Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Six streaks of cold light shot toward him. Yuan Lie swung his two Red Gold Copper Rods, whipping up a fierce wind that made the surrounding air tremble.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Six successive crashes rang out as Yuan Lie swung both rods and knocked the flying knives aside.
But the tremendous force contained in those knives still jolted Yuan Lie a step backward.
"You're still Xiantian on the Qi Refining Path?" Yuan Lie's pupils contracted. He hadn't expected the knives Zhou Hao had sent flying to carry such tremendous power.
"No wonder you're so confident. You're not only Xiantian in body refinement, but also a peak Xiantian expert on the Qi Refining Path."
He had been careless and failed to notice that the flying knives contained no Xiantian True Essence.
"That's none of your business." With a thought, Zhou Hao summoned the Water-Fire Taiji Grindstone into existence again, crushing down toward Yuan Lie. The six flying knives whistled back around and stabbed straight at his head.
"How did Motai Jie, a mere Post-Heaven wastrel, manage to provoke a monster like this?" Yuan Lie jumped in fright at the sight. Demonic markings flickered across his body as he swung his Red Gold Copper Rods like a madman, fighting as if his life depended on it.
"Even if you're still a peak Xiantian expert on the Qi Refining Path, controlling flying knives and water and fire at the same time must take a huge toll on your mind. Let's see how long you can keep it up!"
Little did he know that Zhou Hao's soul had already given rise to divine sense. Even before he began cultivating, his control of the flying knives had been comparable to that of a Xiantian expert on the Qi Refining Path.
Now that Zhou Hao had cultivated the Chiming Nine Heavens Map and entered the Xiantian realm, his God and Devil Body had nourished his soul in return. On top of that, he had spent a long time immersed in the Dao-understanding state of "no thought, no desire." In terms of soul strength alone, even a Purple Mansion Cultivator couldn't match him.
"He actually blocked them?" Zhou Hao was a little surprised as he watched the monkey-like "man-woman" fight like a madman.
After all, flying knives controlled by divine sense were much faster than weapons swung by hand, and he had sent all six knives out at once.
He might not have the spells and techniques for wielding flying knives and swords that Xiantian Lifeforms on the Qi Refining Path possessed, but with the knives' nimble, unpredictable speed and the crushing restraint of the Taiji Grindstone, an ordinary body-refining expert should have had his head pierced by now.
"That staff technique seems rather profound," Zhou Hao thought.
The two rods in Yuan Lie's hands appeared to be swinging wildly, without any pattern.
But from Zhou Hao's perspective—one that surpassed Unity of Heaven and Man and had already grasped a trace of the True Meaning of Water and Fire—the staff technique Yuan Lie used clearly reached a state where man, staff, and heaven and earth became one. There even seemed to be a trace of the True Meaning of Wind within it.
Yet Yuan Lie's movements occasionally faltered as he shifted between moves. He hadn't fully blended that trace of the True Meaning of Wind into his staff technique. Zhou Hao guessed that the technique's ultimate moves held some deeper mysteries that Yuan Lie himself hadn't yet mastered.
Otherwise, six flying knives and the Taiji Grindstone alone wouldn't have been enough to hold back an expert at the peak of body-refinement Xiantian with such a high level of mastery.
"If I can't kill you from a distance, I'll do it with my own hands!" Zhou Hao sprang toward Yuan Lie.
"Good! Come on!" A savage grin spread across Yuan Lie's face.
He had been fretting that if the fight continued like this, Zhou Hao might not even be worn down before he himself ran out of divine power. Seeing Zhou Hao charge straight at him, he stamped his foot hard at once.
Rumble~~~
The remaining half of the mountain peak crumbled beneath his foot. Countless stones and clouds of dust flew into the air. He stirred them with his copper rod, grinding them all into fine powder, and then sent them surging toward Zhou Hao like a dense yellow fog.
"Cheap tricks won't work on me." Zhou Hao snickered to himself, never slowing his stride. The moment he charged into the yellow fog, two dragons formed from the power of heaven and earth—one of water, the other of fire—coiled around him and formed a Water-Fire Taiji Diagram to shield him.
Then the two dragons forming the Taiji Diagram spun furiously, whipping up a gale in an attempt to scatter the thick yellow haze obscuring his vision.
But the fog wasn't as calm as it looked from outside. Countless gusts of wind swirled within it, accompanied by staff shadows that appeared and vanished without warning.
Caught off guard, Zhou Hao let one of the Red Gold Copper Rods slip behind him. He hurriedly turned and stepped forward, raising his palm to use "Grasp Sparrow's Tail." He wound his front forearm around the copper rod and followed its momentum, while his divine sense worked with him to dissipate as much of the clumsy force as possible.
But the copper rod was coming too fast. In his haste, Zhou Hao couldn't redirect all of its force.
Thud!
The blow sent Zhou Hao flying dozens of yards. The web between his thumb and forefinger split open, but divine power surged through his body and quickly knit the flesh back together.
"Damn, I really can't underestimate this monkey." Zhou Hao was shocked by the power behind that strike.
He cultivated the foremost method of God-Devil Body Refining, whose strength surpassed all other methods. Even though he had only just entered the Xiantian realm, the power of his divine sense made his strength comparable to that of an ordinary body-refinement expert at the peak of Xiantian.
Yet he had still been sent flying after clashing with his opponent, even after redirecting some of the force. That showed just how much stronger his opponent was.
Zhou Hao was shocked, but Yuan Lie, watching from a distance, was even more astonished.
"I didn't hit his head!?"
Just now, when his copper rod met Zhou Hao's arm, it had inexplicably been deflected, as if it had struck empty air and been drawn off course. The feeling had been deeply uncomfortable.
"Since I obtained this inheritance, I've used this staff technique to kill at least a hundred Xiantian Lifeforms. I've never encountered anything like this before." Yuan Lie thought. "But his strength is inferior to mine. I should kill him quickly while he's close."
The inheritance he had obtained by chance was a God-Devil Body Refining legacy called Divine Arm Ape Demon Body. Compared with other body-refinement arts, its greatest advantage was the immense strength of its arms.
In terms of arm strength alone, even when facing a body-refinement expert at the same level who cultivated the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.
Of course, the Chiming Nine Heavens Map was widely regarded as the foremost method of God-Devil Body Refining because it was comprehensive and could transform its cultivator into a perfect Xiantian God and Devil Body.
But Yuan Lie wasn't an ordinary body-refinement Xiantian expert.
With his peerless strength and the Chaotic Cloak Staff Technique he had obtained alongside his cultivation method, Yuan Lie ranked among the most powerful Xiantian Lifeforms in the Fire Worship Sect.
"Die!" Yuan Lie roared as he charged at Zhou Hao. The swirling yellow fog moved with him, shrouding them both once more.
In the distance, the people of the Iron Ox Tribe hadn't fled. They were watching the battle from the sidelines.
The deaths of their loved ones filled them with grief, but if the Xiantian Lifeform from the Black Hand Tribe survived, their entire tribe would be slaughtered.
"Can Uncle Zhou Hao kill him?" Zhuzi clutched Xiangcao's hand tightly, his voice choked with emotion.
When Zhou Hao had been blasted out of the yellow fog earlier, Zhuzi had almost burst into tears. Now his eyes were brimming, and as the fog swallowed Zhou Hao's figure again, he grew even more worried.
"Don't worry, Zhuzi. Your Uncle Zhou Hao will definitely kill him!" Old Blind Man, whose severed arm had been bandaged, reached out with his remaining hand and rubbed Zhuzi's head.
"Little Brother Zhou won't let us down! He didn't before, and he won't now!" Old Blind Man seemed to be saying the words to Zhuzi, but also to himself.
Iron Ox and the others nodded. Zhou Hao had only been in the Iron Ox Tribe for a few days, but now he was the hope on which the entire tribe's survival depended.
"Zhou Hao, you must be all right."
Xiangcao gazed at the yellow fog, listening to the intermittent thuds coming from within, and silently prayed.
...Inside the yellow fog.
After testing the power of Yuan Lie's copper rods, Zhou Hao completely changed his strategy.
He used the Taiji Grindstone to block and crush Yuan Lie with the power of water and fire. At the same time, he controlled six flying knives, concealed by the yellow fog, to strike at Yuan Lie's head. Against Yuan Lie's staff technique, which was wild as a madman's, he used his bare hands to perform the Innate Taiji Fist, relying on borrowed force and deflection to keep his opponent at bay.
Fortunately, he had already grasped a trace of the True Meaning of Water and Fire and incorporated it into his Taiji Fist, making every turn of his hand and every redirection of force all the more wondrous.
Otherwise, relying on nothing but the mundane Internal Martial Arts would have been nothing but a pipe dream against Yuan Lie's profound staff technique.
"Zhou Hao, if you have the guts, fight me fair and square!" Yuan Lie snarled. "What kind of skill is it to sneak attacks with flying knives?"
"If I can kill you, that's skill enough," Zhou Hao sneered. "You want a fair fight? Fine. Throw away your copper rods, and I won't use my flying knives. We'll fight barehanded. Do you dare?"
Yuan Lie was instantly at a loss for words.
His copper rods looked ordinary, but they were made entirely of Red Gold Crow Copper, a material denser than Thunder Gold.
Each Red Gold Copper Rod was about five feet long and weighed thirteen thousand five hundred pounds. Together, the two weighed twenty-seven thousand pounds. They had been forged in imitation of the famous weapon wielded by an ancient Demon Saint.
Nearly all of Yuan Lie's skill lay in those two copper rods.
Without the pair of rods in his hands, how could he have shattered the seemingly endless Water-Fire Taiji Diagram so easily?
"Just as I thought—you're a coward." Zhou Hao deliberately goaded him. "If you don't dare, then stop talking. If you can't hold on any longer, just give up and die."
Yuan Lie flew into a rage, but Zhou Hao's palms were soft and yielding, as if they held no strength at all. With the flying knives and Taiji Grindstone constantly interfering, Yuan Lie could do nothing but grit his teeth and attack wildly.
"I'm at the peak of Xiantian, with abundant divine power. Let's see how much True Essence you can afford to waste."
Zhou Hao didn't know what Yuan Lie was thinking, but their current battle of attrition was taking a toll on them both.
As the old saying went, "An inch longer, an inch stronger."
In close combat, a weapon was an extension of the limbs, and naturally inflicted more damage in a fight than bare hands and feet.
When one side had a weapon suited to him and the other had to fight barehanded, the armed side obviously held every advantage.
Moreover, just as Yuan Lie had thought, Zhou Hao was using the power of water and fire from heaven and earth to form the Taiji Grindstone, while simultaneously controlling the flying knives to attack and stab at his opponent. It truly took an enormous toll on his divine sense.
Feeling his soul grow weaker by the moment, Zhou Hao knew he had to find a way to turn things around.
Otherwise, even if he managed to escape, the Iron Ox Tribe's hundred-odd members would never be able to stop Yuan Lie from slaughtering them.
"I can only rely on it." With a thought, Zhou Hao sent a wisp of consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness between his brows.
Within his sea of consciousness, a blue flower swayed, its beauty beyond compare.
"The Nine Cloud Seal Secret Pattern Tattoos on my left arm devoured countless amounts of divine power, then turned into a blue flower that grew right inside my sea of consciousness. Incredible!" Zhou Hao exclaimed as he "looked" at the sacred, natural blue flower within his sea of consciousness.
Earlier, while he had been cultivating, the divine power produced inside his body had caused the Cloud Seal tattoos to mutate. He had almost been drained completely.
Only after he had cultivated the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to perfection at the third level did the tattoos seem to have absorbed enough energy and transform into this blue flower in his sea of consciousness.
Whoosh~~~
The moment that wisp of Zhou Hao's consciousness touched the blue flower in his sea of consciousness, the flower swallowed it up. He found himself in a vast, boundless space.
This was a mysterious space within the blue flower. It was an empty void, with only a wisp of pale blue mist drifting through it.
"This Blue Flower Mist can be drawn into my soul with my consciousness and send me into a state of 'no thought, no desire,' allowing me to comprehend the Dao. If I draw it into my body, will it produce a similar effect?" Zhou Hao wondered, filled with anticipation.
By chance, he had discovered earlier that the mist in the Blue Flower Space could put him into a state of enlightenment. If Yuan Lie hadn't interrupted him, he didn't know how long he would have continued to comprehend the Dao.
He even suspected he might have kept going until all the mist was gone.
But Zhou Hao didn't believe the Cloud Seal secret patterns that had accompanied him through two lifetimes would have transformed into a blue flower whose only use was helping him comprehend the Dao.
Besides, if it could benefit even the ethereal soul, then it ought to benefit the physical body as well.
"I'll give it a try." With a thought from Zhou Hao, the mist in the Blue Flower Space began to stream out in wisps.
Following the course he guided it along, the wisps of Blue Flower Mist deliberately avoided his soul and instantly spread throughout his body.
His perfect Xiantian God and Devil Body, nurtured by Lunar True Water and Solar True Fire, suddenly underwent another transformation, as if a withered flower had just been nourished by water.
"Th-this power?" Zhou Hao looked astonished.
Though he hadn't tested it yet, the feeling of strength welling up from deep within made him feel as if he could shatter the heavens and earth before him with a single blow.
"Still daydreaming? Die!"
A fierce wind swept toward him. Zhou Hao had been so shocked that he'd paused for a moment, causing the Taiji Grindstone and the flying knives controlled by his divine sense to stall and leave an opening. Yuan Lie seized his chance.
As he watched the Red Gold Copper Rod rushing down at his head, towering before him like a pillar propping up the heavens, Zhou Hao instinctively struck upward with "Seabed Punch," a move from the Innate Taiji Fist.
The divine power in his body surged and coiled into a spiral, just like the Taiji Grindstone he had comprehended, generating the momentum of a great stone grindstone turning.
Boom—
It was as if time had stopped at that instant.
A crack rang out from the arm clutching Yuan Lie's Red Gold Copper Rod. Then, before his eyes, the demonic-marked arm twisted violently counterclockwise.
Sss—sss—sss...
His arm was his strongest limb, made formidable by his cultivation of the Divine Arm Ape Demon Body. Yet under that wild force, flesh and blood were twisted apart, and the Red Gold Copper Rod in his hand shot away with a whoosh.
"Argh!" Yuan Lie let out a bloodcurdling cry. His right arm hung in bloody strips like tattered cloth, its exposed bone twisted like a hemp rope.
"So the Blue Flower Mist increased my divine body's strength by at least two levels." Zhou Hao stared at his hands, scarcely able to believe it.
To cripple an expert at the peak of body-refinement Xiantian with a single punch, smashing both his weapon and arm, required strength far beyond what Zhou Hao could wield at his current early Xiantian level. He would have needed at least the peak Xiantian level of the sixth stage of the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to do it.
In other words, by drawing that wisp of Blue Flower Mist into his body, Zhou Hao had fundamentally raised his divine body's strength by at least two levels.
"Haha, I knew it! If the Blue Flower Mist can put someone in a state of enlightenment, how could it possibly be useless to the body?"
By now, Zhou Hao had realized just how miraculous the "Blue Flower Space" was.
The Blue Flower Space was practically an otherworldly divine artifact for killing, robbing...
Ahem, no.
It was an otherworldly divine artifact for slaying those at higher levels and comprehending the Great Dao!!!
Another ten-thousand-word update today! It's been four days since I started this book, and I'm already close to fifty thousand words. That's actually a little fast; after all, a new book needs time to build momentum.
Otherwise, if I don't get enough recommendations later, the results will be terrible.
Suifeng is starving, too. I'll grab something to eat, then get back to preparing tomorrow's update.
The first recommendation goes live tonight at midnight. Brothers, send me some votes! It'll give Suifeng more motivation to keep going.
I won't thank all the brothers who tipped me these past couple of days one by one. You're all on the supporters' list; I'll find a chance to thank you together!
Brothers, if you've got money, support me with a tip; if you have time, support me by replying to comments, posting, checking in, and the like.
We're all close here, so I won't stand on ceremony.
Suifeng will keep writing hard and leave Desolate Era with a finished, top-quality fanfic, so all our hard work won't be for nothing.
Before you continue