This skinny man in black was no ordinary opponent!
At the sight of their new opponent, Lu Li's expression turned grave.
The man before him was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, but Lu Li could sense a faint trace of danger.
This final battle could very well cost him his life!
"Wait!"
As the man in black was about to enter the hall, Lu Li's expression grew solemn and he called out.
"Hm? Boy, are you thinking of fleeing at the last moment? If you dare run, I'll be the first to kill you!"
Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking glared at him viciously.
"Of course not."
Lu Li's expression was cool and detached as he drawled, "I spent quite a bit of mana and vitality in the last two battles. Let me recover, and change my clothes while I'm at it. Surely there's no problem with that?"
Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking had no reply.
True Lord Yellow Spring and the others furrowed their brows, but raised no objections.
So Lu Li walked back to Ghost Demon True Person and cupped his hands. "Master, please grant your disciple a vermilion fruit so I can restore my mana and vitality."
"Very well. Be careful."
Ghost Demon True Person flicked his sleeve, sending a scarlet fruit flying, and solemnly reminded him.
"I'll be careful, Master."
Lu Li nodded, caught the fruit, and ate it in a few bites.
At the same time, he waved his right hand and took a robe from his storage ring, replacing the tattered shirt and trousers that had been chopped to ribbons by the blade energy.
He took his time, as if deliberately stalling.
In the hall, a cold glint flashed through the black-clad man's eyes. His expression remained unchanged, and he didn't urge Lu Li to hurry.
Li Jing, seated beside the table, was the one who looked like still water hiding a storm. He gripped the armrests of his chair, clearly growing impatient.
Everyone else looked on in astonishment.
Did this Lu fellow still have a trump card?
Bai Jinfei, Second Senior Sister, and Meimei were just as curious, but even more worried.
They could see it, too.
This skinny man in black was the trump card True Lord Yellow Spring and the others had arranged!
Junior Brother Lu was in danger!
At last, Lu Li changed into a fresh blue robe. His vitality was brimming, and his mana had fully recovered.
Everyone's expressions grew solemn as they fixed their eyes on him.
Even Scripture Protection Elder was no exception.
After all, the stakes behind this battle were enormous. Even he was deeply invested!
"All right."
The next moment, Lu Li turned to face the skinny man in black and smiled faintly. "Senior Brother, to keep things fair, I'll count down three numbers. When I reach one, we start. How does that sound?"
"Fine."
The skinny man in black nodded, his voice muffled, as if he had something in his mouth.
Mana began to surge through his body, pouring into the "Pear Blossom Bloom" and "Tiger Soul Jade Talisman" in his hands.
At the same time, the Pure Silver Sword Pellet in his mouth began to glow. Silver sword patterns appeared across its surface.
As soon as the match began, the Tiger Soul Jade Talisman would shoot out and shake Lu Li's soul!
Leaving him unable to move!
Then Pear Blossom Bloom and the Sword Pellet would fly out together!
No matter how formidable the kid's golden body was, he'd be cleaved in two and riddled with holes!
"Good! Three..."
Lu Li began counting down.
The skinny man in black focused every ounce of his attention on Lu Li's lips. He was already anticipating his next move, planning to attack the instant Lu Li finished saying "two" and was about to say "one."
The kid wouldn't have time to react. He'd die on the spot!
Heh heh.
He'd dared offend Senior Brother Li and True Lord Yellow Spring? He was asking for death!
"...One!"
But the expected "two" never left Lu Li's mouth. Instead, the word "one" rang out, clear as day.
Hm?
???
The skinny man in black froze for a moment.
In that instant of confusion—
Boom!
The earth shook with a thunderous rumble!
His blazing, masculine vitality exploded in every direction.
Lu Li's figure swayed, and ten images of him appeared at once.
Spirit Ghost Phantom Step!
Layers of Ghost Shadows!
The skinny man in black's vision blurred. He couldn't lock onto a single target.
The next moment, the ten figures surged into the air and lunged at him.
All ten afterimages thrust enormous palms toward him in unison.
What was this?
A palm technique from the heavens?
The skinny man in black instinctively looked up, then froze again.
Then—
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!
Ten dragon roars burst through the hall, splitting eardrums.
Amid the earthshaking roars, the skinny man in black saw golden dragons fly from the palms of those ten afterimages!
Ten in all!
Each one was over ten feet long and as thick as a century-old tree. Their bodies were half-substantial, half-illusory, gleaming with golden light as they twisted, thrashed, and roared their way toward him!
Their crimson eyes were savage and menacing!
Flying Dragon in the Sky!!!
Seeing the golden dragons pounce, the skinny man in black jolted and finally reacted. He didn't have time to think. He flung out both hands and spat.
Roar!
A tiger's roar that shook the mountains and forests rang out.
A pure-black tiger, its body entirely illusory and its bearing fierce and savage, charged straight out.
A giant pear blossom unfurled in his hand, spraying hundreds, even thousands, of golden, hair-thin poison needles in every direction.
And from his mouth shot a sword beam of even purer silver-white, a divine light that seemed to cleave rivers and seas. It slashed fiercely forward!
One golden dragon was cleaved in two.
But the other poison needles and the illusory black tiger passed straight through the golden dragons.
They did no damage at all.
The next moment, nine golden dragons with blood-red eyes slammed into the skinny man in black.
His eyes bulged wide in an instant.
His whole body shook violently nine times.
Then the nine golden dragons passed through him, their forms collapsing into specks of golden light that vanished in the air.
Bang.
With an explosive boom, a huge bloom of blood blossomed in the middle of the hall.
It was dazzlingly bright.
Blood sprayed in every direction.
The thick stench of blood immediately spread through the hall.
Where the skinny man in black had stood, there was now nothing but a pool of crimson blood, scraps of blue cloth, a Black Iron Dice, a shattered jade talisman, and a Black Jade Storage Ring.
The man himself was simply gone.
At the entrance to the cave-dwelling hall, Lu Li landed lightly on his feet. His face was a little pale, but he remained straight-backed.
"Sorry. I won this match."
His gaze swept sharply across the room as he delivered the words coldly.
Afterward, he raised a hand again, sending yellow paper fluttering through the air.
Everyone stared as the paper landed in the blood and turned red, utterly stunned.
Even Ghost Demon True Person could hardly believe it.
Lu Li had won again?
And in a single move!
The man in black had been carrying a whole arsenal of deadly techniques, yet he had still died at Lu Li's hands! He hadn't even lasted three breaths!
There wasn't even a whole corpse left!
It had happened too fast.
On the other side, the composed expression finally vanished from True Lord Yellow Spring's face, replaced by a trace of cold, shadowy gloom.
True Lord Flying Fox and Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking also stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Li Jing's expression was the worst of all.
His face turned iron-gray, then black as the bottom of a pot, then pale as paper, cycling through every shade. He gritted his back teeth as if they were about to shatter.
The trump card he had painstakingly prepared had died just like that?
Without so much as harming a hair on Lu Li's head?
And now his Master, True Lord Flying Fox, and Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking had all lost a supreme treasure because of him?
Pfft.
At the thought, Li Jing's pupils shrank. He coughed up a mouthful of blood in a furious fit.
"I refuse to accept this!"
At that moment, Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking smashed the newly delivered table with a bang, sprang to his feet, and roared in fury, "The kid said he'd count down three numbers, but he only counted two! He went straight from three to one! He cheated! I refuse to accept this!"
Everyone snapped back to their senses at his words.
That was right.
They had agreed on a countdown of three, but Lu Li had only counted two. He'd cheated!
Everyone turned to look at Lu Li.
"I didn't cheat."
Lu Li remained composed and drawled, "Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking, think carefully about what I said. I said, 'To keep things fair, I'll count down three numbers. When I reach one, the match begins.'"
"That's right! I remember perfectly, boy! You only said two numbers!"
Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking gripped the God-Urgent Wood in his hand, his gaze sharp and icy.
"Senior, think about it carefully."
The corner of Lu Li's mouth curled into a slightly wicked smile. "After that dead man in black agreed, what did I say?"
"You said, 'Good! Three... One!' Then you attacked right away! How is that not cheating?"
Great Devil King Heaven-Shaking spoke with murderous fury.
At his words, True Lord Yellow Spring's expression darkened.
Lady Red Furnace, Green Lotus, Ghost Demon True Person, Scripture Protection Elder, and Second Senior Sister Meimei all brightened with understanding.
They had figured it out.
"Senior, you don't seem to have much of a brain."
Lu Li raised three fingers and folded them down one by one, grinning wickedly. "'Good, three, one'—aren't those three numbers? I did wait until I reached 'one' before attacking."
"So I won this match fair and square!"
Before you continue