Chapter 248: Overwhelming Tactical Victory

The second Gu Nan stopped, a force attacked from behind him. It was precisely Duanmu Sen.

Duanmu Sen's true body still looked solemn, but his gaze was calmer and more dignified, his eyes bright and full of expression.

Gu Nan seemed to have anticipated it long ago. The instant Duanmu Sen appeared, his figure had already disappeared again, teleporting behind Duanmu Sen.

Duanmu Sen reacted even faster, turning around to throw a punch behind him—although he was in a hurry, it wasn't like he didn't see the fight earlier.

But unfortunately, this punch of his still struck empty air, because Gu Nan never planned to attack at all. He just borrowed Duanmu Sen as a springboard and immediately Blinked outside the door.

"He ran away?" Duanmu Sen frowned and gazed over there. Gu Nan left his sight after several more teleportations.

He didn't quite understand why the other party slaughtered his way to their door with such great fanfare, yet hardly accomplished anything substantial. He just ran away after massacring some people?

As for the loss of their clansmen, it would be a lie to say that Duanmu Sen didn't feel any heartache, but he was also far from concerned.

The lifespan of Void Cutter cultivators was too long. The ones who died were merely ordinary people. They'd be able to raise a few more generations of those after a few decades, so what was there to care about?

Even their attitude towards Duanmu Yin was like this. Despite knowing she died at Gu Nan's hands, the Duanmu family's father and daughter still weren't in a hurry to take revenge. Instead, they chose to take a long-term approach.

"Nianlan, are you okay?"

Duanmu Nianlan shook her head slightly. Her shoulder's injury wasn't light, but it wouldn't affect her fighting strength for the time being. Right now, she was more concerned about the enemy's plans.

Duanmu Nianlan was extremely competitive. Counting this time, she had already lost to Gu Nan twice in a row.

There was no clear hierarchy between Void Cutter Realm cultivators. Everyone had a chance of defeating their opponent—it all depended on their own methods and real-time battle performance.

But that Gu Nan's methods were too varied and fickle. If in their first fight, he relied on absolute strength—taking her Shinto golden body's attacks head-on with his physical body—then in their second fight, he relied on extreme skill.

In such a high-speed battle, every sword struck the exact same location. 'Unless he's an expert who devoted himself to swordsmanship for many years, how can it possibly be done?'

"Father, do you think that person deliberately drew us out?" Duanmu Nianlan put aside her thoughts and immediately thought of this possibility.

The other party deliberately drew out the two Void Cutter experts on their side. No matter how she looked at it, he seemed to have an ulterior motive.

"It's very possible…" Naturally Duanmu Sen could also think of this, but suddenly he said, "Watch out!"

Only when Duanmu Sen gave a loud shout did Duanmu Nianlan realize that a blurry and indistinct shadow was already standing behind her. It had emerged from within her own shadow.

The shadow quickly condensed into a blade emitting strange energy and ruthlessly stabbed Duanmu Nianlan in the back.

Wang He's soul-cutting blade! In the same location as the other attacks!

Only now did Duanmu Nianlan understand why Gu Nan was determined to leave a wound on her body—the soul-cutting blade completely ignored the enemy's physical body, but it could be defended against by using her Shinto golden body. Thus, these powers would neutralize each other.

But what if there was a gap in her Shinto golden body's defenses?

Now Duanmu Nianlan knew the result.

The soul-cutting blade pierced her shoulder without hindrance, accurately hitting Duanmu Nianlan's soul. Her entire person froze in place, and her pupils suddenly slackened.

Just a single blow made Duanmu Nianlan fall into an unprecedented critical condition.

The soul-cutting blade was even more powerful in Gu Nan's hands than in Wang He's—the shadow servants only had their intelligence weakened; their attack power and attributes weren't impaired.

When Gu Nan took over the shadow servant's ability, the actual effect was naturally more terrifying.

Duanmu Nianlan only felt her vision start to dim. Her body began to sway weakly, almost falling to the ground.

But her mind was incomparably clear. Gu Nan's tactical intent at every step of the battle were all clearly displayed in front of her eyes.

Create a wound via a sneak attack, then enlarge the injury with that strange swordsmanship while simultaneously diverting her attention.

His sword was very powerful. If he could hit her vitals even once, he might just critically injure her.

'But precisely because of this, I didn't protect my shoulder as carefully, or else I wouldn't be repeatedly struck in the same spot—instead of forcing the other party to attack my vitals, it was better to let him attack my shoulder.'

But just when she thought he was trying to wear her down through repeated injuries, he suddenly left, making them think he wanted to lure them away.

However, his ultimate attack appeared before that thought even left her mind.

Soul-cutting blade! It must hit a weak point in her golden body to maximize the damage.

'Unfortunately, he just artificially created a weak point in my defense…'

These disorderly thoughts constantly reverberated throughout Duanmu Nianlan's mind, but she felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Even Void Cutter cultivators were helpless in the face of fatal injuries.

In the outside world, Duanmu Nianlan's Shinto golden body was fading fast, revealing her original figure—a young girl in a normal short jacket. The shadow clone rolled her up, and the girl's body fell into Gu Nan's hands.

"Now then, we can finally have a good chat." Gu Nan looked at Duanmu Sen with a light smile.

The latter was glaring at him with a dark expression.

"Where is your family's ancestral tomb?"

...

Countless hidden fleets were gathering in the space around Floral Jasper Star, secretly surrounding this place.

"We've arrived at Floral Jasper Star. Are all the starships in place?" Jin Yi stood in a starship expressionlessly and asked a man in front of her.

As a Void Cutter existence, she had the ability to stand directly out in space, but the man in front of her couldn't—he was the captain of this starship and was only at the Infinitesimal Stage of Prodigious Realm.

"Answering My Lord, we've sealed off all the space routes around Floral Jasper Star." The captain replied respectfully, "As long as it's a starship, it's impossible to leave this region safely."

There were only a limited number of space routes suitable for starship navigation in space. It was impossible to simply pick a random route and go, which also gave others the possibility of setting up blockades.

However, this captain left himself a path out by cleverly adding, "As long as it's a starship."

The implication was that if the other party was also a Void Cutter cultivator, then their blockade would be a joke—what was the point of sealing off the space routes when Void Cutter existences could directly travel between worlds?

Jin Yi naturally understood his meaning and waved impatiently.

She was a mighty Void Cutter powerhouse. How could she not know this?

It's just that she judged that the other party was seriously injured and unable to endure the pressure of tearing open space, so he would have to leave through a starship. That was how this scene came about.

The tables had turned. Just like how Gu Nan sealed off all the starship routes to deal with the heavily injured Luo Fei back then, now it was his turn.

"Just wait here. If any starship dares to leave, stop them all," Jin Yi said overbearingly.

Countless starships entered and left Floral Jasper Star every day, but just because of a single sentence from her, all of them had to stop. This was Starry Ocean Pavilion's might.

"Let's go." Zi He was already waiting on the side. When they finished setting up the starship blockade, the two of them left immediately, descending to Floral Jasper Star.

The two of them had lived in the Central Region for hundreds of years, so of course they didn't need a guide to lead the way, unlike Gu Nan. They went straight to the Duanmu family's residence.

Unfortunately, what appeared before their eyes was already in ruins.

"Dammit, we were a step too late!"