Li Chang's black whisk was still entangled with the nine black dragons. In a brief lapse, Yun Xi closed the distance. He reacted immediately but was half a breath too slow. The Nine Nether Sword pierced through his defensive shield, wounding him.
At the last moment, he instinctively dodged just enough to avoid destruction of his dantian. The sword energy only struck his left waist, yet even so, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Yun Xi silently counted the time in her mind. Seeing that Li Chang was injured, she flashed again and disappeared into a spatial node, sending a telepathic message to Xiao Xian: "Has the realm spirit shaken off the suppression yet?"
"Master, it should be soon! But your forcibly enhanced cultivation time is almost up. That Li Chang is still alive. What should we do?"
Yun Xi inhaled deeply, gritting her teeth against the pain of her meridians on the verge of shattering: "What else can we do but find a way to kill him!"
She immediately dashed from the hiding node. As soon as she appeared, Li Chang locked onto her with divine sense, his expression dark. He whipped his whisk, shredding one of the black dragons attacking him, then flashed in front of Yun Xi. The previous injury had strengthened his resolve to kill the male cultivator before him.
Yun Xi raised the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella, and the remaining eight black dragons wrapped around Li Chang again, leaving him no opportunity to harm her.
Gripping the Nine Nether Sword, Yun Xi infused it with thunder spiritual energy. Her Wushuang Sword Lightning Art was not just for show. Since she now counted as pseudo-Divine Transformation, her sea of consciousness contained Divine Transformation-level sword techniques.
With no time to waste, she temporarily relied on what she knew. As the Nine Nether Sword glowed purple, she unleashed the fifth move from her sea of consciousness: "Thunder Across Ten Thousand Miles."
A massive purple sword shadow formed above her head. Locking onto the target, it descended with ease, leaving Li Chang with no room to evade. He could only shred the remaining eight black dragons with his whisk, then spin to block the attack in front of him.
The whisk sensed Li Chang in danger and rapidly thickened and lengthened, wrapping around Yun Xi's sword shadow. It barely blocked the attack, but the thunder energy within the shadow strained the whisk, snapping some strands. Li Chang's face darkened, realizing he had underestimated her.
Yun Xi shifted her divine sense, summoning the Mystic Frost Needle from her dantian. Dividing her focus, she drained more spiritual energy from her meridians, transforming the needles into tens of thousands of ice-blue streaks, firing toward Li Chang.
When Li Chang looked up, he saw the Mystic Frost Needles streaming toward him. For a brief moment, he recognized: "It's you! Wei—"
He had no time to finish the name. To avoid being pierced, he pushed his spiritual power to the limit, enduring internal injury, roaring as he shattered the purple sword shadow, then forming a defensive wall to block the needles.
As the purple sword shadow broke, Yun Xi suffered backlash. The Nine Nether Sword dimmed, and blood seeped from her lips. Ignoring it, she inserted the sword back into the umbrella handle and used divine sense to encircle Li Chang with the ice needles, launching a third round of relentless attacks.
"Master, your forcibly enhanced cultivation time is ending. Your cultivation will drop rapidly. Prepare yourself."
Xiao Xian warned immediately.
Yun Xi pressed her lips and said: "I know. Success or failure depends on this move!"
No sooner had she spoken than her Divine Transformation-level cultivation began to plummet. In less than a quarter of an hour, she fell back to early Nascent Soul. Even that level was shaky, and only Xiao Xian's rapid infusion of spiritual energy kept her stable.
The Mystic Frost Needles, though controlled by her divine sense, weakened without sufficient energy support. Once their damage became negligible, Yun Xi recalled them to her dantian.
Li Chang stared at the male cultivator with blood on his lips, his murderous intent intensifying. Previously, he might have kept Yun Xi as a clone or puppet for evil cultivators, but now he only wanted her spirit and body obliterated.
This time, Li Chang wasted no words. He flashed in front of Yun Xi, his whisk shooting forward, aiming for her dantian. But in the next breath, his hand trembled, and his body convulsed in pain.
Yun Xi did not hesitate, punching his protective spiritual shield. With a dull thud, she created distance, coldly saying: "Zi Yan, burn him to ashes!"
In the next moment, the violet flames surrounding her shifted onto Li Chang. This time, Zi Yan burned from the inside out. Upon receiving the command, it first destroyed Li Chang's spiritual root in his dantian, then plunged into his meridians, wreaking havoc without restraint.
"You vile scoundrel!"
Li Chang cursed furiously, forced to retreat to a safe distance. He tried to suppress the wildly rampaging Mystic Thunder Violet Flame within him, attempting to expel it.
Yun Xi, supporting Zi Yan's destruction, was losing spiritual energy at a frightening rate. She swallowed two more pills, grasped a superior spirit stone, and instructed Xiao Xian to continue feeding her energy.
Li Chang now realized that when Yun Xi had wounded him before, the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame had entered through the injury, hiding near the wound. After he took healing pills, it entered his meridians. Later, during their fight, it even took advantage of his cultivation flow to reach his dantian—a perfectly planned strategy. His desire to kill Yun Xi grew even stronger.
As their battle raged over his body, a vortex appeared behind Li Chang. Raging wind wrapped around him, pulling him into the swirl. Yun Xi immediately recalled Zi Yan.
A violet flame hastily escaped the vortex and returned to Yun Xi's palm. The vortex closed swiftly, and Li Chang disappeared entirely.
Yun Xi then flashed to a floating island in the void, sitting cross-legged. She took out five milk fruits from space and ate them all, finally feeling alive again.
This time she held Xianling Grass in her hand to restore spiritual energy as quickly as possible. She still had to collect her reward from the realm spirit and could not afford mistakes.
To defeat Li Chang, she had gone all out, even using pills for short-term forcibly enhanced cultivation. These pills were acquired through Dian Dian at Yixian Gate, mixed into replenishing pills, and she had deliberately delayed acting until the effect took hold.
However, after taking such pills, her cultivation would not see noticeable growth for at least fifty years. She would instead spend significant time repairing the meridians stretched to their limit. Only after all hidden injuries were fully healed could her cultivation advance further.
Yun Xi had truly taken a risk. She did not care about appearing righteous. For the sake of two spiritual veins, she was willing to gamble. Fortunately, the realm spirit cooperated, kicking Li Chang out of the secret realm while he was injured. Those Divine Transformation Ancestors guarding the realm would surely be interested in sparing his life.
After a short incense stick's time, Yun Xi opened her eyes and telepathically told Xiao Xian:"Let's go collect the reward."