"Rumble!"
At the other end of the divine temple, Yun Chan and the Ghost Mask's battle had reached its boiling point.
Crimson sword energy and black cross-shaped slashes clashed wildly, sending ripples of energy that shook the surrounding stone walls and left them webbed with cracks. Rubble rained down as dust billowed through the air.
Yun Chan fought like a woman possessed. She held nothing back with each strike, swinging with wild abandon as if she meant to tear the thief who dared steal her opportunity to pieces.
The crimson Phoenix phantom behind her grew increasingly solid. Each beat of its wings sent blazing flames surging skyward.
The Ghost Mask, meanwhile, darted through the furious onslaught like a specter. His movements were strange and silent, and the twin blades in his hands appeared from the most improbable angles, parrying, deflecting, and counterattacking with precision.
He said nothing, but the gaze behind his mask grew colder by the moment. He had been used as a weapon. He would settle that score.
Both experts were fighting in earnest, their attention fixed entirely on each other. Neither dared let their guard down for even an instant.
This was exactly the opportunity Lu Yuan had been waiting for.
The agony continued, but a false strength rose within him as well.
He could feel the severed meridians being forcibly reconnected by a cold, viscous force. His True Qi remained weak, but at last it could circulate, however haltingly.
That was enough!
He drove his legs forward and moved like a boneless gecko, keeping close to the shadows cast by the stone pillars as he silently slid toward the center of the temple.
His movements were slow and light.
He moved each time the clash of their weapons and the burst of energy reached their loudest.