"Then why, when you heard that man named Lu was interested in Shi Yuyan, did you show such hostility toward him?" Xu Zimo said with a smile.

"What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?" Rock Solid replied. "We’re of the same race. I’m just afraid she’ll be deceived and end up losing both her heart and her people. I was only giving her a friendly warning."

...

At this moment in the sky, the battle between Yu Chengkong and Lu Ze had already reached a fever pitch.

When those countless sharp arrows formed from feathers came killing toward him, Lu Ze moved.

The frozen space was torn apart. With a sweep of his wide sleeves, all those arrow-feathers were annihilated.

A sky-piercing spear intent descended.

It shattered the silent void, and the vast heavens reverberated with the overwhelming aura of the spear.

The long spear behind Lu Ze came out of its sheath.

Its tip pointed directly at Yu Chengkong.

"Kill," a low roar came from his throat.

Seeing the spear coming, Yu Chengkong instantly folded his wings together, wrapping himself completely.

The spear clashed with the wings, sparking endlessly and locking in a stalemate.

"An immortal brushes my crown, binding my hair to grant longevity."

With Lu Ze’s low chant, immortal energy enveloped his entire body, his immortal might surging.

That endless immortal energy surged to the sky.

The immortal energy within the spear burst forth in an instant, shattering the wings.

The spear tip pierced Yu Chengkong’s abdomen.

Yu Chengkong retreated backward, looking at Lu Ze with a heavy expression.

Blood flowed from his abdomen, but he didn’t care; such a small injury was nothing.

The importance wasn’t in how badly he was hurt, it was that the other had managed to hurt him at all.

Sensing that vast immortal aura, Yu Chengkong chuckled. "Looks like the cultivation method you’ve trained in isn’t simple."

"Stop talking nonsense. Today I’ll cut you down right here," Lu Ze shouted, his aura growing even stronger.

"Then let’s see if you have that ability," Yu Chengkong snorted coldly.

As his words fell, behind him, a pair of massive wings spread open.

They weren’t real wings, but his True Fate, a phantom image.

These wings were a hundred meters long, covering the sky overhead.

A dark, corruptive aura swirled within them, an evil so palpable it could be seen at a glance.

Half the sky was now shrouded in this darkness.

"Thousand Wings Beyond Dust," Yu Chengkong’s dark aura surged like a mighty river. "Heart of Darkness."

The wings split apart, filling the heavens once more with countless feathers.

But unlike before, these feathers had undergone a huge transformation.

Not only did they teem with darkness, but their attributes in every aspect had changed drastically.

Lu Ze narrowed his eyes slightly.

He also brought forth his own True Fate.

"Naturally, the Grand Void separates from the mortal dust, and the immortal comes from the west to open the heavenly gate."

At this moment, Lu Ze gave off a strange feeling.

It was as if the immortal and the mortal were divided, half immortal, half mortal.

His body was split into two halves, yet the powers of immortality and mortality were perfectly balanced.

"That’s the Eternal Mortal Immortal Art," Monk Great Wisdom said in surprise from below.

"You know it?" Rock Solid frowned and asked.

"Who doesn’t? It was the secret art created by the Mortal Emperor himself," Monk Great Wisdom nodded. "He perfectly separated the two polar powers of immortality and mortality. According to legend, the Mortal Emperor believed that the human body was like a treasure, infinitely wondrous. Whether the five viscera and six bowels or the meridians and channels, all were arranged according to the Five Elements and Yin-Yang. And a man’s body tended to be heavier in yang and lighter in yin, while a woman’s body was heavier in yin and lighter in yang. He believed that only by balancing yin and yang to an equal level could one bring out the body’s greatest potential."

"That theory is interesting," Xu Zimo said with a smile.

"So he created the Eternal Mortal Immortal Art and called this state the Mortal Immortal Physique," Monk Great Wisdom replied.

Everyone looked up, and at this moment, Lu Ze truly gave off a strange sensation.

When the countless wings surged toward him with Yu Chengkong’s roar, the darkness filled the sky, anyone with a fear of dense clusters would not dare to look directly.

But Lu Ze’s face was calm, neither happy nor sad.

With a wave of his hands, the spear that had been standing to the side pierced the heavens and flew to him.

Holding the spear, the energies of immortality and mortality surged within him.

"One thrust." As he spoke, his body moved.

The spear tip exploded with a powerful aura, breaking through all obstacles, blocking every wing along its path.

These thousands of terrifying wings couldn’t get close to him at all.

Like a fleeting shadow, the spear reached Yu Chengkong’s face.

He swung it down heavily toward Yu Chengkong’s head.

...

In the sky above, with a rumbling explosion, a mushroom cloud spread out, as if the heavens were thundering.

"Are you crazy? You’re going all out for real?" From within the explosion’s haze, Yu Chengkong glared at Lu Ze and growled.

"With outsiders watching, I have to make the act convincing," Lu Ze replied quietly.

"Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to kill me," Yu Chengkong’s expression changed slightly.

"Of course not. But this time you’ll have to take one for the team," Lu Ze said.

"Don’t worry, once I win the beauty’s heart, I’ll talk to my grandfather and let you enter the Two Realms World of our Mortal Immortal Sacred Ground."

"Deal," Yu Chengkong gritted his teeth slightly.

He then charged straight into the oncoming spear.

The spear pierced his chest, blood scattering, churning.

It almost churned his organs out of place.

"Lu Ze, just you wait, I won’t let you off," Yu Chengkong roared.

He grabbed the spear’s shaft with both hands, yanking it out of his chest.

Then, catching Lu Ze’s signal, Yu Chengkong kicked him in the abdomen.

Using the momentum, Yu Chengkong’s body shot backward.

The wings on his back spread wide as he desperately flew into the distance.

Lu Ze, struck by the kick, also fell from the sky.

"Senior Brother Lu, are you alright?" Shi Yuyan and the others rushed over to support him.

"It’s nothing. As long as it’s about Junior Sister Yuyan, it’s my business. Don’t worry, I will do everything I can to help your Stone Race," Lu Ze said, holding onto Shi Yuyan’s right hand that was supporting him, speaking with deep emotion.

Then he sighed. "It’s just a pity, so close, and that guy got away."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lu," Shi Yuyan’s expression was a bit unnatural.

She wanted to pull her hand back, but remembering that he had risked his life fighting Yu Chengkong, she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.

"It’s not such a pity," Xu Zimo said with a smile from the side.

He looked toward the distance, Yu Chengkong was fast, already just a black speck in their sight, blurring toward the horizon.

Xu Zimo slowly extended his right hand, a blade intent condensing in his palm.

"Leave the rest to me."

As his light chuckle fell, the blade intent shot out.

The moment it left his hand, the sky darkened. With a boom, the blade intent turned into a streak of light.

Like the speed of light, it shattered all space and, in an instant, caught up to the fleeing Yu Chengkong.

It slashed down hard from above his head.