"Jiang Chen, you coward. Dare you show yourself and face me in direct combat?" Cao Jin was seething with rage. While this level of attack was far from life-threatening, being humiliated by an insignificant ant like Jiang Chen still made his blood boil with fury.
Whoosh!
Jiang Chen's figure suddenly materialized in the void, a hundred meters away.
"Direct combat?" Jiang Chen's smile carried a touch of mockery. "Cao, you're at the peak of the Saint Realm, and you want me to fight you head-on? Should I call that naive of you, or brain-dead of me?"
Jiang Chen was no fool blinded by rigid honor. If his opponent were a Human Saint level fighter, or even an Earth Saint, he would have been confident enough to take them on directly.
But Cao Jin was only a single step away from the Emperor Realm. Against an opponent like that, Jiang Chen had no illusions about matching strength with strength. He was no longer the hot-headed youth who could be goaded into recklessness by a simple taunt.
He held to one belief: in battle, any method that could bring down an opponent was a good method.
Pitting a first-level Saint Realm cultivator against a peak Saint Realm one—especially one of the Ten True Disciples of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect—wasn't just brave, it was foolish. After all, the resources and treatment Jiang Chen enjoyed in this life didn't amount to a fraction of what Cao Jin had.
Were it not for his memories of a previous life, Jiang Chen's humble origins put him worlds apart from Cao Jin. In terms of background, sect affiliation, and available resources, he was vastly inferior. The only advantage he held was those memories—and it was solely on that basis that he could contend with Cao Jin at all.
Asking him to throw away his sole advantage and clash head-on? Jiang Chen would have to be out of his mind.
At that moment, the Gold-Munching Mouse clan had already finished off the Six-Runed Diamond Wolf.
Cao Jin watched helplessly, unable to lend aid. With the triple-pronged entanglement bearing down on him, he was scrambling just to keep himself safe. Though not in immediate mortal danger, it was perilous enough that he could hardly spare a hand to rescue the Six-Runed Diamond Wolf.
Clearly, Cao Jin's mind wasn't on the Six-Runed Diamond Wolf anyway. He had split off a sliver of spiritual consciousness, locking onto Jiang Chen's position. He had made his decision—even if it meant taking a hit, he would destroy Jiang Chen once and for all.
Last time, the Ocean-Overwhelming Sword hadn't locked onto Jiang Chen's spiritual consciousness, allowing him to slip away with a diversionary trick.
This time, with Jiang Chen's true body exposed, Cao Jin would not let him use the same trick to escape again.
"This time, I must strike true!"
Cao Jin clenched his fist, secretly gripping a talisman. This was another of his hidden trump cards—a World-Destroying Yin Thunder Talisman.
The talisman could unleash World-Destroying Yin Thunder of limitless power. Once Jiang Chen was pinned by it, within a hundred miles there would be nowhere to hide. The yin thunder would rain down like a storm of sleet and snow, leaving absolutely no chance of escape.
"The World-Destroying Yin Thunder Talisman is my last reserve. If it can't kill Jiang Chen, I'll have to rely on my own martial techniques. But my techniques can't even get close to him in the face of all his ghostly tricks."
Cao Jin knew this was his final chance.
Spiritual lock acquired—
Cao Jin feinted a step, dodging the vines erupting from below, while swinging his fist upward to blast away the Yuan Magnetic Gold Mountain's strike.
But from behind, several golden-armored warriors hammered into him in succession.
Bang, bang, bang!
Cao Jin used the momentum, lunging forward while relocking his spiritual consciousness.
The moment had come!
Cao Jin opened his palm and activated the World-Destroying Yin Thunder Talisman.
"Die!" Cao Jin snarled, and as the talisman's light flickered, a wave of darkening gloom engulfed the sky.
BOOM!
In the next instant, countless bolts of yin thunder plummeted from the heavens.
This was no ordinary lightning. Legend held it was formed from the resentments of the Nine Hells' Yellow Springs, channeling through the power of reincarnation to surge into the sky and coalesce into yin thunder.
Though called yin thunder, it was in truth the wrath of vengeful spirits—malevolent beyond measure. Once struck, a body would be swarmed by countless threads of yin energy and reduced to bone in moments.
"A thunder talisman?" Jiang Chen saw Cao Jin's killing move and blinked. Then his next action left Cao Jin completely stupefied.
Jiang Chen raised both hands in a welcoming gesture, as though he were warmly inviting the yin thunder to descend.
In the instant Cao Jin was stunned, the Yuan Magnetic Gold Mountain overhead came crashing down once more.
Fortunately, Cao Jin reacted with lightning speed, raising both hands to catch it. Just as he was about to shove it away, the twelve golden-armored warriors threw themselves at him without regard for their lives—some grabbing his head, some his feet, others his waist.
At the same time, countless vines surged upward like a frenzy, wrapping and coiling around Cao Jin's body. In the blink of an eye, they had enveloped him entirely.
Cao Jin erupted in fury, his power surging as he bellowed: "Break free!"
BOOM!