What Is Acting This Is Acting

Donggua's roar was loud, but unlike its confident voice, the cartilage longsword in its hand, even when pushed to the absolute limit of its might, could not pierce through the defense of the Innate Primordial Dao-Fixing Dual Qi Pearl.

"With just this level of cultivation?" Chu Xingchen's expression was icy. "Overestimating yourself to such an extreme is simply asking to be humiliated."

Not daring to relax the strength in its hands for even a fraction of a second, Donggua merely shouted sternly, "Demon Venerable!"

As soon as the words left its mouth, the flower planted in Donggua's Sea of Consciousness by Xu Linglong instantly began to bloom.

At the same time, it began absorbing every ounce of power available within the Sea of Consciousness, gathering it all together. Even beyond its divine sense, every inch of cultivation carved into Donggua's very bones was being devoured by this flower.

The blooming flower was bewitching, drinking blood and devouring spiritual energy.

Only now did Donggua finally realize that its life had never truly escaped Xu Linglong's grasp.

It all depended on whether Xu Linglong wanted it to or not; she probably never even cared about its so-called defecting to the enemy.

Countless emotions surged in Donggua's heart, but at this moment, it tried its best to suppress these chaotic thoughts.

Now, Donggua could only put all its strength into pressing down the cartilage longsword in its hands, abandoning all other thoughts.

With this sword, there could be no retreating.

For honor, and for the blood flowing in its veins.

Even knowing it was foolish, it would use this foolish method to bring down the most magnificent curtain on its life.

Donggua's cultivation realm began to plummet from the Soul Formation Realm. The flower in its divine sense ruthlessly plundered everything from Donggua's body, then injected it all into the cartilage longsword in the most violent and unreasonable manner imaginable.

The extracted energy flowed through Donggua's arms. The fierce power seemed ready to burst through its hands, its veins glowing with an extreme crimson light as if to tear and shatter its flesh.

To Donggua, it felt like only the span of a single breath before its realm had already dropped to the Nascent Soul Realm.

A soul-rending, numbing agony shot straight from its hands into Donggua's mind.

Donggua didn't even have the strength to groan in pain, yet both hands still used every ounce of willpower to slash down at Chu Xingchen.

The lost cultivation realm completely transformed into the most pure and massive energy.

The invisible barrier seemed truly unable to hold on; Donggua's cartilage longsword imperceptibly seemed to cut down just a fraction deeper.

Die! Die! Die!

Bloodshot veins crawled across Donggua's eyes, which were filled with absolute resolve.

In Donggua's vision, Chu Xingchen's expression finally began to change.

From his initial fury and contempt, it shifted into a trace of disbelief.

Chu Xingchen's body also began to retreat backwards.

Even though its entire body hurt as if it were being torn to pieces, Donggua clenched its jaw, the cartilage sword in its hands constantly pressing against Chu Xingchen.

A bizarre and peculiar sound suddenly rang out.

The next moment, the barrier that had prevented Donggua from advancing even an inch seemingly shattered with a boom.

The cartilage longsword slashed toward Chu Xingchen's body without meeting any resistance.

Wanban materialized, and Chu Xingchen raised the sword to block.

However, Chu Xingchen's weak Nascent Soul aura was completely unable to withstand this all-burning sword strike fueled by Xu Linglong.

Boom!

A pillar of crimson light shot into the sky.

The entire ship was submerged within this crimson pillar of light.

Donggua kept its eyes fixed on Chu Xingchen in front of it, watching the cartilage longsword knock away the protecting Wanban, and witnessing firsthand the cartilage longsword piercing through Chu Xingchen's arm.

It watched as Chu Xingchen's protective talismans were completely pulverized by its energy, striking directly against Chu Xingchen's true body.

It watched with its own eyes as Chu Xingchen's face, which had always been calm and carried a gentle smile, became distorted with pain.

Perhaps it wasn't because of the pain, but because Chu Xingchen knew he was going to die by its hands.

Chu Xingchen's cultivation truly had not recovered, and his injuries had not fully healed either.

A surge of excitement finally rose in Donggua's heart—it was itself! It had killed Chu Xingchen!

"Wanban!" Chu Xingchen firmly gripped the cartilage longsword with both hands to stop it from piercing any further, simultaneously letting out a sharp shout.

Wanban shot up from the surface of the sea where it had been knocked away, carrying a momentum that tore through the ocean, and smashed directly toward Donggua in the form of a heavy brick.

Donggua had no extra strength left to divide its attention; at this moment, it only wanted to kill Chu Xingchen right here and now.

But unfortunately.

Wanban directly sent the defenseless Donggua flying away with a heavy smash.

Donggua's body tumbled several times before it barely managed to stabilize itself, simultaneously raising a hand to summon back the cartilage longsword that was embedded in Chu Xingchen's left shoulder.

Intense pain continuously flared up all over Donggua's body, and its overall energy kept being drained by the flower planted by Xu Linglong.

This also caused Donggua to be unaware of exactly what kind of damage Wanban's strike had just inflicted upon it.

However...

Donggua didn't care anymore.

Regardless, today, it would definitely die here.

With a ferocious expression, Donggua looked toward Chu Xingchen, who was slowly standing up from the surface of the sea.

Blood flowed from Chu Xingchen's left shoulder into the sea. His face was pale as he reached out to grasp Wanban, which had transformed back into the shape of a longsword. His voice was somewhat weak as he said:

"A dog that bites doesn't bark, and sometimes it even wags its tail."

"Your performance is even more dog-like than a dog, but calling you a dog is honestly an insult to dogs."

"But you are still too naive. Did you really think that by relying on unrefined methods to burn your cultivation, you could actually defeat me?"

"I... am an existence you can only look up to."

Donggua only felt that its body was somewhat difficult to control. It also needed a little time to recover its state, so it gritted its teeth and replied:

"Dying by my hands will not tarnish your reputation."

Hearing this, Chu Xingchen really couldn't hold back anymore:

"Dying by your hands would be the ultimate disgrace. How did you manage to hold back your laughter when you said that?"

Donggua took a deep breath, then took a step forward, crossing the distance to appear right in front of Chu Xingchen, while saying in a cold voice:

"Because! I really will kill you!"

Chu Xingchen's eyes were calm, as if he had put life and death out of his mind. Wanban bloomed with light in his hand, its aura weak but extremely pure.

An incredibly exaggerated crimson hue clashed against this faint, pure light.

The residual shockwaves reverberated for thousands of feet, but the victor was decided in a mere instant.

Donggua's expression was somewhat dazed, its eyes looking with extreme disbelief at the scenery rapidly retreating around it.

Chu Xingchen's cold and emotionless gaze was also rapidly distancing itself from Donggua's line of sight.

The cartilage longsword shattered into flying fragments.

The sense of disbelief drowned out all of Donggua's pain.

It... had actually lost.

Donggua's body tumbled onto the surface of the sea, and then sank into it—it no longer had the strength to float.

Chu Xingchen's figure had become much more sluggish, but he reached out and used his spiritual energy to hook Donggua, who had fallen into the sea, pulling it up in front of him.

Donggua's body was limp and powerless, but its gaze was still deadly fixed on Chu Xingchen.

"Do you understand how ridiculous you are now?" Chu Xingchen's voice could not hide a trace of weakness. "You were clearly so close to surviving, you are clearly a smart person, and you are clearly very afraid of death, so why did you insist on throwing your life away?"

Hearing this, Donggua grinned and laughed:

"I lost, but you are going to lose too. Aren't you smart? Can you not even see this?"

Chu Xingchen did not refute, but instead raised Wanban in his hand:

"Then do you think you will live to see it?"

Donggua looked at Chu Xingchen with a mocking gaze.

"It will!"

Xu Linglong's voice drifted over from a distance.

Accompanying the voice came an almost invisible, dark red arrow.

Chu Xingchen twisted and flipped out of the way, his gaze locking onto the direction from which the arrow had flown.

Clad in battle armor, Xu Linglong stood suspended in the vast sky. She looked at Chu Xingchen, her expression devoid of both joy and sorrow.

"Today, you are the one who dies."

Seeing the newcomer, a smile graced Chu Xingchen's face.

"So your true body has finally arrived... That certainly wasn't easy."