Shangguan Yunzhu’s pupils shrank slightly as she used the momentum to drift back several steps. She looked down at her slightly numb wrist, a trace of genuine surprise finally flashing in her eyes.
‘Is the power boost from that demon-subduing potion actually that terrifying?’
She clearly remembered that during their antics in the bathroom just a few months ago, this little thing was still utterly helpless under her hands.
Yet after drinking that potion, she could actually withstand a sword strike and even counterattack.
“It’s over!” Lu Qiancha pressed her advantage. Her childish voice carried a high-spirited battle intent as the long spear in her hand transformed into a streak of red-and-yellow lightning.
The tip of the spear was like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave, tearing through the air and piercing toward Shangguan Yunzhu’s opening with matchless momentum.
“It’s still early, Little Qiancha.”
Shangguan Yunzhu’s voice remained calm, devoid of any panic.
Her body was like willow catkins in the wind, drifting back half a step with a light touch. That sharp spear tip grazed past the front of her robes.
At the same time, her right hand formed a seal, and a brilliant lingguang glowed at her fingertips. Her clear voice rang out like a divine decree: “HEAVEN AND EARTH INFINITE, BORROWING LAW FROM THE UNIVERSE — BEGONE!”
*Buzz.*
The seemingly ordinary black iron sword on the ground suddenly erupted with a crimson light.
As if pulled by an invisible hand, it let out an excited hum and instantly flew back, landing steadily in Shangguan Yunzhu’s palm.
The moment the sword entered her hand, her aura changed.
Shangguan Yunzhu’s gaze became as sharp as a blade. She didn’t even need to look; she simply lifted her wrist and made a phantom slash toward Lu Qiancha.
*Swoosh —*
A condensed, physical beam of crimson sword light, radiating a scorching breath, shot out from the tip of the sword like an arrow from a bow, carrying an aura that could incinerate everything.
“Too slow!” At the moment the sword light reached her, the spiritual power beneath Lu Qiancha’s small frame erupted.
She pushed the sea of clouds wandering dragon steps to its limit.
Her figure instantly became elusive, like a wandering dragon merging into the mist, leaving behind a series of afterimages.
That sharp sword light only pierced through a phantom, striking the protective barrier of the martial arts arena and stirring up a ripple.
“How about now?”
Shangguan Yunzhu raised an eyebrow, the battle intent in her eyes thoroughly ignited.
She no longer held back, rapidly slashing the crimson iron sword in her hand.
*Whish! Whish! Whish! Whish!*
Streak after streak of crimson sword light—denser and more crowded than before—poured out like a rain of lava from a volcanic eruption.
It was as if she had woven a seamless web of flaming swords, blotting out the sky and completely sealing off all of Lu Qiancha’s paths for evasion.
The scorching heat wave made the air warp and distort.
Lu Qiancha’s small face tightened. Looking at this inescapable web of swords, she pursed her lips.
Without hesitation, she gave up on dodging. The spiritual power inside her body began to circulate in a mysterious trajectory.
Moonshadow Evasion Technique.
Her figure suddenly became illusory and thin, as if she had transformed into a ghostly shadow. At the critical moment, she actually slipped through the seemingly gapless web of flaming swords.
Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes narrowed.
‘What a strange movement technique.’
Fortunately, Shangguan Yunzhu was experienced in battle. Almost at the instant Lu Qiancha’s figure vanished, she predicted the location where she would land.
She flipped her wrist, and a sword stroke accumulating even greater power was already raised, prepared to strike down at the shadow that was about to solidify.
In that spark-of-an-instant —
“Magnet-shroom!”
A crisp and slightly smug shout rang out abruptly.
A strange, metal-looking mushroom-shaped object had appeared in Lu Qiancha’s hand at some unknown point. A pile of black, powder-like objects was scattered across the mushroom’s body.
Following Lu Qiancha’s command, the Magnet-shroom spun rapidly. Carrying a powerful and eerie suction force, it shot toward the crimson iron sword in Shangguan Yunzhu’s hand.
*Squish —*
With a sticky sound, the Magnet-shroom adhered perfectly to the spine of the crimson iron sword.
Its pair of small eyes happened to be facing Shangguan Yunzhu, looking incredibly comical.
“What is… this strange thing?” Shangguan Yunzhu frowned as she looked at the sudden attachment on her blade.
She tried to circulate her spiritual power, wanting to swing a sword light to shake the eyesore off as she had done before.
However —
The black iron sword in her hand didn’t react at all.
Not only did no sword light appear, but even the spiritual power she poured into it felt like a stone dropping into the ocean.
The iron sword in Shangguan Yunzhu’s hand seemed to have turned into a piece of heavy, cold, mundane iron, completely losing all its spirituality.
“Take this!” Lu Qiancha gave a sharp shout. The light on the magic cube in her hand flowed and shifted, instantly changing its form.
It transformed into an ancient and profound heaven and earth chessboard with thirteen horizontal and vertical lines.
“Triple-Point Selection!”
Her small hands moved like butterflies darting through flowers, moving so fast they were mere blurs.
Three chess pieces, containing a strange lingguang, were controlled by an invisible hand and landed with incomparable precision on the positions of heaven, earth, and man.
*Buzz —*
Three visible pillars of spiritual power soared into the sky, instantly weaving into an invisible cage.
A powerful binding force descended, firmly locking Shangguan Yunzhu—who was currently being interfered with by the magnet-shroom—into place. She was unable to move.
Opportunity knocked.
Lu Qiancha didn’t hesitate. She swept her small hand over her storage bag and grabbed a large handful of colorful potion bottles with various effects—slowness, weakness, nausea, and poison. These were all non-lethal potions she had painstakingly prepared.
Like a goddess scattering flowers, she hurled them all toward Shangguan Yunzhu, who was trapped in the center of the chess formation.
*Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.*
The potion bottles shattered one after another within the binding field.
Various strange mists, viscous liquids, and shimmering powders instantly mixed and diffused, forming a multicolored, bizarre, and deadly poisonous miasma that completely swallowed Shangguan Yunzhu.
Shangguan Yunzhu felt a strong sensation of sluggishness instantly invade her brain. Her thoughts felt like they were stuck in a quagmire, making it extremely difficult to process anything.
A wave of limpness and weakness traveled through her limbs; she couldn’t muster even a shred of strength.
Furthermore, an uncontrollable surge of nausea and dizziness rose from her stomach, causing Shangguan Yunzhu’s face to turn slightly pale.
“It’s over.”
Seeing this, the tension on Lu Qiancha’s small face finally relaxed.
With a wave of her small hand, the heaven and earth chessboard transformed back into the cold, gleaming long spear.
The tip of the spear pointed directly at Shangguan Yunzhu, who was trapped in the poisonous miasma formation, as Lu Qiancha prepared to step forward and declare victory in this spar.
However, just as her body moved and the spear tip was about to be thrust forward —
“SCREECH — !!!”
A loud, piercing phoenix cry, capable of shattering gold and stone, suddenly exploded from the core of the multicolored miasma without warning.
Lu Qiancha’s azure pupils instantly shrank to the size of needlepoints.
A massive sense of crisis born of instinct made her push the sea of clouds wandering dragon steps to its absolute limit without a second thought, her figure turning into an afterimage as she retreated explosively.
*Boom —*
The cloud of colorful miasma surrounding Shangguan Yunzhu was like snow cast into a scorching sun. It was instantly torn apart, evaporated, and incinerated from the inside out by a power that was terrifying to the extreme.
Dazzling red-gold flames soared into the sky.
At the core of that destructive flame, a massive fire phoenix with a wingspan that could blot out the sun—composed entirely of nirvana true flame—raised its head and let out a long cry. Inside the phoenix’s body, Shangguan Yunzhu’s silhouette was faintly visible.
Following that, another even more majestic phoenix cry sounded.
The massive fire phoenix suddenly flapped its wings, carrying a high temperature that could burn all things and an incomparable divine prestige as it soared into the sky.
The scorching heat wave swept across the entire martial arts arena, causing even the protective light curtain to fluctuate violently.
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