259: Chapter 259 Battle between Golden Core True Immortals

A black long saber, narrow and thin, its entire body emitting cold spiritual power fluctuations. The back of the blade was engraved with the Soul-Erosion Patterns unique to the Xuanyin Sect, a Medium Grade Treasure Artifact.

One item against three.

His Cultivation Technique foundation was not weak; the soul-type Spells of the Xuanyin Sect were known for being treacherous, and the accumulation of hundreds of years at the Late Golden Core Stage was not just for show.

But the equipment gap was right there; it was already difficult to determine life and death between those of the same rank, and since the opponent had two more Treasure Artifacts than him, his odds of winning...

But Duanmu Bei did not hesitate for long; he would have to fight first before seeing how it went.

He circulated his mana, holding the black long saber horizontally in front of him. A layer of dark purple light condensed on the blade's edge, and the Soul-Erosion Patterns wriggled like living creatures.

His right hand formed a seal, and three ink-colored phantom shadows condensed behind him. Each shadow emitted spiritual power fluctuations at the Golden Core level. This was one of the Xuanyin Sect's core secret techniques: Yinhun Clone.

Although the Clones were not physical entities, with his Late Golden Core Stage cultivation, each could unleash attack power equivalent to the Middle Stage of the Golden Core, lasting for seven and a half minutes.

Three Clones plus the original body, surrounding and attacking from four sides.

Sun Boyong looked at those three Clones, his mouth twitching slightly.

After expanding the Spirit Silver Shield's barrier to cover the entire Spirit Boat, he raised the Dark Green Short Hammer in his left hand and unfolded the Spirit Silver Folding Fan in his right.

Duanmu Bei was the first to strike.

The original body held the saber and slashed down from the front. The saber light was wrapped in Ghostly Soul Power, and a dark purple arc swept across a range of ten zhang, with a fine hissing sound coming from the air.

That was the erosion effect on the surrounding spiritual power after the Soul-Erosion Patterns were activated. In the area swept by the saber light, even the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi would be briefly drained away.

Sun Boyong unfolded his folding fan, and sixteen miniature Array Inscriptionss on the fan surface were activated simultaneously, creating a golden spiritual power barrier across the path of the saber light.

The dark purple arc crashed into the golden barrier. A sizzling sound lasted for three breaths, but the barrier didn't budge, and the saber light dissipated into nothingness.

The three Yinhun Clones pounced simultaneously from the left, right, and above, each holding a dark short blade in its hand, stabbing toward Sun Boyong's back and the top of his head.

Sun Boyong didn't even turn his head, swinging the short hammer in his left hand behind him.

The two Spirit Stones on the hammerhead lit up simultaneously, and a dull hum spread in all directions centered on the hammerhead. That was a vibration force at the Treasure Artifact level, crushing all ethereal entities within a twenty-zhang radius regardless of friend or foe.

The three Yinhun Clones simultaneously lost their stability in the shockwave. The ink-colored phantom shadows twisted violently, scattering like crushed ink.

The Clones were not completely dispersed, but their forms had mostly crumbled, and it would take at least a dozen breaths to re-condense.

A gap of a dozen breaths was already enough for a Golden Core Cultivator to do many things.

Sun Boyong closed his folding fan and pointed forward. A golden beam of light condensed at the tip of the fan, moving extremely fast, aiming straight for Duanmu Bei's face.

Duanmu Bei dodged to the side, blocking with his black long saber. At the moment the blade met the light beam, a piercing metallic screech rang out.

The Soul-Erosion Patterns wriggled frantically, trying to erode the spiritual power structure of that golden light beam. However, the spiritual power quality of the light beam was too high. The folding fan Treasure Artifact, made with a base of Third-Grade Spirit Silver, outputted a spiritual power purity far exceeding the erosion limit of Duanmu Bei's saber patterns.

The golden light beam stayed on the blade's surface for less than two breaths before piercing through, grazing Duanmu Bei's left shoulder and flying out, blasting a hole in the clouds hundreds of zhang behind him.

A hole was torn in the Daoist robe on Duanmu Bei's left shoulder. His flesh wasn't injured, but a layer of the protective spiritual light on his shoulder was shattered.

This was only the second move. Duanmu Bei retreated three zhang and steadied himself again.

Golden Core Cultivators didn't actually need Flying Swords to stay suspended in the air. By circulating their mana, they could walk through the sky on their own; Flying Swords were merely tools used to save effort and increase speed when traveling.

Duanmu Bei retracted his Flying Sword into his sleeve and stepped onto the Void Realm, ink-colored mana spreading from the soles of his feet.

His three Yinhun Clones were slowly re-condensing. The ink-colored phantom shadows twisted and surged, becoming more solid than when they were first summoned. This time, Duanmu Bei poured thirty percent more Soul Power into the Clones, and the attack power of each Clone was now close to sixty percent of the Late Golden Core Stage level.

Sun Boyong, however, did not give him the chance to prepare leisurely.

He swung the short hammer. The two Spirit Stones on the hammerhead switched modes simultaneously: one activated ink-green spiritual power chains to entwine Duanmu Bei's original body, while the other released a ring of mana shockwaves specifically to counter those three Clones that had not yet fully formed.

Striking with both hands at once, one attacking and one suppressing.

Duanmu Bei's figure flashed as ink-colored mana exploded beneath his feet, and he moved laterally seven or eight zhang to avoid the chains.

At the same time, he flipped his right hand, holding the black long saber vertically in front of him. The Soul-Erosion Patterns on the back of the blade wriggled frantically, and a thick dark purple saber barrier expanded from the blade, blocking the shockwave three feet away.

The shockwave sizzled as it hit the saber barrier. A layer of the barrier's surface was gnawed away, but it did not break.

The three Yinhun Clones completed their condensation during this interval, spreading out from behind Duanmu Bei in three directions—left, right, and above—each holding a dark short blade and pouncing toward Sun Boyong.

Sun Boyong spread his folding fan horizontally, activating eight of the sixteen Array Inscriptions circuits. A golden light screen blocked the Clone pouncing from the front.

The short hammer in his left hand swept in a circular motion. The vibration force crushed the Clone on the left. The phantom shadow twisted violently but did not dissipate this time. The Clones Duanmu Bei had infused with Soul Power were significantly tougher than before; although they were distorted by the vibration, they continued to charge forward.

The Clone on the right was the first to approach, its short blade stabbing directly toward Sun Boyong's ribs.

The Spirit Silver Shield's barrier condensed into a thick spiritual light wall at his ribs. The short blade stabbed into it, producing a dull thud. The tip of the blade sank half an inch into the spiritual light before being bounced back.

But the Clone knew no pain, withdrawing the blade and stabbing again, seven or eight times in succession. Each stab landed in a different spot, specifically picking the weakest gaps where the Array Inscriptionss connected on the spiritual light wall.

Duanmu Bei had cultivated in the Xuanyin Sect for hundreds of years, and his control over the Yinhun Clones had long reached perfection. The three Clones were like three extra arms for him, acting independently yet coordinating with each other, forcing Sun Boyong's three Treasure Artifacts to operate simultaneously, causing his spiritual power consumption to soar.

Sun Boyong snorted coldly and suddenly snapped the folding fan shut. He spun the fan's ribs in his palm, and a golden beam of light condensed at the tip, moving extremely fast, aiming straight for the core of the Clone in front of him.

The light beam pierced through the phantom shadow, and the Clone split in two from the middle, ink-colored smoke scattering.

But at the very moment he struck, Duanmu Bei's original body moved.

The black long saber was raised high above his head, and all the Soul-Erosion Patterns on the blade lit up at once. Dark purple light gathered at the very tip of the blade, condensing into a fist-sized light orb.

The color of that light orb was so deep it was almost black, with fine ripples of Soul Power rolling on its surface, and a piercing screech came from the air.

This was a secret technique of the Xuanyin Sect: Soul Heart-Devouring Slash.

By condensing the heart-devouring power onto the blade and delivering it in the form of a close-range slash, the saber light could not only break through spiritual light wherever it passed but also directly erode the opponent's Sea of Consciousness.

Duanmu Bei slashed down.

The dark purple arc, wrapped in a piercing Soul Power screech, crossed a distance of ten zhang and slashed down toward the top of Sun Boyong's head.

Sun Boyong pushed the shield in his left hand forward. All the Array Inscriptionss on the Spirit Silver Shield's surface were activated to their limit, and layers of overlapping golden spiritual light piled up in front of the shield, forming a three-foot-thick wall of light.

(Updates will resume in the morning tomorrow.)