Wang Hai and the others ascended the mountain, and before they even reached the gates of the Mount Tai Sect, they heard a tremendous roar echoing from afar.
The three sect leaders instantly recalled the distant sounds they had heard that day when Lan Lechuan and Li Miao exchanged blows.
However, judging by the distance of this sound, it was clearly more intense and terrifying than that day.
Deng Boxuan swallowed hard and said, "Everyone, let's not get involved, shall we?"
"We can't help with the fight between the Thousand Households. If we rush forward and get caught in it, we'll die for nothing. That would be unwise."
Wang Hai nodded, "Let's wait here. Once the sound stops, we'll go and see."
This wait lasted for nearly half an hour.
A look of shock appeared on everyone's faces.
Do they not need to rest and recover their breath?
Fights in the martial world are often decided within a dozen moves. If the opponents are evenly matched, they might exchange a few dozen moves at most before the victor is clear.
Only those sparring matches, which are more like performances, can last for hundreds of moves.
Because while martial arts may have no flaws, people certainly do.
The simplest example is that people need to breathe. Even with the highest internal cultivation, one still needs to exchange air. Every pause for breath is an opportunity to decide life or death.
And the stronger the opponent, the more effort one must put into their moves, and the more true qi is consumed. As true qi diminishes, the power of the moves weakens, which is another point where superiority is decided.
Yet, the sounds from afar were incessant, showing no signs of weakening; instead, they grew more and more intense.
By now, they had merged into a continuous roar.
Suddenly, the sounds from the front ceased.
Everyone held their breath, listening intently for any sound from that direction.
— — — — — — — —
"Ha—ha—" Yun Zelin lowered his head, panting heavily.
He didn't have much time left; in a little while, even without Li Miao's intervention, he would die from the Celestial Human Five Declines.
He had actually been heading towards death for a long time, merely using methods to prolong the process.
When Li Miao arrived, he had no reaction because he had ceased all his activities and entered a state of suspended animation. He only emerged from that state when Li Miao arrived.
Upon his emergence, the Celestial Human Five Declines also began to manifest on him.
"You, you don't want to live?" he shouted at Li Miao.
With things spiraling out of control and truly seeing himself approaching death, Yun Zelin could no longer maintain his polite demeanor and began to directly address Li Miao as "you."
"If I get your corpse, I can fully strengthen my bones."
"You have perfected 'Vajra,' and you will also suffer the Celestial Human Five Declines, just to kill me!?"
Across from him, Li Miao watched him, arms crossed, at his leisure.
Li Miao's hair was completely white at this moment, flowing down like silver threads. Yet, his appearance showed no signs of aging.
"Don't flatter yourself. I wouldn't cheapen myself like that just to trade for your life."
"However, do you have any other tricks?"
"Then I'm going to kill you now," Li Miao said.
The perfected 'Vajra' was simply incomparable to the 'Vajra' Li Miao had deliberately left flaws in before.
This could be seen from the state of the two men at this moment.
Yun Zelin was covered in wounds, which were slowly healing.
However, his appearance was no longer that of a young man; fine wrinkles had already crept up to the corners of his eyes.
Li Miao, on the other hand, only had some broken skin on his knuckles and a minor scratch on his face.
And these minor wounds disappeared in an instant, leaving no trace.
"No... no, there's still a chance, there's still a chance!"
Yun Zelin muttered in his heart.
"He only perfected 'Vajra'; his other two paths are still the same!"
"My 'Sumeru' is perfected, but his true qi is limited; it should be almost depleted by now!"
"With life and death at stake, I can't think about the future anymore!"
Once he made up his mind, Yun Zelin suddenly dispersed the body tempering technique in his chest and fiercely plunged his hand into his own chest and abdomen!
"Oh? Still got tricks up your sleeve." Li Miao showed no intention of stopping him.
"Heh... heheh." Yun Zelin gave a tragic laugh.
He suddenly pulled out his hand and slowly clenched his fist.
After the previous struggle, both Li Miao and his true qi were almost depleted.
Li Miao's 'Sumeru' was incomplete, and his 'Sumeru' was unorthodox; they were equally matched.
But at this moment, a surging and vast true qi suddenly erupted within Yun Zelin's body.
At the same time, his face rapidly aged, transforming into a decrepit old man in the blink of an eye.
His figure flickered.
As if a scene had cut, in an instant, Yun Zelin appeared before Li Miao.
A palm, carrying powerful true qi, struck towards Li Miao.
Li Miao raised his palm to block, but was unexpectedly stuck by a suction force, and their arms pressed together.
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Yun Zelin's palm was merely a feint; the real killing move was the 'Tai Chi Entangling Hand' he was using!
As their arms intertwined, a vast surge of true qi violently poured from the Yangchi acupoint into Li Miao's meridians.
"Oh, I see."
Li Miao showed no surprise.
This wasn't some rare technique, but it was the most suitable one for Yun Zelin to use at this moment.
In truth, it was simply a common method of combat in the martial world: two people clashing palms and pitting their internal energy against each other.
Just now, both their true qi reserves were almost depleted. Yun Zelin reaching into his abdomen was to forcefully stimulate the vitality of the insanity worm he had taken from Lan Lechuan, thereby generating an extra surge of true qi out of thin air.
Doing so came at a great cost. Even if Yun Zelin were to win today, with the insanity worm damaged, his 'Sumeru' derived from the insanity worm would also fall. His 'Sumeru' was originally obtained through unorthodox means, and once damaged, it would be difficult to recover, even shortening his lifespan.
However, Yun Zelin could not afford to think so much at the moment.
Only those who survive can talk about the future.
In this method of combat, moves and bones were no longer important, and Li Miao's perfected 'Vajra' would no longer be of use.
It only depended on whose true qi was greater!
Yun Zelin sneered, "Lord Li, how is it?"
"You looked down on me, a common man, but in the end, wasn't it I, this common man, who won?"
"I don't believe you dare to perfect 'Sumeru' as well; that way, under the Celestial Human Five Declines, you will die even faster!"
He was smug and couldn't help but laugh.
Although Li Miao was exceptionally troublesome and made him pay a huge price.
But with Li Miao's corpse, he would fully strengthen his bones, and in the future, he could slowly find a way to resolve the hidden dangers.
After today, the sky would be vast and the sea wide; he was finally free!
Just as Yun Zelin was reveling in thoughts of the future, Li Miao let out a laugh.
"Heh..."
"Perfecting two gates is indeed a bit much. But, I don't necessarily have to keep 'Vajra,' do I?"
Before his words even finished, Yun Zelin felt an incredibly vast surge of true qi rush through his meridians.
In an instant, it burst his already fragile meridians.
"You!"
Yun Zelin looked at Li Miao in utter horror, "You doing this will only make you die—"
His words stopped abruptly halfway through.
Because he felt that Li Miao's perfected 'Vajra,' his incredibly tough bones, were suddenly weakening.
Li Miao said softly, "Two gates won't work."
"Then I'll just abandon 'Vajra' and cultivate 'Sumeru' instead, won't I?"