Crackle!
It seemed Guan Zhong's Word Spirit needed not even a moment to catch its breath before it finished charging again in the blink of an eye.
After that fleeting instant of respite, the Word Spirit once more shed its form and returned to The Void. Then, within that void, a massive ball of lightning abruptly took shape.
Shi Tiexin had no idea whether this lightning ball was the Word Spirit's true body or something it had released from afar.
Nor did he have any chance to think further.
In the span of a finger snap, the lightning ball had become blindingly bright. With a whoosh, it tore through the air at astonishing speed and blasted straight toward Shi Tiexin's chest.
Immense electrical energy surged at his flesh-and-blood body with the power to rip everything apart. If that electric sphere struck him, even Shi Tiexin would be severely wounded, perhaps even left at death's door.
The wind of Illusionary Arts spread outward as Shi Tiexin flashed away with the wind, pushing his movement technique to its limit. Yet the lightning ball was unaffected by Illusionary Arts and was far faster than him. No matter how he dodged, it reached Shi Tiexin in an instant—so fast that even Shi Yulei and Shen Xingye could not see it clearly.
Was a Word Spirit that had gotten serious really this terrifying?!
Violent Electric Arcs burst forth, carrying the scent of burning flesh, and Shi Tiexin's vision turned stark white from the glare.
Just then.
"Take this—!!" Amid a thunderous shout, a figure flew in from beyond the gate.
His feet traced an unusual footwork, and in an instant, he stepped out seven different afterimages. Each afterimage accelerated him once; layer upon layer of phantoms were cast behind by his true body, driving him