Chapter 150: An Unconquerable Heart Demon

Chapter 150: An Unconquerable Heart Demon

Zhao Manying, still in her state of Iron Body activation, remained in her spot, unable to pursue in time.

Ji Xinghuo raised his hand and unleashed another ultrasonic sword qi.

Along with a Bolt Strike!

Just as Zhao Manying was about to deactivate Iron Body to regain her speed, she saw the incoming attacks and didn't have time to dodge. So, she maintained her iron defense, her ice armor condensed, and the repulsion force field attached to her arm guards also expanded, with a layer of kinetic shield wrapped on the outside.

Ji Xinghuo took a glance and felt a headache coming on. He decided to deal with the sword shadow clones first.

The four sword shadows merged into the night, invisible.

If anyone else were there, they wouldn't be able to see them at all. But in Ji Xinghuo's perception, they were as clear as day, entering within five meters of him in the blink of an eye.

This was the range of microscopic perception.

Each sword shadow approached at different angles and speeds, some fast, some slow, and their cutting methods varied too—drilling, shaving, piercing, and slashing—as if four swordsmen were holding them, besieging him.

Ji Xinghuo's mind was incredibly focused, his right eye flashing with a barely visible light circle. His body dodged back and forth as he wielded his knife and sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Four consecutive loud clangs reverberated.

Leichi and Moyin made four consecutive slashes, each with impeccable timing, as if dancing on a knife's edge, miraculously slashing the four sword shadow clones.

After all, sword shadows condensed from abilities were not as good as physical blades.

Within a second, the four sword shadow clones were simultaneously shattered by Ji Xinghuo and dissipated.

He immediately deactivated the Myriad Symbols and rushed towards Zhao Manying. The Myriad Symbols consumed too much stellar power and had to be activated at a decisive moment.

Zhao Manying had already passed through the ultrasonic sword qi and deactivated her Iron Body.

The two collided head-on.

A knife and two swords clashed repeatedly, their blades and shadows intertwining. They frequently used flash steps to swap positions, sword qi crisscrossing, and lightning crashing as the mountain peak was gouged and pitted by their battle.

A minute of direct confrontation made Ji Xinghuo realize that this battle was not in his favor.

He was just an advanced alien.

His stellar power was far inferior to Zhao Manying's, and this kind of protracted battle would only put him at a disadvantage. Once his stellar power was exhausted, Zhao Manying could easily win.

Clang!

Ji Xinghuo burst out with a slashing strike, forcing Zhao Manying back, and he took the opportunity to create some distance with a flash step.

"Huff... huff..."

He panted heavily, not daring to attack again.

"Giving up?" Zhao Manying teased, looking relaxed. After fighting for so long, she wasn't even sweating, her breathing remained steady, and apart from her left shoulder where her leather jacket had burst open, there were no other visible injuries. The exposed shoulder only added to her allure.

Ji Xinghuo was speechless. The number one on the Celestial Ladder was indeed extraordinary.

He had figured out a few things.

Zhao Manying's stellar power was far more powerful than that of an ordinary super alien, but her advantages didn't stop there. She must have one or two extremely unique abilities, at least of the Star Fall level.

These unknown abilities gave her an incredibly calm and rapid response and perception, and no matter how dire the situation, her emotions remained unaffected.

Furthermore, her physical attributes were exceptionally powerful.

Her strength, speed, and stamina far surpassed those of the same level, especially her speed, which, combined with her super-fast neural responses, was unbelievably fast.

Despite his dual knife and sword attacks that should have given him an advantage in attack frequency, he could barely keep up with her single sword's offense.

Within a minute, he had been forced back several times, struggling to parry her attacks.

Her fast sword skills alone would make her famous worldwide.

Ji Xinghuo's breathing soon slowed, and he nodded, "Your strength is indeed not limited to martial arts. The virtual platform restricts you."

"Are you conceding?" Zhao Manying asked with a smile.

"No, on the contrary!"

Ji Xinghuo said confidently, "The virtual platform also restricts me. From now on, I'll let you know that challenging me offline is your biggest mistake. You will never be able to break free of your heart demon, and for the rest of your life, you will never forget me!"

"Oh?" Zhao Manying tilted her chin arrogantly, her pink hair fluttering in the cold wind. "I'd like to see that. Come on!"

She wiped her hand lightly on the sword blade and once again condensed four sword shadow clones.

Ji Xinghuo took out Qinghong from his pocket and said, "Go to the side and watch. Don't attack."

The miniature Qinghong nodded and quickly crawled to the edge of the mountain peak, revealing its true body, several meters long, and coiled around a short tree to watch the battle.

"Your battle pet?" Zhao Manying asked in surprise. "Why aren't you letting it join the fight?"

An alien's battle pet was also part of their strength, like a weapon, never left out of a battle.

"I'm enough by myself."

Ji Xinghuo replied calmly. He wanted Zhao Manying to lose without any excuses, so he kept Qinghong with him, as it might get hurt.

"Hehe..." Zhao Manying chuckled, her mindset completely undisturbed.

She watched as Ji Xinghuo threw his bow and arrow to the side, leaving him with only a knife and a sword in hand. Without hesitation, she moved her mind, and the four sword shadow clones merged with the darkness, rushing towards Ji Xinghuo. At the same time, her spiritual power lifted a large amount of pebbles and dirt, forming a flood that smashed towards him.

Amidst the rumbling, a figure burst out from the dust and stones.

At this moment, Ji Xinghuo's body was covered with interspersing scales of cyan and gold, with electricity arcing between them. The debris that hit the scales was deflected, causing no harm.

He didn't use a flash step but instead sprinted forward, bursting out at a speed comparable to a flash step.

Electricity arced from the tip of Leichi.

Moyin slashed out a large expanse of ultrasonic sword qi.

Zhao Manying remained unfazed. Her empty left hand reached out towards Ji Xinghuo, her eyes focused, and her spiritual power transformed into kinetic energy that erupted madly, attempting to bind Ji Xinghuo.

His speed immediately slowed, and the four sword shadow clones stabbed at him from behind.

Ji Xinghuo seemed oblivious to the sword shadow clones as he continued to charge forward.

The four sword lights had caught up to him.

Yet, unbeknownst to Zhao Manying, a faint light circle appeared in Ji Xinghuo's right eye. As he sprinted at high speed, his figure flickered, and he executed a flash step backward, positioning himself right in front of the four sword shadows.

Leichi swept horizontally from left to right, instantly shredding the four sword shadows into fragments that dissipated.

With another flash step, Ji Xinghuo abruptly closed the distance, appearing in front of Zhao Manying in the blink of an eye, his body almost touching her face.

This flash step was faster and longer than any he had used before!

Zhao Manying was not caught off guard. She skillfully stabbed her right-hand sword forward. This strike was incredibly ingenious and precise, anticipating various subsequent changes from Ji Xinghuo. No matter how he reacted, he couldn't threaten her; he could only retreat or suffer severe injury.

Ji Xinghuo chose the third option.

Moyin swung up, clashing with the Jinghong Sword, producing a loud clang as the Jinghong Sword was deflected but still pierced his chest.

There was resistance on the sword as it was caught by the azure-gold colored hard scales, temporarily unable to penetrate further.

Zhao Manying channeled the Tidebound Art, and as the starlight burst from the sword blade into Ji Xinghuo's body, he didn't even flinch.

Boom!

At that moment, a bolt of lightning erupted from the tip of Leichi.

However, the lightning immediately dispersed into countless tiny electric arcs, forming an electric arc force field that instantly covered every inch of space within a ten-meter radius.

Zhao Manying couldn't dodge in time.

The electric arcs traveled along her long sword and onto her body, causing her entire body to go numb, paralyzing her limbs and slowing her reactions and speed.

Even with the reduction in speed, she was still faster than Ji Xinghuo!

The Jinghong Sword immediately withdrew from Ji Xinghuo's chest, and in the blink of an eye, it unleashed seven consecutive strikes. Clang! Clang! Clang!... Each of the seven strikes was blocked by Ji Xinghuo, even as the sword grew faster with each strike, varying in power and angle, creating an illusion of true and false attacks. Yet, Ji Xinghuo managed to defend against them all.

Zhao Manying's expression finally changed.

She had sparred with Ji Xinghuo five hundred times and was well aware of his martial arts prowess. But at this moment, he displayed skills far beyond what she had witnessed before.

His ability to counter speed with slowness was flawless.

This didn't seem like a martial art that a human could possess; it was as if he could predict the future!

Zhao Manying felt that every move she made was anticipated by Ji Xinghuo. After her seven consecutive strikes proved ineffective, Ji Xinghuo counterattacked, pressing forward with relentless knife and sword attacks, maintaining his speed while she struggled to block them. Within seconds, over a dozen wounds appeared on her body, accompanied by currents of electricity that paralyzed her.

Ji Xinghuo's knife and sword assaults were like a tidal wave.

In the intense close-quarters battle, she even found it difficult to catch her breath, with no opportunity to regroup or manifest her sword shadow clones, nor could she utilize her kinetic abilities effectively.

Ji Xinghuo relentlessly pressed his advantage with dozens of strikes, gradually gaining the upper hand. His eyes flashed with electrical sparks.

Clang!

A loud blast rang out.

Zhao Manying's long sword was knocked out of her hand.

She braced herself to take a blow from Ji Xinghuo's knife on her back, executing a flash step to retrieve her sword. However, she found that instead of taking advantage of the situation to strike, he had already flashed ahead and didn't attempt to seize the Jinghong Sword. Instead, he slashed it away, sending it flying down the mountain. His left-hand Moyin long sword was aimed at her.

A chill emanated from Zhao Manying's hand as she instantly condensed an ice sword, empowered by her core alien ability, "Aether Edge," making it no less formidable than a superpower long sword.

Ji Xinghuo's Moyin sword didn't change its trajectory and merely tapped the tip of the ice sword, unleashing a burst of shattering force.

The ice sword shattered instantly.

A surge of ultrasonic sword qi engulfed Zhao Manying, causing her newly formed ice armor to fracture. Her black catsuit seemed to have been shredded by a paper cutter, turning into countless fragments.

Zhao Manying's skin reflected a metallic luster as she transformed into a steel-bodied warrior.

Boom!

Ji Xinghuo's Thunderclap Fist, empowered by his long-accumulated starlight, struck Zhao Manying, and while her steel body was invincible in defense, its resistance to electricity decreased.

Zhao Manying's entire body was in agony, and her steel body involuntarily dissipated as she was sent flying.

Even in this extreme situation, she maintained her composure.

Kinetic energy swept through the air, exploding between her and Ji Xinghuo in an attempt to push him away. The folding shield on her left arm expanded to block Ji Xinghuo's subsequent knife and sword attacks, and she used telekinesis to retrieve the falling Jinghong Sword, pulling it back to herself.

However, all of this was within Ji Xinghuo's calculations.

Moyin vibrated!

The wavy blade of the sword produced a high-frequency vibration, emitting a sharp, piercing scream that felt like a drill boring into one's ears, traveling along the auditory nerve straight to the brain.

Ji Xinghuo had never used "Sonic Scream" before.

Now that he suddenly unleashed it, Zhao Manying, who bore the brunt of the attack, immediately felt pain, her eardrums throbbing in pain as blood trickled out.

Her mental state wavered for a moment, but that moment decided the outcome of the battle.

Her spiritual power was interrupted.

Ji Xinghuo pursued with a flash step, and Zhao Manying was still tumbling in the air.

Leichi's handle struck her abdomen, sending her crashing into the hard rock ground. Ji Xinghuo straddled her, using his body weight to pin her down, his knife and sword crossing like a pair of scissors at her neck. All he needed to do was push forward, and her life would end.

Zhao Manying instinctively struggled, but currents of electricity flowed from Ji Xinghuo's body, paralyzing and softening her, rendering her unable to move.

She stopped moving, their eyes locking.

Ji Xinghuo looked down at her and smiled. "Now, do you know if I'm capable or not?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end