"…"
Narrowing her eyes, Yao Ying evades the female demon's fist; however, the blue flames—that shrouds the fist, it seemingly possesses a mind of its own, as it lunges itself in her direction.
Raising the Yin energy-shrouded Xu Zuo, Yao Ying blocks off the flames, but the heavy collision still manages to throw her off to the side.
In the same instance—
*Boom!!!* a dense pillar of lightning falls from above, and lands a clean hit on her.
"Hack!"
Landing onto the ground, and rolling to a stop, Yao Ying spews out a mouthful of blood.
And before another bolt of lightning can land, Yao Ying is quick to take out a pill and swallow it.
Just as her wounds begin to mend themselves, Yao Ying leaps off the ground, and—
"Die!"
Not given any time to catch her breath, a practitioner charges at her from the rear.
"…"
Having detected the practitioner with her divine senses ahead of time, Yao Ying abruptly raises Xu Zuo over her head, and having angled the weapon perfectly, the blade manages to stab right into the former's face—ending their life in the next instance.
However—
"…!"
The practitioner's palm—that is still shrouded in traces of dissipating spirit Qi, it manages to land onto Yao Ying's back, causing her to spew out another mouthful of blood.
Casting the corpse that is leaning onto her aside, Yao Ying releases her grip on Xu Zuo, as she rolls to the side—to evade another bolt of lightning.
Drawing in a deep breath of air—to absorb the surrounding spirit Qi, Yao Ying pops another pill into her mouth.
At this point, all her pillars have merged into one; all that's left is to condense them into a core.
What makes this combined pillar different from the pillars that other practitioners would form at this part of the ascension process is its color—being pitch black.
"…"
Pushing herself off the ground, Yao Ying directs her right hand towards Xu Zuo's direction, and following her gesture, the weapon teleports itself into her grip.
"To have lightning targeting her… This is most unusual…"
"Is she actually a practitioner?"
"If so, this doesn't make any sense. None of us here recognize her…"
"An intruder perhaps? Or maybe she's someone who was thrown into the Leng Bing Realm?"
"…"
As more practitioners surround her—while making guesses at her identity, Yao Ying maintains a composed state of mind, as she rotates the Tranquil Heart Incantation and the Cloud Ink Incantation simultaneously.
"Haa…"
The moment Yao Ying takes this breath, the black pillar within her spiritual sea—it melts into the form of a sphere.
"The hell?"
"…!"
"…"
Sensing the vague existence of this black sphere near her chest, Yao Ying rotates her cultivation base fiercely—causing Yin energy to emanate from her body. And in that instance, all traces of silver that are present on her pink hair darkens.
Having truly stepped into the Core Formation realm with her Yin core's formation, Yao Ying suddenly feels like all the incoming practitioners are nothing more than ants, as she swings Xu Zuo in a casual manner, and with it—
*…!!!* this single swing sends out a ring of sharpened Yin energy, which splits all the incoming practitioners in half from the torso down.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!* as numerous bodies fall, and darken the earth with blood, Yao Ying turns her attention towards a specific direction.
"…"
Staring at the female demon, which is still going on a rampage, Yao Ying stands perfectly still, as the final few bolts of lightning strike her.
The moment these bolts of lightning dissipates, Yao Ying leaps into the air—in the direction of the female demon, while raising Xu Zuo over her head.
As the female demon turns itself around, Yao Ying closes the remaining bit of distance, and cleaves with Xu Zuo.
Following the flash of cold steel—
*Klangggg!!!!!* a crisp sound rings, as Xu Zuo's blade lands onto the female demon's horn!
*Kakaka…!!!* as cracks appear on the point of contact, the immense pain that is felt by the female demon is transmitted directly to—
...…
"Aaaaahh!!!"
[Qing Yue, what happened?!]
...…
Momentarily—
*Pah!* the female demon's horn snaps apart, and with it, its body begins to dissipate.
"…"
Having gotten her payback, Yao Ying controls Xu Zuo to take her away from the battlefield.
...…
"Uhh…!!!"
Experiencing a head-splitting pain that is like no other, an extreme sense of rage washes over Qing Yue, causing her eyes to turn bloodshot.
This sense of rage, it originates from the female demon itself.
(I'm going to kill that little bitch…!)
As this thought crosses Qing Yue's mind, she drops onto her knees, and eventually faints.
...…
Rewinding time back to when the Dao Idol's right arm had been destroyed—
"Ugh!"
With the destruction of the Dao Idol's right arm, a muffled grunt comes from Xia Lie Yang, and without giving him the time to catch his breath, Long Hua continues to press on the attack, as the Divinity Idol throws out another punch!
*Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!* with every punch landed, the Dao Idol would be forced to take a step backwards.
And with every step retreated by the Dao Idol, the Divinity Idol would take a Martial Emperor's Step forward.
Upon taking the ninth Martial Emperor's Step—
"Spear in hand, who dares to defy?"
As a dark rift manifests beside the Divinity Idol, an Emperor's Spear—with its shaft covered in scale patterns, lunges outwards.
Taking hold of the Emperor's Spear, the Divinity Idol drives it towards the Dao Idol's chest!
*Boom!!!!!!!!!*
"Pfff!!!"
Blocking the spear off by pressing his hands forward—to construct a shield of fire elemental energy, Xia Lie Yang spews out a mouthful of blood!
Raising a cold chuckle, Long Hua asks—
"What's wrong? Where's that arrogance of yours from before, mortal?!"
*Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!* drawing the spear back, Long Hua has the Divinity Idol lunge it forth repeatedly—causing the Dao Idol's chest to cave inwards!