Chapter 403 The Tide Has Turned
A mighty crash echoed from the cage, instantly drawing the man's gaze. Under his watchful eyes, cracks appeared on the four massive stone pillars, and the chains wrapped around them snapped one by one.
The man's expression suddenly shifted dramatically. He knew this move wouldn't trap Zha Hong for long, but he had believed it would at least hold her for a short while, during which he could team up with his Guardian Spirit to deal with Zha Hong's Guardian Spirit.
However, reality proved otherwise. His move had only trapped Zha Hong for a fleeting moment.
Another boom resonated, and the four massive stone pillars exploded. Dust and smoke filled the air, and Zha Hong's figure could be vaguely seen within.
A Yin wind dispersed the dust and smoke, revealing Zha Hong beneath. At this moment, Zha Hong's face was slightly pale. It was clear that forcibly breaking through the man's cage with brute force had cost her a considerable amount of energy.
"You've made some progress, but it's still not enough to deal with me."
Zha Hong spoke in a deep voice. As she spoke, her hands quickly formed seals, completing the gesture as her voice faded.
"Spiritual Art: Cage!"
The same Spiritual Art was unleashed. The ground around the man cracked, and four stone pillars burst forth from the earth. These four stone pillars were even larger than the ones the man had summoned with the same move just moments ago.
But the cage formed faster than he could react. Amidst a clanging of chains, they crisscrossed, enveloping the stone pillars from all sides—above, below, left, and right. The man's ascending body collided squarely with the chains above.
Bang!
His body slammed against the chains. The upper chains didn't break, only vibrating violently, while the man himself was thrown back to the ground by a powerful recoil force.
The same Spiritual Art, the same cage. Yet, when Zha Hong unleashed it, it was not only sturdier but also covered a larger area, appearing far more imposing than the cage the man had conjured.
"Whether a Spiritual Art is powerful or not largely depends on the Spiritual Master's own strength. Even if your Guardian Spirit is a realm above mine, when it comes to Spiritual Arts, you're far inferior to me. With insufficient combat experience, even powerful resources are wasted in your hands."
Zha Hong spoke faintly to the man, then ignored him, turning her gaze towards the area where the Guardian Spirits were battling.
Because Zha Hong's Guardian Spirit was one realm lower than the man's, her Guardian Spirit was now completely at a disadvantage. At the current rate, it would be defeated within a few more breaths.
Once a Guardian Spirit was defeated, it faced the fate of being devoured. This particular Guardian Spirit had cost her a lot of effort to obtain, so she naturally didn't want to see it become a supplement for the man's Guardian Spirit.
And so, she joined the battle between the Guardian Spirits.
With her addition, the situation immediately reversed. Under her fierce attacks, the man's Guardian Spirit was suppressed, utterly unable to retaliate.
Inside the cage, the man witnessed this scene, his heart burning with anxiety. His hands rapidly formed seals, channeling a large amount of Communication Power within his body. He once again unleashed the Spiritual Art: Yin Wind Blade, bombarding the cage, hoping to forcibly break it open through this method.
Spiritual Arts are secret techniques that only Spiritual Masters can use. Each Spiritual Art has different effects and powers, and consumes varying amounts of Communication Power.
However, there are many types of Spiritual Arts, and not every Spiritual Master knows all of them. This is similar to Talisman Masters; not every Talisman Master can draw all talismans. They must understand the corresponding incantations and the talismans' own spells.
By the same logic, for a Spiritual Master to learn a certain Spiritual Art, they need the corresponding cultivation method. How to form the seals is even more crucial. Without understanding the proper cultivation method, even if one knows of the Spiritual Art's existence, it's absolutely impossible to unleash it.
The man was not like Zha Hong; his knowledge of Spiritual Arts was very limited. Apart from conventional Spiritual Arts like Spirit Summoning and Illusion Breaking, he didn't know many others. And the Yin Wind Blade was currently his most destructive Spiritual Art.
Therefore, trapped in the cage, if he wanted to quickly break free and regain his liberty, he could only unleash the Yin Wind Blade again.
Unleashing a Spiritual Art can greatly enhance the power of Communication Power. Similarly, performing a Spiritual Art also consumes a significant amount of the Spiritual Master's Communication Power. The more powerful the Spiritual Art, the greater the consumption of Communication Power.
In the current situation, the man knew that simply using raw Communication Power couldn't possibly break through the cage set up by Zha Hong. Zha Hong had been able to do it earlier because her Communication Power was inherently stronger than his.
His Communication Power was inferior to Zha Hong's, and using ordinary Communication Power simply couldn't break through the cage Zha Hong had set up. After all, this cage was created by Zha Hong unleashing a Spiritual Art, making it not easily broken.
Therefore, if he wanted to break open the cage, he had to expend more Communication Power to unleash a Spiritual Art.
The Yin Wind Blade continuously bombarded the cage, with very obvious results. Amidst a series of booms, the chains wrapped around the stone pillars shattered with snapping sounds, and continuous cracks also appeared on the four massive stone pillars.
After one wave of Yin Wind Blades had fully landed, the cage, though not completely broken by the man, was already severely damaged, almost in tatters.
Under these circumstances, the man naturally wouldn't unleash the Yin Wind Blade a second time, as that would consume too much of his Communication Power. He chose the quickest and most energy-efficient method: he directly channeled a portion of his Communication Power within his body, then released it, blasting it against the cage.
After a thunderous crash, the cage Zha Hong had set up shattered, successfully broken open by the man.
All of this sounds like a long story, but in fact, the man didn't waste much time at all. From beginning to end, he only spent a little over a dozen breaths. Such a short amount of time is indeed brief, but in the current situation, being trapped for over a dozen breaths was certainly not brief.
Having successfully broken open the cage, the man gasped for breath, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead. But he didn't bother to care for himself, first turning his gaze towards the location of his Guardian Spirit.
Upon seeing it, the man was stunned. Zha Hong had taken out a small porcelain bottle and forcibly collected his Guardian Spirit into it.
He wanted to intervene and stop her, but it was already too late!
In just over a dozen breaths, Zha Hong had, with lightning-fast methods, forcibly captured his Guardian Spirit. Without his Guardian Spirit, this struggle was destined for defeat!
When encountering such a situation, anyone with a bit of cunning and shrewdness would understand that the tide had turned. They would absolutely not cling to the battle, but instead choose to flee immediately.
The reason was simple: clinging to battle would only lead to a pointless sacrifice, unless a miracle occurred. But the probability of a miracle happening was too low, so 99% of the time, the result would be death.
Escaping was different. As long as one lives, there's hope. As long as he didn't die, there was still a chance to turn the tables, and he might even be able to get his revenge through his own efforts.
Though the man was young and lacked much cunning or shrewdness, he wasn't stupid. He knew it was unrealistic to snatch back his Guardian Spirit from Zha Hong's hands. In the current situation, the best course of action was to immediately flee this place; saving his own life was the most important thing.
Snapping out of his daze, he didn't hesitate for a second, directly tearing through space, intent on escaping immediately. Although he knew this action was humiliating, compared to his life, losing face was nothing at all.
However, at the very instant he tore open the spatial rift, a surge of Communication Power blasted his body, sending him flying.
"I have to say, you pose a certain threat to me now. If you had waited until you were stronger before coming for me, your threat would have been even greater. But, you ultimately couldn't hold your composure."
Zha Hong's voice came from behind him. The man struggled to his feet from the ground, unable to stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
He knew Zha Hong wouldn't give him a chance to escape into the spatial rift. So, after struggling to his feet, he didn't say another word and fled in a certain direction.
This scene was almost identical to when he had pursued Zha Hong's clone earlier, only now their roles were reversed.
"It was precisely because I let you escape from my grasp back then that tonight's ambush occurred. This time, I won't give you any chance to escape."
Comments