As she was sent flying backward, her body riddled with terrible burns, the ice defenses created by Xiao Chen's spells were either evaporated or melted, leaving only a puddle behind. As Baotian looked into it for an instant, he could not help but smile:
'I do look pretty handsome now, don't I?'
Fortunately, instead of turning him into an owl hybrid, the Man-Beast Core Hatcher had instead given him traits similar to those of the human form Spirit Beasts normally gained in the Nascent Soul stage, making him look like an European man instead of the typical Asian look of humans in this world. Thanks to the increase in lifespan, he also looked much younger now: like he was in his early forties. From the Core Formation stage on, cultivators could choose how old they would appear during their advancement, and would keep this appearance until their lifespan ran out.
While most male cultivators chose to either look old to inspire respect or to look young to flaunt their realm, Baotian had chosen this age because he didn't wish to be reminded of the time passing by an old face… but he didn't wish for the traces of his struggles to fully disappear either, he still wanted himself to look old enough to remind him of how much he went through, how low he had to sink, to never forget it.
Baotian was afraid of death, but he was afraid of forgetting the cost for being alive, too.
That said, all things considered, he looked pretty handsome like this, not palling in front of most American movie stars from back on Earth.
"I wished senior sister was the first to see me like this, finally in the same realm as her" he thought out loud, before turning to Xiao Chen. "But it seems that after opening her skull with your filthy hands, you get to be the first instead, uh? It doesn't matter… I will simply kill you, make Ye Mu swear that he fainted before seeing me, and lie saying she's the first one to see me. She'll see through my lies, hit the top of my head, and then congratulate me for my advancement, while you will join your disciple in the cycle of reincarnation"
Baotian prepared another blood projectile, ready to shoot through the head of the cold beauty:
"It's over elder Xiao, you cannot escape death anymore" he said.
The elder, once again, didn't deny:
"You are right, death is not only the most likely option in my current situation, but also the only viable one" she replied. "Willingly or not, I am the one who killed Liu Jianhong, and it is most likely Liu Zhenyun will blame me for his death. If the greatest genius of our realm's history decides to antagonize us because of me, the clan will be led to ruin and eventually fall. Therefore…"
Under Baotian's eyes, she stabbed her chest with her own hand, grabbing her Spirit Core bare.
"... It is only natural that I die, and take all of you demons with me, to finally clear the nefarious clouds hanging above the Xiao clansmen"
Injecting her spiritual energy into her core, she set it ablaze:
"Song Of Ice And Fire!"
Through this killer move, by dooming herself by her own hand, she could temporarily recover her spiritual energy, though her injuries remained. Now back at full power, she answered Baotian's gaze:
"Now that my life is already fated to end, we can finally fight without any tricks in-between" she said.
"Really? That's an interesting way of seeing it" Baotian replied, wincing.
That was the one weakness of schemes: no matter how elaborated they were, it was never certain how far they would work with crazy person.
"In this case…"
Without any hesitation, Baotian decided to take inspiration on her killer move, not by setting his own core ablaze, but by plunging his hand in the chest of Liu Jianhong, ripping out his core, and smashed it to pieces!
To defeat a crazy person, one simply needed to outweigh their insanity with a greater madness!
Sticking the core pieces to the Golden Owl Bow with a control force spell and, finally, pouring the last drops of Core Formation Restoration Elixir, Baotian effectively merged them. The Golden Owl Bow was already an artifact at the peak of the Qi Building realm and so, even though it wouldn't become a true Core Formation-level artifact and would soon shatter, for a bit, it would be able to demonstrate Core Formation level prowess!
"Shooting Blood Dancing Armor!"
Using his signature killer move, this time at the Core Formation level, Baotian charged at her.
Meanwhile, amidst the Martial Devouring Mountains, an even fiercer clash was happening. Zhenyun kept slashing forward while controlling the various flying swords around him to attack in coordination with him, causing Shen Hui to struggle immensely. The latter, rather than using threads to defend themselves, were instead forced to use it to pull themselves in every direction to avoid being bisected. Pulling threads tied to the cloud to soar above a deadly array of swords, pulling threads tied to a mountain to avoid the trajectory of yet another killer move, pulling threads attached to the ground to cower and avoid decapitation..
"Got you!"
As they lowered themselves, their head violently crashed against a knee, sending them flying backward and creating more cracks in their mask. While being propelled backward, the masked cultivator looked at Zhenyun's face, who was quickly bridging the distance between them. Once again, his expression had changed, from pure murderous madness to cold, hateful wrath, as he was now much more methodical than earlier.
"Yet, you are still too careless, young master Liu!"
Shen Hui pulled another thread attached to the ground but this time, instead of helping her dodge, the thread pulled up a gigantic, terrifying centipede, which opened its mouth, filled with boiling venom. Before Liu Zhenyun could react, both his legs were mercilessly bitten off.
"Argh!" he screamed, in pain as the poison penetrated the wounds.
Rapidly, he struck down, killing the centipede in one blow, but the damages were done: due to the poison, he found himself unable to regenerate his legs, now being forced to rely solely on flying techniques and force control spells to move, which greatly reduced his mobility.
"No… No! I refuse to lose like this, you hear me?! No matter what… NO MATTER WHAT, I WILL KILL YOU TODAY!"
But in his current state, it was simply hopeless: barely a minute later, despite his earnest efforts, Liu Zhenyun ended up completely tied up, unable to move an inch.
"Well that was… an interesting meeting" Shen Hui said, the cuts on their body already starting to heal. "I must say, young master Liu, I wasn't planning to end your life today but, seeing the extent of your abilities, I realize how naive I have been. A nobody like me absolutely cannot allow someone like you, a dragon among Heavenly Talents, to grow into my sworn enemy. It seems it is time for you to return to the cycle of reincarnation"
But against Shen Hui's expectation, Zhenyun simply laughed at their words, before clenching his teeth even harder, barely managing to speak through them:
"A centipede hidden under ground…" he mumbled. "Looks like… we had the same idea"
Shen Hui realized too late what he was planning as a dozen swords soared from under the ground, cutting both their arms and legs. Of course, these weren't covered in poison, so the limbs would soon regenerate on their own. However…
'Ah, I see, I greatly underestimated Liu Zhenyun's mind as well' Shen Hui realized.
Most of the time where they had seen him act against someone, it was against Baotian, where his feelings dulled his mind. Adding his usual behavior, it was natural to simply see him as a naive and dull person.
Yet, even while he was so furious, he took the time to put this trap in place, and even let Shen Hui restrain him so he could increase the effectiveness of his talent under the threat, freeing himself at once at the exact moment Shen Hui was vulnerable!
"Heavenly Deity Defying Heart!"
As he used his talent to break through the restraints at once, the masked cultivator couldn't help but feel impressed:
'Ah, he indeed is Zhang Baotian's junior brother'
The next moment, Zhenyun unleashed his killer move. He pointed his golden sword forward and the latter, amplified by the formation, began to shine with a light that could be seen kilometers away. He took a stance, took a breath and struck with all his wrath:
"Liu Sword Technique, first formation move: Circle Piercing Brightness!"
Under the strike, reinforced by his Heavenly Talent, Shen Hui's entire body was destroyed. Only their head, where their Nascent Soul resided, was spared thanks to their mask taking most of the impact. However, as Zhenyun was about to deliver the final strike, the mask, after all the damages and cracks it had accumulated, finally broke, revealing Shen Hui's true face.
Zhenyun, faced with the view of their true face, stopped right in his tracks. For a second, he even forgot his rage, drowned by a fundamental dread at the sight. And then…
"ZHeNyunWHYareYOudoINGthIsTOme?iT'sMEyouRMAstEr!YOurMAstErliUJIANhoNG!nOIt'sMEyouRSENiorBRothERBAOTiaN!ReMEMberREMembERdoYOUrememBERallTHESEtimESyESaLLtheSEtiMeSwhEReIsuPPORtedYOUhOWcOULdYOUabanDONmeLIKethIS!iTRUSTedyOUtoHELpmEWhENiWASbloCKedliKEyoUweREbEForEanDyoUabANDonEdmE!It'SAlLYOURfauLT!IT'sALlmYfAULt!iAmLiUZhEnYunIAMthEOnEWhOabANDONeverYONe!iHATEmYseLFiHATEmysElFItHURTsSOmUchIwISHitRULyWAStrUEtrUEpeRsoNWHYwhYWHY!iThURTsITHurTSitHURtsiThURTsItHURtsiThURTsITHurTSitHURtsiThURTsItHURtsiThURTsITHurTSitHURtsiThURTsItHURtsiThURTsITHurTSitHURtsiThURTsItHURts!!!!!!!"
As his ears bled from the nightmarish sound that reached them, Zhenyun discovered for the first time since his arrival in this world something that his talent couldn't help him against: absolute fear.