As the spear flew, dust billowed, the earth cracked, and rolling black smoke mingled with sand and dust, obscuring the direction, exuding immense power.
"This spear is quite interesting."
Gray-White Eyes took a step forward, his body merging with his shadow.
He detested Yin elemental energy the most and had never cultivated it. However, Yin Zhongxiu's spear today had genuinely made him feel a sense of threat.
"There are only eleven ways to counter it."
Xu Mu's body spoke.
Upon hearing the number, Charles couldn't help but be stunned.
He knew Xu Mu's strength intimately. His awakened abilities covered almost all the methods he had ever witnessed, appearing endlessly.
He recalled when they were both in the second tier, being chased by lord-level wolf packs in the core region of Xishan.
At that time, to escape, he had used sixty-two abilities.
And now, Gray-White Eyes was in the third tier, his strength having undergone a qualitative leap, yet facing Yin Zhongxiu's spear, he had only eleven ways to counter it?
Charles frowned:
"This spear is very strong, excellent in both speed and lethality, and the Yin attribute is also very troublesome, countering most abilities, but... it can't be just that."
His mechanical fingers rose and fell in succession, repeating the motion more than twenty times in a short period:
"Pure Yang, Heavenly Thunder, Pure Water, True Fire... I can easily list more than twelve."
Gray-White Eyes turned, his expression serious:
"I'm talking about ways to counter it, not kill him."
"..." Charles's data stream displayed six dots, rendering him utterly speechless.
Hearing their conversation, Xu Mu, in his shadow form, remained silent and quietly gazed down the mountain.
Seven-colored elemental energy surged, and pure white moonlight pierced the dark chaos. If not for the Soul Devouring Array absorbing some of the power, the residual impact of their battle would have spread for more than a thousand meters.
And yet, an attack of this magnitude was merely considered "excellent" in Charles's eyes?
And the person beside him, who had twelve ways to counter it, how strong was he truly?
...
Vilitan felt the long spear pierce his back, his heart contracting sharply.
"When I become a lord, I will not let you go!"
The wrinkles on his face deepened. He then fiercely formed a magic seal, and the Soul Devouring Array collapsed with a roar.
Rumble!
With a deafening sound, the array crumbled. On the ground, emerald green and black-purple circular patterns swirled. Countless obscure runes detached themselves from the ground, becoming active, rising into the air, dancing with the atmosphere, and gathering a powerful rune energy storm.
Yin Zhongxiu's spear was enveloped by endless rune fragments. The moment it made contact, a large portion of its moonlight power was worn away, and the Yin elemental energy was instantly shaved off by the sharp rune fragments.
Thus, Yin Zhongxiu's attack lost its previous might.
The crisis was averted. Vilitan stopped fleeing, used his abilities to control the rune storm and sweep the spear into the sky, then rapidly directed it towards Yin Zhongxiu's direction.
Four second-tier demon-slaying ability users from the Exorcism Division were also within the storm's range.
Bai Pu sensed the energy contained within this rune energy storm, his already pale face becoming even more so. He couldn't help but suppress his pained cries and spit out a mouthful of blood.
He had never seen such a monstrous array that could integrate offense and defense, sacrifice, and advancement, and even control fragments for attack after collapsing.
The man silently memorized the appearance of this array. To die under such a high-level formation was not entirely unfair.
However... he didn't want to die, but what could he do?
Yin Zhongxiu's face was scratched by several splashed rune fragments, and blood flowed from various parts of his body.
He gazed at the surging storm before him, a hint of helplessness appearing in his eyes.
The spear he had just thrown was his strongest attack. Apart from that, his other Yin elemental abilities were mediocre and had no effect on this rune energy storm.
What's more crucial was that he was an ability user who primarily cultivated spear techniques. Now that his spear was thrown, he was like an ability user without abilities, his strength greatly diminished.
This rune energy storm was fast and powerful; he couldn't withstand it.
Therefore, they were all going to die.
Yin Zhongxiu slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest, preparing to face death head-on.
Tuoba Xiaorong, Bai Pu, and the others also closed their eyes. Their abilities had long been drained, leaving them with no ability to resist, only waiting for death. Most of the other second-tier ability users were in the same predicament.
Only one person was different.
Apart from breaking the array initially, regardless of how critical the situation became, he had never made a move, always holding a sword to his chest.
Xu Mu raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his heterochromatic pupils.
So fast?
His words vanished from his position.
Immediately after, a long sword engraved with intricate turtle patterns pierced towards Vilitan's chest, passing through countless defensive runes.
Clang!
In an instant, Vilitan, who was in a state of extreme rage, reacted. Because Yan Yu had always been within his rune fluctuations, he could sense him with the slightest movement.
"What a fast sword!"
Vilitan's expression was filled with terror. How could a second-tier ability user possess such a swift sword? He had only seen such speed from the swordsman on the mountaintop!
Swish!
The sword was blocked. Yan Yu remained calm, allowing the torrent of runes from the Soul Devouring Array to impact his body. He quickly moved the Gan Jiang sword away and then thrust it at Vilitan's abdomen for a second strike.
Pfft!
The sword entered and exited. Yan Yu's objective was achieved, and he quickly retreated, no longer enduring the erosion of the torrent.
A thin bloody hole appeared on Vilitan's abdomen.
Vilitan clutched his stomach, where the meridians had been severed. His face contorted as he stared at the retreating Yan Yu, his expression a mixture of unwillingness and shock.
These two sword strikes had nearly killed him!
He hadn't expected this second-tier ability user, whom he had consistently overlooked, to wield such a fast sword. His life was not taken by the third-tier swordsman, nor by the Governor of the Exorcism Division, but he had almost died at his hands!
"So strong!"
Sensing the frost in the space, Xu Mu immediately recognized the person below as Yan Yu. He then remembered something and quickly thickened his shadow, covering the front of his body.
He didn't want to be misunderstood by this person as a third-tier powerhouse.
If this person were to challenge him daily, how could he, a novice who had just entered the second tier without any abilities, possibly win?
Gray-White Eyes and the black shadow Xu Mu exchanged a glance, falling into silence.
He quite wanted to go down and interact with the other party.
The opponent's sword was very fast, and he could still contend with a second-tier ability user.
But the problem was that he was currently in the third tier. Going to fight the other party would be somewhat bullying.
Therefore, he decided to wait a little longer.
...