Zhang Yan merged body and sword as one, charging upward. Around him, three hundred and sixty-five drops of You Yin Heavy Water swirled and danced, shattering stones and rocks along the way, piercing through clouds and mist, heading directly for the location where the yin energy was most concentrated.
Lu Ge had been meditating aboard the ferry, but for months now, despite sitting calmly and cultivating in silence, he had been inexplicably uneasy. At this moment, the sudden sound of a thunderous explosion made his face twitch involuntarily. Leaping into the air with tunneling light, he flew into the sky and opened his eyes to look ahead.
In the distance, he first saw just a faint glimmer of light flashing from within the shadows, but moments later, a blazing Sword Qi illuminated the Netherworld in an instant, cutting through a thousand zhang of void space and hurtling across.
Although he’d been expecting it, when Lu Ge saw it manifest before him, he couldn’t help but feel both shocked and enraged. He thought to himself darkly, "Oh no! That brat has truly escaped the trap!"
As the sword light approached, its overwhelming power was so oppressive that it seemed even sharper than before. His eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and he knew he couldn’t withstand it head-on.
However, Lu Ge also understood that in a battle against a Sword Cultivator, retreating out of fear during an assault would allow the opponent’s Sword Force to unfold like a relentless storm, leaving no time to catch a breath.
Under such an unyielding and continuous attack, even if one could endure temporarily, defeat was inevitable in the long run. Thus, it was essential to not let the other party seize the advantage.
Fortunately, Lu Ge had plenty of experience dealing with enemies. In the span of a single thought, he devised a countermeasure. Reaching into his Sleeve Bag, he grabbed a piece of yellowish mudstone and hurled it forward.
As soon as the mudstone hovered mid-air, it grew rapidly in an instant to a height of a hundred zhang, completely blocking the fissure path ahead, sealing it tightly and impenetrably.
Lu Ge knew this move wouldn’t hold Zhang Yan off for long, but he only needed a brief respite to execute the next set of techniques.
He hooked his horsetail whisk onto his elbow, raised two fingers near the tip of his nose, and began to chant under his breath.
Moments later, a Banner spun and flew out. With a pointed gesture, the Banner grew to five zhang high instantly. Grabbing the Banner Pole firmly, he gave it a vigorous shake, and suddenly, hundreds of ominous black wind gusts emerged from seemingly nowhere, filling the air with a cacophony of howling.
Feeling it still wasn’t enough, he retrieved a gourd from his Sleeve Bag, opened its stopper, and poured out countless fine black-yellow sand grains. The wind gathered up this sand, spreading it across the sky in an instant, turning the entire ravine into a hazy, gray blur.
These sand grains were painstakingly refined with Elixir Water. Before obtaining this Tribulation Dust Banner, he could only rely on his own spiritual energy to activate them, rendering their effectiveness very limited during battles. But now, with the Banner’s power, their full might could be unleashed without restriction.
Though his actions were swift, no sooner had he finished than the mudstone shattered with a deafening blast. At the same time, a beam of sword light that could pierce through clouds and crush stone streaked forth from the explosion.
Lu Ge let out a furious roar and vigorously shook the Banner. The malicious black wind responded immediately, carrying the flying sand and stone to roll toward the incoming sword light.
Zhang Yan, seeing this, issued a cold shout and pointed a finger. A stream of golden fire light surged from his body, soaring upward to clash with the black wind and sand.
The flame embedded in the light immediately pushed back the black wind, then swept forth with an abrupt wave of Golden Wind. The sand and stone involuntarily collapsed inward, losing their momentum. After spinning chaotically for two cycles, the floating golden fire expanded outward, forcibly ejecting every single grain of sand without exception. )
Lu Ge’s face darkened visibly. He recognized this as the technique of Xuan Guang transitioning from rigidity to flexibility, and his heart sank deeply.
Previously, Lu Ge had fought Zhang Yan and perceived his Xuan Guang as overwhelmingly forceful yet lacking in resilience.
Thus, he had been quite confident in this plan, believing that with the Black Wind Divine Sand’s pervasive and infernal attributes, Zhang Yan would be hard-pressed to defend against a round of harassment. He assumed Zhang Yan would have no choice but to deploy a Dharma Treasure or return his sword ball for protection.
If that occurred, Lu Ge could suppress this earth-shaking strike, regain control of the momentum, and take charge of the battle.
But he never expected that Zhang Yan had leaped forward in attainment, now fostering a profound Daoist Cultivation as a Second Realm Xuan Guang Cultivator. His calculations thus faltered disastrously.
One misstep led to cascading fails; the subsequent arrangements Lu Ge had devised were aborted before execution. Even his airborne posture stiffened awkwardly.
As soon as Zhang Yan glanced at the exposed vulnerability, how could he let this opportunity slip? His gaze sharpened, and his flying speed accelerated by threefold. In the blink of an eye, he closed to within a hundred zhang, unleashing a radiant Body and Sword as One strike of resplendent sword light with unstoppable force.
Lu Ge, momentarily out of sorts, faced Zhang Yan’s unyielding wave of murderous intent. His heart pounded with dread, yet he avoided chaos in his thoughts. With a deafening shout, he made a swift move, releasing an entire set of tokens from his hand.