Sima Tang gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand up from within the mountain's form.
Feeling the alternating surges of raging flames and bone-chilling cold spreading through his body... the current situation was far from pleasant.
But compared to the physical pain, what he found even harder to accept was everything unfolding before his eyes.
According to his initial plan,
he, with the profound Foundation of the Eight Chess Pieces of Strategy, was supposed to withstand the opponent's strike head-on.
Then, by leveraging the full counterforce of the Eight Chess Pieces' Qi momentum, he would have severely injured, even brought to the brink of death, that girl who only possessed the cultivation of two dao chess pieces.
But now...
the situation seemed completely reversed.
He had joined the Wusang Sect since childhood, studied countless secret texts throughout his life, and possessed exceptionally sharp discernment.
Naturally, he could clearly perceive that the gap between himself and his opponent was definitely not merely due to that single Celestial-grade Dao Chess.
No matter how domineering a Celestial-grade Dao Chess might be, what it ultimately suppressed were only dao chess pieces.
It absolutely could not bridge the gap of a full six minor Realms.
But... where exactly did the difference lie?
Before he could figure it out,
in a daze,
the violently charging snow-white afterimage reappeared in his pupils.
Forget it.
What was the use of thinking so much?
In a life-or-death situation, there was no room for the slightest hesitation.
Sima Tang suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, using the sharp pain to forcibly dispel the distracting thoughts in his mind.
When he looked up again,
an undisguised ferocity once more surfaced in his eyes.
The reason he had made it this far,
standing out within the fiercely competitive Wusang Sect and being revered as a Personal Disciple after Cultivating to this point,
was never due to rigid, step-by-step arduous Cultivation.
Rather, it was the ruthless Heart-Nature honed through crawling out of one desperate situation after another.
Such tenacity
was absolutely incomparable to the pampered Personal Disciples from other sects who only knew how to hide behind others and would fumble even when forming a hand seal.
"Hraaa!!!"
As his long sleeves furiously swept,
Sima Tang let out a low roar.
A crimson light once again emerged from the depths of his palm.
However, compared to before,
as that red light circulated, his already battered body began to tremble violently, uncontrollably.
This technique was called "Palm Blood Art," a Spiritual Method of the Wusang Sect, extremely domineering.
When activating the technique, the practitioner's palm would turn crimson, almost as if dripping blood.
When executed at full power, all the blood in the body would flow faster and faster, gradually churning and boiling.
It was excruciating, a living hell.
This was already his life-risking trump card.
Using the entire Foundation of the Eight Chess Pieces of Strategy to forcibly activate this vicious Spiritual Method that damaged his own Foundation.
Boom——!!!
A brilliant and viscous crimson giant hand instantly surged forth from his palm.
It blotted out the sky, carrying an extremely dense blood Qi,
almost sealing off all escape routes ahead.
But in the very next instant,
that snow-white figure charging straight towards him vanished from its spot once again.
Sima Tang's pupils contracted sharply.
Years of combat instinct gave him no time to think; he subconsciously forced a twist in his Qi momentum.
The crimson giant hand abruptly changed direction, raging towards the empty space on his right.
As expected.
Accompanied by a flash of golden light, the girl's face reappeared beside him.
"Got... you!!!"
A vicious grin tugged at Sima Tang's mouth, but before the crimson giant hand could fully close,
an intensely strong sense of life-or-death crisis instantly surged in his heart from the other side.
He turned his head in shock to look.
In the Void Realm to his left,
a severely damaged Flying Sword shot towards him furiously.
Hissing sounds filled the air incessantly.
Although the sword body was damaged,
the aura of Spiritual Seals flowing upon it made every hair on Sima Tang's body stand on end instantly.
This is... a High Grade Spiritual Artifact!?
An artifact of this grade was not some common trash found everywhere.
Even he, a Personal Disciple of the Wusang Sect, after years of accumulation, had never truly possessed one.
A trace of madness flashed in Sima Tang's eyes.
There was no avoiding it now.
Then he wouldn't dodge.
Even if he suffered severe injuries today, he absolutely could not let this white-robed girl retreat unscathed.
With a furious roar, he held nothing back.
All the remaining Foundation within his Qi Sea was frantically poured into the sky-blotting crimson giant hand.
Swoosh.
The sword light pierced through his body without any hindrance.
Bringing forth a shocking spray of blood.
Sima Tang's body trembled violently, a trace of unbearable pain instantly welling up in the corners of his eyes.
Boom.
At the same time,
the blood palm, condensed from the life-risking strike of a major Cultivator with Eight Chess Pieces of Strategy, also landed solidly on the white-robed girl's body.
Violent blood Qi exploded with a roar.
Under the forceful, heavy blood palm, the girl's slender frame instantly collapsed.
Jiang Yuechu was sent flying backward, scattering a large amount of crimson blood in mid-air.
After landing, her appearance was utterly miserable.
Half of her body was almost corroded into a bloody, mangled mess by the blood Qi.
"Tsk... not bad..."
Once Jiang Yuechu stabilized her posture, she casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Narrowing her pitch-black eyes slightly, she coldly stared at the red-robed man ahead who was also swaying unsteadily.
So this was the true depth of a Dao Sect Disciple's Foundation... Compared to the methods of the person before her, those fellows she encountered in the Jieqing Sect were nothing.
She almost thought all Cultivators from the Dream Cloud Realm were of that caliber...
But complaints aside,
Jiang Yuechu had no intention of stopping her actions in the slightest.
On her body, a strange flowing light quietly began to circulate.
[Eternal Indestructibility]
This precious-grade innate talent was continuously repairing her severely damaged body.
And accompanied by such devastating injuries,
the Qi momentum within her body completely boiled over.
Bang.
The air was instantly stomped apart.
Jiang Yuechu's figure vanished once more.
With a flash of golden light, she had already closed in.
Without any fancy technique startup, a sharp leg shadow carrying the force of ten thousand junctures directly smashed towards Sima Tang's head.
"What?"
How could she still move?!
Could it be... this girl before him wasn't of the Human Race?!
No... even if she were of the Yao Race... with such grievous injuries, she shouldn't still be able to erupt with such terrifying combat power...
Sima Tang endured the intense pain, hurriedly raising his arm to block.
Crack——
The arm bone snapped in response.
Jiang Yuechu's expression remained cold and clear. The emerald-green long staff in her hand swept horizontally following the momentum.
Boom!!!
The ten directions mountains and rivers staff, carrying the heavy, heaven-propping and earth-supporting imposing might, smashed fiercely onto Sima Tang's chest.
Sending him flying sideways once more!
Before the opponent even landed,
Jiang Yuechu flipped her palm, retracting the long staff.
Crimson flames churned in her left hand, instantly condensing into a blazing fire sword.
Bone-chilling white mist spread from her right hand, transforming into an extreme cold ice blade.
With dual blades in hand,
she shadowed him closely, intruding within three feet of Sima Tang.
The scarlet fire sword slashed down fiercely, cleaving through the hastily formed protective spell shield of her opponent.
The extreme cold ice blade followed immediately after, lifting from below to draw a chilling line of blood.
Fists met flesh, blades drew blood.
There was no room for even a breath's respite.
Under such a full-powered, frenzied assault, Sima Tang was utterly powerless to fight back, only able to let the dual blades continuously tear apart his vitality.
A dignified Personal Disciple of the Wusang Sect, a major Cultivator with Eight Chess Pieces of Strategy.
The Foundation within his Qi Sea was being forcibly depleted to the brink of exhaustion.
Finally, unconcealable terror surfaced in his eyes.
Blood splattered.
The white robe was thoroughly stained.
In the girl's pitch-black eyes, there was only extreme indifference.
Just as she was about to strike again,
a furious roar suddenly came from the distance.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!"