Chapter 84: The Gap in Strength and an Unexpected Figure

The refined young man’s face twisted with rage in an instant; this was a blatant, naked insult. He could not possibly endure it.

Thus, one fled and the other pursued, and soon both vanished beyond the horizon.

“Bastard! Is running away all you’re good for? If you’ve got any courage, stop and fight me!”

“Call me ‘Grandfather’ and perhaps I’ll consider it.”

Despite his taunts, the distance between them steadily closed. When they were a certain span apart, Qi flung out his hand, and a gilded flying frying pan shot into the air. The refined young man’s expression soured as he made a futile attempt to struggle, countering with a sweeping wave of green, poisonous flames.

The flying frying pan was swiftly and utterly corroded.

The ease with which the scene unfolded left the refined young man momentarily stunned. Then, as if something occurred to him, his anger only deepened.

“To think a dignified demonic cultivator at the Core Formation stage would make such a fuss over a mortal’s frying pan—could it be you were once the dish being stir-fried in it?”

“You’re dead.”

“In truth, this is close enough. Let me send you to the Western Paradise right here,” Qi suddenly halted in mid-air, glancing upward to see the very edge of the Myriad Infant Soul Sail.

“So you dare utter such empty threats. Your death is at hand.”

“Heh, before I use my trump card, let’s test the gap between us.” With a sudden turn, he charged, unleashing fire, frost, and lightning in concert, enveloping the refined young man who was hurtling towards him.

It wasn’t that his foe couldn’t dodge, but that the attack was so feeble it was hardly worth evading. Be it fire, frost, or even the lightning which should have restrained him, all were stopped by his pitch-black spirit armor, unable to penetrate in the slightest.

A cold sneer curled his lips. With a flick of his sleeve, a mass of green and purple flames flashed toward Qi. The air the fire swept through seemed to turn faintly green, as though infected with poison.

Qi, locked in place by a spiritual sense, could not evade. He reversed his grip, holding two magical shields in his hands to maximize his defense. The silver Reversal Shield faced the oncoming assault.

Even shields gripped in hand would eventually lose their efficacy under the passage of time, but at least for a moment, their defense was absolute.

Before the silver shield could even make contact, the poisonous flames ballooned out, swallowing the entirety of the Reversal Shield. The sizzle of corrosion was audible; though Qi’s time-manipulating bloodline was immensely powerful, his own cultivation base was far too low. Especially when facing a Core Formation expert’s ultimate move head-on, this shortcoming became glaringly obvious.

Even with considerable reserves of spiritual power, Qi couldn’t withstand the corrosion of the dual-colored flames. His hands, holding the Reversal Shield, were eaten away up to the elbows, and the process was accelerating.

“The gap is truly vast. Only the Ashen Sky can withstand this.”

In this moment of impending doom, another bloodline stirred within him. The silver circle slowly tinged with gray, which spread and coalesced into the Ashen Sky.

The two-colored flames began to falter, their brightness and substance growing dim and insubstantial.

“What is this? A spell or a mystical treasure? It can actually withstand my purple-green poisonous flames?” The refined young man’s brow arched, a flicker of greed and calculation in his eyes. Still, he would not allow the hard-earned poisonous flames to be extinguished. With a thought, he shrank the flames to the size of a fist and swallowed them down.

Qi exhaled in relief and gave a self-mocking smile. “As expected, with my current strength, facing a Core Formation cultivator is too much of a stretch. You there—any last words? Don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”

“You’re certainly full of confidence. And what about your own last words?”

“Since you’ve finished speaking, let me see you off.”

Under the wary gaze of the refined young man, Qi seemed to toss out several unknown metal cylinders, blue-white flames sputtering from their ends as they drifted slowly in this direction. Then, astonishingly, he turned and fled, flying toward the edge of the Myriad Infant Soul Sail in the sky.

Could those metal canisters be his trump card, or were they, like the frying pan before, mere distractions? He inclined toward the latter; the canisters, like the frying pan, were mundane objects without the slightest spiritual aura.

Having reached his conclusion, the refined young man ignored the canisters. Out of caution, he maximized his spirit armor’s defense and summoned a magical shield for protection. He believed that unless Qi’s trump card was at the peak Core Formation or Nascent Soul level, he would not be instantly annihilated.

A sneer at his lips, he quickened his speed, passing through the iron canisters. Yet a nagging wariness unsettled him. He recalled their first encounter—how had a mere frying pan evaded his attack, broken through his defenses, and even struck him on the head? This had always been a mystery to him.

He had never found an answer. Now, recalling it heightened his already wary sense of impending crisis. He did not know why, but his instincts screamed for him to flee the canisters at once.

“Taste the power of several consecutive explosions—this is a spectacle the world has never seen. You should feel honored.” Rising above the Myriad Infant Soul Sail, Qi pressed a red button on a massive machine whose origin was unknown.

Through the black sail, Qi could feel the immense heat and dazzling brilliance, but he paid it no heed. His eyes, as sharp as an astronomical telescope, had already caught sight of the large-headed infant on the Soul Sail.

At that moment, the infant was gritting its teeth, struggling desperately to endure the double onslaught of thunderclouds and a sea of lightning below.

Sweat beaded on its brow; this was a contest of endurance now. He didn’t believe a Core Formation cultivator could lose to a baby girl. Though he was losing in combat strength due to his weakness to lightning, he still believed victory would be his, if only he could last a little longer.

Qi crept closer, silent and cold, a smirk on his lips.

Unexpectedly, below, Misaka Mikoto suddenly fired several super electromagnetic cannons, the convex sections of the Myriad Infant Soul Sail rising into the air. By sheer coincidence, one shot was aimed precisely beneath the large-headed infant.

Unable to dodge in time, the large-headed infant was blasted skyward by the super electromagnetic cannon.

Deprived of mana, the Myriad Infant Soul Sail was gradually torn apart by the ceaseless lightning.

Qi, abandoning all pretense of stealth, struck the sail with a bolt of lightning from above and below. At last, the black sail could endure no more and was ripped open.

The large-headed infant, smoking from head to toe, flew back in a rage. Just as it was about to speak, a slender figure appeared as if out of thin air behind him. A dagger traced a perfect arc in its understated swing.