Death Match, Repairing a Mid-Grade Magic Tool

The terrifying power of Spirit-Martial Unity surged and roiled within Xu Yuan. Standing beneath a vast shadow, his magic sword wrapped in red and white qi, he let out a ringing, furious hum.

Nan Yun had reverted to her earlier bewitching appearance. Watching Xu Yuan's rising aura, regret showed in her eyes.

"Junior Brother, if I'd known I would end up like this, I should have learned a soul-controlling art first."

His answer was a terrifying streak of sword light.

Before her words had even faded, the sword light had arrived. Born with the Martial Dao Sacred Embryo, Xu Yuan was naturally proficient in a hundred martial arts. This strike was, of course, unbelievably sharp.

Yet Nan Yun, facing him head-on, showed not the slightest panic in her eyes. For at the very instant Xu Yuan raised his sword, a figure no slower than him had already blocked the space between him and Nan Yun.

The aged face twitched incessantly, and traces of pain could still vaguely be seen upon it. Yet this copper corpse's attack did not pause in the slightest. The sharp claws that had just pierced through Zhu Zihua now stabbed toward Xu Yuan's waist.

There was no need to think. Before his sword could fall upon that blood-red dress, he would undoubtedly be executed first.

Twisting his waist, Xu Yuan drew back his sword. His battered magic sword slashed across the other party's hand, but just as he sought to borrow the force to drift away, the copper corpse suddenly disregarded everything and fiercely clenched the magic sword in its hand.

A sharp sizzle rang out. Thick black smoke billowed from the copper corpse's hand. Nan Yun's face darkened, seemingly not expecting the magic sword in Xu Yuan's hand to be scarcely inferior to Zhu Zihua's Kwai Water Heavenly Yin Sword.

"Kill him!"

At the furious command, the copper corpse before Xu Yuan glared with blood-red eyes. Its bone-deep hatred for Nan Yun made it want to tear her to shreds every moment of every day, yet under the control of the corpse-refining art, it could only obey her every word.

That inescapable rage and despair thus transformed into even more terrifying resentment.

With an enraged roar, the copper corpse raised its free right hand, then smashed it fiercely toward Xu Yuan.

His magic sword restrained, Xu Yuan had almost nowhere left to retreat. Yet there was not the slightest trace of retreat in his eyes. He deliberately split the skin between his fingers, letting blood that restrained evil creatures flow out. Power surged through his entire body once more as he met the attack head-on.

Under all those enhancements, the force of Xu Yuan's punch was already terrifying enough. Yet when it landed on the copper corpse, the creature did not even sway. The madness in its eyes grew fiercer, and with a sudden exertion of strength, it forced Xu Yuan down.

"Junior Brother, though I don't know how you cultivated this Spirit-Martial Unity to such a formidable level, the copper corpse I painstakingly refined can contend even with veteran mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. How could you possibly stand against it?"

The indifferent voice sounded out. Xu Yuan keenly sensed a peculiar fluctuation of spiritual qi appearing around her. The next moment, a pink mist suddenly shot from her hand, blanketing the area three zhang ahead.

Having witnessed Xu Yuan's horrifying defensive strength, Nan Yun was not foolish enough to use her poorly mastered offensive spell. Instead, she took another path and employed a mind-disordering art she had learned at Desire Immortal Pavilion.

"Junior Brother, Senior Sister also wants to see whether your heart is as hard as your body."

Nan Yun's voice changed again, so soft and seductive that it made one's entire body go limp. Xu Yuan's heart jolted. All sorts of blood-heating scenes had suddenly appeared in his mind, and an inexplicable heat even spread through his body.

What was happening? Hadn't he tightly sealed his mouth and nose just now, even closing his pores? Why had he still fallen victim to it?

The world before his eyes seemed to turn upside down. Even the copper corpse in front of him appeared to transform into a naked beauty. He hurriedly shook his head, but still could not dispel the illusion.

With a fierce twist of his right hand, the magic sword broke free from the copper corpse's grasp. The pungent stench of the filth-blood that burst forth briefly brought Xu Yuan back to clarity, but only for an instant before his consciousness began sinking again.

Relying on bodily instinct to evade several attacks from the copper corpse, Xu Yuan retreated continuously, yet still did not forget to sneer, "Senior Sister Nan Yun truly has impressive skills. As expected of Desire Immortal Pavilion's top courtesan!"

"Pfft." But Nan Yun did not fall for that at all. She gave a silly little laugh and continued, "Back then, this little trick of mine earned me quite a few spirit stones. This Corpse Transformation Pill of mine, and the bewildering formation trapping you all, were all earned by accompanying one man after another. Well, Junior Brother? Aren't you terribly envious?"

"Pah, you thieving wench."

Spitting on the ground, Xu Yuan knew it was useless to try to make her reveal a flaw through words. However, his objective had now been achieved.

During those exchanges of attack and defense, he had already reached the spot where Zhu Zihua had fallen.

"Stop him!"

Nan Yun frowned in the distance. Though she did not know what Xu Yuan intended, she instinctively felt that his approach toward Zhu Zihua's corpse had some purpose.

The copper corpse's speed abruptly increased. In the blink of an eye, it loomed above Xu Yuan, an immense pressure crashing down upon him. Yet Xu Yuan's expression remained unchanged. With a backward flick of his magic sword, he drew out a cloth pouch hidden in Zhu Zihua's sleeve. Then he ducked low and rolled like a lazy donkey, evading the copper corpse's pounce.

This sequence of movements seemed to have been rehearsed countless times. Xu Yuan achieved his goal with almost no effort.

"So it really is a storage pouch. This bastard was quite wealthy."

Squeezing the cloth pouch in his hand, Xu Yuan ignored the nearby copper corpse and charged straight into a room ahead.

"Chase him!"

Nan Yun shouted in exasperation. Xu Yuan's verbal insults had not changed her expression in the slightest, but seeing him snatch Zhu Zihua's storage pouch truly shattered her composure.

The copper corpse chased after Xu Yuan and rushed inside. At that moment, Xu Yuan suddenly swung his magic sword, destroying all four supporting pillars around him. With a thunderous boom, the entire room collapsed.

Dust and smoke billowed everywhere, startling away more than half the crows that had been circling overhead.

But such an attack should have been completely useless against a copper corpse. What was Xu Yuan trying to do? Was he merely stalling for time?

Nan Yun narrowed her eyes at the collapsed building ahead. Just as she pondered the meaning behind his actions, a fiery-red streak of sword light suddenly shot into the sky.

Even several zhang away, Nan Yun could feel the scorching blast of heat. The next moment, Xu Yuan leaped up from where the sword light had burst forth, looking down at the copper corpse that had just emerged.

The cloth pouch had been opened and hung at his waist, but the magic sword in his hand was now completely different from before.

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[Red Snake (Mid-Grade Magic Artifact)]

[Status: Flawless]

[Current Trait: Carefully Repaired (Light Blue)]

[...]

After using the fifty spirit stones from Zhu Zihua's storage pouch, Xu Yuan successfully repaired the previously damaged magical artifact.

"Why?"

Nan Yun stared blankly at the mid-grade magical sword in Xu Yuan's hand. But after hesitating for only an instant, she immediately formed another hand seal and released a cloud of pink smoke.

No matter what was going on, the other side was now an even greater threat. She had to act quickly...

As the smoke spread, Nan Yun's pupils immediately widened uncontrollably again. The pink smoke that had affected Xu Yuan moments ago settled over him now, yet he showed no reaction at all.

Raising his eyes, Xu Yuan had a flash of lightning vanish from the depths of his gaze. The next moment, he shot out like a bolt of lightning, already attacking the bronze corpse below.