“You? And me?”
No matter how you looked at it, Gu Li’s expression was utterly disdainful. Eyebrows raised, a smile tugged at his lips as he nodded.
“Fine, if it’ll make you happy. When?”
“Now.”
Ye Zichen’s eyes were brimming over with rage and desire for battle. He didn’t know why, but just looking at Gu Li infuriated him regardless of any attempt to control his emotions.
“Right now, just you and me, with no outside interference whatsoever.”
This sudden development left the onlookers dumbfounded. Nuwa frowned, and looked the two of them over.
She had wanted to persuade Ye Zichen to stop, but when she saw the look in his eyes she swallowed her words.
“That sounds quite advantageous for you, but I agree.”
Gu Li drew a hand across his temples, pushing the long hair covering his eyes aside. His eyes were deep black pupils and his smile was demonically charming.
“If I deal with you now, my future plans will be much easier. "
“Say that after you’ve dealt with me.”
Woosh.
The sword flew from Ye Zichen’s hands. He charged toward Gu Li, hands forming countless seals as his spiritual energy flooded outward in a frenzy.
The explosive spiritual energy picked up the accumulated snow, and a suffocatingly intense spiritual pressure radiated outward with Ye Zichen at the center.
“Since when was he so strong?”
In back, Su Liu’er unhesitatingly placed a barrier, enveloping Su Yan and Su Zhu within.
Under this level of pressure, mere Sky Immortals like them would absolutely explode and die.
“Blade of Execution-Melting Snow!”
Snowflakes danced in the air.
Just like in Su Liu’er’s World of Ice and Snow, dense flurries drifted down from above.
The sword hovering above his head rotated, forming a vortex of whirling snowflakes. Inside it, a sword of ice crystals slowly formed.
"Sword of the Six Paths' Heavenly Flame!"
At the same time as the sword of ice manifested, flames rained down from the heavens, and a longsword of pure fire burst forth from within.
These two sword arts were earth-grade spiritual techniques and had also been obtained from the Yellow Emperor’s memories. However, since the two techniques complimented each other, their true power wasn’t any weaker than a celestial grade spiritual technique.
This was his first time using them since he'd reincarnated, but even so Ye Zichen executed them smoothly and proficiently.
“Extreme Yin and extreme Yang, interesting."
Gu Li stood not too far away with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore an admiring expression as he watched the two oppressively powerful swords materialize.
Sometimes he would nod and smile, seemingly utterly calm and composed.
"Heh....."
Seeing Gu Li's arrogant manner, Ye Zichen began to laugh as well.
“Freeze.”
The Body-freezing Art.
Nearby, Gu Li suddenly froze in place. Ye Zichen didn’t hesitate any longer. The two swords, both of which had already accumulated sufficient energy, flew from his hands.
Swoosh.
Two lines of light cut through the sky, one blue and one red, but then....
Gu Li Laughed. "And here I thought you would play some sort of trick. The ‘Body-freezing Art,’....ridiculous."
Gu Li, who ought to have been frozen in place by Ye Zichen, laughed and shook his head. He calmly stretched his arms forward.
Crunch.
His hands firmly grasped the twin swords of fire and ice, then forcefully crushed them.
Ice crystals and sparks of flame fell to the ground, and Gu Li looked questioningly at Ye Zichen only to see him smile back.
“Something's not right.”
Gu Li's heart shook inexplicably. The Xuan-Yuan sword....
He glanced above Ye Zichen's head, but the Xuan-Yuan sword had already disappeared without a trace.
He didn't know when, but the snow in front of him had started falling irregularly, and in far greater quantities.
“Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords!”
Ye Zichen shouted suddenly and violently. In an instant, the snowflakes falling in front of Gu Li transformed into countless illusory swords and flew towards him.
“Seventy-Two Transformations.”
Gu Li cursed inwardly. It had never occurred to him that Ye Zichen would use the Seventy-Two Transformations here.
The illusory swords were already perilously close, so it was already too late to retreat. He could only protect his vital points and forcefully endure the full might of the Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
The illusory swords pierced his flesh over and over, and fresh blood splattered onto the snow.
But it wasn't over yet.
"Azure Dragon Goes to Sea."
Roar……
The roar of an azure dragon shook the ravine, and an illusory azure dragon manifested behind the floating Xuan-Yuan sword.
The dragon opened its jaws and descended with a roar.
Gu Li had just barely blocked the Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords, and now he had to take this sword art too. He could no longer stop himself; with a stifled groan, he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Cough...."
Gu Li knelt against the ground in agony. His eyes bulged outward as he coughed up a huge mouthful of fresh blood.
"Is that really him?"
Su Liu'er couldn't help but be stunned. From the very start she'd worried Ye Zichen would lose and had even agreed to step in with Nuwa if he couldn't defeat Gu Lu.
But in the current situation, Ye Zichen held an absolute advantage.
Inexplicably, she and Nuwa simultaneously turned their gazes to the Zombie progenitors. Since the two of them had planned to step in, then they.....
Hm?
It seemed as if they had no intention to lend a hand whatsoever.
From their expressions, what Su Liu'er saw was...
Coldness.
Ye Zichen landed a series of interconnected hits, but said no words of mockery at all.
At this point, mocking Gu Li meant giving him an opportunity to catch his breath. Villains died of talking too much; years of watching television dramas had taught him that.
He wanted to kill Gu Li, not play with him.
Squint.
Light flashed around Ye Zichen, and an illusory golden dragon manifested behind him.
Its eyes opened, and a pride that scorned the entire world radiated outward.
Occasionally, the azure dragon would cry out mournfully from within the Xuan-Yuan Sword. The sword, still hovering in the air, instantly shot golden light in all four directions.
“Xuan-Yuan Dragon Slaying Technique!”
This sword art was developed purely by the Yellow Emperor himself, and originated from the comprehensions he'd gained forging the Xuan-Yuan Sword.
When the Xuan-Yuan Sword had first been forged, it lacked an edge.
The Dragon race had researched countless other methods before realizing that slaying a dragon was the only way to put an edge on the Xuan-Yuan sword.
Bathe a blade the fresh, hot blood of a dragon, and it would grow sharp.
The dragonslayer had to be the weapon's master. As long as he truly slayed a dragon, this divine treasure would always and forever only recognize him as its master.
This was why, no matter how many times he reincarnated, and no matter how long the Xuan-Yuan sword went without a master.....
It would forever be a weapon that only the Yellow Emperor could use.
It only recognized one master, and that person was the Yellow Emperor.
The mournful cries of the azure dragon were so loud that even the deaf could hear them. Ye Zichen's eyes glinted with golden light.
"Descend!"
Xuan-Yuan Dragon Slaying Technique.
His strongest sword art.
“……”
Gu Li, still kneeling on the ground, leapt violently upward. The "Azure Dragon Goes to Sea" had already injured him heavily.
The dragon roared, and the sword cried out mournfully.
Whump.
It passed through his body.
A bowl-sized bloody wound appeared in the center of Gu Li's chest. His expression was unwilling as he covered his bleeding wound with his hands.
"You......"
It was over.
Everything was over.
Ye Zichen had released his strongest sword art. This had been a huge test of both his spiritual energy and his mental fortitude.
He took a deep breath, but just as he thought everything was over....
"Heh..."
Gu Li's eyes dimmed, but suddenly he grasped the Xuan-Yuan sword's blade with force. The hole in his chest began emitting purple-colored smoke.
"You've really pissed me off now."