Ascension Day

Upon hearing this, the Giant Divine Spirit, Immortal Yang, became enraged. He sneered, "Born free? In life, you are ruled by the emperors of the Mortal World. In death, you are governed by the Underworld. Where does this ’freedom’ of yours come from? Such words are treasonous—a crime punishable by death! I was going to leave your corpse intact, but now, it seems there’s no need!"

He strode forward, his massive body surprisingly agile. The sharp sword condensed from Incense Smoke Qi in his hand was also incredibly nimble, displaying the grace of a Great Sword Master as he charged toward Xu Ying!

Xu Ying roared, meeting the thrusting sword with his right hand.

The Elephant-headed God-man behind him simultaneously extended its palm. The dense Evil Qi clashed with the thrusting sword, creating a harsh, grating sound, like metal scraping against gravel!

Sparks flew between his right hand and the sharp sword. The blade pierced the dense Evil Qi, but the energy blocked it, preventing it from penetrating deeply. It left only a shallow wound in his palm, allowing Xu Ying to breathe a small sigh of relief.

The Giant Divine Spirit’s arm also trembled from the force transmitted through the sword. He praised inwardly, ’This rebel has incredible strength!’

However, while Xu Ying’s palm could block the sword, the rest of his body could not.

The Giant Divine Spirit brandished the long sword. With thrusts, flicks, hews, cleaves, points, snaps, parries, lifts, and slices, his various techniques were unpredictable and impossibly fluid, forcing Xu Ying to constantly retreat and evade the blade’s edge!

"CLANG!"

Xu Ying seized an opening as the Giant Divine Spirit retracted his sword, slapping his palm against the flat of the blade. Xiangli erupted, and the sharp sword was instantly shattered by the blow!

Xu Ying advanced and threw a punch. Behind him, the Elephant God Evil Body let out a soaring, furious roar and threw a punch in unison, its Fist Seal overlapping with Xu Ying’s fist!

As he threw the punch, a fierce gale erupted. It even created a vacuum behind the Fist Seal, causing the surrounding grass, trees, sand, and stones to be swept up to fill the void.

This spectacle made it seem as if the grass, trees, sand, and stones were following Xu Ying’s fist, hurtling toward the Giant Divine Spirit alongside it and adding to the attack’s imposing might!

The Giant Divine Spirit cracked a sinister grin and actually met the attack with his own fist.

A cyan aura swirled around his fist, which transformed from flesh and blood into solid rock in an instant. It collided heavily with the crest of Xu Ying’s fist!

"BOOM!"

The air between their fists exploded with a deafening blast. A fierce wind ripped through the forests on both sides, making the trees sway and rustle violently.

Xu Ying took a step back, his heart sinking.

The Giant Divine Spirit also lost his footing, retreating three consecutive steps before he could disperse the force of Xu Ying’s punch. He praised, "Not bad for a rebel!"

Xu Ying clenched his fists. ’My greatest advantage is my strength,’ he thought, ’but it’s not overwhelmingly superior to his. Besides his own strength, he has also cultivated Incense Smoke Qi as Magical Power and can use Magic. This situation isn’t good for me!’

More importantly, for some unknown reason, the Qi Blood in Xu Ying’s body was constantly and inexplicably diminishing!

Although Xu Ying had received guidance from the "Mysterious Sound," cultivated his Divine Sense, opened the Mysterious Domain, achieved Five Qi Chaoyuan, and refined the Five Qi into Primordial Qi, his Qi Blood was still constantly draining away!

In the time it took to walk here from Jianshan, Xu Ying discovered he had inexplicably lost about half of his Qi Blood!

At his peak, Xu Ying would have been confident he could defeat the Giant Divine Spirit. But now, he wasn’t sure at all.

The Giant Divine Spirit praised him with a laugh. "Not bad. You truly have the strength to clash head-on with the Stone Mountain God and the Prison Warden. Your power alone is already on par with a Divine Spirit, worthy of me using my full strength."

The Incense Smoke Qi around his body suddenly condensed, once again forming a long sword over ten feet in length, which he grasped in his hand.

Then, a second sword formed. This sharp blade was a shorter sword, only about seven feet long, which he grasped in his other hand.

Then a third and a fourth sword formed. They were shorter still, only four feet long, and floated in the air, moving slowly.

These two swords were a product of this Divine Spirit’s Magic.

"It’s Flying Sword Technique!"

Although Yuan Qi was pinned to the ground, he was still watching the battle intently. He yelled, "My family’s books say that Divine Spirits can nurture and refine Incense Smoke Qi into Flying Swords! They can take a person’s head from dozens of miles away, striking like ghosts. It’s impossible to defend against!"

Xu Ying stared at the two floating swords, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. Although these two swords were shorter, the threat they posed felt even greater!

Yuan Qi shouted, "Those two swords of his might not seem to fly very far, but once a sword is in the air, free from the constraints of a hand, the variations in its techniques can increase by dozens, even hundreds of times! If you treat it like ordinary Swordsmanship, you’ll be caught off guard and die a miserable death!"

The Giant Divine Spirit flew into a rage. With another wave of his hand, the Incense Smoke Qi formed three arrows that shot out—THUNK, THUNK, THUNK—piercing into Yuan Qi’s body.

Yuan Qi coughed up blood and cried out, "I can still take it! I see he hasn’t refined his Golden Body yet. Kill him for me!"

Xu Ying’s gaze flickered. Staring at the two Flying Swords, he thought, ’I have to get in close. I need to punch right through his torso and shatter his body. I can’t give him a chance to use those Flying Swords!’

Suddenly, he stomped his foot violently. The ground abruptly sank, leaving a large crater!

The surrounding rubble, however, was blasted into the air by the force of his stomp. Hundreds of pebbles and fragments of all sizes—some as small as a fingertip, others weighing over a hundred pounds—were levitated by his explosive Qi Blood!

As he stomped, Xu Ying threw a punch. The stones, carried by the gale from his fist, howled through the air—WHOOSH, WHOOSH—following the slipstream of his punch as they smashed toward the Giant Divine Spirit!

The Third Layer of the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist allowed one’s power to strike from over ten feet away. He had already cultivated to the Sixth Layer; how could the reach of his Qi Blood be so limited?

This punch, carrying with it a storm of rubble, formed a Fist Seal four feet in diameter. Its might was astonishing, traveling dozens of feet without diminishing in power!