BOOM—!!! No one needed to say a word.
The instant the scroll unfurled, black flames burst forth around the girl's figure.
Utterly pitch-black fire rolled out from beneath her white robes.
Then she thrust her spear.
Between heaven and earth, countless spear shadows seemed to emerge, shrouding Ji Bochang's body.
Every spear shadow was accompanied by the faint roar of a dragon's head, substance and illusion intertwining, real and false impossible to distinguish.
Yet Ji Bochang merely slowly closed his eyes.
At his level of cultivation, he had long ceased relying on sight to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Instead, he relied on his perception of slaughter, the pull of heaven and earth's vital currents, and absolute control over every minute change around him.
Before the Painting Realm, no matter how many tricks the Chessmaster Realm possessed, they were ultimately mere surface-level techniques.
Crack...
A faint yet crisp sound of shattering rang out above the sea of clouds.
The corner of his mouth curled upward as he looked grimly to his side.
With only one hand, its knuckles sharply defined, he precisely seized the true body of the Purple-Gold Spear hidden amid the myriad phantoms.
A vast vital current surged wildly from his palm, causing the incoming spearhead to crack inch by inch.
Yet as he sensed the girl's undisguised, icy killing intent, he expressionlessly wiped the smile from his face.
"Are you that impressive?"
"Killing the Little Heavenly General wasn't enough... killing so many demons of Cloud-Dream Palace wasn't enough..."
Then, his other hand shot forth with an angry howl.
"And now, you want to kill me too?!"
BOOM!!!
The clouds at the horizon seemed to tremble.
Higher above, amid the drifting mists, in an even Gao-er place, an enormous brush suddenly swept down in fury!
As the brush tip