Actually, Xu Ziling had no strategy left to try; when he said that Shi Zhixuan has fallen into his trap, he was just bluffing, in order to cover up his own difficult situation.

Shi Zhixuan was a first-class figure within the demonic school, how could he be confused by his empty words? When he was about half a zhang away from Xu Ziling, he sent out a palm strike.

In Xu Ziling’s eyes, the opponent’s palm was unceasingly growing bigger and bigger, while also appeared to be as light as a feather without the slightest bit of power, so that he was unable to grasp whether it was heavy or light. The most formidable thing was that it followed his overpoweringly fantastic shenfa’s steps and styles; with each moment, the angle with which the palm power was attacking appeared to have new changes. Such a terrifying palm technique, this was the first time that Xu Ziling ever encountered it.

While standing motionless, both of his fists struck together one from the top and the other from the bottom, hiding within it a subtle difference between which one was ahead of the other, appearing to be without the slightest amount of qi power, while in fact the Treasure Vase Image Qi has already been stored up to the overflowing peak, ready to be released.

The demonic light in Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyes flared out dramatically, his palm strike suddenly changed into a forward chop, slicing across Xu Ziling, this ‘Overbearing Saber’ Yue Shan.

Since the fight started, all along Xu Ziling has always been in absolutely disadvantageous situation, he could only take a beating and had to painstakingly hold his ground. Until this moment, borrowing the fantastic true qi from the ‘Secret to Long Life’, contrary to Shi Zhixuan’s expectation, he was able to recover his vital energy in a short period of time, ferociously countering and meeting Shi Zhixuan’s changes, striving to gain back a little bit of initiative.

Obviously Shi Zhixuan’s eyesight was more brilliant than the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying; he was able to see that Xu Ziling’s double punches carried qi power waiting to be released. If he continued with his initial palm strike, he would definitely fail to get the desired outcome. Thereupon he cut in between the opponents’ two punches, forcing the opponent to save himself first and thus made it difficult for him to rush into attack.

Upright and unafraid, Xu Ziling ignored the opponent’s following-a-certain-abstruse-trajectory palm chop, which changed from light, floating and powerless, to fierce and severe like the edge of a sword, the blade of a saber, full of hacking-and-slicing qi power.

The two punches released the Treasure Vase Qi.

In this critical moment between life and death, facing this giant heretical demon in martial art study, which felt like he could never be knocked down, Xu Ziling already did his best and gave it everything he got before he strived to gain this good chance to strike back; naturally he did not want to miss this opportunity that easily.

Two streams of highly concentrated true qi followed the punch power and burst out. Unexpectedly just before it struck Shi Zhixuan, from two separate streams it converged into one; furthermore, it changed direction a little. Like a shooting star it stamped on the pit of Shi Zhixuan’s stomach.

This pair of Treasure Vase style punch power was created by Xu Ziling to save his little life in critical moment. Even Shi Zhixuan had never dreamed that there would be such a strange boxing move in the world.

The big devil head, the ‘Demonic King’ Shi Zhixuan’s countenance turned as cold as an iron pillar as he pulled back his chopping palm. This moment, since it was already too late for him to evade, he simply made a sharp spin, relying on the Immortal Image Method to neutralize Xu Ziling’s double Treasure Vase Qi.

‘Bang!’

Xu Ziling was hit by the palm power first. Fortunately the strike missed the fatal point on the pit of his stomach, because he used his shoulder to take the attack head-on. Plus the moment the palm wind cut his shoulder, he swiftly swayed his shoulder, ingeniously deflecting most of the opponent’s true qi. Even so, it was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

Meeting the palm, he flew about a zhang away and landed on the highest point on the bridge.

‘Bang!’

The highly concentrated Treasure Vase Qi was ferociously thrown toward Shi Zhixuan’s body. His spinning speed immediately slowed down. By the time he was facing Xu Ziling again, this fake ‘Overbearing Saber’ Yue Shan had just steadied his footing on the top of the bridge.

Both sides have respectively received the hard attack from each other. On the surface Shi Zhixuan did not show any differences, yet Xu Ziling knew that to some extent, the opponent has also received injury. Otherwise, how could he not follow up the victory and press home the attack, to dispose him once for all, so as to avoid a long-night-with-many-dreams?

On Shi Zhixuan’s side, he had to reconsider his assessment on this Yue Shan, who had made a come back after a long retirement. The one thing that astonished him the most was that after receiving a palm strike from him, unexpectedly the opponent did not show any changes in his countenance; it had never occurred to him that the other side was wearing a mask that was crafted by the number one artisan under the heavens, Lu Miaozi.

While he was seizing the opportunity to fly back just now, Xu Ziling could not help spurting out a mouthful of blood midair, but he hid it inside his sleeve. Shi Zhixuan happened to just turned around on the other side, hence he did not see it.

Before landing on the ground, Xu Ziling already applied the Secret to Long Life to recover his true qi; however, if he was not wearing the mask, Shi Zhixuan ought to be able to see that his complexion was pale and tired, and cold sweats appearing on his forehead.

Xu Ziling took advantage of the situation to circulate his true power and recover his qi, while amassing his strength secretly. Coldly and calmly he said, “Laofu thought Immortal Image Technique was such an extraordinary martial art, turns out it is no more than so-so. If Shi Xiao’er’s [young child] skill is only like this, you could forget about leaving the Yue Ma Bridge alive tonight.”

While talking, he secretly calculated the slope of the bridge’s incline.

Maintaining his wooden expression, Shi Zhixuan fixed his gaze on him as if he was looking at a dead object, while speaking indifferently, “Yue Ba, if you have nothing else to say, please forgive Ol’ Shi for not able to accompany you!”

If it were someone with slightly lower intelligence, he would have been puzzled by Shi Zhixuan’s remark, so much so that he might even thought that because Shi Zhixuan was suffering serious internal injury, he was beating the retreat drum. However, Xu Ziling knew that Shi Zhixuan could see through the special characteristic of his fake ‘Huan Ri Da Fa’ was that it was suitable to stay still, but was unsuitable to move; hence he was luring him to take the initiative to attack, and then break it in one fell swoop.

The brilliance of his insight was definitely not something that ordinary martial art grandmaster would be able to compare.

Xu Ziling thought that success or failure, victory or defeat – would be decided in this moment. To surpass the opponent was definitely an impossibility. Currently, the only way out was to snatch a little bit of upper hand, before attempting to break the siege and escape. If necessary, he would escape into the Imperial Palace, and then even Shi Zhixuan would not dare to chase after him.

With a long laughter Xu Ziling leaped a little, and then the tip of his toes tapped the ground some more, and he pounced on Shi Zhixuan at the bottom of the bridge slope.

Succeeded in luring ‘Yue Shan’ to take the initiative to an all-out attack, Shi Zhixuan’s face still did not show the slightest emotional fluctuation. But actually inwardly he had made the decision that no matter how much injury he would have to suffer, he simply had to kill the opponent in one fell swoop.

Because he had seen how Yue Shan, who was returning to the fray after a period of inactivity, had mastered the ‘Huan Ri Da Fa’, and had shed his mortal body and exchanged his bones and turned into a different man. If he did not take the opportunity to kill him tonight, he might become a serious problem for him in the future.

If Xu Ziling had known what this Demonic King was thinking, he would definitely be very proud.

Xu Ziling’s mind had entered the Moon-in-the-Well, Heaven-and-Earth-fusing-together-into-one-entity realm. More importantly, he had become one with the Yue Ma Bridge.

There was some kind of subtle relationship between the angle and trajectory of his pouncing with the slope of the Yue Ma Bridge, like it was made by heaven, like the water flowing from higher elevation rushing down, which become an integral whole with the passage in which it flows, completely following the Heaven and Earth’s principles, carrying in itself a burst of irresistible and unstoppable momentum.

In Shi Zhixuan’s eyes, Xu Ziling has been able to exploit the gradient of the bridge to extreme saturation, making him feel as if he had been isolated and had become an unnecessary, even redundant – addition to the harmonious blending between Xu Ziling and the Yue Ma Bridge.

It was such an extremely abstruse feeling; if he were not a martial art master of that level, he would never have this kind of intuitive feeling.

The tip of Xu Ziling’s feet, left and right, alternately tapped on the slope; with each tap, his speed was slightly increasing, subsequently his momentum was also growing.

Shi Zhixuan accurately estimated that by the time Xu Ziling landed on the nearly four-zhang long slope to attack, the opponent would have accumulated his power to its peak intensity. And this one strike by Xu Ziling was brimming with once-released-there-will-be-no-return desperate feeling, some kind of sparing-no-effort, staking-it-all, fighting-to-the-death, until-both-sides-perished – intention.

Even with Shi Zhixuan’s self-confidence and conceited character, he could not help feeling regret. However, it was like riding a tiger; it would be hard to get off. If he withdrew at this time, and then while he was pulling back his qi, the opponent’s momentum suddenly surging and he seized the opportunity to pursue and attack, regaining the upper hand might involve a lot of effort.

Having no other choice, Shi Zhixuan made prompt decision; he soared at an angle, the-guest-acted-as-the-host-like [idiom: turning from passive to active] he rose up high in the air, and then like a fierce tiger seizing the rabbit he pounced down, to put this tyrannical opponent, which was hard for him to believe – in order.

Under normal circumstances, this was indeed the best way to response to Xu Ziling’s strategy.

Unfortunately, he was missing a point; which was Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong’s unique method of converting and changing true qi midair and the consummate skill of flying backward, which they imitated from the Cloud Commander.

Shi Zhixuan shot up like a projectile into the air, with his feet on top and his head on the bottom, his palms struck together, he unleashed the special ability of the Immortal Image Method. The left palm power was icy-cold, gentle and reserved, while the right palm power was burning hot, hard and violent; combined together they became a hurricane that could destroy the heart and split the lungs, in heavy strike toward Xu Ziling.

Letting out a long whistle, Xu Ziling abruptly exchanged a mouthful of true qi, changing direction from moving down at an angle to rushing up. The most formidable thing was that he was following a bizarre trajectory curving outward toward Shi Zhixuan’s right side before attacking Shi Zhixuan directly.

For the second time Shi Zhixuan was forced to change his move. As a result, immediately his momentum and power were somewhat reduced. Xu Ziling was curving upward from Shi Zhixuan, who was also moving upward to meet him head-on. Suddenly his body swayed to the left and right; his two hands creating millions shadows, he blocked Shi Zhixuan’s double palms, before gradually turning back into two hands with the thumbs bending outward, pointing at the hollow of Shi Zhixuan’s palms.

Unexpectedly it was the ‘One Finger Zen’ that he learned from Jiaxiang Dashi, which was changed into ‘Two Fingers Zen’ for his own specific use. Because he was proficient in the Image Method, although the form did not appear to be divine, the essence was the Motionless Fundamental Image. The left hand performing Great Vajra Chakra Image and the right hand Sun-Bind Image, the yin and yang true qi flowing separately, he met Shi Zhixuan’s Immortal Image marvelous skill head-on.

Qi power collided.

Making repeated miscalculation, Shi Zhixuan let out a cold humph and floated up mid-air toward the west bank.

Xu Ziling made three consecutive somersaults and fell onto the bridge, barely able to stand up steadily.

As soon as Shi Zhixuan’s feet touched the ground, he flew back.

‘I’m finished!’ Xu Ziling cried inwardly. His five viscera and six bowels felt as it they completely flipping over; his entire body was twisted so that the pain made him lost his strength. Presently, forget about Shi Zhixuan, a strong man with no martial art knowledge would easily be able to take his little life.

However, Shi Zhixuan was merely standing blankly at the end of the bridge. His eyes were looking at something behind Xu Ziling. A gentle and reserved, sweet-sounding feminine voice rang, along with a tender laughter, from about a zhang behind Xu Ziling, “Zhixuan, oh, Zhixuan! Although you consider everyone else beneath you, but now you have no choice but to admit that you encounter a hard-to-defeat worthy match!”

Xu Ziling seized this opportunity to circulate his true qi three rounds, before forcing himself to speak, “Laofu’s affair, no need for you, Xiao Yan [Little Yan] to care about. Tonight, between me and Shi Zhixuan, there will only be one man leaving this place alive.”

Actually, he was groaning inwardly. In front and behind him were the most outstanding two top figures of the demonic schools over the last several hundred years. If he let either one of them see through his real identity, death would definitely be his only way out.

Shi Zhixuan’s face revealed an incomparably grim smile; he shifted his gaze toward Xu Ziling’s face, and calmly said, “I admit that I have underestimated you, Yue Ba. But speaking about killing me, don’t ever think that you will be able to accomplish in your remaining destroyed life.”

Xu Ziling forcefully raised his true qi again. Struggling hard to suppress the surging blood and qi in his body, he swallowed the fresh blood gushing through his throat back into his belly. Throwing his head back, he laughed and said, “I never thought that you, Shi Xiao’er have the impertinence to boast shamelessly like this. Xiao Yan, move back for me; let’s see if I could put this disciple, who does not know the height of heaven and the thickness of the earth – in order.”

Xu Ziling figured out that the reason Zhu Yuyan appearing in this critical moment between life and death was because his skill was brilliant enough to contend against the Demonic King, hence she did not wish for him to die under Shi Zhixuan’s hands.

If his guess was incorrect, tonight next year would be the anniversary of his death.

Zhu Yuyan sighed faintly. She seemed to be having unbou