Wind-and-thunder slashes crashed down from across the sky, and the earth shook violently beneath their savage energy. Thousands of blue-violet blades of light wove a net of death, utterly engulfing the area around Shi Yi. Ravines dozens of yards deep tore through the ground, towering ancient trees were pulverized in the energy storm, and the entire mountain forest groaned.
"Hmph! A lowly human dared to underestimate me!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard stood proudly in midair, lightning patterns dancing across its blue-and-violet fur. It surveyed the smoking ruins below with satisfaction, its mouth curling into a cruel smile.
But the very next second, its pupils abruptly contracted.
Boom!
A white figure burst through the smoke, moving so fast that dozens of afterimages trailed behind him. Shi Yi's fist blazed with dazzling divine light, ancient runes beneath his skin writhing like living creatures. His punch compressed even the air into visible ripples!
"What?!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard barely managed to turn its head before that iron fist, charged with terrifying divine might, slammed into its left cheek.
Crack! The sharp sound of shattering bone rang through the mountain forest. The Wind-Thunder Leopard's massive body flew backward like a rag, smashing through seven bronze ironwood trees, each so thick that three people could barely encircle it, before embedding itself deep in a cliff face.
"Cough... pfft!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard spat out a mouthful of blood flickering with lightning, the entire left side of its face caved in. It staggered to its feet, crazed fury burning in its bestial eyes. "Ant! You've truly enraged me!"
Shi Yi slowly drew back his fist, a trace of disappointment flashing through his double pupils. "Is that all the strength you have? There's nothing more laughable than impotent threats."
"Good! Very good!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard suddenly grew eerily calm, strange spatial ripples beginning to appear around it. "Then let me show you what true..."
Before it finished speaking, its figure blurred. Shi Yi's double pupils abruptly contracted-the instant his gaze caught it, the Wind-Thunder Leopard was already less than three feet behind him! Its claws, wreathed in destructive energy, were a hair's breadth from his back, right over his heart!
"...speed is!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard's vicious laughter exploded beside his ear. The wind-and-thunder power gathered around its claws tore tiny fissures in space. "Die!"
Yet at this critical instant, an almost imperceptible smile curled Shi Yi's lips. Deep within his double pupils, two mysterious rings of runes suddenly appeared, slowly revolving...
Clang!
A metallic ringing echoed through the mountain forest as the black War Halberd intercepted the Wind-Thunder Leopard's claws with perfect precision. Dazzling sparks flew where blade and claw collided. The Wind-Thunder Leopard's pupils shrank, and it hurriedly pulled back and leaped away, but the wind from the halberd still swept across its chest, raising a cloud of blue-violet blood.
"Well?" Shi Yi held the halberd in one hand, its tip angled toward the ground, mockery swirling within his double pupils. "That speed your kind is so proud of..." He deliberately drew out the words, slowly raising the middle finger of his left hand. "That's it?"
The insulting gesture made every hair on the Wind-Thunder Leopard's body bristle. Though it did not understand the exact meaning, the undisguised contempt on the human's face stabbed into its dignity like a dagger. Blue-violet lightning patterns raced wildly over its body, and the air within thirty yards began to crackle.
"You'll pay for your arrogance!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard threw back its head and roared, blinding lightning suddenly erupting around it. Three thunderbolts fell from the sky and, amid deafening blasts, transformed into three identical Wind-Thunder Leopards!
Shi Yi narrowed his double pupils. The three vicious beasts surrounded him in a triangular formation. Each radiated exactly the same energy fluctuations; even the lightning patterns dancing in their pupils were identical. More troublesome still, they were slowly moving in some profound formation, every step leaving a flickering lightning mark on the ground.
"Lightning Shadow Clone Art?"
Shi Yi tightened his grip on the War Halberd, runes beginning to emerge across his skin. "Interesting."
All three Wind-Thunder Leopards suddenly opened their mouths together, their voices overlapping in an eerie harmony. "This is my kind's forbidden art. Each clone possesses seventy percent of the original's strength. Human, you can be proud of forcing me to use it!"
Before the words faded, three blue-violet afterimages lunged from different angles. The Wind-Thunder Leopard on the left had spiraling lightning blades wrapped around its foreclaws, while the one on the right spat a wind projectile compressed to its utmost limit. The one charging from the front actually transformed into a streak of pure lightning!
The War Halberd spun into a black wheel in Shi Yi's hands, yet a dangerous smile curled his lips. Deep within his double pupils, those two mysterious rings of runes suddenly began rotating in reverse...
Three Wind-Thunder Leopard afterimages flashed and crossed in midair, their claws bearing an edge that could rend space. Lightning and wind blades wove a net of destruction, completely enveloping Shi Yi. Every collision burst with dazzling divine light, shock waves sweeping in all directions. Deep ravines sliced through the ground, and the surrounding ancient trees toppled with thunderous crashes, crumbling to dust.
Shi Yi wielded the War Halberd like a dancing dragon, yet he was still driven steadily backward, specks of blood gradually staining his white robe. The Wind-Thunder Leopard's assault grew ever more savage, bloodthirsty excitement glittering in its eyes.
"Human, where did all that arrogance go?" The three Wind-Thunder Leopards spoke simultaneously, their overlapping voices booming like thunder. "Why are you only hiding in your shell and defending now?!"
Before their words faded, the three figures abruptly merged. The Wind-Thunder Leopard's true body emerged, lightning surging around it as runes rolled like a tide. It threw back its head and howled, its voice shaking the highest heavens. "The final blow-Nine-Shadow Wind-Thunder Strike!" "You should die content, falling to my kind's strongest treasured art!"
Boom!
In an instant, lightning exploded between heaven and earth. The Wind-Thunder Leopard split into nine figures, each as solid as flesh, bearing the might to destroy heaven and earth as they attacked from every direction! Their speed nearly broke the constraints of space, and wherever the nine afterimages passed, the void faintly warped!
Faced with this killing blow, Shi Yi suddenly smiled.
Shi Yi's eyes snapped wide open, runes blazing within his double pupils as divine power erupted skyward from his body like a volcano! Behind him, countless ancient runes intertwined and flowed, condensing in midair into the phantom of a majestic, domineering Bian! Silver-white from head to tail, with imposing scales and eyes like blazing torches, the Bian let out a heaven-shaking roar the instant it appeared. Its savage pressure made the entire mountain forest tremble!
"Break!"
With Shi Yi's low shout, the Bian phantom lunged forward, warping space and shattering the earth wherever it passed! The nine Wind-Thunder Leopard afterimages attacked one after another, only to explode beneath the Bian's sharp claws!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions rang to the clouds, every collision booming like heavenly thunder as savage energy storms swept in all directions. Ancient trees were uprooted, mountain rocks pulverized, and the entire battlefield seemed to face the end of the world!
The eighth afterimage shattered!
The ninth-the Wind-Thunder Leopard's true body finally appeared, horror at last surfacing in its eyes. But now there was no retreat!
Roar!!
The Bian and the Wind-Thunder Leopard finally collided with a thunderous crash! Dazzling divine light erupted, and a ring of destructive shock waves swept outward. Within a radius of three thousand yards, the
ground instantly sank three feet!
Boom!!!
Amid the earth-shaking explosion, a blue-violet figure plunged like a meteor, slamming into the ground and throwing up a cloud of dust dozens of yards high!
Before the dust cleared, Shi Yi had already pursued it like a bolt of white lightning!