Chapter 81, Intense Battle

Given Luo Ji’s power, he could easily kill those Third-Order cultivators with just two to three moves. However, he had used many moves on Lu Ye, but he still hadn’t managed to kill him. He was especially surprised that this Mountain Tiger was able to use a Spiritual Pattern in a battle.

Studying Spiritual Patterns was much harder than Spell Techniques because building Spiritual Patterns was delicate work. Any slight mistake would lead to failure, not to mention activating them in a battle. Normally, only experienced Spiritual Pattern Masters were able to do that. However, Lu Ye was just a young man, but he was already adept at using one.

Through his observation, Luo Ji could confirm that Lu Ye had mastered a defensive Spiritual Pattern, which could fend off his Icicle Technique. Furthermore, Lu Ye was able to use it as he pleased. 

That revelation made him stop looking down on Lu Ye. Before leaving his Sect, his Senior Brothers had warned him not to be complacent and underestimate any enemy. Although Lu Ye hadn’t opened up as many Spiritual Points or learned as many techniques as he had, his Spiritual Pattern Technique was rarely mastered by any cultivators.

With that said, Luo Ji didn’t back down because of that. Instead, his fighting spirit had been ignited. The people he had come across since he left the Sect were all much weaker than he was. Now that he had finally bumped into an equal match, he certainly wouldn’t miss this chance.

While he was in his thoughts, a cold glint from a blade flashed across his eyes. Following a crack, a gap appeared in the middle of the huge ice block. Through the gap, a figure was coming right at him like a gust of wind.

[How did he break my Ice Jail Technique so easily?] Luo Ji was shocked as it wasn’t an ordinary ice block. Instead, it was a Spell Technique that was built on the foundation of the Icicle Technique. Although it couldn’t confine Lu Ye, it shouldn’t be broken so easily.

That also made him realise that the sword in Lu Ye’s hands was no ordinary weapon. Certainly, he wasn’t able to ward off the attack. In the light of that, he activated his Spiritual Power and threw several moves at him.

Lu Ye charged forward at full speed. This time, he didn’t break the attacks with his sword, nor did he dodge them. Instead, he forcefully pushed him way through the attacks as the enemy’s technique was warded off by his Spiritual Pattern. Inside the dark tunnel, lights repeatedly expanded as the gap between them shortened.

Luo Ji’s eyelids twitched as he secretly cursed at Lu Ye for being reckless. However, without a doubt, he was starting to become terrified of this reckless guy.

In a battle between a combat cultivator and a spell cultivator, the latter would gain the upper hand when there was a long distance between them. However, once they got closer, the spell cultivator would usually end up in a miserable state.

In just three breaths’ time, Lu Ye reached a spot that was only six metres away from Luo Ji. A cold glint flashed across the blade in his hand. As he inched closer, he wielded his sword at him.

Hurriedly, Luo Ji dashed backwards, but just then, Yi Yi appeared behind him once again as she swiftly raised her hand and landed a palm on his shoulder. Upon that realisation, Luo Ji was horrified, but he soon noticed that this strike wasn’t harmful at all. His Spiritual Power, which was protecting his body, could easily fend it off.

All of a sudden, a Spiritual Light expanded behind him. The Spiritual Light was so sharp that it was as though countless needles had been jabbed into his back. Upon landing a palm on his shoulder, Yi Yi exclaimed in pain and went away. After getting blocked by her earlier, Luo Ji was unable to flee anymore.

If Lu Ye were any other Third-Order cultivator, Luo Ji was confident of warding off the attack with his Spiritual Power. However, he had seen how ruthless Lu Ye was when breaking the Ice Jail Technique, so he wouldn’t dare to underestimate the power of this strike.

He activated his Spiritual Power and yelled, “Mist Shield!” Following that, he was surrounded by a layer of mist in an instant.

Lu Ye slashed at the mist, but he was unable to break the Mist Shield. He felt as though he had hacked his sword into a piece of rubber, and his weapon got stuck inside it.

As Luo Ji stepped backwards, he pointed at Lu Ye and said through clenched teeth, “Golden Arc!”

This time, it was Lu Ye who was unable to dodge. The Golden Arc struck right at his chest, but before that, he had activated a Spiritual Pattern to protect himself. Following that, he lifted his sword again and hacked at the mist.

“Icicle! Wind Blade! Thunder Halberd!” Inside the tunnel, Luo Ji’s barks reverberated around the place. Following his shouts, he activated Spell Techniques of different attributes and struck right at Lu Ye’s chest with loud booms.

Although he appeared imposing, he was actually stepping backwards. That was because as Lu Ye repeatedly slashed at the Mist Shield, it started showing signs of falling apart.

“I don’t believe you can keep using the Spiritual Pattern!” Luo Ji bellowed as he traded moves with Lu Ye. Even though he was astounded to see that Lu Ye was able to use a Spiritual Pattern in a battle, he knew that it was energy-consuming to sustain one. As soon as Lu Ye exhausted his Spiritual Power, he would stand a chance to defeat him.

However, the reckless guy in front of him remained silent like he was a mute as he became increasingly ruthless with his strikes. A moment later, Luo Ji’s eyelids twitched as he realised that the situation wasn’t in his favour.

While it was exhausting for Lu Ye to use a Spiritual Pattern, Luo Ji had to consume a lot of Spiritual Power to use his Spell Techniques as well. Although he had more Spiritual Power than Lu Ye, he had used too many spells. Furthermore, in order to prevent Yi Yi from launching a sneak attack on him, he had to sustain the Mist Shield, which exacerbated his consumption of energy. If this intense battle dragged on, it was hard to tell who would be the last one standing.

Upon coming up with an idea, he yelled, “White Flare!” When he raised his hand, there was already a talisman paper between his fingers, whereupon he infused his Spiritual Power into it.

Lu Ye had a feeling that he wasn’t able to keep going. It had only been a few mins since the battle started, but in such a short period of time, eighty percent of his Spiritual Power had been used. This was the most intense battle he had come across so far, but his enemy was only a Second-Order cultivator. Therefore, when Luo Ji shouted ‘White Flare’, he immediately realised something was off and dashed backwards. At the same time, he snuck his hand into the Storage Bag on his waist and pinched a talisman paper between his fingers.

As their eyes met, they became startled for a moment. Following the activation of their Spiritual Powers, two talisman papers shone brightly at the same time. Then, three water columns shot towards Lu Ye. On the other hand, a fire snake zigzagged towards Luo Ji.

With a loud boom, the tunnel shook violently as rocks started falling down. The clash between water and fire caused the tunnel to be filled with vapour. The Spiritual Lights of Lu Ye and Luo Ji glinted as they were sent flying away upon impact. Both of them secretly cursed at each other as they got to their feet with difficulty.

When Lu Ye raced after Luo Ji with the sword in his hand, Luo Ji had already fled from the tunnel as he turned around and cast a talisman paper at Lu Ye.

Hurriedly, Lu Ye ducked his head as the talisman paper exploded into countless golden lights and formed holes on the ground. Lifting his head, he realised that Luo Ji was running away, which prompted him to race after his enemy at full speed. Seeing as Amber had reached him, Lu Ye leaped onto the tiger’s back and moved forward at a greater speed.

Turning his head to take a look, Luo Ji became infuriated. Seeing as he was unable to flee, he decided to stop in his tracks and turned around to face Lu Ye. With talisman papers in both hands, he slapped one of them on his own chest, whereupon his body was engulfed in a golden light.

It was a high-quality Golden Body Talisman Paper. At the same time, he cast the other talisman paper at Lu Ye.

Seeing that, Lu Ye leapt off the tiger and slashed at the attack. Meanwhile, he said to Amber, “Hide somewhere else.”

Upon impact, he collapsed to the ground as his entire body was in pain. As soon as he got to his feet, he saw Luo Ji arrogantly standing on the same spot. Luo Ji provoked him by beckoning to him and said, “Come on!”

Without uttering a word, Lu Ye fished out a Golden Body Talisman Paper from his Storage Bag and used it on himself.

Seeing that, Luo Ji couldn’t help but heave a sigh as Lu Ye’s fortune seemed to be on par with that of his own.