Chapter 161: Third Trial (7)

Chapter 161: Third Trial (7)

The roar of a Devil White Tiger, and for that matter any demonic beast at this realm of cultivation, is a powerful blast of energy.

The moment the sound waves hit Lan Xiaohuis body, so does the powerful force and spiritual power strike her body.

A sheet of black, pure Yin energy ripples before Lan Xiaohui, smashing her away as if she was hit by a hammer. Thanks to her Liminality Steps, she manages to twist and turn her body to arrest her flight and land on the ground with her feet first.

As she slides back, digging tiny trenches into the clearing, she stabs my vessel into the ground to stop herself completely, before rushing forward once more.

Lightning ripples around her body, as the tigers blood rains from the sky above. Though the tigers fur begins turning red from the raining blood and the blood pouring from the three holes on its body two on the back, and one on the abdomen Lan Xiaohuis dress remains completely untouched.

The sword domain pulses at that moment as Lan Xiaohuis unnaturally long and floating steps propel her forward, and the rain of blood freezes in the air, hovering in place.

Everything stills and becomes quiet.

It lasts for only a brief moment. It is not that everything becomes still and motionless I still detect small movements in the blood raining down but that it is incredibly slow.

Sound and motion return in the next pulse, and my exposed vessel becomes shrouded in thick sword energy once more. The billowing shroud of coalesced Qi shrinks and collapses inward, pressing against the form of my vessel with such force that I can feel it trembling against my core.

In the very same instant, Lan Xiaohuis body flashes forward, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye, and appearing as a black crack that spreads through the air.

The white tiger never even gets a chance to react. It happens so quickly, and from its perspective, Lan Xiaohui suddenly appears before its eyes, unleashing a devastating amount of energy.

Liminality Steps is a movement technique that not only encapsulates the profound mysteries of freedom of motion but also reason-defying speed. At its core is the high-order law of space that can shrink or expand distance, among other advantages.

In terms of short bursts of speed, it is far superior to Vanishing Moon Steps, but in terms of long-distance speed, it falls quite short.

Heartless Blood Lily: Sundrinker Blade!

The arc of energy left in the wake of my trajectory solidifies in the air and forms a storm front of compressed sword energy the purest that Lan Xiaohui can produce. In that moment, as it forms in the air, the incredibly sharp sword arc contains the might of countless swords with such violence that it causes the entire arc to tremble and shudder, as if about to collapse under its own power.

My vessel strikes the tigers shoulder, right beside its neck, and sinks into its skin. Then it cuts through the tigers flesh, eliciting another shrink of its pupils. Then it hits the bone, cuts deep, but stops.

I find it impressive that its body is this sturdy. Even my divine-grade treasure vessel can do no more than this, even with Lan Xiaohuis finishing moves. Its body is likely the equivalent of a Nascent Soul-level body cultivator.

Then the half-moon arc of sword energy descends like a guillotine, and strikes into the tiger, in the same place as my vessel, and blood flies into the air.

To begin with, challenging a late stage demonic beast was a foolish idea, not to mention a Beast Lord. If they had a choice, they would not have done this.

Lan Xiaohui looks towards the north and east, where the endless expanse of the Forbidden Lands stretches on.

We have to go dee Lan Xiaohui whispers, but before she can finish, she coughs violently, blood pouring down the corners of her lips.

Wu Yulan squeezes my owners hand, gritting her teeth. The anger she feels is not toward Lan Xiaohuis suggestion, but her own powerlessness. If we pay a heavy price we might even kill a peak stage beast, but that over there is the land of Nascent Soul beasts, Wu Yulan manages to say, with considerable difficulty. We will die without leaving a whole corpse behind.

Lan Xiaohuis heart is cold and distant. She knows this. She knows that even this feat today is a miracle that was produced by the unfairness of having powerful martial arts, and deep sword attainment. Anyone else wouldve died ten times over before even putting a scratch on the white tiger.

In fact, had the white tiger fought all out from the beginning, even this result wouldve been unachievable.

We havent found a trace of the items we need, Lan Xiaohui says. We havent found even high grade materials in this area. It has been picked clean by the sect years ago. Our only option is another coughing fit, and more blood follows, but her meaning comes across.

I cant give up here, Lan Xiaohui says after she gets her coughing under control, and then gently strokes Wu Yulans hair. What do you want to do, Yulan?

Wu Yulan chuckles weakly again. Where you go, I will go, she says. I am not afraid of dying, I just find it regrettable

Lan Xiaohui looks into her companions eyes.

We have the Empty Moon Pr a cough interrupts Wu Yulan, but we cannot learn a single thing, even after two months. It is so frustrating. If we could learn it, maybe our chances wouldnt be so pitiful.

Lan Xiaohui frowns at the words and nods.

It was the [Empty Moon Prana] that drove them into these desperate measures. Even after two months, they could not comprehend the incomplete manual. Yun Feis life was dangling from a thread, and neither the sect, the city, nor Lady Yue could find any of the materials so far.

They had no choice but to challenge the Beast Lord, but its power was beyond their expectation. The lands beyond are even more dangerous.

There may be a way for you to improve your strength in the short term, I tell them via [Telepathy].

Their eyes widen. They had already tried to improve their swordsmanship in my Inner World with poor results so they did not expect me to provide a solution.

How? Lan Xiaohui asks.

For now, return to the Starsword Peak. It is about time for Yun Feis next treatment.