Tang Jie silently cursed. He didn’t actually know much about Zhang Qinan, so he didn’t understand the man’s personality, but it was clear from what this man was doing that he was intent on wagering everything against him.
As for leaving behind a corpse that would incriminate Nan Baicheng, Zhang Qinan clearly didn’t care.
These words might be able to fool a child, but they couldn’t fool him.
Why had Nan Baicheng sent him in?
Wasn’t it precisely because he could push the blame onto him when it was needed?
Threatening him with this was pointless!
As he formed his hand signs, a gale stirred, and a giant hand began to form in the sky.
“Shit!” Tang Jie cursed as he slashed the Heartbreak Saber at the man.
In terms of spell art power, there was no comparing the Spirit Platform Realm to the Mortal Shedding Realm.
Fortunately, the stronger the spell art was, the longer the art manifestation. While those at the Mortal Shedding Realm could harness the spiritual energy of the world to use powerful spell arts, until they were at the level of Violet Palace where a single thought could connect them to the world, they still needed to spend a lot of time on art manifestation.
Thus, when a Spirit Disciple went up against a Spirit Master, what they needed to do was take the initiative and fiercely attack, giving the opponent no time to leisurely cast.
The little tiger and Yiyi attacked with him.
Countless vines flew out while a lightning blade shot at Zhang Qinan.
Against these three attacks, Zhang Qinan coldly chuckled. “Junior, do you really think attacking me will do you any good?”
He slammed his palms together, and the giant hand unleashed countless motes of light that rained down over the area like a storm of arrows.
“Starburst Deluge!” Tang Jie paled as he swiftly drew back the Heartbreak Saber, giving up on attacking Zhang Qinan and unleashing a wave of energy to fend off those rays of starlight.
He wasn’t worried about himself, but about Yiyi and the little tiger.
There was a metallic clatter as the starlight struck the Heartbreak Saber, somehow harder than steel and sharper than arrows.
Thunk! Thunk! Ten-some arrows got through Tang Jie’s defenses and stabbed into his body, causing him to shudder in pain.
“Big Brother!” Yiyi shouted.
“I’m fine!” Tang Jie clenched his teeth, knowing that he had taken Zhang Qinan’s bait.
No one understood more than Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators what their flaws were.
Even students knew how to deal with Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators, so how could they not have experience in dealing with this problem?
Zhang Qinan had appeared to be using an art, gathering a powerful force with impressive motions, but he was actually using a spell.
Thus, when Tang Jie had charged, he had actually already finished the spell, and by charging in, Tang Jie was doing nothing more than running in front of the gun barrel.
This was one of the most common options a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator would take. They would use spiritual surges to fool the senses, and one would never know what level of spell art they were using.
If you tried to attack them, you might just be leaping into their jaws.
But if you didn’t attack, you might have given your opponent all the time he needed to finish casting.
This was a tactical advantage, and also a level advantage, something that could not be changed through a single person’s will.
Zhang Qinan madly laughed at his success, saying, “Junior, take this!”
His right hand formed the hand signs for an offensive spell, and Tang Jie was forced to take evasive maneuvers. But to his surprise, it was a feint, and Zhang Qinan pressed his left hand toward the ground.
At this time, the flower formation erupted and coiled around him. Light erupted from his left hand, sending a shockwave roaring through the area.
The flower formation was blasted into leaves and debris before it could do anything.
Yiyi shrieked, her small face turning ghastly pale.
In just two strikes, Tang Jie had been heavily injured and Yiyi’s spell had been broken.
As a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator, Zhang Qinan wasn’t just strong. He was also brimming with combat experience.
Zhang Qinan broke free of the shattered flower formation and barked, “Spirit Pythons, go!”
He crossed his arms, and three spiritual lines of energy shot out, turning into three pythons—two large and one small. The two large ones made to coil around the tiger and Tang Jie while the small one went after Yiyi.
These three pythons were of average strength, but as they flew out, they instantly wrapped around their three targets, and no matter how Tang Jie exerted his strength, he couldn’t break free.
Zhang Qinan savagely smiled. “Juniors will be juniors. You really thought that the weak could overcome the strong? What does it matter that you wounded me?”
As he spoke, he made ten-some signs with his hands, and spiritual energy roiled. This time, however, it was a real art.
This was another option Mortal Shedding Realm cultivators had when dealing with frenzied offensives. They could bind or impede their opponents, after which they could casually cast an art to kill their opponent in one blow.
Tang Jie sneered as he saw this. “That’s exactly what I was waiting for!”
There was a golden flash of light from his right hand, and the Spirit Python binding him was cut into countless pieces and dissolved into nothing. At the same time, Tang Jie pointed with his left hand at Zhang Qinan. “Go!”
A small red ring erupted with astonishing flames.
Zhang Qinan was aghast as countless Blazeravens flew out of the ring and attacked him.
“The Blazeraven Ring?” Zhang Qinan blurted out in surprise.
He recognized the Blazeraven Ring, and he knew that the simultaneous attacks of more than a hundred Blazeravens were not to be underestimated.
In normal circumstances, the Blazeraven Ring might not have been able to do anything to him, but he was in the middle of casting, and for the Blazeraven Ring to be unleashed at this time was lethal.
Zhang Qinan immediately understood that while he had managed to bait Tang Jie, Tang Jie had used the chance to strike back against him.
He had intentionally taken the attack to bait him into using an art.
Powerful spell arts could instantly seal the situation once used, but when used incorrectly, they could bring harm on oneself.
The Blazeravens came quickly, and Zhang Qinan had no time to dodge, so he made up his mind and pushed through the backlash to stop his casting of the Moon-Seizing Hand, instead casting the spell-grade True Essence Barrier. As the True Essence Barrier appeared, he vomited blood.
But he didn’t even have time to groan. He slapped his body, and a jade amulet he wore lit up and produced another shield.
He then formed another spell, and a third barrier appeared.
The hundred-plus Blazeravens arrived with a thunderous crash.
Flames surged and rainbow light exploded as the Blazeravens threw themselves at the shield. As they impacted against the shield, they dissipated into spiritual light.
Zhang Qinan’s first barrier blocked twenty-some Blazeravens before shattering.
More Blazeravens continued to throw themselves at the barrier.
The second barrier lasted against thirty-some more of them before shattering, but the jade amulet couldn’t take such a heavy load and exploded into powder.
Fortunately, it had provided enough time for Zhang Qinan to cast his third barrier.
The remaining Blazeravens ran into this last barrier, and only ten-some were needed to break through.
Seeing that there were still twenty-some Blazeravens, Zhang Qinan gritted his teeth, spat out some blood, and thrust out his palm.
Ice Nether Palm!
This time, he had expended his vital energy, using his blood as a trigger to quickly cast his spell.
An icy gale erupted, eliminating more than half of the remaining Blazeravens, but there was nothing left to stop the remaining few Blazeravens, which crashed into his body and exploded with dazzling flames.
“Aaaah!” Zhang Qinan howled in pain.
But he was truly a savage character. Despite being heavily injured, he still had the strength to counterattack. He brought his hands together and swung them around in a circle, unleashing a flood of energy at Tang Jie.
“Useless!” Tang Jie bellowed as he rushed at the flood.
No matter how the tactics of a Mortal Shedding Realm cultivator changed, a Spirit Platform Realm student’s only choice was to charge forward.
When two armies clashed, the brave emerged victorious!
Tang Jie went against the tide, his Formless Golden Body clashing against the spiritual energy flood. This flood was like a wind blade, creating cuts all over his skin.
But Tang Jie didn’t care, lunging out like a real tiger and swinging the Heartbreak Saber with a roar of, “Thousand Rupture Slash!”
Clang!
A metallic clash.
Zhang Qinan had somehow produced his saber again, blocking this vicious attack. The two of them froze for a moment, Tang Jie pushing down with all his might while Zhang Qinan desperately tried to hold on, their efforts producing a stalemate.
But in this stalemate, Zhang Qinan discovered to his surprise that his Hundred Refinement body actually couldn’t keep up with Tang Jie’s strength, and the Heartbreak Saber was getting closer and closer to his head.
Tang Jie shouted, “Sir Zhang, I don’t want to kill you. You still have time to go into the Nine Palace Heart Ring!”
“With just you…” Zhang Qinan squeezed out, and then he bellowed, “Dragon Strength!”
Tang Jie’s saber stopped moving down.
At the same time, Zhang Qinan’s left hand flashed with light as he thrust it at Tang Jie’s abdomen.
Tang Jie turned his hand to grab it, and as claw met palm, they once more entered into a stalemate.
“Sir Zhang,” Tang Jie angrily said, “don’t force my hand!”
Zhang Qinan chuckled. “My superior has given his orders, and I must carry them out even if I have to venture through a sea of fire!”
As he spoke, he kept vomiting blood.
He had first been injured by the Heavenly Pearl Slash Talisman, then suffered from spell art backlash, been forced to cast spells, and taken the attacks of the Blazeravens. The damage dealt to Zhang Qinan had been enormous, and his spiritual energy was churning restlessly.
Even so, he refused to give up. This was truly a man.
“You go walking through your sea of fire, but don’t even think about completing your mission!” Tang Jie exerted more power, and even though Zhang Qinan had the boost from the Dragon Strength spell, Tang Jie was still just as strong. As the two sabers clashed, they produced sparks.
“Then come and get me!” Zhang Qinan laughed. “Let me see what you can do!”
At this point, Zhang Qinan had acknowledged Tang Jie’s strength, but he still didn’t think that Tang Jie could do anything to him.
Seeing how stubborn his opponent was being, Tang Jie turned cold, his eyes growing callous. “You really think I can’t do anything to you? You seem to have forgotten that I’m not alone.”
What?
Zhang Qinan was startled and instantly knew that this was bad.
A lightning blade struck him right in the waist.
It was the little tiger.
The Spirit Python’s binding couldn’t last for long, and the stronger little tiger had broken free first.
In pain, Zhang Qinan loosened his grip, allowing Tang Jie to push with his left hand and force Zhang Qinan’s left hand into his chest.
Zhang Qinan suffered another heavy wound in his battle with Tang Jie, the most severe of all.
Two of his ribs were broken by this push, and he once more vomited blood.
Another flower formation emerged, twisting around Zhang Qinan, and this time, he had no chance to dodge.
The little tiger roared, preparing to bite down on Zhang Qinan’s throat.
“Bao’er, stop!” Tang Jie shouted.
“Wuu…” The little tiger turned to Tang Jie, clearly wondering why Tang Jie didn’t want to kill this man.
Tang Jie took in a deep breath. “He’s still Sir Nan’s subordinate. There’s no need to go that far. We just need to deliver him to the Nine Palace Heart Ring.”
He came forward to grab Zhang Qinan.
Zhang Qinan had suffered wound after wound and had already lost the ability to resist. But as Tang Jie moved to grab him, he sneered, “Tang Jie, do you think you’ve won? Keep dreaming!”
He turned his hand over, revealing a small golden stamp in his hand.
“The Heaventopple Stamp?” Tang Jie grimaced.
