Chapter 1575 - 148: Using Force Against Force

Chapter 1575: Chapter 148: Using Force Against Force

"Whoosh."

Far away, a hundred zhang off, the Shadow let out a long, deep breath, disregarded the wounds on both hands, and struck once more.

Still relying on Nether Lake Tunneling.

This time.

He directly "Instant Teleported" to the spot behind Xie Xuanyi’s heart.

Most Divine Skills in this world are erected upon the foundation of "Taoist Intent." The so‑called "one begets two, two beget three" is precisely because, within the Great Dao River, there exist these myriad Dao Intents, and only then do such dazzling Divine Power Techniques arise... yet the Shadow happened to walk a different path.

He had no Daoist Intent.

Thus the Divine Skills the Shadow wielded were primarily based on "Pollution."

Before, he had dismantled Xie Xuanyi’s Dao Domain!

And now.

He was going to dismantle Xie Xuanyi’s dharma once again!

Crash!

Countless Sword Qi surged toward him head‑on. The Shadow frowned, and forcibly pressed his hands downward. Those palms, which had only just regrown a bit of flesh, were in an instant shaved back down to bare bone... He looked wretched, but this move was highly effective.

The Sword Qi, once touched by Ink Intent, dissolved in a flash.

Xie Xuanyi had cultivated through two lives, rearing a vast quantity of Sword Qi in his Heart Lake...

These Sword Qi, in theory, should only grow more and more abundant.

Yet once they brushed against the Shadow’s Power of Filth, those strands of Sword Qi that ought to have returned to Xie Xuanyi’s Heart Lake were directly dispersed by him, undergoing Soldier Disintegration of their own accord.

Whosoever touches the Polluted becomes tainted by that filth.

To contend against the Path of Destruction, the Shadow had to pay a price.

To contend against the Shadow... Xie Xuanyi likewise had to pay a price.

"..."

That towering Holy Body Dharma Aspect, standing like a mountain, had already noticed the assassination striking from behind.

His expression turned grave, and he prepared to turn the colossal Sword Qi in his hands, to deliver the Shadow a decapitating blow.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

Countless Sword Qi at the Heavenly Peak swarmed in response, roaring with explosive thunder.

The Shadow tilted his head back, narrowed his eyes, silently awaiting the fall of that colossal Sword Qi.

The next instant.

Xie Xuanyi turned and brought his palms together, and that towering Holy Body Dharma Aspect clenched the Cross Sword Qi in both hands, cleaving down at extreme speed—

Swish!

The void caved in, the Nether Lake shattered.

This slash carried an overwhelming pressure!

Xie Xuanyi had affixed the Primordial Swallowing Divine Power upon the Sword Qi!

The entire heaven and earth seemed to be cut open by the slashing force; the [Silver Thread Fall] Great Array Ling Chenzi had laid down earlier was blasted into fragments by the lingering might, its countless silvery horsetail whisk threads shredded by Sword Qi... That Daoist Great True Man still remained within the range that the Primordial Swallowing Divine Power could suppress.

Yet the Shadow was not among them.

Swallowing Yuan, Swallowing Dao, Swallowing Qi, Devouring Soul...

Of the four Divine Skills left behind by the Bai Ze Great Saint, not a single one took effect on him!

Thus.

This sword, resplendent as if heavenly wrath had descended, was to the Shadow merely a more powerful slashing attack, with nothing else that merited particular concern. The colossal Sword Qi slammed down heavily; he brought his skeletal palms together to meet it, and the flesh at his shoulders was instantly torn to bloody shreds—yet corresponding to this, the snow‑white Sword Qi clutched by the Holy Body Dharma Aspect was rapidly stained black!

As that blow descended.

The Shadow and Xie Xuanyi both let out muffled grunts.

The former because he was bearing immense pain.

The latter because he felt how troublesome the Shadow was.

"Scatter!"

Xie Xuanyi gazed at the Pollution Ink Intent climbing rapidly upward and spoke coldly.

He dispersed the Holy Body Dharma Aspect, using that as a technique to forcibly drive out those portions of Floating Sword Qi that had been tainted.

The Shadow finally seized his chance.

At this moment.

Xie Xuanyi’s Life and Death Dao Domain and Holy Body Dharma Aspect—his two great bulwarks—had both been dissolved and broken.

The Nether Lake heaved, and the Shadow tunneled forward once more.

Xie Xuanyi personally raised his sword and slashed down.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

The might of this sword was no weaker than before.

Only, the Shadow had long since devised his countermeasure: the Nether Lake erupted into countless pillars of water, and a great number of Polluted were forcibly seized, using their own flesh and blood as sacrifice to carve open, amid the Sword Qi slaughter, a narrow road free of stain.

The Shadow at last drew within three zhang of Xie Xuanyi’s body.

Next.

No matter how grievous the price, he could accept it...

So long as Xie Xuanyi could not kill him.

Then he would thrust these Polluted hands into Xie Xuanyi’s chest.

In that split second.

The world fell silent.

Heaven and earth perished.

The Sword Qi, whose momentum had been surging like a dragon‑whirlwind, scattered all at once.

The Shadow’s pupils constricted; he froze for a heartbeat.

He had never imagined that, upon reaching Xie Xuanyi himself, those Sword Qi assaults like a tempest of driving rain would, in a single instant, all collapse... No—rather than "collapse," it was more like "withdraw." Having cultivated to Xie Xuanyi’s current Realm, his Sword Qi could already be retracted or released at will. That earlier wild, all‑out slaughter, and this sudden rain returning to calm, this instant drawing of the curtain—were both "deliberate acts" on Xie Xuanyi’s part.

A light "tap" sounded.

Those skeletal fleshless hands were already pressed against Xie Xuanyi’s chest.

Incredibly smooth.

So smooth... it felt a little uncanny.

"Sizzle, sizzle!"

Just as the Shadow was reeling in astonishment, he lowered his head in disbelief, staring at the point where his palm met Xie Xuanyi’s chest.

He had succeeded.

Succeeded in making contact with Xie Xuanyi’s skin.

And yet failed.

Because...

In the left portion of Xie Xuanyi’s chest, where his heart should have been beating, there now burned a blazing mass of luminous fire.

The Shadow exerted himself to the utmost, pouring in the Origin of Pollution.

And that filth, like the surging tide, was wholly drawn into the roaring light‑fire.

"This is... Karmic Fire?!"

The Shadow stared dazedly at this scene.

He had walked this world for several centuries, and had seen countless methods.

Most Divine Skills in this world...

He had seen them all.

Apart from the Path of Destruction, there were not many things that truly gave him a headache. Unfortunately... this [Karmic Fire] before his eyes was one of the very few exceptions!

"Yes."

Xie Xuanyi lowered his head and spoke.

He watched those skeletal palms pressing into the light‑fire and said in a low voice, "In truth, this thing... has been quite a headache for me..."

He paused.

Then Xie Xuanyi sighed softly. "Trust you to handle it."

The Karmic Fire of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace was the ultimate fruit of the Sky Vault Inheritance cultivated to perfection.

It was of the same level as the Fighting Technique of Great Ape Mountain—

The Shadow’s Power of Filth was strong.

But in this world, there are always some things that can stand against it.

After witnessing the Nether Lake Divine Skill...

A thought had arisen in Xie Xuanyi’s heart, to borrow force and clash it against another...

Thus.

This Divine Power Technique, whose original intent was to kill Xie Xuanyi, now became, at this moment, a resilient bulwark protecting his Flesh Body from being corroded.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh!"

As vast quantities of Polluted Origin were poured in...

The radiance of the Karmic Fire swiftly dimmed.

The Shadow’s expression grew exceedingly unsightly.

Because he could clearly sense that the aura of this Sword Cultivator before him was not weakening at all, but was instead surging higher, wave after wave.

So this Karmic Fire that he was assaulting with all his might...

Had been suppressing Xie Xuanyi all along?

"My thanks to you."

The brilliance of the Karmic Fire grew dim.

Yet a blazing light flared open at Xie Xuanyi’s brow.

He extended a palm, Life and Death Dao Intent sheathing his hand, and through the billowing black wide sleeve he gripped the Shadow’s desiccated arm hard.

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "This Fourth Realm has held me back for quite some time. If not for you... I suppose I’d have had to wait a while longer."