Jin Fu’s complexion turned deathly pale in an instant, he stared at Chen Ping in terror, eyes brimming with incredulity, and said, “You… your cultivation has advanced yet again? This cannot be! How could you possibly possess such profound power?”
Chen Ping replied with disdain, “Nothing is impossible, a wretch like you who relies on foul sorcery to bolster your strength has no inkling of what a true powerhouse entails.
A true powerhouse ascends to the pinnacle through their own toil and innate gifts, not by resorting to these perverse shortcuts.”
With that, Chen Ping lunged towards Jin Fu, his velocity blistering, akin to a bolt of lightning cleaving the night sky.
Jin Fu dared not dally, he swiftly circulated his inner immortal energy to brace for combat. Yet the chasm in their prowess was vast, Jin Fu utterly defenceless before Chen Ping.
Chen Ping’s fist connected squarely with Jin Fu’s chest, that strike laden with cataclysmic force, as if poised to pierce all in its path.
Jin Fu spewed a gush of blood forthwith, his body hurtling backwards like a severed kite, crashing to the ground with such impact that it gouged a crater in the floor.
“Pah!”
Jin Fu vomited another mouthful of blood, he struggled to rise, only to find his mobility utterly sapped, his legs leaden as if weighted with ingots.
“You…” Jin Fu gasped in dread, his eyes awash with despair.
Chen Ping gazed impassively at the Sixth Hall Master and said, “I offered you a merciful demise.”
With those words, Chen Ping readied a palm strike to dispatch Jin Fu.
At that juncture, a flurry of hasty footfalls resounded from beyond the hall, and in strode a middle-aged man robed in flowing garments.
His visage stern and unyielding, eyes alight with lethal intent, like a blade freshly drawn from its scabbard, it was the Fifth Hall Master.
“Jin Fu, what has befallen you?”
The Fifth Hall Master inquired, his tone laced with a trace of urgency.
Upon sighting the Fifth Hall Master, Jin Fu’s features lit with a glimmer of hope, as if clutching the final lifeline, he cried out, “Fifth Hall Master, you have arrived at last! Quick… slay them forthwith, they have ravaged my ritual and wounded me grievously!”
The Fifth Hall Master’s scrutiny fell upon Chen Ping and Hu Mazi, that gaze sharp as twin daggers, seeming to flay them to the bone, then he declared, “You two are the ones who shattered the soul urn and slaughtered my Divine Hall’s cultivators?”
Chen Ping appraised the Fifth Hall Master coolly, his voice dripping with scorn, “Indeed, that was my doing. If you value your life, begone from my sight at once!”
The Fifth Hall Master erupted in laughter, that guffaw rife with arrogance and hubris, and proclaimed, “How absurd! You presume to end me with your meagre might?”
The Fifth Hall Master’s laughter echoed through the hall, saturated with bombast and conceit, as if Chen Ping were but an insignificant gnat in his esteem.
Chen Ping’s expression grew steely, a flicker of incisive killing intent traversing his eyes, his right hand flipped to summon the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
Upon the blade coursed arcane runes, faint echoes of draconic roars emanating therefrom, with the sword spirit Zhong Li now fully restored, the Dragon-Slaying Sword’s potency had surged markedly.
“With my strength alone, it suffices to consign you to oblivion this day!”
Chen Ping intoned icily, his voice a gale of frost sweeping the hall.
The Fifth Hall Master’s countenance hardened, his hands wove seals in a blur, lips murmuring incantations, in a flash a torrent of potent immortal energy erupted from his core, coalescing before him into a translucent shield of immortal qi.
That barrier gleamed with prismatic hues, radiating an aura of impregnability, as if impervious to any assault.
“Hmph, such a paltry shield, how long can it endure!”
Chen Ping bellowed, his toes grazed the ground lightly, propelling him towards the Fifth Hall Master like an arrow loosed from the bowstring.
He hoisted the Dragon-Slaying Sword aloft, its edge ablaze with radiance, a searing sword beam unfurling like a banner to cleave towards the Fifth Hall Master.
Where that sword beam passed, the air rent asunder with a piercing shriek.
