"Canglang tide arises."
After forcing out their Spirit Artifacts, Ji Qingzhu let out a soft chant, drawing rolling, massive waves from the nearby Qinglan River. The floodwaters instantly submerged the dense forest, leaving the two men no room to dodge at all.
Seeing that the situation was turning against them, the two men hurriedly recalled their Spirit Artifacts to protect themselves. Otherwise, being struck by waves dozens of feet high would spell disaster even for bodies at the Divine Ability Realm.
A trace of disappointment flashed in Ji Qingzhu's eyes. Having just advanced to the Divine Ability Realm, she had no time to refine true Divine Ability water. The waves were huge, but unfortunately the water was merely ordinary, and she could only rely on the river's momentum to overwhelm them.
With a flick of her slender fingers in mid-air, the Sharp Metal Sword that had been pursuing the pitch-black spirit sword abruptly turned, carving a sharp golden ray across the sky. In a flash, it pierced the void, parting the surging water waves while simultaneously slicing open the stocky man's protective dharma robe.
A line of blood burst open, leaving a shocking sword wound on his arm so deep the bone was visible!
"Ah, cheap wench, how dare you bully me!"
The stocky man roared in pain, his muscles rippling as his black clothes instantly exploded, transforming him into a seven-foot-tall man.
"Master Wang, you should first explain why you intended to commit nefarious deeds in the middle of the night. I heard every word of your conversation; repent in time, and perhaps I can spare your life," Ji Qingzhu said indifferently.
From the moment she first saw the Gray Fiend Awl, she had guessed who this person was.
Yun City was such a small place, and experts in the Divine Ability Realm could be counted on one's fingers. Aside from the Ji and Jiang clans, only the Wang family had managed to produce a Divine Ability expert by sheer luck in recent years, and that Wang family head, Wang Sanshi, wielded precisely a Gray Fiend Awl.
With one hand dripping with blood, Wang Sanshi grabbed the blood-stained Gray Fiend Awl and hurled it forward with a fierce strike. It transformed into three gray radiances exuding an ominous aura, covering a hundred paces in an instant as they assaulted Ji Qingzhu.
After being blood-sacrificed, the might of the Gray Fiend Awl increased drastically, causing even Ji Qingzhu to feel a sense of threat.
Unflinching in the face of danger, she shifted her thoughts, and the Sharp Metal Sword suddenly lunged out from the side to block one gray radiance, while the other two gray radiances arrived consecutively in an instant kill.
The first shattered her protective water shield, and the second revealed its true form, bursting with astonishing murderous intent in a split second!
"Useless!" Ji Qingzhu shouted coldly.
A slender, miniature water flood dragon darted out from behind her, lifelike as it opened its jaws and bit down on the Gray Fiend Awl. Although the water dragon's body crumbled inch by inch, its mission had already been accomplished.
Ji Qingzhu swept her backhand and stowed the Gray Fiend Awl directly into the Rivers and Mountains Map. No matter how damaged the Rivers and Mountains Map was, it was still a Saint Artifact; suppressing a mere low-grade Spirit Artifact took no effort at all. In an instant, Wang Sanshi lost all control over and connection to the Gray Fiend Awl.
"Since you are unwilling to speak, then go die."
Within the receding tide, a silver-crystal hue quietly rose.
"Clang!!"
Yinqiu unsheathed its blade, killing with a single strike!
Wang Sanshi's body staggered for a moment, then he collapsed into the water, his vitality extinguished.
"Good divine ability, good methods!" Qianlin on the side couldn't help clapping his hands a few times, his voice extremely hoarse and repulsive to the ear.
"Weren't you accomplices? Why didn't you save him?" Ji Qingzhu turned around and asked indifferently, two sword vessels returning to her side like swimming fish.
"What is he even worth? Just a chess piece for us to use. Yet you have given me a surprise—such a genius actually emerging in this barren land!" Qianlin stared fixedly at Ji Qingzhu and said.
"What on earth are you people? Speak, or don't blame me for being impolite!" Ji Qingzhu demanded.
"Hah, don't think that killing that trash means you have me in the bag. I now know your background, eldest miss of the Ji Clan. Having such combat prowess upon newly entering the Divine Ability Realm, and possessing two—no, three Spirit Artifacts—you are truly extraordinary."
While chatting with Ji Qingzhu, Qianlin secretly channeled his Dharmic power, sending imperceptible ripples spreading out to gradually blend into the surrounding trees.
"If you are willing to join us, not only will your Ji Clan be spared, but you can also reach the heavens in a single bound. Who knows, you might even make it onto the Heaven's Pride Roll and show off your brilliance!"
Ji Qingzhu couldn't help sneering. If she were some worldly-unwise wild genius, she might actually have been moved by him.
However, she had already guessed this person's identity.
Although her past life's setting only consisted of an outline, she remembered the villainous faction running amok in the early stages very clearly. If it was this group of people, then the catastrophe in Yun City was hardly surprising.
A group of demonic fiends who slaughtered cities, exterminated nations, and offered the living world in blood sacrifices—there was no evil they did not commit!
"The demonic fiends of the Chaotic Star Alliance deserve to be executed by all!" Ji Qingzhu said coldly. Two ten-foot water flood dragons coiled out of the water, winding toward Qianlin to strangle him.
"Hehehehe, you know too much. It seems I cannot keep you alive!" The expression under Qianlin's mask gradually grew frantic, his tone chilling to the bone.
The aura around him climbed step by step; he had actually been concealing his strength earlier.
"Qianlin Transformation, Evil Woods Become Puppets!!"
The entire dense forest began to tremble as tall trees twisted their trunks and flailed their branches, pulling their roots out of the earth to transform into weird tree-man puppets exuding evil qi.
These thousands of puppets were arranged in an orderly fashion, resembling an elite army with strict discipline, shocking to behold!
Ji Qingzhu's two water dragons were merely shapes she had conjured after observing the Vicious Flood Dragon of the underground river. In essence, they were just two thick columns of water, looking more intimidating than they actually were.
However, these evil wood puppets were different; they genuinely seemed to possess souls of their own. Several exceptionally robust evil wood puppets automatically shielded Qianlin, quickly beating the two water dragons apart.
The first realm of the Divine Ability Realm is the Dharmic Power Realm, and the second is Condensing Essence, which involves continuously refining Dharmic power—equivalent to the Mortal Shedding Realm's Qi becoming Gang, transforming "gaseous" Dharmic power into "liquid" form.
As for the third realm of divine abilities, it allows Dharmic power to transform into spirit, granting the Dharmic power its own spirituality. This is also the foundation for divine ability experts to forge their own Spirit Artifacts.
Qianlin was an expert of the Third Realm of Divine Abilities whose Dharmic power had transformed into spirit, which was why the evil wood puppets he manipulated were so nimble. Turning a single man into an army and crushing cities or breaching stockades was effortless for him.
Ji Qingzhu remained unmoved. Today's matter could not end peacefully; knowing that this person intended to ravage Yun City, she could not possibly let him leave.
Moreover, having exposed the Chaotic Star Alliance, that person's murderous intent toward her would likely only grow stronger.
Since that was the case, then they would fight!
"Tide, come!"
Borrowing the waters of Qinglan, the Canglang tide arose.
"Don't even think about succeeding; stop that tide for me!" Qianlin split off a small fraction of his evil wood puppets to rush to the riverbank and block the current.
The evil woods formed rows, connecting with one another like a dam, desperately blocking the onslaught of the floodwaters.
"Hehehe, you have only just entered the Divine Ability Realm, and this is the extent of your tricks. If you had turned and run, I might have had to expend some effort, but you chose to make a futile last stand—how utterly arrogant!" Qianlin laughed grimly, his evil qi soaring to the heavens as he lunged forward to kill.