The tall flame spirit's spear was blocked off to one side by the Thunderclap Shield, and the two sides were temporarily locked in a stalemate.
Meanwhile, Bai Huang's Heaven-Sundering Sword Qi had already arrived.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang You reached out with one hand and grabbed directly at that slash, creating a truly shocking sight.
White light flashed, and a powerful shockwave scattered in all directions. Several nearby flame spirits exploded on the spot, turning back into flames once more.
Another huge wave of blue-white qi was credited to his account!
"Nothing special!"
As the intense light dispersed, just as everyone thought Zhang You would be cleaved in two, a mocking laugh rang out from the field.
Zhang You was gripping the sword qi with one hand, and rings of spiral ripples spread from the point of contact.
That sword qi was shrinking, its power rapidly declining.
Before long, the sword qi vanished. A ball of spiritual power appeared in Zhang You's hand, containing threads of blood qi and electric arcs!
This was the strength of Stars Shift.
It could absorb and transform other attacks into energy bombs he could use himself, while retaining ninety percent of their original power.
Of course, transformation had its limits. If the opponent's attack was too powerful and exceeded the upper limit his body could endure, not only would he fail to transform it, it would simply be a way of courting death!
Bai Huang had long since regressed to the second level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the attacks he unleashed were still within Zhang You's tolerance.
That was also the conclusion Zhang You had reached after exchanging several moves earlier.
He estimated that even if his judgment was off, at most he would suffer a minor injury. It was nowhere near enough to take his life!
That was why he dared to take it head-on.
"You have a taste too!"
With a grin, Zhang You hurled the energy bomb in his hand at Bai Huang!
Bai Huang was still in shock. He immediately lost the initiative and had no time to dodge, so he could only endure it head-on.
Five swords appeared in his hand. He controlled them into the air, forming a formation that condensed into an illusory sword, which slashed down viciously.
"Boom!"
Smoke and dust scattered, spiritual power ran wild, and a large number of nearby flame spirits were harvested once again.
Zhang You absorbed a great deal more blue-white qi.
Using the Slippery Feet movement technique, he had already arrived behind the tall flame spirit.
"Star Absorbing Great Law: Stars Shift!"
Before it could react, he pressed his right hand directly onto the top of its head.
A powerful suction force burst forth!
"Ah..."
A miserable scream rang out. The tall flame spirit could not break free and instantly shrank by a full circle.
A surge of black flame shot into the sky, wrapping Zhang You within it in an instant.
The surrounding flame spirits abandoned Old Daoist and swarmed over, fearlessly throwing themselves into the black flames!
Before long, the area became a vast sea of fire.
Even from far away, one could see those black flames soaring straight into the heavens.
"Four Symbols: White Tiger Thunder Prison Qi Armor!"
Zhang You had not expected the other side to possess such a powerful trump card. He hurriedly condensed qi armor, temporarily isolating the black flames around him.
His right hand did not loosen either. Gritting his teeth, he decided to fight the other side to the bitter end!
The tall flame spirit shrank at a rate visible to the naked eye.
As for the substances he absorbed, anything that was spiritual power was transferred into spiritual power balls!
He had also absorbed a trace of spiritual power during that time, but it clashed with his own Martial Arts blood qi, rampaging through his body like a wild bull crashing through a china shop.
Luckily, his body's defense was extremely strong and its resilience exceptionally high. Otherwise, he would have exploded on the spot and become a pile of scraps.
Zhang You recalled what Old Daoist had said before.
This world no longer permitted the existence of Martial Arts!
So everything happening now was likely due to this world's rules. Spiritual power and Martial Arts blood qi could not coexist!
Casting aside his other thoughts, he quickly expelled that trace of spiritual power from his body.
As more and more flame spirits threw themselves into the sea of fire from outside, the black flames grew fiercer and fiercer, and the burning pain that reached deep into his soul became increasingly intense.
If Zhang You had not been continuously dividing his attention to maintain the output, the Thunder Prison Qi Armor would likely have been burned to ashes long ago.
By the end, the replenishment of the Thunder Prison Qi Armor was nearly unable to keep up with the speed at which the black flames burned it away!
His heart hardened. He pushed the Star Absorbing Great Law to its limit and, just before the Thunder Prison Qi Armor was incinerated, completely absorbed the tall flame spirit.
In the end, only an extremely tiny black flame remained in his palm!
At that moment, the surrounding flames suddenly scattered outward, forming an open clearing here!
After a prolonged battle, Old Daoist had finally broken through to the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm.
At this time, the surrounding flame spirits were still scrambling to throw themselves into the sea of fire and no longer had the attention to spare for him.
This gave Old Daoist a chance to catch his breath!
He had expended too much and needed to regulate himself and recover.
A vast stretch of the surrounding houses had already collapsed.
Old Daoist retreated, chose a spot to sit down, and adjusted his condition while observing the sea of fire.
In his heart, he prayed that nothing would happen to Zhang You.
Otherwise, he could only choose to cooperate with Bai Huang.
But he did not trust Bai Huang, and inwardly, he still found the idea deeply repulsive!
After withstanding that strike just now, Bai Huang's aura had also weakened considerably.
He looked Old Daoist over, but ultimately chose not to make a move.
He also picked a spot to recover his vitality while staring toward the sea of fire!
"Hm?"
Within the sea of fire, Zhang You stared thoughtfully at the black flame in his palm.
Suddenly, the flame burrowed into his palm and entered his soul sea in the blink of an eye!
"Damn it!"
He cursed himself for being careless and hurriedly turned his senses inward, his consciousness entering the soul sea as well!
At this moment, the black flame had turned into a spirit again, but it was unusually quiet and did not wreak havoc on a large scale!
It was merely looking around!
"Speak. What do you want?"
Zhang You's consciousness form stared at the spirit, unsure of its intentions.
"Little friend, I need your help!"
After a long silence, a thought was transmitted.
"Was that you speaking?"
Zhang You glanced around before finally looking at the spirit.
"Nonsense! Is there a third party here?"
The voice came again.
"Help?"
"Yes!"
"Is it difficult?"
"Not difficult!"
"Can I refuse?"
"..."
"If there's nothing else, could you please leave?"
Helplessly, Zhang You issued an order to expel his guest.
"Hehe! No."
That voice sounded again, though this time it carried a hint of coldness.
"No room for negotiation?"
"You're the one who left me no room for negotiation!"
"You're pretty arrogant! And you're on my turf! Aren't you afraid of death?"
Zhang You did not hold back either!
"You little maggot!"
That spirit directly transformed into black flames, poised to strike!
"All bark and no bite! You must have used up a lot earlier, huh? What, do you want to take root in me? You're forcing me to shut the gate and release the tiger!"
Zhang You summoned the White Tiger phantom from within his Dantian!
Before the black flames could stir up much of a storm, the White Tiger swallowed them in a single bite.
Lightning flashed, and the White Tiger spat out a wisp of Black Flame.
The consciousness within it had already been erased!
A strand of blue-white qi flew out and was directly absorbed by him.
This Black Flame still gave off a faint sensation of soul-searing pain.
After Zhang You had the White Tiger swallow it again, it returned to his Dantian.
When his consciousness withdrew from the soul sea, the surrounding flames receded, while those flame spirits reverted into clusters of ash-black flames.
"Hand over that Black Flame!"
At this moment, Bai Huang stood up again and stopped a hundred meters in front of Zhang You.
Before you continue