"No..."

From Xu Hongzhuang's mouth came a mournful sound, feeling something was slipping away from her. At this moment, her heart was like dead ashes.

It was the President of the Spirit Fighting Commerce at the late-stage Lingyun Realm! Under such an expert's strike, and a sneak attack no less, how could Yun Xiao possibly have the power to reverse the situation?

Don't be deceived by Yun Xiao's earlier forceful slash against Lu Tianrun, suppressing Fu Lingxue so she couldn't fight back. That was merely within the Floating Life Realm tier. The gap between the Great Ranks of the Heavenly Rank Third Realm is not just generally large.

Especially when seeing that massive handprint directly slap Yun Xiao into the ground, so fast he couldn't even perform a Body Meridian Technique, everyone reluctantly accepted the reality.

The faces of Liu Hanyi, Mo Qing, and others were filled with grief as if mourning their loved ones. Meanwhile, Wei Duzheng, who launched the massive handprint attack, was full of excitement. That boy, full of endless trump cards, who once humiliated the Spirit Fighting Commerce without end, was finally slapped to death by his own hand.

Wei Duzheng was aware that Yun Xiao had a Meridian Technique capable of creating afterimages, but at the moment his Meridian Qi Palm Seal struck, he sensed clearly it was undoubtedly not Yun Xiao's afterimage, but his true form.

How could a kid, who employed numerous means just to raise his Meridian Qi Cultivation to the middle-stage Floating Life Realm, possibly withstand such a tremendous force? He's probably turned into a puddle of bloody flesh by now, right?

Compared to Wei Duzheng's smugness, Fu Lingxue, who had just been driven into a desperate situation by Yun Xiao, now harbored a face filled with shock and a hint of relief on one of her cheeks.

Fu Lingxue knew in her heart that if Wei Duzheng had been a moment slower, she might have ended up like Lu Tianrun, having her throat pierced through by that indomitable wooden sword in Yun Xiao's hand.

"Finally dead!"

As he watched the enormous handprint dissipate, revealing a strange puddle beneath, Fu Lingxue exhaled as if expelling all terror and hatred from his heart.

Fu Lingxue's left cheek still burned with pain, but since she had avenged her great hatred, her vindictive heart seemed half assuaged. The remaining half, she would need to settle with the lives of that detestable boy's kin and friends.

"Hmm?"

Yet, just as Fu Lingxue oscillated between relief and resentment, Wei Duzheng, the party concerned, noticed something wasn't right and let out a sound of surprise, similar to when he kicked away Hu Ying'er just before. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

For at that moment, the great Meridian Qi Palm Seal had already dissipated, and in Wei Duzheng's hypothesis, even if that boy's physical strength was formidable, without turning into bloody flesh, he should end up dead from broken muscles and bones.

But now, when the giant handprint disappeared, what appeared before Wei Duzheng was a puddle of seemingly translucent water, with not a trace of blood in sight.

"That is..."

Wei Duzheng's astonished voice, though soft, was still picked up by some sharp-sensed experts with refined Power of Soul. Instantly, their gazes turned to that puddle of water.

Especially Xu Hongzhuang, who had just closed her eyes in despair earlier. When she saw the puddle of water, a glimmer of hope surfaced in her beautiful eyes, anticipating a miracle.

"Haha, I said big brother isn't that easy to kill!"

On the side, the straightforward and honest Ling Wan, though ignorant of what had transpired, laughed heartily. His words seemed extremely confident, yet anyone could detect that undeniable sigh of relief.

Splash splash!

Before everyone's eyes, the puddle of water unexpectedly moved by itself, constantly morphing shapes. Eventually, it stood upright, resembling the water attribute Strange Spirits from the seventh layer of the Xuanyin Cave.

However, when everyone saw the water form transform into a humanoid figure, their expressions varied. For Liu Hanyi, Ling Wan, and the like, it was a mix of surprise and joy, whereas for Wei Duzheng and Fu Lingxue, it was severe gloominess.

Because the water-shaped body gradually became clearer. After a while, it reassembled into Yun Xiao, looking much the same as before.

"What kind of technique is this?"

Even with Wei Duzheng's and Fu Lingxue's wide knowledge, they had never witnessed a genuine human being able to transform their entire body into water, which entirely overturned their understanding of human physical bodies.

At this moment, the technique Yun Xiao was executing was clearly an exceptional talent derived from refining a Ninth Rank low-level water attribute Strange Spirit in Xuanyin Cave long ago.

Later, in the Wuyan Water Palace, Yun Xiao refined a Xuan Water Spirit Pearl, further enhancing this special ability.

After entering the Slaughter Spirit Battlefield, Yun Xiao even refined various Spirit Crystals, including Water Attribute Spirit Crystals. This Secret Technique inherited from Strange Spirits grew increasingly mystifying.

Earlier, when Yun Xiao was bound by the Sky Power, he couldn't move, and there was no way to use the Shadow Clone Meridian Techniques. He had to take a risky chance, instantly transforming his entire body into water.

This special method was something Yun Xiao first used in Extreme Yin City when facing the heavenly rank expert Wu Zhukong. It allowed him to narrowly avoid a fatal strike from the Wuyan Palace Master.

At that time, Wei Duzheng hadn't shown up yet, so he didn't know Yun Xiao had such a special method, which is why he found it so unbelievable now.

Back in Extreme Yin City, after transforming into water, Yun Xiao withstood a blow from Wu Zhukong and was severely injured, taking a long time to re-condense his physical body.

In this instance, Yun Xiao was able to re-condense in such a short time, indicating this special method had indeed improved greatly.

However, after re-condensing his physical body, Yun Xiao's aura had become extremely weak. Not only had the strength of the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu vanished, but the power of the eight Ancestor Veins had also dropped to the bottom.

Even though Yun Xiao had re-condensed his body, all he could do was collapse weakly on the ground, gasping for air. After all, he had endured a powerful strike from a late-stage Lingyun Realm expert.

Such an attack, if it landed on a regular middle-stage Floating Life Realm cultivator, might have resulted in broken tendons and bones. Only Yun Xiao's heaven-defying methods allowed him to barely escape with his life.

But despite Yun Xiao's incredible feat, his cultivation had fallen to the level of a half-step Heavenly Rank. Ignoring Fu Lingxue, there stood before him a late-stage Lingyun Realm expert, Wei Duzheng.

Already severely injured, Yun Xiao forcefully activated the Ancestor Vein power and borrowed Xiao Wu's strength. Now, with his original form restored, he was seriously injured again, struggling even to move a finger.

If not for one breath holding him up, Yun Xiao might have directly fainted, never to awaken again. His crisis hadn't been completely resolved; he had merely narrowly escaped death from a powerful strike.

"Yun Xiao, I must say, among the younger generation on Tenglong Continent, no one can match you. Unfortunately..."

As a leader, Wei Duzheng, though astonished by Yun Xiao's water transformation, regained his extreme confidence after sensing Yun Xiao's true condition.

These words seemed to praise Yun Xiao's talent and combat prowess, but the word "unfortunately" revealed the essence of the situation today.

No matter how exceptionally talented Yun Xiao was, even surpassing some older powerhouses, the situation was stronger than the person. At this point, he couldn't make much of a wave.

Not to mention the president of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, a formidable late-stage Lingyun Realm expert— even an Earth Rank Third Realm or Spiritual Rank Third Realm cultivator could easily crush Yun Xiao.

Moreover, looking at Yun Xiao's condition, even without anyone's power upon him, he might soon meet his demise. His wounds were so severe that even Wei Duzheng found them alarming.

One would imagine the cost Yun Xiao paid to turn the tables, but now it seemed all those costs were meaningless, leading inevitably to death.

Truth be told, Yun Xiao's performance in today's battle was already extremely impressive. Defeating Spirit Fighting Commerce's Vice President Lu Tianrun and leaving Wuyan Palace's Vice Palace Master Fu Lingxue in a wretched state, almost killing her.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain. Freed, Wei Duzheng struck once, and Yun Xiao was forced back to his original form, rendering all his previous efforts a pitiful background.

"Yun Xiao, dying by the hands of this president can also be considered an honor!"

Wei Duzheng's words seemed self-aggrandizing, but his actions showed no hesitation. In the next moment, he fiercely struck towards Yun Xiao's head.

At that moment, Yun Xiao couldn't move an inch, only watching as the hand came closer, perhaps marking his end.

From afar, Xu Hongzhuang closed her eyes in despair. The miracles the young man might have performed were about to end, and her heart turned to ash.

"Look, what is that?"

Just as Xu Hongzhuang closed her eyes, a surprised shout from Ling Wan made her abruptly open them and look in the direction Ling Wan pointed.

In the western sky, a white dot, like a shooting star, sped towards the depths of Impermanence Island at astonishing speed.

"Is that... Xue'er?!"

Unlike Ling Wan, the moment Xu Hongzhuang saw the white dot, a feeling of recognition arose, and tears rolled down as she murmured.

As everyone's gaze flickered, Wei Duzheng's strike was less than a foot from Yun Xiao's head. Suddenly, a huge wind sound descended from the sky, startling him.