Dragon-Turning Breathing Method

The arrow of venom fired from behind slowed sharply the instant it entered the force field. It also seemed to lose its precise control, becoming somewhat scattered. Though it still shot toward Situ Xuan, its power was greatly diminished.

At the critical moment, Situ Xuan relied on his beastlike instincts and violently twisted his body. The poison arrow grazed past his ribs, and corrosive venom splashed onto his arm. A searing pain immediately pierced his heart, his skin sizzling as it began to fester.

Meanwhile, the Earth-Shaking Giant Ape's furious punch from the side also seemed to suffer a trace of interference after entering the "Darkness Overcasting Heaven and Earth" force field. Its berserk power showed an almost imperceptible hesitation and deviation.

That tiny deviation gave Situ Xuan an opening!

He ignored the agonizing pain in his arm, the fresh wounds across his body, and even the Bloodthirsty Demon Rats beneath his feet that had already bitten onto his trouser legs and even pierced his skin!

In his eyes, there was only the Earth-Shaking Giant Ape, its movements distorted by its injured ankle and the force field's interference!

"North Star Dragon Strikes Tiger!"

He lowered his body, becoming like a demonic dragon lunging from the Abyss, and also like a ferocious tiger descending the mountain to hunt!

Dragon-shaped advance, tiger-like pounce!

He condensed all his strength, Soul Power, Malevolent Qi, and even his boiling will into this combined attack!

His body left behind an afterimage as he barely skimmed past the Giant Ape's deviated fist wind, instantly closing in on the back of the knee of its supporting leg, which its injury had made difficult to move flexibly!

"Break!"

Situ Xuan roared, joining his palms like a blade as black light intertwined with bloody flames. This was no longer Pressure Point Striking, but the purest, most violent severing strike!

Using his hand in place of a blade, he unleashed a resolve to cleave apart everything!

"Rock Mountain Twin Severing Wave!"

"Splat—!"

His hand blade sliced into the Giant Ape's thick knee joint like a hot knife through butter! The explosive crack of shattering bone rang clearly across the clearing!

"Aooo—!!!"

The Earth-Shaking Giant Ape let out an earthshaking howl of agony. Its enormous body could no longer support itself and crashed sideways like a toppled mountain!

Its massive weight struck the ground, setting off a small earthquake. Even the Iron-Winged Goshawk in the air was startled into circling higher.

After delivering that earthshaking blow, Situ Xuan was nearly spent as well.

He dropped to one knee, gasping heavily. Veins bulged on his forehead, while sweat and blood mingled and dripped from his chin.

Waves of numbness spread from the place on his left arm corroded by venom. His right arm trembled slightly from overexertion, and his Soul Power was draining away as rapidly as an ebbing tide.

At his feet, the Bloodthirsty Demon Rats were still gnawing madly. Though they could not inflict a fatal wound anytime soon, the pain of countless ants devouring his body and the relentless drain were still excruciating.

He was nearing his limit.

Inside the monitoring room, Wu Zhangkong, Long Hengxu, and even the Spirit Pagoda staff member held their breath.

They watched the blood-soaked figure on the screen, swaying on the verge of collapse yet still radiating unyielding ferocity, and felt an indescribable shock.

"He... he really..."

Long Hengxu opened his mouth, only to find his throat dry and unable to form a complete sentence.

A sharp gleam burst from Wu Zhangkong's eyes as he slowly exhaled. "It isn't over yet."

Yes, it wasn't over yet!

The Earth-Shaking Giant Ape had fallen, removing the greatest threat, but the Seven-Colored Poisonous Miasma Python and the Iron-Winged Goshawk remained!

They seemed to have been intimidated by Situ Xuan's desperate counterattack, but their greed for the spiritual energy halo soon overwhelmed their apprehension once more.

The Seven-Colored Poisonous Miasma Python wound its way swiftly closer, its cold vertical pupils locking onto the panting Situ Xuan. Its forked tongue flickered as it clearly prepared another attack.

The Iron-Winged Goshawk in the air began diving again. Its sharp claws glinted with cold light, poised to deliver a fatal strike.

Even more Bloodthirsty Demon Rats had already climbed over Situ Xuan's lower body, trying to bury him beneath their numbers.

Situ Xuan raised his head and looked at the approaching venomous python and goshawk, then at the increasing number of demon rats covering his body.

Weariness and madness intertwined in his gaze, yet that unyielding fighting spirit was like a candle flame in the wind—flickering, but never extinguished.

"Heh... hahaha..."

He suddenly laughed softly, his laughter hoarse and desolate, wild and surging. "Come! Come! Come and kill me!"

At that razor-thin moment between life and death, Situ Xuan's wild laughter abruptly stopped.

An unprecedented clarity washed over him like an icy spring poured over his head, instantly cleansing the mind that had been filled with slaughter and madness.

The weariness of his body, the searing pain of his wounds, the depletion of his Soul Power, the external threat of death closing in step by step... all of it seemed to become a strange background noise, distant and blurred.

His consciousness gathered as never before, turning inward and sinking into the deepest part of his body.

"Yin... yang... motion and stillness... life and death..."

Fragmented words flowed through his heart. The profound truths of the Fist of the North Star, the core principles of the Black Heart Evil Palm, every detail of his past cultivation, and this near-death experience collided and merged violently.

He recalled the "yin" of the Fist of the North Star. It was not merely softness and cunning, but a kind of inwardness, accumulation, and stillness that perceived the essence of things. The "evil" of the Black Heart Evil Palm, meanwhile, was movement—drawing upon external force for violent destruction.

Motion and stillness, exterior and interior, evil and yin... they appeared opposed, yet seemed connected by something deeper.

"Transform stillness into motion... First of the First..."

The mnemonic formula of the Dragon-Turning Breathing Method naturally surfaced in his mind. In the past, though he could use it, he had never grasped its true essence and had only regarded it as a technique for improving reaction speed. But now, under the pressure of life and death and with his profound experience of the two martial arts, that veil of mist seemed to have been torn open by a slit.

His breathing changed without him realizing it.

It was no longer merely meant to coordinate his exertion or gather Soul Power. Instead, it entered a wondrous rhythm. Each exhale and inhale was long and deep, as though resonating with a certain pulse in the surrounding environment. At first, it was extremely subtle, like a hidden dragon lying in the depths, restrained and not yet released.

Outside, the Seven-Colored Poisonous Miasma Python had slithered within thirty feet. Its neck drew back as it prepared a fatal lunge, faint light flashing over its venomous fangs.

The Iron-Winged Goshawk dove to its lowest point, its hook-like talons tearing through the air as they struck directly for Situ Xuan's crown.

The swarm of Bloodthirsty Demon Rats had already reached his waist, their frantic gnawing enough to set one's teeth on edge.

Inside the monitoring room, the last glimmer of hope in Wu Zhangkong's eyes was about to fade, while Long Hengxu had already turned away.

At that instant when all sounds fell silent and time itself seemed frozen—

"Hu..."

Situ Xuan's chest rose and fell faintly, followed by an almost inaudible exhalation.

Then, a sudden change erupted!

Centered on Situ Xuan, the air within several dozen yards seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand and abruptly began to rotate!

It began as a breeze, then transformed into a howling gale in an instant!

This was not a storm formed by outwardly released Soul Power, but something closer to the might of heaven and earth itself!

The gale swept up dust, broken leaves, and mangled remains from the ground, forming a gray tornado that wrapped Situ Xuan's figure within!