Li Xuanfeng waited a while, watching as the two monks began to turn on each other.
Ever since Ewu had disguised himself as a member of the Situ Family, Li Xuanfeng had anticipated that a good show was about to unfold. Standing on his golden shuttle, he hovered quietly, observing from above.
As he saw the two monks fly north and clash in the sky, Li Xuanfeng raised his left hand and pulled the longbow from his back. Gripping the bow with one hand and drawing the string with the other, he cast a cold glance and, without hesitation, selected Mutuo as his target.
"This one is easier to kill and more likely to panic and retreat back into the formation... I will take him out first."
He exhaled deeply, his fierce eyes widening, and his black-gold armor emitted a radiant glow. A Golden Light Profound Arrow, crafted from refined gold, jumped out from the quiver at his waist and obediently set itself onto the bowstring.
The Golden Age Longbow he held had been reforged in Yi Mountain City, now much improved from its former self. It measured eight chi and six cun in length, with limbs three chi and five cun long, making it even longer than it had been in the past. The bow gleamed with a subdued golden light, the entire surface shimmering as though alive.
If stood upright on the ground, it would tower over an average person from Zhao Prefecture by at least a head. Held horizontally, it resembled a mighty siege crossbow.
The golden arrow, also a dharma artifact, measured about four chi in length. It bore no complex patterns—its sleek, sharp lines were honed to perfection by a master craftsman in the Southern Border, and it was as heavy as an iron ox.
Creak... creak... creak...
Li Xuanfeng slowly drew the bowstring, tilting the golden bow from horizontal to a slight angle, its impressive eight chi span looking like the outstretched wings of a great eagle from a distance.
Whoosh!
As the golden light intensified even more, Li Xuanfeng narrowed his gaze, his eyes spanning hundreds of li as he fixed on Mutuo's hideous face.
"Take this!"
Li Xuanfeng suddenly released his hold, and the golden arrow vanished into thin air. Without pausing to observe the outcome, he reached for a second golden arrow, placing it onto the string and aiming once more.
————
Mutuo had just wiped the blood from his face when a sudden, overwhelming terror gripped his body. Blood began to well up on his face like dewdrops, one after another, spilling uncontrollably. He let out a desperate scream, "Save...!"
He barely managed to utter a single word before the four guest cultivators around him noticed his strange state and moved back, planning to join forces to protect him—only to hear a faint hum.
Hummm...
They looked closer, and Mutuo's once-pale head was now gone.
Where his neck had been was now a smooth, mirror-like surface. Fine tendrils of flesh extended from the edge of the severed neck, waving in the air as though trying to regrow the head. Yet, as soon as they extended beyond the cut, they all snapped off cleanly.
The vitality of Zhao Buddhist cultivators was nearly unmatched, rivaled only by devil cultivators. Mutuo's hands flailed wildly in the air in a panic he had never felt before, not even when he had been crushed to pieces beneath Kong Tingyun's Golden Mountain. He staggered two steps in the air, his hands reaching for his neck, but as soon as his fingers touched the severed edge, they, too, snapped off with a wet, slicing sound.
Hummm...
A second hum rang out, and Mutuo vanished, leaving only a few wisps of blood mist in the air.
Almost simultaneously, statues in several temples on Golden Sack Island exploded, scattering into clouds of stone dust. Several infants also burst into blood mist without warning, leaving the ground soaked in blood.
The guest cultivators in the air and Ewu all froze, watching in shock as Mutuo was obliterated, body and soul, right before their eyes. In an instant, both sides had forgotten about fighting or fleeing.
Ewu felt an intangible connection gradually creeping over him. His senior brother, Mutuo, had been annihilated before him, and Qinling Temple's inheritance naturally transferred over to him. The prize he had long sought after landed in his hands effortlessly, but his face showed no joy. Instead, he murmured in a daze, "What... what was that... it was an arrow... an arrow..."
He coughed, spitting out flecks of blood, feeling his face sting as if cut by a blade. Tiny beads of blood seeped from his left cheek. With no time to cry out, he hastily formed a hand seal, unleashing a hundred beams of golden light around him.
Ewu was already stronger than Mutuo, and with the temple's inheritance now transferred to him, his power surged even more. However, he was thoroughly terrified, and the hundred beams of golden light encircled his body as he fled desperately, riding the wind through the sky.
The guest cultivators from Golden Sack Island were both frightened and bewildered. The man they had been ordered to protect had been obliterated before their eyes, leaving them with feelings too complex to describe. Glancing at the blood mist in the air and the frenzied Ewu fleeing eastward, one of them remarked, "This monk has numerous life-preserving techniques... perhaps he has already resurrected on the island!"
Another cultivator, his face pale with fear, shook his head.
"Should we give chase?"
They exchanged a glance, each seeing the terror in each others' eyes, then silently set off in pursuit to the north, moving so slowly they looked more like they were taking in the scenery than giving chase.
Ewu had barely fled two li when a chilling sensation swept over his body. A sharp hum filled his ears, and he instinctively darted to the side, his arm erupting in searing pain. Glancing down, he saw a bloody hole in his palm.
For a Buddhist cultivator, this kind of wound was hardly serious. Buddhist cultivators did not depend heavily on their physical bodies; their flesh could be easily reshaped and mended at will. Usually, a mere brush of the hand would be enough to close such a wound.
But now, blood dripped unceasingly from the injury, and Ewu felt an intense, numbing pain with no sign of healing. His pupils widened, and he felt a surge of panic.
Li Xuanfeng's attack had immense power. Ewu had encountered formidable enemies before—those from elite Immortal Sects often wielded techniques of this caliber. But what truly terrified Ewu was another question that danced in his mind.
"Where is he?!"
The attack was blindingly fast, seeming to pierce through the great void itself, or perhaps emanate from an endless, unseen distance. Ewu had no idea where his opponent was positioned. Was he moving farther away with each desperate attempt to escape... or was he getting closer?
The unknown was more frightening than raw power. Unable to see even the shadow of his enemy, he was left in complete ignorance of the enemy's energy drain, attack intervals, or range. An icy dread crept up his spine, and he felt droplets of blood beginning to seep from his chest.
"He is toying with me—damn it!"
A flash of realization hit Ewu. He cast a new spell, forming a hand seal. Behind him appeared the figure of a three-headed, six-armed figure, and he shouted, "Supreme Dharma Empowerment, Vajra Golden Body!"
His skin instantly began to glow, shifting from red to a bright, lustrous gold, as if forged from bronze with unmatched solidity. Tiny runes danced across his skin, moving in a rhythmic, pulsing flow.
Pfft!
In the next moment, however, he spat out a mouthful of pale, golden blood. The golden mist dispersed in the air, sparkling under the sunlight in a surreal display.
A hole the width of a forearm had been punched clean through Ewu's chest, exposing the greenish-red seawater behind him. Despite his empowered form, he finally caught sight of the golden projectile that had struck him.
It was a slender, brilliant golden arrow, sharp and translucent, gleaming like the mythical Phoenix itself.
Forcing himself to suppress his terror, Ewu gently touched the wound and finally understood.
"So that is the true power of this attack... If this had been before Maha's fall, my dharma body might have held up... what a pity."