“Swindled?”
“Damn it! I’m done for!”
Su Twelve’s breath caught, his heart instantly sinking to rock bottom.
He could not figure out when it had been switched. But he also knew that now was not the time to dwell on it.
Fortunately, it was still a Defense Talisman. Without thinking further, he hurriedly channeled True Essence into it.
The next second, the earth rumbled as soil and stone surged upward, converging into a defensive shield.
At the same time, he pushed hard off the ground with his toes. The Shadowless Phantom Step, combined with the Wind Summoning Art, forcibly pulled his body backward and up into the air.
As he retreated, just to be safe, he threw out three more Defense Talismans.
The four Defense Talismans transformed into four earthen shields that overlapped one another.
Even so, Su Twelve still felt uneasy. But just as he was about to throw out even more defensive Talismans—
“Bang, bang, bang…”
In a mere instant, two sword lights streaked past.
The four earthen shields crumbled like paper before the incoming sword lights. The twin streaks pierced them with ease and struck Su Twelve squarely.
“Hiss…”
As the sword lights swept past, a shallow, cross-shaped sword mark immediately appeared on his chest.
Blood flowed from his body, and the pain made Su Twelve suck in a breath of cold air.
He had been careless! A fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator was indeed not easy to deal with!
If not for the four Defense Talismans mitigating most of the impact, those two sword lights would have already split him into pieces.
Still shaken, Su Twelve rode the wind to land upon a towering tree. He quickly took out three Lesser Restoration Pills, crushed them, and sprinkled the powder over his wounds.
The Lesser Restoration Pill was a healing spirit medicine that could be taken internally or applied externally.
At that moment, the young man in the silk headband finally emerged from the firelight. A faint, eerie, blood-red barrier covered his body, while his face and body bore numerous cuts from porcelain shards and burns.
He held a two-foot-long, smoke-white sword. After exhaling a breath of stale air, he cursed inwardly: This damned bastard is unbelievably treacherous! If I hadn’t cultivated the Bloodlight Barrier just two days ago, I would have been half-dead even if I survived this time. This story is hosted at NovelPing.
Glaring at Su Twelve, the young man in the silk headband was furious beyond measure, his face twisted with savagery.
“Very good! It seems you really did buy quite a few Talismans! Then let me see exactly how many you have left!”
“Gale Slash!”
The young man in the silk headband curled his lips into a cruel smile. As surging True Essence poured into the blade, he swept his flying sword outward. This time, four sword lights shot out, interweaving into a sharp grid and radiating a fierce, cutting aura.
Four sword lights? That was just too unreasonable!
Su Twelve could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. He knew that these four sword lights were extremely powerful and that he absolutely could not afford to be struck again.
Facing the four incoming sword lights, he drew a deep breath and leaped into the air.
A whirlwind appeared at the same time, carrying him higher and higher.
Immediately afterward, the sword lights swept past. The towering tree, more than ten meters tall and covered in lush foliage, was split into pieces by that single strike.
In midair, Su Twelve watched with his heart pounding.
“Is this a sword cultivator’s method of attack? This is far too terrifying! It’s powerful, and it’s completely unaffected by the Wind Summoning Art or any other spells?!”
“No, merely dodging like this isn’t a solution. I don’t have many Defense Talismans left, and casting spells at this level consumes True Essence far too quickly!”
“I have to end this quickly!”
After a brief hesitation, Su Twelve’s gaze turned ruthless. He hid all his attacking Talismans in his sleeve and, riding the wind, dived toward his opponent.
While in midair, he used the wind to constantly alter his position, giving his opponent no chance to aim. In the blink of an eye, he arrived directly in front of him.
“Eight Extremes Mountain Shatter!”
The instant he closed in, he let out a furious shout and decisively activated the Eight Trigrams Eight Extremes Fist, smashing down at his opponent from above.
“A martial artist’s technique? What an overconfident fool! Did you really think I didn’t know what you were planning? You think those worthless Talismans can break through my Bloodlight Barrier? Since you dare to come within reach of me, go to the Yellow Springs!”
Facing Su Twelve’s attack, the young man in the silk headband sneered and raised his sword, openly calling out Su Twelve’s plan.
At such a close distance, he did not believe Su Twelve could still dodge.
As for the supposed talisman attack, even if it could break through his Bloodlight Barrier, he was confident he could withstand it.
“Swish!”
It was the White Mist Sword, obtained four years ago and kept hidden in his sword pouch all this time.
“So you had a flying sword hidden as well? What a pity. Playing with swords in front of a sword cultivator—do you really think you have any chance of winning?” Seeing the one-foot-long flying sword suddenly appear in Su Twelve’s hand, the young man in the silk headband was initially stunned before bursting into laughter.
As a sword cultivator, he had considerable confidence in his swordsmanship. Moreover, his cultivation was already higher than that of the man before him.
However, just to be safe, he still slapped several Defense Talismans onto his body.
Then he lightly flourished his flying sword, raised his hand, and swept it outward. With a clang, he easily blocked Su Twelve’s descending slash.
Seeing this, he finally relaxed completely. For it to be blocked so easily, this kid’s swordsmanship was truly awful. It seemed that he really had no other tricks left.
With a shift of his thoughts, the young man in the silk headband immediately channeled True Essence into his sword, preparing to finish the fight in a single move.
But at that very moment, with a loud crack, the treasured sword in his hand shattered on the spot.
The surging True Essence within his body suddenly had nowhere to go.
“What? Your sword… it’s actually a High Grade Magical Artifact?! How is that possible…”
Only then did the young man in the silk headband realize what had happened. His heart trembled, and he cried out in shock. Before he could even finish speaking, he sensed that the situation was dire and hurriedly tried to retreat.
But Su Twelve’s sword showed no mercy. After severing the opponent’s flying sword, it continued its downward slash. He did not possess the other’s superb swordsmanship; he had waited so patiently precisely for this moment.
Even the young man’s Bloodlight Barrier, however resilient, could not withstand a blow from a High Grade Magical Artifact.
The sword light flashed past. A spray of fresh blood burst into the air, and an arm was sent flying.
“Pfft! Aah~~~”
The young man in the silk headband collapsed into a pool of blood, crying out in a shrill, agonized voice.
At this moment, his heart was filled with overwhelming regret!
If he had known that Su Twelve possessed a High Grade Magical Artifact, he absolutely would not have allowed him to get close so easily.
His overwhelming advantage had been reversed in the blink of an eye. Now that his arm had been severed, his injuries were severe, and his combat strength had been greatly diminished.
By contrast, Su Twelve did not hesitate in the slightest after his sword strike landed. He immediately mobilized the True Essence within his body and poured it into the White Mist Sword.
The White Mist Sword trembled slightly, its radiance blazing forth. A sharp sword light shot from the blade, heading straight for the young man in the silk headband’s neck.
Although he had severely wounded his opponent with a single strike, Su Twelve did not dare relax in the slightest. This was a fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator—who knew whether he still had other trump cards!
Ever since he had nearly been killed by a fierce tiger’s counterattack four years ago, he had become exceptionally cautious in everything he did. Otherwise, he never would have noticed this fellow following him from the very beginning.