âI find it much more upsetting to lose that blue rock. Return it to me, Xue Ji. I donât want to make a move on you,â Chu Feng replied.
âYouâre scum, Chu Feng. Youâre telling me now that you donât want to make a move when you just tried to attack me?â Xue Ji scoffed.
âI just want to take back the rock. I have no intention of hurting you,â Chu Feng replied.
âIâm afraid that you wonât be able to take the rock back without hurting me,â Xue Ji replied with a seductive smile.
Her smile with that impeccably beautiful face of hers was so enchanting that it could steal the souls of men, but Chu Feng wasnât in the mood to admire her beauty. He knew that Xue Ji wouldnât return the rock to him if he didnât take her seriously.
âYouâre forcing my hand, Xue Ji.â
Tzlala!
Lightning crackled around Chu Feng, and a Lightning Mark formed on his forehead. A divine aura slowly emanated from him as the avatar of four sacred beasts manifested out of thin air.
Employing the Lightning Mark, Lightning Armor, and the Four Symbols Divine Power simultaneously raised Chu Fengâs cultivation from rank eight Martial Exalted level till he was two ranks above rank nine Martial Exalted level. This put him on par with Xue Ji.
Chu Fengâs spirit power had also reached the same level, but he noticed that Xue Ji wasnât an easy opponent. Otherwise, she wouldnât have been able to fend against his earlier attack so easily. While he was also adept in world spiritist techniques, he was much more proficient in martial combat.
After raising his cultivation, Chu Feng also whipped out his Immemorial Heroâs Sword, further raising his fighting prowess.
âThat Exalted Armament you have there is not too bad,â Xue Ji remarked.
She didnât raise an eyebrow at all despite Chu Feng employing his means. This showed her absolute confidence here.
âPardon me, Xue Ji.â
Shoosh!
Chu Feng rushed at Xue Ji with his Exalted Armement. He didnât use any martial skill because he didnât want to hurt Xue Ji.
Shoosh!
Xue Ji flicked his wrist and manifested a black sword in his hand. This black sword was a special weapon that could only be used by world spirits, and it harnessed tremendous power too. In no way did it pale in comparison to Chu Fengâs Immemorial Heroâs Sword.
The two of them charged at each other, reaching the striking distance of each other within a split second.
Chu Feng didnât directly brandish his Immemorial Heroâs Sword to attack Xue Jiâhe had merely equipped it in order to raise his fighting prowess. Instead, he raised his hand and unleashed a powerful absorption force, hoping to take back the rock that Xue Ji had stolen from him.
While the rock was of a different shape from before, it retained its previous properties of being unable to be stowed away. This meant that Xue Ji could only keep it floating around her.
Despite Chu Fengâs attempt to pull the rock in his direction, the rock wasnât moving in the slightest.
Shoosh!
With a cold gleam, Xue Jiâs black sword swooped across the air to slice down on Chu Fengâs palm. Even though Chu Feng was going easy on Xue Ji, the latter wasnât reciprocating at all.
It was fortunate that Chu Feng was prepared for her attack. He quickly retracted his left hand while pulling the Immemorial Heroâs Sword upward at the same time to deflect her black sword.
However, Xue Ji suddenly changed the trajectory of her cut, redirecting it from Chu Fengâs left hand to his neck. To make things worse, there was an abrupt acceleration in her sword.
The earlier attack was only a feint. This was her true intention.
Chu Feng was impressed by her maneuver. He could tell that an extremely high level of precision was required to carry out this movement.
Caught off guard by this sudden transformation in her attack, he had no choice but to attempt to evade. Despite moving as quickly as he could, the black sword ended up nicking his neck. In fact, he would have been beheaded if not for his Immemorial Heroâs Sword arriving in the nick of time to deflect Xue Jiâs black sword.
This injury stoked Chu Fengâs fighting will. He knew that he couldnât afford to go easy on Xue Ji anymore, or else he might lose his life here.
Thus, he utilized the powerful swordsmanship that he had comprehended during his fight with Jiang Yuantai. Yet, to his surprise, he wasnât able to hurt Xue Ji in the least.
It turned out that Xue Jiâs ability to maneuver the sword was nowhere beneath him.
âYour swordsmanship is not too bad. Where did you learn it from?â Xue Ji asked.
âI comprehended it myself,â Chu Feng replied.
âYou comprehended it yourself? Hoh, youâre more competent than I thought,â Xue Ji replied with a smile.
A few moments later, Chu Feng suddenly found that he was struggling in the fight. It was not that Xue Jiâs attacks were getting more powerful but that he was slowly growing weaker. Both his strength and speed were languishing. Even breathing was starting to get difficult for him.
Realizing that something was amiss, Chu Feng quickly backed away.
Nevertheless, the feeling of weakness was still swiftly spreading throughout his body.
âYour sword is poisoned?â Chu Feng asked.
âYour body and soul are stronger than I thought. You must have eaten quite a lot of antidote, or else you wouldnât have been able to hold on for that long. However, the poison I have here isnât any ordinary poison either. Itâs from the Asura Spirit World. There is no one in the world who can treat it, and death is the only fate awaiting those who have been afflicted with it,â Xue Ji replied.
Chu Feng immediately took out all of the antidotes he had inside his Cosmos Sack while constructing a recovery formation, hoping to treat his poison. However, it didnât take him long to fall limply to the ground. None of his antidotes or formations were working at all.
Xue Jiâs poison was truly potent.
Pah!
A jade bottle suddenly dropped right in front of Chu Feng.
âItâd be boring if you died right now. Chu Feng, you shouldnât be so careless the next time we cross blows. I⦠am not as weak as you think. Remember, you owe me your life,â Xue Ji said before walking away.
Chu Feng quickly uncorked the jade bottle and found a pill inside. He quickly swallowed it, and it immediately started neutralizing the potent poison ravaging his body. After the poison had been neutralized, he carefully examined his body to check if there were any side effects.
Fortunately, there were none.
He felt deeply fearful just thinking about what could have happened. He was foolish to have underestimated Xue Ji, and it nearly caused his death.
He had encountered plenty of poisons during his journey, but he had always been able to neutralize them. He had even acquired the Hundred Poisons Unapproach Body from a fortuitous encounter. It was just that the Poison Immunity Constitution was only useful for mild poisons from Ordinary Realms and Lower Realms.
As he rose through the ranks, his Hundred Poisons Unapproach Body slowly lost its effectiveness. As a result, he had been poisoned several more times afterward.
Nevertheless, he had never encountered any poison as frightening as Xue Jiâs. He could feel just how close he had come to death earlier on. If not for Xue Jiâs antidote, he would have surely died here today.