Chapter 454

"What a vicious woman!"

Lao Tie donned a pitch-black armor, its shape identical to Wu Tie's shattered Lianhuan Mountain pattern armor—the Great Peng Mingwang Battle Armor—emanating a faint chill, silently hovering in the air.

Before him stood a red-skirted maiden.

Behind him were Long Lang, Huang Yu, Li Er Haoshu, and many Five Elements Spirit Elders.

Lao Tie's body flickered with faint black-and-white spiritual light; the flagship on the verge of shattering was forcibly sealed by the black-and-white light emanating from him. A strange mystery of yin-yang alternation, the flow of life and death, enveloped the entire flagship; the shattered formations and seals rapidly recovered in the black-and-white light.

Moreover, the black-and-white light on Lao Tie's body also contained the power of the innate Yin-Yang Dao; these restored formations and seals gained more than double their power out of thin air, and even the dragon bones, already fractured yet swiftly mending, became tougher and more resilient.

The power of the innate Great Dao is simply unreasonable; creation is wondrous.

The red-skirted maiden glared at Lao Tie like the deep pools' eyes; the motionless Lao Tie hovering in the air gave her an uneasy feeling, as if a person with keen six senses walking in the mountains, sensing a tiger hidden in the thickets ahead, would instinctively steer clear.

Lao Tie remained silent, yet he exerted considerable pressure on the red-skirted maiden.

"Go for the soft persimmons!"

The red-skirted maiden let out a long whistle; several faint red silhouettes flashed in the void, and she instantly appeared beside Wu Tie, followed by a storm-like frenzy of blows accompanied by terrifying roars.

Instantly, thousands of red-skirted maiden silhouettes appeared around Wu Tie; she darted around him at extreme speed, teleporting with ultra-high frequency within a radius of several dozen zhang. She almost simultaneously appeared before him, behind him, to his left, right, above, and below—her jade palms and small feet striking with terrifying sonic booms that relentlessly hammered Wu Tie's body.

Wu Tie's battle armor shattered, his robe shattered, his inner armor shattered; his muscles and bones continually deformed, the girl's small hands leaving deep palm prints, her feet leaving deep footprints.

The Nine Revolutions Mystic Art's defense is extremely strong; yet even so, Wu Tie was beaten to the point of wishing death, his muscles throughout his body seeming to gain a will of their own, eager to peel off from his bones and flee.

Wu Tie's bones throughout his body, including his skull, were like blocks and strips of extremely elastic spring steel; the girl's violent blows twisted and deformed them, then they trembled back to their original shape.

With each deformation and rebound, Wu Tie's muscles, meridians, organs, even his most fragile bone marrow and brain, shook violently. Given Wu Tie's physique, he was beaten nearly unconscious, black spots flashing before his eyes, gold stars bursting, unable to discern the red-skirted maiden's true form.

In other words, Wu Tie's bones underwent countless mutations, becoming extraordinarily tough, which is why he managed to endure the girl's frenzied blows.

Besides his bones, Wu Tie's soft tissues throughout his body, when slapped or kicked by the girl, violently shook and turned into the finest particles.

The Five Elements Essence Blood in his heart surged violently; massive essence-blood power continually flowed into his body, his muscles, meridians, blood vessels, and organs—soft tissues—shattered at this moment, then instantly recondensed in the next.

Under the violent impetus of divine-rank Five Elements Essence Blood, Wu Tie's recondensed bodily strength grew stronger, his defense stronger, all indicators leaping forward, continually surging upward.

The girl's attack method was terrifying to the extreme.

Each of her palms striking down, each foot kicking out, instantly drained the Heaven and Earth primal energy within a radius of several dozen li, condensing it onto her palms and feet, then violently blasted into Wu Tie's body like heavenly thunder exploding.

The Five Elements Essence Blood burned wildly, an unimaginably massive power surging within Wu Tie's body.

After these Heaven and Earth primal energies burst forth, they were swiftly absorbed by Wu Tie's body, driven by the Five Elements Essence Blood's force and crushed under the girl's heavy blows, continually merging into his body.

Each of her blows was equivalent to forcibly blasting the Heaven and Earth primal energy from the void within a radius of several dozen li into Wu Tie's body, compelling it to merge with his body.

Under normal cultivation, for Wu Tie to absorb all the Heaven and Earth primal energy from the void within a radius of several dozen li would inevitably take some time.

Under the girl's violent assault, Wu Tie needed no time at all; all Heaven and Earth primal energy was brutally hammered into his body, directly forging it into a single mass with his body.

Gradually, Wu Tie's bones throughout his body grew sore and numb, unbearable.

The girl seemed to have found enjoyment; her attacks grew faster and fiercer, and when she struck out with hands or feet, faint shadows of giant dragons followed. The void rang with earth-shaking dragon roars; each blow brought Wu Tie boundless pain.

Wu Tie recalled what Long Lang had said: when the former crown prince fled, he took the Divine State of Great Jin's national treasure, the "Myriad Dragon Palace."

The phenomenon displayed by the girl when attacking is likely related to this treasure.

This attack was too overbearing, too fierce; Wu Tie's bones deformed ever worse, deep palm prints continually appearing on his body, his bones bent and twisted, his whole person deformed.

Wu Tie produced the Nine-tempered Immortal Weapon he had extorted from the clansmen generals of Sima Yu.

His right hand's five fingers rapidly vibrated, striking heavily against a Nine-tempered Immortal Sword.

With a tremendous roar, the Nine-tempered Immortal Sword emitted an unwilling bellow; a formed Light Dragon of Law shot out from the shattered sword, wagging its head and tail as it sought to flee into the void, while Wu Tie's bones throughout his body flickered faintly.

The Law Light Dragon instantly dissolved into a drizzle of light, together with the sword turning into specks of light, forcibly absorbed by Wu Tie's five fingers.

Dark, heavy flames ignited across his bones, a terrifying heat surge pouring into his entire body; Wu Tie let out a low growl, his spirit suddenly refreshed, his eyes aching, then his vision suddenly sharpened.

He suddenly saw a red figure flash past from his right side.

With a low growl, Wu Tie threw a punch at that figure.

With an "Ang—" boom, a mighty punch aura like the great rivers surged from Wu Tie's fist, stretching dozens of li long; the aura howled down from tens of thousands of zhang high, crashing heavily onto a mountain's body.

The mountain, shaped like a long sword, was blasted with a transparent hole several li in diameter; the punch aura pierced through the mountain and struck the ground below.

The earth trembled violently; a patch of ground several li in radius sank down, becoming an extremely deep pit.

But this punch missed; Wu Tie failed to catch even a corner of the girl's garment.

On the girl's peerlessly beautiful face appeared a hint of mocking sneer; her red lips, as if they had stolen all color from heaven and earth, curled contemptuously: "Stupid as an ox… what's the point of wasting such punch power?" She snorted.

With a cold snort, the girl suddenly appeared a foot away in front of Wu Tie.

The distance between them was only a foot; Wu Tie finally saw the girl's exquisite appearance clearly.

He instinctively swung both arms, his arms emitting a dull tearing sound as he simultaneously launched heavy punches at the girl's ribs.

The girl's movements were faster and more nimble than his; a lightning-light tap on Wu Tie's shoulder produced a "Crack!" as her strike dislocated his shoulder joints.

Wu Tie stared wide-eyed in shock.

"The Nine Revolutions Mystic Art is a fine technique, but your application is terrible." The girl vanished from before Wu Tie in an instant, appearing behind him.

A series of dozens of "Thud" booms rang out as the girl's toes viciously kicked Wu Tie's spine.

Each vertebra was kicked; the tremendous force shook Wu Tie's entire body, his joints all simultaneously emitting a "Bang!" as they were violently dislocated.

The girl's cold sneer came: "Your bones are hard, harder than reason… but so what? If I can't break your bones, I'll shake apart all your joints—what can you do then?"

Wu Tie drew a deep breath, exerted force to shake his body, and with a series of "Click!" sounds, all his joints instantly snapped back into place.

But just as his joints had reseated, the girl slapped his crown.

A tremendous jolt surged down; Wu Tie's body shuddered, and every bone joint from his cervical vertebrae to his toe bones once again emitted "Click-click-click" as they all dislocated.

Wu Tie roared again, shaking his entire body.

The girl struck his crown with another palm.

After repeating this dozens of times, Wu Tie drenched in sweat, his body emitting terrifying heat; the girl, slightly breathless, reached from behind and gripped his neck tightly: "Are you convinced? I've never seen anyone so stubborn… what top-tier healing elixir have you taken?"

The girl was puzzled.

If he were an ordinary person, after she repeatedly shook his joints dozens of times and beat him until his whole body was deformed, such damage would have left him unable to resist, right?

Yet Wu Tie remained spirited; although his bones had all fallen off, he could clearly feel a tremendous power surging and rebounding within him, shaking the girl's left fingers so they faintly felt sore.

Wu Tie clenched his teeth and stayed silent; it was really somewhat embarrassing.

He was held in a death grip on the neck like a little chicken, and the girl's fingertips continuously poured terrifying vibrational force into his body, constantly shaking his entire skeleton.

Wu Tie strained every muscle, trying to reassemble his bones and joints, but his whole skeleton was violently shaking, so he could not grasp its exact condition.

His bones kept colliding, emitting dull 'clang' noises, as if countless huge metal ingots were violently striking each other. The joints could not mesh precisely, so he could not reassemble his joints.

His skeletal frame had loosened—where would he find the strength to resist?

The five-element essence blood burned rapidly in his heart, and vast essence qi continually poured into his whole body, swiftly enhancing Wu Tie's physical quality.

But he had lost the initiative; now the girl completely controlled him in her hand, and even if his strength grew greater, Wu Tie had already lost the foundation to resist.

"Who are you?" Wu Tie asked the girl in a low voice, gritting his teeth.

"Are you the reinforcements that Long Lang summoned?" The red-skirt girl's voice carried a hint of coldness: "I deliberately let him escape, just waiting for him to bring people back so I could give you a proper lesson. But all you brought were these measly chickens and dogs?"

The red-skirt girl snorted coldly, lifted Wu Tie high, and lightly shouted at Old Tie and the others below: "You want to save your commander? With these ragtag lot of yours, forget it—hurry up and mobilize troops; I give you one month. In a month, your commander will be executed by fire, reduced to a wisp of ash."

She gave a 'hehe' laugh, the red-skirt girl kept her grip on Wu Tie's cervical vertebrae, hoisting him up; with a shake of her body she flashed dozens of li away, after a few flickers she relocated behind a large mountain, completely vanishing from Old Tie and the others' sight.

"This!" Long Lang stood on the deck, staring dumbfounded at the direction where Wu Tie disappeared.

"What is this… they clearly want to lure more people over, prepared to catch us in a trap." Old Tie backhanded a punch that sent Long Lang crashing to the ground, then stomped heavily on his face, fuming: "Hurry up and contact your Imperial Secretariat Hall people to send troops… our puny forces are nothing to them."

He kicked Long Lang flying off the flagship, Old Tie lowered his voice, quickly gave a few orders to Elders Mu Sanhua, Huo Zaohuo, and Tu Bapi, then his body flickered, turning into a thin black-and-white stream of light that shot off in the direction Wu Tie had vanished.

As for Wu Tie's safety, Old Tie didn't really worry about it.

Wu Tie carried a Yin-Yang Two Qi Vessel that had restored its power; that was his lifeline.

Moreover, his greater confidence came from the fact—they were not people of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom; when push came to shove, they could simply reveal their true identity, right?

Furthermore, Old Tie was very confident; he had great confidence in himself.

That girl, though her strength was terrifyingly high, had not exceeded the Fetal Storage Realm; at most she was a half-step into the Divine Bright Realm.

As long as she hadn't broken through to the Divine Bright Realm, Old Tie remained very confident in himself.

Wu Tie's body seethed with heat waves; the essence of the Nine Refinements Immortal Sword was being constantly devoured, merged, and driven by his body, causing his bones to undergo further mutation. But it was obvious that a single Nine Refinements Immortal Weapon could not satisfy his current skeletal needs; Wu Tie needed to devour more Nine Refinements Immortal Weapons.

But before Wu Tie could act, the girl flipped her palm and snatched off the several enormously spacious rings he wore.

"What rank do you hold in the Great Jin? Quite affluent… huh, these rings are mine now."

The girl proudly declared her ownership of the spoils.

Wu Tie gritted his teeth and angrily shouted: "Miss, could you get me a cloak to wrap up in?"

The red-skirt girl gave a 'hehe' laugh, her voice ringing high like clouds, frightening flocks of birds along the way to scatter in flight.

"I don't even mind that you dirtied my eyes, so why are you shy?" The red-skirt girl violently punched Wu Tie's side, making his ribs boom.

"Your bones are truly hard… strange, very strange… hum, all your belongings are now mine. A cloak? Naturally it's mine—why would I use my own things to give you modesty?"

The red-skirt girl's logic was so… bizarre, Wu Tie was left speechless, unable to respond.

"That Long Lang, he's also a waste; you let him escape, and he brings back this bunch of wastes? Hmph, let's see if, given a month, they can find any better hands to return."

"I can't wait to unleash a great slaughter." The red-skirt girl curled her lips slightly and suddenly burst into loud laughter.

The 'heh heh heh heh' laughter made the surrounding mountains hum, causing Wu Tie's ears to ring painfully, yet he could not block out her demonic, brain‑flooding laughter.

Wu Tie could only feel helpless, furious, and humiliated, as the red-skirt girl hoisted him like a little chicken and carried him deep into the mountains.