Chapter 105: Exchanging Injury for Injury

Account:

Password:

Blood splattered as Lu Ye and Senior Brother Zhou each retreated three steps.

Blood gushed from Lu Ye's right chest, which Senior Brother Zhou's sword had clearly pierced. However, Senior Brother Zhou was not in much better condition; a gash extended diagonally from his chest to his abdomen. Had he not retreated a step at the last moment, that single strike would have disemboweled him.

He had naturally seen Lu Ye's strike, and the reason he hadn't completely dodged it was his absolute confidence in his protective spiritual power.

Previously, Lu Ye had used a Spirit Concealment Talisman to hide his figure and spiritual light, preventing these few individuals from Youyun Mountain from discerning his true strength. However, once the fighting began, he was exposed, as his spiritual power fluctuations could not be hidden.

"Spirit Creek Realm, third layer!" The moment Senior Brother Zhou escaped from the Spirit Bell, he immediately assessed Lu Ye's cultivation level.

As a fifth-layer Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, he was two minor levels higher than his opponent, and his protective spiritual power would naturally be more robust. He was confident that even if Lu Ye struck him with a blade, it wouldn't be a major issue; at most, he would sustain a minor injury. On the other hand, with his sword having pierced Lu Ye, the opponent would not be having such an easy time.

If he hadn't always been cautious, he wouldn't even have retreated that single step when Lu Ye's strike came down.

That one step made him brush past death.

The long blade struck his protective spiritual power, only momentarily hindered before it broke through and wounded him with its momentum.

Senior Brother Zhou widened the distance between himself and Lu Ye, looking down at his injuries. He found it almost unbelievable that his protective spiritual power was so fragile.

The spiritual artifact in his opponent's hand seemed to be sharper than he could have imagined!

Only then did he have time to look around and was astonished to find that his junior brothers and sisters were all lying lifeless in pools of blood. Only he and Lu Ye remained alive, apart from the large tiger circling nearby, low-growling and staring menacingly.

Senior Brother Zhou's eye twitched violently.

He had been trapped in that spiritual artifact for a mere ten breaths' time. It was one thing for Junior Sister Yu to have been ambushed earlier, but this lone opponent had killed all three remaining junior brothers, each at the third layer of the Spirit Creek Realm, within ten breaths?

And he himself had been wounded!

Where did this monster come from?

Anger and sorrow surged into his heart. His eyes turned bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and growled, "A mere third-layer cultivator... a mere third-layer cultivator..."

Lu Ye didn't know what Senior Brother Zhou wanted to say, but he was in no mood to listen. The opponent's sword thrust through his chest made it difficult for him to breathe, and this battle couldn't be prolonged.

So, while Senior Brother Zhou was still engulfed in grief and indignation, Lu Ye lunged forward to attack.

Senior Brother Zhou gritted his teeth and unleashed a string of curses.

Their figures crossed paths; Lu Ye sustained three more sword wounds, yet he again left a mark on Senior Brother Zhou with his blade. The angle of his strike was extremely tricky, cutting into Senior Brother Zhou's thigh, mangling the flesh, and causing blood to spurt directly.

Since he couldn't outmatch his opponent in skill, he wouldn't bother; an exchange of injuries would be fine!

If he truly competed in skill, others would just toy with him until he was dead.

Lu Ye turned, his eyelids lowered. Over two vital points, his chest and neck, each was covered by a defensive spiritual pattern, shimmering with spiritual light.

His entire spiritual power surged and burned, injecting new power into the two spiritual patterns to maintain them from collapsing or dissipating.

Lu Ye's idea was simple: use two defensive spiritual patterns to protect his vital points. As for other areas, they could stab wherever... he would see who couldn't hold on first!

It must be said, this defensive method was indeed a bit rogue but extremely effective. Just moments ago, Senior Brother Zhou did thrust a sword towards his chest, but that fatal blow was blocked by the defensive pattern. It was precisely the opening caused by that sword thrust that allowed Lu Ye to strike Senior Brother Zhou's thigh.

It wasn't that Lu Ye didn't want to activate more and larger spiritual patterns; it was simply that the defensive spiritual patterns consumed a significant amount of energy. If he maintained them for too long, he wouldn't be able to sustain it.

He had to ensure he killed Senior Brother Zhou before his spiritual power ran out, otherwise both he and Amber would die.

Two defensive patterns protecting his vital points were barely enough.

"You motherfucker..." Senior Brother Zhou cursed again, appearing utterly exasperated. As he spoke, he took out a spiritual talisman from his storage bag and slapped it onto himself; it was clearly a Golden Body Talisman.

In an instant, he was enveloped by a thick golden light.

That wasn't all; he took out another spiritual talisman and launched it at Lu Ye.

As a fifth-layer Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, he naturally carried a few life-saving talismans which he usually wouldn't dare to use, but now he had no choice.

The two exchanges of injuries made Senior Brother Zhou realize that this third-layer cultivator, who had appeared out of nowhere, was not to be trifled with. Especially the spiritual long blade in his opponent's hand was too sharp; his protective spiritual power alone couldn't withstand it at all.

Lu Ye was already charging forward. When Senior Brother Zhou launched the talisman, he had to stop his advance. A small bell spun, growing to human height, and stood between him and Senior Brother Zhou.

The power unleashed by the talisman crackled and slammed into the Spirit Bell, causing it to clang loudly.

Lu Ye had used the Spirit Bell's momentary cover to attack from the flank. By the time Senior Brother Zhou saw Lu Ye again, they were only about five zhang apart.

Senior Brother Zhou wanted to retreat, but the injury to his thigh made him stumble. Gritting his teeth, he faced the fiercely charging Lu Ye and thrust his trembling sword.

Lu Ye pressed forward and swung his blade down!

Blood continuously splattered, and the sound of sharp weapons piercing flesh was jarring. Spiritual power erupted in their collision, leaving the area where they fought a mess.

After another round of mutual attacks, both sides sustained injuries.

Although Senior Brother Zhou's cultivation was two layers higher than Lu Ye's, the Sharpness and Defensive spiritual patterns were enough to compensate for the cultivation level gap. In terms of offensive and defensive power, Lu Ye was no worse than him, and even slightly stronger.

The only area where Senior Brother Zhou was stronger than Lu Ye was his spiritual power reserves. A fifth-layer cultivator would have opened at least sixty-three spiritual apertures, whereas Lu Ye, despite opening more apertures during his days searching for Amber in the mountains, had only reached forty-one.

With a difference of at least twenty spiritual apertures, Senior Brother Zhou naturally had the advantage in spiritual power reserves.

But this didn't give him any advantage in battle. Such a brutal and bloody struggle even made him feel despair, because his opponent could fight with spiritual patterns. The two defensive spiritual patterns protected Lu Ye's vital points, and with his fifth-layer cultivation, Senior Brother Zhou couldn't break them at all.

He also tried to shatter the spiritual patterns, but whenever his sword weakened their power, the opponent could activate spiritual power to fully repair them.

Unless he could break through the spiritual patterns with a single blow, it was meaningless.

Feeling his injuries gradually worsen, Senior Brother Zhou gradually lost the desire to avenge his junior brothers and sisters. He felt that if the fight continued like this, he might die here.

Furthermore, under the opponent's relentless assault, he didn't even have time to send out a message.