Chapter 284: Time and Space Spirit Artifact
Chapter 284: Time and Space Spirit Artifact
The cold man snorted, “Perfect timing. I planned to kill you both as sacrifices to secure my passage.”
He cut straight to the chase—this was his only chance to escape, and he refused to let it slip.
Cheng Lingyu said, “Our meeting is fate, whether good or ill. Let’s begin. Time is running short.”
The cold man frowned. “You won’t even ask my name?”
Cheng Lingyu laughed. “It doesn’t matter. No matter who you are, you’ll end up dead.”
“Arrogant fool! You think clearing the fourteenth trial means you can defeat me?”
The cold man’s face darkened. A terrifying aura erupted from him, shaking the void violently.
Blue lights appeared around him, swirling into rings of blue flames.
Hu Yuer gasped. “Is that the Ice Blue Snow Flame from the Strange Flame Rankings?”
The cold man sneered. “Correct. It ranks among the top ten.”
Cheng Lingyu shrugged. “Looks impressive. Let’s test its power.”
Smiling, he stepped forward. Fire lotus blossoms bloomed around him, morphing into Nine Nether King Sparrows and Five-Colored Three-Legged Crows. Their combined aura scorched the air like a furnace.
The cold man’s eyes widened. “The Immortal Soul Nine Nether King Sparrow?!”
“Close enough,” Cheng Lingyu replied, his smirk icy.
The cold man growled. Blue light surged around him, weaving into a glowing spiritual diagram.
Nearby Ice Blue Snow Flames coalesced into a razor-sharp blue blade, slashing downward.
Cheng Lingyu triggered the Burning Sky Technique. Merging the traits of the Sparrow and Crow, he transformed into a blazing phoenix. Its violet beak stabbed the void, clashing with the blade.
A deafening boom followed. Blue and violet flames exploded, painting the sky.
Cheng Lingyu leaped back. The cold man stood firm, ice-blue flames churning in his eyes, true essence roaring through his veins.
“Your combat power is remarkable,” the cold man admitted. “But your realm is too low. Relying on Immortal Souls can’t bridge the gap between true cultivation and borrowed power.”
His clothes disintegrated, revealing a body radiating light—every muscle glowing, meridians visible, bones shimmering. His physical form dwarfed any Soul Martial Realm expert’s.
The Ordinary and True Martial Realms were mere foundations. The Soul Martial Realm honed the spirit, while the Blood Martial Realm forged the flesh.
At the Blood Martial Fourth Level Blood Soul stage, his physique and explosive power surpassed Soul Martial experts tenfold. Normally, crossing realms was impossible.
Yet Cheng Lingyu’s combat power rivaled a Blood Martial Third Level expert. Combined with his spiritual prowess, his overall strength matched the cold man’s.
As the cold man advanced, tidal roars echoed inside Cheng Lingyu. From his five lakes and four seas, nine pyramids blazed with golden light. Joined by the pyramid in his dantian’s True Essence Sea, ten pyramids quaked, unleashing an aura so fierce it seemed to rip the heavens apart—an ancient demon awakening.
The cold man halted, pride replaced by shock. “What technique is this? I’ve never—”
“Something I made up. Not a real technique.”
Cheng Lingyu lunged, fists crackling with lightning.
The cold man shielded his fists in Ice Blue Snow Flame spheres, meeting Cheng Lingyu’s assault head-on.
Both fighters’ fists were terrifying. Each collision detonated time and space, annihilating all in their wake.
The stone platform’s defenses and pillars held firm – had they been weaker, everything would’ve crumbled long ago.
Hu Yuer observed the battle with solemn beauty, refraining from intervention. Having witnessed Cheng Lingyu’s combat power throughout their journey, she understood the cold man’s ability to withstand it proved the Blood Martial Fourth Level’s true might.
This marked Cheng Lingyu’s first genuine confrontation with a Blood Martial Fourth Level expert. Though he’d ambushed such opponents during the blood lake chaos, those cheap shots didn’t count. Now, he sought true victory through open combat.
The cold man shared similar determination, viewing Cheng Lingyu as sacrificial fuel to breach the next trial. Neither combatant permitted retreat.
Their physical prowess proved extraordinary. The cold man’s near-invulnerable body required spirit artifacts to damage, while Cheng Lingyu’s indestructible body excelled in direct clashes. Neither yielded ground.
Space tore under their brutal exchanges. Cheng Lingyu staggered backward as the cold man retreated step by step.
Suddenly vanishing, Cheng Lingyu reappeared behind his opponent in blazing speed. The cold man jolted in surprise while Hu Yuer smirked – she recognized the Heavenly Palace’s Skywing Escape technique enabling such velocity.
With a roar, the cold man summoned a top-like magical artifact above his head. The Fixed Space Shuttle distorted surrounding dimensions, disrupting Cheng Lingyu’s movements.
“Temporal artifact?” Cheng Lingyu questioned as his light wings dissipated.
“High-grade spirit artifact,” the cold man sneered. “Bane of spatial jumps. Your night-survival tool must be similar – show it!”
Instead of the scroll, Cheng Lingyu drew the Flying Flower Snow Moon Sword.
“Fine blade,” the cold man scoffed, advancing with arrogant confidence. “Useless against me.”
Cheng Lingyu attacked with deceptive ease, deliberately provoking his rival. Though internally tense, his calm facade infuriated the prideful opponent – exactly as intended. Mental calculations whirled behind Cheng Lingyu’s Dreamy Magic Eyes, his enhanced Spirit Communication stage perception dissecting dozens of fleeting flaws in the cold man’s techniques.
Seven-Leaf Butterfly sword energies bloomed around Cheng Lingyu, only to be incinerated by the cold man’s Strange Flame Rankings-listed Ice Blue Snow Flame. Technique after technique flowed from Cheng Lingyu – Thunder Palm, Thousand Strikes, Seven Butterfly Shadows – yet the cultivation gap prevented decisive advantage.
“Time runs short,” the cold man suddenly declared. Arms spread like eagle wings, he unleashed collapsing space and storm.
Cheng Lingyu’s eyes blazed. Ten internal pyramids materialized, vibrating with deafening noise as voidspace manifested behind him. The cold man transformed into a storm-wreathed giant eagle.
Meeting the charge, Cheng Lingyu’s pyramids merged into one colossal structure etched with Heavenly Spirit Diagram’s second layer patterns. Their collision erupted in cataclysmic light – Cheng Lingyu thrown back, his opponent sent flying.