"Great Embroidery Technique!"
Dao Qiongcang's reflexes were lightning fast. With a flick of his finger across the divine Sinan, the sky became filled with dazzling patterns of the Way of the Heavens. These divine marks wove together in a magnificent display, instantly halting the swelling energy of the Divine Puppet.
It was as if the Puppet had been stitched into the very fabric of the void, pinned and unable to move or self-destruct. The sensation was unbearable for it.
"Little fellow…" Dao Qiongcang's smile widened as he observed the immobilized Puppet. He had already anticipated Xu Xiaoshou's self-destruction technique, having witnessed the Puppet's arm explode outside Jade Capital City. This time, he was fully prepared to counter it.
With another swift motion of the divine Sinan, Dao activated the Great Confinement Technique. Starlight shot out and wrapped around the Puppet, completely sealing off Jin Ren's spiritual senses that were connected to it. Even the link to Yu Zhiwen's astrolabe, Guilan, was forcefully severed.
The white-clothed followers, who had been watching anxiously, felt an overwhelming sense of relief. They couldn't help but cheer internally. "Only Hallmaster Dao could manage this!" they thought. Xu Xiaoshou had eluded even the Holy Emperor Bei Huai in the past, but today, he had finally been cornered. They marveled at Dao's skill and strategy.
Meanwhile, Jin Ren, whose spiritual senses had been trapped within the Divine Puppet, didn't seem panicked at all. Instead, his voice echoed with defiance. "Elder Dao, what can you possibly do to me now? Even if you keep me here, you're still far from achieving your goal."
Dao Qiongcang grinned, unbothered by Jin Ren's bravado. "Nothing much. But since you're here, why not stay and chat for a while? I've been meaning to discuss my plan with you."
Jin Ren's interest piqued, despite the situation. "Oh? Your plan? Go on, I'm listening."
Before Dao could respond, the battlefield shifted. The rustling of leaves filled the air as two stones suddenly flew out of nowhere, disrupting the energy flow.
Dao's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Another stone trick? You think this is Changde Town?" His expression grew stern, and with a command of his overwhelming aura, the stones were reduced to dust mid-flight. But the moment they shattered, the Divine Puppet, which had been pinned by the Great Embroidery Technique, vanished.
Dao Qiongcang wasn't caught off guard, though. He stepped forward, twisting his fingers in the air as he captured the lingering aura from the crushed stones. Controlling the divine Sinan, he activated the Qingyuan Mountain great array once more.
"Teleport!"
In an instant, Dao disappeared.
***
Far in the distance, Zhu Yike, hidden in the treetops, clutched the half-destroyed Divine Puppet he had just retrieved. His plan had been to swap the Puppet and help Xu Xiaoshou escape, but before he could move, Dao Qiongcang materialized in front of him, divine Sinan at the ready.
"F*ck!" Zhu Yike cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected Dao Qiongcang to track him so quickly. Though he had played dead earlier to avoid detection, it seemed that Dao's calculations had left no room for error.
With a twisted grin, Zhu Yike muttered, "Bye-bye…" His body blurred as he activated Sky Stealing, swapping his position with one of the remaining stones he had prepared earlier.
Dao reached out, but it was too late. Zhu Yike disappeared in a flash, leaving Dao standing in the empty space.
***
Zhu Yike reappeared at the previous battlefield, where the white-clothed forces had been waiting. At his feet lay a half-conscious fish, suffocating on the dry ground.
The white-clothed followers were momentarily stunned by his sudden appearance, but recognition quickly dawned on their faces.
"It's Zhu Yike! The Red Flower Bandit!"
"He's one of Xu Xiaoshou's men!"
"Catch him!"
Dozens of white-clothed soldiers, along with multiple higher void cultivators, converged on Zhu Yike. But he remained calm, unfazed by the overwhelming force against him.
"You want to capture me?" Zhu Yike scoffed, his eyes gleaming with confidence. With a swift kick, he sent Yu Zhiwen, who had been lying nearby, flying into the air, clearing his path.
"She will die within three auras. Do you believe me?" Zhu Yike's voice echoed ominously.
The white-clothed group froze at his words. None of them could take such a claim seriously, but the stakes were too high. Whether Zhu Yike's threat was real or not, they couldn't afford to take chances.
"Save her first!" the leader barked.
Immediately, half of the group sprang into action, racing into the sky toward Yu Zhiwen's unconscious body, their spiritual sources igniting like fireworks. The remaining half stayed behind, weapons ready, seething with fury at Zhu Yike's audacity to threaten the Saint maiden.
"Die!" they shouted in unison, unleashing a torrent of spiritual energy and weapon strikes toward him. But Zhu Yike remained unfazed, his mind focused on something far more dangerous than these attackers: Dao Qiongcang's ever-calculating mind.
As the barrage of attacks closed in, Zhu Yike chuckled. In a split second, he activated his Sky Stealing technique. With a swift motion, he stepped on the astrolabe at his feet and vanished into thin air.
"Eh!" his mocking laughter lingered as he disappeared.
"Stop!" the leader of the white-clothed shouted, realizing something was wrong.
Too late.
In the next moment, where Zhu Yike had stood, Yu Zhiwen now appeared, unconscious but unmistakably real. Panic erupted among the attackers as they scrambled to halt their strikes. The leader, unable to stop in time, was forced to turn his blade on his comrades behind him to block their attacks before they could land on her.
The clash of spiritual sources and weapons sent shockwaves across the battlefield. The chaos left everyone dazed, while Zhu Yike, having perfectly timed his trick, reappeared far away, laughing.
The white-clothed followers, who had rushed to protect Yu Zhiwen, found themselves cradling a limp form—but it wasn't Yu Zhiwen. It was Zhu Yike! His crooked smile greeted them as he waved mockingly, "Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"
In one swift motion, he threw out a piece of enchanted paper.
Jumping Paper!
With a strange humming sound, dozens of the powerful Cutting Path cultivators who had rushed to shield the Saint maiden were sealed within the paper's magic. Bewildered and enraged, the higher void cultivators below could only watch in disbelief.
"You fools still don't get it?" Zhu Yike taunted them as he played yet another Sky Stealing switch. This time, he replaced himself with Yu Zhiwen again, leaving the higher voids charging up at him holding nothing but thin air.
Dao Qiongcang's forces were utterly thrown into disarray. For a brief moment, the battlefield seemed eerily quiet. Then, Zhu Yike's voice broke the silence.
"Are you blind? I'm right here!"
Infuriated, the white-clothed cultivators roared in frustration and leaped toward Zhu Yike, only to realize the one before them had turned into Yu Zhiwen again, and the real Zhu Yike was somewhere else entirely.
At the same time, Zhu Yike threw another Jumping Paper at the remaining Cutting Paths, sealing them just as effectively as before. He couldn't help but mock them again, "Old fools from the Central Region, you're no match for me!"
Even Jin Ren, observing from afar, was stunned. Zhu Yike had taken the white-clothed elite, warriors renowned across the five regions, and reduced them to playthings with his Golden Gate Stealing Technique. They were helpless, utterly outmaneuvered by the Southern Region's infamous bandit.
"Run!" Jin Ren shouted urgently. He couldn't believe Zhu Yike had managed to slip out of Dao Qiongcang's trap, but seeing this opportunity, he wasn't about to stick around any longer.
"Go!" Zhu Yike echoed, flicking two of his sealed pieces of Jumping Paper into spatial fragments, sending them far from the battlefield. He then produced another enchanted paper and aimed it at Yu Zhiwen, who was falling from the sky once again.
Zhu Yike knew that, while the white-clothed group was skilled, they weren't his equal in a non-lethal battle. His techniques were too unpredictable, and he had mastered the art of outwitting stronger opponents. But there was one person whose threat loomed larger than all the others—Dao Qiongcang.
Zhu Yike understood that without a proper hostage, he stood no chance of escaping from Dao's grasp. He needed leverage.
Jumping Paper!
Zhu Yike's voice rang out as he prepared to seal Yu Zhiwen, his only hope of buying enough time to flee from Dao Qiongcang's overwhelming power.
High up in the sky, Yu Zhiwen's figure disappeared, sealed within a piece of paper.
Afterward, Zhu Yike smiled, glancing into the distance as he pulled out a small copper coin from his pocket.
"Lord Shou, it's still the same phrase…"
With a flick of his finger, the copper coin spun in the air with a pleasant ring. He said, "Do you want to jump?"
He intended to show off to Jin Ren. Old Zhu's arrogance was so natural!
Just as he was about to bask in his triumph, he sensed something wrong. His smile faltered, and he hurriedly warned, "Be careful…"
But it was too late!
The Sky Stealing technique had yet to fully form.
Zhu Yike's eyes shifted to the paper that had sealed Yu Zhiwen.
Sizzle!
The paper was torn apart, and a translucent, jade-white hand shot out, piercing through Zhu Yike's heart.
"Oh!" Zhu Yike groaned in disbelief.
Yu Zhiwen? Impossible!
How could she break the spell on the Jumping Paper?
The hand didn't stop there. After it pierced through his chest, it slashed upward!
Sizzle...
Zhu Yike's heart was torn first, followed by his left shoulder and neck. His head was nearly split in half—if he hadn't tilted in time, that single blow would've destroyed his body!
As the paper completely ripped apart, the hand reached into the void, and out stepped a figure in a star-patterned gauze dress… Dao Qiongcang!
It wasn't Yu Zhiwen. It was Elder Dao the Flamboyant!
Elder Dao smiled, raising an eyebrow coquettishly at Zhu Yike. His tone was full of mock admiration as he answered the question Lord Shou had never answered.
"Jump."
Dao Qiongcang?!
At that moment, not only was Zhu Yike dumbfounded, but even Jin Ren was stunned.
Yu Zhiwen had turned into Dao Qiongcang? When had this happened?
"How did you..." Zhu Yike's mind raced. He, the master of the Sky Stealing technique, had been outdone by Elder Dao?
"When she fainted earlier, for safety reasons, I had already transferred her away," Dao Qiongcang explained calmly, as if reading his thoughts.
"Hiss..." The intense pain finally hit Zhu Yike.
He couldn't suppress the shock. He couldn't believe this had all been pre-planned—that Dao Qiongcang had replaced Yu Zhiwen with a fake earlier?
"Impossible!" Jin Ren blurted. His fighting spirit was gone, but his keen senses hadn't failed him. Yu Zhiwen had been underfoot the whole time, and the great array of Qingyuan Mountain hadn't moved. No one had been removed earlier!
"Aiya, you've seen through me…" Dao Qiongcang smiled sheepishly before turning serious. He looked directly at Zhu Yike and said, "Yes, I lied."
"Actually, it was after you rescued Lord Shou. When your attention was completely on him…"
"I made the switch!"
Hearing this, Zhu Yike felt his mind spinning.
So, the moment he saved Lord Shou and left the fight, Elder Dao had already planned the hostage swap?
Jin Ren recalled a brief moment when his spiritual senses had indeed left Yu Zhiwen. In that instant, goosebumps crawled over his skin.
The battlefield fell into an eerie silence once more.
Zhu Yike's face paled. Dao Qiongcang, now free from the paper seal and dressed in starry attire, smiled.
"F*ck you!" Zhu Yike cursed bitterly. It was the most revolting smile he had ever seen.
Despite his severe injuries, he hadn't given up yet. His eyes narrowed, and he pressed down on his chest wounds. With a swift motion, he lunged at Dao Qiongcang.
"Reverse, Heaven and Earth Reverse!"
Sizzle! Blood spurted from the right side of Dao Qiongcang's chest and neck, mirroring Zhu Yike's injuries.
Zhu Yike's wounds had transferred onto Dao Qiongcang's body, while Zhu Yike himself stood fully healed!
"This..." Dao Qiongcang muttered, glancing down in surprise. He was taken aback, but without hesitation, his Sinan trembled, starlight flashing around him.
"Great Killing Technique!"
At such close range, the attack was instantaneous. Most would have been unable to react.
But Zhu Yike leaned back, releasing his Divine Puppet, his left hand reaching into the Way of the Heavens to grab hold of the starlight, while his right hand deflected the light beam from the Great Killing Technique.
"Stars Shift and Battles Rage!"
Instantly, the direction changed.
The target changed.
Locked on—error...
Dao Qiongcang suddenly realized that he and Zhu Yike had swapped positions. The beam of light that should've pierced Zhu Yike now struck him directly in the chest!
"Oh!" Dao Qiongcang grunted, blood trickling from his lips, shock filling his eyes.
"Jump?" Zhu Yike grinned, his crooked teeth glowing under the moonlight.
"I'll let you jump!"
He grabbed the Divine Puppet again. The copper coin in his hand spun and bounced up once more.
Ding!
The sound was crisp, almost pleasant.
But Zhu Yike didn't let himself get carried away. He knew that Dao Qiongcang hadn't unleashed his full demi-saint power, or he would've had no chance at all.
Still, a win was a win. He had bested Dao Qiongcang. If this battle were fought again, he doubted Elder Dao would ever underestimate him.
Unfortunately, there wouldn't be a second chance...
"Sky Stealing!"
Zhu Yike couldn't suppress a smile, confident that he was about to escape Qingyuan Mountain.
But something was wrong.
The spell had been cast, yet he remained rooted to the spot.
"Pfft..." Zhu Yike doubled over in pain. Blood gushed from his mouth. In shock, he glanced down.
When the paper sealing Yu Zhiwen had been torn, it seemed to drift away in the wind…
But a corner of it had stuck to his clothes!
Now, a jade-white arm reached out from that corner, piercing straight through his abdomen!
"Impossible..." Zhu Yike gasped, raising his hand weakly to try and cover his wound.
The hand rose again, stabbing into his chest, and grabbed something.
Bang bang... Bang bang...
A beating heart!
Dao Qiongcang crawled out from the last corner of the paper, smiling as he looked at the pale Zhu Yike.
"But, he did jump!"
"You've impressed me!" Dao Qiongcang said, his tone one of amused admiration.
Zhu Yike's lips twitched, unable to form words. He was utterly defeated.
Jin Ren, trapped within the Divine Puppet, could only watch in shock as the second Dao Qiongcang emerged from Zhu Yike's body.
There were two Dao Qiongcangs?
Two demi-saint incarnations?
Was that necessary?
"F*ck you..." Zhu Yike cursed weakly, attempting to flick his thumb.
But Dao Qiongcang was faster. He grabbed Zhu Yike's fist, covering his knuckles, and shook his head.
"It's not elegant."
He clenched Zhu Yike's heart gently.
Zhu Yike grunted as the spiritual source in his energy reserve collapsed, and his technique vanished.
"F*ck you..."
"Oh!" Dao Qiongcang withdrew his hand, stuffing Zhu Yike's heart into his mouth, silencing him.
He then slapped a weapon prohibition order on Zhu Yike.
The fight was over.
Zhu Yike's eyes rolled back as his body went limp. Dao Qiongcang dropped him from the sky.
Bang!
A cloud of dust rose from the impact.
Elder Dao, unconcerned about the Golden Gate Stealing Technique, smiled and turned to the Divine Puppet.
"Chat?"
Jin Ren's consciousness within the puppet glanced between the two Dao Qiongcangs, speechless.
Bam!
In mid-air, the Dao Qiongcang dressed in gauze transformed into a chubby Divine Elf. It fluttered around Dao Qiongcang before waving at the Divine Puppet.
"Xiaoshou, Xiaoshou, long time no see! I'm Xiao Qi. Do you remember me?"
Dao Qiongcang smiled casually, as if nothing had happened, and repeated,
"Chat?"