Hearing Wu Yu's words, the female sect leader laughed bitterly. "That is no longer something I should consider. He is the knife, and I am the meat. Fate is a strange thing. I was doing fine, and now I am in dire straits. In the end, it was my fault for being weak! This is something that I can blame no one but myself for. But the most straightforward reason is that you appeared. If you had not existed in this world, why would I be fighting for my life now?"
Her words startled Wu Yu into recalling: cultivation is plunder, and the strong define heroism!
If he had not been set up by Zhang Futu....
He had no more time to dwell on things. The female sect leader did not want to waste any more of her precious time, and she pulled out a normal immortal treasure longsword, roughly of the same quality as the Onyx & Pearl Dao Sword. Without a word, she pounced on Wu Yu, her aura flaring forth. In order to live, she had no other choice.
Life and death was not within her control!
"Damn it!" Wu Yu raged. Although he was unwilling to fight, she might very well kill him! Luckily, he had a couple of hours to recover before, and his spiritual power was mostly replenished. Otherwise, he would have been killed in a flash!
"Go!"
The female sect leader's spiritual power was robust and came roiling forth. In order to live, she threw everything she had, and the enormous wave of spiritual power shook the earth itself. Countless sword shadows came flashing at him.
Wu Yu had not thought the situation through, and was also unwilling to engage in a battle of life and death. He switched to the Sword of the Mystic Eye and used the Art of Sword Flight to flee into the skies. But the female sect leader was in hot pursuit on Wu Yu's heels. "Stop right there!" she screeched. "Don't waste my time! I only have this one lifeline. Please just let me finish it!"
Her desperate struggle shook Wu Yu deeply.
He could not imagine how furious he would have been if he was in her shoes. Zhang Futu was just toying with her.
Wu Yu had to discover Zhang Futu's motive. Otherwise, he would be falling into his trap! As a result, his thoughts were not on the battle at all.
"Zhang Futu wants to see me in a risky battle for my life. What could be his purpose? To test my potential? My potential and ability were all demonstrated in the battle with Huang Cheng already....
"What does he want to see?"
He ran a mental search over his battle with Huang Cheng that night, down to the details. Wu Yu was not unintelligent, and very quickly realized it. His battle with Huang Cheng had been over very quickly - the crucial part was the Fixed Body Art!
"Given Zhang Futu's speed, he must have noticed the moment Huang Cheng and I clashed, and arrived at the battlefield promptly. How could he possibly be slower than my master? He had not thought about it much previously, but now he realized that he must have arrived early enough. Yet he did not save Huang Cheng. That means that if he is still nearby, he is trying to understand my Fixed Body Art better...."
Only those who experienced the Fixed Body Art personally would clearly understand it, whereas others would just find it strange. But the moment that Wu Yu held Huang Cheng had been a rather obvious one; if Zhang Futu had been nearby at that moment, he should have seen it. That was an immortality art from the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, while Zhang Futu was just a commoner. He would definitely find it curious....
"He must be curious but uncertain. Does he want to push me to the brink of death so I will be forced to employ it again?" Wu Yu ruminated. This was the only explanation.
Very possibly, he had not been able to see clearly because Wu Yu had immediately used it from the get-go.
"It's very likely that he noticed the Fixed Body Art, and so he did not stop me when I killed Huang Cheng. He did not reprimand me, and even accepted me as disciple."
When this line of thought came to him, Wu Yu broke out in a cold sweat.
This logical reasoning explained everything.
"Since he is uncertain, then all the more reason to prevent him from knowing about it. No matter what, I cannot use the Fixed Body Art this time!"
Feng Xueya had told him before to be wary of everyone, even at the Shushan Immortal Sect. Even though the Shushan Immortal Sect was much more prestigious and powerful, Wu Yu's inheritance was considered special, and other petty people might covet it.
Wu Yu definitely knew how fearsome what he had was!
After he thought this through, his mind was clear.
But the problem was that the female sect leader was already catching up to him. Her spiritual power was stronger than his, especially when she was fighting for her life. How should Wu Yu deal with her?
"I have no enmity with you! I do not wish to hurt you!" It seemed like this battle was inevitable.
"It has nothing to do with enmity. It's just life or death. Resign yourself. None of this was your choice!" The female sect leader fought back hot tears, but her hand showed no mercy. Her sword cultivation dao techniques were even more refined than Feng Xueya's.
Cloud Piercing Sword, three bursts of golden sword qi morphed into golden tigers in the clouds. They sprinted along the clouds, bursting through the layer at three points in their attack!
Perhaps she was right!
Although they had no enmity, the orchestrator of this battle was not them. It was Zhang Futu! Zhang Futu had decreed that only one of them would live! Wu Yu did not want to hurt her, but there was no choice.
All his anger and hate was redirected to Zhang Futu.
"Great Dao of the Golden Sword!" The Sword of the Mystic Eye in Wu Yu's hands expanded, becoming a huge sword that broke through the cloud layer itself. It clashed with a golden tiger and cleaved it in two. It whipped instantly around to brain the other two tigers!
But after their beheading, the golden tigers disintegrated into hundreds of golden sword qi drops that came raining down like a storm.
"What a magnificent Jindan dao technique!"
This dao technique had many forms, and Wu Yu had to take the hit. Ordinary dao techniques would not morph like this.
Although his golden sword blocked about half, many golden bits of sword qi still pierced his body!
"Vajra Transformation!"
In that instant, Wu Yu's body wavered and became a Vajra Buddha sitting in the lotus position. It was a full six zhang tall, and its holiness was overpowering. The indestructible Vajra was battered by pellets of golden sword qi, which only left sword scars behind. But Wu Yu was not seriously hurt.
Bang!
The Vajra Buddha was too heavy, and plummeted like a rock through the air. Before he landed, he changed back into Wu Yu.
This was very risky!
He had almost been dashed into pieces!
"What a powerful body!"
The female sect leader was shocked, but she recovered quickly. Her attacks rained down heavily, threatening Wu Yu's life many times!
"I have no intention to kill, but she does. If this continues, I cannot hold out for the hour at all...."
Wu Yu was very clear on this point.
Right now, he was internally conflicted. He also knew that if he struggled through the hour, she was dead. That too held him back. Perhaps it was as she had said: Wu Yu's existence alone had caused her death.
"But must I let her kill me just like that?!" Wu Yu was not satisfied by that either.
He was quite sure that Zhang Futu would not let him die just like that. But that person was hard to read, so he could not be sure either.
Bang, bang, bang!
The female sect leader was extremely powerful. The air was filled with a shower of golden droplets that rained down, giving Wu Yu no avenue for escape!
If he did not retaliate, he was dead!
"No choice now!"
All of the sin belonged to Zhang Futu. Wu Yu had no other choice when he was forced to this degree.
"Sky Quake Thrust!"
This was the dao technique of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Wu Yu used it for the first time with the Sword of the Mystic Eye. His sword sliced downwards, and the Sky Quake Thrust parted the air itself. In a five kilometer, a deafening sound could be heard. Where the female sect leader stood, the air itself shook and suddenly turned into gold, a solid, sturdy metal that bound the female sect leader. And then it exploded and was sent flying.
"Again!"
In terms of spiritual power, Wu Yu was still weaker, and far from Jindan. After all, the advantage of his sword skills was that he used two swords simultaneously! The Sword of the Blazing Rainbow was already in his other hand!
Bang!
The air itself shook again!
Weng!
Seven rings of fire roared around the female sect leader, exploding in unison with the gold. The deafening sound sent the female sect leader flying.
This was the first counter attack that Wu Yu had unleashed.
This was the strongest attack he possessed in terms of sword dao. If his opponent did not die, then Wu Yu had no other answer. At the same time, using both of these swords drained his spiritual power considerably. If he had been at the first tier of the Jindan Realm, then using two consecutive Sky Quake Thrusts would definitely have killed his opponent.
Bang!
The female sect leader fell in the woods.
For a short time, there was no movement. But just as Wu Yu let his guard down slightly, there was a deafening boom and a golden figure rocketed into the air. Wu Yu saw that the female sect leader's entire body had turned golden, as though she was made out of gold itself. It was like the Supernova Golden Body, enhancing her spiritual power and physical power enormously. Most of all, she had sprouted a pair of golden, metallic wings. Every feather was shining gold!
Ping!
The feathers burst outwards, becoming thousands of small golden blades that could be controlled.
Wu Yu's back shone. His opponent had cultivated for more than a century. She was not the sect's leader for nothing. This ace in the hole completely suppressed Wu Yu. Unless Wu Yu used the Fixed Body Art, it would be difficult to extricate himself from this situation. The Sky Quake Thrust could not kill her!
"I definitely cannot use the Fixed Body Art. If I do, Zhang Futu's goal will have been achieved. And I will be in even more danger...." Wu Yu knew this well.
But in order to survive, the female sect leader was trying to kill Wu Yu within the hour. She gave him no time to think or escape. She steered her feathers, ready to close in for the overwhelming kill.
The threat of death was imminent for Wu Yu.
"I am sorry." Wu Yu took a deep breath. He sympathized with her, but he wanted to live on as well....
In the face of death, Wu Yu reached into his sumeru pouch and pulled out the Homing Soul-Shocker Talisman.
This was definitely something that Zhang Futu had not anticipated. Zhang Futu had originally given this Homing Soul-Shocker Talisman to Huang Cheng to protect his life, but it was taken by Wu Yu that night. He might have wanted to force Wu Yu to use the Fixed Body Art, but he had not foreseen that Wu Yu would pull out this talisman instead.
He ignited it with his spiritual power. The talisman did not drain his spiritual power at all. The Homing Soul-Shocker Talisman seemed to have eyes. Wu Yu locked it on the female sect leader and closed his eyes.
Bang, bang, bang!
The whole world shook. Wu Yu was sent flying, and he tumbled a few rounds.
He did not want to see the outcome.
After it had all blown over, he stood up. The female sect leader had completely vanished. Wu Yu had used the Homing Soul-Shocker Talisman to kill her in less than three breaths of time.
Deathly silence all around.
"Very well. Since I took your sword, there will be a day when I will take revenge for you as well," Wu Yu said to the female sect leader in his heart.
The one who had killed her was not Wu Yu. It was Zhang Futu. From the start, Zhang Futu had no intention of letting her live.