Chapter 3652: Spear and Shield

Ye Chen knew that in battle, it was impossible to conceal his cultivation and spiritual energy state from Wu Bolin, and the concealment technique Yun Lige had given him required not using any spiritual energy, making it suitable only for hiding before exposure; now that they had already clashed, concealment and disguise were meaningless.

This meant that even if he secretly swallowed a pill, Wu Bolin could easily see through his changes, so it was better to be open about it, which might even provoke the opponent.

Ye Chen's words made Wu Bolin's Dao heart unstable with anger, while also prompting Wu Bolin to seriously reassess this duel against Ye Chen.

His cultivation far surpassed Ye Chen's, so Ye Chen's cultivation and spiritual energy reserves were nothing but a nonentity before him.

This was like two people playing cards, with Ye Chen revealing his hand unilaterally, everything under Wu Bolin's control.

Yet Ye Chen's recent words gave Wu Bolin another layer of thought.

Being able to see through others' hidden cards is not the fundamental key to victory; having good cards and playing them well is the true principle.

My spiritual energy was already greatly depleted, and just now I was struck by lightning twice consecutively; dodging and telekinetic object manipulation further increased spiritual energy consumption, leaving me now like a spent crossbow bolt, while this brat Ye Chen not only has abundant spiritual energy internally, but also possesses a Great Nourishing Origin Pill I've never even heard of—if it truly becomes a war of attrition, I may not be his match.

After all, the opponent holds the best cards and even has a pile of cards he can summon from outside to assist; in this situation, even if I can see through his hidden cards, what use is it? It merely means I lose more clearly!

Wu Bolin knew that if this continued, he would likely lose, and in cultivator conflicts, the outcome is never just victory or defeat, but life or death—losing equals death, with no chance of a comeback.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth, silently recited a spell, and suddenly erupted with speed and strength far beyond his usual level, rushing toward Ye Chen at extreme speed.

Ye Chen knew the opponent would surely fight desperately, but he didn't expect the opponent to actually erupt with such explosive power instantly; now Wu Bolin's speed is nearly double what it was during his earlier sneak attack and extreme dodge, reaching Ye Chen's vicinity in the blink of an eye.

What Ye Chen didn't know was that Wu Bolin had just activated the life-saving secret technique transmitted by Wu Feiyan—Burning the Meridians.

A cultivator's cultivation growth almost always relies on continuously using spiritual energy to open meridians, cleanse impurities and strengthen the marrow, and constantly fortify the physical body.

As cultivation increases, the meridians themselves absorb more and more spiritual energy over time.

Once the internal spiritual energy is nearly depleted, this technique can convert the meridians, strengthened and opened over years, into spiritual energy.

In other words, it burns one's own cultivation to temporarily obtain spiritual energy.

Its advantage is the ability to replenish exhausted spiritual energy in the shortest time at the fastest speed, but its disadvantages far outweigh the benefits; if spiritual energy is obtained by forcing the meridians in this way, cultivation will be consumed at an even faster rate—today's consumption of spiritual energy through this method would require tenfold effort tomorrow to possibly recover.

Yet at this critical moment, he no longer had the luxury to consider these drawbacks; survival was paramount.

Moreover, once he slays Ye Chen, he can obtain Ye Chen's treasure capable of summoning heavenly thunder, as well as who knows how many Great Nourishing Origin Pills; the spiritual energy consumed through Burning the Meridians might even be replenished many times over!

What's more, Ye Chen himself is a prime target for bounty!

Thus, he again activated his flying sword, infused it with stronger spiritual energy, and the sword tip, like an arrow leaving the bow, shot straight toward Ye Chen's face.

Ye Chen had never cultivated such a technique; seeing Wu Bolin's state suddenly erupt, that flying sword was not only much faster but also much stronger than before, his heart leapt in shock—this change truly caught him off guard.

Thus, he could only panic and continue hurling heavenly thunder at Wu Bolin while retreating at full speed, simultaneously gathering all his spiritual energy, preparing to clash head-on with Wu Bolin's flying sword.

Wu Bolin, having learned from the previous encounter, no longer gripped the flying sword in his hand but instead controlled it with spiritual energy, keeping it constantly five zhang ahead of himself, fearing this flying sword would again attract lightning and burn him.

Moreover, after activating Burning the Meridians, his body's reaction speed became significantly faster than before; dodging Ye Chen's heavenly thunder was no longer difficult.

One bolt of heavenly thunder descended; Wu Bolin's body flickered, dodging with relative ease, while his flying sword, like an extension of his intent, relentlessly surged forward at extreme speed toward Ye Chen, unimpeded by his own dodging of the thunder.

At this moment, Ye Chen was nearly out of options; he himself had no treasure suitable for attack—whether the Nine Mysterious Heaven Scripture or the Great Sun Tathagata Hand Seal, neither was adept at fierce combat, and once engaged in close quarters, he appeared rather lacking.

But Wu Bolin was different.

After overcoming the initial flustered state, he quickly regained his rhythm.

He excels at controlling flying swords; although true flying swords are treasures that allow cultivators to fly on swords, his flying sword cannot enable him to fly on it, but he can use spiritual energy to make the flying sword fly on its own.

His flying sword is precisely the treasure refined by Wu Feiyan, possessing tenfold extension capability; normally its length is only about a zhang, unremarkable, yet it cuts iron like mud and pierces stone like paper, with extreme speed and effortless control—launched, it can pursue targets via intent, far surpassing Ye Chen's Soul-Piercing Blade.

Although Ye Chen used all his potential to dodge, the opponent's flying sword was still too fast.

He could only seize the moment to halt his form instantly, then again use powerful spiritual energy to seize the opponent's flying sword.

The opponent's flying sword is extremely fast and highly agile; Ye Chen tried to intercept it with spiritual energy in front of him, but the opponent simply made a ninety-degree turn straight into the sky, then surged downward at extreme speed toward him.

Ye Chen had no choice; when he again gathered spiritual energy above his head, the opponent again shifted sideways, changing trajectory.

Trying to purely rely on spiritual energy to capture the opponent's flying sword requires reaching a sufficiently high density, which also means attempting to quickly gather large amounts of high-density spiritual energy—efficiency could never match the opponent's.

This time Ye Chen could barely focus his energy on his head, but the next moment, the opponent directly went around his head and attacked his back from the opposite direction.

At this moment, Ye Chen had no time to deploy; he could only grit his teeth and form an invisible shield of spiritual energy behind him, while his body surged forward at extreme speed to dodge.

Immediately, he felt a tremendous force suddenly strike his back; though the shield temporarily blocked it, the flying sword still easily shattered the shield; fortunately, the shield bought him time to dodge, so the flying sword didn't pierce his back, but instead, at the moment he lunged out, it slashed a wound across his back so deep it nearly reached the bone.

Ye Chen only felt a sharp pain and wet heat on his back—the sensation of blood soaking through, a bloody smell filling the air; he dared not think further, immediately using spiritual energy to rapidly heal the wound, otherwise another intense dodge might tear the wound even worse!

In this life-or-death moment, Ye Chen understood a truth: the spear and shield's offensive-defensive battle tests not only who is sharper or tougher, but also who is faster.

If the spear's speed exceeds the shield's, no matter how strong the shield, it will lose its effect!