Chapter 38

Shang Xia's sudden attack was almost a face-to-face strike, severely injuring Ling Que, who was the stronger of the two in cultivation and strength.

The sudden change left Qing Que, who was standing nearby, momentarily stunned. However, as a martial cultivator capable of traversing the Two Realms Battlefield, Qing Que quickly regained his composure. He swung his fists, and a pair of boxing gloves were already on his hands.

Shang Xia's "Mixed Essence Thunder Hand" proved effective, and he immediately dashed out from his hiding place. From a distance of over ten zhang, he leaped, and the mid-grade weapon at his waist, empowered by the yin-yang essence energy within him, straightened. The tip of the sword glowed faintly with essence energy, piercing straight toward Qing Que's chest.

However, Shang Xia clearly underestimated his opponent. Although Qing Que's cultivation was only at the Blood Essence Realm, equivalent to the Martial Essence Realm, and did not match Shang Xia's Supreme Martial Realm, his combat experience and ability to respond to dangerous situations were extraordinary.

Shang Xia's sword strike, though swift, relied solely on the element of surprise and the powerful yin-yang essence energy. Ultimately, due to his lack of sword technique, it lacked variation and was deflected by the continuous punches of Qing Que, who was well-prepared.

Although Shang Xia managed to cut two deep marks on Qing Que's boxing gloves with the mid-grade weapon, he ultimately failed to injure him.

Qing Que, however, used the force of Shang Xia's attack to take two large steps backward, increasing the distance between them while also protecting the severely injured Ling Que.

It was only then that the aftermath of their brief exchange reached the cliffs on both sides, causing large rocks to collapse.

At this moment, Ling Que had already risen from the ground, and his remaining right hand had drawn a nine-section whip from his waist.

Despite his left arm being charred to the elbow by the lightning and a few stray bolts hitting his left face, causing near paralysis and blurring his left eye, as a Blood Essence (Supreme Martial) Realm martial cultivator, his formidable vitality allowed him to still fight despite his severe injuries.

"It's you!"

Ling Que recognized the young martial cultivator from the Cangyu Realm.

On that day, it was this person who took the mutated rain swallow from the string cage, leading to the pursuit by Yan Ming, Hong Que, and Hui Que. Because of this, they had to stay in this area, taking risks all along.

No!

When this kid was chased by Yan Ming, he appeared here now. Where were the others who were pursuing him?

Don't think that Ling Que, who had always been critical of Yan Ming, didn't understand her importance as one of the few pure-blooded descendants of the Fengyan family.

"Where is Yan Ming? Where is she?"

Ling Que might not have realized it, but while he could remain calm even with his left forearm charred and his left eye nearly blind, his right hand, holding the nine-section whip, was trembling.

Shang Xia suddenly realized the importance of the female martial cultivator Yan Ming. Perhaps a few lies could drive the other side mad.

"Hehe, since I'm here, what do you think?"

Shang Xia admitted that after gaining the upper hand, he had the urge to toy with the other side, partly out of a desire to take revenge on the female martial cultivator Yan Ming.

After all, throughout the entire encounter, Shang Xia had never gained much advantage over her, and at the beginning, he had been extremely embarrassed by her.

However, what Shang Xia didn't know was that upon hearing his words, Ling Que's face turned ashen, but his trembling right hand suddenly stopped, gripping the nine-section whip even tighter.

"If that's the case, then you die!"

Ling Que suddenly lunged forward, his nine-section whip whistling as it swept across.

The trail it left seemed to tear the air apart.

Shang Xia's face changed, suddenly realizing he had been tricked.

A seasoned veteran like Ling Que, who had entered the Two Realms Battlefield countless times and experienced dangers far beyond what a novice like Shang Xia could imagine, was not someone whose resolve could be easily shaken.

The emotional outburst was not only to make Shang Xia lower his guard but also to buy time to recover his essence energy.

In fact, Ling Que had indeed achieved his goal, and his first move was a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.

Fortunately, Shang Xia remained calm in the critical moment. He held his sword in his right hand and slowly pushed out a palm with his left hand, which was extremely steady.

The second form of the Mixed Essence Palm: Ignore Distance!

With one push, the powerful palm force compressed the air, creating a void three feet in front of his palm, as if that area had completely collapsed.

Ling Que, still several zhang away, felt his chest suddenly sink, and blood seeped from his mouth and nose.

However, he ignored these injuries and even ignored Shang Xia's attack, charging straight forward.

This guy was determined to die, ready to take Shang Xia down with him!

Shang Xia instantly understood the other's intention and flicked his sword, aiming for the wrist of Ling Que's right hand holding the nine-section whip.

Before the blade reached, the cold, sharp aura of the sword had already cut several wounds on his right hand.

Unexpectedly, Ling Que suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which turned into a spray of blood aimed at Shang Xia's face.

Shang Xia had no choice but to retract his other hand and use a folding fan to block the blood spray. Most of the blood was deflected, but the fan's surface was covered with a third of blood.

Because the fan blocked his vision, Shang Xia's sword, aimed at the wrist, missed and only cut the nine-section whip, failing to stop Ling Que's charge.

Ling Que's original intention was to use the nine-section whip to entangle and restrain Shang Xia, creating an opportunity for Qing Que to deliver a fatal blow.

However, the nine-section whip, cut by the Jade River Soft Sword, lost some of its accuracy and was blocked by Shang Xia's left arm, wrapping around it instead.

Ling Que's eyes lit up, and he staggered forward, closing the distance and colliding with Shang Xia.

Shang Xia's essence energy surged, and a large amount of lightning enveloped his left arm, traveling up the nine-section whip to Ling Que's remaining right arm. The lightning caused his entire body to tremble violently, leaving him unable to move forward.

"Qing... Que, still... don't... kill him!"

Ling Que almost gritted his teeth to finish this sentence.

From Ling Que's desperate charge to the nine-section whip entangling Shang Xia's left arm, and then his near-death state under Shang Xia's martial arts, it seemed like several exchanges had occurred, but in reality, it was just a brief moment.

Qing Que roared in grief, charging out from behind Ling Que, gripping his fists and leaping high to strike Shang Xia's head.

But at this critical moment, several bowstring vibrations came from the valley entrance behind Shang Xia, and several crossbow bolts sealed off all of Qing Que's paths to Shang Xia.

Qing Que let out an angry howl in mid-air, smashing the bolts away with his fists, but he was ultimately stopped.

"Run... run..."

The opportunity was only once, and it was impossible to harm the other side again. Ling Que, maintaining his last bit of clarity, decisively told Qing Que to escape.

Shang Xia suddenly let out a roar, and the nine-section whip wrapped around his left arm suddenly snapped into pieces under the surge of yin-yang essence energy and lightning. The broken sections, wrapped in lightning, crashed into the cliffs on both sides of the valley entrance.

One of the broken sections flew forward and pierced Ling Que's chest.

The powerful force caused Ling Que's body to first turn to the left and then fall to the ground, just in time to see Qing Que's back as he escaped over a hundred zhang away.

Ling Que, on the brink of death, couldn't help but smile.

But at that moment, a familiar silver glow suddenly appeared in front of Qing Que. They moved toward each other and passed by in the blink of an eye.

Qing Que's body continued to run a few steps, and then his head rolled off his body and fell backward.

Ling Que's smile froze on his face.

Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang quickly came to Shang Xia's side, looking at Qing Que's fallen body in the distance and the thunderbird perched on the treetops at the valley entrance, their faces full of shock.

"Senior Brother?"

Jiao Haitang asked cautiously behind Shang Xia.

Shang Xia turned and smiled, his gaze falling on the crossbows in their hands. "Cloud-Piercing Crossbow? I didn't expect such a good thing to be in the Jinyun Carriage."

Huang Zihua smiled bitterly. "This kind of crossbow can only be used to shoot some zombies. Even a newly entered Martial Essence Realm martial cultivator can easily avoid such a crossbow bolt."

Shang Xia laughed. "At least it can serve as a distraction. If it weren't for you guys using the crossbow to block the other Cangling martial cultivator, I might have been injured!"

"Has Senior Brother advanced to the Supreme Martial Realm?" Jiao Haitang asked softly.

Shang Xia had no reason to hide and nodded. "First, search the two bodies. Don't miss any good things!"

As Huang Zihua and Jiao Haitang approached the two bodies, they suddenly heard a rumbling sound from the cliffs on both sides.

Shang Xia looked up in surprise and saw cracks extending upward from the bottom of the cliffs, followed by rocks beginning to fall.

Shang Xia suddenly remembered the broken sections of the nine-section whip that had been embedded in the cliffs.

Could it be that this caused the collapse of the cliffs?

Shang Xia even had time to glance at the broken sections embedded in the rocks and saw that the cracks on the cliffs indeed originated from those points.

Shang Xia quickly walked out of the valley entrance and looked back to see several people inside the valley trying to rush out.

"Go back!"

Shang Xia's face changed, and he shouted loudly.

As he spoke, the cliffs on both sides began to collapse on a large scale, and the rising dust quickly enveloped the entire hill area.

After the dust finally settled, Shang Xia and the others outside the valley found that the entrance to the valley was completely blocked.

"What... what do we do now?"

Huang Zihua looked at the pile of rocks blocking the valley entrance, unsure of what to do.

Jiao Haitang, who had already searched Ling Que's body, walked over and said, "The cliff collapse only blocked the exit. The people inside are not injured. They can just climb over the ridge like Senior Brother did."

Huang Zihua patted his head and smiled bitterly. "That's true. I was worrying for nothing. It's just a pity about the Jinyun Carriages and the Chiyun Horses. They probably won't be able to come out for a while."