Wei Ling looked at the dissipating water shield in the distance and then at Mu Yanxi, who bore several minor burns. She immediately understood how Mu Yanxi had closed the distance.
Gritting her teeth, she slapped a spring returning talisman onto her shoulder to treat the wound and followed up by throwing a handful of crimson fire talismans.
As the sea of flames surged forward once more, Mu Yanxi was no longer afraid. A starlight shimmered in her eyes as a matching sea of fire erupted from her, clashing against Wei Ling’s flames.
Not only that, but Mu Yanxi took a step forward. Her star-imprint eye lit up again, absorbing the new sea of fire Wei Ling had released.
Once a spell was successfully parsed, she could absorb it no matter how many times it was cast afterward.
The sea of fire, losing its opposition, immediately roared backward, swallowing Wei Ling.
This was a genuine late foundation building attack; even for Wei Ling, defending against it would be incredibly difficult.
“This is what you asked for!” Wei Ling shouted. A terrifying aura exploded from her body as visible silver waves of Qi erupted, pushing back the sea of flames.
The immortal brain immediately provided an analysis:
**[Analysis: Tiangang Astral Flame. This is astral Qi formed by cultivators of the Soldier Path by manifesting their battle intent into a physical substance.
It can only be formed through the tempering of real combat. It can be attached to the body, divine artifacts, and spells, growing stronger as the battle progresses.]**
It didn’t stop there. Two arms, like those of a marionette, grew from Wei Ling’s back. The prosthetic hands of the immortal remains gripped a green halberd.
With four arms in total, Wei Ling swung the halberd in a wide circle: “Peaceful Rivers and Seas!”
The silver astral Qi swept outward with the halberd, forcibly calming the sea of flames. She glared at Mu Yanxi with fury, her immortal remains’ hands raising the halberd. “Prepare to die!”
She threw the halberd directly at her target while her other hand snatched a new set of talismans and flung them.
This time, it wasn’t a sea of fire; instead, each talisman transformed into a small fire snake that lunged toward Mu Yanxi.
Mu Yanxi’s body twisted with the eerie fluidity of a snake, dodging the direct flight of the halberd. She then sprinted in a wide arc to avoid the pouncing fire snakes.
The halberd slammed heavily into the ground, its attached astral Qi shattering the Forbidden Ward and embedding the weapon deep into the floor.
Mu Yanxi finally understood where the sword scars and spear holes on the plaza came from; the power was truly terrifying.
“Heh, you can’t run,” Wei Ling sneered. Her empty left hand and the free hand of her immortal remains performed hand seals simultaneously.
The fire snakes turned nimbly, chasing after Mu Yanxi, while even the halberd on the ground flew up to strike at her.
Looking at the incoming halberd and the fire snakes closing in from all directions, Mu Yanxi felt a brief sense of daze.
This was the familiar way cultivators fought. The moves used by those other female cultivators had been far too bizarre.
Mu Yanxi turned and flicked her wrist, sending several droplets of water scattering in all directions. The droplets curved through the air, striking the heads of the fire snakes from the side.
“Hmm? Such impressive control over her spells. Her combat experience is quite rich too.” Zhao Shuanghua’s eyes lit up as she watched the battlefield with clear interest.
Because water elements countered fire, and because Mu Yanxi didn’t clash with them head-on but instead targeted the snakes’ vital points from the side, all the fire snakes were dispelled in a single strike.
Mu Yanxi then dodged the halberd’s thrust with another nimble twist.
This divine artifact was indeed powerful, especially when reinforced by astral Qi, but Wei Ling’s usage was far too straightforward. Any attentive person could dodge its direct movements.
Mu Yanxi was familiar with this style of fighting. In all likelihood, Wei Ling was used to hitting stationary targets. Although a halberd could sweep and hook, its thrusting power was its greatest asset.
A soldier cultivator who had developed astral Qi through real combat but fought with such a blunt style, relying on high-powered artifacts and spell bombardment… There was only one answer.
She must have hunted demonic beasts with other cultivators in the past.
Demonic beasts had thick skin and high health, but they lacked wisdom.
The most common hunting method was to lure them into an array, surround them, and wear them down with spells and divine artifacts.
A spell like that sea of fire wasn’t meant to obscure vision; it was the most suitable type of wide-area attack for fighting demonic beasts.
Since beasts were generally large, a sea of fire could maximize damage by hitting every part of their body.
However, against a human, a sea of fire was an incredibly inefficient spell. Even without a water shield, Mu Yanxi could withstand it for a short time.
If the stage hadn’t been cut off by a water curtain, Mu Yanxi would have simply retreated out of the fire’s range and waited for the spell to end before engaging again.
“Ugh!” Wei Ling let out a frustrated cry. Failing to hit her target repeatedly made her impatient.
She performed another seal to make the halberd swing back for a rear attack while raising her Tang Dao, intending to sandwich Mu Yanxi between the two.
But this time, Mu Yanxi didn’t dodge. She reached out directly toward the halberd.
The white snake avatar formed by her spirit snake punch coiled around the returning weapon. With a sharp turn, she hurled the halberd back toward Wei Ling.
Had the halberd still been fully charged with astral Qi, Mu Yanxi wouldn’t have been able to grab it with her fragile spirit snake avatar.
However, after several attacks, the astral Qi had weakened and hadn’t been replenished by Wei Ling, making it no longer a threat.
“Eh?” Wei Ling had just raised her Tang Dao when she saw her own halberd being thrown back at her. Flustered, she couldn’t perform the seals to control it and was forced to raise her Tang Dao to block.
With a crisp *clang*, Wei Ling managed to knock the halberd to the ground, but her Tang Dao was sent flying from the impact.
Before she could make her next move, a stream of water shot directly at her face. Though her shield protected her, she still felt as if she had been punched hard.
Mu Yanxi knew a water gun wasn’t enough to break the shield, as Wei Ling’s cultivation was two layers higher than her own.
She fired a barrage of water guns while closing the distance, sending several spirit snakes to bite at the two immortal remains’ hands on Wei Ling’s back.
Wei Ling immediately surged her astral Qi into the prosthetic arms, but it was too late. The joints of the two prosthetic hands were already clamped shut by the spirit snakes.
Even though her fists were brimming with astral Qi, she couldn’t find any leverage to exert force.
Wei Ling used her free hands to tear at the spirit snakes. Her hands, wrapped in astral Qi, instantly snapped several of them, but it was useless.
Mu Yanxi’s spirit snakes could regenerate; for every one torn, three more grew back.
Furthermore, with the enemy right in front of her, she was actually thinking about tearing the snakes to free her prosthetic arms first. Mu Yanxi shook her head inwardly.
A soldier cultivator’s close-combat ability was supposed to be stronger than a normal cultivator’s. She had been a bit nervous about engaging in melee, but now she was at ease.
A strand of Sword Qi from Mu Yanxi’s fingertip sliced through Wei Ling’s protective astral Qi, coming to a rest against her throat. At this point, the victor was decided.
“Sister Shangguan’s supreme oneness sword Qi… Have you two already done it?!” Wei Ling’s focus seemed to be in the wrong place.
“Double cultivation? Of course. Why else do you think I was able to achieve three consecutive breakthroughs in one night?” Mu Yanxi asked, bewildered. Wasn’t this already common knowledge?
“I… I thought Sister Shangguan wasn’t the one being proactive…” Wei Ling slumped to the ground, looking utterly despondent.