"Half a breath. Unleash your strongest attack!"
Sun Guoshu's voice rang out the very moment Mu Lian threw the Shadow Space Stone out of the sea of clouds.
Ultimately, Sun Guoshu chose not to strike first when he saw the Shadow Space Stone fly out. Instead, he opted to inform Mu Lian via voice transmission.
Half a breath after the Shadow Space Stone was thrown was the precise moment the two Sword Cultivators' minds would be in turmoil, struggling intensely. This was the opportunity Sun Guoshu had chosen.
As expected, the offensive power of the two Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivators immediately weakened as they rapidly conferred via voice transmission.
But before their discussion could yield a result, a savage look appeared on Sun Guoshu's face, and his eyes instantly turned crimson.
"Die, you bastard!"
The Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator fighting him had yet to react when he saw Sun Guoshu's body swell dramatically, puffing up like a ball in an instant!
'He's self-destructing his physical body!'
The Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator's head buzzed with shock.
In that one moment, not only did Sun Guoshu's aura become chaotic and turbulent, but he also completely disregarded the flying swords carving bloody grooves into his body.
With a wild roar, he charged forward, brandishing his giant saber with an indomitable aura.
An unsettling palpitation washed over the Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator. His opponent was clearly not at the end of his rope, yet he had suddenly chosen to perish together.
Seeing the frenzied look in the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator's eyes, the Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator didn't dare hesitate, immediately flying backward at top speed.
However, he did not recall the nine flying swords besieging Sun Guoshu, thinking that even if it meant damaging those few swords, he couldn't let his enemy escape.
At the same time, the last remaining protective flying sword in the massive casket on his back instantly began to circle restlessly above his head.
As Sun Guoshu's ball-like body charged out, the giant saber in his hand suddenly transformed into an incredibly ugly lizard, which lunged into the sword formation ahead, baring its fangs and claws.
This was an initial-stage second-rank Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard Artifact Spirit, and it was also Sun Guoshu's most powerful offensive magical treasure.
As someone who frequently braved the outside world, he certainly didn't dare to joke around with his own life. At the very least, he had to ensure his strength wasn't too pathetic.
The Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard's pair of giant claws instantly pressed down on two oncoming flying swords. Simultaneously, its massive lizard tail swung horizontally, sweeping toward the front.
"Puff, puff, puff..." Amidst a series of sounds, the Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard's giant claws were immediately severed by the flying swords.
The massive lizard tail also had its latter half instantly sliced into several pieces as it swept across three flying swords.
Since the Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard was left with only its essence soul and had no real physical body, there was no splash of blood. It simply disintegrated into specks of green light.
The five flying swords at the front were momentarily hindered, causing the entire sword formation to stagnate for a split second.
With a fierce push against the void from its remaining two hind claws, the Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard charged out of the sword formation with the front half of its body.
In an instant, it closed to within four hundred zhang of the Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator. Both sides moved extremely fast; although the Sword Cultivator was retreating quickly, he still failed to pull away too far.
Before he could even react, a hint of struggle flashed in the Abyss Earth-Treading Lizard's eyes.
But under the frantic urging of Sun Guoshu's cultivation manual, its half-body erupted with an incomparably blinding light.
"Boom..." A tremendous roar tore through the sky.
Simultaneously, a series of earth-shattering explosions erupted from Mu Lian's side. In almost an instant, Sun Guoshu's ball-like body rapidly deflated, and his eyes returned to being black and white.
Seizing the moment when the opponent's sword formation was blasted open by the magical treasure's self-destruction, his figure flashed and shot out from the gap between several flying swords. With another flash, he was already several hundred zhang away...
Even though the Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator opposite him was already on guard, he had not anticipated this series of actions. Sun Guoshu was simply not playing by the rules. The indomitable, death-defying aura he had displayed just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
Whether a Foundation Establishment cultivator self-destructed their physical body or a magical treasure, the maximum lethal range was typically within three hundred zhang.
Therefore, the moment this Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivator sensed trouble, he had instantly put over five hundred zhang between himself and Sun Guoshu.
At this distance, he still had some time to nullify the threat from the opponent's physical body self-destruction.
But Sun Guoshu's actions were also swift. He completely disregarded the massive damage to his artifact spirit and, within half a breath, forcefully closed the distance to four hundred zhang.
Then, without caring how much damage he could inflict, he immediately chose to have the artifact spirit self-destruct.
Self-destructing at this distance couldn't kill the opponent, or even severely injure him, especially with only half of the artifact spirit's essence soul remaining.
This caught the Sword Cultivator completely off guard. In his haste, the flying sword circling above his head deployed a sword curtain in front of him.
However, although the sword curtain was strong, it only held for a moment before shattering. Even the self-destruction of an artifact spirit with only half its essence soul left was not something his single sword curtain could block.
The remaining shockwaves washed over him one after another. Although the retreating Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivator managed to deflect them with his own cultivation, he was still left dizzy, his head spinning and ears ringing incessantly.
For a moment, his entire being became somewhat dazed.
By the time he circulated his magical power at top speed to clear his head, his companion on the other side had also been thrown back repeatedly by the shockwaves and was now several li away from him.
The moment the two of them regained their senses, they immediately sent out their divine senses to scan the surroundings. The auras of the two Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators were now more than thirty li away.
If they were to give chase on their swords now, they had a sixty to seventy percent chance of catching up to the pair within about a hundred li.
But the two Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivators both looked in the same direction in perfect unison—the direction where Mu Lian had previously thrown the Shadow Space Stone. A hesitant look appeared on both their faces.
For a moment, neither of them spoke up to tell the other to give chase.
This brief delay was all it took for Sun Guoshu and Mu Lian to reach fifty li away, and this was precisely the outcome Sun Guoshu had wanted.
As a rogue cultivator, he naturally knew how to use any available conditions to achieve his goals. The purpose of self-destructing his magical treasure was simply to break away from the battle.
Sword cultivators were too fast. If their opponents were truly determined to pursue them, the momentary delay caused by the self-destruction of their magical treasures would not have been enough to shake them off.
Sun Guoshu just needed to ensure he didn't perish in that instant. When weighing their interests, his opponents would naturally know what choice to make.
What's more, there were two enemies. With their differing thoughts, it was highly probable that neither would trust the other to go and retrieve the Shadow Space Stone alone.
Mu Lian quickly caught up with Sun Guoshu. Sun Guoshu had no time to talk to her at the moment, desperately fleeing forward.
He had done right by his fellow sect member. Otherwise, he would have been much more confident in simply saving his own life.
At this time, he was in no mood to care about what treasure his opponent had just self-destructed or what trump cards she had played.
"Senior Brother Sun, get on quickly!"
Mu Lian caught up at an even faster speed, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.
But a flying saber as thin as a cicada's wing still circled ceaselessly around her snow-white wrist, ready to strike at any moment. She had not detonated this magical treasure earlier.
Mu Lian's aura was even more chaotic than Sun Guoshu's. The Cloud Sea art she had cast earlier had consumed a huge amount of magical power. Now, from hastily swallowing pills, a sharp, twisting pain had begun in her lower abdomen.
Beneath her feet was a cylindrical Gu-insect with a beak as sharp as a thorn and thin wings on its sides.
The Gu-insect was a glossy jet-black, its body marked with ring-like segments, somewhat resembling a dragonfly.
But its small, darting eyes looked like those of a mosquito magnified countless times. Its flight speed, however, was astonishingly fast.
Sun Guoshu didn't recognize this type of Gu-insect, but he wasn't one to be polite at a time like this. Since his opponent had such a fast flying beast, why should he still fly his guts out?
Before Mu Lian had even finished speaking, he had already stepped onto the Gu-insect's back.
This Gu-insect was only about three feet long. Although it could transform to become larger, doing so would undoubtedly affect its flight speed.
At this time, for the sake of escape, they naturally had to use every optimal condition.
As a result, Sun Guoshu's chest was practically pressed against Mu Lian's back.
Mu Lian usually flew on this Gu-insect by herself and had never had such intimate contact with a man.
She could only feel Sun Guoshu's heavy, ragged breaths, with waves of heat radiating from the back of her neck. An intensely masculine scent immediately rushed into her nostrils.
In an instant, Mu Lian's snow-white neck turned a shade of pink, and her heart began to pound violently.
Meanwhile, Sun Guoshu, behind her, was completely oblivious, panting heavily. That last battle had thoroughly exhausted him.
'I almost lost my life here today. What an unexpected disaster!'
Sun Guoshu paid no attention to the subtle changes in Mu Lian in front of him. He hadn't even had a chance to regulate his breathing and recover, yet he was already mentally calculating how many spirit stones this battle had cost him.
He had just consumed a good number of Qi-replenishing pills, and one of his magical treasures was gone. The thought of it made Sun Guoshu's heart bleed.
Those Qi-replenishing pills would have been so much better saved for his future attempt to break through to the Golden Core stage. And now what? He got nothing out of it and even lost a magical treasure.
'No, I need to have a word with this junior sister in a bit. If she doesn't compensate me for these things, there's no way I'm letting it go, no matter what!'
Sun Guoshu immediately made up his mind. All these losses were caused by her. Besides, he had saved her life.
As for the camaraderie between senior brother and junior sister of the same sect, Sun Guoshu felt he had already done more than enough for Mu Lian by not running away first.
So, he quickly began to calculate his losses in his mind, continuously adding to the tally of spirit stones...
For a time, both fell into silence. Mu Lian had no idea what was going through Sun Guoshu's mind at that moment. She was still feeling flustered by his heavy breathing, her whole body uncomfortable.
Her heart pounded, "thump, thump, thump," without stopping.
The two of them continued to fly forward at high speed. Everything unfolded just as Sun Guoshu had predicted; the two Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivators behind them did not give chase.
Before long, Sun Guoshu had finished calculating his losses, adding some extra compensation on top, and had even thought up justifications for each item.
He immediately cleared his throat.
"Junior Sister, this time..."
But just as he began to speak, the space in front of them suddenly rippled, and a voice drifted over.
"Oh? To think I'd run into you!"
With the abrupt sound of this voice, two illusory figures suddenly materialized on the flight path ahead of Mu Lian and Sun Guoshu.
This sudden change gave Sun Guoshu and Mu Lian a huge fright. With a jolt of alarm, the words in Sun Guoshu's mouth were swallowed back down, and Mu Lian's expression changed drastically.
The two figures simply blocked their path.
A moment ago, Sun Guoshu and Mu Lian had not sensed a single thing. If the other party had launched a sneak attack, they might have already been ambushed.
At this moment, both of them had consumed more than half of their magical power. The pills they had taken were chaotic and had not had time to be refined, making them unfit for continued battle.
Mu Lian tapped the Gu-insect's back with her foot and immediately came to a halt. Her divine sense swept forward.
It was a man and a woman. The man had short, jet-black hair that was as glossy as if each strand were a sharp steel bristle. His skin was dark, and his features were exceedingly ordinary.
But his eyes were like two deep, dark pools, giving one the feeling of being seen through completely with just a single glance.
The man appeared to be around twenty years old, dressed in a green robe. Despite his common appearance, he possessed a transcendent and graceful air. He was currently staring at them with a calm expression.