Guild Wars

Last time I was careless and did not cast any techniques beforehand, resulting in being completely overwhelmed by Li Shiyin's fierce barrage of heavy attacks from the very start without any room to fight back. But it won't happen again this time...

Zhang Shan's sword-wielding hand faintly gleamed like metal. He had already activated some kind of technique, integrating himself with the sword to form a whole entity, allowing him to wield the sword like an arm extension while amplifying his strength, making him stronger than before!

"Die!" He let out a roar as his sword clashed with Li Shiyin's.

However...

Despite having casted a technique and undergoing a tremendous boost in his battle prowess, the outcome was still the same as last time.

An extremely terrifying force was transmitted through his sword. He was unable to resist it as the sword pulled his hand, his hand pulled his body, and his body lost balance...

It was even worse than last time. Last time, he had exchanged dozens of moves with his opponent before being defeated. But this time, he did not even manage to complete a single exchange.

"Why?" He was very puzzled. His techniques, swordsmanship and strength had all improved, so why was it still inferior compared to last time?

He was unaware that in terms of pure physical prowess, rogue cultivators like him would still fall far short of Li Shiyin's Foundation Establishment Stage physique even after cultivating for another hundred years.

It was an issue of resources. They would not have access to as many spiritual medicines to consume, an alchemist specially refining body-enhancing medicinal baths for them, or someone finding top-tier cultivation methods for them. Coupled with inferior talent, they were completely outmatched in all aspects.

Moreover, not only had he utilized a technique during this clash, Li Shiyin had also activated her own technique. And Li Shiyin's Starlight Technique she used was more powerful than his...

So how could he possibly win?

With a sword strike that disrupted Zhang Shan's center of gravity, Li Shiyin remembered her master's teachings to kill Wang Wu first instead of Zhang Shan. She then turned around and delivered a high kick, capitalizing on Zhang Shan's unsteady footing to land a kick squarely on his face that sent him flying out of the battlefield. Her attention shifted forward as she now faced Wang Wu directly.

"Zhang Shan didn't even last a move?" Wang Wu's heart skipped a beat.

But he would not retreat. He quickly stimulated his magic power, igniting flames on his huge blade as he charged at Li Shiyin. The two closed in on each other, but he suddenly opened his mouth wide at Li Shiyin instead.

"Roar!!"

At that instant, his head seemed to transform into a lion's as he let out a lion's roar!

Caught off guard by this sudden lion's roar, Li Shiyin failed to evade it and was instantly dazed by the shockwave.

"Hmph!" Wang Wu let out a cold humph. Gripping his blade with both hands, he pounced forward with his entire body cloaked in flames, making him resemble a flaming lion. This pounce was the lion's ferocious pounce!

"It's over!" He roared.

"No, it's still far from over." Qin Ran sighed inwardly. His divine sense shot out from his body, heavily slamming Wang Wu.

"Ah!"

So somehow, while he was about to hack down on Li Shiyin, Wang Wu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. His pouncing body froze in mid-air, completely losing control before crashing heavily into the ground.

Only then did Li Shiyin come to her senses. She saw Wang Wu collapsed on the ground not far ahead and felt cold sweat trickling within. She turned to check on her master and saw him staring intently into the sky, fully focused on Ma Ze's flying sword and Liu Er as sweat continuously flowed down his cheeks. Perhaps her master was pushed to the limit by trying to help her.

She looked up at the sky again and saw the water-bound sword still trembling violently on the verge of breaking free, while Liu Er thrashed furiously inside the bubble... Her master was already doing his utmost to restrict those two. Yet she still relied on her master for help...

Li Shiyin clenched her teeth as the starlight around her grew brighter. Her sword pierced toward Wang Wu who was lying prone.

Having just regained consciousness in the nick of time, Wang Wu barely dodged the tip of her sword and counterattacked by swinging his blade at Li Shiyin's head. Li Shiyin could only retreat while Wang Wu got back on his feet.

Still enveloped in flames, he saw another sword slash coming from Li Shiyin. Having learned from Zhang Shan's mistake, he did not dare to clash directly and quickly evaded. He was determined to entangle and outmaneuver her instead.

Wang Wu was cunning. He also noticed the circumstances on the battlefield. That man was single-handedly keeping both his boss and body cultivator Liu Er occupied and seemed to be barely hanging on. If he couldn't quickly defeat this girl and Zhang Shan, then... ultimate victory would be theirs instead!

Hence, in the following battle, the heavy and forceful Li Shiyin aggressively pressed on with fierce attacks while Wang Wu nimbly retreated with quick steps. Wang Wu gave ground wherever possible and skillfully deflected or mitigated Li Shiyin’s strikes whenever retreat was not an option, never opting for head-on clashes.

As Li Shiyin was still young and inexperienced, she soon fell into his trap and got increasingly frustrated and disarrayed the more they fought. In particular, when she noticed her master’s body starting to tremble at one point, a lapse in attention allowed Wang Wu to kick her.

Her offensive momentum began faltering after that as the formerly weaker and slower Wang Wu started seizing the initiative to attack.

The sound of intersecting blades grew louder and more frequent. Li Shiyin’s mind was thrown into turmoil.

So when she stepped onto some wild shrubs on the ground, she failed to realize they were unusual.

These shrubs sprang to life swiftly, coiling around to tightly bind the foot that had stepped on them, immobilizing her in place!

“What!” Li Shiyin froze up in frightened surprise. What was happening?

She immediately looked to the enemy and saw Wu Qing standing next to Ma Ze. The woman she had always dismissed as negligible! The supposed feminine accessory!

Wood attribute techniques. She recalled her master’s words that this woman possessed a Wood Spirit Root and could control plants...

She further noticed some creeping vines on the ground also beginning to stir as though they were snakes, slithering towards her.

Wang Wu’s attacks still maintained relentless pressure...

And the Zhang Shan who was previously blasted away by her had already been treated and fully healed by Wu Qing, now standing by Wu Qing’s side.

Li Shiyin felt her heart sink bit by bit.

"It's over..." she thought.

Looking at his silly disciple up ahead, Qin Ran let his trembling act drop and stopped squeezing out sweat forcibly. There seemed to be traces of anxiety in his eyes. Wasn't the pressure he created for his disciple a bit too much for her first venture down the mountain? His body flickered as he was about to summon another water clone to help...

But it was right at this moment!

A loud "swish" rang out.

With all her strength behind it, Li Shiyin forced Wang Wu back with a heavy sword swing. Aiming her glowing sword tip squarely at the stationary Wu Qing from afar...

A beam of starlight fired off at lightning speed before Wang Wu and Zhang Shan could react, hitting Wu Qing right in her chest to puncture a bowl-sized, blood-spurting hole!

"Wu Qing!" Zhang Shan shrieked in alarm as he rushed to support Wu Qing.

As Wu Qing cultivated wood attribute techniques, her vitality was tenacious. Even with a hole punctured through her chest, she was not dead yet. Instead, the blood flow quickly stopped as new flesh sprouted, already working to mend the wound.

"No..." she wheezed out, "...Don't mind me, go help Wang Wu!"

Zhang Shan looked back to see Wang Wu screaming out an "Ah!" as the tip of a sword withdrew from his turned back, leaving a bleeding stab wound.

"Wang Wu is injured?" His heart convulsed in horror. Weren't Wang Wu and that girl still exchanging moves just now with Wang Wu having the upper hand?

In the next moment, chaotic flashes of starlight and a flurry of swords...

"Shua...Shua...Shua..."

Blood sprayed everywhere!

In but an instant, countless additional sword wounds appeared on Wang Wu's body.

"Wang Wu!" His anguished cries rang out as he rushed back desperately.