Even though I knew I wouldn't be able to evade in time, I still threw myself to the side desperately. I wasn't going to give up. I was the type of person who would continue fighting to the bitter end.
However, I could see the qi blades shrouding Ba Bai's hands slashing toward me. I wasn't going to make it…
Fortunately, I didn't have to. Before Ba Bai could reach me, Kai Li Si kicked him from the side. Ba Bai grunted as he was hurled away, and he did a backflip in the air before landing on the ground. Even so, the momentum from Kai Li Si's kick sent him skidding backward and he was forced to plunge the qi blades around his arms into the ground to brake to a halt.
Slashing his arms upward the moment he stopped, he then lunged forward. Kai Si Li barely dodged Ba Bai's charge, but the demonic practitioner wasn't aiming for him.
He was barreling right toward me.
Fortunately, I managed to detect the fluctuations of his qi and was able to dive to the side before he could reach me. Even so, he managed to slash at me while passing by. Ducking, I watched in horror as his qi blade sliced neatly through a lamppost, causing the whole thing to teeter over.
Whoa, those qi blades could cut through metal so easily!
Slamming his feet into the ground and skidding to a halt, Ba Bai then spun around to attack me again, but I was able to evade his ranged attacks. The detached qi blades sliced through the air, cutting off several strands of my hair, but for the most part I was unscathed.
Then he was right in front of me. Despite ducking under his qi blades, I was unable to avoid his kick.
"Gah!"
The force of his kick sent me crashing across the park, blood spurting from my mouth. I hit the ground and tumbled, feeling as if my ribs were cracked. Despite the sharp pain, I hastily scrambled to my feet, knowing that Ba Bai was coming down on me. Hard.
He never reached me.
Before his qi blade could take my head off, a metallic pole slammed into him. Ba Bai grunted and crossed his arms to parry the blow, but he was sent flying through the air. Rolling about in midair, he landed in a kneeling posture and glanced up angrily.
Kai Li Si was imposing himself between me and my assailant, spinning the severed section of the lamppost in his hands. He had picked up the damaged metallic pole and was now using it as a staff. The silver metal glowed softly with golden veins, a display of how its wielder had infused it with his qi.
"This weapon isn't ideal, but it'll do."
Saying that, Kai Li Si charged forward. He swung the lamppost at Ba Bai, but the latter deflected it with his qi blades. Despite his successful parry, the purplish black qi shrouding his arms cracked. Ba Bai snarled and slashed, but Kai Li Si deflected his arms to the side before whirling the lamppost about and thrusting it toward his opponent's stomach.
Ba Bai slapped it away with an elbow and countered, but Kai Li Si turned the riposte away with a deft stroke of the lamppost. Twirling it about in his hands skillfully, he knocked Ba Bai back and retaliated with a vicious hook from the side that would have taken his opponent's head off if it landed. Ba Bai quickly drew his head back, but he was unable to avoid getting his temple grazed, a trickle of blood dripped down the side of his face and he grimaced.
"Hmph."
Ba Bai kicked at Kai Li Si, but the latter thrust the lamppost downward to deflect the former's foot. He then shifted the pole upward to parry a slash from Ba Bai's arm blades before spinning the makeshift weapon about to crack the side of his head.
Ba Bai knocked the pole to the side and stepped in to punch a hole through Kai Li Si's midriff. However, before his attack could land, he suddenly spun about to block my Soul Crushing Strike.
"Ugh?!"
He skidded backward, but wasn't hurt too much. Evidently the difference between our cultivation realms was too much. Glaring at me as if I was nothing more than a pesky insect or an annoying dog, he kicked in response, but I was already withdrawing to avoid his foot. While he was trying to swat me away, Kai Li Si swung the lamppost at his head, forcing the demonic practitioner to dodge and abort his follow up attack on me.
Whirling about, Ba Bai dragged his foot across the ground before stomping on it. Purplish black qi erupted about him, blowing both Kai Li Si and me back. With a snarl, he spun about and lunged at me, determined to finish the job.
That was right. I was his priority. His mission was to assassinate me. That way, the demonic sects would be able to conquer the Celestial Realm unopposed.
Like hell I would let him.
I dropped to the ground and rolled away, barely avoiding his slashes. While I practically danced just outside of his range, Kai Li Si quickly recovered and moved to attack the frustrated Ba Bai from behind. The demonic practitioner ducked under the swinging staff, and then kicked his assailant from below. Gritting his teeth, Kai Li Si brought the lamppost down to parry the foot, but he was sent flying several paces backward.
I tried to deliver another Soul Crushing Strike, but Ba Bai spun around to intercept my fist. I quickly pulled back, and was hurled away when he slashed at me. Even though I avoided a fatal strike, I could feel blood gushing out of a wound across my torso. Inside, my organs felt as if they were being thrown about my body.
Hitting the ground, I rolled away. Just in time too, for Ba Bai's qi blade punctured the ground where I was lying on a millisecond ago. I kicked out, but despite connecting, I wasn't able to budge Ba Bai one bit. The demonic practitioner grinned at me, amused, and then slashed at me.
Even though I managed to cross my arms and defend against the attack, the sheer force from the sharp qi tore through my skin and sent blood spraying everywhere. I cashed into the grass several meters away, almost blacking out from the pain.
"Ugh…"
Ba Bai leaped forward to finish me off, but before he could land on top of me, Kai Li Si's lamppost swerved from the side and struck him. Ba Bai raised an arm to block the attack, but he was thrown off course, his trajectory altered by the sudden attack.
"No wonder the resistance turned the tide of the war." Ba Bai glared at us as he skidded to a stop on the ground, one of his arms piercing the ground to halt his momentum. "Even though you are so weak now, you're still so tenacious and hard to kill."
He then kicked off the ground and lunged at me.
"All the more I can't afford to let you live!"
Before he could reach me, Kai Li Si barreled into him from the side, slamming his lamppost against Ba Bai. The demonic practitioner spun about, ducking under the pole and retaliating with both of his hands. The qi blades punctured Kai Li Si's torso, drawing out twin spurts of blood and sending him crashing. Grunting, Kai Li Si reversed his grip on the lamppost and struggled to smash it against Ba Bai's head, but the latter sliced through the makeshift weapon with his qi blades.
I could sense the spike in his qi, the surge in demonic energy. As a last ditch effort, Ba Bai had intensified the qi blades coalescing around his arms, increasing the density by several times so that he could finally destroy Kai Li Si's pole.
However, that came at a cost. I realized that Kai Li Si's speculation wasn't very far off. Ba Bai's qi circulation was clogged and when he did that final surge of qi, I could see something happening inside his body. A clash of qi…uncontrollable and rampaging wildly. Blood dripped from Ba Bai's mouth and he staggered for a moment.
Just a single second but it was enough to tell me that Kai Li Si was right. Ba Bai was suffering from an internal injury and he had yet to fully recover from it.
This was my chance.
While Ba Bai was distracted, I moved in and struck him in the back, pouring all of my qi into my right hand. Soul Crushing Strike – it was a powerful move, and even against an opponent of a higher cultivation realm, there was a chance I could do some damage.
Not a lot, though, as I found to my cost. Ba Bai spun around to glare at me, looking unhurt. His body, tempered by his higher cultivation realm and greater amount of qi, would normally withstand my punch without suffering any damage.
But he was nursing an internal injury, and despite my Soul Crushing Strike not doing any damage physically, I sensed that the qi inside his body had gone into greater turmoil. Blood continued to trickle from his mouth.
Even so, it was not enough. With a bellow, Ba Bai retaliated. I ducked as best as I could, but his arm clipped the side of my head.
"Ugh!"
I found myself blinded by my own blood, my glasses hanging askew from my eyes and the lenses cracking from the impact. I hit the ground and rolled uncontrollably, unable to stop my momentum. Digging my fingers into the soil, I managed to drag myself to a halt, but to no avail.
Ba Bai was landing on my position once more.
I rolled away, but the shockwave from his landing battered me. He strode forward, slashing down with his arm blades.
Before I lost my head, however, Kai Li Si struck, trying to throw a Soul Crushing Strike from behind. Just as we planned earlier. I was distracting Ba Bai from the real threat so that Kai Li Si could deliver the killing blow. As long as Kai Li Si could land a hit, we might be able to stand a chance…
"Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Laughing, Ba Bai spun about and dodged Kai Li Si's strike. He then countered with a slash and severed Kai Li Si's arm at the elbow. The latter staggered back with a cry, blood spurting out of his stump. Guffawing wildly, Ba Bai then stabbed Kai Li Si in the chest.
The resistance fighter stared at Ba Bai in disbelief, his eyes wide, and then slumped over.
With a yell, I smashed another Soul Crushing Strike into Ba Bai's back. He didn't budge, standing immobile for a second, and then he spat out a clod of blood. Turning to glare at me, he sent me crashing away with a backhand.
"I can't believe you're giving me this much trouble even though you're only at Yellow Realm."
He yanked his arm out of Kai Li Si's chest and turned to face me, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.
"Hmm?"
However, Kai Li Si was far from done. He continued standing, stumbling forward to throw what seemed like another Soul Crushing Strike. Annoyed, Ba Bai spun around to finish him off, slashing with his other arm blade.
"Just die already, you rotten loser!"
In a single graceful motion that belied his fatally wounded figure, Kai Li Si placed his remaining hand on Ba Bai's arm instead of finishing the execution of his Soul Crushing Strike, and then used it to propel himself up and over Ba Bai. Flipping about, he then planted his foot on Ba Bai's head.
"Watch carefully, sir," he told me hoarsely, even though I already sensed the buildup of qi in his foot. "This is how to use Seismic Step."
Before Ba Bai could respond, his head exploded in a shower of blood and bone fragments. The demonic practitioner's headless corpse stumbled a single step, and then toppled over, blood coursing out of the stump of his neck.
Kai Li Si landed on the ground, kneeling. He turned his head slightly to offer me a triumphant smile and slowly raised his hand to flash a thumb's up.
Then he collapsed.