It wasn't just Long Juxue who was perplexed; even Xu Zhen, a Spirit Stage expert, was completely baffled. He couldn't make sense of it either.
How had the situation suddenly turned so drastically? It had been a one-sided slaughter, yet all of a sudden, Jiang Chen had burst forth with such formidable combat power?
And that slash—Xu Zhen, standing at a distance, could sense its terrifying might. He clearly understood that only because Senior Brother Yu Jie was so powerful could he withstand that fearsome blow, and even then, he only spat blood.
If it had been him, Xu Zhen, it would have been far worse than just spitting blood!
Even with their spirit armor protection, the power of that strike would likely have damaged his spirit meridians and incapacitated him on the spot.
Jiang Chen swung his blade, but surprisingly, he did not follow up.
Chirp!
With a sharp cry, a Golden-Winged Sword Bird dived down and lifted Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen lay on the bird's back, breathing heavily, and quickly swallowed a Blue Sea Pill and a Divine Show Creation Pill.
In reality, that attack had been a countermeasure on Jiang Chen's part. In the midst of a hopeless situation, he had comprehended the third form of the Blue Sea Countercurrent Blade—Surging Waves!
If Jiang Chen had been a Spirit Stage expert, even one who had just entered the Spirit Stage, that strike would likely have been enough to face Yu Jie head-on, or even crush him.
But he was still in the True Qi Realm, his cultivation only at the Ten-Meridian True Qi Master level.
Therefore, this blow had pushed him to his absolute limit, even beyond it. Executing this slash was certainly a breakthrough in his mental fortitude.
However, his physical body was still at the True Qi Master level, lacking the resilience of a Spirit Stage expert.
Thus, this strike, which exceeded his body's capacity, had absorbed the true qi infusion of hundreds of Golden-Winged Sword Birds. For an instant, it was equivalent to withstanding the attacks of hundreds of True Qi Masters.
Although, through the mysteries of the blade path, he had channeled, gathered, and unleashed those hundreds of streams of true qi—in principle, he was only a conduit for the powerful energy, not its target.
But merely channeling it like that caused him immense strain. The power's backlash made his entire body feel terrible, his meridians nearly bursting, and he was temporarily unable to gather strength for a second strike.
Fortunately, this world-shaking slash had released that explosive force in time.
Even for a powerhouse like Yu Jie, an attack condensing the power of hundreds of True Qi Masters would be difficult to weather, even at his peak.
Moreover, Yu Jie had only used seventy to eighty percent of his strength.
All of Jiang Chen's earlier feigned weakness had been to lull his opponent, to create a false impression for Yu Jie, making him drop his guard, convincing him that he could toy with and slaughter Jiang Chen like an ant.
All those deceptive moves were for this final, life-saving strike!
Seeing Yu Jie only spit out a mouthful of blood, Jiang Chen felt both a sense of regret and admiration. He had to admit that a sect disciple truly lived up to his reputation.
This strike had concentrated the power of hundreds of Golden-Winged Sword Birds, yet it had only inflicted a mouthful of blood on his opponent.
Admittedly, the damage was less than Jiang Chen had anticipated.
But Jiang Chen couldn't worry about that now.
Though his meridians were trembling, on the verge of shattering, Jiang Chen still blew a whistle. Several Golden-Winged Sword Birds led a large group of Silver-Winged Sword Birds toward the top of Erdu Pass.
The remaining hundreds of Golden-Winged Sword Birds maintained their previous formation, circling in the sky. Even facing a formidable enemy, without Jiang Chen's command, not a single one attempted to flee.
The Golden-Winged Sword Bird carrying Jiang Chen circled around and landed behind these hundreds of birds.
Jiang Feng and Princess Gouyu had been carried back to Erdu Pass earlier by the Golden-Winged Sword Birds that had led the Silver-Winged Sword Birds.
All the Silver-Winged Sword Birds and Blue-Winged Sword Birds seemed to have received orders, flying back and landing around Erdu Pass, guarding the entire pass for a tight defense.
On top of Erdu Pass, all of Jiang Chen's people had assembled on the battlement.
Jiang Feng, Princess Gouyu, and all the Jiang family subordinates, including Jiang Chen's eight personal guards.
"Guo, don't stop me! I, Qiao Shan, won't be a coward! The young marquis is being attacked, and we, his personal guards, just stand here watching? What's the meaning of this?"
"Yeah! If you're not going, let us two brothers go!" Qiao Chuan also bellowed.
Guo Jin kept a cold face, holding both of them back firmly.
"What can you accomplish by going now, besides causing trouble?" Guo Jin scolded.
"Even if it's causing trouble, it's our loyalty as subordinates! Even if we die, if we can buy the young marquis a little time, it's a worthy death!"
"That's right! A gentleman can wait ten years for revenge! As long as the young marquis can escape, we'll avenge our brothers sooner or later!"
Qiao Shan and Qiao Chuan kept shouting, trying to summon Golden-Winged Sword Birds to carry them into battle.
Guo Jin couldn't stop them no matter what.
"All of you, shut up! Listen to Xue Tong. He's the team leader and the young marquis's cousin."
Everyone's eyes turned to Xue Tong.
Xue Tong's gaze never left the front lines; his eyes were calm and steady, unflustered by the dire situation.
"Captain Xue, say something!" Qiao Shan was impatient.
"Qiao Shan, have any of us reached the True Qi Master level?" Xue Tong asked calmly.
"No!" Qiao Shan replied crossly. "So what if we're not True Qi Masters? Does that mean we have to be cowards?"