The moment the green-haired man's ball of light exploded, the entire mountainside was bathed in an eerie green light.
No longer tentacles. This time, the sphere of light shattered into hundreds of palm-sized green light blades, which swirled and poured downwards.
The edges of each blade of light vibrated at high speed, emitting a sharp buzzing sound as it cut through the air—he was mimicking the rotation of a wind blade.
Although the rotation directions of the light blades are uneven, some clockwise and some counterclockwise, and they may even bounce off each other when they collide, there are enough of them to make up for the lack of precision.
Feng Xiaotian didn't dodge. This was the moment he had been waiting for—the fact that his opponent had begun to mimic the rotation meant that he was starting to expend more Spiritual Power on controlling the precision. The more precise the mimicry, the greater the consumption.
His Fourth Soul Ring lit up, and a cyan storm instantly enveloped his entire body— Gale Wolf Rush. Feng Xiaotian's figure was swept up by this storm and soared into the sky, crashing head-on into the torrent of green light blades.
The phantom of the Gale Twin-Headed Wolf condensed into a rapidly spinning wind armor around his body, with every wisp of air flowing across its surface at an extremely fast speed.
The green light blade was deflected the moment it hit Feng Xiaotian, exploding into a chaotic rain of light around him. He didn't slow down, carrying the entire storm straight toward the second-floor corridor.
The green-haired man's mouth stretched to his ears. He raised both hands at the same time, his ten fingers spread wide, and the green light in his abdomen surged wildly towards his fingertips. The green light blades that had been deflected paused in mid-air, then all turned around and stabbed at Feng Xiaotian's back from all directions.
Feng Xiaotian didn't turn around, because Su Mei'er had already made her move.
The Ultimate Ice, bound by Wind and Water Confinement, solidified behind him into a semi-transparent ice curtain, its surface adorned with densely packed wind patterns.
Those were the traces of the fusion of wind and ice elements. The hardness of the Ultimate Ice far exceeded that of ordinary ice walls. The green light blades shattered the moment they hit it, while the ice curtain only trembled slightly.
The Soul Core in Su Mei'er's dantian was operating at top speed, continuously injecting Soul Power into the ice curtain. As each blade of light shattered, a new layer of ice filled the cracks.
She gritted her teeth, bracing her hands on the ice screen, her fingertips turning slightly white from the continuous output, but the ice screen remained intact.
At the same time, Lu Hanxiao and Ji Ning flanked him from the left and right. The Snowy Owl's Cold Wind · Wing Slash cut past the Green Man's left rear, while the Hummingbird: Pierce pierced his nape from the right rear blind spot.
The green-haired man had to use one hand to deal with the attack from the flank—his right hand continued to maintain the suppression of the light blade, while his left hand condensed a rotating green light shield at his side, blocking Lu Hanxiao's wing slash.
The shield's surface spun rapidly with green light. The wing-slash's ice blade, after cutting in half an inch, was deflected by the rotational force and flew past the green-glowing figure's ear.
But the shield only blocked one side. Ji Ning's Hummingbird: Pierce grazed his earlobe from the other side, drawing a thin line of green blood.
The green-haired man's finger trembled slightly.
In that instant— Jiang Lin marked the locations of all the out-of-control light blades in the Spirit Eyes projection, Feng Xiaotian used his Gale Flash Step to take three steps in the air, each step precisely landing in the gaps in the green light blade attacks. After three steps, he was already within three steps of the green-clad figure.
The Fifth Soul Ring lit up, and five tearing Wind Trace condensed from his fingertips—Wolf King's Rending Wind Claw. The edges of each Wind Trace vibrated at high speed, and the air was torn apart with a piercing shriek.
The green-clad figure hastily conjured a thickened green shield in front of him—but this time the Wind Trace didn't come from the front. Feng Xiaotian feinted with his right hand, and five Wind Trace drew five arcs in the air, circling around the edge of the shield from the right.
The green-haired man's eyes darted around rapidly, his left eye following the Wind Trace trail while his right eye simultaneously fixed on Feng Xiaotian's left hand—he saw it. Feng Xiaotian's left hand was gathering power, his fingertips slightly bent, all his Soul Power compressed into a single point.
It's Break the Surface at One Point.
The fingertip touched the very center of the shield. The shield didn't shatter, but a small hole was pierced through it. The five Wind Trace of the Rending Wind Claw then poured in through this hole, exploding behind the shield and hitting the green-haired man's left shoulder and chest.
Five tearing Wind Trace exploded simultaneously, and the green-light man was knocked back two steps, his lower back slamming against the corridor railing. The green light in his abdomen throbbed violently three times.
He looked down at the five scratches on his chest—the wounds were healing, and green light surged from his abdominal cavity to fill the damaged tissue, but the healing speed was much slower than before.
Green blood seeped from the edges of the wound, dripping onto the stone slabs of the corridor with a soft hissing sound.
Just then, a low, booming sound came from the direction of the tunnel.
It wasn't an explosion, but the sound of flames bursting. A pillar of fire poured into the mountainside from the direction of the bronze door, and a wave of scorching heat instantly swept through the entire circular corridor. The green-clad figure turned his head sharply, and for the first time, surprise appeared in his cloudy yellow eyes.
Huo Xiao, his Martial Soul condensing into a giant fiery Lion behind him.
The lion's mouth was slightly open, and flames like magma flowed between its fangs. The surrounding air was distorted and deformed by the high temperature, and even the green light threads remaining on the stone wall were evaporated into wisps of blue smoke.
He glanced at the ball of green light writhing inside the green-man's abdomen and frowned slightly.
"As expected, he's Evil Soul Master."
A low groan escaped the green-haired man's throat—not from fear, but from rage. He clutched a healing wound on his chest with one hand, while the other braced himself against the railing. The green light within his abdomen pulsed wildly, casting flickering light and shadow across his face.
He glanced at the fiery Lion behind Huo Xiao, then at the spinning wind blade in Feng Xiaotian's palm, his lips moved slightly, and he squeezed out a few hoarse words. "Huo... Feng... you have more people."
His tone didn't sound like he was admitting defeat; it sounded more like a child whose playfulness had been thwarted. Then he turned and ran deeper into the second-floor corridor.
Just as Feng Xiaotian was about to give chase, Huo Xiao placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't chase him yet." Huo Xiao's gaze was fixed on the direction where the green-clad figure had disappeared. "He's running deeper into the mountain. There are more than one level of tunnels in this mountain; he knows the terrain better than we do." He paused, then added, "Besides, his reaction just now—it didn't seem like he was running away."
Feng Xiaotian nodded. He had noticed it too. When the green-light man turned around, the green light in his abdomen throbbed so violently that it could be seen even through the stretched, shiny skin—it wasn't the trembling of fear, but excitement. It was as if he had finally found an opponent he could go all out against.
"Let's get things organized first." Huo Xiao glanced at everyone, his gaze lingering briefly on the wound on Feng Xiaotian's left shoulder, then turned to Jiang Lin, "Can your Spirit Eyes track him?"
Jiang Lin nodded, the pale silver light in his eyes shining steadily. "The green light on his body and these puppets are from the same source of Soul Power; I can lock onto it. He can't go far."
Huo Xiao withdrew his gaze and looked towards the fork in the road where the green-clad figure had disappeared. In the darkness deep within the passageway, a ghostly green light still flickered faintly, like a venomous fang drilling into the depths of the mountain.
After a while, their Soul Power had almost fully recovered.
"Chase," Feng Xiaotian said.