CHAPTER 371: CHAPTER 359: FIGHTING ABOVE ONE’S LEVEL IS INDEED NOT VERY FEASIBLE

"Turtle, turtle, how is this old woman so fierce..."

The Black Tortoise Envoy, trapped in the endless sea of fire, wanted to wipe the sweat from his forehead but discovered that as soon as the sweat emerged, it turned into nothingness due to evaporation.

Water and fire are naturally opposing elements, but under normal circumstances, water prevails more often. Truly heaven-burning, sea-boiling flames are actually quite rare.

Unfortunately for him, today he encountered just such a flame...

Boom—

In the midst of the sea of fire, Vermilion Birds circled, continuously spewing fireballs the size of small hills towards the Black Tortoise phantom in the center, exploding upon the turtle shell and leaving behind patches of red.

Zhou Yuqing stood coldly at the end of the sea of fire, quietly watching everything unfold.

Due to personal character, the same power exhibits completely different effects in the hands of different people. For instance, he is very afraid of death, so he focused his cultivation on defense and longevity.

But the inherently explosive Vermilion Bird’s divine fire displayed a might of 120,000 percent in the hands of Zhou Yuqing, almost roasting him through the shell.

"However, luckily, all I need to do is hold her off," lamented the Black Tortoise Envoy, his already worried face looking even more miserable.

He had considered using his own Black Tortoise divine water to extinguish the Vermilion Bird’s divine fire, but the effect was negligible; the divine water could barely maintain a presence within three feet around him.

Looking at the Black Tortoise Envoy who had no intention of counterattacking and only wanted to defend passively, Zhou Yuqing also felt a hint of helplessness inside.

She seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but the Black Tortoise Envoy’s goal of holding her back was also achieved. All she could do now was to use all her strength to suppress him, rendering her unable to help Liang Yi and the others.

Although it appeared the Black Tortoise Envoy was only taking hits and not fighting back, she knew that if she relaxed even a bit, the old man would definitely seize that slim chance to bite back.

"Everything’s okay over there, right..." Being in the sea of fire, Zhou Yuqing could not extend her Divine Sense to take a look outside.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Liang Yi and his companions were also engaged in a tough battle.

Although the old woman had clearly stated she would not take their lives, merely standing there made Liang Yi and the others feel an immense pressure, as towering as mountains.

Liang Yi, holding Yuan Zhou, under the protection of Old Man Orange, executed a killing strike, but the old woman pinched the tip of the sword between her index and middle finger.

No matter how the Spiritual Power and Sword Intent surged along the blade, regardless of how hard Liang Yi tried to increase his force, the Immortal Sword in his hand seemed to be frozen in place, completely immovable.

"Give it up. If I hadn’t intentionally restrained myself, just the recoil would have been enough to severely injure you."

With a light flick of her fingertips, a wave of force emerged from the tip of the sword, flinging Liang Yi, who was holding the hilt, directly backwards as he flew away.

But the moment Liang Yi disappeared from her sight, another figure appeared behind the old woman without notice, the pale red of her eyes and the pale red Longsword in her hand reflecting each other.

A swing of the sword, yet without a hint of killing intent, as if merely greeting an acquaintance on the street. But such a greeting, if slashed upon the earth, could form a chasm a thousand zhang deep!

It was precisely this sword without killing intent that caused the old woman, after being viciously attacked by Old Man Orange and fully struck by Liang Yi’s sword, to let her guard down a little and fail to detect the arrival of this strike in advance.

"Good!" A look of admiration appeared in the old woman’s eyes.

This young girl’s strike was a true and perfect unification of spirit and Sword Intent, and what’s even more valuable was her restraint of killing intent. It even deceived her, coinciding precisely with the instant she drew breath.

Even so, she could dodge if she wanted to, but her pride wouldn’t allow it.

Su Youyi’s eyes were cold, her emotions not stirring in the slightest at the enemy’s praise, as her sword pressed forward relentlessly.

A silver needle suddenly appeared in the old woman’s hand, its tip glinting with cold light.

"Ding!"

Even though her Realm was two whole levels above Su Youyi, she had no desire to face this Immortal Sword that could leave marks on the Black Tortoise Envoy’s Turtle Shell with her bare hands, even if doing so would be an embarrassment.

The buzzing sound of metal clashing scattered the white clouds within a thousand miles, leaving only the deep blue sky. But due to the battle of immortals here, any flying creatures that weren’t completely foolish had long since fled far away.

Even though Su Youyi came with the force that could overturn mountains, she was still rendered as though against an iron wall when faced with this tiny silver needle and could not advance.

"Crack, crack!"

Amid the stalemate between the two, a subtle cracking noise came from the silver needle.

The old woman looked down to find the small silver needle now covered in cracks. Even a silver needle fashioned from heavenly mystical steel couldn’t withstand such pressure, let alone against Su Youyi’s Lovesick Sword, which innately suppressed most of the weapons in the world.

Without the needle to block her path, Su Youyi’s blade was slow but exceptionally steadfast as it slashed towards the old woman.

"Drip-drop!"

A drop of fresh blood fell from the old woman’s fingertip, disappearing into the endless sea of clouds—the price for that struck from Su Youyi below.

"The person is not bad, and the sword is even better!" The old woman closely examined the pale red slender Longsword in Su Youyi’s hands. It was precisely this sword that allowed a junior of the Sixth Realm to injure her across two major realms.

Su Youyi remained silent because at this moment she was trying to steady her hands, which were still trembling. After the needle broke, an extremely sharp Spiritual Power had followed the blade into her hands.

"Zing!" The Lovesick Sword hummed excitedly, invigorated by the blood of an Eighth Realm Cultivator.

The wound on the old woman’s finger appeared for just a brief moment before it healed instantly, leaving no trace behind.

"This is a bit tricky." Liang Yi, who was tending to his internal injuries, stood beside Uncle Orange, who was upset about his broken tooth, baldly watching the old woman who hadn’t been hurt in the slightest despite the prolonged fight.

After all their hustle, he had suffered injuries, yet the enemy remained unscathed. And this was still when the enemy was deliberately going easy on them, making their fight all the more difficult.

"There’s no other way, let’s try that move."

Liang Yi whispered a few words in Uncle Orange’s ear.

"Are you serious? What if the two of you can’t handle it, meow?" Uncle Orange looked at Liang Yi with a shocked expression, seeking confirmation in disbelief.

"If things go south, you can just come back to help, isn’t that right?" Liang Yi patted Uncle Orange’s head, feeling that this silly cat was all flesh and no brain.

"Then I’ll just wait until you’re left with your last breath before I come back, meow..." Although Uncle Orange was somewhat worried, there were no other options left now.

"Let’s do it, get moving." Liang Yi gave Uncle Orange’s butt a pat, then turned to look at Su Youyi not far away.

The two of them understood each other’s thoughts without needing to speak, exchanging just a glance.