CHAPTER 1444: CHAPTER 1442: SWORD FURY GUSTS

Piao Ke and the specter did not feel as strongly as Lu Ye, but after his reminder, they retreated to the edge of the hall without any hesitation.

Just as they steadied themselves, they witnessed an extremely terrifying scene: a tornado was rising on the side of the Skeletal General!

Upon closer inspection, it was no tornado, but rather the Sword Fury Gusts! It appeared like a tornado, but was actually composed of countless fine sword flashes.

What terrified them even more was that this Sword Fury Gust connected to the ceiling above and the floor below, rapidly expanding, and wrapping in the Blood Sea beside the Skeletal General, turning the entire Sword Fury Gust blood-red as it churned.

Lu Ye sensed trouble; the Blood Sea Technique was indeed strange and powerful, but it had a major issue that was worrisome: its severe consumption of one’s own spirit force. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, even the Blood Race wouldn’t maintain the Blood River Technique for too long.

Moreover, if someone were to disrupt it from within, the energy consumption for the caster would be even greater.

The Skeletal General, despite being an enraged Moon Jade, wielding such prowess, how could Lu Ye withstand it?

If he didn’t retrieve the Blood Sea quickly, once the Skeletal General shattered his Blood Sea Technique, at the very least, he would suffer severe damage to his vital energy.

Lu Ye knew things weren’t that simple!

In that instant, Lu Ye made a decision, his figure flickered directly to the specter’s side, grabbing her, and vanished again.

Reappearing beside Piao Ke.

"Defend!" He barked a low command while hurriedly retracting his Blood Sea.

The blood color vanished into nothingness, yet the Sword Fury Gusts of the Skeletal General continued to spread rapidly in all directions.

Piao Ke removed the large ladle from his waist, tossed it over his head, and it immediately formed a protective layer, enveloping the three of them.

The specter also wasn’t stingy, once again summoning a purple talisman, forming a second protective layer.

This penny-pinching individual using purple talismans one after another clearly realized the gravity of the situation.

Without any valuable protective spirit treasures, Lu Ye could only rummage through his spoils for anything useful, unsure of their effectiveness, indiscriminately activating his spirit force to summon them all.

In a regular combat, cultivators rarely have such an opportunity to set up defenses, as by the time they did so, the enemy would have already attacked.

But with the Skeletal General clearly out of his right mind, his fury incited by Lu Ye’s various tactics, he focused solely on unleashing his Sword Fury Gusts, granting the three of them this opportunity.

Lu Ye unleashed banners, using a protective spirit treasure that seemed decent as the Array Eye, setting up a layer of protective array.

Attempting another maneuver, he found it was too late.

The Sword Fury Gusts had enveloped the entire hall, already pressing upon where the three stood.

Feeling its ominous presence up close, one could more profoundly grasp the terror of these Sword Fury Gusts, composed of densely packed fine sword flashes sweeping over.

The first to bear the brunt was the protective array Lu Ye hastily set up; despite using a decent protective spirit treasure as its core, it provided significant protection.

Even so, it only held for two breaths before shattering, testifying to the killing power of the fine sword flashes.

With a crack, the protective spirit treasure acting as the array core crumbled to dust.

Following that, a symphony of cracking sounds ensued as protective spirit treasures shattered one after another.

In merely five breaths’ time, all of Lu Ye’s defenses were breached, leaving the specter’s purple talisman next.

This wasn’t likely a Dwarf Race purple talisman, just an ordinary one, yet propelled by the specter, a Constellation Late Stage, its protective power still proved substantial.

But it only withstood a single breath.

The glow of the purple talisman dimmed rapidly, then spontaneously combusted.

The expressions on the three turned grim; now only Piao Ke’s ladle spirit treasure shield remained. If breached, they’d have to fend off the Sword Fury Gusts individually, and though Lu Ye might construct a Sacred Guard, it would likely be insufficient, as even at his rapid construction pace, it required time.

Against the ceaseless eroding fine Sword Fury Gusts, the Sacred Guard’s effectiveness was limited!

The Sword Fury Gusts bore down, unflinching eyes locked on, and Lu Ye knew it was bad; Piao Ke’s ladle spirit treasure couldn’t possibly hold.

Raising his gaze forward, nothing was visible, as even his Mental Consciousness was shredded by the fine sword flashes.

But he knew, in this scenario, he could only take a desperate gamble.

Just as the final layer of defense teetered on collapse, Piao Ke and the specter were stunned to find Lu Ye vanished from their sight as his spirit force surged.

Soon after, from the direction of the Skeletal General, came the violent eruption of spirit force, alongside the faint sound of a long saber’s hum.

Their spirits surged as they realized Fa Wuzun had charged forth.

However, they were slightly puzzled at how Fa Wuzun managed to charge forward? In the Blood Sea, he could move like a specter, but now with the Blood Sea retracted, he should have lost that ability.

The two couldn’t comprehend the mystery of how Lu Ye managed to perform instant movement, so they naturally couldn’t figure out how he did it.

In fact, during his previous battle with the Skeletal General, Lu Ye had left one of his controlled weapons in the gap behind the Skeletal General’s armor.

If the enemy had flesh and blood, they would have sensed it, but this guy was ultimately just a muddled skeleton, giving Lu Ye an opportunity to exploit.

It was precisely by using the positioning of the controlled weapon that Lu Ye was able to get close to the Skeletal General.

The reason he dared to do so was a gamble on Lu Ye’s part, because generally, the center of a tornado is calm, and the appearance of the Sword Fury Gusts around the Skeletal General resembled a tornado, making it likely that there were no tiny sword flashes where he stood.

Staying in place was a dead end, so he had no choice but to take a gamble.

The facts proved Lu Ye’s gamble was correct!

Moreover, a surprising thing happened. Perhaps because of the full force needed to activate the Sword Fury Gusts, the Skeletal General stood motionless.

Originally, under such an offensive, no one could get close to him, but Lu Ye’s sudden assault using Void Spirit Runes caught him off guard.

Realizing that this guy was now a sitting duck, Lu Ye immediately rushed to his front, ready to finish him with a single strike. But as he focused his gaze, he almost spat blood.

Because the Skeletal General’s left hand had already covered his right eye, making it impossible for him to attack.

Even in his muddled state, he knew his right eye was the biggest weak point, so he concealed this vulnerability before activating the Sword Fury Gusts.

Frustrated with nowhere to vent, Lu Ye noticed the dirk inserted at the Skeletal General’s left eye socket and raised his saber to strike the dirk.

Initially, when he saw the dirk, he merely thought it was a decent spirit treasure, which is why the specter coveted it. But after learning the Skeletal General was actually a Moon Jade, the previous assumption didn’t hold.

This dirk was likely not a spirit treasure, but rather a Moon Jade’s treasure, a magic treasure!

If so, its value was immense.

But regardless of whether it was a spirit treasure or magic treasure, since it was lodged in the Skeletal General’s left eye socket, Lu Ye could make use of it.

He wasn’t sure if it would be effective, but it was better than him hacking at the opponent with the Boulder Mountain Saber.

When the Boulder Mountain Saber struck the dirk’s tip, an unbelievable scene unfolded.

No matter how fiercely Lu Ye had slashed before, the Skeletal General hadn’t cared. But at this moment, he trembled violently as if electrified, then his figure soared high like he had been heavily struck and fell directly into his own Sword Fury Gusts.

A harsh screeching sounded from where the Skeletal General fell, accompanied by a creaking noise.

As the Skeletal General fell, the Sword Fury Gusts gradually calmed and quickly vanished into thin air.

Lu Ye looked into the distance and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Though he could sense via connected energies that Piao Ke and the specter weren’t dead, he couldn’t discern their exact condition.

Looking over, though a bit disheveled, the two were ultimately unharmed.

The moment the Sword Fury Gusts disappeared, they simultaneously moved aside to assess the current situation.

They saw Fa Wuzun standing intact where the Skeletal General had originally stood, while the Skeletal General, for some unknown reason, lay at the edge of the hall a hundred meters away from Fa Wuzun.

The Skeletal General, having endured that blow, was clearly not in good shape. He staggered back to his feet, but there was a clattering sound as his tattered armor scattered to the ground.

Lu Ye’s eyes lit up. He had wanted to deal with that tattered armor for some time without success, but unexpectedly, achieved it through this fortuitous mistake.

The Skeletal General lost not just his tattered armor but even the bull-horn helmet shattered, revealing bones covered in fine cracks and even fractures in many areas.

Both Lu Ye and Piao Ke and the specter could clearly feel the Skeletal General’s aura had weakened significantly, the most marked sign being the spectral fire’s diminished color in his right eye socket.

Lu Ye immediately realized this was due to the Sword Fury Gusts!

The move was the Skeletal General’s full exertion, and accidentally caught in his own Sword Fury Gusts, he was evidently injured by his own power.

If Lu Ye were wrapped in a Lotus Sun, he’d be in just as much trouble.

This was interesting; the three fought in despair, never expecting to glimpse victory amidst the unforeseen chances.

Lu Ye put a handful of elixir pills into his mouth and with a Single Flash, suddenly appeared behind the Skeletal General.

This was his final opportunity for an instant movement assault, as with the stripping of the tattered armor, the controlled weapon he placed on the Skeletal General had also fallen.

So, he could only teleport to this position.

In the instant of his emergence, Lu Ye rushed to the Skeletal General’s side, his long blade targeting the right eye socket.

As expected, the Skeletal General’s raised left hand blocked it, but Lu Ye’s target wasn’t the right eye socket—it was the left one!

The long blade shifted its course, changing from a stab to a slap, once more hitting the tip of the dirk.