Spirit-Body Dual Cultivation.
Han Yi sensed something extraordinary about the burly youth the moment he appeared. This was a cultivator who simultaneously cultivated both spiritual energy and physical strength.
In the Cultivation World, Body Refiners were exceedingly rare. While Body Refinement was a branch of the Immortal Path, achieving Foundation Establishment was dozens of times more challenging than for ordinary cultivators. Even reaching the Late-Stage Body Refining stage, equivalent to the Late-Stage Qi Refining realm, was an immense struggle.
The disproportionate effort required compared to the rewards had led to an extreme scarcity of Body Refiners in the Cultivation World.
Han Yi had encountered a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator disciple at the Profound Pill Sect, but that disciple had only reached the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. To his knowledge, there were no Body Refiners among the Inner Sect disciples.
He never imagined he would encounter a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in the Myriad Demon Mountain Range.
Taking a deep breath, Han Yi knew this would be the most difficult battle of his cultivation journey so far, and the perfect opportunity to test his combat prowess.
Just as the burly cultivator lunged forward, displacing the air with terrifying force, and brought his halberd crashing down with earth-shattering power...
Han Yi moved. His strategy was not to advance, but to retreat.
When fighting a Body Refiner, getting trapped in close combat was a cardinal sin.
As Han Yi retreated explosively, four daggers suddenly levitated around him, their tips pointing forward and vibrating gently. A crimson aura emanated from their blades, imbuing the surrounding air with a faint, scorching heat.
Having lost the Shadowless Sword, Han Yi now controlled the daggers using the Li Fire Sword Manual. By combining multiple elemental attributes, he amplified their power to new heights.
The previous night, he had shattered the Middle-Aged Confucian Scholar's Body Protection Talisman with just two daggers. Now, facing this Body Refiner, he unleashed all four simultaneously, a clear indication of his heightened seriousness.
"Go!"
Whoosh!
This time, the four daggers moved with full force, abandoning any coordinated rhythm. Each blade streaked forward individually, leaving faint crimson trails as they traversed the fifteen-meter distance in an instant, hurtling toward the burly cultivator.
Boom!
The halberd crashed down, striking one of the daggers and sending it flying.
"These daggers..." The burly youth's body trembled slightly, his heart skipping a beat. Without pausing, he yanked the halberd free and flicked away the second dagger. His movements were now visibly unsteady.
To be continued...
The youth thrust the halberd forward with renewed force, slapping away the third dagger. This time, the tremor in his body was accompanied by an almost imperceptible backward lean.
The fourth dagger was already bearing down on him head-on.
His old strength had been exhausted, and his new strength had yet to surge forth. Gripping his halberd tightly, he braced himself as the dagger struck the weapon head-on with a dull thud.
This time was different from the previous three encounters. Before, he had deflected, parried, and slapped the daggers away, relying on his momentum to block and repel them. But now, unable to gather his strength, the halberd felt like an extension of his body. A tremendous force surged through the weapon from the dagger, transmitted directly into his arm.
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
The burly cultivator stumbled back three steps, his face etched with shock and his voice grave.
"How can this dagger be so powerful?"
He had encountered cultivators who practiced the Sword Control Technique before. Yet, aside from the few Blood God Sons above the Ninth Layer Peak, none had ever wielded such terrifying power.
This man... he couldn't possibly be merely at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. He must have mastered a spell to conceal his aura, suppressing his Ninth Layer Peak cultivation down to the Seventh Layer.
The burly youth's conviction hardened, and his respect for Han Yi soared to new heights. Moreover, he suspected his opponent might have altered his appearance. His true identity was likely one of the Profound Pill Sect disciples sent to Jade Capital Mountain, and likely one of the top-ranked ones.
Before he could dwell further on these thoughts, Han Yi, now thirty meters away, had already launched the Wind Demon Dagger at him once more.
This time, four daggers struck simultaneously, two from the front and two from the back.
Whoosh... whoosh...
The burly youth's expression shifted as he whirled his halberd into a defensive flurry.
A cacophony of metallic clangs rang out as the halberd deflected the daggers.
Yet the deflected daggers, before they could even hit the ground, rejoined the assault mid-air.
"Damn it! At this rate, I'll be worn down to nothing!" the youth realized. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He swept his halberd horizontally, scattering the four daggers once more to create a brief opening. Then, he abruptly inhaled deeply, bracing himself. The halberd felt as heavy as a mountain.
Han Yi's expression subtly changed.
When Han Yi had first appeared, the burly youth had used this very technique to damage Chu Jinmo's Spirit Sword, shatter her Fire Shield Technique, and shred two High-Grade Body Protection Talismans—a truly terrifying display of power.
I can't let him finish charging this up and unleash it.
The thought crystallized instantly. Han Yi surged his divine sense into one of the daggers, more than doubling its speed. In an instant, the dagger slammed into the halberd's shaft.
Bang!
The halberd buckled violently under the impact, the terrifying buildup of pressure instantly dissipating.
The burly cultivator staggered back two steps, his face flushed crimson with fury.
Nearby, Han Yi exhaled slightly in relief, realizing that interrupting the youth's charge was the key to preventing him from unleashing his devastating technique.
The burly cultivator understood perfectly. Han Yi's Sword Control Technique was too strong, giving him no chance to breathe. There was no way he could replicate his previous devastating attack.
Roaring furiously, he charged at Han Yi, changing his strategy. If he could close the distance, he could easily cut him down with his halberd.
But it was in vain.
He lunged forward swiftly, but Han Yi retreated even faster.
Behind him, the four daggers materialized once more, instantly encircling him and forcing him to defend with his halberd.
The youthful cultivator cursed inwardly, an inexplicable rage simmering within him. By now, the four daggers had transformed into four streaks of shimmering light, each trailing a fiery red tail, weaving a cage around him. He was trapped at its center.
Han Yi, now more than thirty meters away and maintaining that distance, focused entirely on controlling the daggers without pause.
The situation was playing out almost exactly as he had predicted.
The best way to deal with Body Refiners or Spirit-Body Dual Cultivators was to kite them, wearing them down from a distance.
For most cultivators, trapping a Body Refiner was nearly impossible. Their offensive power far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators at the same cultivation stage.
But Han Yi was no ordinary cultivator.
Han Yi's Sword Control Technique had reached Perfected Purity, further enhanced by the Li Fire Sword Manual. Combined with the Wind Demon Daggers—extraordinary Magic Artifacts forged from indestructible materials—his defenses were virtually impenetrable.
Meanwhile, the burly cultivator trapped by the four Wind Demon Daggers knew that his demise was imminent if he remained passive.
With a sweeping motion, he slammed his halberd into the ground, causing the earth to tremble violently as a wave of spiritual energy radiated outward in all directions. This halberd served both as a Body Refiner's weapon and a top-tier High-Grade Magic Artifact.
In the past, facing ordinary cultivators at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement, he could effortlessly secure victory with his physical prowess alone. But this was no ordinary opponent; he had encountered Han Yi.
Planting his halberd firmly in the ground, he clapped his hands against the shaft. A spectral projection erupted from the weapon, soaring into the air.
The projection resembled a golden flood dragon, but only in superficial form, lacking its true spirit and majesty. More accurately, it was a golden serpent.
The golden serpent hissed, coiling its tail tightly around the four Wind Demon Daggers that darted around it. As the illusory serpent grasped the daggers, it instantly solidified, its golden scales shedding a hazy light that enveloped the trapped blades.
Thirty meters away, Han Yi's expression turned grave. He had suddenly lost his connection to the Wind Demon Daggers, rendering them completely uncontrollable.
Despite his surprise, he remained calm.
"Here it comes."
His gaze sharpened. He hadn't forgotten that his opponent was a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator, possessing not only the physique of a Body Refiner but also the cultivation of a Ninth Layer Qi Refinement expert.
In truth, Han Yi had been preparing for this moment all along.
As the burly cultivator summoned the illusory Golden Serpent from his halberd, Han Yi surged forward, a spirit talisman already in his hand.
A First-Tier High-Grade Spirit Talisman: the Yin Thunder Talisman.
This single talisman had cost him two hundred Mid-Grade spirit stones—an exorbitant sum that could have bought a High-Grade Magic Artifact.
He Fangwei, the shopkeeper of the Nine Dragons Merchant Guild, had sworn with unwavering conviction that even a Peak Qi Refining Stage cultivator struck by this talisman would suffer severe injuries on the spot.
Mana surged forth as the black jade Yin Thunder Talisman in Han Yi's palm ignited spontaneously. Within a breath, it had completely burned away.
Han Yi pointed into the void, aiming at the burly youth who was momentarily rooted in place while casting his spell.
Precisely at that moment...
The burly cultivator whirled around and abruptly looked up, his eyes flashing with terror beneath their ferocity, as if sensing an imminent and deadly threat. He desperately strained to move.
But in that instant, time seemed to slow for both him and Han Yi.
A bolt of ink-black lightning, as dark as pitch, struck the burly cultivator, who hadn't even fully straightened up.
The lightning was silent—or rather, it moved so swiftly that the sound lagged behind, leaving the cultivator's eyes filled only with light, devoid of sound.
Boom!
The thunderclap finally erupted. Han Yi, standing less than ten meters away, didn't pause to assess the Yin Thunder Talisman's effect. He channeled all his mana into his fingertips, unleashing a continuous barrage of strikes.
One, ten, a hundred...
In less than ten breaths, over a hundred Spirit Void Fingers rained down like starlight upon the spot where the burly cultivator had stood—a zone now saturated with the Yin Thunder's violently fluctuating spiritual energy.
This was Han Yi's follow-up attack after the Yin Thunder.
These hundred-plus Spirit Void Fingers had drained eighty percent of his mana.
After unleashing this dense barrage, Han Yi retreated swiftly once more.
If he's still alive after this, I'll have to consider running for my life.
As the dust settled and the spiritual energy subsided, Han Yi glanced around and breathed a small sigh of relief.
The ground within a three-meter radius of where the burly cultivator had stood had sunk about ten centimeters. In this patch of earth, scoured bare by the Yin Thunder Talisman, lay a charred, unrecognizable corpse.
The halberd that had been standing upright had been blasted several meters away, and the Golden Serpent conjured from the cultivator's spells had completely dissipated.
Unwilling to lower his guard, Han Yi gently pointed. One of the four Wind Demon Daggers scattered around the area wobbled upright, then proceeded to stab several more holes into the charred corpse on the ground.
"Looks like he's truly dead," Han Yi muttered, finally relaxing.
The frantic barrage of attacks he had just unleashed had taken its toll. His mana reserves were now depleted to just twenty percent, and he needed to escape quickly.