Having poured all his soul force into the technique, Ye Jingyu was deeply disappointed that this Spirit Art failed to slay Bai Tianyu. He looked toward the towering mushroom cloud, at Bai Tianyu still standing firm, and exhaustion creased his face. Was a Martial Saint truly this powerful?
At that moment, he finally understood that the idea of a Soul Master in the Spirit Manifestation realm challenging a Martial Saint was purely theoretical; after all, no Martial Saint would stand still and allow themselves to be hit...
Liang Xiaoke stared blankly at the massive mushroom cloud. This strike was even more potent than the one that took down Yu Wuhen, yet it had shamefully missed the target...
The thought of the miss caused a swift change in Liang Xiaoke’s expression, and he shrieked at the top of his lungs...
“Run!” As the word left his mouth, all the force he had painstakingly gathered channeled into his feet, transforming him into a blur as he bolted a hundred meters away...
Ye Jingyu paused for a beat, then immediately leaped onto Ni Bo's back. Ni Bo wasted no time, his hooves churning as they bolted in another direction. Since Bai Tianyu hadn't been killed, the only remaining option was to flee for their lives with everything they had...
“Trying to run? Not so easily! Heaven and Earth Collapse...” Bai Tianyu roared in fury. He suddenly thrust out his right hand and slammed it savagely into the void...
“Rumble...” Massive sounds echoed through the empty space. Dark clouds amassed overhead, and lightning bolts surged between them as if trying to rip the sky apart. Black fissures appeared, and a violent energy storm tore at everything around them—trees, grass, all were mercilessly shredded...
Liang Xiaoke, still fleeing wildly, felt the surrounding space compress, sensing an imminent collapse. His face instantly contorted in alarm...
What kind of power was this? He immediately accelerated his escape, but after only ten steps, a crisp sound echoed from his shoulder, and it shattered completely...
Long fissures immediately ripped across his muscles...
His internal Two Elements True Qi circulated frantically, and a surge of vigorous Green Wood True Qi emanated from the jade pendant, wrapping toward his shoulder. But before it could reach the wound, another sharp crack sounded near his chest, and a chunk of flesh exploded away...
Next came his lower abdomen, then his thigh, then his calf...
He was rapidly becoming a man of blood, not a single part of him remaining whole. Flesh tore and ruptured again and again. Once all the muscles had burst, the assault turned to his bones...
The first to crack were the bones in his lower legs. His body, still mid-stride, slammed to the ground. Then followed the thigh bones, the pelvic bone, the shoulder bones, and even his skull began to splinter...
White brain matter sprayed out, and crimson blood streamed endlessly. The grayish-white Two Elements True Qi and the cyan Green Wood True Qi continuously repaired his injuries, but their mending speed was no match for the rate of disintegration. In mere breaths, Liang Xiaoke was fragmented beyond recognition...
He lay there, twitching uncontrollably...
In unleashing this technique, Bai Tianyu had already ceased paying attention to Liang Xiaoke, turning instead to pursue Ye Jingyu. Even Ni Bo’s heaven-defying speed appeared sluggish to him. With just a few strides, he caught up to the fully extended Ni Bo...
“What a handsome creature; this must be a descendant of the Primordial Bo. My father’s birthday is fast approaching; I shall capture you as a gift...” Bai Tianyu stood suspended in the void, speaking casually, as if discussing a trivial matter...
Ye Jingyu and Ni Bo paid him no mind, continuing their frantic flight...
“Mountains and Rivers Shatter...” Bai Tianyu whispered, suddenly unleashing a punch...
A light, simple punch, much like Tai Chi—slow, soft. Yet, in a moment, ripples spread across the surface of the fist, expanding outward rapidly, covering ever-increasing areas. In the blink of an eye, the effect reached over a hundred meters away...
The entire void and the ground vibrated beneath them. Black fissures erupted from the earth, as if the very landscape were being torn apart. Then, sharp bursts of punch energy detonated throughout the air, the horrifying energy annihilating everything within a hundred zhang radius. The savage force directly blasted Ye Jingyu away—his bones shattered, and a mouthful of blood erupted from his lips...
“Go... find Xiao Taotao...” Ye Jingyu landed heavily on the ground and shouted toward Ni Bo...
Ni Bo glanced back at Ye Jingyu, then at the approaching Bai Tianyu. A look of fierce unwillingness flashed in his eyes. Flames erupted from his four hooves, burning fiercely black. He let out a long cry to the heavens and transformed into a meteor, shooting away into the distance...
“Think you can escape? Impossible... Shadowy Nether Claw...” Bai Tianyu materialized before Ye Jingyu. Seeing Ni Bo attempting to flee, he sneered, raised his hand, and snatched out. A massive hand instantly formed in the void, seizing the escaping Ni Bo...
“Ao...” A dragon's roar escaped Ni Bo. Black light pulsed across his dark body. His four hooves churned, and his form twisted, sending out a powerful burst of energy that pulverized the giant claw formed of True Essence energy. With a whirlwind motion, he sped a thousand meters away...
“Hmm? Good stuff. You actually managed to break free from my Shadowy Nether Claw...” Bai Tianyu exclaimed in surprise, clearly not expecting Ni Bo to escape his grasp...
“Heaven-Severing Blade...” Just as Bai Tianyu prepared to seize Ni Bo again, a figure instantly appeared before him, bringing a jet-black long saber down through the air...
Bai Tianyu was startled, surprised that Ye Jingyu, who should have been shattered after taking the full force of Mountains and Rivers Shatter, still possessed fighting strength. However, surprise quickly turned to disdain. He casually extended two fingers and directly clamped down on the impossibly fast saber strike...
“I never would have guessed—you are not only a Spirit Manifestation realm Soul Master but also a Martial Artist. It’s a pity your Martial Dao is so antiquated...” With that, he applied slight pressure with his two fingers, intending to snap the seemingly ordinary black iron saber. Yet, though his fingers held the blade firmly, he could not break the strangely resilient weapon...
Bai Tianyu was momentarily stunned, having clearly not anticipated the durability of this plain-looking saber. He increased the pressure, but the black saber showed no sign of yielding. His expression shifted slightly...