Lying on the ground, Li Guanqi simply played dead. At a moment like this, even the slightest movement would likely provoke the two almighty beings in the sky to obliterate him with a casual flick of a hand!
"Hmph! Cheng Yun, I advise you not to refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"
"My patience with you has its limits."
A trace of impatience had already crept into the old man's voice.
The woman in the sky looked utterly grim. Her strength was clearly inferior to You Daozi's.
Yet just as Cheng Yun opened her mouth to speak, the old man struck boldly!
In an instant, heaven and earth roiled as fierce winds suddenly howled!
The roaring gales whipped through the air, sending the old man's white robes flapping loudly.
The old man narrowed his eyes, forming an incantation seal with his left hand while lightly sweeping the horsetail whisk with his right.
Sounds like Buddhist chants suddenly echoed from his lips as he slammed his palm forward!
A brilliant golden radiance erupted across the sky. The supremely sharp metal-attribute primal energy tore through the void, and palm seals, each spanning a hundred zhang across, snapped into shape!
Cheng Yun's expression changed drastically, and in that instant, sword radiance laden with the power of frost erupted!
The clash between the two raged from the sky down to the earth, and from deep beneath the ground to the mountain summits!
The earth trembled, and lofty mountains crumbled!
Cascades of falling boulders crashed relentlessly downward.
Several giant rocks landed right beside Li Guanqi, yet he dared not move a muscle, scarcely even daring to breathe.
Sprawled on the ground, Li Guanqi gulped with great difficulty. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, playing dead and not daring to leak even a sliver of aura.
In this situation, both combatants were clearly fighting in earnest now.
Originally, he had thought that with the old man's strength, he would crush the woman effortlessly.
Yet it now appeared she had concealed her true strength from the start; for the moment, she was locked in an evenly matched struggle against him.
If that woman's frost power grazed him even once, the wound would instantly freeze over with rime.
Roars and booms in the sky were ceaseless, and the immense pressure bore down upon heaven and earth like divine wrath.
The endless stream of varied techniques left Li Guanqi utterly astounded.
The origin energy domains of both sides continuously ground against each other, neither yielding an inch.
Before long, both had sustained injuries, and at that moment, the sword spirit had no choice but to 'awaken'!
"What are you doing sticking your nose into a fight of this level?!"
The sword spirit's furious bark rang out in his mind.
Li Guanqi's expression chilled. He had already begun suspecting that her slumber over this period was intentional.
"Hmph! If you have something useful to say, say it; if not, go back to playing dead!"
The sword spirit's flippant voice slowly sounded: "Heh, if you ask me, you'd best keep playing dead right now."
Hearing that, Li Guanqi cursed inwardly, *Nonsense, as if I need you to tell me that... Of course I'm playing dead...*
By now, the clash between the two had grown extraordinarily fierce. His entire back felt as though it had been scraped several times by blades, burning with searing pain.
Yet he dared not make the slightest move, forced to endure the ferocious winds and stray sword qi sweeping across his back from the sky.
He restrained his aura with all his might, terrified of being noticed by the pair.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Her gaze ruthless, Cheng Yun said nothing, raising her sword to slash at the old man, who swept his whisk repeatedly to parry the blade.
Right then, a cold glint flashed deep in the woman's eyes. With a slight flick of her right hand, she swallowed a peculiar medicinal pill!
*Boom!*
In an instant, the woman's aura surged wildly. Seeing this, You Daozi's pupils shrank abruptly.
His voice tinged with a hint of horror, he exclaimed, "Are you mad?! You dared to take that pill?!"
Her hair disheveled, Cheng Yun had lost every shred of her former poise. With bloodshot eyes, she shrieked,
"Old bastard, aren't you the one who forced my hand?!"
"If my cultivation doesn't advance, a century from now will be my day of death!!"
You Daozi evidently knew what she meant—the heavenly tribulation a Soul Formation cultivator had to undergo once every five hundred years.
After formally stepping into the Nascent Soul realm, one had to undergo a minor heavenly tribulation every three hundred years.
In the Soul Formation Realm, one faced a major heavenly tribulation every five hundred years!
Regardless of your cultivation's height, none could escape it.
Even if after five hundred years you remained merely at the initial stage of Soul Formation, the tribulation's power would not diminish in the slightest.
Moreover, the tribulation's might grew progressively with each occurrence from the moment one reached Soul Formation!
To this day, no Soul Formation cultivator had ever been heard to survive the sixth major heavenly tribulation!
Precisely for this reason, the sixth major heavenly tribulation of the Soul Formation Realm was called the Ultimate Tribulation!
A tribulation of certain death!!
Cheng Yun's next tribulation would already be her fourth; if she still could not break through her realm, she was doomed to perish the next time!!
It was precisely with this resolve to risk death that Cheng Yun was willing to sacrifice everything to make a desperate gamble!!
*Boom!*
In an instant, the old man was thoroughly suppressed by Cheng Yun's sword momentum, and the wounds on his body multiplied.
As the balance shifted, the woman gradually seized the upper hand!
Beneath the dazzling sword radiance, the entire space inside the barrier was transformed into a realm of ice and snow!
Cheng Yun suddenly roared, "Frozen Domain!!"
*Boom!*
A profoundly mysterious ripple spread in an instant.
The space within the entire barrier became Cheng Yun's origin energy domain!
Within her origin energy domain, the woman's strength, speed, and other faculties were all drastically enhanced.
For the first time, a fearful urge to retreat appeared in the old man's eyes.
His left hand inside his sleeve made frenzied hand seals to open the barrier and flee, but a cold sneer curved the woman's lips. "Thinking of leaving?"
"I traded a century of cultivation for this fleeting power—how could I possibly let you leave alive!"
*Boom!*
The barrier began to tremble violently, and an enormous frost greatsword woven entirely from ice-attribute primal energy condensed in midair!
Li Guanqi had reached the absolute limit of his endurance.
His entire back had long been mangled flesh and blood, and it was now completely frozen over by the frost energy. His body was stiff as stone, his consciousness growing hazy.
Yet at that moment, he suddenly felt a warm surge of power emanate from within the sword casket, tightly shielding his soul and spiritual terrace.
In the end, the sword spirit could not bear to watch him die.
After her last test, she had realized that the three saber intents capable of obliterating her were aimed solely at her!
So long as she did not direct genuine killing intent toward Li Guanqi, even if he died, those three saber rays would not stir.
"If I were you, I would run right now."
Li Guanqi held on, his voice trembling: "Why?"
The sword spirit spoke with immense gravity: "Because the moment that woman deployed her domain, she definitely noticed you."
Hearing that, Li Guanqi hesitated not a moment longer. Seizing the instant You Daozi breached an opening in the barrier, his figure soared into the air, his speed peaking in that single breath!
The old man cast a startled, distracted glance at the rapidly fleeing Li Guanqi, just as the hundred-zhang greatsword above plunged down!
Cheng Yun glanced at Li Guanqi out of the corner of her eye, bellowing,
"Qionghua: Absolute Frost!!"
Knowing he could not evade it, You Daozi simply turned to face the attack!
Swallowing several medicinal pills in quick succession, his horsetail whisk shattered, and he brought his hands forcefully together!
"My Dao: Demon-Vanquishing Seal!!"
*Boom!*
Chapter 255