Chapter 371

Boom—

Yan Buji didn't know how many attacks he had taken in that instant; he was blasted straight out of the underground cavern, smashing through a pile of coral reefs and crashing hard onto the ground.

The surrounding water kept trembling; Yan Buji took a deep breath, rose to his feet, and looked around.

"Where?"

What incredible speed—faster than my own?!

Yan Buji thought about how, in that instant, the opponent had combined two types of beast-armor into a posture he had never imagined—someone even reassembling the armor on top of the base to create an even stronger posture.

Bang!

Yan Buji raised his hand to block, but Long Batian and Zhang Yao launched an attack from above; he could only react to defend, yet clearly he could not withstand the combined beast-armor of two Golden Core cultivators.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Buji was slammed hard into the ground, and copious mud kept spewing outward with the violently surging seawater.

Long Batian withdrew to a distance, worrying as he looked up at Zhang Yao: "Yao'er, can you still hold on?"

"Don't worry, Long Bro, I'm still fine!" Zhang Yao gritted her teeth, clutching her chest.

This combined beast-armor posture is a breakthrough Long Batian achieved in the art of refining weapons; few had imagined that multiple Golden Core armors could be combined, and even if they had, achieving a simple one-plus-one-equals-two effect would be difficult.

But now it's obvious Long Batian has overcome that hurdle, achieving a one-plus-one-greater-than-two effect! Consequently, in both strength and speed, they are clearly superior to Yan Buji at this moment, even launching a long-range spiritual-sense attack.

Zhang Yao's armor flared its wings, sending a bright aurora straight at Yan Buji; the fierce light produced no surrounding disturbance, yet it carried a heart‑shocking pressure.

Yan Buji opened his left eye, and a vast surge of spiritual sense exploded forth, forming a spiritual‑sense shield!

Boom—

The explosion came; Yan Buji shot up from underground, withdrew to the side, and watched them.

"Really impressive." Yan Buji couldn't help but praise.

"Really tough to deal with—they've even trained their spiritual sense." Zhang Yao's face changed.

Judging from the previous fight, Yan Buji seems to have no weaknesses.

Perhaps he lacks long‑range means, but his speed can make up for that shortfall.

Moreover, neither formations nor spiritual sense can effectively harm him; the key is that he is a martial cultivator, his body so strong that ordinary techniques pose no threat.

Now that formation restrictions are gone, although their combined armor can outpace Yan Buji in speed, that speed still relies on quickness, and they cannot push the casting speed of techniques to the extreme, so they revert to close‑quarters combat.

But the crucial point is that, without the boost from both armors, they would likely have been knocked dead by his hammer just like Yang Long.

"Long Bro, I have an idea." Zhang Yao transmitted mentally, voicing her plan.

"No way!" Long Batian immediately rejected after hearing it: "That's too dangerous!"

"But if we don't settle him, this place is too close to the Wanlong Palace; the battle's fallout can't be hidden, and for Wang Chao and Fei'er we must finish quickly!" Zhang Yao said.

"I said no, and I mean it—I won't risk your life!"

Long Batian knew what Zhang Yao intended: she wanted to detach her armor at a critical moment, creating the illusion that their combined form couldn't last, luring Yan Buji to strike her, whereupon he could seize the chance to deliver a fatal blow to Yan Buji.

But Long Batian could never do that.

Yan Buji felt no fear; after all, given the opponent's terrifying power now displayed, and that deadly move still unused, he had been guarding against its appearance and prepared a response.

However, having just taken a beating to gauge their tactics, it was time for him to take the initiative.

"Since you won't move, I'll take the lead!"

Charging again, Yan Buji bore the Hai Kun hammer and swiftly closed in; at that very moment, Long Batian and Zhang Yao's armor vanished once more, moving at a speed barely perceptible to the naked eye and without any trace of magical fluctuation.

This left Yan Buji unable to detect their position with his pupil technique, so he halted.

"Here!"

Bang!

Yan Buji swung his hammer leftward, when suddenly Long Batian's fist lashed out again, colliding with Yan Buji's great hammer!

The violent fluctuations of True Essence and magical power swept in all directions; without the confines of a cramped space, the ensuing ripples spread for kilometers.

Long Batian's pupils contracted as he withdrew: "How did you see that? No way—you couldn't possibly react in time!"

"Who said you have to react?" Yan Buji laughed: "This is anticipation."

"You!"

"Moreover, do you really think you can outrun me?"

Yan Buji's figure also vanished in an instant, and Long Batian furrowed his brows, hastily dodging.

The two sides resembled beams of light continually colliding around, and Long Batian was shocked to find that their speed had actually weakened....

No!

It's him getting faster and faster!

No!

"Long Bro, it's that Dao martial skill of his—True Essence is emanating from him everywhere!"

"What?"

"He must be using some method to linger the emanating True Essence in place, anticipating our direction of movement and then flickering to follow! Scatter that True Essence!"

"No problem!" Long Batian instantly knew what to do upon hearing it.

Only see Long Batian also erupting his magical power, suddenly igniting clusters of icy‑blue cold flames throughout the surrounding sea; this peculiar Spiritual Fire can burn even at a depth of ten thousand meters underwater, and being of the ice attribute, it is enough to freeze everything around!

But at that moment, Yan Buji had already arrived before them.

"Long Bro, be careful!"

"You've finally noticed, but it's too late!" Yan Buji gripped his great hammer with both hands and brought it down with a crash!

Bang!

Long Batian stared wide‑eyed, feeling his body lighten as a figure stepped in front of him.

"Yao'er!!!!"

Boom—

Zhang Yao was directly smashed by Yan Buji's hammer, her armor scattered, she revealed her true form, spat a large mouthful of blood, and fell down helplessly.

"Long Ge.... attack!"

Yao'er!

Long Batian raged without cease, tears streaming, he flung open his dragon claws at Yan Buji.

"Splitting Wind!!!"

A strange force suddenly gripped Yan Buji's body, accompanied by Long Batian's dragon claw firmly grabbing him; Yan Buji's pupils contracted: 'Not good!'

Long Batian fiercely grabbed Yan Buji and with a bang pressed him to the ground, mud flying all around. His eyes bloodshot, rage and hatred burst forth, he roared:

"Die!"

Crack!

Whether it's murderous aura armor or three-turn accumulated armor, they seem unable to block that force's erosion.

In just an instant, Yan Buji suddenly opened his left eye.

Crimson gold light swirled; a strange force not only emanated from Long Batian's claws but also flowed from Yan Buji's eyes.

"I guessed right, Mutant Force!"

"You!" Long Batian looked disbelievingly at Yan Buji's eyes; the dragon beast armor was suddenly released.

A terrifying surge burst from Yan Buji's eyes; after being disturbed by the pupil technique, Long Batian's magical power instantly lost connection with his armor and actively dissipated; only at such close range could one interfere with the enemy's beast armor.

At the same time, Yan Buji pushed the pupil technique to the extreme; in the instant of dispelling the opponent's armor, he thoroughly disturbed the spiritual energy, producing a violent explosion.

And Long Batian's claw likely used some method to restrict the Mutant Force to the armor's claws, and also employed a special technique preventing Yan Buji from escaping.

Anyone caught by this claw will have Yan Buji's interior quickly eroded by the Mutant Force, causing mutation.

But he didn't expect that he himself also possesses the Mutant Force!

Against the Mutant Force, Yan Buji can't say he's incredibly skilled, but at least he has some insight, so he's also gambling on this opponent's move.

They seem focused on their own Martial Dao information, but forgot that Yan Buji himself is also a Magical Cultivator, deliberately hidden, so no one can see the abnormality of his pupils.

He knew Long Batian had previously obtained a mutant force bone, but at that time seeing Zhang Yao's armor, he thought Long Batian gave it to Zhang Yao to forge the beast armor.

So whether before or now, Long Batian's initial plan was to make Yan Buji mistakenly believe that his beast armor does not contain a mutant force bone.

Yan Buji indeed thought so, and didn't expect that Long Batian actually had two mutant force bones, giving one to Zhang Yao and hiding another as a trump card for himself.

Just now, no matter how he tried, he couldn't escape that strange grasp; it's probably some innate secret technique brought by that mutant force bone.