But with a swish that cleaved the air, Huanqiu Fairy's blade force abruptly shattered, and Xu Taiping destroyed the phantom with a single slash.
Ji Ye, however, seized that opening and plucked the strings three times in quick succession, "Ding, ding, ding," transforming the music into a flying sword, intending to break free and fly away to put distance between himself and Xu Taiping.
"Boom!"
But before the flying sword could leave the ground, a figure identical to Xu Taiping suddenly appeared behind him. As its aura surged, it slammed a heavy punch into his back.
This was the Mysterious Origin Avatar that Xu Taiping had kept hidden in ambush all along.
"Bang!"
With a tremendous crash, a blue-gray halo enveloped Ji Ye's body in time, yet the punch from Xu Taiping's Mysterious Origin Avatar still sent him tumbling dozens of zhang away.
"Swish!"
Before Ji Ye could stand, Xu Taiping's blade shadow, flashing with an icy gleam, was already cleaving down at his head.
"Bang!"
The blue-gray halo around Ji Ye shattered at the impact.
"Clang!!!..."
But at that critical moment, Ji Ye used his bloodied hand to snap every string on the Ancient Qin.
In an instant, the piercingly harsh music transformed into the immense phantom of a strange beast, shaped like a flood dragon but with only one leg, enveloping him within it.
"Bang!"
Xu Taiping's blade struck the beast's phantom, only to be flung back by it, failing to harm Ji Ye in the slightest.
At the same time, the beast's phantom suddenly threw back its head and roared.
A roar like a dragon's cry, carrying wave after torrential wave of sound, crashed into Xu Taiping, who stood closest to it, sending him skidding backward several hundred zhang before he finally stopped.
"It's Kui, the Primordial