Su Miu looked relaxed as he caught the blow, but his entire arm gripping the heavy Kanglong Mace was buzzing with a deep, vibrating numbness that radiated up to his shoulder.
He rolled his wrist to ease the tension and said coldly as he adjusted his grip, "My turn now."
With a casual, practiced swing of the Kanglong Mace, a massive gray dragon—formed of roiling, spectral mist—burst out from the weapon and charged straight at Yunxi.
She hadn't expected his weapon spirit to be dragon-shaped as well, so she immediately summoned the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella, the dark artifact appearing in her hand with a burst of cold energy.
Hei Yao flew in front of her on its own, its black scales shimmering with an ink-like luster as it spread the umbrella wide and blocked the gray dragon's thunderous strike. After circling across the umbrella's protective surface, Hei Yao darted back out and coiled its serpentine form tightly around the gray dragon.
One gray and one black dragon twisted together like tangled rope, biting and tearing at each other in mid-air. Yunxi split her spiritual energy in two, sending one part into the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella to sustain its barrier and the other into the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in her hand, then launched another aggressive attack at the male cultivator.
"Thunder of Ten Thousand Bolts!"
As the black staff slammed down with devastating force, overwhelming thunder followed, crashing into the Kanglong Mace in his hands and his shimmering protective barrier, drowning his entire body in a violent sea of purple-black lightning.
Su Miu gritted his teeth and tried to recall the weapon spirit, but the feedback he received from the bond told him it couldn't break free from the entanglement. He could only form rapid hand seals, creating a thick, verdant green wall around himself to temporarily block the arcing lightning.
With a deafening boom that shook the surrounding air, the Kanglong Mace still collided head-on with the Soul-Shattering Staff. This time neither combatant retreated, but Su Miu's lower body sank straight into the cracked ground from the sheer impact. The shockwave from the clash spread outward, flattening towering trees, shattering rocks, and leveling the grass in an instant.
Borrowing the swift power of the wind, Yunxi blinked away from her original position in a blur of motion. She gripped the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff and charged again, her voice sounding icy.
"Again."
This time, she didn't just strike downward. She thrust, chopped, pressed, lifted, blocked, parried, and stabbed in one seamless, lethal flow. With wind element enhancement, her movements became erratic and unpredictable. Every attack came from a different angle, striking faster and faster each time she moved.
Nearby, Hei Yao wrapped itself tightly around the spectral gray dragon. The two weapon spirits fought so fiercely that sand and stones flew everywhere, sometimes high in the sky, sometimes underground, sometimes burrowing deep beneath the earth. The purple barrier shook violently, as if the sky might collapse and the ground might split apart at any moment.
She felt unsatisfied with the progress of the fight and looked at the male cultivator.
"Why aren't you attacking? Are you too proud to fight back?"
Su Miu's expression darkened as he struggled to maintain his defense. He hadn't ever seen such a relentless fighting style before. He said in a deep voice, "We aren't mortal enemies. Why are you pushing so hard?"
She snorted in derision. "Aren't you the one being aggressive? You wouldn't even give your name and expected me to follow you. Why should I? Just because your cultivation is higher than mine? Why should I obediently go with you? Who knows if you plan to throw me into a trap or find help to take me down. While I am still in a good mood, you had better explain yourself clearly. Otherwise, today ends with one of us dead. Běnjūn hasn't ever killed a Unity cultivator before."
By the time she finished speaking, her voice was cold enough to freeze blood.
He hadn't ever suffered such humiliation in his life. He didn't bother explaining himself further. Gripping the Kanglong Mace, he rushed forward, releasing the full, staggering pressure of a mid-stage Unity cultivator, determined to make this final strike count.
"Good timing!"
Yunxi activated Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind, splitting her form from one into nine. Nine identical figures rushed to meet Su Miu head-on. This collision was even more violent than the last. Blinding white light flooded the entire barrier, swallowing both figures completely.
Hei Yao bit down hard on the gray dragon, then instantly retreated back into the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella. In the next moment, the umbrella blocked in front of her, cutting off the dazzling light of the explosion.
"Mmph."
She let out a muffled grunt and swallowed the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. Protected by the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella, she retreated rapidly through the air. The Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in her hand was still eager to fight, slowly drawing spiritual energy from her body to fuel its flickering runes.
Su Miu wasn't in much better shape. The weapon spirit returned to him, visibly injured. He raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze heavy as it fixed on her.
Yunxi knew she couldn't kill him in a short time, and she feared he might have allies waiting ahead in the distance. She had no intention of being taken away by force. With a cold laugh, she slammed the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff deep into the ground, leaped onto its narrow tip, and rapidly formed hand seals, chanting under her breath.
"I offer my thunder spirit root as sacrifice, calling down the Wrath of Thunder from the Nine Heavens, to annihilate my foe."
As her voice reached Su Miu's ears, the sky above changed instantly. Fierce winds howled, dark clouds churned, and purple thunder flashed wildly against the gathering gloom. In the next moment, he felt himself locked in place by an invisible force. Pressure from the Heavenly Dao crushed down on him, making it hard for him to breathe. Panic finally set in, and he roared.
"Wei Yunxi, have you lost your mind?"
Hearing her name, her eyes flickered with recognition. She said calmly while maintaining her focus, "Trading one spirit root for your life is worth it."
She continued forming the sacred seals. With each hand sign carrying a profound Dao rhythm, she felt the indifferent power of the Heavenly Dao begin to slowly extract her thunder spirit root from her very being.
Su Miu stared at the sky in sheer terror. The sense of being completely targeted by the heavens grew stronger. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, "Stop. I am Su Miu of the Su family. I came under Ancestor's orders to bring you back to the clan to reunite with your mother, Feng Jiayun. I hadn't ever intended to harm you."
She immediately halted her seals, forcibly interrupting the Wrath of Thunder before the sacrifice could be completed. She slowly withdrew her surging momentum. The moment she stopped, the sky returned to clear winds and warm sunlight, as if the violent thunderstorm hadn't ever existed.
She jumped down from the Soul-Shattering Staff and stared coldly at Su Miu until he grew uncomfortable, then spoke.
"Su Daoyou, what I just used was my sect's secret art, the Wrath of Thunder. The price is my own thunder spirit root. Once activated, it would erase you completely from existence. Even if you carried a trace of a Mahayana Zhēnzūn's divine soul, it wouldn't save you."
Su Miu cursed through his clenched teeth, his face pale. "You lunatic."
Yunxi snorted. "Weren't you the rude one first? You explained nothing and expected me to follow you. I would have to be stupid to believe you. Just because you said my mother's name doesn't mean I trust you. I carry my mother's soul lamp in my possession. Since my ascension, it's shown no reaction at all. You suddenly appear and claim you will take me to reunite with her. Do you really think I would believe that?"
This was the first time Su Miu realized how difficult she was to deal with. He gritted his teeth in frustration.
"What do you want so that you will believe me?"
Her face was grim as she looked at him. "Let Feng Jiayun come see me herself."
"Aren't you afraid she will die once she leaves the clan?"
She let out a scornful laugh. "She left me when I was five years old. How is that any different from being dead? The only tie between us now is blood. So whatever schemes your Su family has, using her to threaten me is useless. I have a Mahayana Zhēnzūn backing me as well. Take my words back to your Ancestor."
With that, she withdrew the barrier. As the shimmering dome collapsed, everything destroyed by their battle—the snapped trunks and cratered earth—instantly returned to normal, appearing lush and full of vitality once more.
She waved her sleeve and released the flying boat again, the vessel expanding into the air. After leaping aboard, she vanished from his sight in the blink of an eye.
With a sharp cough, Su Miu finally spat out a mouthful of dark blood. This time, he didn't give chase. He wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand, turned around, and left.