"Xue Ji, I know you're powerful, but… this Asura Divine Stone is useful to me as well. If you want a share, I can give you some — for old times' sake."
"But if you're thinking of taking it all for yourself, I won't just sit here and wait to die," Chu Feng said.
"What use could a martial cultivator like you possibly have for the Asura Divine Stone? You just want to hoard it for that little girl, don't you?"
"Since you won't submit, then I suppose I have no choice but to use force. But let me make one thing clear — if my sword so much as touches you, there will be no antidote."
"Chu Feng — think carefully."
Xue Ji drew that dark longsword once more, but her gaze was no longer alluring as before. It had turned razor-sharp, cold and piercing.
The Xue Ji standing there now was no enchantress — she was more like a goddess of slaughter.
"I've already thought it through," Chu Feng said.
"Then die."
As the words left her lips, Xue Ji gripped her sword and surged toward Chu Feng.
Swish—
But the moment she moved, Chu Feng swung his sword.
ROAR—
A purple hurricane, accompanied by the roar of a dragon, hurtled straight at Xue Ji. The tempest was so ferocious that her figure seemed utterly insignificant before it.
This was a sixth-tier Forbidden martial art — Forbidden Wind Dragon's Cry.
Chu Feng already knew Xue Ji was no ordinary opponent, so he was done holding back.
And the Forbidden Wind Dragon's Cry was among his more formidable techniques.
"Hmph!!"
Yet when faced with the Forbidden Wind Dragon's Cry, Xue Ji merely let out a soft snort. She didn't even slow down — still flying toward Chu Feng, she swung her sword in a single fluid arc.
A massive black sword qi, crescent-shaped, cleaved downward vertically and sliced straight through the Forbidden Wind Dragon's Cry, scattering it to nothing.
What was more troubling was that the dragon's cry had been obliterated, but the black sword qi had not dissipated. It continued hurtling toward Chu Feng.
"This girl… can't be underestimated."
He had anticipated her strength, but seeing the Forbidden Wind Dragon's Cry severed so effortlessly still caught him off guard.
Facing the Xue Ji before him, Chu Feng had no choice but to get serious.
BOOM—
Beneath Chu Feng's feet, a deafening boom erupted, and a streak of red light flashed from where he had just been standing. His entire figure vanished.
The black sword qi struck empty air.
BOOM—
BOOM—
BOOM—
Immediately after, ear-splitting explosions rang out in rapid succession, each one leaving a trail of red light in its wake.
This was a martial art Chu Feng had obtained from the Sacred Valley.
A seventh-tier Forbidden art — Thunderstorm Dragon Step. With every step, it produced the sound of thunder. Its raw power was inferior to other arts of the same tier, but it was an outstanding movement technique.
Swish, swish, swish—
Xue Ji's combat experience was equally vast. She unleashed a barrage of black sword qi at the rapidly moving Chu Feng, each one a predicted strike. If Chu Feng had followed a normal trajectory, he would have been hit.
But his movement pattern was wildly unpredictable, and the incoming waves of black sword qi were dodged one after another.
"Why's your face so red? Is running around that exhausting for you?"
Though Xue Ji's offensive was being completely evaded thanks to the Thunderstorm Dragon Step, she showed no panic. Instead, she even started teasing Chu Feng.
Because his face truly was growing redder by the moment.
ROOAAAR—
But suddenly, Chu Feng opened his mouth wide toward Xue Ji.
A colossal sound wave expanded from his throat and blasted toward Xue Ji.
The sound wave was visible to the naked eye, and one could even make out the phantom silhouette of a massive dragon's head within it.
This, too, was a martial art Chu Feng had learned in the Sacred Valley.
A seventh-tier Forbidden art — Thunderstorm Dragon Break. Channeling qi through the Dantian to unleash a dragon's roar, it was an offensive technique. When used in tandem with Thunderstorm Dragon Step, their power would stack multiplicatively.
So Chu Feng's roar actually carried greater force than a typical seventh-tier Forbidden art.
And it was indeed formidable — the black sword qi hurtling toward Xue Ji was blown apart on contact.
"Hmph."
But faced with such an attack, Xue Ji merely let out a cold laugh. Then her eyes shifted, and she too opened her mouth wide.
A torrent of black energy surged from her maw, coalescing into a terrifying black visage that collided head-on with the dragon-headed sound wave.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—
The two forces crashed into each other, and the Thunderstorm Dragon Break shattered.
The black visage cracked apart as well, but its fragments transformed into a downpour of black sword rain that rained down upon Chu Feng.