"It seems I can't hold back any longer," the Second Heavenly Venerable thought to himself.
Suddenly, a flash of colorful light appeared before him, and Medusa, holding her longsword, was already upon him, striking out.
The Second Heavenly Venerable hastily used his staff to block, but was still forced back dozens of zhang, gradually approaching the interior of the Wind and Thunder Mountain Range.
This was also Medusa's deliberate action. Her close-quarters attack was meant to force him back and avoid fighting near Wind and Thunder City. Otherwise, with two Half-Saint powerhouses clashing, Wind and Thunder City might be destroyed after the battle, possibly leaving only a giant crater.
Eventually, as the two fought, they fully entered the Wind and Thunder Mountain Range.
Inside the mountain range, Gu You suddenly smiled eerily, pointing his bone staff at the sky.
"Netherworld Ghost Claw, Soul Erosion!"
Five pitch-black energy finger-rays appeared out of thin air, silently striking toward Medusa's back. Wherever the finger-rays passed, the space itself was corroded, leaving faint black marks.
Medusa sensed the chilling, soul-eroding finger-rays coming from behind her. A cold glint appeared in her narrow, beautiful eyes, but she did not choose to turn around. Instead, she formed a hand seal with one hand.
A majestic seven-colored energy instantly surged from her body, condensing into massive snake scales that were almost tangible—crystal clear yet indestructible—exuding an ancient and powerful defensive aura.
The golden-red rapier in Medusa's hand let out a clear sword cry. The seven-colored light flowing on the sword body suddenly converged, all pouring into the tip of the sword.
That point of light first became extremely internalized, as if it had swallowed all the surrounding light, causing the space at the sword tip to slightly collapse.
Immediately after, a terrifying sword intent erupted, powerful enough to dim stars and shake the void!
"Star Shatter!"
The rapier in her hand seemed to thrust forward lightly!
There was no grand momentum, no dazzling light effects, only a sword qi, condensed to the extreme, as thin as a hair, almost transparent, shot out!
This sword qi was so fast it surpassed the limits of visual capture, as if it had directly pierced through space, ignoring the distance between her and Gu You. Wherever it passed, it tore through.
Feeling the terrifying power carried by Medusa's attack, the fury in the Second Heavenly Venerable's eyes surged.
"Dark Skeleton King!!"
The skull staff he leaned on suddenly gushed out rolling black mist. In the blink of an eye, this black mist permeated half the sky. These black mists were filled with extremely cold energy.
Under Gu You's control, it quickly condensed into a gigantic black skeleton.
This black skeleton was nearly a thousand zhang tall, standing in the sky like a skeletal evil god, with rolling black mist churning around its body.
A chilling pressure swept out from within the skeleton, making the surrounding environment unusually cold.
The Skeleton King raised his arms and crossed them in front of his chest to block. On the massive skeleton, waves of black mist also surged out, covering the sky and earth.
Within this black mist, agonizing screams could be heard. Upon closer inspection, the entire black mist contained countless souls with ferocious expressions.
A sword qi appeared from within the void. The sword qi, condensed to its extreme, instantly crashed into the black mist. Upon entering, it was actively consumed and slowed down by the chilling power of the black mist.
These souls rushed forward, one after another, exploding against the sword qi, using themselves to deplete its power.
After a full one-third of the souls self-destructed, the color on the sword qi also dimmed considerably.
The sword qi broke through the black mist and souls, colliding with the crossed arms of the skeleton.
"Clang——!"
An extremely sharp, soul-piercing sound of metal clashing suddenly rang out, followed by a massive impact light that erupted, engulfing the entire heaven and earth.
Meanwhile, the five pitch-black soul-eroding finger-rays that the Second Heavenly Venerable had previously unleashed slammed heavily onto the seven-colored scale shield, emitting a grating, corrosive sound.
The pitch-black energy attempted to corrode the colorful snake scale shield. The corrosive force and the devouring power of the colorful light were in a stalemate, mutually eroding each other.
Eventually, both the finger-rays and the snake scales exploded simultaneously, dissipating into specks of light.
Medusa's phoenix eyes fixed on the source of the light, with no intention of giving him a moment to breathe. She unleashed several more terrifying sword qi strikes toward the interior.
Just then, from within the light, a pitch-black bone fist extended, smashing into the sword qi and shattering it.
"Hehehe, your attack is indeed powerful, but to think of killing this old man with just that is still too naive."
The massive skeletal frame reappeared before Medusa, emitting the Second Heavenly Venerable's peculiar laughter.
At this moment, the light in the sky and earth gradually dissipated.
However, he was not complete at this time; his left arm had disappeared, and his right arm bone also bore a sword mark, with colorful light continuously eroding his power.
Medusa's eyes narrowed as she looked past the skeleton to where the Second Heavenly Venerable had been standing. He now stood motionless in the void, his eyes hollow and lifeless, like a corpse.
She hadn't expected such a bizarre Dou Technique, one that could merge his soul with a skeleton body.
"To be able to witness this old man's Heaven-tier Dou Technique, your strength has also earned my recognition, hehehe," the skeleton lowered its head, looking at Medusa's figure, and sneered.
When casting this Dou Technique, the main body is in a separate space. Unless a Dou Sheng intervenes, one can only break this Dou Technique to defeat him.
"Hehehe, now it's this old man's turn to attack."
The thousand-zhang skeleton suddenly shrank to ten zhang in size. Although its volume decreased, its power was clearly more concentrated and stronger.
A huge palm, imbued with terrifyingly cold energy, slammed down fiercely toward Medusa.
Medusa also took on a serious expression, facing him with her longsword.
For a time, thunderous roars echoed throughout the Wind and Thunder Mountain Range. With the naked eye, one could see the towering ancient trees and massive peaks within the mountain range continuously collapsing—a scene like the end of the world…
Meanwhile, the people from Wind and Thunder Pavilion, the Hall of Souls, and Boundless Heaven Hall, looking at the distant Wind and Thunder Mountain Range, couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from their faces. If the two fought with full power, they might be torn to pieces by the powerful winds within a hundred zhang radius.
Half-Saint powerhouses are indeed terrifying.
The Eighth Heavenly Venerable's body returned to the void, looking down from above with sharp eyes at the people of Boundless Heaven Hall.
"Hehehe, now that your strongest combat power has been tied up, our side is much stronger than yours. Have you thought about how you want to die?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a green sword qi flew out from within the city, heading directly for the Eighth Heavenly Venerable, who stood highest.
Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from it, the Eighth Heavenly Venerable was instantly scared out of his wits. His storage ring flashed, and several black figures were thrown out to meet the sword qi.
These black figures were 'people' of four- or five-star Dou Zun level, but their eyes were devoid of any vitality, clearly indicating they were puppets.
As soon as these puppets came into contact with the sword qi, they were instantly sliced in half.
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