Spoils of War

Faced with such a fierce One Sword, Si Ming took a deep breath, his hands intertwined like two snakes, so soft they seemed boneless. Then, his body swayed, and as if he had a premonition, he took a step forward, his hands blooming like flowers.

The moment they touched the sword, the two hands that were entangled together quickly untied in the opposite direction. With each turn they untied, the force on the Collapse Sword weakened. When Si Ming's two hands were completely separated, the force of the Collapse Sword was only 30% of its original strength. He shook his arms, stood still on the spot, and redirected all his force behind him, directly smashing down the wall behind him!

"How could this be!"

Lin Qingtong could not hide her shock. In the past, when she was on missions, she had encountered opponents who were skilled at using minimal force to overcome great strength, but she had always managed to defeat them all with sheer brute force and break through their defenses. This was the first time in her life that her opponent had so easily countered her ultimate move.

"It's too early to be surprised. Here's your stuff back!"

Suddenly, Si Ming wrapped his arms around the Collapse Sword, gathering all the fierce sword energy on its surface and absorbing it completely. Just as Lin Qingtong sensed something was wrong and drew her sword to move aside, Si Ming unleashed his energy through his fingers, using the sword against the sword and reflecting it back fiercely.

Lin Qingtong hurriedly blocked with her sword, but the attack combined the strength of two people. Even with her metal body, she was still shaken so badly that her Qi and Blood and qi boiled, and she was thrown away, crashing through two walls before finally stopping her retreat.

"Surprised? But after some analysis, it won't seem strange. The enemies you've encountered before were far weaker than you. They could use minimal force to overcome great strength, but not immense force. That's why you could use clumsiness to defeat skill. Plus, you're equally proficient in techniques and can seize weaknesses to counter your opponents. But my strength is no less than yours, and my skills far surpass yours. Your methods won't work against me!"

"Shut up! Heavenly Peng's Seven Leaps!"

Lin Qingtong let out a sharp cry, her True Qi erupting and blasting away all the rubble pressing down on her. Then, she took a strange step, her Collapse Sword pointing out in the air, and like a warrior stepping on a celestial platform, she drifted and flashed out six clones before suddenly appearing to Si Ming's left, slashing swiftly with her right hand.

This One Sword strike was unremarkable and was easily blocked by Si Ming's palm. However, the six clones that had been separated earlier merged into Lin Qingtong's main body, causing her power to continuously increase. The azure light on the sword shone brightly, and the sword aura was so fierce that it seemed to make the three armies retreat and was irresistible.

"The Jeweled Tassels Spin and the Stars Sway!"

Si Ming spun around, releasing and then withdrawing his strange power. Several phantoms with the same appearance as him appeared behind him, dancing gracefully and singing like immortals. Although it looked rather strange, this move was the essence of the "Water Moon Precious Mirror" and its power was not diminished at all.

Instantly, the air in the space several feet in radius around Si Ming suddenly became completely devoid of energy, and was absorbed into his body. Even the airflow summoned by Lin Qingtong with the Wenlin Formless Art was absorbed, as was the True Qi attached to the sword. Immediately, the sword's momentum plummeted, and the sword energy dissipated.

"The Flower Garlands Shake and Dragons and Snakes Move!"

After absorbing the energy, a fierce counterattack ensued. The phantom behind Si Ming merged with True Qi, harnessing highly compressed air currents, transforming into the form of dragons and snakes, which rushed out swiftly and crashed into Lin Qingtong.

Boom boom boom!

One explosion after another, the sounds of explosions were incessant. Even with a metal body and defensive capabilities comparable to those of a martial artist who had undergone external martial arts training, Lin Qingtong was still blasted into excruciating pain and powerless to retaliate. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of her metal skin, and she could only retreat step by step. Using the special energy control technique of the Wenlin Formless Art, she released the lethal Gang Qi through the Yongquan acupoints on the soles of her feet as she retreated, causing the floor beneath her feet to shatter inch by inch, leaving deep footprints.

Strike while the iron is hot. Si Ming wouldn't wait for Lin Qingtong to block all of his attacks before making his move. He blocked the attack, then joined his arms together, using his body as a lever, creating a large vortex of swirling energy around him.

"The Water Moon Mirror Shatters!"

Si Ming's hands seemed to transform into a giant drill, charging forward with a sudden burst of energy. As he passed the wall that Lin Qingtong had smashed through, the powerful vortex of energy caused the already crumbling wall to collapse, sending bricks and stones flying like bullets through the billowing dust. It was truly a sky full of bricks, each one potentially fatal.

Lin Qingtong had barely managed to block all the dragon-snake energy when she saw flying bricks coming straight at her. Normally, she wouldn't care about these bricks and would be fine even if they hit her. But she knew very well that the figure hidden behind the rain of bricks was the truly terrifying one.

In a flash, Lin Qingtong reacted, slashing out with her One Sword, but not at Si Ming, but at the floor beneath her feet, causing the already dilapidated floor to collapse.

With a deafening roar, Lin Qingtong, amidst falling bricks and billowing dust, plummeted to the next level, thus avoiding the rain of drilling water and the subsequent pursuit.

"The most accurate judgment, but unfortunately, I'm not the same person I used to be!"

Si Ming released his hands, dissipating the spiraling force, but not the condensed True Qi. Instead, he changed his move with a very smooth motion, retaining the True Qi from the previous move and gathering it all in his left hand. Then, he raised his right hand and channeled his power, making the accumulated power even greater, transforming it from a special move into an ultimate move.

"Countless Demonic Calamities Deliver the Tathagata!"

With his palm raised like a blade, Si Ming, despite his injuries, forcefully channeled his Asura Divine Power, unleashing a crimson blade of light from his palm tip that pierced through the roof of the building before slashing downwards.

"Cloud Peng Rends the Sky!"

Amidst the dust and smoke kicked up by falling bricks, Lin Qingtong gripped her sword with both hands, exerting all her strength. The surrounding air currents exploded and vibrated, forming a howling storm centered on her. Behind her, the phantom of a Peng bird appeared, and she unleashed a divine One Sword strike against the sky.

Outside the building, Nie Wanzhi heard explosions coming from inside, like dynamite blasting a mountain. After thinking for a moment, she still didn't dare to go in.

"Is Si Ming fighting someone inside? There's such a commotion; he really is a hidden master."

Suddenly, she looked up and saw a blood-red blade piercing through the roof, pointing straight to the sky, even dyeing the dark clouds in the night sky blood red. Then the blood-red blade slashed down, splitting the entire building in two like slicing a cake.

At the same time, the wind god roared from the bottom of the building, and the overflowing gale broke through all the walls on the first floor, causing the entire building to sink violently.

Two inhuman forces collided, and the shaking building finally reached its limit. Countless stones fell, making a dull and terrifying sound, followed by a deafening roar, and the seven-story building collapsed completely.

"Is this... a battle of gods?"

Nie Wanzhi was stunned.

Chapter 445 Spoils of War

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Sand's all in my mouth!"

On the ruins of the collapsed building, Si Ming shook his hair vigorously, brushing off the dust clinging to it. Then, looking down at the figure diagonally below, he said, "That was a good hit, quite powerful. It hurt a little."

As the smoke and dust cleared, a disheveled figure was revealed. Lin Qingtong's right hand, which was holding a sword, had been severed at the root and fell to the ground along with the Collapse Sword, stained with blood. She covered the cut on her right hand with her left hand and glared angrily at Si Ming.

"Oh, I thought what flowed through your body was all oil, but it turns out it's blood too. And these blood vessels and veins look pretty much the same as a normal person's. Why not consider replacing them with cables? It seems that so-called metallization is just plating a layer of silver on the outside of your body, nothing too serious."

Si Ming leaped down from the top of the rubble and slowly walked towards Lin Qingtong. His not particularly imposing figure now resembled a demon, bringing a powerful sense of oppression.

"I was careless just now. I didn't expect you to improve so quickly in just two years. You're completely different from the person you were in Russia. But a surprise tactic can only be used once. You won't be so lucky next time."

After being injured, Lin Qingtong calmed down, losing the irritability she had displayed during the battle. It was unclear whether this was an intermittent flare-up or something that only occurred during combat.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Si Ming stopped in his tracks, threw his head back, and burst into laughter. Wasn't all that hard work practicing martial arts for this moment?

He felt an overwhelming sense of joy and comfort throughout his body, and even his cultivation level improved in the process.

"What are you laughing at?" Lin Qingtong said coldly.