Chapter 41: Desperate Battle

Chapter 41: Desperate Battle

The battle seemed to have begun long ago, yet only a few minutes had passed since its start. Tang Chun Xi felt every muscle protest against the physical strain, but her mind remained razor-sharp. The excessive use of talismans made the combat more dynamic and less reliant on pure spiritual energy, yet the consumption was constant. As she moved at high speed, preparing her piercing attack with the Lunar Umbrella, a thought crossed her mind:

'This battle is more physically taxing than it is energetically—mainly because of the talismans. Although they require spiritual energy when activated, the time and consumption are far less than what a regular attack would demand.'

The chaotic expression on the female cultivator before her betrayed the state of her mind. The wound on her shoulder throbbed, her breathing was uneven, and in a frantic gesture of desperation, she searched her space pouch for more talismans. But she found nothing—only emptiness. Shock was evident in her eyes; she had expended all her resources.

The male cultivator, visibly exhausted, made the same move only to confront the same cruel reality. However, he still had one last recourse: body-enhancement talismans. Without hesitation, he activated them. In an instant, his muscles swelled and his earthly aura strengthened in an alarming fashion. He had no choice—if his partner perished, he would be left alone against Tang Chun Xi and her superior speed.

Tang Chun Xi caught sight of the man lunging toward her from the corner of her eye, but she had already decided the outcome of this battle.

'Too late.'

The tip of the Lunar Umbrella blazed with flames as it sliced through the air in a cutting motion. The female cultivator tried to dodge, but the strike found its mark on her chest. Fiery energy burned through her flesh and bones, forcing a piercing scream from her before she collapsed. The gaping wound in her chest testified to the severity of the injury.

Barely had the woman fallen when the male cultivator surged forward with a roar of fury, his fists encased in a war glove imbued with earthly aura. Every punch generated a subtle pressure in the air—reminiscent of a killing aura, yet distinct, carrying a crushing weight that unsettled Chun Xi.

She dodged deftly, her body moving like a blazing blur. The [Phoenix Wings] drained energy rapidly, but the elemental cycle converting other forms of energy into fiery energy kept her power flow constant.

Meanwhile, the fallen female cultivator, lying some distance away, appeared motionless—but Chun Xi noticed out of the corner of her eye that she still clutched a healing pill between her fingers. The woman wasn't dead… not yet.

'I need to retreat, but I won't be able to... Damn brat, it shouldn't be this hard to deal with him!' — thought the male cultivator, as his body began to accumulate injuries. Blood dripped from deep cuts, and his breathing grew more erratic. He wanted to flee, but he knew he couldn't; Chun Xi was simply too fast.

The next blow came dangerously close. Chun Xi's flaming strike tore through the man's left shoulder, slicing diagonally across his chest down to his waist. The stench of burning flesh filled the air.

He could no longer afford hesitation.

"Damn brat!I prepared the woman for months to advance—now I'll have to use her to deal with you!" — he fumed, hatred boiling in his heart.

Tang Chun Xi continued her relentless assault, her strikes growing in intensity. The enemy was nearing collapse, yet something bothered her—a gnawing sense of unease, as if something were amiss. She couldn't tell whether it was the presence of the cultivator before her or the fallen woman at her feet, but that disquiet was intensifying. She needed to end this immediately.

Before she could deliver the final blow, the man hurled a talisman in her direction.

With razor-sharp reflexes, Chun Xi quickly evaded, readying herself for a counterattack. However, instead of unleashing an explosion or a destructive assault, the talisman merely dispersed a cloud of fine dust around her.

"Isn't that an attack talisman?" — she realized at once—but it was too late.

As her attention shifted to the seemingly harmless talisman, the man exploited the brief opening and charged toward his fallen companion.

A chill ran down Tang Chun Xi's spine. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The sense of foreboding that had been nagging at her intensified as she watched him approach the woman's body. Her instincts screamed.

Without hesitation, she reacted the moment the man touched the cultivator.

"Amplify weight!"

Tang Chun Xi activated the ability as she hurled the Lunar Umbrella like a spear clad in metallic energy.

The umbrella sliced through the air like a meteor, its lethal trajectory aimed squarely at the man. But it wasn't fast enough.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw his hand pierce the chest of her partner. A beating, darkened heart was ripped out without a moment's pause, and in the next instant, he swallowed it. The woman, unable to comprehend the terror of her own death, perished at the hands of her companion.

The Lunar Umbrella slammed into the man with devastating force, embedding itself in his shoulder and hurling him against a nearby tree. Everything happened in mere seconds, leaving Tang Chun Xi stunned.

The woman's body, now lifeless, dissolved into a black, sticky substance that exuded a nauseating stench. The revulsion she had felt earlier now became an unbearable weight on her chest.

The man, with the Lunar Umbrella still lodged in his shoulder, grasped it firmly and, in a sudden movement, flung it away. The wound on his shoulder closed immediately, and a suffocating, repulsive energy overtook him. Bloody stripes spread across his skin like writhing vipers. His level surged to the sixth level.

'This is terrible! Is he a malignant cultivator? Did he really eat a human heart?!' —thought Chun Xi, struggling to contain the disgust and revulsion building within her.

Despite the mounting discomfort and nausea, her instincts remained sharp. She mentally recalled the Lunar Umbrella to her side while discreetly swallowing a few more fruits of Inferior Qi to recover.

—"Boy, I'm going to tear you to pieces!" —the man growled, his voice dripping with hatred. —"I spent months preparing to consume her! Do you have any idea how many resources I squandered? That should have been enough to boost me three levels! But you had to interfere—why didn't you just die on the first attack?"

With that, his gaze shifted to her, sparkling with covetous desire as it fixed on Tang Chun Xi. He licked his lips, an insane glimmer playing across his grotesque features.

—"Wait... What a delicious scent on your body! Your taste must be divine!"— his voice reverberated with greed and hunger, and without warning, he lunged at her with monstrous speed.

Overwhelmed by repulsion, Chun Xi reacted at the very last moment. The Lunar Umbrella returned to her hand and unfurled into a defensive shield.

—"Boom!"

The impact was devastating. Chun Xi was violently hurled against a tree more than five meters away. The collision shattered branches and split the trunk, momentarily darkening her vision. Thanks to the Lunar Umbrella's defense, some of the force was dissipated into the ground—which itself crumbled—but her body still bore the brutal shock.

She no longer had any lunar energy to support her. The tide had turned drastically. One more mistake would mean her death.

"He's too fast! The energy forces his body to collapse, yet it keeps him alive!" — Chun Xi realized, feeling the crushing weight of this uneven battle.

The man attacked again. Chun Xi barely had time to react as her wrists trembled under the absurd pressure of his blows. Her body was riddled with injuries.

—"Where's your confidence now, boy?!" —the cultivator mocked, each attack coming with even greater force.

'He's toying with me, but I just need one chance...' — she thought, only to be interrupted by another brutal strike.

The battle transformed the very environment around them. Trees toppled, the ground split open, and thunderous booms echoed through the forest. Chun Xi knew the commotion might attract other cultivators, but time was not on her side.

The next attack came. The Lunar Umbrella, now shrouded in earthly aura, absorbed part of the impact.

"Amplify weight!" —she murmured, channeling her strike.

—"Boom!"

The blow only pushed him slightly back, momentarily breaking his rhythm. But Chun Xi was also forced backward, leaving a deep gouge in the ground as her knees protested the strain.

—"Now!"

She gathered every last bit of energy remaining. The Lunar Umbrella became enveloped in a mantle of stellar fire, which flared out furiously. A cone of incandescent flames shot toward the cultivator.

—"What?!"— he shouted, his eyes wide, before being completely engulfed by the stellar fire. The ensuing explosion devastated an area within a ten-meter radius, sending up a curtain of dust and sparks.

Tang Chun Xi collapsed to her knees. Exhaustion drained her final reserves of strength. The [Phoenix Wings] were deactivated. She drew a deep breath, trying to regain consciousness.

But when everything seemed over…

A charred figure emerged from the wreckage—arm-less, staggering, yet still alive.

—"I won't die alone!"— he roared, lunging toward Chun Xi. His body exuded instability, his energy writhing out of control.

She tried to rise, but fatigue made her stumble.

—"Boom!"

The cultivator's body exploded, the uncontrolled energy consuming him entirely. The force of the explosion spread outward, engulfing Tang Chun Xi.

In that moment, the world fell into absolute silence.