Lu Chen rushed forward, hands coated in a layer of dark chi that exuded malevolence and boody wrapped in a thick armor of the same chi. Wu Jian slid his left dominant foot forward, bent his knees, and raised Pale Moon above his head. He channeled vast amounts of chi into the blade, causing it to glow brilliant like a solar flare. When Lu Chen came reached about halfway between where he had been and Wu Jian, he swung his weapon down.

[Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Stroke]

“LOOK OUT!”

A burst of light exploded from his weapon. Vast quantities of chi spewed forth, creating a powerful current of wind that pushed everything back. The light from his attack was so bright that it was impossible to see anything for several seconds, but when the light cleared down, what appeared before him was a gaping chasm that extended for nearly half a li.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen had not been hit.

The one called Jiang Xue had pulled him out of the way just in time to avoid Wu Jian’s attack. He turned his head toward them. Jiang Xue was standing, warily eying him like he was a rabid beast. Lu Chen was on the ground. It looked like he had stumbled and fallen off-balance when Jiang Xue pulled him away from his attack.

“What the hell, Xue! Why did you do that?”

“Because that attack would have killed you, idiot.”

“I could have handled it.”

“There’s no way you have the strength. Now stop being so stubborn. We’ll need to work together if we want to beat this man.”

“Tch!”

He thought about attacking while they were talking, but before he could act on this decision, a surge of chi rose up somewhere behind him.

[Soulvine Weave]

Ethereal vines extended from the second woman in this group. White and translucent, they looked like snakes darting forward to latch onto their prey. He didn’t know what kind of technique this was. He also had no desire to find out.

[Swords of Space Rondo]

Dozens of spatial swords that looked like fractured traces of reality appeared and sliced through the ethereal vines extending from the woman. He didn’t know her name, but the woman staggered backward as though his attack on her vines had hurt her.

[Abyssal Whisper]

Wu Jian felt as though a cloud of darkness suddenly hung over him. Fear and confusion warred within him as he was hit with a disorienting sensation like vertigo.

[Soul Chains]

Jiang Xue thrust out her left hand. Several black chains cruelly shaped with spikes flew toward Wu Jian, who could feel the malevolence of them. It was like they had been composed of the darkness part of this woman’s heart.

[Nihility]

Wu Jian activated one of his skills, phasing out of the world to let the attack pass--but that didn’t happen. He became surprised when the chains wrapped around him. He was still phased out, so they didn’t bite into his flesh. It felt instead like they were latching onto his soul.

“I see,” Wu Jian murmured as he felt excruciating pain jolt through his body. “This technique attacks the soul, not the body, so phasing my body out of this space doesn’t do anything. That’s an interesting technique. A dangerous one, but an interesting one.”

“What are you mumbling about?! Hurry up and die!” Lu Chen shouted.

[Ephemeral Blossom]

As Lu Chen raced forward, the second woman summoned spectral flowers that bloomed all around Wu Jian and began releasing a thick fragrance. Wu Jian found himself being assaulted with all kinds of hallucinations and visions. In one of them, he and Wu Meiying were playing in a field of flowers when they were younger. In another, Hou Jingshu was surrendering her body to him. Every vision was beautiful and made him long to remain within this strange world forever.

[Soulfire Strike]

His hands burning with the power of his soul, Lu Chen thrust a gauntlet-clad fist forward. The smirk on his face made it obvious that he believed this was the endgame. Perhaps that was why he became shocked, eyes bulging like a frog’s, when Wu Jian raised a hand and took his attack head on. He caught Lu Chen’s fist.

A burst of chi erupted from Wu Jian’s hand, disrupting Lu Chen’s technique, snuffing it out as though it had never been activated. With an application of nothing but raw strength, Wu Jian squeezed the fist he was holding. Lu Chen screamed in surprise and agony as the gauntlet was crushed and his hand along with it.

“What are you doing?! Let go!!!”

Lu Chen threw his other hand forward, forcing Wu Jian to let go and dodge back. He leapt backward, holding his now crushed hand to his chest.

[Swords of Space Rondo]

Wu Jian once more created dozens of spatial blades that tore into the chains binding him and the flowers surrounding him. Both techniques dispersed quickly. The flowers wavered and disappeared like a mirage while the chains shattered, their fragments scattering before dissolving into wisps of chi.

“Dammit! How was he able to break out of your techniques?!” screamed Lu Chen.

Jiang Xue stared at Wu Jian like he was a monster. “I… I don’t know…”

“I understand why you three were sent after me now. Despite arguing constantly, you work quite well together, don’t you?”

Jiang Xue and that other woman… he still hadn’t gotten her name, but anyway, they had techniques that could immobilize and disorient opponents with illusions and soul attacks. Lu Chen was their heavy hitter. While their enemy was immobile, he could use his techniques to kill them. They made a good trio. It would be hard for most people to escape from Jiang Xue’s chains when they were being simultaneously attacked by illusions. Even Wu Jian was susceptible to them.

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The two women looked wary. They clearly understood that fighting him would not be as easy as they assumed. Lu Chen, on the other hand, merely looked angry. With a growl, he rushed forward.

“Lu Chen, what are you doing?!”

“I don’t care how strong you are! I’m going to kill you and feed on you to enhance my own strength!”

“Dammit! Mei Hua! Let’s help him!”

“Right…”

[Soul Renewal]

[Soul Chains]

Wu Jian could not tell what Soul Renewal did, but he could see the chains coming at him. Now that he understood how dangerous they were, he didn’t intend to let himself get hit.

[Spatial Blade]

Wu Jian created a massive blade that tore through the chains, shattering them as though they were made of glass. He felt like maybe they had been slightly harder to cut through. Maybe? It was hard to tell since his spatial blades could cut through any substance in existence.

“Lu Chen! Retreat!” screamed Jiang Xue.

“Shut up!”

Lu Chen did not pay the woman any attention as chi poured from his body and into his gauntlet. Dark chi erupted from the gauntlet as he clenched his hand into a fist, taking the shape of a colossal sword. This spectral weapon looked like a greatsword with jagged edges and a menacing appearance. It was clearly a powerful weapon.

[Soul Cleaver Blade]

[Soul Infusion]

Lu Chen raised his weapon into the air and brought it down in a powerful downward swing. Wu Jian noticed the lack of momentum. This blade had no weight because it was made from chi. Realizing this was his chance, Wu Jian dodged the attack, then held out his hand.

[Spatial Lock]

It was impossible to see the threads of chi that bound Lu Chen’s hands in place, but the man certainly realized something was wrong when he tried to raise his weapon but couldn’t. The muscles in his back, arms, and shoulders strained, veins bulging as he sought to move.

“What the… what’s… going on…? Why. Can’t. I. Move?!”

A powerful flash of thunder erupted overhead, striking the mountain where Mei Xilan was located. The lightning was different than what he had been hit with. It looked like a combination of raging blizzard and pale lightning. He’d never seen anything quite like it. Either way, it told him that he needed to hurry up and finish this battle.

[Soul Surge]

Wu Jian was about to kill Lu Chen when he felt something change. Chi erupted from Mei Hua and into Lu Chen. It was like a thread connected them and her strength was surging into him. The muscles on his arms visibly bulged and blood spurted from tiny wounds that opened on his shoulders as he broke the spatial lock with pure brute strength. Wu Jian grimaced as he leapt back to avoid the man’s swinging sword.

[Umbral Blades]

The sound of rustling grass alerted him to the danger behind him. He clicked his tongue as he dropped to the ground and watched as a pair of dark swords made of chi cleaved through the area where he had been standing. Jiang Xue didn’t stop with just that. She reversed her grip and drove the blades down as though to impale his head, but he rolled out of the way to avoid them, then flipped back onto his feet.

This is harder than I thought it would be.

Individually, none of these cultivators were a match for him, but they worked so well together that he couldn’t find an opening to land a finishing blow. Their master had likely trained them to be this way. They acted as a unit, which made them much harder to deal with. He wondered how many years they had been training together to be able to fight like this.

The two women have techniques meant to impede their enemy’s movements, while the man has attacks meant to overwhelm. Something tells me Jiang Xue is actually stronger than Lu Chen. Those blades she used are stronger and more dangerous than his Soul Cleaver Blade. That’s the sense I get. I suspect she might have an even more powerful attack too. Well, what should I do now?

He didn’t have a strategy to deal with them. He was too powerful for them to take out easily, but they worked so well together that he couldn’t kill them either. However, this stalemate couldn’t last. Already a second strike of lightning had hit the mountain, and a massive flame shaped like a cauldron had appeared where Zhou Lihua was undergoing her breakthrough. He wanted to finish these three before those two ascended.

I need to separate them and take them out one at a time.

After taking a deep breath, Wu Jian tightened the muscles in his core as he hefted Pale Moon in one hand and pulled his arm back. He threw the sword as powerfully as he could, unleashing a shockwave. The weapon flew toward Lu Chen, who at least seemed smart enough to move away. The sword struck the ground with a powerful explosion that created a crater.

Wu Jian was already on the move.

He teleported between Mei Hua and Jiang Xue, reared his arm back, and brought it down. Perfectly timing himself, he unleashed an explosion of chi just as he struck the ground. The earth shook, the ground split, and trees toppled, but that was just a side affect of his strength. It was not his intent.

[Spatial Wall]

Appearing from within the cracks was a wall of space that separated all three of his adversaries from each other. It wasn’t visible to them. In fact, Lu Chen tried to run toward him and instead smacked face first into the wall. He was now beating on it with his gauntlet covered fists. Cracks were already beginning to form, but it would be a while yet before he could break through it. Jiang Xue was trying to fly over it, but this wall was much higher than she likely expected. It would be a while yet before she could reach the top.

Wu Jian turned back toward Mei Hua, who froze in fear as his eyes locked onto her.

“Ah… don’t come any closer!”

[Soulvine Weave]

The ethereal vines erupted from her again, but Wu Jian did not want to waste time. He teleported direction behind her and placed a hand on her back. The woman went still as though her body had been frozen in ice--and that was her undoing.

[Spatial Folding]

Wu Jian reached into her with his manipulation over the Dao of Space. He found her heart and teleported it into his hand. It was easier since he was touching her. Mei Hua died instantly. She pitched forward with a dull thud, not even so much as twitching.

That’s one down.

With the first enemy gone, Wu Jian decided to act more boldly. He reached out toward Pale Moon and grasped his hand. The weapon appeared in his hand instantly. He then placed his dominant foot forward, raised his weapon high, and once more began channeling his chi like he had done last time. He didn’t just let it run wild like last time, but compressed it all into a fine point. His target was Lu Chen.

“LU CHEN! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!” screamed Jiang Xue.

“Haaaa?! Why should I?! If you think you can defeat me, then just go ahead and try!”

Rather than attempt to dodge, the arrogant Lu Chen set himself in a defensive stance to take his attack head on.

Idiot.

[Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Stroke]

Wu Jian brought his blade down. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then, Lu Chen and the ground he had been standing on was split in half. Blood and innards erupted from the man’s body as his two halves fell apart. They fell into the chasm created by his technique and vanished.

Now alone, Jiang Xue quickly turned tail to flee. She was smart. She knew she couldn’t win. However, her lack of understanding Wu Jian’s technique would lead to her doom.

[Spatial Folding]

“Wha…t?”

Space folded around Jiang Xue, who, instead of finding herself far away from Wu Jian, suddenly found herself standing right next to him. Before she even had time to register what had just happened, Wu Jian swung Pale Moon with all his strength. The weapon tore through her left hip, carving a diagonal furrow through her torso and up to her shoulder. Her eyes were wide in shock and pain as her body slid apart. The upper half fell to the floor with a meaty thump, while the lower half remained standing for several moments before it, too, tumbled to the ground. A large puddle of blood emerged and began forming underneath them.

Wu Jian took a deep breath, held it, and released it as a tranquil calm settled over the forest once again.