Chapter 40: A Fight to the Death

Jiao Yujian's face was filled with disbelief.

He had previously suspected that Li Qing was an accomplice in Jue Hen's murder, and thus had remained wary of him.

However, he had never imagined that Li Qing was actually the mastermind behind it all.

The man had remained very low-profile during his mission, always silent and reticent, but unexpectedly, he was a person of profound calculation and ruthless methods.

Jiao Yujian watched the purple figure rapidly approaching.

Surrounded by purple lightning power, the opponent's unleashed strength was not inferior to his own in the slightest.

"A body cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refinement!"

At this moment, Jiao Yujian instantly discovered Li Qing's true strength.

Thinking of the weakness the man had displayed earlier, a surge of shame and rage rose in Jiao Yujian's heart.

Not long ago, he had even given this man a precious Solidification Pill.

"You little beast, it was actually you!"

Jiao Yujian glared at Li Qing with a ferocious expression.

Now, with the protection of the Vajra Body Talisman, he felt a greater sense of confidence.

He was no greenhouse flower raised by a sect.

Having traveled this far, Jiao Yujian possessed extensive combat experience and was a genuine late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.

As if thinking of something, a hint of fervor surfaced in the depths of Jiao Yujian's eyes.

He already knew that the person before him possessed nothing more than ordinary mid-grade spiritual roots.

Yet, for this person to become a remarkable body cultivator was clearly contrary to common logic.

"This man must be hiding significant secrets; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to secretly enter the realm of a low-tier late-stage body cultivator."

At this thought, a trace of greed appeared in Jiao Yujian's eyes.

He felt as if he could see his own opportunity for Foundation Establishment.

"Die!"

Jiao Yujian let out a loud shout.

He pinched a hand seal.

*Whoosh!*

A cyan-black wooden sword appeared above him.

This black wooden sword was a high-grade Dharma tool, and it was Jiao Yujian's true combat weapon.

On the other side, Li Qing's expression changed slightly.

At a glance, he recognized the defensive shield surrounding Jiao Yujian as the famous Vajra Body Talisman.

Li Qing's expression turned grim.

He had not anticipated that Jiao Yujian possessed such a defensive talisman.

More importantly, his physical condition had by no means truly recovered.

His previous forced, continuous use of the Purple Thunder Palm had caused his internal injuries to be far more severe than they appeared on the surface.

*Crack! Crack!*

The Cold Water Sword, carrying a massive surge of freezing qi, descended toward the golden shield surrounding Jiao Yujian.

A continuous series of impact sounds rang out.

Inside the shield activated by the Vajra Body Talisman, a flash of disdain crossed Jiao Yujian's eyes.

It was merely a mid-grade Dharma tool; how could it possibly break the defense of the Vajra Body Talisman?

In an instant, the mana within Jiao Yujian's body surged into the black wooden sword above.

*Whirr! Whirr!*

The high-grade Dharma tool, the black wooden sword, began to spin rapidly in the air.

Large amounts of black mist surged out from the body of the sword.

Seeing this, a cold sneer flashed in Jiao Yujian's eyes.

"Go to hell!"

Jiao Yujian waved his hand.

The black wooden sword, enveloped in black mist, lunged toward Li Qing like a giant python.

Because of the protection of the Vajra Body Talisman, he did not use the black wooden sword to intercept the incoming offensive of Li Qing's Dharma tool.

*Bang!*

The icy power carried by the Cold Water Sword struck the Vajra Body Talisman, causing the golden shield to flicker momentarily.

The shield produced by the talisman remained unmoved, appearing almost entirely unaffected.

At this moment, the offensive transformed from the black wooden sword had already lunged toward Li Qing.

Li Qing did not dare to be careless; the lightning power within his body surged wildly, and a purple thunder ball formed in front of him.

*Boom!*

The purple thunder ball crashed into the black wooden sword.

Right then, Jiao Yujian revealed a cold smile.

"Disperse!"

Jiao Yujian gave a low shout.

The black mist gathered by the black wooden sword suddenly scattered.

A vast expanse of black mist surrounded Li Qing.

On the other side, Jiao Yujian's face suddenly lit up with joy, and his eyes looked at Li Qing with even greater greed.

Li Qing had also noticed Jiao Yujian's reaction.

A hint of doubt flashed through his mind.

Before he could react, a pungent odor was suddenly released from within the black mist.

In an instant, Li Qing felt his mind go into a state of trance.

Jiao Yujian also spotted the opening that appeared in Li Qing.

He saw the mana in his body begin to rush frantically toward the black wooden sword.

This time, the sharpness unleashed by the black wooden sword far exceeded its previous bursts.

The black wooden sword fell heavily from the sky, looking as though it intended to split Li Qing in two.

"I want to see what other tricks you have left!"

Jiao Yujian said with a distorted, ferocious face.

In terms of direct combat power among tools of the same rank, his black wooden sword was almost at the bottom.

However, the most important reason he chose the black wooden sword was that it could release poisonous mist.

When crafting the black wooden sword, the blacksmith had added a piece of spiritual wood—Poisonous Yin Wood.

Poisonous Yin Wood is a spiritual wood that grows in lands of savage smoke, miasma, and filth.

Its defining characteristic is its ability to emit a black smoke that can erode a cultivator's soul, causing them to experience trance, hallucinations, or even unconsciousness.

This was particularly effective against enemies with weaker cultivation than oneself.

Within the black mist.

After experiencing a momentary trance, Li Qing immediately regained his senses.

His soul slowly brightened, forcibly suppressing the discomfort caused by the black mist.

Li Qing's soul was naturally powerful; his current divine sense range was already over sixty or seventy feet, not inferior to Jiao Yujian's.

The Thunder Spirit Manual circulated rapidly.

A surging tide of purple lightning power transformed into a shield, isolating the surrounding black mist.

Facing the rapidly descending black wooden sword, Li Qing's feet kicked off the ground violently, and a surge of lightning power immediately gathered in his legs.

*Whoosh!*

His figure turned into a bolt of purple lightning as he charged forward.

He successfully dodged the offensive of the black wooden sword.

"How is this possible?"

Jiao Yujian was shocked inwardly.

Although the opponent's strength as a body cultivator was remarkable, he was only at the middle stage of Qi Refinement; his soul should naturally be weak, and logically, he should not have been able to react so quickly.

"As I thought, the opportunities upon this man are even greater than I anticipated..."

The greed on Jiao Yujian's face deepened.

In the next moment, Jiao Yujian pinched a hand seal.

The black wooden sword spun once and veered back, thrusting toward Li Qing's back.

Watching the approaching Li Qing, Jiao Yujian did not panic in the slightest.

"Wood Forest Entanglement!"

Jiao Yujian waved his hand.

A surging surge of cyan wood-attribute mana erupted.

The surging wood mana split into several streams, then rapidly condensed into the shapes of tree trunks. Cyan branches formed from the condensed mana hung down from the trunks, looking incredibly lifelike.

"Rise!"

Jiao Yujian pinched a hand seal.

Several phantom spiritual trees formed from mana began to sway in the air, their branches constantly moving.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The branches formed from mana interlaced up and down, transforming into a massive net to intercept Li Qing.

Wood Forest Entanglement was a spell contained within the inheritance of the cultivation technique Jiao Yujian practiced.

Generally speaking, the higher the rank of the cultivation technique a cultivator practiced, the greater the power of the spells it contained.

Only at the late stage of Qi Refinement would one truly practice powerful spells.

The early and middle stages of Qi Refinement were mostly for building a foundation; after the late stage, the mana within the body gradually became abundant.