"Little brat, you're not getting away! Today, I'll make you suffer every torment imaginable before I rip your soul apart and banish you to eternal damnation!" Xuan Zhen bellowed, his speed surging as he extended his hand toward Xiao Chen in a death grip. He was already imagining the myriad ways he would make Xiao Chen beg for mercy, only to deny him the sweet release of death.
But just as he closed in, a powerful sense of impending doom seized his heart, momentarily disrupting his focus. Glancing up, he saw that Xiao Chen's previously panicked expression had vanished, replaced by a mocking smirk. In his hand was a stack of dozens of glowing yellow talismans, their light crackling ominously as he hurled them toward Xuan Zhen.
Though he couldn't discern the exact grade of the talismans, the overwhelming sense of life-threatening danger prompted Xuan Zhen to react immediately. He slapped his forehead, summoning a small, earthen-yellow shield that expanded rapidly as he poured his spiritual energy into it. In an instant, the shield grew to a meter in diameter, its surface glowing faintly with defensive runes.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The first talisman exploded, unleashing a binding spell that materialized as an invisible force, coiling around Xuan Zhen like an iron net.
Great Binding Spell.
The second talisman ignited, summoning a crimson fireball the size of a human head. It detonated upon impact, engulfing Xuan Zhen in a roaring inferno.
Great Explosive Spell.
The third talisman shimmered with an azure glow as dense water vapor condensed into countless razor-sharp needles, slicing through the air with chilling precision.
High-Grade Water Needle Spell.
Xiao Chen had spared no expense. Every high-grade talisman in his possession was unleashed, their combined power sufficient to annihilate any cultivator below the Golden Core stage. Confident in the potency of his ambush, Xiao Chen retreated several dozen meters to avoid the residual shockwaves, though he stayed close enough to claim the spoils of his victory.
"No way! He survived?!" Xiao Chen's divine sense swept through the chaotic battlefield, his expression turning grim. Despite the devastating array of explosions, Xuan Zhen's aura remained intact.
As the flames and mist cleared, Xuan Zhen's battered figure emerged. His defensive spirit armor was in tatters, barely clinging to his body. His once neatly tied hair was disheveled, and his face was blackened with soot, evidence of the fiery onslaught. The yellow shield in his hand now bore a massive crack that stretched across its surface.
"That shield... it saved his life," Xiao Chen realized, his heart sinking.
Xuan Zhen, however, was not unscathed. Trembling with rage, he clutched the damaged shield—a treasured relic of his sect. "This damnable brat... my sect's legacy! Years of survival thanks to this artifact, and now it's ruined because of you!"
Tears nearly welled in Xuan Zhen's eyes as fury consumed him. His long hair, now disheveled, began to float as his spiritual energy erupted uncontrollably.
"ROAR!"
With an inhuman howl, black tendrils of demonic energy seeped from Xuan Zhen's pores, writhing like malevolent worms. His eyes turned blood-red, and his veins bulged grotesquely, pulsing with a sickly, purplish hue.
He had succumbed to madness.
The emotional turmoil of near-death, the destruction of his prized artifact, and his unrelenting hatred for Xiao Chen had driven Xuan Zhen into a state of demonic frenzy.
Cultivators who succumbed to demonic energy became mindless beasts, sacrificing their reason to fuel a temporary surge in power. Though Xuan Zhen's strength now rivaled a pseudo-Core Formation cultivator, his fate was sealed: he would eventually burn himself out and perish.
Recognizing the danger, Xiao Chen's pupils contracted. "I can't fight him in this state!" Without hesitation, he activated his light-step technique, fleeing at full speed.
"Kill... Kill... KILL!" Xuan Zhen's guttural roar shook the forest as he launched himself after Xiao Chen, his body wreathed in dark energy. His speed had nearly doubled, closing the gap between them in moments.
"Damn it, he's locked onto me!" Xiao Chen gritted his teeth. "Even without his mind, his killing intent remains focused on me. He won't stop until one of us is dead!"
Knowing he couldn't outrun his pursuer for long, Xiao Chen decided to turn and fight. "If I don't take him down, I'm finished either way!"
With a low growl, he channeled his remaining spiritual energy into a powerful technique.
"Devouring Heaven Finger!"
A translucent, crystalline finger materialized, its surface radiating sharp spiritual energy. As it shot toward Xuan Zhen, it absorbed ambient spiritual energy, growing larger and more powerful with each passing second.
But Xuan Zhen, now a creature of instinct and fury, showed no fear. Roaring, he summoned a massive black fist from his demonic energy, meeting the finger head-on.
Boom!
The two forces collided, and Xiao Chen coughed up blood from the backlash. Despite its potency, the Devouring Heaven Finger was no match for Xuan Zhen's enhanced strength. The technique was obliterated in moments, and the gap between them shrank to a mere seven meters.
"Kill... Kill... KILL!" Xuan Zhen spat black mist from his mouth, forming a massive demonic face composed of writhing, tormented expressions. The face lunged toward Xiao Chen, its countless mouths wailing in agony.
Recognizing the threat, Xiao Chen bit his tongue, summoning the black blade he had obtained from the Black Wind Ghost. Infusing it with half of his remaining spiritual energy and a drop of his essence blood, the sword expanded to a towering ten-meter blade.
With a mighty swing, Xiao Chen unleashed a titanic slash that tore through the air, cleaving toward the demonic face.
"Die!"
The blade struck the face, causing a deafening explosion. Xiao Chen coughed up another mouthful of blood, his body staggering under the strain. The demonic face fractured but didn't dissipate entirely. Its many smaller faces swarmed the energy slash, gnawing it apart until it vanished.
"Damn it!" Xiao Chen cursed, his breath ragged. Swallowing a handful of pills, he prepared for one final gamble.
"Either I die running, or I fight to the end," he muttered, steeling himself as he redirected all his remaining energy into his next move.
Charging directly toward Xuan Zhen, Xiao Chen raised his fist, his blood-streaked face contorted with determination. Sometimes, survival required a gamble. And Xiao Chen wasn't about to fold.