55: Chapter 55, Second Form – Tracing the Light

After Lu Jinghan repelled the three men, he noticed Sect Master Yin Wuji gathering power.

The power of that move made even him feel a hint of wariness.

"I must take one out before that guy makes his move."

Lu Jinghan thought to himself, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He took a deep breath, and the Time-Space Derivation Sutra within his body operated at full power.

A mysterious power surged into the Jinghan Sword, and a faint silver-white light flowed along the blade.

"Late Twilight."

The Jinghan Sword swung out, and this time, a visible silver-white arc of light appeared on the blade's edge.

Wherever that arc of light passed, time seemed to slow down.

The three Nascent Soul Mid Stage Disciples simultaneously felt an indescribable sense of crisis and instinctively tried to dodge.

But their bodies seemed to be bound by an invisible force, and their movements became sluggish.

Lu Jinghan did not miss this Opportunity, and the Jinghan Sword slashed toward one of them.

Pfft—!

The blade sliced across the throat, and blood splattered.

The Disciple's eyes widened as he clutched his throat and slowly collapsed.

A fatal blow.

"Third Brother!"

The remaining two were filled with rage, their eyes nearly bursting as they lunged frantically at Lu Jinghan.

Lu Jinghan sidestepped to avoid a saber strike and backhandedly parried a whip.

"Senior Brother!"

Zhou Tianchen's voice rang out again.

Lu Jinghan glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Zhou Tianchen had already defeated the two Early Nascent Soul Stage Disciples and was rushing over.

Lu Jinghan's heart settled, and he said in a deep voice, "Tianchen, pin one of them down!"

Zhou Tianchen nodded, the flames in the qiankun furnace surging as he blasted them toward one of the Nascent Soul Mid Stage Disciples.

The Disciple's expression changed, and he hurriedly turned to deal with it.

Although Zhou Tianchen was only at the Early Nascent Soul Stage, he practiced the Scripture of Alchemy, so his spiritual power was pure and his alchemical fire was fierce.

In addition, he had gained many opportunities in the Purple Bamboo Forest, making his combat power far superior to an ordinary Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

Striking with all his might now, he actually managed to entangle the Nascent Soul Mid Stage Disciple so that he couldn't break away.

Lu Jinghan seized this Opportunity and slashed the Jinghan Sword toward the remaining person.

"Jinghan Sword Strike!"

A sword light suddenly flared, heading straight for the Disciple's heart.

The Disciple's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly raised his sword to parry.

Clang—!

The two swords collided, and the Disciple was shaken back several steps, the skin between his thumb and forefinger splitting open.

Lu Jinghan pressed forward, the Jinghan Sword swinging repeatedly, the sword light like a tide, continuous and unending.

The Disciple was forced back step by step, only able to defend with effort, having no power to fight back at all.

Just then, Sect Master Yin Wuji's voice came from behind.

"Die!"

Lu Jinghan's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively sidestepped to dodge.

A sphere of light as black as ink streaked past him, crashing into the mountain wall behind him.

Boom—!

The mountain wall collapsed, and rubble flew everywhere.

Lu Jinghan looked back and saw that the black sphere of light had actually blasted a hole several yards deep into the mountain wall.

What terrifying power!

His gaze darkened; if he hadn't dodged just now, this strike would have been enough to severely injure him.

Seeing that his strike had missed, Sect Master Yin Wuji's expression became even gloomier.

He raised his hand and waved, and another black sphere of light condensed, blasting toward Lu Jinghan.

Lu Jinghan hurriedly dodged while simultaneously swinging the Jinghan Sword, sending an ice-blue Sword Qi toward Sect Master Yin Wuji.

Sect Master Yin Wuji sidestepped to avoid it, his palm techniques continuous and relentless.

Lu Jinghan was forced back repeatedly, his face growing paler and paler.

"Your spiritual power is almost exhausted, isn't it?"

Sect Master Yin Wuji sneered.

"An Early Nascent Soul Stage is an Early Nascent Soul Stage after all; your spiritual power won't last much longer."

Lu Jinghan didn't answer, only continuing to parry and dodge while the Time-Space Derivation Sutra within him operated frantically.

He indeed didn't have much spiritual power left, but he hadn't reached the end of his rope yet.

However, he really couldn't drag this on any longer.

Sect Master Yin Wuji's offensive was like a continuous tide, black spheres of light exploding one after another beside Lu Jinghan, with rubble flying and dust filling the air.

He was waiting—waiting for the moment Lu Jinghan's spiritual power was exhausted.

Just at the moment Sect Master Yin Wuji thought victory was within his grasp, Lu Jinghan suddenly stood firm and stopped dodging.

Sect Master Yin Wuji's brow furrowed, and a warning sign suddenly arose in his heart.

He instinctively sensed something was wrong; the person in front of him was brewing some kind of power that made his heart race.

He didn't dare hold back anymore, his hands suddenly coming together as the spiritual power within him surged frantically.

A massive black sphere of light condensed in his palms, emitting an aura that could destroy heaven and earth.

"Annihilation Profound Light—Go!"

The sphere of light blasted toward Lu Jinghan like a meteor, and wherever it passed, even the air sizzled from being corroded.

Lu Jinghan closed his eyes, and the Sword Intent of the second form of the Time Mark Sword Art slowly surfaced in his mind.

He gripped the Jinghan Sword tightly, and all the remaining spiritual power in his body surged into the blade.

The silver-white light on the sword suddenly flared, and this time, it was more intense than ever before.

"Time Mark Sword Art!"

Lu Jinghan opened his eyes, silver light flowing in his pupils as if reflecting the phantom of the entire river of time.

His voice wasn't loud, but it sounded as if it had traveled through time and space from ancient times, carrying an indescribable sense of vastness and grandeur.

"Second Form—Tracing Light!"

The Jinghan Sword swung out, and an invisible Sword Qi slashed toward Sect Master Yin Wuji.

Sect Master Yin Wuji's pupils shrank, and a never-before-felt chill of death rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

"Damn it—!"

He gritted his teeth and let out a low roar, and the ancient dark-red ring on his finger suddenly lit up, a blood-colored light screen instantly enveloping him.

It was an extremely rare defensive Magic Treasure—the Blood Soul Ring.

It required essence blood as a catalyst to be activated, and once triggered, it could form an absolute defense in a split second.

He had thought that during this trip to the Southern Wilderness, he wouldn't need to use this life-saving item, but he hadn't expected to be forced to by an Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

The light screen had just formed when that sword strike descended.

The Blood Soul Ring's blood-colored light screen flickered violently, emitting an overburdened humming sound.

Sect Master Yin Wuji's face was as pale as paper; he could feel that this light screen could shatter at any moment.

He couldn't take it head-on!

He could feel that if this Sword Qi landed, even if he was at the Late-stage Nascent Soul, he would perish.

In all his years of running rampant in the Western Regions, he had never relied on mere brute courage.

With this thought, Sect Master Yin Wuji no longer hesitated and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Blood Soul Ring.

The ring suddenly lit up with a blinding blood-red light, and the blood-colored light screen expanded sharply, wrapping his entire person within it.

Immediately after, the light screen and his figure disappeared from the spot together—he had fled.

As for the others, although they also had defensive Magic Treasures, they simply couldn't block Tracing Light.

The moment their Magic Treasures shattered, they were obliterated by Tracing Light.

Lu Jinghan looked in the direction where Sect Master Yin Wuji had disappeared, his hand holding the sword trembling slightly.

The Tracing Light strike had almost drained all his spiritual power and more than half of his Divine Soul power.

However, the power was indeed immense; it was just that with his current Nascent Soul cultivation, he couldn't fully exert the true power of the Time Mark Sword Art.

Lu Jinghan leaned against a large tree, closed his eyes, and said in a hoarse and tired voice, "Clean up and prepare to leave this place."

Zhou Tianchen nodded, walked over to the corpses, and checked them carefully to ensure nothing was missed.

Then he sat down nearby and also began to close his eyes to regulate his breathing.

"Senior Brother, are you all right?" Qin Muchuan stepped forward and asked.

Lu Jinghan shook his head and didn't speak.

He was indeed all right; the Tracing Light strike had indeed consumed a lot, but it was just exhaustion.

Just then, not far ahead, a burst of applause rang out.