Chapter 451: Both Wounded, Neither Victorious

The earlier anomalies with the spatial tears gradually calmed in the battlefield where Xuan Ying and Pang Jian clashed, though the fractured earth had yet to mend.

Blade and sword lights sporadically flashed, only to fade quietly into the depths.

Xuan Ying's bone-white hands gripped her blade as she silently gazed at Pang Jian.

The residual forces from when Pang Jian's final mysterious realm collapsed were still eating away at her arms.

Whoosh!

A force powerful enough to obliterate a Rank Eight foreign race warrior raced up her arms. Its disordered energy effortlessly pulverized her tendons and flesh.

It was like invisible venomous dragons or monstrous serpents were devouring both her arms.

Before long, the residual destructive force stripped the flesh clean from her arms, leaving only two skeletal limbs behind.

Despite this, her gaze toward Pang Jian was unnervingly calm. It was as if her bloodied, ruined arms did not belong to her at all.

Suddenly, her eyes turned fierce, as if confidently awaiting something.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Pang Jian's sunken ribcage splintered and he vomited a mouthful of blood as the skin over his chest ruptured like fractured earth.

Crimson mist burst forth from his Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint to envelop his entire body.

A hidden, destructive force surged into Pang Jian's body and revealed itself with devastating effect.

Pang Jian, gravely injured, fell helplessly from the air.

Xuan Ying's eyes flickered with satisfaction at the sight.

"Did you really think you could wound me and remain unscathed?" she sneered coldly.

An immense surge of blood essence rose from her heart, and her fleshless arms started to regenerate.

Sinew and muscle wrapped around her bones while blood snaked through them in a mesmerizingly grotesque fashion.

It looked as if several monstrous blood-colored serpents were writhing their way up her skeletal arms.

"Pang Jian!"

Zhuang Yuyan, Qi Qingsong, and others rushed forward when they saw Pang Jian plummet to the ground.

"Miss!" Several Rank Eight Demon Scale Race warriors descended around Xuan Ying.

Xuan Ying shook her head. "I'm fine."

Her delicate face finally revealed a hint of pain, but no one could see it beneath the silvery scales of her mask.

She glanced at the sinister bone ship hovering in the sky and said softly, "Let them go. I said before that if he could hold his ground against me, I'd allow him to leave with his companions."

Several Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warriors aboard the ship frowned, but they nodded reluctantly.

After swallowing a pill and regaining some strength, Zhou Wenhao approached Pang Jian with a complicated expression. "Pang Jian, are you all right?"

"I'm still alive." Blood dripped from Pang Jian's mouth and stained his chest as he forced himself to swallow a Great Blood Enhancing Pill.

Activating the Grand Providence Sacred Body's self-healing ability, he stabilized his injuries as best as he could.

He had not expected the Rank Eight Xuan Ying to be this overwhelmingly strong.

Pang Jian's Nirvana Realm cultivation, Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea, and temporary alliance with the Abyssal Demon meant his body and divine soul were far more resilient than others at his level. The quality and quantity of his spiritual power were also far superior.

He was confident he could stand his ground against a Rank Eight Great Fey.

Despite this, the girl he once encountered on the Fey Spirit Continent had the combat prowess to go toe-to-toe with him on equal footing.

He had held nothing back in the battle as he wielded the Abyssal Demon Sword in conjunction with the Chaos Sword Technique.

Despite this, he could not decisively suppress Xuan Ying, resulting in a mutually destructive stalemate.

"Pang Jian, take your fellow disciples and leave the Cosmic Skies Continent.

"The last time your master descended upon the Fey Spirit Continent, he didn't lay a hand on me or any of my Demon Scale Race kinsmen," Xuan Ying said solemnly. "I'll keep the promise I made with my arrogant words.

"The war between us and your human race has only just begun. I eagerly anticipate our second battle, our third, and even our fourth!

"You are my whetstone, a hurdle on my path to godhood. For this, I'm willing to let the tiger return to the mountains."

Her arms had regrown their flesh, though they still looked eerily frail compared to her massive serrated blade.

Pang Jian remained silent, too preoccupied with his injuries to respond. After communicating briefly with the Abyssal Demon, he flew toward the evacuation point where the Sword Boat awaited.

He had no time to chat with Zhuang Yuyan or Qi Qingsong, let alone exchange pleasantries with Zhou Wenhao.

"Follow him!" Zhou Wenhao ordered, not one to be overly formal at a time like this.

The Sword Pavilion disciples and protectors silently ascended, swords vigilantly drawn against the Demon Scale Race warriors.

In the sky above, a ship carrying Ghost Race and Radiant Race warriors approached the Demon Scale Race's ship.

A Rank Nine Ghost Race warrior growled coldly, "Do you just follow whatever Xuan Ying says? Li Zhaotian's disciple is in the Nirvana Realm and can hold his own against her.

"You're all aware that someone like him is destined to become a True God!

"Do I need to remind you how terrifying the Sword Gods of the Sword Pavilion are? It's all documented and recorded in the ancient records of our various races!

"Letting that boy off today means creating a peerless Sword God in the future!"

The Rank Nine Ghost Race warrior had already instructed their Rank Eight warriors to stop ambushing the other factions, regroup, and eliminate the Sword Pavilion disciples.

Specifically, Pang Jian!

There was no need to relentlessly pursue the other Sword Pavilion disciples if they were lucky enough to survive.

However, the injured Pang Jian was the top priority on their kill list and a target to be eliminated at all costs.

Although the Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warrior agreed with the Rank Nine Ghost Race warrior's reasoning, he stood firm.

"We're the strongest force on this continent, so we have the final say.

"Miss Xuan Ying is someone from our race who will one day ascend to godhood.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Her status even surpasses that of Patriarch Li Bai in certain respects, and we will abide by her decisions.

"Do not blame us for taking decisive action if you attempt to interfere."

The other Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warriors shot icy glares at the visitors, expressions growing grimmer with every passing second.

"Are you serious?" the Ghost Race warrior demanded angrily.

"If Miss Xuan Ying is serious, then so are we."

"Fine! I hope you're prepared to bear the consequences of this decision!"

The Ghost Race warrior relayed a message to the Rank Eight warriors below, ordering them to halt their actions and allow the Sword Pavilion disciples to ascend to the evacuation point unharmed.

***

A Demon Scale Race warrior close to Xuan Ying handed her a healing pill, his gaze filled with concern as he watched Pang Jian's distant figure.

"Miss, that young man...he's incredibly strong and will only grow stronger in the future."

Xuan Ying replied coldly, "So will I."

"I'm worried that he'll surpass Li Zhaotian in the future," the warrior said lowly. "Miss, you've witnessed it yourself—Li Zhaotian, with his peak Immortal Realm cultivation, survived a battle with the chief. That's terrifying.

"Li Zhaotian possesses the power to challenge those above his cultivation realm. He'll undoubtedly become unimaginably fearsome once he ascends to the True God Realm.

"And Pang Jian appears to be the same."

Xuan Ying's eyes shone with anticipation. "First, my bloodline and combat prowess at every rank far surpasses that of my father. My strength will surely exceed his when I reach Rank Ten as well.

"Second, no one with a Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea has ever ascended to the True God Realm.

"There's nothing for me to worry about if he cannot join the ranks of the True Gods of the human race.

"Lastly, I'm confident I can kill him, even if he does become a True God."

Xuan Ying fell silent.

"You have no idea how much I gained from fighting him," she added after a moment. "My blood, the profound mysteries within my bloodline, and even my Rank Eight body have all been solidified because of this battle.

"He could be the most evenly matched opponent I'll ever face in my life.

"Each clash with him will elevate me. He is a crucial stepping stone in my ascension into a Demon God.

"It's essential for me that he remains alive and grows stronger.

"You wouldn't understand, so just follow my orders," she concluded.

***

A small Sword Boat and a grand warship from the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom were docked at an evacuation point on a mountain.

The Blazing Rainbow Marquis, one of the three marquises of the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom, watched as Pang Jian voluntarily stayed behind as the rear guard at the foot of the mountain.

Zhou Wenhao, Qi Qingsong, Zhuang Yuyan, and the other Sword Pavilion disciples in the Spirit Condensation Realm and Soul Wandering Realms steadily made their way to the summit, where the spatial teleportation arrays awaited.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Foreign race flying vessels silently approached from across the Cosmic Skies Continent.

Assistance from civilizations in the outer worlds meant that these newly forged flying vessels were in no way inferior to those of the human race.

The warriors aboard the flying vessels wore dazzling armor and wielded extraordinary artifacts.

"The Sword Pavilion truly cannot be underestimated," a young Radiant Race warrior remarked as he soared over from the direction of the Radiant Sun Sect.

He resembled a humanoid sun, completely hairless to the point of having no eyebrows. A radiant solar halo surrounded him and his pristine skin emitted a dazzling glow.

"Lie Yi!" The Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warrior aboard the white-bone ship sternly rebuked, "Our lady has already promised to allow Pang Jian to lead his companions back!

"Lie Yi, it doesn't matter what status or position you hold in the Radiant Race, our Demon Scale Race makes the decisions on the Cosmic Skies Continent!"

The Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warrior knew the young powerhouse from the Radiant Race had arrived with a clear target in mind—Pang Jian.

Lie Yi of the Radiant Race also had a Rank Eight bloodline and had been the most renowned young powerhouse of the Fifth World before Xuan Ying.