Chapter 645: The Body

The Guardian Qi Yun manifested a deep gray stone staff in his right hand, swinging it with brute force. The strike caused the surrounding void to collapse instantly.

“Hiss—”

His stone staff clashed against the oncoming Blood Serpent Spear. The spear shaft, slippery as a great serpent, twisted with an eerie force, its tip swirling with a vortex of worlds. Though the stone staff carried the profound mysteries of the void in its furious descent, only about twenty to thirty percent of its terrifying force truly impacted the spear shaft—a testament to the disparity in their realms.

“Hmm?” Even with just a fraction of the force, Dongbo Xueying felt his spear deflect, its thrust veering off course.

“Such immense strength,” Qi Yun was shocked. He had expected to send the spear flying outright. “The cultivators of this universe are supposed to be weak. Even if Dongbo Xueying has just broken through, he’s merely a newly ascended Venerable. How is it that I couldn’t overpower him?”

“Interesting,” Dongbo Xueying narrowed his eyes. “In a direct clash, I might gain the upper hand, but killing him would be difficult. Better to leverage my true advantage—my superior realm.”

His spear technique shifted instantly.

Whoosh—

The Blood Serpent Spear, which had dominated the battlefield, now truly resembled a serpent—ghostly, elusive, striking with deceptive lightness before erupting with devastating force at critical moments. Qi Yun, his countless strands of hair retracting defensively around him, desperately wielded his stone staff to block and parry.

“Pfft.” The gap in realms was too vast. Whenever Dongbo Xueying’s spear met resistance, he withdrew and struck anew. Within a dozen thrusts, one finally slipped past the hair defenses, grazing the stone staff to pierce Qi Yun’s abdomen. The ‘Path of Slaughter’ within the divine weapon had long been activated, forcibly puncturing the incredibly tough skin. A gaping wound was torn open before the spear was halted by the dense muscles and fascia within Qi Yun’s body.

Withdrawing the spear, Dongbo Xueying smirked.

“Tch, such a wound means nothing to me.” Qi Yun remained confident. His body’s resilience and regenerative abilities were extraordinary. Though the spear carried a terrifying aura of slaughter, he believed recovery would be effortless.

But then—

“What’s happening?” Qi Yun suddenly realized with alarm that the wound in his abdomen was resisting healing. A foreign energy lingered, entwined within the injury, slowing recovery drastically. Worse, this energy was seeping deeper, though his formidable physique managed to block its advance.

“Poison? This Dongbo Xueying… does he know the forbidden arts of their universe?” Qi Yun’s expression darkened. “For this toxin to threaten me… how potent must it be?”

From afar, Dongbo Xueying assessed his opponent. “With the ‘Taihao’ and ‘Annihilation Profound Body,’ I’ve just entered the Creation Realm, yet my raw strength should rival top-tier Venerables. But compared to this Guardian Qi Yun, my power is only half his. After penetrating his hair defenses, my spear’s force diminishes by another thirty to forty percent. In a direct clash, I truly have little advantage.”

Already weaker in strength, and further hindered by the resilient hair, his spear’s effective force was reduced to a mere thirty percent of Qi Yun’s.

Even if Qi Yun could only exert twenty to thirty percent of his full might, the two were still evenly matched.

“According to Emperor Wu Qiu, this is merely an ordinary Guardian of the Ancestral Mother Religion. In raw power, he matches Emperor Wu Qiu himself—surpassing even my dual supreme techniques.” Dongbo Xueying felt the stark contrast between their two universes’ cultivation methods.

He sensed the disparity keenly.

Qi Yun, however, was furious. “I’ve been a Guardian for ages, yet I’m completely suppressed? I couldn’t contend with Emperor Wu Qiu, but now this upstart Dongbo Xueying is overwhelming me with his spearplay?”

Both found the situation frustrating.

One, despite mastering two supreme strength-enhancing techniques, still fell short in raw power.

The other, a veteran Guardian, was being bullied by a newly ascended junior.

“His wound is healing extremely slowly. The Blood Serpent Toxin is indeed extraordinary.” Dongbo Xueying grinned, thrusting his spear once more.

The Blood Serpent Toxin was insidious and vicious.

This divine weapon contained the Eternal-level ‘Path of Slaughter,’ meaning it was forged by at least a Paragon! Such a powerhouse had deliberately infused the weapon with ‘Blood Serpent Toxin’—its potency was undeniable. As the white-haired elder from the Primordial Land had said: “A Venerable with weaker vitality would perish from a single strike. Even those with strong defenses would struggle to expel the toxin, making recovery nearly impossible.”

Clearly, Qi Yun was finding recovery agonizingly slow.

“Whoosh—” The Blood Serpent Spear weaved through the air like a phantom, striking Qi Yun repeatedly.

Enraged, Qi Yun roared and swung his stone staff with overwhelming force. But most of his power was wasted. Only a fraction affected the spear, and every ten exchanges, he was struck once.

Soon, eight gaping wounds marred his body—even his throat bore a bloody hole. Though he struggled to heal, the wounds closed at a snail’s pace, while the Blood Serpent Toxin within him only grew denser with each hit.

“I can’t even defeat Dongbo Xueying?!” Qi Yun’s hunched form suddenly straightened as he let out a bestial roar. His countless strands of hair shimmered with emerald light, and intricate patterns emerged across his body, his aura skyrocketing. With a savage glare, he swung his stone staff with unprecedented violence, the void collapsing around it.

Dongbo Xueying’s eyes narrowed. “His power just surged?”

He recalled his master’s words: the Ancestral Mother Religion’s warriors possessed monstrous physiques, capable of temporary bursts of even greater strength—though such states were short-lived.

“Let’s test it.” Defiant, Dongbo Xueying met the strike head-on with his spear.

BOOM!

The moment their weapons collided, Dongbo Xueying was sent crashing into the ground, carving a massive crater.

“Three times his previous strength?!” He shot out of the pit, staring at Qi Yun’s diving form. “Already formidable, and now this?”

He had once dismissed the Ancestral Mother Religion as crude and inferior.

But now he understood—they were a civilization no less formidable than his own. Though their realms were lacking, their sheer power and speed compensated. A mere Guardian’s base strength rivaled Emperor Wu Qiu’s, and now, with this burst, it approached Paragon-level might.

“Thankfully, my own strength isn’t lacking. With my dual techniques, I can still hold my own.” As Qi Yun descended like a furious meteor, Dongbo Xueying focused entirely on defense.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The stone staff’s might was cataclysmic.

When attacking, Dongbo Xueying could only exert twenty to thirty percent of his force against Qi Yun. But in pure defense, he reduced Qi Yun’s effective power to a mere ten percent. Though the writhing hair forced him to split his focus, his guard remained impenetrable.

“I can’t even scratch him?!” Qi Yun seethed. With the Blood Serpent Toxin festering inside and his burst state waning, he made a decision. “I can’t last much longer. Retreat!”

He turned and fled, his enhanced speed carrying him away swiftly.

“High Priest! Who provided the intel claiming Dongbo Xueying was a Four-Heaven God?” Qi Yun transmitted urgently as he escaped. “His strength far exceeds the records! He’s no God—he must already be a Venerable!”

“A Venerable? After just a million years of cultivation?” The High Priest was incredulous. The more he learned of this universe, the more impossible such a feat seemed.

“I fought him myself! I’m fleeing for my life—does that sound fake?!” Qi Yun snapped back.

Meanwhile, Dongbo Xueying hurled a divine throwing knife.

WHOOSH!

Infused with his full power and the profound insights of the Path of Slaughter, the knife materialized without warning at Qi Yun’s forehead—transitioning seamlessly from the Void Realm.

Qi Yun, with his inferior realm, only realized it too late.

“CRACK!” His skull exploded, though a new one regenerated instantly. Yet the Blood Serpent Toxin from his throat had now crept up to his jaw.

“The throwing knife!” Qi Yun remembered belatedly.

“You won’t escape this time.” Dongbo Xueying’s voice boomed across the heavens, his eyes blazing with battle-lust.