With Li Juetian's charge, Shi Changxiao, Ying Bokong, and Lei Wubei dared not slacken; their bodies shifted and interlocked with lightning speed, each instantly occupying their optimal position, launching attacks in sequence.
Though no strategy had been previously discussed, these three were all seasoned veterans.
Every casual placement of their bodies perfectly complemented the others, positioning them optimally to reinforce Li Juetian’s assault.
Li Juetian rushed forward, his figure gradually fading—he was executing the fastest possible strike.
Venerable Mei merely grunted and unleashed a punch.
Li Juetian’s body contracted, darting in front of Venerable Mei, only to slip away like a loach, sliding back diagonally.
From the spot where he had just stood, two fists suddenly erupted, directly meeting one of Venerable Mei’s strikes.
Simultaneously, Ying Bokong sprang into the air, unleashing his Flying Eagle Technique at full velocity, diving down.
Ghost Eagle Nine Claws, First Form! Lei Wubei’s obsidian-hued great saber flashed anew, emerging from beneath Shi Changxiao’s ribcage and piercing straight toward Venerable Mei’s chest, enveloping the five feet of space before her upper body.
This was a battle for honor and life; even cherishing his precious saber, he had to commit fully.
At that precise moment, Li Juetian’s figure, rapidly retreating to the flank, spun back like a top, transforming momentum into an incoming rush—a retreat that served as preparation for a renewed, fierce assault from the side.
The four attacks followed one another with staggered timing, yet their coordination was seamless, each targeting Venerable Mei’s vital points with moves that were bizarre and unpredictable.
Superficially, it seemed the four were merely employing simple striking attacks, but Venerable Mei knew better: engaging any one of them would inevitably trigger a cascade of intricate follow-up moves, trapping her within an extremely short timeframe while the true killing blows of the other three would be instantly deployed the moment she was entangled.
Facing the combined might of the four Supremes, Venerable Mei did not dare be careless.
With a long cry, her body rotated, first evading Shi Changxiao’s twin fists.
Her black robe swirled up, deflecting Lei Wubei’s incoming saber edge by the slightest fraction.
As she turned, she shifted sideways, yet the punch she had not yet retracted still drove straight toward Li Juetian.
Concurrently, she flicked her left hand, launching a sharp, whistling wave of force like a cannonball to meet Ying Bokong descending from the sky.
Confronted simultaneously by the encirclement of the Four Supremes, Venerable Mei remained unhurried, dissolving all four attacks in an instant, and retaliating with equal ferocity at the same moment.
Li Juetian gritted his teeth and surprisingly accelerated his advance.
He knew that among the four, one had to commit to a direct collision with Venerable Mei to give the other three the opportunity to complete the encirclement.
Since the others lacked the resolve—or perhaps the capacity—to make such a sacrifice, and his own injuries wouldn't hold long, he would have to be the one.
His intense hatred for Venerable Mei fueled Li Juetian's utterly insane decision.
The knuckles of his fist cracked audibly, faintly shrouded in a pale blue aura—it was clear this punch was delivered with every ounce of his remaining strength, aiming for an unvarnished, brute-force exchange.
He calculated that after continuously repelling the other three, Venerable Mei’s footwork, no matter how exquisite, must be nearing its limit, forcing her into a direct clash with him.
If he were in her position, this would be his only viable option.
Venerable Mei’s expression chilled.
In a flash of lightning, she retracted her fist only to strike out again, sending another shockwave punch to meet Li Juetian’s.
At the same time, she let out a long roar, kicking out forty-nine consecutive times with both legs.
Her entire body shot upward like a rocket into the high heavens.
While the three below were momentarily distracted by their counter-engagements, the air above exploded with rapid, continuous bursts—Venerable Mei and Ying Bokong traded seven or eight moves in a blink.
Two dark shadows flashed simultaneously.
Ying Bokong flipped into the sky once more, while Venerable Mei descended in a graceful, arcing trajectory.
But in the very instant of descent, she abruptly inverted, head downward, throwing both sleeves—wide and flowing—outward, forsaking Shi Changxiao and Lei Wubei to fiercely lunge at Li Juetian...
Observing this posture, anyone could discern Venerable Mei’s relentless, forward momentum; she clearly intended to exploit Li Juetian’s critical injuries and eliminate this most detestable and troublesome foe first.
Li Juetian roared, retreating at lightning speed.
Though he had desired a head-on clash, to engage now would be utterly irrational.
At this moment, the others had been cast aside by Venerable Mei, leaving him isolated in a one-on-one fight, precisely when his balance was compromised, his old strength depleted, and new power yet to surface.
Even if he risked his life in a clash, Venerable Mei could dispatch him and then freely evade the others at her leisure.
Moreover, with Ying Bokong knocked high into the sky, the aerial threat was temporarily neutralized.
Thus, Li Juetian had only one recourse: retreat, constant retreat.
“This is bad,” Thunderstorm and Gale, watching from afar, simultaneously twitched their thighs.
As Li Juetian retreated, he unexpectedly found that Venerable Mei did not pursue him at all, nor did she maintain any semblance of chasing inertia.
Her body seemed pulled by an invisible line in the sky, flying straight and swiftly toward Shi Changxiao.
Before she even landed, her two legs, previously bent in mid-air, suddenly lashed out like a violent storm— Venerable Mei’s true target was not Li Juetian, but Shi Changxiao, the Life-and-Death Supreme—the one on the ground who posed the greatest threat, and the only one among the three grounded fighters who remained wholly uninjured! Clearly, Venerable Mei intended to subject this perfectly healthy individual to the same fate as the other two.
A hazy mist spread across Shi Changxiao’s face, his eyes seeming to suddenly petrify, even his pupils turning white.
With a great shout, his fists shot out in fury.
Clash head-on! He could not retreat, for behind him stood Lei Wubei.
If he yielded, that strike would fall upon Lei Wubei, and given Lei Wubei’s current injured state, that single blow could utterly cripple him, preventing any further action.
Venerable Mei’s twin kicks vibrated the very air, far beyond the scope of ordinary blows.
If Lei Wubei were instantly eliminated, the four-way siege would shatter, leaving only three—and defeat would be certain.
Therefore, Shi Changxiao had no choice but to meet the attack head-on.
Venerable Mei’s first kick landed on Shi Changxiao’s fist.
Shi Changxiao shuddered violently, desperately trying to retract his fist to deflect the force while simultaneously preparing a counter-punch.
But before he could retract it, Venerable Mei’s second kick slammed down onto the fist he was already trying to pull back.
Shi Changxiao was shocked.
He hastily drove his left fist forward, attempting to salvage the situation during the brief window before his body was thrown back.
But before his left fist could arrive, Venerable Mei’s third kick descended with thunderous force directly onto his right fist! It was that same fist again! These three successive kicks landed with almost no pause in between—it was as if Venerable Mei possessed three legs attacking simultaneously, each blow more powerful than the last.
Shi Changxiao staggered precariously, finally unable to hold his ground and forced to take a step back.
Just then, his left fist arrived, but Venerable Mei’s waiting left foot was already swinging out.
Even at this point, Venerable Mei’s body had not yet touched the ground—BOOM! The left fist met Venerable Mei’s left foot with a massive roar, only for the same sequence that afflicted the right fist to repeat: three consecutive kicks! Venerable Mei’s two legs acted like the blades of scissors, yet each kick carried the crushing weight of a mountain.
A sweet, coppery taste flooded Shi Changxiao’s mouth; he felt a distinct vibration deep within his viscera.
Finally stumbling backward, he felt an itch in his nose, and a fine line of blood spouted out.
He had sustained internal injuries after all.
At that exact moment, Lei Wubei capitalized on the excellent opening created by Shi Changxiao’s desperate sacrifice.
His body flickered out like a phantom, his saber slicing forward with irresistible force, Shua!—it pierced directly into Venerable Mei’s black robe.
Before he could savor the joy of success, he felt a hollow sensation as the blade sank in.
His mind flared, and he violently twisted the saber sideways.
He felt a sudden resistance, a slight snag, before he saw Venerable Mei’s left hand emerge from the black robe, its palm firmly gripping the saber's edge, shoving it forward with brutal force! Her hand held the edge of this near-divine weapon, grasping the sharp serrations on the back, seemingly without sustaining any harm! At that instant, Li Juetian and Ying Bokong—one above, one behind—lunged in ferociously.
Venerable Mei, gripping the blade with her left hand, used the rotational force of Lei Wubei’s desperate attempt to slash her hand, curled her index finger, and against the direction of the twist, flicked the blade three times heavily.
Then, Venerable Mei’s suspended body finally stabilized.
Her black robe billowed backward, pushed like a giant iron plate against the attacking Li Juetian from behind.
Her two hands simultaneously transformed into a thousand shifting palm shadows, whipping up a frenzy of wind and cloud.
A hundred palms condensed into a single, pale-white triangle, carrying immense momentum, once again driving Ying Bokong high into the sky.
The blade grasped by Venerable Mei was struck three times by her fingers, causing Lei Wubei to feel three massive concussions in his chest, as if someone were hammering his sternum with huge iron mallets.
His vision blurred momentarily, and in that dazed instant, he staggered backward, involuntarily carried by the force of Venerable Mei’s wind so that he stumbled directly into the path of the surging Shi Changxiao.
With a series of sharp clangs, Lei Wubei’s precious saber shattered into tiny shards of metal, falling to the ground with a crisp sound.
In Lei Wubei’s hand, only a short stump of the hilt remained! This world-renowned divine weapon was ruined by the force of three fingers, reduced to scrap metal.
Lei Wubei was devastated, almost paralyzed with shock.
This saber had already sustained minor, almost imperceptible fissures during his struggle with the Serpent King.
Lei Wubei was aware of this but hadn't worried, believing that under the blessing of his profound techniques, and with the four-man siege, he could repair it leisurely once this battle was over.
He never imagined that after passing through Venerable Mei’s grip and receiving three flicks, it would shatter completely...
[Ti: Dear 3Z Readers, the current chapter has reached the final page of this book.]