Escape? Where Can You Possibly Run To?

"Fifth Spirit Ability—Sharp Arrow!"

As the words fell, Zhao Linchuan traced his fingers along the blade of the Supreme Ease Golden Edge, and the sword suddenly erupted with a brilliant golden radiance.

The light was fierce and pure, as if the brilliance of the sun itself had been condensed into this single blade.

The sharpness of the intent soared straight into the clouds, as if tearing a rift through the very sky above.

Two golden lights ignited in Zhao Linchuan's eyes, resembling a pair of unsheathed sharp swords.

He held the sword in his right hand, the tip slanted toward the ground, and said in a cold, sharp voice, "Shadowless Sword—Formless Slash!"

As he spoke, he flicked his sword upward.

There was no sword light, no fluctuations, and even the wind seemed to cease, yet Gu Rong's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needle points.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...!"

A series of crisp, clashing sounds, so dense and rapid that it seemed as if thousands of thin swords were striking against tempered steel simultaneously, suddenly rang out.

The sound was sharp and rhythmic, like a torrential downpour hitting a tin roof, or the beating wings of countless hummingbirds.

The phantom of the Bone Transformation Divine Dragon protecting Gu Rong's body suffered thousands of strikes in an instant.

Invisible slashes attacked from all directions, causing the bone dragon to tremble violently. Its spirit light dimmed, its size began to shrink continuously, and the cracks on its surface grew deeper and denser, like rotting wood being devoured by a swarm of ants.

"Ah—!"

Finally, an invisible slash bypassed the bone dragon's defense, pierced through the seemingly indestructible frame, and left a deep, bone-reaching sword wound on Gu Rong's body.

Blood splattered, and Gu Rong's body shuddered violently.

"To hell with this!"

Gu Rong roared, a flash of terror crossing his eyes.

He abruptly pulled back his arms, his Martial Soul Avatar dissipating, and turned to flee.

He moved with lightning speed, his figure turning into a blurred afterimage in the air, but Zhao Linchuan had no intention of letting him go.

Zhao Linchuan tapped his right foot lightly against the ground, and a golden stream of light spread out from his leg like a golden vine, rapidly covering the earth.

The light expanded wider and faster, and in an instant, a hexagram magic array over thirty zhang in diameter rose from the ground. The golden light flared, dyeing the sky for a hundred zhang in every direction.

At each of the six points of the hexagram, a Four-Winged Holy Feather Beast appeared—each with four wings, a single horn, and a length of about two zhang.

They were pale yellow in color, their four wings shimmering with a soft luster under the sunlight, and the single horns on their foreheads resembled exquisite jade swords, emitting a faint golden glow.

"Spirit Bone Ability—Pegasus Spirit-Binding Array!"

"Clatter, clatter, clatter...!"

A series of sounds like dragging chains rang out, reminiscent of the Grim Reaper's scythe scraping against a whetstone.

Six golden chains shot out from the horns of the six Pegasus, moving as fast as lightning to entangle Gu Rong's limbs, torso, and neck!

"Not good!"

Caught off guard, Gu Rong had only just turned and had not yet reached full speed when the six chains coiled around his body like spirit snakes.

The golden chains tightened around his limbs and torso, locking him firmly in place, unable to move.

He struggled desperately, only to find that the chains tightened further with every movement, the golden light growing ever more intense as if to swallow him whole.

"Ninth Spirit Ability—Bone Transformation Divine Dragon!"

Gu Rong shouted, his ninth spirit ring flashing instantly, and a massive surge of spirit power erupted from within him.

His body swelled abruptly, his bones cracking and popping. His flesh and blood dissolved, and Gu Rong's figure vanished, replaced by a hundred-meter-long, materialized bone dragon!

The bone dragon was even more massive than his previous Martial Soul Avatar. Its wings spread wide, blotting out the sky, its dragon head held high, and the ghostly green fire burning in its eye sockets emitted a suffocating pressure.

"Clang, clang, clang...!"

The bone dragon shook its body violently in the air, and the sound of several chains shattering echoed from around it. Under its struggle, the golden chains snapped one by one, turning into golden specks of light that dissipated into the air.

It glanced back at Zhao Linchuan, a flicker of wariness and unwillingness flashing in its ghostly green eye sockets.

But it dared not linger for even a second, turning its head and bolting toward the distant horizon with astonishing speed, covering hundreds of zhang in the blink of an eye.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Zhao Linchuan let out a cold shout, pushed off the ground with his right foot, and launched himself into the air, ready to give chase—

"Husband..."

Yan Lingji's voice drifted over from behind, unhurried and calm, "Leave the rest to me."

Zhao Linchuan paused his steps and looked back at her.

Yan Lingji stood upon the ground, which had been ravaged and left unrecognizable by the battle. Her dress fluttered gently in the wind, her hair dancing, making her look like a goddess descended into the mortal realm.

Her sixth spirit ring, that blood-red hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, suddenly flashed!

The phantom of the Mystic Bird Vermilion Bird that had been hovering behind her began to shrink and deform rapidly.

The giant bird's silhouette gradually blurred, its raging flames retracting and compressing inward, transforming into a dazzling stream of light.

In the blink of an eye, the stream of light solidified into a physical form: a vermilion, blood-red longbow appeared in her left hand.

The longbow was entirely crimson, its surface covered in intricate flame patterns. The bowstring was as thin as a strand of hair, yet it shimmered with a pearlescent glow, as if woven from moonlight.

The two ends of the bow limbs curved slightly upward, each adorned with a relief of a Vermilion Bird with wings spread, so lifelike they seemed ready to take flight from the bow at any moment.

Yan Lingji held the bow in her left hand and made a gripping motion with her right. With a flash of vermilion light, a scarlet arrow was already notched against the string.

The arrowhead was as sharp as a needle, and the fletching consisted of two exquisite Vermilion Bird tail feathers, shimmering with iridescent luster under the sunlight.

Immediately following this, the seven spirit rings that had been circling her body suddenly detached, floating into the void before her.

Those spirit rings stood upright one by one, arranged in the sequence of black, black, black, black, black, red, red, lining up like a series of vertical arches directly in front of her arrow.

At the same time, Yan Lingji drew the bow to a full moon.

Her feet sank deep into the ground, causing the soil beneath her to crack and spiderweb outward, forming a crater several meters in diameter.

Pearlescent flames danced incessantly around her, enveloping her entire being in a shroud of holy white light.

Two points of pearlescent fire ignited in her eyes, reflecting the Vermilion Bird reliefs on the bow.

"Run? And just where do you think you can run to?"

"Go!"

Yan Lingji parted her vermilion lips, and the long arrow instantly left the string!

"Whoosh—!"

The arrow streaked forth like a white aurora, trailing a long tail of flame as it flew toward the center of the seven upright spirit rings.

Its speed reached the absolute limit, as if it had left time itself trailing in its wake.

Passing through the first black spirit ring, the arrow's momentum surged, and the ring dimmed.

Passing through the second black spirit ring, the momentum surged again, and the ring dimmed.

The third, the fourth, the fifth... Each time the arrow pierced a spirit ring, its aura erupted in power, and its size grew by a fraction.