You're at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer Too?

After overpowering Li Yu with his formidable strength, Ying Ruomu felt an unprecedented surge of joy.

For him, what came next would be the most satisfying moment of his life.

He raised his palm toward Li Yu, who was surrounded by vines. Emerald spiritual light flickered, and a long, thick wooden spike appeared, like a sharp arrow.

"Li Yu, as the sacrifice that brings my state of mind to perfection, your name will live on in my memory. You should feel honored."

With those words, Ying Ruomu shot the wooden spike from his palm. Like an emerald crossbow bolt, it pierced through the vines and hurtled toward Li Yu's heart.

Then, as though it had struck an invisible wall of air, the wooden spike began dissolving inch by inch from its tip, right before Li Yu's chest.

"A defensive Spirit Artifact?"

That possibility flashed through Ying Ruomu's mind at the sight. After all, Li Yu's Violet Light Umbrella was renowned throughout Hanging Moon Peak.

Just then, the shriek of tearing lightning rang out.

At first, Ying Ruomu thought Ying Feiyun had unleashed his full strength, but he soon realized it was Li Yu raising his hand. A lance of blue-white lightning erupted from his sleeve.

"Yi Xiao Mystic Thunder! No, I didn't see him cast anything. He used a talisman to unleash it instantly..." Having fought Li Yu on Hanging Moon Peak for nearly half his life, Ying Ruomu knew all his tricks like the back of his hand. He understood the moment he saw the blue-white lightning.

Since it had been unleashed instantly through a talisman, its power could not be too far beyond the norm.

Ying Ruomu poured true essence into the Pure Heart Lotus in his hand. At his thought, one lotus petal moved to shield him, blocking the Yi Xiao Thunder Talisman.

The scene of Li Yu blocking the wooden spike with the Su Yi Essence Shield played out again before Ying Ruomu.

Tsk, a Spirit Artifact really does live up to its name!

Li Yu secretly envied him. He knew that although this Yi Xiao Thunder Talisman was almost as powerful as the Mystic Thunder he could cast at his peak, it still could not break through Ying Ruomu's defenses while he had a Spirit Artifact protecting him.

Unless he had more of them.

But he had only two left. Even if he used them all, he could at most break through this single lotus petal, and the Pure Heart Lotus still had five others.

Still, those five could not all be for defense. He needed to probe a little further.

As Li Yu considered this, his hands never stopped moving. Seeing that the thunder talisman's power could not break through, he instantly changed its direction, sweeping the blue-white lightning across his surroundings.

Under the lightning's bombardment, the emerald vines trapping him immediately writhed.

Then, amid a series of strange popping sounds, they dispersed, turning back into a lotus petal that flew into the Pure Heart Lotus in Ying Ruomu's hand.

Through Taiyi Starshine, however, Li Yu noticed that the petal's spiritual energy had dimmed. Clearly, it could not be used again anytime soon.

"Fine, fine, fine! You've truly angered me now. I'll show you the real power of the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer!" Seeing Li Yu escape the cage he had set, Ying Ruomu felt his dignity slipping.

Thinking of the agility of the Wandering Yi Void Step, and Ying Feiyun's occasional glances in his direction, he decided to hold nothing back.

Pfft!

Ying Ruomu spat out a mouthful of heart's blood. Nourished by that blood, one petal of the Pure Heart Lotus flew out, shimmering with an eerie dark-green radiance.

Li Yu focused intently, wondering what this petal would do, only to discover that Ying Ruomu pressed it directly against his own forehead.

The sight left Li Yu stunned, but Ying Ruomu grinned savagely as his spiritual sense surged out. Dark-green light burst from his eyes, locking gazes with Li Yu regardless of the distance.

In an instant, Li Yu felt a strange spiritual sense cross the space between them and invade his body through his eyes.

It's a spiritual sense spell that attacks directly!

Li Yu understood immediately. Taiyi Starshine was a spiritual sense spell for perception and support, so naturally, offensive types existed too. Such spells were extremely dangerous, however. They depended entirely on the strength of one's spiritual sense. If the caster lost the contest, the backlash could easily turn him into an imbecile.

Ying Ruomu believed that, as someone at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer, his spiritual sense had to be stronger than Li Yu's.

Moreover, once their gazes met, this move locked directly onto its target, rendering the Wandering Yi Void Step's evasive maneuvers useless.

"Die!"

After his spiritual sense invaded Li Yu's body, Ying Ruomu sent the rest surging through his eyes in one relentless push, intending to disrupt Li Yu's thoughts, throw his cultivation method into disarray, and send his true essence out of control.

Once that happened, Li Yu's life would naturally be his to butcher as he pleased.

But something Ying Ruomu had never expected happened. After a brief stalemate, his spiritual sense proved no match for Li Yu's within the latter's body and began retreating, steadily losing ground.

Li Yu's spiritual sense even began pushing back along the passage Ying Ruomu had established, attempting to invade his body instead.

"Impossible! You're at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer too!" Ying Ruomu stared at Li Yu in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Unlike true essence, spiritual sense could not readily be strengthened; it generally grew only as one's cultivation realm rose. Ying Ruomu was at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer, yet his spiritual sense was weaker than Li Yu's. That meant Li Yu's cultivation realm was at least as high as his.

Ying Ruomu did not dare imagine that Li Yu was at the eleventh layer of Qi Refinement.

After all, Li Yu had failed his Foundation Establishment attempt only three months ago. Even if he had been concealing the truth back then and had actually broken through to the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer, he could not possibly have advanced again in such a short time.

Despite his shock, Ying Ruomu's mind remained clear. Gritting his teeth, he forcibly severed the portion of his spiritual sense that had flowed out of his body.

This warrior's resolve to cut off his own wrist to survive left blood flowing from all seven of his facial orifices.

But if Li Yu invaded him in return, the backlash from his own spiritual sense spell would shatter his mind outright.

Li Yu sensed Ying Ruomu sever their spiritual connection, but he did not regret that Taiyi Starshine could not be used to attack. Sending his spiritual sense into an enemy's body was far too much of a life-or-death gamble, and it did not suit his style.

Still, Li Yu did not let the opening Ying Ruomu exposed at that moment slip away.

Boom!

Another Yi Xiao Thunder Talisman activated instantly, striking Ying Ruomu's chest like an arrow loosed from its bowstring.

"Pfft."

Ying Ruomu spat out another mouthful of blood. Activated by his heart's blood, a petal on the Pure Heart Lotus transformed into a shield of light, blocking the blue-white lightning. His spiritual sense spell had failed, and his true essence was now out of control, so this was the only way he could activate the Spirit Artifact. But with his cultivation at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer, he had condensed only two drops of heart's blood in total. Using both now dealt a severe blow to his vitality. His hair began turning gray, and his face aged by decades.

Just then, Ying Ruomu saw Li Yu, standing on the surface of the sea, suddenly smile at him. Then Li Yu's figure turned ethereal, and he abruptly shifted

to Ying Ruomu's side, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

Li Yu turned his head toward Ying Ruomu and said, "Junior brother, you're the one who knows nothing."

After returning those exact words to him, Li Yu exhaled gently.

A pale-white stream of air flowed from his mouth and nose, bypassing the lotus petal before Ying Ruomu. It condensed into an invisible sword edge before his neck and swept lightly across it.

Slash!

A head flew into the air and fell into the sea.