\"Bang!\"
Han Feng was sent flying backward, his back slamming into three giant coral pillars before he barely managed to regain his balance. The hand gripping the sword was split open, blood dripping from the hilt of the Star Soul Blade, only to be greedily absorbed by the blade. With each drop of blood absorbed, the Star Soul Blade's light intensified.
"Is that all you've got?" The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor hovered in mid-air, his Frost Crystal Holy Spear pointing diagonally at the sea. "It's a waste of a Star Soul in your hands."
Han Feng spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his internal Star Mirror frantically circulating to repair his damaged meridians. He had used eighty percent of his strength in that attack, yet he couldn't even force his opponent to retreat half a step. This was the difference in strength between those infinitely close to the Origin Realm...
"Han Feng!" Dongfang Lin shouted from behind the rocks in the distance, "His right shoulder!"
Han Feng narrowed his eyes and, sure enough, discovered a tiny blue crack on the right shoulder of the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor—it was Mu Xiaoxiao's body resisting control. A weakness!
Without giving his opponent a chance to adjust, Han Feng suddenly shattered the rocks beneath his feet, and his Star Soul, trailing a silvery tail of light, aimed straight for his right shoulder. This strike contained the seventh move of the "Nine Forms of Starfall," "Sun Piercing," which he had just mastered; the light was distorted wherever the blade passed.
"A mere trick." The Dark Crystal Clan Emperor sneered, flicking the Frost Crystal Holy Spear lightly.
\"bite--!\"
A crisp metallic clang echoed across the sea and sky. Han Feng felt an extreme chill creep into his meridians along the blade, instantly covering his entire right arm with ice crystals. Even more terrifying, the Star Soul was firmly held by the Frost Crystal Holy Spear, and dazzling blue and white sparks erupted between the two sacred artifacts.
"Do you know why Star Soul can't restrain the Frost Crystal Spear?" The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor leaned closer, his voice filled with the pleasure of a cat toying with a mouse. Suddenly, the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor exerted force, and the Frost Crystal Spear pressed down on Star Soul, approaching Han Feng's neck. "You simply don't understand how to awaken Star Soul's true power."
The blade was only three inches from his throat; Han Feng could even feel the chilling aura of death emanating from the spear tip. In that critical moment, he suddenly released the hilt of the sword with his left hand, his index and middle fingers pressed together against his brow—
\"Instant shadow!\"
"Whoosh!" Han Feng's figure suddenly split into three, his true body instantly teleporting ten meters away. This was the most mentally taxing life-saving move in the Absolute Fiery Inheritance, and each use would damage his soul.
The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor shattered the two afterimages, raising an eyebrow in slight surprise: "Jue Li even taught you this move?" He then grinned maliciously, "Too bad, Shadow Step can only be used three times at most. How long can you keep dodging?"
As if to confirm his words, Mu Xiaoxiao's body suddenly trembled violently, and her left leg completely crystallized. The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor slapped his knee in annoyance: "Shut up! Hold on a little longer!"
Now! Han Feng endured the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart, gripping the sword with both hands and raising it above his head. Sensing its master's determination, the Star Soul displayed nine star patterns on the blade, arranged according to the positions of the nine stars of the Big Dipper.
"Nine Forms of Starfall - Heavenly Pivot!"
As the first star lit up, the blade's light surged ten feet.
"Tianxuan!"
As the second star lit up, the sea began to boil.
When the seventh star, "Yaoguang," lit up, the entire sea was illuminated as if it were daytime. Han Feng, bleeding from all seven orifices, gritted his teeth and continued:
"Eighth Star, Hidden Origin—"
"You're courting death!" The Nether Crystal Clan Emperor finally changed color, hurling the Frost Crystal Holy Spear with all his might, "Extreme Ice Eternal Prison!"
The holy spear transformed into a streak of blue lightning, freezing space in its wake. This was a strike powerful enough to instantly kill any cultivator at the Innate Realm, yet Han Feng strangely curled the corners of his mouth into a smile:
"I've been waiting for you to go all out..."
Just as the spear was about to pierce his chest, Han Feng's figure blurred again. But this time it wasn't a fleeting illusion—his body seemed to transform into starlight itself, allowing the Frost Crystal Holy Spear to pierce through the phantom.
"What?!" The Dark Crystal Clan Emperor stared in shock at the weapon that had slipped from his grasp. "Star Avatar? Impossible! How could you possibly use it together with Shadow Step?!"
"The Ninth Star, Return to Nothingness."
Han Feng's voice came from all directions. The nine stars on the Star Soul Blade bloomed simultaneously, but instead of attacking the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor, they slashed at the Frost Crystal Holy Spear stuck in the reef!
\"clang--!!!!\"
Amidst the deafening clang of metal clashing, the energy storm erupting between the two sacred artifacts tore a whirlpool a kilometer in diameter through the sea. The Dark Crystal Clan Emperor let out a scream that was inhuman, for this strike had truly severed his soul link with the Holy Spear.
"How dare you..." He frantically scratched at his chest, where spiderweb-like blue cracks had appeared. "I'll make you..."
Before she could finish her harsh words, Mu Xiaoxiao's right eye suddenly regained its clarity. She clutched her head in anguish: "Get out! This is my body!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Han Feng staggered and landed beside Dongfang Lin, looking as if he had been pulled out of a pool of blood. Forcibly using the ninth move, "Return to Nothingness," had left him completely exhausted, and he was only able to stand by sheer willpower.
At this moment, the Nether Crystal Clan Emperor was also suffering, as Mu Xiaoxiao's soul was being torn apart by his own.
"No—this is my body! Get out!"
Mu Xiaoxiao's screams were heart-wrenching. She gripped her right wrist tightly with her left hand, her nails digging deep into her flesh, blue shards falling from the wound. Her right pupil swung wildly between eerie blue and pitch black, her entire face contorted in the struggle between these two conflicting consciousnesses.
"You vile woman!" The voice of the Nether Crystal Clan King became distorted and hoarse, "I bestowed power upon you, yet you dare—"
Before she could finish speaking, Mu Xiaoxiao's right arm suddenly snapped with a "crack," bending unnaturally in reverse. Taking advantage of the moment, she grabbed her right shoulder with her left hand and ripped off the entire crystallized right arm!
"Ugh!!"
The excruciating pain briefly restored control to Mu Xiaoxiao. She staggered back a few steps, her face covered in blood, yet a ferocious smile twisted on her lips: "I'd rather cripple this body... than let you succeed!"
The phantom of the Nethercrystal Emperor fluctuated violently across her body, like a holographic projection with a poor signal. In the distance, Han Feng knelt on one knee, his Star Soul Blade embedded in the reef to barely support him. His vision blurred, yet he remained intently focused on the battle—the connection between the Nethercrystal Emperor and his host was weakening!
"Secret Technique: Soul Ignition!"
The Dark Crystal Clan King suddenly roared, and Mu Xiaoxiao's remaining left eye was instantly engulfed by blue light. She arched her body in pain, her spine creaking painfully, and burning, dark blue patterns appeared on her skin.
"Not good!" Zhang Jingcheng's expression changed drastically. "He's burning the host's soul to force his way into the mortal world!"
Just as Dongfang Lin was about to step forward, he was thrown back by a sudden energy storm. Centered on Mu Xiaoxiao, a raging blue pillar of fire shot into the sky, illuminating the sea surface like a polar ice cave. Within the pillar of fire, the figure of the Youjing Clan Emperor solidified once more, but the spiderweb-like crack on his chest had spread even wider.
"Lord of Star Souls..." He looked down at Han Feng, his voice filled with deep-seated hatred, "The humiliation of today will be repaid a hundredfold in the future!"
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