Chapter 44: The Clash of Both Sides

Xiao Yi shielded Su Wan behind him, a half-foot-tall flame leaping upon the dual-colored fire crystal in his palm. "A pack of clowns, and you dare attempt to seize my treasure? Then do not blame me for showing no courtesy!"

"Heh, Xiao Yi, you dare utter such arrogant words when facing the three of us? Today, your death is certain."

"Do you know the origin of this blade?" Lei Jingxian's black robes fluttered violently under the surge of spiritual power, his voice exploding forth wrapped in thunder.

"Forged from deep-sea thunder iron over a century, tempered by ten thousand heavenly lightningbolts, this blade has slain demons of the Integration Realm! A scoundrel of the Void-Refining Seventh Layer like you—are you worthy for me to draw it?"

He sneered inwardly, knowing that the boy's Emperor-Burning Heavenly Flame was merely a heterodox trick. Once his "Purple Thunder Glowing Heavenly Dragon" was unleashed, he would surely make him understand the might of the orthodox thunder techniques of the Myriad Thunder Valley.

Among the surrounding cultivators, someone immediately drew a sharp breath, and a cultivator tugged at his companion's sleeve.

"Did you hear that? Young Master Lei's 'Prison-Suppressing Thunder Blade' is said to be capable of splitting a ten-thousand-fathom deep sea. Back in the day, his father relied on this blade to slash straight through the vanguard of the Demon race in the desolate battlefield!"

The grey-robed cultivator beside him turned pale. "More than that! The thunder techniques of the Myriad Thunder Valley naturally restrain strange flames. Xiao Yi's Void-Refining stage fire spiritual power will likely be shredded to pieces the moment it touches the lightning force!"

Yin Qianrou stood by Lei Jingxian's side, lightly waving her bone fan. The demonic power of the Integration Third Layer condensed into a black aura around her, and hair-thin Azure Silk Worms writhed along the edge of the field, exuding a fishy stench that corroded spiritual energy.

"Why must Young Master Lei be so angry?" Her gaze shifted, and the insect on her fingertips suddenly grew three inches longer. "This Xiao Yi's Emperor-Burning Heavenly Flame happens to be able to dissolve the final layer of restriction on my 'Myriad Insects Soul-Devouring Array'. Why not yield it to me?"

Gasps of astonishment immediately rose from the crowd of onlookers. "It is the Myriad Insect Sect's 'Azure Silk Bone-Corroding Insect'! That tragic incident in the Misty Swamp three years ago—that was the very thing that chewed an entire town into bare skeletons, eating even through magical treasures!"

"And Yin Qianrou's 'Myriad Insect Mother Nest'! It is said to be a worm pouch at the Earth-grade high-tier defensive spiritual treasure level, which even the flying swords of Integration Realm cultivators failed to pierce back then!"

Xie Qinghan's Azure-Edge Sword pointed obliquely at the ground, the sword pressure of the Integration Third Layer cracking the ice sheet inch by inch. The two characters "Azure Edge" embroidered on his moon-white sword robe shimmered with spiritual light.

"The Azure-Edge Sword Sect has been passed down for three millennia, and the 'Azure-Edge Sky-Rifting Sword' has once forced back cultivators of the Integration Realm," he said indifferently, yet with an innate sense of superiority. "It is already supreme fortune for you to die beneath this move."

"Quickly look at the jade wall in Young Master Xie's hand!" Someone in the crowd cried out in alarm, pointing at the white jade wall radiating clear brilliance. "That is the Azure-Edge Sect's foundational treasure, the 'White Jade Wall'! It is said to have been refined from the extreme northern cold jade and can withstand three full-force strikes from Void-Break Realm cultivators at full strength!"

A cultivator immediately chimed in, his voice full of wonder, "More than that! During the Kunlun Ruins mystic realm trial the year before last, Young Master Xie relied precisely on this jade wall to block the 'Thousand-Mile Freezing' technique of three Integration-stage snow dragons, without even a trace of cold air touching the hem of his garment! The defense of this jade wall ranks in the top ten of the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"Void-Refining versus Integration, and three of them at that! This disparity is like ants trying to shake a tree; Xiao Yi and his companion do not even have a chance to escape!"

Everyone felt a sense of pity for Su Wan and Xiao Yi.

Su Wan gripped the Flowing Light Purple Lightning Sword tightly, the seventy-two thunder-drawing runes along the spine of the sword illuminating under the spiritual power of the Void-Refining Sixth Layer.

The phantom of the Taia Remnant Sword slowly unfolded behind her. Within the mottled rust on the sword body, primeval imperial dragon Qi flowed, intertwining with thunder patterns to form a bizarre pattern.

"Senior Brother, let us charge together!"

"Very well." The dual-colored fire crystal in Xiao Yi's palm sent up a half-foot flame, the ice-and-fire energy of the Void-Refining Seventh Layer forming a spiral airflow around him. His dormant Emperor-Burning Battle Physique began to awaken, and pale golden flame patterns emerged beneath his skin.

At this moment, Lei Jingxian roared as he slashed his blade downward: "Purple Thunder Glowing Heavenly Dragon!"

Three purple lightning arcs condensed into a roaring thunder dragon in mid-air, its claws tearing through the air with a piercing screech, sending ripples across space wherever it passed.

Yin Qianrou simultaneously and gently waved her bone fan: "Myriad Insects Soul-Devouring Array!"

Myriad insects wove a black net within the mist, the meshes flickering with a deep blue poisonous light as they lunged toward Xiao Yi.

Xie Qinghan pointed his sword at the firmament: "Azure-Edge Sky-Rifting Sword!"

The Azure-Edge Sword transformed into a sky full of sword shadows, descending upon Su Wan to kill her.

As the three fatal techniques fell simultaneously, the ice and magma around the cold pool instantly mingled to form boiling steam, and even the Void-Refining cultivators watching from the sidelines vomited blood from the aftermath.

Some were blown away by the airwaves and slammed into the rock walls, the blood they coughed up mixed with shattered bone: "It's over, it's over! With this kind of might... even a Void-Refining Ninth Layer cultivator would be instantly ground into minced meat!"

"Now is the time! Strike!" Xiao Yi and Su Wan shouted in unison.

Xiao Yi pushed forward with both palms, and the dual-colored fire crystal surged abruptly: "Flame-Ice Truth-Breaking Spear!"

The golden-red Emperor-Burning Heavenly Flame burned on the outer layer, the heat capable of boiling seas causing space itself to distort;

The deep-blue Southern Ming Primordial Fire rotated at the core, its all-freezing chill causing the lightning arcs to grow sluggish.

The two strange flames intertwined into a spiral spear, and under the enhancement of the Emperor-Burning Battle Physique, ancient battle runes emerged upon the spear shaft.

Wherever the spear tip passed, the insects were burned to fine ash by the flames.

The Flame-Ice Truth-Breaking Spear struck dead center against the reverse scale of the thunder dragon, the ice-and-fire energy instantly dissolving the dragon essence within the thunder runes, before shooting directly toward Leijing Hong and Yin Qianrou.

"What? How can this be?"

Seeing the Flame-Ice Spear hurtling toward him, Lei Jingxian hastily summoned his defensive treasure: "Mystic Thunder Tortoise Shell! Block it for me!"

A black tortoise shell covered in thunder patterns expanded before him, the thunder patterns upon it glowing with substantial electric light. This was an Earth-grade high-tier spiritual treasure capable of withstanding a full-force strike from an Integration Fifth Layer cultivator head-on.

Yin Qianrou also summoned her natal defensive worm: "Myriad Insect Mother Nest! Wrap around them!"

A fleshy worm pouch the size of a millstone expanded instantly, enveloping Yin Qianrou tightly within.

Back then, she had relied on this worm nest to escape unscathed from the encirclement of three Integration Third Layer cultivators, and its defense was evident.

However, the moment the Flame-Ice Truth-Breaking Spear touched the Mystic Thunder Tortoise Shell, the outer layer of the Emperor-Burning Heavenly Flame ignited like bone-gnawing maggots into golden flames.

Before Lei Jingxian could channel the tortoise shell to its full capacity, the core Southern Ming Primordial Fire had already directly burned the Earth-grade high-tier spiritual treasure, the Mystic Thunder Tortoise Shell, into ashes.

Simultaneously, the residual momentum of the spear tip smashed into the Myriad Insect Mother Nest, and the formidable fiery force immediately ground it into fine powder.

Within mere breaths, the Southern Ming Primordial Fire consumed the two of them, reducing them to ashes on the spot.