260: Chapter 260 This matter is not over

The blade beam struck the light wall, and the sound of clashing metal exploded six thousand feet in the air. Air currents dispersed in all directions, and the shockwave tore a massive hole in the clouds within several miles below.

The Spirit Boat shook violently in the air currents. The Formation barrier inside the cabin automatically activated to maximum power, isolating the tremors.

The dark purple blade beam weakened after slicing through the first two layers of golden spiritual light. It stalled against the third layer for two breaths before finally shattering into a spray of purple-black fragments.

Sun Boyong's shield was knocked back half a foot, and the Meridians in his left arm holding the shield went numb.

The power of this strike exceeded his expectations.

Duanmu Bei gave him no time to breathe; a second strike followed immediately. This time, he didn't chop but swept horizontally.

The blade edge cut across at the height of the Spirit Boat's deck. The blade beam stretched into a thin, dark purple arc. Its target wasn't Sun Boyong himself, but the Spirit Boat beneath his feet.

If he couldn't pin down the person, he would destroy the boat, forcing Sun Boyong to distract himself to protect it.

Sun Boyong cursed and slammed his Short Hammer down. The Spirit Stones on the hammerhead activated a dark green spiritual energy shield, covering the Spirit Boat's deck.

The dark purple arc struck the dark green shield. Densely packed cracks spread across the shield's surface, but it barely held.

Taking advantage of Sun Boyong's distraction, Duanmu Bei's left hand quickly formed several hand seals in the Void Realm, and the ink-colored magic power around him surged abruptly.

The two remaining Yinhun Clones no longer acted alone but gathered rapidly toward Duanmu Bei's main body. The two Clones merged into his body, the ink-colored phantom overlapping with the Immortal Master. Duanmu Bei's Aura suddenly surged.

This was also one of his trump cards, Soul-Body Fusion.

Sacrificing Clones in exchange for a short-term burst in the main body's combat power came at the cost of a significant decline in Soul Power afterward, requiring at least two years of recuperation.

But in exchange, for half a quarter-hour, his combat power climbed to the threshold of the Golden Core Peak.

Duanmu Bei's Aura began to change. His ink-colored Daoist robe fluttered wildly, and the cold Aura around him became so thick it was almost visible. The blade beam of his black longsword turned from dark purple to pure black, losing even its luster.

Another strike came down, and a pitch-black crack extended in a straight line from the tip of the blade toward Sun Boyong.

The air exploded violently wherever the crack passed, the sound making eardrums ache. The Aura was fierce to the extreme, looking from afar as if it had torn a rift in the Void Realm.

Sun Boyong's three Treasure Artifacts were activated simultaneously.

The Spirit Silver Shield was held in front of him, with all Array Inscriptionss pushed to an overloaded state. The golden spiritual light surged more than threefold, forming a small fortress of spiritual light.

The Short Hammer was raised high above his head, and the two Spirit Stones on the hammerhead were both activated at maximum power, sending a shockwave directly toward the pitch-black crack.

The Folding Fan was opened to its limit, and all sixteen Array Inscriptions circuits operated at full power. A golden light curtain spread from the fan's surface, covering the space within ten feet of him, stripping away all Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the area to form a spiritual energy vacuum.

The spiritual energy consumption of running three Treasure Artifacts simultaneously was terrifying. For any other Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, their spiritual energy would be depleted in less than ten breaths.

But every one of Sun Boyong's Treasure Artifacts was hand-carved by himself. The Array Inscriptionss perfectly matched his magic power fluctuations, making their operation at least thirty percent more efficient than others, allowing him to endure.

The pitch-black crack struck the golden fortress, and the entire sky seemed to darken for a moment.

The golden spiritual light and the pitch-black crack collided violently in front of the shield. Two completely opposite forces twisted together, producing a continuous series of explosive sounds.

The Array Inscriptionss on the Spirit Silver Shield began to heat up under the overload. Two Array Inscriptions circuits at the edge of the shield were broken by the shockwave, and the spiritual light flickered several times.

The shockwave swept in from the side, striking the middle of the pitch-black crack and snapping it in two.

The moment the crack shattered, the remaining power exploded toward both sides, pushing both Sun Boyong and Duanmu Bei back.

Sun Boyong retreated five feet. Three more cracks appeared on the Spirit Silver Shield, and its spiritual light dimmed by twenty percent.

Duanmu Bei retreated seven feet. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and the web between his thumb and forefinger on his right hand holding the blade was torn open.

The boost from Soul-Body Fusion had already begun to fade; he couldn't maintain his Peak state for much longer.

The two faced off from twelve feet apart, both panting, then exchanged more than ten more moves.

Under the boost of Soul-Body Fusion, Duanmu Bei unleashed four consecutive Golden Core-level secret techniques, each move vicious and cunning.

The Ten Thousand Souls Soul-Locking Formation condensed dozens of ghost chains that strangled from all directions, only to be crushed by the combined force of Sun Boyong's Short Hammer shockwave and Folding Fan light curtain.

Bone-Corroding Yin Wind, carrying corrosive Soul Power, gushed from the blade edge, but was blocked by the Spirit Silver Shield's golden fortress. Two more cracks appeared on the shield's surface.

Sun Boyong wasn't having an easy time either. His Spell attacks were indeed not as sharp as Duanmu Bei's. His Cultivation Technique was based on Artifact Refining, so his combat Spells leaned toward defense and control, lacking the ferocity of a demonic Sect specialist in slaughter.

But the three Treasure Artifacts made up for this shortcoming. The Spirit Silver Shield could block the opponent's killing moves, the Short Hammer countered all ethereal and Soul Power constructs, and the Folding Fan sealed the space to cut off his supplies.

Under the coordination of the three, every one of Duanmu Bei's attacks was neutralized layer by layer, resulting in a stalemate.

Once the effects of Soul-Body Fusion completely faded, Duanmu Bei's Aura fell back to the normal Late Golden Core Stage level. The Soul Power of his two Clones was also exhausted, and they could no longer be manifested.

At this point, Duanmu Bei realized that he couldn't win if the battle continued.

The opponent had too many Treasure Artifacts, with no flaws between his transitions from offense to defense. Moreover, that spiritual energy vacuum technique specifically countered him.

Yinhun-system secret techniques relied more on external Spiritual Qi for support than ordinary Spells. With this lifeline severed, the longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for him, and the side effects of Soul-Body Fusion were about to set in.

"Fellow Daoist Sun!" Duanmu Bei retreated thirty feet away, his black longsword held across his chest. "I will remember this debt. You stopped me and shielded someone from disaster; I acknowledge this sentiment. But the fifteen lives of my Sect's Disciples and my fifty years of hard work cannot be settled by a single word about 'rules' from you."

Sun Boyong folded his fan and tucked it back into his waist, then put away his Short Hammer, leaving only the Spirit Silver Shield's barrier still covering the Spirit Boat.

"Fellow Daoist Duanmu, we are both at the Late Golden Core Stage. We each have our own Sects and our own rules."

"If you want to investigate, you can go back to your Taining Province. It won't be too late to argue once you have solid evidence."

"In this situation today, wanting to search the people on this old man's boat based on a single Soul-Blood Jade Talisman—if you were in my position, would you agree?"

Duanmu Bei did not respond. He simply stared at the Spirit Boat for several breaths, his gaze piercing through the golden barrier to land on the tightly closed door of the front cabin.

Then he put away his black longsword, stepped onto his Flying Sword, and turned to fly toward the southwest.

After flying a hundred feet, his voice drifted back from afar.

"This isn't over."

The words scattered with the wind. The ink-colored figure vanished deep into the clouds, the spiritual energy fluctuations rapidly receding until they finally disappeared at the edge of perception.