Chapter 850: The Strongest Secret Technique

No sooner had she spoken than two repeating crossbows simultaneously locked onto the center of Ling Wu's forehead. Within such a short range, the girl operating them had almost never missed a shot. Ling Wu's demise seemed almost certain.

However, at this critical juncture, the well-prepared Yun Xiao unleashed the powerful aura of a Celestial Martial Artist. The moment she ascended into the sky, the thorn-covered woman leading the five experts nearby suddenly focused her gaze. With a flick of her hand, she cast a beam of thorn light, quickly enveloping the spectacle-wearing girl's body.

"Pull back immediately! This is a Celestial Martial Artist; you're no match for her!"

However, her reaction was ultimately a step too late. Yun Xiao was, after all, a true Celestial Martial Artist. When her true form locked onto the aura and launched an attack, this single thorn support could only slightly delay, making it impossible for the spectacle-wearing girl to completely escape Yun Xiao's lethal assault.

As expected, after Yun Xiao's aura erupted, powerful water-attribute energy instantly melted the thorn barrier in front of her. Her true form then instantly landed five meters from the girl before her. "No one can judge our Sacred Fire Sect!" Yun Xiao declared. "It's not him who should receive the baptism, but you!"

Indeed, Yun Xiao at this moment carried herself with the air of a Sect Mistress. As her words fell, her sword rose, and in just an instant, she locked onto the true position of the spectacle-wearing girl. The spectacle-wearing girl was utterly terrified, instinctively wanting to retreat. But how could her movement speed contend with that of a Celestial Martial Artist? With a power meant to kill instantly, the longsword in Yun Xiao's hand seemed to come alive, slashing through the air. In front of everyone, it sliced the spectacle-wearing girl's entire body into pieces.

In mere moments, three of the Thirteenth Protectors under the Western Emperor had already fallen.

The remaining two great masters and the Celestial Martial Artist-level thorn woman were all enraged to the extreme.

"You bastards! How dare you slaughter openly at the foot of my Qizong Mountain! Today, all of you shall die!"

The moment Yun Xiao retracted her longsword, she immediately took Ling Wu and returned to the formation below. Meanwhile, the remaining three battlefields, including Xu Yang's, also entered a state of heated, decisive battle.

Especially the leading Celestial Martial Artist thorn woman; scarlet light fiercely shone in her pupils and around her body. A tremendously huge thorn totem quickly appeared. As it appeared, it enveloped every corner of the entire battlefield. The enormous thorn tree not only completely surrounded the thorn woman's body but also transformed into countless thick vines that quickly enveloped Xu Yang's true form.

Xu Yang, on one hand, wanted to conceal his strength, and on the other, wanted to see the true extent of his opponent's power. He did not block the descent of the countless vines in advance, but instead gave up all resistance, allowing them to wildly entangle his body.

"Heh heh heh, you think you can strangle me with just this much power? You're seriously overestimating yourselves."

Xu Yang continuously mocked, while the thorn woman, in a state of extreme rage, continuously released more thick vines, which quickly and perfectly enveloped Xu Yang's body.

However, Xu Yang then made a move that boldly shocked everyone. Even though his entire body was tightly wrapped, Xu Yang was astonishingly still able to, relying on his incredibly powerful primal aura, remotely propel his body, continuously moving closer towards the thorn woman within the main trunk of the thorn manifestation.

To be safe, the thorn woman once again unleashed her powerful true form's strength, releasing an incredibly solid thorn halo which gathered in mid-air to form an incredibly huge thorn sphere. This perfectly bound both her and Xu Yang's bodies together, blocking the vision of everyone outside. No one knew what was happening inside this enormous sphere of light.

Inside this thorn sphere, Xu Yang and the graceful thorn woman before him were now merely inches apart. The two gazed at each other. The thorn woman's eyes gleamed with a desperate, flickering light, while Xu Yang's gaze was utterly calm. Perhaps due to their extreme proximity, a flicker of instinctive restlessness arose deep within the thorn woman's heart. After all, Xu Yang was exceptionally outstanding. In front of such an excellent man, it would be impossible for any woman in the world to keep her heart absolutely calm.

"Now it's just the two of us here. What other methods do you have? I'll give you ten seconds to do whatever you want."

It was unclear if this was Xu Yang's deliberate doing or if the thorn woman's inner restlessness was growing more intense, but she instinctively spread her hands and grabbed Xu Yang's shoulders.

"Boy, you've completely become my captive! Don't think there's any other way to escape. Today, I will completely drain your life essence to avenge my fallen comrades!"

Xu Yang, however, burst out laughing. "I said you have ten seconds to do whatever you want to me. If you waste your precious ten seconds talking, then it won't be worth it!"

The thorn woman was furious. Her aura erupted once more, and all the thorn vines entwined around Xu Yang began to wildly release an incredibly powerful devouring force. If it were anyone else, even a Celestial Martial Artist like Yun Yixuan, allowing the thorn woman to act in this manner would likely result in severe damage to their vitality.

Unfortunately, this devouring aura lasted for over thirty seconds, yet still failed to gain even a trace of power essence from Xu Yang's body. To these thorn vines, Xu Yang's physical body was like an unyielding mountain, giving the opponent no opportunity to exploit.

"Damn it! How can this be? My thorn vines have previously devoured three Celestial Martial Artists! I refuse to believe I can't overcome you!"

The thorn woman still used all her abilities, but unfortunately, she simply had no way to deal with Xu Yang.

"If you only have this much ability, you are truly far from worthy of being my opponent!"

Finally, it was Xu Yang's turn to act. He calmly and slowly raised his right arm. The moment he decided to lift that arm, all the thorn vines surrounding it disintegrated into nothingness in an instant, utterly defenseless. No matter how the thorn woman in front of him wielded stronger power, she could not prevent the collapse of these vines.

"This is impossible! I don't believe your body has not a single flaw!"

The next moment, the thorn woman was truly enraged to the extreme, releasing her peak power without reservation. At that instant, an incredibly pure rune suddenly emerged at the thorn woman's chest, continuously emitting dazzling light in front of Xu Yang.

In that instant, a palm-sized lotus form materialized from the center of the rune—a lotus condensed from the life essence of countless thorn vines—and it began its final round of devouring against Xu Yang.

"Even if your physical body is indestructible, I don't believe your soul world is equally impregnable. You will fall with the blooming of my lotus! Your body will become my trophy. I will use your physical form as a prime seed to cultivate my vines for all eternity, so you won't even have a chance at reincarnation. This is the price you will pay!"