Chapter 61: Clash with the True Yang Realm

Chapter 61: Clashing with the True Yang Realm

"Who is certain to die?" Ye Chen retorted with a cold laugh, stepping forward and swinging his arm. The Sky Scar Sword appeared in his hand.

Buzz!

The Sky Scar, immense and weighty, struck squarely upon Lu Zhi's palm print.

Underestimating the ferocity of the Sky Scar, Lu Zhi was once again at a disadvantage. However, Ye Chen also grunted and retreated, shaken by Lu Zhi's palm print. Yet, before he could fully stop his momentum, three streaks of purple sword light shot towards his face.

In an instant, Ye Chen brought the Sky Scar horizontal to block in front of him.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Sky Scar's durability did not disappoint Ye Chen. But Lu Zhi's next move, a frigid ice palm print, forced him to involuntarily spit blood and retreat.

"Die!" Lu Zhi's expression turned sinister as he pressed forward.

Seeing the situation, Ye Chen suddenly threw the Sky Scar Sword.

Lu Zhi scoffed, flipping his hand to send the Sky Scar flying. Just as he was about to unleash a powerful move, Ye Chen, like a savage beast, lunged at him.

He moved like a ferocious beast descending from the mountain, his attacks always strangely direct. At times he was like a fierce tiger, at others a savage ape, then a male lion, and finally a predatory wolf. He grabbed, slapped, tore, using his hands, feet, knees, and shoulders – every joint on his body became a weapon.

The overwhelming rage of a beast's heart fueled his close-quarters combat, coordinated with the extreme speed of his Shadow-Like Illusory Steps, leaving Lu Zhi momentarily flustered.

"Merely at the Qi Condensation Realm, yet he possesses such profound and overbearing close-quarters combat techniques." Not far away, Ji Ning Shuang once again revealed a look of surprise.

Compared to her, Lu Zhi was even more startled. Only by truly confronting Ye Chen did he realize that Ye Chen was fundamentally not an ordinary eighth-level Qi Condensation Realm cultivator. His close-quarters combat and strange movement techniques alone were not something a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator should possess.

After a great battle, Lu Zhi's entire body was covered in fist and foot imprints. Despite his True Yang Realm cultivation, his appearance became exceptionally disheveled.

However, he was still in the True Yang Realm. For Ye Chen to defeat him with this was still a far cry.

Soon, Lu Zhi managed to regain the upper hand, his palm strike sending Ye Chen spitting blood and retreating.

"Heavenly Thunder Talisman, activate!" In retreat, Ye Chen formed hand seals, activating the Heavenly Thunder Talisman he had placed on Lu Zhi's body.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, Lu Zhi was thrown backward.

"Heavenly Thunder Talisman… he's from the Hengyue Sect." Ji Ning Shuang murmured to herself. She hadn't expected that the person who tried to kill her was from the Qingyun Sect, while the one who saved her was from the Hengyue Sect. Perhaps, in a way, they were both enemies of the Zhengyang Sect.

"Heavenly Thunder Talisman, very good!" An angry roar echoed. Lu Zhi scrambled to his feet from amidst the shattered rocks, his entire body dripping with blood, his hair disheveled, and his face horrifyingly contorted, like a malevolent spirit crawling out of hell.

"He was struck by the Heavenly Thunder Talisman and can still stand up." Ye Chen's heart tightened involuntarily. He secretly marveled at the power of the True Yang Realm.

"Die!" Lu Zhi, his anger reaching the heavens, summoned his spirit artifact. A precious pagoda flew out from between his brows, growing to a size of ten feet. It shimmered with golden light, radiating brilliance and immediately causing Ye Chen to stumble.

This was the disparity between the Qi Condensation Realm and the True Yang Realm.

So-called spirit artifacts could only be truly controlled by cultivators who reached the True Yang Realm. This was because the Qi Condensation Realm and Human Yuan Realm could only mobilize True Qi, while the True Yang Realm could mobilize Spirit Power. Spirit artifacts could only be controlled using Spirit Power.

True Qi and Spirit Power were fundamentally not on the same level. Cultivators reaching the True Yang Realm could refine True Qi into Spirit Power. Just this one point was enough to put Ye Chen at a complete disadvantage.

Ye Chen stood his ground, his body rigid. Lu Zhi's pagoda exuded a powerful momentum, making him feel as though he were bearing the weight of several thousand catties.

"Break!" With a roar, Ye Chen rawly broke free from the pagoda's suppression.

"He actually ignored the suppression of a spirit artifact." Not only Lu Zhi, but Ji Ning Shuang in the distance also showed a look of shock.

"True Fire manifest!" With a loud shout, Ye Chen summoned his True Fire, instantly condensing it into a flaming long whip and lashing it directly onto Lu Zhi's face.

"He still has True Fire?" Ji Ning Shuang was once again astonished. Ye Chen, a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator not far away, had given her another major surprise.

"He still has True Fire." Though lashed by the whip, Lu Zhi was not angered. Instead, he let out a ferocious laugh. "Hengyue Sect's little brat, wait until I kill you, and your True Fire will also be mine."

"You'll have to see if you have the ability." Ye Chen scoffed, immediately utilizing the profound steps of the Shadow-Like Illusory Steps, killing his way to Lu Zhi in two or three steps.

His speed was so fast that Lu Zhi didn't even have time to use the spirit artifact pagoda to suppress him.

Clang!

Ye Chen had already unsheathed his Scarlet Heaven Sword and, with a swing, unleashed a streak of red sword light.

"Break!" Lu Zhi roared violently, his palm shattering the sword light.

Ye Chen attacked again. Without the heavy pressure of the Sky Scar, his speed was unusually fast, leaving continuous afterimages. Combined with the ferocity of the Scarlet Heaven Sword, he constantly left bloody marks on Lu Zhi's body. Several times, he almost cleaved Lu Zhi in two.

Ah...!

Lu Zhi roared in anger, his momentum suddenly climbing. He was in the True Yang Realm; when had he ever been beaten so miserably by a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator?

Buzz!

The spirit mirror pagoda once again bloomed with divine might, causing Ye Chen to stumble. Lu Zhi seized the opportunity, continuously attacking with large seals, fist shadows, and palm prints, forcing Ye Chen to retreat repeatedly. His internal Qi and blood surged, and he spat out blood several times.

The intense battle entered a heated phase, the two fighting deep into the jungle.

Puff!

Puff!

Bloody marks constantly appeared on Ye Chen's body. Although he possessed True Fire and a Dan Sea, the disparity between using True Qi and Spirit Power was too great. Furthermore, his cultivation was absolutely suppressed, and he quickly fell into a losing situation.

"Die!" Lu Zhi, like a mad dog, unleashed Spirit Power from his fingertips. A purple palm print sent Ye Chen flying.

"Heavenly Spirit Talisman, activate!" In desperation, Ye Chen once again activated the Heavenly Spirit Talisman he had placed on Lu Zhi's body.

"You think I'll fall for it a second time?" Lu Zhi scoffed. A second before the Heavenly Spirit Talisman activated, he had already shaken off the spirit talisman attached to his body.

Ye Chen secretly regretted wasting a Heavenly Spirit Talisman. To imprison a True Yang Realm cultivator like Lu Zhi, at least three Heavenly Spirit Talismans needed to be activated simultaneously, and even then, the imprisonment wouldn't last long.

Lu Zhi was, after all, an outstanding disciple of the Qingyun Sect, not comparable to the True Yang Realm expert Xiong Er and he had killed that day.

Defeated again, Ye Chen felt his True Qi in the Dan Sea becoming insufficient, unable to keep up with his expenditure.

"They're fundamentally not on the same level." Gritting his teeth, Ye Chen could only rely on his Shadow-Like Illusory Steps to evade, being chased deeper into the jungle by Lu Zhi.

"Can you escape?" Lu Zhi, pursuing him, infused all his Spirit Power into the spirit artifact pagoda.

Buzz!

The spirit artifact pagoda shone brightly, once again suppressing the evading Ye Chen, leaving him unable to move.

"Run, why aren't you running anymore!" Lu Zhi rushed over, his expression twisted ferociously. A killing sword also emerged, intending to cut Ye Chen's flesh piece by piece and feed it to dogs.

Seeing Lu Zhi approach, Ye Chen gritted his teeth, mobilizing all the True Qi in his body to break free from the spirit artifact pagoda's suppression, but to no avail. This time, Lu Zhi had gathered all his strength to suppress him, thus reviving the full might of the spirit artifact pagoda.

"Damn!" Ye Chen's gums bled from gritting his teeth.

Standing opposite him was the person who had once crippled his Dan Field. How similar the situation was to that day.

Was he going to have his Dan Field crippled by him again?

Ye Chen was unwilling, roaring in his heart. If his Dan Field were to be crippled again, it would be very difficult for him to recover.

In this moment of extreme danger, a nameless surge of violent power unexpectedly rose within his body.

(End of this chapter)