The Fangxin sword carried an intimidating aura, frightening even those watching from afar, let alone Xie Lian who was repeatedly retreating under such an attack.
Just now, Hua Cheng had easily dealt with Bai Wuxiang alone, but after Jun Wu appeared, it took two to evenly match him. The Tonglu Mountain's home-field magical advantage was finally becoming apparent, and Xie Lian could vaguely sense a sense of oppression bearing down on them.
Furthermore, Jun Wu was protected by a layer of white armor, a thousand-year-old magical weapon he had personally crafted, offering near-impenetrable defense. He only needed to protect his head. Hua Cheng's strikes were incredibly swift and accurate, while Xie Lian also exploited every opportunity. The two of them struck Jun Wu squarely in the throat, chest, back, abdomen, and shoulders, yet his opponent remained motionless.
Mu Qing shouted, "Don't bother! It's useless! There's no way it can penetrate that white armor!"
Xie Lian said, “Attack him below the right ribs!”
The scimitar swung out again, striking the spot he'd mentioned, but it was indeed useless. Mu Qing shouted, "It's no use talking! Why don't we try to create some distance first, and then we can join forces and fight him! Feng Xin! Where's your arrow?"
Feng Xin was climbing up a nearby rock, about to catch the fetus spirit that was spitting saliva and tongue at him. Hearing this, he exclaimed, "Alright! Here I come!"
Xie Lian said, “Keep going! Attack him just below the right ribs!”
Feng Xin said, "Your Highness! His armor is very powerful. Even if I chop him a few hundred times, I may not be able to break through it!"
Xie Lian said, “It’s okay, just listen to me! There’s no need for so much!”
Hua Cheng didn't ask why, and continued to strike with his scimitar. Suddenly, a crack appeared where the blade passed.
Blood spurted out. The blade of the fatal blade slashed into Jun Wu's abdomen below his right ribs!
Huacheng stood in front of Jun Wu, knife in one hand, glaring at him coldly. Xie Lian stood to his side. Ruo Xie seized the opportunity and bound Jun Wu's hands, preventing him from blocking.
Mu Qing on the other side was surprised and asked, "How could it be?"
How could Hua Cheng break that thousand-year-old white armor so easily?
Xie Lian held Ruo Xie tightly, staring at Jun Wu, and said, "...Have you forgotten? Over eight hundred years ago, I fought you."
Feng Xin and Mu Qing reacted: "Second ascension?"
At that time, Xie Lian asked Jun Wu to demote him and to have a competition with him.
Although both sides agreed to show no mercy in that battle, I think Jun Wu must have still held back.
However, Xie Lian tried his best.
He launched over 3,000 strikes, of which over 400 stabbed Jun Wu. And of those 400 strikes, over 100 struck this very spot.
Xie Lian persevered and stabbed Jun Wu for over three thousand times, finally breaking through the thousand-year-old white armor’s nearly impenetrable defense and stabbing his sword into his abdomen just below his right ribs.
It was at this moment that Hua Cheng's sword fell!
So, eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian left old scars on this white armor. With just three sword strikes, Hua Cheng can break through!
Furthermore, Hua Cheng's sword was even sharper than Xie Lian had imagined. A scimitar piercing his abdomen was definitely a devastating blow!
He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the Imperial Master say, "It's no use! He..."
Logically speaking, Jun Wu's movements should be restricted due to his severe injuries, but he simply glanced down, his expression unchanged. Just as Xie Liangang realized something was wrong, Jun Wu's hands moved slightly.
Then, Xie Lian heard two slight tearing sounds, and at the same time, his hand loosened.
Ruo Xie... is broken!
The white silk ripped in two and suddenly fell to the ground lifeless. The next moment, Xie Lian felt someone grab his neck and drag him up!
He heard Hua Cheng say, "Your Highness!" But the voice suddenly faded away. Jun Wu's voice was closer, saying, "Xianle, do you think I have less experience than you in things like being stabbed? Do you think I care?"
The Imperial Master said from a distance, "Even if you stab him a hundred and eighteen times, it won't have any effect! Because... he seems... to no longer feel any pain..."
Xie Lian remained calm even when a sword pierced his heart, and the same was true for Jun Wu.
Feng Xin had already drawn his bow and aimed it at Jun Wu, but upon hearing this, he lowered it and said, "What?! Doesn't that mean it's useless whether I hit you or not?!"
Mu Qing said, "By the way, let me tell you another piece of bad news I observed. I suspect that his healing speed is even faster than the speed at which he was injured."
"What?!"
And Xie Lian over there has already confirmed that this is indeed the fact.
His injuries were so horrific that anyone else would have been cut in half on the spot, but his wounds had stopped bleeding. Jun Wu said, "Don't be so surprised. If you were constantly stabbed in the back and didn't allow yourself to recover immediately, wouldn't you have died a thousand times over? But you two are really quite good."
He smiled and said, "In the past eight hundred years, I have only been injured by a sword and a knife, and the two were you. Bloody Rain Scholar, stand back. You don't want to see Xianle's neck being broken by me."
“…”
Hua Cheng's face was gloomy, and a fierce look was surging in his eyes. But when he saw Jun Wu holding Xie Lian and dangling him above the Tongtian Bridge, and if he let go, Xie Lian would fall into the Hundred-foot Flame Pool, he put away his sword, put his hands behind his back, supported the scimitar, and slowly took a few steps back.
He seemed quite calm, but the scimitar in his hand gave something away. E Ming was extremely anxious, his eyes darting wildly as he stared at Xie Lian. Hua Cheng retreated to the edge of Tongtian Bridge, and Jun Wu said, "That's enough."
He grabbed Xie Lian, and the two of them stared at each other. After a while, Jun Wu suddenly slammed Xie Lian into a rock wall!
The collision was so violent that Xie Lian's head was buzzing. Blood from his mouth and nose dripped down his face. In the distance, many people seemed to be screaming, but he couldn't make out who was who. He only heard Jun Wu whisper in his ear, "Xianle, your head hit the wall. Does it hurt?"
Xie Lian didn't quite hear clearly, so he didn't answer. So, Jun Wu grabbed him and bumped him again, asking, "Does it hurt? Does it hurt? Does it hurt?"
Every time he asked a question, he slammed Xie Lian against the wall, causing him to scream, but what he was shouting was, “Sanlang, don’t come over here! I’m fine! You mustn’t come over here!”
At least not now. Not yet!
At the first collision, Hua Cheng was about to rush forward. He had only taken two steps when he heard Xie Lian tell him not to go forward, and he abruptly stopped.
But his face was completely ferocious, the veins on the back of his hand seemed to be about to burst, and his entire arm was shaking.
Jun Wu's expression remained perfectly still, but his hands frantically grabbed Xie Lian and slammed him against the rocks, repeatedly asking him, "Does it hurt? Does it hurt?"
The Imperial Master said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince!!!" It wasn't clear who he was calling. Xie Lian pressed his bloodied hands against the uneven rock wall, gritting his teeth and roaring, "...It hurts!!!"
Jun Wu then smiled with satisfaction, let go of Xie Lian's poor head, and put him on the ground.
Xie Lian slumped to the ground, clutching his still-throbbing head, tears and blood streaming uncontrollably. Jun Wu crouched beside him, staring at his face for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand, touched his head, and gently wiped the blood from his face.
“…”
This gesture was gentle and loving, like a father crouching beside a child he had just beaten, leaving him black and blue. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were horrified by the scene: "Is he... he... he really crazy?"
The joints of Huacheng's hand holding the knife made a crackling sound, and Eming's pupils contracted sharply, as if bloodshot was spreading.
Xie Lian said nothing, letting him wipe him clean. Jun Wu muttered to himself again, "You silly boy, if it hurt, why didn't you turn back? Did you think the wall would fall down on its own if you kept bumping into it? Why didn't you change direction?"
Xie Lian said, “Don’t look back.”
Jun Wu was extremely rough. He raised his hand and slapped him, knocking him to the ground with a thud!
Xie Lian was already feeling dizzy when Jun Wu brought him up again. He spoke with a tone that seemed to be losing patience, "You're going to make me angry, aren't you? I'll ask you again, will you change?"
Xie Lian coughed twice, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and said, "I won't change."
Jun Wu's gentle expression finally showed a crack, and a ferocious look flashed across his face.
The Imperial Master's face turned pale. Seeing that things were not going well, he quickly shouted, "Your Highness the Crown Prince! You never wanted to kill this child. You loved him very much! Have you forgotten what you said?"
Jun Wu sneered, "If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have wasted all my patience and tolerance over the past eight hundred years on him alone. He would have long since become the foundation of the Immortal Capital, trampled upon by thousands and tens of thousands of people."
He turned to Xie Lian, his rage suddenly flaring. "But you're so ungrateful! Naughty, willful, and you won't listen to me! You insist on going against me! You won't change, will you? Well, then you try it. If you bang your head against it, you'll see if this wall falls down!"
Seeing him mention Xie Lian again, the Imperial Master hurriedly said, “Your Highness the Crown Prince! Your Highness the Crown Prince!!! Your Highness… The little prince is ignorant, so just let him off the hook this time. Forget it! He’ll eventually learn his lesson…”
Jun Wu looked at him and smiled even colder: "Do you think I'm really crazy? Don't try to lie to me. In your heart, the one you really think is ignorant is not him, but me, right?"
The Imperial Preceptor was stunned. Jun Wu continued, "You've been cultivating and teaching him wholeheartedly, hoping he'll surpass me. That way, you can prove I'm wrong and you're right, and you're both right. Then you can hold onto the illusion of a perfect Prince Wuyong and sigh in regret at the current Jun Wu. Isn't that your goal? Do you think I don't know what you're thinking?"
The Imperial Master said, "No! Stop dwelling on right or wrong, success or failure. I've never thought about it that way!"
Jun Wu, however, could not bear to hear any more and sternly shouted, "Don't even think about it! I'm telling you, don't even think about it! No one can defeat me! And he certainly can't!" He laughed wildly a few times and then, slamming Xie Lian against the rock, he shouted, "Will you change? Will you change? Will you change?!"
Xie Lian also went crazy, grabbing his arm and yelling, “No change! No change! No change!!!”
Even though he was seeing stars and in excruciating pain, he was stubborn and refused to give him the answer he wanted and refused to change. It was so satisfying!
He'd been holding it in for too long. It seemed as if he'd been waiting for this opportunity for years, his head bruised and bleeding, while he cried and yelled, "I won't change! I won't change even if it hurts, I won't change even if I die, I won't change ever!!!"
Now, it wasn't Jun Wu who drove him crazy, but he was the one who made Jun Wu crazy!
Jun Wu's eyes were red, and he was about to teach him a lesson when he suddenly stopped and looked down. He saw a long knife chopping off his shoulder, and eight long arrows made of branches were neatly stuck in his back.
This was nothing, because neither the long sword nor the arrow could penetrate the white armor. But his right hand was gone.
The hand that had been clutching Xie Lian was gone. It had vanished entirely from the wrist, the cut clean and sharp. Xie Lian was gone too.
When he turned around again, something came flying towards him with a fierce gust of wind. He waved his left hand and grabbed the object, only to find that it was his right hand.
Across from the Tongtian Bridge, Hua Cheng held the blood-soaked Xie Lian in his arms. He held his scimitar in one hand, his arm around Xie Lian's shoulders, and with the other, he covered the wound on his head. He said grimly, "Take your dirty hands back."
Xie Lian refused to admit defeat, which finally angered Jun Wu and left him with a flaw!
Jun Wu grabbed his right hand, reattached it to his wrist, and after a few twists, he pulled the arrow from his back. Suddenly, he remembered something and glanced back, just in time to see Mu Qing, a pale-faced man clutching a long sword. Mu Qing was slightly startled when he met his gaze, but he steeled himself and forced himself to remain calm. But soon, his composure failed him.
Jun Wu glanced over his shoulder and said calmly, "Sure enough, compared to Xianle, you are still a little behind."
Upon hearing this, Mu Qing's face changed slightly, but the long sword in his hand suddenly fell, and then his face changed drastically. He pulled up his sleeve to look at his wrist. He saw that the black curse shackle on his wrist suddenly tightened, and the meridians around it became prominent, as if an endless stream of blood was converging towards it.
Feng Xin saw Mu Qing was stunned and motionless, and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Run!"
State Master: "Feng Xin, you little brat, how can he run with a leg injury?"
Feng Xin was shocked: "Oh my god!" He had completely forgotten about this!
In the past, Mu Qing would have been furious, rolling her eyes. But now, running was useless. With the curse shackles on her hands, running was useless no matter where she went!
Feng Xin cursed and was about to go forward, but Jun Wu pulled the arrow out of his back and threw it at him. Feng Xin felt a chill on his chest and looked down. All eight arrows had been returned and were neatly stuck in his chest!
Jun Wu slowly walked towards Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. Hua Cheng didn't even look at him. He hugged Xie Lian and said, "Brother? Brother?"
Xie Lian had just been hit pretty hard, and it took him a while to wake up, dazed and with a pounding headache. Without even opening his eyes, he asked, "...Sanlang? Are you okay?"
Hua Cheng looked at him for a moment, then suddenly pulled him into a hug, saying softly, "I'm totally fine. Why don't you look at yourself?"
Xie Lian clung to his embrace. Although he was held tightly, his injuries were not affected. He struggled to open his eyes, and the devastation surrounding him came into view.
Mu Qing stood stiffly where he was, one hand tightly grasping the wrist of the other, as if he was struggling against the blood-sucking curse, but judging by his pale face, he couldn't hold on for long.
Although Feng Xin wasn't pierced through the chest by the eight arrows, he was still badly injured and collapsed on the bridge. The fetal spirit screamed with joy, leaping around him and stamping on Feng Xin's face with its hind legs. Feng Xin was furious, but he couldn't move, otherwise his injuries would be exacerbated.
The entire Tongtian Bridge is collapsing section by section, and they may fall down with it at any time!
Xie Lian, startled by the situation, tried to stand up, but Hua Cheng helped him up. They both looked across at each other.
Jun Wu's figure, slowly approaching them, loomed large in the surrounding firelight, casting a vast shadow. Xie Lian forcefully wiped the blood from his eyes, mouth, and nose, staring intently at the figure.
Jun Wu held the Heart-Slaying Sword at an angle. A constant stream of spiritual light condensed on the sword. At this moment, he was calm and composed, seemingly a completely different Jun Wu from the one who had just slammed Xie Lian against the rock. "Xianle, you know very well that you will lose," he said.
Jun Wu knew Xie Lian all too well. He knew exactly how he would fight, and his magical power completely overwhelmed him. Moreover, even before they clashed, Xie Lian could sense that Jun Wu's fighting spirit and magical power were even stronger. As Tonglu Mountain was his territory, his control over this area was even more pronounced.
Xie Lian thought to himself, perhaps what he said was true. He couldn't win.
But even if we can't win, we must fight!
Hua Cheng suddenly said, "No. Your Highness, you won."
Xie Lian was startled and looked at him. Hua Cheng also stared at him and said, "You won. You are better than him."
His eye shone brightly as if something was burning, and he said firmly, "Believe me. He is wrong, and you are right. You are better than him. You are much more powerful than him!"
Jun Wu let out a low laugh, perhaps because he thought Hua Cheng's words were naive and ridiculous, or perhaps because he felt pleasure in being flipped over by the power of his applause.
The power of faith of millions of believers is in his hands alone!
Hua Cheng grabbed his shoulders and said, "So what? They are just a million fools, all useless! And you only need one person."
One person is enough?
Before Xie Lian could react, Hua Cheng pulled him over.
Xie Lian opened his eyes wide.
Spiritual power exploded and rushed in.
This time, the magical power was more powerful than any other time Xie Lian had endured. Even the undead butterflies and lava ghosts seemed to sense this terrifying energy, and they exploded and shrieked all around them.
Xie Lian's fingers were practically twitching, and his legs were shaking so much that he was almost on the verge of kneeling, unable to support himself. He mentally called out for it to stop, for it to stop, but Hua Cheng held his head tightly with both hands, not letting him leave, not allowing him to refuse.
After an unknown amount of time, Xie Lian's throat suddenly relaxed. At the same time, Hua Cheng finally released him. Xie Lian's legs gave way, and he fell to his knees, barely holding himself up with his hands.
Jun Wu stopped and looked over here, his face solemn. Feng Xin, lying in the distance, said in disbelief, "Your Highness, your...your?"
Xie Lian stretched out his trembling hands and touched his throat.
Nothing.
Hua Cheng had poured too much mana into him. It was truly too much, completely beyond the capacity of the curse shackles.
The two shackles that had bound him for more than eight hundred years suddenly broke apart!
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