Staring at the Sword Formation unleashed by the female thief, Lu Li’s eyes immediately widened in shock!
Even more startling to Lu Li was that the twelve black Spirit Swords in the air did not clash chaotically, but instead arranged themselves along a profound trajectory, surprisingly forming a Sword Formation as well!
What amazed Lu Li the most was that this female thief’s Sword Formation bore a striking seven or eight points of similarity to the Virtual Spirit Sword Formation he had constructed!
The only difference between the two was that the Sword Formation released by Lu Li exuded righteous, unyielding, and vibrant Yang energy, whereas the one unleashed by the woman was filled with a chilling aura of deathly coldness—completely opposite to the pure and agile spirit of Lu Li’s formation, yet both originated from the same root!
“Hm? This is… a variant of the Virtual Spirit Sword Formation? How could you possibly know this move?”
Lu Li’s heart surged with turmoil.
This Sword Formation was the foundational formation of the Virtual Spirit Sect.
Though not an unattainable secret or a treasured artifact, it was certainly not a technique that outsiders of the Virtual Spirit Sect could easily access!
Could it be… that this person before him was a traitor who had betrayed the Virtual Spirit Sect and fled the sect?
“Who are you? Why do you know the Sword Formation of the Virtual Spirit Sect?”
Lu Li shouted sharply, both surprised and angry, decisively commanding his Spirit Swords to attack the female thief.
The woman in black remained silent, her eyes behind the veil cold and unmoving.
Yet upon closer look, there seemed to be a subtle, indescribable complexity in them.
Clearly, she did not want a deadly fight with Lu Li, but was quietly carrying out a rear-guard mission—firmly anchoring Lu Li in place, preventing his escape.
“Clang clang clang—”
The two Sword Formations tangled and collided continuously in midair, Qinghei Sword Qi rampaging wildly throughout the Zhou family courtyard, the aftereffects of the scattered sword qi leaving the surroundings in ruins.
The female thief seemed extremely familiar with the Virtual Spirit Sword Formation, her mastery even surpassing Lu Li’s.
Every time she clashed with him, she could block his attacks at the most unexpected angles.
“Damn it… If that’s the case, then let’s fight head-on!”
Lu Li raised his left hand, extending his index and ring fingers, changing his sword seal to the Zhujue Hand Seal.
He drove all the flying swords forward like surging waves, pressing down on the woman in black.
Seeing this, the woman said nothing but chose to counter with the same technique, matching Lu Li blade for blade.
As both Sword Formations were pushed to their limits, the pitch-black night sky seemed like a black mirror suddenly shattered.
Qinghei-colored spiritual power and sword qi exploded madly, like lightning raging within thunderclouds tearing the black mirror to pieces.
Though the female thief’s Sword Formation was ingenious and uncanny, seemingly able to predict many of Lu Li’s changes, Lu Li’s cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment far exceeded hers.
His spiritual power was vast and enduring, incomparable to mid-Foundation Establishment level.
So the initial stalemate was only superficial.
Lu Li’s sword momentum rose like tides, wave upon wave, relentlessly assaulting and draining the opponent’s mind and spiritual power.
Soon, the black-clad female’s Sword Formation began to falter.
The black radiance flickered unsteadily in the night sky, clearly holding on by a thread.
In the end, the two Sword Formations were like two knights charging at each other with long spears.
At the instant they crossed, it was as if passing through a Sieve of Fate!
The Qinghei light flashed brilliantly to the utmost before suddenly extinguishing more than half of itself!
In the blink of an eye, Lu Li’s twelve Spirit Swords remained intact, suspended in midair with their tips pointing directly at the opponent.
But the female thief’s twelve black swords were like being crushed by an invisible force, fracturing inch by inch and instantly exploding into countless fragments, clattering and scattering all over the ground!
With her Sword Formation destroyed, the female thief was struck hard.
The black mist swirling around her body instantly dissipated, and she trembled violently, joints creaking under the unbearable strain as she staggered backward several meters.
Clearly, her defeat was sealed at this moment!
Yet just when Lu Li thought she would surrender or attempt to escape, a dangerous and resolute gleam suddenly flared in the woman’s cold eyes!
Ignoring her own injuries, a rapid and sharp mechanical buzzing suddenly echoed from within her chest, like some kind of mechanism overloading!
Immediately, a destructive and highly unstable energy wave began to wildly converge around her, crimson cracks flickering across her body surface!
Then, with a sudden burst of strength from her legs, she charged straight at Lu Li recklessly!
It was clear she intended to self-destruct, hoping to take Lu Li down with her!
Lu Li’s face changed drastically upon seeing this.
The terrifying energy gathering at her chest made his heart race!
Faced with such a crisis, Lu Li urgently accelerated his Spirit Swords, preparing to deploy shock absorption and block her with all his might!
However, at this critical moment…
The dark clouds covering Mingyue suddenly dispersed, and the clear Moonlight poured down like a silver waterfall, illuminating the entire Zhou family courtyard as well as Lu Li’s sharply defined face, tense with shock and anger.
His face was still handsome, filled with resolute killing intent.
Though pale from spiritual power exhaustion, it was reflected clearly in the eyes of the female thief who was about to self-destruct.
The moment she saw Lu Li’s face, the destructive energy surging wildly around her instantly died down like charcoal doused with ice water!
Her resolute eyes suddenly contracted into extreme shock, mingled with an indescribable confusion and even panic!
Her movements froze abruptly, the self-destruction process forcibly interrupted, leaving her full of vulnerabilities.
Yet her inertia from charging forward was not completely erased—her body still maintained that forward momentum.
“Pfft! Crack…”
A heavy, strange sound unlike tearing flesh suddenly rang out.
The Spirit Sword in Lu Li’s hand had collided head-on with the woman’s chest.
The advance momentum of the Magic Puppet woman was forcibly stopped by Lu Li’s sword, pinning her in place.
She lowered her head slightly, seemingly glancing at the cold blade piercing through her body.
Then she raised her head sharply and stared at Lu Li.
Her gem-like eyes flickered with a strange light of confusion several times, full of a bewildering mixture of shock and hesitation.
Finally, that light completely faded.
The woman’s body stiffened violently in place.
Then, she lost all strength, hanging limply on the Spirit Sword that pierced her, motionless.
The battle ended as suddenly as this.
Lu Li furrowed his brow, suspicion swelling in his heart.
The woman’s strange hesitation and sudden halt in self-destruction were completely illogical in his eyes.
Looking down at the woman’s corpse in his arms, Lu Li cautiously pushed her away, keeping a distance.
Only after confirming she was truly dead did he control his other Spirit Swords to maintain vigilance.
Then he slowly approached to examine her body carefully.
Under the bright moonlight in the courtyard, he finally saw her clearly.
There was no blood flowing from the body pierced by his Spirit Sword.
The exposed wound revealed broken, metallic-looking slender linkages, charred spiritual energy conduits, and some kind of finely shattered ceramic-like structure.
A chill ran through Lu Li’s heart.
Using the tip of his sword, he lifted the woman’s torn clothing and the black veil that had long slipped off during the fight.
Beneath the black cloth was not a human face but a smooth, featureless pale mask, inlaid with two gemstones engraved with special runes!
So the person who had fought fiercely with Lu Li and Gong Shangyu in the Zhou family courtyard was not human at all.
This was clearly a Magic Puppet!
Lu Li was stunned, but quickly came to terms with it.
“Hiss… no wonder this one chose to self-destruct once she knew she was outmatched! She was just a puppet! Her true body wasn’t even here!”
Yet as Lu Li felt relieved, new doubts emerged in his mind:
“But… if she was about to self-destruct, why did she suddenly stop?”
“Could it be… the self-destruction mechanism malfunctioned?”
“And why… did she also know the Virtual Spirit Sword Formation? Could it be that her true body is a traitor from the Virtual Spirit Sect?”
Lu Li scratched his head, growing ever more perplexed by the strange events of the battle.