"Whoosh!"
Exhaling a breath of stale air and swallowing a handful of medicinal pills, Yìng Tiānyáo forced herself to pull her energy together.
At that moment, a demonic ape leaped into the air, raising its fists to smash down upon her.
Yìng Tiānyáo pulled out a Saint Stage talisman and slapped it onto the Huàsù Heavenly Sword. Instantly, divine runes lit up the jade blade, blazing with lightning.
"Ice Feather: Thunder Phoenix!"
*Screeech—!*
With a swing of Yìng Tiānyáo's sword, the phantom of a thunder phoenix radiating extreme cold burst forth with a piercing cry.
The massive phantom sliced straight through the demonic ape's body, charged into the pack of beasts, and struck the peak Return to One Realm Ghost-Veiled Leopard.
With no time to dodge, the Ghost-Veiled Leopard let out a painful wail as a deep gash opened from its forelimbs to its neck.
By now, however, the remaining fierce beasts had gone completely red-eyed. Fearless of Yìng Tiānyáo, they scrambled to pounce on her.
"Waste-Treading Steps!"
Treading with the Wasteland Saint Footwork, Yìng Tiānyáo dodged repeatedly, seizing brief gaps to counterattack with sword arts.
Yet the dark shadows suspended in the void simply watched quietly as one fierce beast after another fell, as though it had nothing to do with them, making no move to intervene.
About half an hour later, only a few brute beasts remained in the arena.
Yìng Tiānyáo was drenched in sweat, though fortunately, her white armor remained intact, preventing any compromising scenes.
Still, the stench of mixed sweat, blood, and stagnant air constantly assaulted her nasal passages, making her feel a wave of chest tightness.
"Roar—!"
The remaining beasts were not having an easy time either, breathing heavily.
The Ghost-Veiled Leopard was missing a limb, and half its head—including one eye—was gone, exposing its brain matter, while hardly any flesh on its body remained undamaged.
"Azure Sea-Incinerating Flame!"
Yìng Tiānyáo struck first. A cluster of blue flame shot out, burning one fierce beast until it rolled on the ground.
While the other beasts dodged and she used her spiritual power to manipulate the blue flame, she flashed forward and slashed out several sword qi.
With the seamless cooperation of her cultivation techniques, she slaughtered three more beasts.
At that moment, the Ghost-Veiled Leopard on the side seized upon Yìng Tiānyáo's brief moment of weakness and lunged fiercely.
"Courting death!"
Yìng Tiānyáo reacted swiftly, holding her sword horizontally before her with her right hand while flipping her left palm to summon the blue flame straight toward the Ghost-Veiled Leopard.
Charging head-on against the pillar of fire, the Ghost-Veiled Leopard leaped right up to Yìng Tiānyáo and raised its claws to strike. Yìng Tiānyáo thrust her sword directly at the brute's throat and neck, preparing to trade injury for life.
With no other choice, the brute had to pull back its attack, using its only remaining front paw to block before springing back off the recoil.
Just as both sides reached a stalemate, two nearby fierce beasts staggered to their feet with red eyes, expending their last ounce of strength to pounce and sink their teeth into Yìng Tiānyáo's delicate body.
Feeling sharp pain in her thigh and back, Yìng Tiānyáo was forced to squeeze out her spiritual qi once more, channeling it into the Snow Tiger White Armor Skirt.
Divine light erupted, and the might of a Quasi-Supreme artifact instantly blasted the two fierce beasts into a pulp of flesh.
"Roar—!!!"
Making its final desperate struggle, the Ghost-Veiled Leopard's body swelled several times over in the span of a breath. Vicious aura surged from its entire frame as its forelimbs regrew, its claws extending another ten centimeters as it clawed straight for Yìng Tiānyáo's face.
Yìng Tiānyáo had no choice but to unleash her trump card, executing the final form of the Ice Feather Sword Art!
"Ice Feather: Saint Fall!!!"
The blade of the Huàsù sword collided with the Ghost-Veiled Leopard's shadowy claws.
Sword light laden with bitter cold exploded outward, sweeping away everything in the vicinity, kicking up dark red bloody mud and soil mixed with shattered limbs and mangled flesh!
A radius of several hundred zhang was blasted into a massive crater.
At the center of the crater, the Ghost-Veiled Leopard had half its body pulverized, leaving behind only a mangled torso with two hind legs, white bones dimly visible amid the bloody pulp.
The pretty young girl, her white dress stained with blood, stood atop the remains.
Yìng Tiānyáo was in no good shape either; her spiritual qi was nearly exhausted, and her twin jade arms had gone numb from the shock. The Huàsù sword was snapped, missing the entire latter half of its blade.
Silently, she pulled out various medicinal pills and swallowed them all down in one go.
Then, she stared up at the sky with deadpan eyes.
High above in the void, at some unknown point, hundreds of dark figures had gathered. Their faces were obscured, and they held weapons of various styles, surrounding her densely.
The medicinal pills were potent, and coupled with her Saint physique, the medicinal efficacy was refined and absorbed very quickly.
Yet the scene could not remain in a stalemate forever, and the time granted to Yìng Tiānyáo was neither too long nor too short!
A dark figure at the Return to One Realm slashed down with a saber.
*Clang—!*
Reacting in time, Yìng Tiānyáo met the blow with her bare arm.
Her Saint physique was peerless by nature, and coupled with her operation of the Heavenly Grade martial art—the Purple Spirit Ice Body—the collision between her jade arm and the blade's edge produced a crisp, ringing sound.
After a single exchange, she actually left a notch on the enemy's blade.
By now, Yìng Tiānyáo had recovered three to four tenths of the spiritual qi within her body. Continuing to circulate the Ice Glass Saint Body to refine the remaining medicine, she threw a Saint Stage cultivation technique—the Saint Soaring Dragon Fist—straight at the dark figure's face.
The dark figure quickly crossed its saber to block, accompanied by a harsh, grating impact.
Feeling as though its internal organs had been shattered, the dark figure spewed a mouthful of vicious blood, which was instantly vaporized by the surrounding turbulent spiritual qi.
Then it was sent flying straight back.
"Roar!!!"
Furious, the dark figure burned its life essence to erupt in power!
Steadily regaining its footing, it charged at Yìng Tiānyáo once more, its dark saber stained crimson as it slashed down!
Yìng Tiānyáo showed no fear, kicking off the empty air and extending her left arm to catch the blade's edge while thrusting her other hand, wreathed in chilling frost, straight toward the dark figure—trading injury for injury!
Yet before her jade arm could touch the blade, a piercing pain shot through her, and a sense of crisis welled up in her heart.
Before Yìng Tiānyáo could react, the vicious blade arrived, sending a wave of intense pain through her left arm.
Long-term slaughter had forged Yìng Tiānyáo's combat instincts. Without retreating in the slightest, she endured the excruciating pain and punched the dark figure in the chest, leaving a bloody hole.
"Ah—!!!"
The dark shadow shrieked, kicking out with all its might.
Caught off guard, Yìng Tiānyáo took a heavy blow to her lower abdomen, her body crashing to the ground and skimming across the earth for hundreds of feet before coming to a stop.
As for the saber-wielding dark figure, it swayed precariously before collapsing to the ground, motionless.
"Cough... cough cough..."
Struggling to her feet, Yìng Tiānyáo raised her left hand.
Her tattered sleeve revealed a fair arm marred by a gruesome saber wound, a sight that would tug at anyone's heartstrings.
Another heavy dose of pills was swallowed, and as her Saint physique operated, the wounds on her arm gradually scabbed over and healed.
Yìng Tiānyáo pondered her current situation:
"Although my spiritual qi supply is insufficient, the Snow Tiger White Armor Skirt is still a Quasi-Supreme artifact. Moreover, it was custom-made for me by the elders after personally selecting the materials—that is my foundation for daring to take attacks head-on."
How could it be damaged so easily?
"Can things above the Saint Stage no longer be used..."
Watching the dark figures in the sky grow more numerous while launching no attacks, it looked more like... they were waiting for her to recover!
Sudden realization dawned upon Yìng Tiānyáo!
Their goal was not to kill her.
Instead, it was to plunge her into endless despair, then grant her a glimmer of hope, only to crush that hope once more—repeating the process over and over, torturing her time and again.
Making her sink and lose herself in this endless, agonizing struggle!
"This is truly... boring beyond belief!!!"
Understanding the truth, Yìng Tiānyáo let out a roar from the depths of her throat.
"How dare you...?"
Slowly, her petite figure rose into the air, her momentum climbing steadily as her pressure swept across the entire arena!
"Who gave you the gall!?"
"This Palace!"
"Descending upon the world bearing vast imperial might, should likewise arrive upon the Nine Heavens!"
"A pack of trash, yet you dare to disturb this Palace's state of mind!"
"You deserve to die!!!"
Following this, the manifestation of the Ice Glass Saint Body rose behind her. Bitter winds howled as the ground of the plains and the immortal herbs all froze into frost.
An imposing phantom materialized behind Yìng Tiānyáo, resembling a deity suppressing evil spirits and ghosts.
At the same time, the exceptionally pure Yìng Clan bloodline within Yìng Tiānyáo began to boil, radiating boundless might!
From afar, she looked like an emperor hailing from the Nine Heavens!
Descending upon the myriad realms, looking down upon all living beings!