Chapter 1124: Who Has Schemes

Chapter 1129: Everyone Has Their Schemes

The Sky Aurora Immortal Torrent was still suppressing Xu Qing, creating a stalemate with his Five Elements Cycle. However, Xu Qing knew this deadlock was only temporary. At most, a few dozen breaths! To completely break the Aurora Immortal Torrent, there was only one way: kill Li Mengtu. If he died, the spell would dissipate on its own. So, the moment Li Mengtu retreated...

Xu Qing became a blur, approaching with astonishing speed, tearing through the air with a sharp sonic boom. His speed was so immense that time itself seemed to slow. A chill intensified in his eyes as his left hand formed a seal and pressed forward. Immediately, spatial power manifested. The heavens and earth changed color, winds surged, and the void churned, revealing a series of grids. These grids formed independent spaces, appearing around Li Mengtu, blocking his retreat, isolating his movements, and suppressing his counterattacks.

Li Mengtu's mind jolted. He knew this Xu Qing was extraordinary. He had already understood his formidable strength from the earlier restraint order on the main cliff, and he had prepared for it, but he still found him difficult to deal with. Fighting Xu Qing required absolute concentration, without the slightest relaxation. Because a single moment of carelessness, if the opponent seized an opportunity, would lead to an overwhelming explosion like the one before him. Moreover, his opponent was skilled at finding opportune moments. Consequently, the mental intensity required surpassed that of his famous battles in the past.

These thoughts flashed through Li Mengtu's mind but didn't affect his immediate counterattack. Even with the surrounding space isolated, Li Mengtu bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. He used his own blood to cast a spell, forming streaks of blood-colored runes that burst forward. At the same time, the Mirror Flowers circled his body, each glowing, intending to counter the coming storm.

However... the same method, when used against Xu Qing, would be hard to succeed a second time unless it was perfectly flawless. Clearly, these Mirror Flowers were not that perfect. The first use might catch one off guard, but with a second deployment, Xu Qing had already discerned its true nature. It wasn't a karmic spell, but a divine ability imbued with spatial power. Its principle was to use refraction to create overlapping spaces, thereby silently and imperceptibly guiding damage. Thus, although the flaw was deeply hidden, it still existed. This flaw was the refraction and the invisible overlapping space. For the latter, Xu Qing also used his spatial power to form grids, isolating them. For the former... Little Shadow was summoned by Xu Qing precisely to counter this. Little Shadow, its body utterly dark, instantly expanded, forming a veil. As a result, what the Mirror Flowers refracted was absolute darkness, and the overlapping spaces they projected were also isolated, unable to overflow or truly form.

All of this takes time to describe, but in reality, it unfolded in a flash. In an instant, the Mirror Flowers were restricted, and Xu Qing's immortal arts erupted. First was the Six Thieves of Delusion. This immortal art transformed into the seven emotions and six desires, like demons, erupting within Li Mengtu's mind, twisting his emotions, devouring his will, and polluting his Dao heart. Next, was the Five Dogs Abandoning Immortals. The Avarice Dog entered its lair, mingling with memories. It formed an open door, allowing the Greed Dog to roar and charge directly in, binding his soul. Then the Delusion Dog formed, desiring to fall into Samsara, and the Malice Dog arrived, wanting to drag him to hell. Finally, with the appearance of the Precipice Dog, he would forever lose his human form! A shrill scream escaped Li Mengtu's lips. His face was contorted, and his body trembled violently. In all his life battles, he had never encountered such a spell; accurately, it was no longer a mere spell. It was more like a bizarre curse! It caused blood to flow from his seven orifices, his three souls and seven spirits wailed within him, and his memories plunged into chaos.

Yet, Xu Qing's decisive strike was far from over; it had only just begun. Restricting the Mirror Flowers, then disrupting his soul with immortal arts, followed by world-shaking sword energy. Of the three sword energies Old Nine had given Xu Qing, the last one now erupted. This sword energy shone across the sky, wielding destructive might and irresistible power, transforming into a sharp sword shadow that pierced through everything, directly striking Li Mengtu's body. Li Mengtu's body jolted, a wound appearing on his chest, from which blood gushed. Immediately after, the Golden Crow unleashed raging black flames, forming a black spear, which Xu Qing, erupting from within the black flames, seized in an instant. His cultivation burst forth completely, and time and space simultaneously surged. He concentrated his essence, channeling it into the spear, then thrust it! A roar echoed as the spear plunged into the very spot where Old Nine's sword energy had torn open a wound. It sank into his flesh, touched his heart, and pierced straight through!

The aurora dissipated, and the Five Elements returned to normal. However, Xu Qing's face showed no sign of relaxation; instead, his pupils contracted. He unhesitatingly abandoned the idea of pulverizing the corpse and sharply retreated. His speed was so swift that he was gone in an instant. The moment his body retreated, a terrifying explosion suddenly spread from Li Mengtu's corpse, covering a thousand miles. Everything within that thousand-mile radius was instantly annihilated!

Xu Qing's expression was solemn; even from a thousand miles away, he could feel the terrifying explosive power from ahead. Had he been even slightly slower, he would have been severely wounded if not killed. At the same time, a hoarse voice slowly emerged from the annihilated area in front of Xu Qing. “To force me to use my third authority, you are indeed extraordinary!” As the voice echoed, Li Mengtu's figure slowly emerged from the annihilated area, stepping out one by one. His clothes were tattered, but all the injuries on his body... had vanished. His aura, state, and cultivation were all back to their original peak. This was the power of his third authority, a heaven-defying authority called Regeneration!

As he stepped forward, Li Mengtu looked at Xu Qing, his eyes revealing both solemnity and a hint of complexity. “Before meeting you, I believed my talent placed me among the absolute pinnacle, and even if someone surpassed me, it wouldn't be by much.” “Until today… my cultivation is at the initial stage of Dominion, and yours is at the later stage of Soul Containment, yet our combat prowess is comparable. So, in terms of innate talent, I am inferior to you. But in this world, there is only relative fairness, never absolute.”

“No need for so much talk,” Xu Qing said calmly. Having experienced the Sovereign who could turn words into spell formations, Xu Qing was quite wary of such methods. So, while interrupting the other party, the Authority of Eradication also shone in his eyes, erasing all traces around him.

Hearing this, Li Mengtu's gaze deepened. He suddenly raised his right hand and waved it forward. Immediately, a floral fragrance filled the air. With Li Mengtu at the center, in the dimming world, countless flowers suddenly appeared out of nowhere in that instant, spreading for millions, even tens of millions of miles. Transforming this boundless area into a sea of flowers. And the flowers within... some were delicate, some ugly, some seemed rotten, some extremely grotesque. And all of them were... poisonous flowers and herbs! As for the fragrance, it was the combined essence of countless poisonous herbs, forming a potent poison! This astonishing poison instantly erupted, enveloping Xu Qing.

If it were anyone else, they would surely be in a life-or-death crisis at this moment. But Xu Qing's own path of flora was already exquisite. Although he currently carried no raw herbs, he possessed a large quantity of pills. Pills were refined from plants, containing the substances he needed. So, with a raised hand, Xu Qing took out a handful of pills. Each one was a specific choice; upon appearing, he immediately crushed them, extracting the necessary substances within, covering the surroundings, and mixing and blending them according to his own understanding, to neutralize the poison in this place. Although limited by time, he couldn't completely neutralize it, but maintaining combat effectiveness within this sea of flowers was still achievable.

But just as Xu Qing's pills began to dissolve the surrounding poison, Li Mengtu took a step, creating a sonic boom, and crossed a thousand miles, appearing directly before Xu Qing. He threw a punch. Xu Qing looked up and abruptly countered. A deafening roar immediately erupted. Li Mengtu's attacks were like a storm, without the slightest pause, sometimes physical, sometimes magical, and entirely without defense.

This approach was entirely different from before. Facing this tempestuous and intense battle, Xu Qing also went all out. The black spear in his hand gleamed, his Five Elements authority erupted intermittently, and the powers of time and space fluctuated. For a time, in this world, the two exchanged blows, an incredibly perilous dance. The roaring sounds didn't cease for a half-breath. And injuries, naturally, continuously appeared on Xu Qing's body, internally, and even his soul, synchronously with their mutual attacks. His entire body was covered in blood, and blood continuously gushed from his mouth. Yet, strangely... Li Mengtu was completely unscathed! More accurately, every time an injury appeared on him, it immediately regenerated as if being reborn! It was as if he was currently within the Authority of Regeneration, capable of infinite recovery.

This sight caused Xu Qing's heart to sink. The Authority of Regeneration was already heaven-defying, but now, his opponent's power of this authority could even be maintained... This ability could no longer be described as merely heaven-defying. Xu Qing had never seen anything like it, nor did it align with his understanding. However, he possessed a similar ability, Time Reversal, so he had his own understanding of such spell arts. “My Time Reversal is also heaven-defying, which is why I can't activate it a second time in a short period. So, this Li Mengtu...” “His authority cannot be without a price.” “This state won't last too long, and after it expires, the price will definitely manifest!”

Thinking this, Xu Qing gritted his teeth, shifting from an offensive to a defensive stance, continuously retreating under the opponent's fierce onslaught. Although he bought time, Li Mengtu's attacks became increasingly sharp, causing Xu Qing's injuries to accumulate and continuously worsen, until he was completely covered in blood.

Seeing this, Li Mengtu's eyes flickered. He knew that his Authority of Regeneration was extraordinary and could sustain his state for a period, but it came with a huge price; once the state disappeared, he would suffer a backlash. Moreover, he couldn't activate it a second time in a short period. As for Xu Qing's previous Time Reversal, he seemed not to have paid much attention to it, but he was incredibly wary of it in his heart. Therefore, his current attacks had two purposes. First, although his initial words wasted his own time, they also stalled Xu Qing's time. And according to his judgment, this Time Reversal must have a time limit for reversal, lasting at most the time it takes an incense stick to burn, not too long, and most likely only a few dozen breaths. Second, based on his judgment of the Time Reversal's limit, he didn't unleash a massively damaging killing move, but instead used these continuous attacks to cause the opponent's injuries to accumulate. This way, even if Xu Qing could indeed still use Time Reversal, as long as he thought his injuries weren't fatal and hesitated, he would miss the window, unable to reverse to his peak state, but only to a point where injuries already existed. This was a vicious cycle. “So next, I can truly verify if he has that ability!” “If he does, then I might have no choice but to use that method...” “If not, this battle ends!”

Thinking this, and after estimating the remaining time he had within the Authority of Regeneration, Li Mengtu suddenly reached out and grabbed a wooden sculpture. The sculpture was jet black, emitting an evil aura. It depicted an old man, lifelike. The old man's features were twisted, his face contorted in extreme pain, his body irregularly warped, as if on the verge of death. And the moment he took out this wooden sculpture, Li Mengtu made a move that instantly darkened Xu Qing's heart. Li Mengtu held the wooden sculpture in one hand, while his other hand plunged directly into his own chest, grabbed his heart, violently ripped it out, and fiercely squeezed it!