zhang Yan laughed heartily, without dodging, also formed spells, shortly after, a yellow glow rose from the gang cloud above, transforming into a massive hand, purely condensed from yellow smoke and cloud, also expanding to a thousand feet, fiercely meeting it head-on!