"It's now or never!" Ning Zhuo frantically roused the Iron Han Armor and charged towards Qi Bai, without a second thought.
Qi Bai's head was bleeding profusely, his vision darkened, and he was on the verge of passing out.
The next moment, the Iron Han Armor cut through the air.
Youthful Hanging Whip!
Dozens of long whips flailed wildly like a swarm of serpents, lashing madly.
Qi Bai was flung about in mid-air, unable to touch the ground.
Whenever a whip struck his body, it would cause a ripple of golden light, unable to penetrate his protective spell.
"Is it a spell, a divine skill, or perhaps a protective magical treasure?" Ning Zhuo's eyes turned red, unable to suppress his agitation.
This was a counterattack he had painstakingly devised.
If Qi Bai recovered his breath, the suspense in this battle would completely dissipate.
However, the Youthful Hanging Whip, which was usually very effective against Foundation Establishment Cultivators, failed to break through Qi Bai's defenses.
Sun Lingtong urgently transmitted her voice: "Little Zhuo! Qi Bai is not a body cultivator, he specializes in controlling ghostly spirits; his talent is Insight into the Netherworld, so it's unlikely his protective means are spells or divine skills."
"I can see that the weakest point of the golden light is at the wound on his head, which is currently healing rapidly."
"The strongest part of the golden light is three inches below his navel, at his Essence Sea and Lower Elixir Field!"
"Use the strongest method!"
Ning Zhuo's eyes gleamed sharply, and he replied, "Understood!"
He pushed the Iron Han Armor to its maximum power.
Spirit Stones were consumed wildly, transforming into immense spiritual power, which infused two palm-sized talismans, complex with patterns of wind and thunder.
The talismans each burst forth with the power of wind and thunder, interweaving along the internal array patterns of the Iron Han Armor, merging to form a new force—
Wind-Thunder Move!
Greenish electric light surrounded the Iron Han Armor.
In an instant, the Iron Han Armor's speed soared to the extreme, reaching Qi Bai in the blink of an eye.
Iron Armor Cold!
The defensive formation within the Iron Han Armor was pushed to the utmost, humming with force. The array skillfully combined the forces of metal and water elements, cooperating perfectly, emitting freezing cold while carrying metallic properties, enveloping the Iron Han Armor entirely, maximizing its defense and offense.
Azure Dragon Strikes the Skies!
The armor plates on the back, shoulders, elbows, and wrists of the Iron Han Armor flipped open, revealing hidden explosive talismans.
The talismans ignited completely, glowing with dazzling white light, fully boosting Ning Zhuo's strike, pulling his attack to the limit in an instant!
The black robe, disguised as the Youthful Guest, was torn apart, revealing the true form of the Iron Han Armor, like a silver dragon, breaking through the sky, carrying blinding white light, cutting through all darkness!
Fists like rain of arrows, legs like storm.
Punches and kicks intertwined, forming a terrifying tide of attacks, completely enveloping Qi Bai.
Fists and kicks landed fiercely on the golden light shield, causing it to splinter into fragments of light.
The golden light shield gradually cracked, rapidly becoming insubstantial, fading.
The defensive power of the golden light quickly weakened, unable to offset the force of the punches and kicks, causing Qi Bai inside to suffer the attacks.
A punch knocked his head askew, twisting his neck to the limit.
A knee strike slammed into Qi Bai's waist, bending him like a shrimp, his eyes bulging as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Another punch landed on Qi Bai's jaw, causing him to clench his teeth violently, nearly biting off his tongue. Qi Bai jerked his head back, being struck higher into the air!
But in the next moment, a flash of azure lightning, the silver-white agile body appeared abruptly above Qi Bai's head.
Ning Zhuo clasped his hands tightly, forming fists, raised them above his shoulders, then drove the Iron Han Armor with all his might, diving towards Qi Bai like a meteor.
The golden light protecting Qi Bai's body had been weakened to near transparency.
And blood still streamed from the wound on his head, the place where the otherworldly persimmon core had struck, also the weakest point of the golden light shield.
Ning Zhuo's gaze was as sharp as a knife, locking onto the enemy's weakest point.
A full-force strike!
Ning Zhuo's fist slammed down, like a meteor chasing the moon, its force so strong that the silver-white fist showed a fiery red hue from the friction with the air.
At the critical moment of life and death, Qi Bai finally awakened from his strong instinct to survive!
"Meng Kui! Otherworldly Persimmon Core!!"
Qi Bai's heart shook, cold to the core.
"Since he used the Otherworldly Persimmon Core, he must have already used the Mountain Gaze divine skill."
"Why?!"
As a True Disciple of the Soul Devouring Sect, sent to Fire Persimmon Mountain, Qi Bai naturally came prepared.
He was aware of Meng Kui's signature divine skill Mountain Gaze and the Otherworldly Persimmon Core.
But Qi Bai did not understand.
Why did Meng Kui suddenly use this divine skill, and especially in Fire Persimmon Immortal City!
"He is the City Lord of the Immortal City. Doesn't he fear any mistakes that might cause the citizens to riot and kill each other?"
"There must have been some situation I'm not aware of that prompted Meng Kui to make such a move."
For a moment, Qi Bai felt a sense of grievance.
It was his first time entering the city, merely trying to subdue three fellow disciples, to establish his footing before slowly proceeding to investigate the Soul Storage.
He did not expect such bad luck, being hit by the Mountain Gaze divine skill as soon as he arrived.
"Fortunes misled me, causing me to make constant mistakes!"
"Why didn't I just kill Sun Lingtong? There was more than one path to subdue Han Ming."
"I shouldn't have chased them all this way. These two Foundation Establishment cultivators are indeed troublesome, but I didn't need to make such a grand scene."
According to Qi Bai's original plan, he intended to lie low and act when the opportunity arose.
"Why did I frequently use spells? Spells are greatly weakened in the Immortal City, completely counterproductive."
"I should have swiftly killed these two, using my talent wouldn't matter, but I chose to release ghosts and ghost generals to torture and kill them, wasting too much time."
"I should have used my strongest means to quickly kill the two, decisively ending it, avoiding prolonged trouble. I wasted too many opportunities in the fight!"
"They have too many underground bases in the Immortal City, I couldn't kill them in a short time, I should have retreated at the right moment."
"Sun Lingtong bore my means, only a Golden Core can dispel them. I should have left them alone, waiting for the right moment to chase them down, wouldn't that be better?"
"The most accursed is this Youthful Guest!"
"Layer upon layer of traps, forcing me to exhaust myself against the Immortal City Great Array, making me use all my strength."
"If not for this, Meng Kui might not have thrown the persimmon core at me."
Hit by the persimmon core, Qi Bai became completely alert.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind rapidly between the lightning and thunder.
As he looked up, he saw Ning Zhuo's all-out strike.
"Going to die!" Qi Bai's hair stood on end in horror.
"I must absolutely not let him hit the wound on my head."
However, he had no time to use a stronger defensive measure.
He couldn't even manage to use his protective magical treasure.
Magic Artifact—Ghost Fog Veil.
In desperation, he moved his divine sense, pulling a veil from his storage waist belt.
This was a magic artifact he often used during the Qi Refinement Realm and Foundation Establishment, allowing him to cover himself in ghost fog, disguising as a ghost in some eerie and terrifying places.
The Ghost Fog Veil had greatly aided him, enabling him to successfully get close to many ghostly spirits, capturing them.
The Ghost Fog Veil accompanied him during his arduous early days, gradually accumulating step by step, eventually becoming a True Disciple of the Soul Devouring Sect.
Once he advanced to the Golden Core, the frequency of using this trusty magic artifact rapidly declined, becoming less and less frequent.
Qi Bai kept it in his storage waist belt more as a memento.
Unexpectedly, at this moment of life and death, the only magic artifact he could quickly use was this one.
Bang!
Ning Zhuo's all-out strike pierced through the ghost fog, heavily impacting Qi Bai's chest.
At that moment, the golden light shield around Qi Bai's body could no longer sustain, shattering into countless fragments, glimmering in the high sky before dissipating into nothingness.
Qi Bai's ribs shattered into four or five pieces, his chest caved in, and his lungs and other internal organs suffered heavy blows, almost shattering into pieces.
He fell like a meteor, crashing through a house, hitting the ground, causing a tremor.
Immediately, the house collapsed, dust and smoke rose, burying Qi Bai.
"He's not dead!" Sun Lingtong had been observing the battlefield, disregarding the blood tears that had long flowed from her eyes.
Ning Zhuo's heart sank, gritting his teeth, he gathered his momentum once more and dove into the dust cloud.
The Ghost Fog Veil had shattered.
But precisely because of its cover, Ning Zhuo's attack landed on Qi Bai's chest instead of his head, indirectly saving Qi Bai's life.
As Ning Zhuo approached to kill, Qi Bai had more time to act than before.
He took out a magical treasure.
Soul-stirring Drum!
The drumhead was pallid, tanned from human skin, faintly transparent, emitting a faint glow in the dark.
The drum rim was carved from black jade, exuding a chilling aura.
The drumstick was made of grayish-yellow adult finger bones, pieced together segment by segment.
Qi Bai shook the Soul-stirring Drum.
Dong dong dong.
The crisp drumbeats resonated in Ning Zhuo's and Sun Lingtong's hearts, fiercely shaking their souls.
Already gravely injured, Sun Lingtong immediately bled from her seven orifices upon hearing the drumbeats, her eyes losing light, unable to operate her Lingtong, forcing her to stop.
Ning Zhuo felt the world swaying in his vision, his steps staggering, nearly falling to the ground.
This interruption halted his recharged attack.
"Little Zhuo!" Sun Lingtong's urgent cry reached Ning Zhuo's ears.
Years of tacit understanding instantly conveyed Sun Lingtong's message to Ning Zhuo—this was their last chance! They must seize the moment to eliminate Qi Bai, or else, once Qi Bai overcame this crucial breath, they would face defeat.
Ning Zhuo was almost out of resources.
The mechanism artifacts he had accumulated over a dozen years were mostly used up, leaving only what wouldn't stand a chance in this battle.
Only one remained!
Martial Fighting Ape!
Ning Zhuo half-knelt on the ground, releasing the mechanism ape. To prepare for this battle, he retained the core mechanism parts, replacing whatever parts he could, transforming the Martial Fighting Ape's form drastically. Compared to its previous appearance, there was almost no similarity.
The ape bore a Heart Seal, with a staff head inserted on its body.
Ning Zhuo flicked his arm, shooting mana strings from his ten fingers, linking them to the crucial parts of the Martial Fighting Ape.
Under triple command, the Martial Fighting Ape charged towards Qi Bai.