Chapter 1278 - Enemies On A Narrow Path

Despite the distance, Liu Wuxie saw their faces clearly and recognized the two elves who were running away. One of the women had previously helped him neutralize the Faceless clan's attack, allowing him to flee the black lake. Fights between humans and elves were rare, so the humans' pursuit puzzled him.

He shifted his gaze to the two male human pursuers, narrowing his eyes.

"What a coincidence!" Liu Wuxie murmured, murderous intent erupting from his body.

The two pursuers were Li Dayuan and another cultivator at the fifth level of the Primal Origin Realm, likely companions from the same planet. On one side were his benefactors; on the other, his mortal enemies. He did not need to hesitate.

Torrential fighting spirit burst from him as he blurred, and he vanished from the tree, closing a distance of five thousand meters in the blink of an eye.

After fleeing for thousands of miles, the two elves had already exhausted themselves and could collapse at any time, yet they still failed to shake off Li Dayuan.

A few hours earlier, when the two elves rested with their companions in the mountain range, Li Dayuan and the other cultivator attacked him without hesitation.

Without the elves, Liu Wuxie couldn't have escaped, and the Faceless Clan would have intercepted him. The elves' slender figures and fair skin, a natural temptation for male cultivators, and their magic, which could alter physiques and purify the souls of those suffering from inner demons, only made them magnets for greed.

As Li Dayuan reached out to seize the elves, two colossal dragon claws descended from the sky. He reacted in time and retreated at once. The force poured through those claws rivaled that of the high levels of the Primal Origin Realm.

Spent, the two elves sank to the ground to rest. They did not cultivate true essence, but rather magic, whose recovery lagged behind that of the true essence.

"Who is it?!" Li Dayuan roared. He was at the eighth-level Primal Origin Realm, a level by no means low among the various races.

When a figure came into view, he squinted.

A figure stepped into view, and his eyes narrowed.

"It's you! You have delivered yourself to me!" Li Dayuan growled.

He had picked a fight with the elves to vent his anger, but even if he killed them, he still wouldn't get the Scarlet Firmament Stone back. He had not expected to run into Liu Wuxie here.

"Li Dayuan, you're a disgrace to the human race," Liu Wuxie said, giving the two elves a brief nod.

They suffered only superficial injuries. Though the elven race did not cultivate true essence, they possessed powerful physiques, and thanks to their healing magic, their wounds closed rapidly without scarring.

They had mainly exhausted their physical strength, so they sat down to recover.

"Brat, hand over the Scarlet Firmament Stone! Perhaps I can consider letting you die more comfortably," Li Dayuan said, cutting a glance at his companion.

The companion understood and flashed before Liu Wuxie. He attacked without hesitation to prevent any escape. The scene at the lake still lingered in their memory; they had witnessed Liu Wuxie's shocking speed.

He gave Liu Wuxie no chance to react, releasing the aura of a fifth-level Primal Origin Realm cultivator, which elicited loud rumblings that concentrated around the canopy of thick clouds overhead.

Liu Wuxie kept his guard high. These cultivators hailed from various planets, and their mythical arts differed from those of the Indigo Bamboo Star.

Ferocity saturated this man's mythical art, a sign of frequent astral storms on his planet, so his true essence carried the power of storms. The gale spiraled into a vortex, sweeping up rocks from the ground.

"Watch out!" the beautiful elf warned, forcing herself upright.

A golden divine dragon surged behind Liu Wuxie.

"Dragon Subduing Tiger!"

"Dragon Slither!"

"Dragon Roaming!" he called, unleashing three of the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms in seamless sequence.

Their combined force forged a greater storm that suppressed the vortex conjured by the fifth-level Primal Origin Realm cultivator. He had to end the battle swiftly, kill this man first, and then deal with Li Dayuan, as facing both at once would be too difficult.

The fifth-level Primal Origin Realm cultivator's face changed. He had not expected Liu Wuxie's combat strength to be so terrifying. With cultivation at the fifth-level Origin Conversion Realm, Liu Wuxie fought on par with the high levels of the Primal Origin Realm.

Shock tightened Li Dayuan's features as well. He sensed something amiss and wanted to intervene and rescue his companion, but Liu Wuxie gave him no chance.

"Dragon-Grasping Hand!"

Tens of thousands of dragon claws gathered into a single gigantic golden talon, the talon of a five-clawed golden dragon that darkened the sky as it descended. The shockwave plunged the man into darkness, and the claw crushed him before he could even scream.

With his breakthrough to the fifth-level Origin Conversion Realm, Liu Wuxie's combat strength had multiplied tenfold.

Li Dayuan froze where he stood, disbelief stark on his face. He could not accept that his companion had died so easily. The two elves stared as well, expecting an earth-shattering battle and witnessing a one-sided massacre instead.

"I'll kill you!" Li Dayuan roared, his eyes bloodshot. That companion was his junior brother, who had grown up with him. Watching him die snapped his reason.

Now that Li Dayuan stood alone, Liu Wuxie felt no hurry. He planned to use him to temper his strength after the breakthrough and to consolidate his cultivation.

He also wanted to test the power of the Great Poison Mythical Art. He knew that killing Li Dayuan with only the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms, the Dragon-Grasping Hand, and the Heaven-Severing Strike would not be so easy. After all, he was an eighth-level Primal Origin Realm expert.

The Heaven-Severing Strike could inflict serious injuries, but killing him would still be difficult. If he could land a sneak attack with the Great Poison Mythical Art, Li Dayuan's combat strength would surely plummet.

"Come!" Liu Wuxie said.

He did not draw the Heretic Blade, as using the Heaven-Severing Strike was too taxing on his true essence. He intended to wait for the right opportunity to strike.

Li Dayuan advanced step by step, murderous intent surging with each step. Terrifying laws at the Primal Origin Realm roared like a flood dragon through the manifestation of laws. This proved his identity was not simple; he should be a sect prodigy whose combat strength might rival that of an elder.

Opposite him, Liu Wuxie quietly gathered power and planned his engagement. He had more means at his disposal as he had grown stronger—Heavenly Dragon Seal, Soul Fire, Great Five Elemental Mythical Art, and Great Poison Mythical Art. He felt confident he could use them to inflict serious injuries on Li Dayuan.

Li Dayuan did not draw a weapon either. He formed seals with both hands, and the surrounding space collapsed.

"What is this mythical art?" Liu Wuxie heightened his vigilance to the utmost.

"I'll grind your bones to dust! Taste the might of my Divine Void-Rending Palm!" Li Dayuan roared.

A giant palm took shape in the sky. This mythical art utilized the manifestation of laws. The palm suddenly descended, and the ground within a radius of several hundred meters collapsed around Liu Wuxie, sinking him as well. Any other Primal Origin Realm cultivator would have turned into a puddle of blood.

However, Liu Wuxie remained unscathed. With the True Dragon Physique, his body matched the high levels of the Primal Origin Realm, and no opponent could crush him so easily.

Li Dayuan narrowed his eyes. He had believed even seventh-level Primal Origin Realm cultivators could not withstand that strike.

"That's a powerful palm technique, but it lacks a touch of spirituality," Liu Wuxie said with a smile.

The Divine Void-Rending Palm carried great force, yet its execution felt rigid and short of spiritual refinement. It might overwhelm ordinary opponents, but not Liu Wuxie.

"Still mouthing off at death's door?!" Li Dayuan snarled, and the Void-Rending Palm bore down harder.

As the palm pinned him in place, Liu Wuxie calmly formed seals with both hands.

"Great Five Elemental Mythical Art!" he roared. A five-colored divine dragon surged into the sky and shifted into a giant palm that met the Divine Void-Rending Palm head-on.

The collision detonated with a thunderous

boom.

Violent friction scraped at space and sent chills down the spine.

The longer Li Dayuan fought, the deeper his shock grew. He could not believe Liu Wuxie held the Divine Void-Rending Palm in check. The two mythical arts ground against each other and matched each other evenly.

Liu Wuxie's combat strength had only just reached the level of the eighth-level Primal Origin Realm, yet he repeatedly challenged higher cultivation through the might of his mythical arts.

Clearly, Li Dayuan had not expected the Great Five Elemental Mythical Art to brim with spirituality; by comparison, his Divine Void-Rending Palm felt like trash.

He endured only by leaning on his cultivation at the eighth-level Primal Origin Realm. If he were at the low levels of the Primal Origin Realm, he would be dead by now.

The two elves stared in a daze. They had not expected Liu Wuxie to be so strong. By now, they had recovered thirty percent of their magic, barely enough for an ordinary spell.

The clash intensified. The Great Five Elemental Mythical Art flowed in an endless cycle, while the Divine Void-Rending Palm weakened with time, and Li Dayuan's expression grew darker.

He wove fresh seals, and his laws manifested into countless swords—dense, glittering, and terrifying—another mythical art no weaker than the Divine Void-Rending Palm.

"Saintess, let's help him!" one elf urged.

The stunningly beautiful elf nodded and raised her right hand, beginning a soft chant.