Just then, Pengluo's body began to change as well.
Its bloated figure gradually slimmed down, as though the congested power within it had been refined and purged by the tribulation lightning.
The aura radiating from Pengluo grew increasingly terrifying, soon surpassing that of a half-step Mahayana Realm expert!
The mountains and rivers trembled, and the glaciers shattered.
Deep craters were blasted into the earth wherever the bolts landed.
The atmospheric momentum grew immensely heavy. Even the wind and snow vanished at that moment, leaving only the sky full of lightning crashing down with thunderous roars.
As the most terrifying and lethal bolts plummeted, Pengluo's eyes turned bloodshot, and it forced its mouth open once again.
By now, its mouth was already scorched black from the explosions, resembling a child caught secretly eating roasted potatoes straight from the embers.
Fortunately, the boundless vitality inside Pengluo gave it astonishing regenerative power.
Boom!
"Devour!"
With that roar, Pengluo swallowed the surging celestial lightning like a whale, refining it completely.
With a deafening rumble, a terrifying pressure erupted from its body.
As Pengluo shrunk back to its original size, Li Guanqi caught a momentary glimpse of an illusion—a young noble in white, flashing past in an instant.
Li Guanqi froze, unsure if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Pengluo's breakthrough had caused an enormous disturbance, carving chasms and rifts across the glaciers for a hundred li in every direction.
Seeing Pengluo hovering in midair with a sleazy grin, Li Guanqi could not resist flashing forward and smacking it on the head.
"Hurry up! Those two old bastards are coming!"
Pengluo snapped to its senses and sensed two formidable auras rapidly closing in.
Looking up at the heavens, it opened its mouth and swallowed all of the heaven-and-earth bounty whole.
It flickered before the formation's radiance, its eyes flashing with purple light, and thrust both hands directly into the deeper layer of space, completely disregarding the formation's glow!
Primal energy surged through Pengluo, divine patterns glowing on its skin as it wrenched both arms outward!
Riiip!
Ignoring the glow, Pengluo tore open the connected inner space directly!
Boom!
A terrifyingly immense pressure instantly erupted from the other space.
Boundless cold air surged forth like a volcanic eruption!
Li Guanqi's expression changed drastically. "Watch out!"
A grave look flashed in Pengluo's eyes. Its hands swiftly formed a hand seal.
A purple diamond-shaped barrier materialized in front of Pengluo, absorbing all of the overwhelming cold into itself.
Pengluo's face tightened, and it spoke at lightning speed: "Ten breaths!"
Without a word, Li Guanqi tore open his domain, released Dugu Chongming and the others, and darted into the spatial rift himself.
At the same time, both Xuan Zhèn and Xuan Zhen sensed the eruption of that extraordinarily pure cold qi!
Boom! Clang, clang!
Clang, clang, clang!
The two clashed furiously in the skies above the Xuan clan's glacial mountain range. Sparks flew, and sword qi crisscrossed the void.
Under the severed sky, glaciers broke apart and pitch-black fissures spread across the fractured space. Neither man gave an inch.
For a time, their domains locked horns, creating a freezing domain that stretched for thousands of paces.
The ice-blue domain glowed with an eerie, chilling light; neither could gain the upper hand.
A sharp gleam suddenly flared in Xuan Zhèn's eyes, and he roared through a voice transmission, "Hear my command! Everyone support Xuan Ji in breaking through toward the cold qi erupting in the rear mountain!"
In an instant, the tide of battle shifted once again.
Xuan Ji slashed and wounded the cultivator before her. With a flicker in her eyes, she spun around and charged straight toward Li Guanqi's direction.
Her face was frigid, her gorgeous eyes gleaming with icy killing intent as she muttered under her breath, "That wretched woman! The Bingqi inheritance is mine! Mine!"
Bloodshot veins gradually surfaced in her blue eyes, hiding a madness and jealousy that few could detect.
Nangong Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly, "Quite a crowd. I'll take two."
Gao Hua and An Xing remained silent, their eyes gleaming with lethal resolve—clearly ready for battle.
With his head slightly lowered, Dugu Chongming's eyes had become bloodshot at some point, and a bone-chilling murderous aura rippled all around him.
Terrifying primal energy and raging Geng Metal power seemed to slice through heaven and earth!
The hand gripping his saber trembled slightly with agitation.
While maintaining the barrier and absorbing the erupting cold qi, Pengluo eyed the man with flashing eyes.
Dugu Chongming slowly raised his head, licked his chapped lips, and murmured in a voice steeped in malice, "Leave that damned woman to me!"
Boom!
As the words left his mouth, his long saber hummed softly, its blade trembling uncontrollably, as though it could barely endure Dugu Chongming's murderous intent.
The glacier beneath his feet gave way, and the man turned into a streak of golden light, vanishing from the spot.
Clang! Boom!
Xuan Ji, who had been surging forward with fierce momentum, suddenly experienced a shift in expression and brought her sword across her chest in defense.
The terrifying force blasted her back hundreds of paces, tearing the skin between her thumb and forefinger. Fresh blood dripped down the ice-blue hilt of her sword.
The ethereal, otherworldly beauty possessed an aloof demeanor. After steadying herself, she slowly looked up.
Her long hair looked exceedingly pure under the sunlight. With an arrogant tilt of her chin, she exposed her sharp jawline and slender neck.
Looking at the disheveled, ragged man before her, Xuan Ji could not help but frown.
"Who are you? Get lost!"
Seeing once again the woman who had personally cast him into the abyss, Dugu Chongming was consumed by towering hatred!
"Who am I?"
"Heh heh..."
"Naturally, someone who wants to slaughter you a thousand times over!"
When a Mahayana realm cultivator of unyielding dao heart severed the love he once held, all that remained...
Was boundless vengeance and murderous intent!
Dugu Chongming gave Xuan Ji no room to breathe. With a flash of golden light, he disappeared on the spot!
Xuan Ji's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She truly could not recall who this man was.
However... it did not matter who he was.
Clang!
A wall of ice materialized behind her, but the blood-colored blade, strangely cloaked in sword intent, shattered the wall and continued straight for her head!
Xuan Ji leaned back to dodge the strike, then lightly clutched at the sky with one hand, murmuring under her breath, "Ice Fall: Heart Devourer."
Before her voice had faded, dense clusters of icicles materialized throughout the surrounding hundred paces, shooting toward the man like a storm.
Dugu Chongming sneered, showing no fear as he raised his hand against the dense barrage of icicles.
His right arm moved in a blur of afterimages. The blade glinted, shattering every single icicle on impact!
At the same time, Dugu Chongming gripped the saber with both hands, the veins bulging along his arms as his expression twisted into a ferocious snarl.
"Love-Severing Sword!"
Though he held a saber, this was the lethal sword technique Dugu Chongming had comprehended over seventy-odd years in the ice prison!
Severing love, slaying affection!
The adoration he had once felt had turned to utter despair the moment Xuan Ji drained his primal yang and kicked him out of her bed.
Imprisoned for over seventy years in that dark, sunless ice prison, every single memory had sharpened into frigid blades that scraped his bones and lacerated his soul.
Again and again, they interrogated him: if they met once more, would he kill her or not?
Dugu Chongming unleashed the pinnacle of his current strength, pouring every shred of it into this sword strike—solely to end her life!
Watching the terrifying blade light barrel toward her, then glancing at the man's contorted, savage face, the corners of Xuan Ji's lips curled slightly upward.
"Oh... so it's you..."
Planting her feet, the sword in her hand instantly underwent Apocalypse, and a terrifying blast of frost sword qi slashed out!
That chilling sword qi instantly froze the very space along its path!
She stared at the man with unchanged haughtiness, not lowering her chin in the slightest.
Without a single flicker of emotion, Xuan Ji spoke in a cold, detached voice.
"To me, you are no different from the other dogs... that pant and wag their tails at me."
Chapter 1113