Chapter 187: Limit Break [PART 2]
The two charged at each other, their fists forward. Their first collision created a shockwave that flattened the surrounding forest. The impact sent both of them a few meters back but they charged at each other once again. Li Yao’s hair whipped wildly as she launched herself at her opponent, her fists crackling with such concentrated lightning that almost blinded all those watching.
The cult leader met her charge with equal ferocity, his cracked skin glowing with an eerie red glow of the blood visible through the cracks. He channeled every ounce of his remaining power, concentrating it on his fists. When their fists connected, the impact split the very air, creating a vacuum that pulled debris upward before scattering it across miles.
The cult leader let out a roar, launching a barrage of attacks at Li Yao. Li Yao matched him blow for blow, not losing out in the slightest. The two of them seemed to be equally matched.
Their battle carried them across the landscape, flattening everything on sight as they clashed. The cult leader instantly teleported behind Li Yao. Although she was able to quickly turn around to meet him, she wasn’t able to avoid the fist that landed squarely on her lower abdomen. The strike sent her flying, crashing through three mountain peaks before regaining control.
As she stabilized herself, the cult leader was already before her, ready to deliver another strike. She quickly mobilized her energy, summoning a massive lightning bolt that split the sky. The large bolt descended from above, striking the approaching cult leader before he could reach her. Driving him deep into the earth and creating a crater half a mile wide.
The ground beneath them buckled and reformed as their fight continued. What had once been a tranquil valley transformed into a hellscape of fractured earth and molten rock. Trees were uprooted by the shockwaves, lakes boiled away from the heat of their clashing energies, and even the air was starting to get corrupted by the pure concentration of qi.
Although they were equally matched at first, as the battle raged on, subtle changes became apparent. The cult leader’s movements, while still devastatingly powerful, grew incrementally slower. The cracks in his skin widened even more.
The cult leader thought to himself that he was losing life force faster than he had anticipated. Glancing at Li Yao, she still seemed to be at her peak condition. He wondered if she wasn’t also using the limit break like he had thought. How many more tricks did she have up her sleeve? He needed to end this quickly before his life force was completely drained.
Li Yao took advantage of his increasingly sluggish movements to deliver even more devastating attacks of her own. Her attacks gained momentum while his faltered. When he attempted to create distance between them, she pursued relentlessly, making sure he didn’t get any room to breathe.
Li Yao activated her movement technique, dissolving into the surrounding lightning. The cult leader instantly understood what she was trying to do and quickly turned around. He saw a lightning bolt approaching him. He let out a smile, there was no way he would fall for the same trick twice. But just as he thought this, he sensed another lightning bolt behind him, another to his right, and another to his left.
He couldn’t tell which one was Li Yao at all. Seeing as he wasn’t getting anywhere, he let out a huge roar, producing a massive pulse of energy that interrupted the incoming lightning bolts. Only one lightning wasn’t interrupted by the energy wave and kept charging towards him. He smiled menacingly, "found you" he spoke as he charged to meet the bolt with his fist.
But it didn’t go as expected, when his fist met the bolt, instead of revealing Li Yao’s true form, he felt the lightning spread through his body, injuring him even further. He wondered what was happening, but before he could form a thought, he felt a presence behind him. This time, he was sure it was definitely Li Yao.
Li Yao concentrated all her energy in her fist, delivering a blow that sent the cult leader flying. Embedding him on the side of a mountain. As he struggled to his feet, his face showed the first signs of genuine fear. His body was aging visibly now – hair turning white, skin sagging, muscles withering.
"Is this really how it ends?" he thought, staring at his trembling hands. "All my schemes, my power, my ambition..."
"No, I won’t lose!" he shouted, summoning the last reserves of his fading strength.
Li Yao appeared before him in a flash of lightning, her sword already piercing through his chest before he could react.
"You already lost," she said coldly, her silver eyes reflecting no emotion as she drove the blade deeper.
The cult leader looked down at the sword impaling his heart, his body continuing to age and crumble. A strange smile spread across his withered face.
"So I lost, huh?" he said, a chilling laugh bubbling from his lips that made everyone watching shift uncomfortably. "That’s right, I lost, but you didn’t win either. The Central..."
Before he could finish, Li Yao yanked her sword free and, in one fluid motion, sliced through his neck.
"Just shut up and die already. I hate your voice," she said as his head tumbled to the ground.
Below the battlefield, the witnesses stood in stunned silence. The alliance members gradually erupted into cheers while the demonic faction cultivators stared in disbelief at their fallen leader.
Panic spread through the demonic ranks as they realized their inevitable fate. They scattered, attempting to flee in all directions.
"Kill them! Don’t let anyone escape!" The alliance members charged forward, their earlier exhaustion forgotten in the bloodlust of imminent victory.
What followed was not a battle but a slaughter, as the remnants of the Wuming Cult were hunted down and eliminated one by one.
...
Author’s Corner
A quick clarification, when someone breaks through from the nascent soul realm to the soul formation realm, they start transforming their spiritual energy into true qi. When the empress said that he couldn’t use true qi anymore, that’s what she meant. He could still use normal spiritual qi though.
Also, Li Yao’s combat power after the limit break is not peak soul formation but rather early soul formation. Since the cult leader couldn’t access most of his soul, his combat power also dropped to that realm.
The volume will most likely end tomorrow.
Thanks for taking the time to read my novel -mkonic