Chapter 420: Spirit Garment

Lan Ziyi was undeniably strong. Her strength, like Lu Ye's, exceeded what was typical for the Spirit Creek Realm. Perhaps only the "three great scourges" from the Spirit Creek List several months ago had the qualifications to surpass them. However, those three had accumulated power at the Spirit Creek Realm level for over a decade; it was time that endowed them with their formidable strength. Their situations were not the same as Lu Ye's and Lan Ziyi's.

Powerful individuals all have their secrets, and Lan Ziyi was no exception. It was a secret no one could possibly know. Although she possessed only Spirit Creek Realm cultivation, her insights far surpassed that level, and the various techniques she mastered were also far beyond what the Spirit Creek Realm could achieve.

She raised her thumb, slightly wiped the corner of her mouth, and looked down. Indeed, she was bleeding. She found it hard to believe there was another Spirit Creek Realm cultivator in this world who could injure her.

The faint smile that had always lingered on her lips faded, and her expression turned serious. She raised her greatsword, gripping its hilt with both hands, and held it vertically in front of her. In that instant, the charming woman exuded an impenetrable aura, as if no attack could fell her as long as she stood there.

Lu Ye naturally wouldn't give her a moment to breathe. He pushed off with immense force, instantly creating two indentations on the ground, leaving a trail of afterimages as he lunged directly towards Lan Ziyi. Before he even reached her, Lu Ye saw the woman suddenly part her hands, and the greatsword held vertically in front of her instantly split into two longswords! The greatsword had, in fact, originally been formed by combining two longswords.

Lu Ye was surprised; this woman truly had many tricks up her sleeve. However, this did not affect his forward momentum or his determination to kill her. The distance between them rapidly closed.

Lan Ziyi suddenly assumed a strange stance: with one longsword pointing skyward and the other pointing earthward, her lithe and tall body spun slightly, and she unleashed a sword strike. It directly met Lu Ye's incoming saber strike.

Clang... Amidst a shower of sparks, Lu Ye's forward momentum was halted. However, the force transmitted through his spirit artifact made him realize something: the power contained within her sword strike had weakened. In this collision, he clearly gained the upper hand. He sensed trouble and, instead of pressing his advantage, took a step back.

The moment he took that step back, Lan Ziyi's body spun lightly once more, and her other longsword crashed down. Clang... Lu Ye retreated another step. Clang, clang, clang... With every clang, Lu Ye had to take a step back.

With the greatsword in hand, Lan Ziyi's power was incredibly wild, but her attacks were somewhat clumsy. Now that the greatsword had become two longswords, her power had somewhat diminished, but her agility and attack speed were incomparable to before. With two different sword forms, Lan Ziyi's fighting style also changed dramatically. What was astonishing was her ability to perfectly control both styles, switching between them with ease!

The woman was already tall, and the longswords in her hands were half a foot longer than ordinary swords. When she unleashed these top-like spinning attacks, her attack range extended several zhang in every direction, centered around her. The sword gleam swept out, tearing through the air and carrying sharp, lethal force. Lu Ye suddenly envisioned a scenario: if this woman were surrounded by a large number of enemies, she could likely wipe them all out with this technique. Where she passed, it was as if a storm of death had erupted.

Initially, Lu Ye could block every one of her attacks, but as he continuously retreated, her body spun faster and faster, and her attack frequency increased. After only a dozen steps back, Lu Ye began to fall out of sync with her rhythm. Often, for every five swords she struck, he could only block four, with one inevitably striking him. Fortunately, he could still activate his Imperial Guard Spirit Mark, but even with it, he could only defend passively!

After another dozen steps of retreat, Lan Ziyi's attack speed increased further. The incessant clanging of saber against sword became a dense, unbroken din. Intermittently, flashes of his shattered Imperial Guard Spirit Marks accompanied the sight of blood spurting. In just a few breaths, Lu Ye had accumulated over a dozen wounds of varying depths.

He knew he couldn't retreat any further. The fighting arena was only so large; once he reached the edge, he would have nowhere left to go. If the storm of death then swept over him and he couldn't withstand it, he would likely be sliced into pieces instantly.

Should he use "Flicker"? He had already used it once before, and even with the added dual Sharpness Spirit Marks, "Flicker" had failed to break through her protective layer. Lu Ye still hadn't figured out how she had blocked that attack, or what that protective layer was. Until he understood this, rashly using "Flicker" was certainly not a wise move.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the Spiritual Glow on Lu Ye's Panshan Saber burst forth. His retreating figure suddenly halted, and he lunged straight forward. Blood splattered. In that instant, the newly formed Imperial Guard Spirit Mark shattered, and several more wounds appeared on Lu Ye's body, his flesh torn open.