139: Chapter 139 Murderous Intent

[Without any warning, a streak of black light pierced straight through your heart.]

[Liu Guanzhi hovered expressionless not far behind you, his fingertips still lingering with a faint trace of spiritual light.]

[His gaze swept over "your" painful expression, but did not linger.]

[The next instant, his line of sight shifted, casting towards the empty void beside him.]

["Come out."]

[That pierced figure slowly dissipated in place, and you reappeared in the distance with lingering fear, unable to help cursing inwardly.]

[This kid doesn't care about martial ethics at all!]

[One second he was explaining things to you with a friendly face, and the next second he was going to say heart-to-heart words.]

["Brother Guanzhi, what are you doing?"]

[You tried your best to maintain the fake smile on your face while pondering how to break the deadlock in your heart, your gaze inevitably falling downward.]

[That giant flesh worm had been trapped within a bizarre formation ever since it appeared, clearly a measure laid out by Liu Guanzhi in advance. If it were to be broken...]

["Bring out your strongest strength and fight a battle with me."]

[Liu Guanzhi was not in a rush to strike. Seeming to have seen through your intention, he added:]

["You cannot break that formation."]

["Heh..."]

[Suspended mid-air, the corners of your mouth curled into a helpless arc; you were genuinely laughed out of anger.]

[You closed your eyes, let out a long breath, and when you opened them again, the affectation in the depths of your eyes was swept away. Looking calmly at Liu Guanzhi, you couldn't help but sigh with emotion:]

["You really fucking know how to calculate!"]

[Although a trace of doubt flashed through Liu Guanzhi's eyes, he was not startled by your drastically different attitude before and after.]

[A thousand years of time flowed like a long river; he had seen too many fleshly skins and human hearts, and the events before him were entirely within expectations. He hadn't struck directly just wanting to confirm it one last time.]

[Seeing him so nonchalant, you sighed inwardly. You had originally wanted to use this attitude reversal to trick some useful information out of his mouth, but it seemed unfeasible.]

[Soon after, you no longer harbored any wishful thinking. With a slight movement of your thoughts, an azure longsword had already materialized out of thin air.]

[The moment the longsword was in hand, the ringing of the sword resounded through the entire firmament.]

[Thus far, your strongest offensive measure might be fire-attribute arts, but the one you were most adept at was still the Sword Dao.]

[As for that halberd... that was a trump-card supreme treasure that must never be easily shown unless absolutely necessary.]

[In case of any mishaps, you would probably vomit blood from heartache. After all, the thousand-mile escape talisman had already been used, and in the next simulation you wouldn't dare ask Feng Qiange to borrow spirit stones and a halberd once more.]

[Liu Guanzhi lowered his gaze and hovered mid-air, quietly watching this scene without the slightest reaction.]

[Seeing him act so arrogant, you didn't stand on ceremony either. Sword Intent transformed into strands of thread that tightly wrapped around his entire body, and immediately your spiritual power surged violently, a fire dragon over a dozen zhang long instantly taking shape above your head.]

["Roar!"]

[The dragon's roar shook the air.]

[This was one of the benefits of increased spiritual power purity; spell arts were no longer mere dead things, but were endowed with spirituality. This meant you did not need to consume a massive amount of divine sense power to control them, and their power would far surpass the past.]

["Go!"]

[Following your low shout, the flame dragon, carrying the scorching heat of incinerating all things, crashed down toward Liu Guanzhi like a meteor.]

[Simultaneously, the invisible sword threads that had long spread around his body began to slowly retract, silently strangling toward him.]

[Facing an offensive that even a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator would find difficult to receive, Liu Guanzhi didn't even lift an eyelid.]

[He slowly raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together, and casually made a stroke in the air in front of him.]

[There was no deafening roar, nor were there any flashy special effects.]

[Only a soft sound of "chi" was heard, and that roaring, falling flame dragon was as if choked by the neck; its massive body abruptly collapsed in mid-air, turning into a sky full of red sparks that slowly drifted down.]

[And those invisible sword threads, which were sufficient to grind a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator into a bloody mist, failed to even pierce the light-blue spiritual qi protective barrier around his body. Giving only a few faint, shattered hums, they disintegrated inch by inch into nothingness.]

[Holding the thousand-mile escape talisman, you awkwardly hovered in place, momentarily not knowing whether you should use it.]

[The imposing aura on the other party was much stronger than that of Tantai Jin back then, which meant that the other party had already completed the Nine Revolutions of the Golden Core and could become a Golden Core cultivator at any time.]

["Haa~"]

[You gently sighed; you truly had no more tricks left.]

[Then you carefully looked at Liu Guanzhi, once again recovering that frail posture.]

["Brother Guanzhi... Let's discuss something, can you give me a quick and clean end?"]

[Liu Guanzhi still didn't move, his gaze sinking heavily onto you. Just as you were in despair, he spoke once more:]

["Are there any other methods?"]

["Other methods?"]

[Your gaze flickered slightly, temporarily unable to guess the other party's thoughts. After all, you had already used your current strongest attack, and it couldn't hurt him by even a fraction.]

[Could it be... what he wanted to see was the charm arts of the Hehuan Sect? You stole a glance at Liu Guanzhi; that shouldn't be what he meant, right?]

[Should you give it a try?]

[You hesitated for a brief moment, and pink mist slowly rose from mid-air.]

["Hum~"]

[The next instant, a violent spiritual power storm surged over, blowing it completely clean in the blink of an eye.]

[The seductive words you had just prepared stuck in your throat. Meeting Liu Guanzhi's profound eyes, you knew you had guessed wrong again.]

[So annoying!]

[And he wouldn't say what kind of method it was; could you possibly conjure up a...]

[Wait!]

[You looked intently at Liu Guanzhi; all your previous guesses seemed to string themselves together.]

[The next moment, your long hair instantly turned into a crimson-gold color, and your entire temperament became majestic and sacred.]

[Until this moment, you finally caught a trace of extremely clear fluctuation within the depths of his as-calm-as-an-ancient-well eyes.]

[You didn't speak casually again, and the two of you faced each other from afar in mid-air for a long time.]

["Roar!"]

[Until a painful roar came from the giant flesh worm below, the entire flesh mountain rapidly collapsed, turning into a palm-sized Gu insect in the blink of an eye.]

["Hehe."]

[Liu Guanzhi seemed to finally be jolted awake by this roar. He cast a complex look at you before returning to calm once more.]

["Bai Youyou, I spent three years observing you, and the conclusion I finally reached is that you are not the same person."]

[Without waiting for the shock in your heart to pass, he continued to speak:]

["Over the past three years, I have had countless opportunities to kill you, but after all, I still held a trace of hope. Now, seeing you like this, I finally understand: even if you and her are truly the same person, by now you merely possess the same fleshly skin."]

[She... could he be referring to...]

[Looking at the killing intent in his eyes that was no longer concealed, you had no time to think more, and unhesitatingly activated the thousand-mile escape talisman that had slipped into your palm, only to find that it had no effect at all.]

["There is no need to waste effort."]

[Liu Guanzhi slowly opened his arms, letting the long hair behind him flutter wantonly in the wind.]

[He lowered his gaze to look down at you, his eyes devoid of even a shred of warmth, holding only that chill and apathy from when you first met.]

["Since old dreams do not cause entanglement, let us borrow this fleshly skin to step upon the nine heavens."]

[The instant the words fell, the earth violently shook.]

[Several thick pillars of light burst out from the ground around the sacred mountain, firmly locking the sacred mountain within.]

[Immediately following, an overwhelming, terrifying oppressive force smashed down overhead. You didn't even have time to let out a muffled groan before your figure, like a paper kite snapped by a violent storm, plummeted rapidly toward the ground.]

["Boom!"]

[After a muffled sound, the dust and smoke dissipated, and you sat somewhat disheveled in the deep pit, a striking crimson overflowing from the corners of your lips, yet your heart was entirely peaceful.]

[Losing to such a figure can hardly be considered unjust.]

[Just as you were preparing to pack all your items into the system space, a rapidly flying cyan stream of light tore through the firmament, and piercing sonic booms echoed continuously through the air.]

[Before the stream of light arrived, a furious roar carrying monstrous anger exploded like thunder from the nine heavens:]

["Who dares to hurt my Senior Sister!!!"]