Chapter 187: Fourth Battle Tactic Thought

Yin Eleven was about to urge Li Weiyi to leave quickly, fearing they would both perish there that day if he insisted on being reckless. However, Li Weiyi had already launched his attack.

Yang Qingxi and Yang Zhiyong were naturally pleased to see their opponent show such a desperate spirit. Conversely, if Li Weiyi had focused solely on escaping, that would have been a far trickier situation.

"Well met!"

Yang Zhiyong no longer held any contempt. He gripped the halberd with both hands, his front hand as close to the blade as possible, adapting to the narrow environment and mitigating the disadvantage of a long spiritual weapon. A vast surge of spiritual energy erupted from his Qi Sea, condensing into a four-zhang-tall battle intent manifestation, resembling a towering giant of light and shadow, moving alongside him.

"Swish swish!"

From his insect pouch, seven Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors flew out, their wings beating rapidly. They were even faster than Li Weiyi, streaking through the air as seven bright blurs of light, reaching Yang Zhiyong in an instant. Yang Zhiyong's alertness sharpened, and his pupils constricted. The seven peculiar insects unleashed by his opponent gave him a profound sense of danger, causing him to quickly retreat and conceal himself within his battle intent manifestation.

"Bang bang!"

The seven Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors slammed into the four-zhang-tall battle intent manifestation, striking various points and generating concentric ripples of kinetic energy. Each of these seven creatures was nearly five inches long. With their advantages in speed and defense, their combined combat power was formidable enough to contend with even the weakest Fifth-Sea Realm martial cultivators. This was quite terrifying, especially given their numbers.

Yang Zhiyong had already recognized the formidable power of the seven Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors. Under their relentless assault, he felt an almost overwhelming force, prompting him to take a step back and unleash his full spiritual energy to neutralize the impact. However, he had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation. In his estimation, while these peculiar insects possessed considerable power, they were still far from matching him in strength. Moreover, their intelligence was low, and he believed each could be instantly killed.

"Whoosh!"

His halberd swept out, generating a wide swathe of energy that precisely struck two Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors. The two insects were sent flying, crashing to the ground and leaving two deep indentations. Seizing the opportune moment, Li Weiyi, who had been poised for attack, sprang forward like lightning. With three divine battle intent projections forming behind him, he brought his sword down in a powerful cleave. The sword hummed like a dragon's roar. The yellow light illuminated the falling snow, making it shimmer like golden goose feathers.

The sword energy from his "Taiyi Opening Sea" technique, extending several zhang, effortlessly tore through Yang Zhiyong's spiritual energy. However, it wasn't aimed at Yang Zhiyong himself, but rather at his battle intent manifestation. At that moment, Yang Zhiyong had just knocked two Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors flying and had no time to swing his halberd in defense. He chose to abandon his battle intent manifestation and, instead, thrust his halberd upwards, aiming for Li Weiyi's abdomen. A shattered battle intent manifestation was no major concern. As long as this single halberd strike could injure his opponent, he would come out ahead.

Yang Qingxi, seeing far more clearly than Yang Zhiyong, had already grasped the gravity of the situation. Li Weiyi's true killing blow wasn't the sword strike itself, but the fact that once Yang Zhiyong's battle intent manifestation shattered, he would be utterly exposed to the claw and wing attacks of those incredibly swift, peculiar insects. At that point, the impossible might well become possible. A warning would have been too late.

"Splash!"

The sound of rushing water echoed, like a great river surging forth. Yang Qingxi's graceful form moved, launching herself from the three-story-high eaves. Beneath her feet, a verdant stream flowed through the air, scattering brilliant green light with infinite mystical power, rapidly extending towards the battlefield in the alley. At her birth, the sound of a flowing stream was heard within the house. Thus, her 'Long River Intent' was an innate ability.

"Miss Yang, why don't we have a little fun first!"

Seeing how formidable Li Weiyi's peculiar insects were, Yin Eleven's confidence soared. He unleashed his own five-zhang-tall battle intent manifestation, sending it to collide with the verdant stream in mid-air. After retreating two steps, the Fire-Scaled Dragon Claw gauntlets on his hands, fueled by his spiritual energy, transformed into two crimson clouds of fire. He then unleashed the "Wrathful Flood Dragon Seizing Dragon Claw Technique," one of the Nine Li Tribe's nine fundamental martial arts. This technique was legendary, said to enable one to defeat stronger opponents in dire circumstances when cultivated to its peak.

Meanwhile, after Li Weiyi's sword strike shattered Yang Zhiyong's four-zhang-tall battle intent manifestation, he exerted himself to the utmost to evade with his movement technique. Despite his efforts, he was still struck by the opponent's halberd beneath his left armpit. The combat power of a Pure Immortal Body, cultivated to the Sixth Sea, was truly terrifying. Even a mere brush from Yang Zhiyong's weapon caused blood to flow freely from Li Weiyi's armpit. Fortunately, he had cultivated his Golden Bones to a minor degree, or else two of his ribs would have surely broken.

Li Weiyi, back on the ground, felt his left side go numb with pain. Yet, he dared not linger for a second, much less retreat to heal. Instead, he gritted his teeth and launched another swift assault. To stop or to retreat would both lead to death. Advancing, however, offered a significant chance to defeat Yang Zhiyong within a few exchanges.

Yang Zhiyong had never imagined Li Weiyi would be so fearless. What astonished him even more was that the two peculiar moth-like insects, which he had slammed into the ground with his halberd and expected to be dead, were now bouncing around lively, their bodies seemingly forged from immortal iron and impervious to damage. There was a world of difference between peculiar insects that could be killed in one blow and those that could not!

As Yang Zhiyong contended with Li Weiyi's relentless sword attacks, he felt a sharp pain in his right neck; a Phoenix-wing Moth Emperor's claw had torn away a piece of flesh. The next instant, the back of his right hand, which was gripping the halberd, was grazed by a Phoenix-wing Moth Emperor's membranous wing, leaving a deep, bloody gash. The halberd almost slipped from his grasp.

"This is bad..."

Yang Zhiyong's expression shifted drastically as he finally grasped the gravity of the situation. He swiftly lunged, leaping towards the white wall on the right side of the alley, desperate to gain a moment of respite to re-manifest his battle intent projection.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors, one from the left and one from the right, slammed into his back, like receiving two heavy blows. Despite the protection of his spiritual armor, Yang Zhiyong was still knocked back into the alley. After several more exchanges, Yang Zhiyong had sustained eight wounds, all located on his head, neck, and hands—areas his spiritual armor could not protect. His face was covered in blood, and his left eye had been gashed, leaving him disoriented. He desperately wanted to escape but found no opportunity, feeling only that danger lurked everywhere.

"Clang!"

A piercing sword hum assaulted his ears. Li Weiyi decided to end the fight, delivering a horizontal slash aimed directly at Yang Zhiyong's neck. When Yang Zhiyong's right eye registered the brilliant sword light, it was already too late to dodge or parry. Instantly, despair washed over him, and he accepted his defeat utterly, without hatred or resentment. Only one thought remained: this young man was destined to rise like a comet, unstoppable.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a slender, shadowy figure emerged from behind Yang Zhiyong. The figure was completely enveloped in black, with only a pair of eyes visible, gleaming like cold stars. With one palm, she pushed Yang Zhiyong aside, and a peculiar, needle-thin longsword pierced through the darkness. The sword moved so swiftly that the surrounding snowflakes seemed to freeze in mid-air as it thrust directly towards Li Weiyi's glabella.

In Li Weiyi's pupils, the sword tip drew closer, growing ever brighter. Before the sword even reached him, a sharp pain began in his glabella. The same sense of powerlessness Yang Zhiyong had experienced moments before, on the brink of death, now enveloped him. The difference was that, in this critical moment, Li Weiyi did not despair. Instead, a surge of vibrant fighting spirit, a will to contend with fate itself, rose within him, and his mind entered an unprecedented state of tranquility. In this state, he could even discern his own reflection in the woman's eyes opposite him, and the unsettling familiarity those cold eyes evoked.

"Whoosh!"

Behind Li Weiyi, there had originally been only three battle intent manifestations. A fourth battle intent manifestation silently coalesced behind him, like a painting gradually being perfected with each brushstroke. His sword, originally aimed for a horizontal slash, forcibly altered its trajectory, shifting from offense to defense. Hand and sword shadows layered one upon another. This was his instinctive reaction in a crisis, a result of years of cultivating the "Ruyi Universe Sword" from the Explaining Gate's Twelve Loose Hand techniques, a move that was already on the verge of a breakthrough. Upon breakthrough, the intent would form naturally. The Ruyi Universe, unpredictable in its changes. With the manifestation of the fourth battle intent, the power of his sword techniques increased by another ten percent. Cultivating a single battle intent manifestation was considered a normal achievement for a typical martial cultivator, signifying their full combat potential. However, Li Weiyi, imbued with four battle intents, saw his combat power surge to 130 percent.

"Clang!"

The sword, which was destined for Li Weiyi's glabella, struck the blade of the Yellow Dragon Sword, which had been raised vertically to block it, emitting an explosive clang. Rings of ripples dispersed through the air. Li Weiyi was sent flying straight back like a cannonball, slamming into the wall at the alley's turn. The pain was so intense that his vision went black, and he felt as though he might pass out on the spot.

The woman in black, standing beside a still-shaken Yang Zhiyong, gazed in utter astonishment. She had clearly not anticipated that, under those circumstances, her opponent could block her decisive, killing blow. Even with her cultivation level, she hadn't clearly seen how Li Weiyi changed his technique to parry. For someone of an Inheritor-level cultivation, facing a sword point at their glabella in such a fatal situation, their head should have been split open like a gourd. The woman in black's killing intent soared to an unprecedented height, and she was about to attack again.

"Whoosh!"

A folding fan flew through the alley, spinning as it went, stirring up thousands of snowflakes.

"Zuoqiu Ting is here, retreat!"

The one who spoke was Yang Qingxi, her face veiled. The woman in black glared intensely at Li Weiyi, her heart filled with extreme reluctance. She flicked the folding fan away with her sword but was forced to grab Yang Zhiyong and retreat into a dark alley.

Zuoqiu Ting's figure flickered, catching the folding fan before it hit the ground. "You go first," he said. With those four words, he vanished from Li Weiyi and Yin Eleven's sight, pursuing the three members of the Huai Sect.

Li Weiyi finally caught his breath, but his left armpit and right arm were throbbing with pain. Yin Eleven steadied him by the shoulders, helping him sit upright against the wall.

"Incredible! Your combat power is insane. What cultivation realm are you in?" Yin Eleven asked, both excited and immensely curious.

As Li Weiyi circulated his spiritual energy to heal, he pondered and recalled, then suddenly asked, "How many times have you encountered Yang Qingxi?"

"Counting this time, we've clashed twice. Why do you ask?" Yin Eleven replied.

Li Weiyi said, "I have a feeling... Yang Qingxi might be two different people!"

"What did you say?" Yin Eleven's voice rose sharply.

Li Weiyi recalled his various encounters with Yang Qingxi, feeling that the black-clad woman's gaze just now resembled Yang Qingxi's when he first met her. However, he had just arrived in this world at that time, and it was only a fleeting glimpse, so he couldn't be certain.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken!"

Li Weiyi's body healed remarkably fast. After moving his arm, he stood up and began searching for his Yellow Dragon Sword, which had been knocked from his grasp. Two Phoenix-wing Moth Emperors had already retrieved the Yellow Dragon Sword for him. Furthermore, one of them, as if seeking praise, flew back and forth before him, proudly holding the corpse of a bee-like insect in its claws. Seeing that bee-like insect killed by them, Li Weiyi's foul mood instantly lifted. "Excellent!" he exclaimed. "When we get back, I'll get you some thousand-year essence medicine. That will surely help you two break through your cultivation realms in the next couple of days!"