354: Let me see your limits!

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Ming's figure flickered slightly, transforming into a blood-red shadow that vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already within reach. His right hand's five fingers were curved like eagle claws, carrying a sharp whistle that tore through the air, aiming straight for Zhuge Mingyi's neck!

This claw strike seemed simple and unadorned, but it actually concentrated all of Lu Ming's Qi, sealing off all of Zhuge Mingyi's paths of retreat.

Feeling the power within it, Zhuge Mingyi's pupils shrank suddenly, and a sense of crisis instantly enveloped his entire body.

He was different from ordinary Cultivators. Perhaps due to his personality, or perhaps because he often toyed with the secrets of heaven, he usually avoided trouble whenever possible, striving to keep himself free from all Karma.

But when faced with an unavoidable crisis, he would instead adopt a desperate, all-or-nothing mindset and go all out.

Furthermore, he wasn't weak to begin with; on the contrary, he was strong—very strong!

However, Zhuge Mingyi knew in his heart that his Qi was sealed by Yun Chenzi's dao rhyme, and he was absolutely no match for his opponent in a head-on confrontation.

Thus, at the moment of Life and Death, he quickly flipped his right hand, and a small, dark green gourd appeared out of thin air in his palm. It was crystal clear, looking like jade yet not quite jade.

With a soft "pop," the gourd's stopper sprang open automatically.

Without even looking, Zhuge Mingyi aimed the gourd's mouth directly at his own mouth and gave his wrist a shake.

"Gulp, gulp..."

Seven or eight pills, each the size of a longan fruit and varying in color, emitting a rich and refreshing medicinal fragrance, rolled into his mouth!

As soon as these Medicinal Pills entered his throat, they transformed into several streams of pure, surging Qi. Like a river bursting its banks, they brutally crashed against the Seal of Yun Chenzi's sliver of dao rhyme.

Although this crude method placed an immense burden on his Meridians and might even leave behind hidden injuries, how could Zhuge Mingyi care about such things at the moment of Life and Death?

The effect was gratifying; although he couldn't completely break it, he managed to force open a small crack, giving him a slight chance to catch his breath.

In an instant, Qi began to gallop and roar through his parched limbs and bones!

"Buzz—"

Immediately, a majestic Qi fluctuation belonging to the Late Golden Core Stage erupted from within his body!

Though it was somewhat unstable and superficial, he had truly recovered a portion of his combat power!

A brilliant light burst from Zhuge Mingyi's eyes, and his previously withered aura suddenly became sharp.

His hands formed a series of complex and profound hand Seals at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye.

As his fingers flew, threads of silver-white light flowed and intertwined at his fingertips, emitting a mysterious and unpredictable dao rhyme.

"Karma is impermanent, changed by the heart!"

Facing Lu Ming's sharp claw, Zhuge Mingyi didn't dodge. Instead, he pointed vaguely at Lu Ming's incoming palm from a distance, and the silver-white light at his fingertip flashed and vanished.

Suddenly, Lu Ming felt the scene before his eyes blur slightly. Then, at the very moment his fingertips were about to touch Zhuge Mingyi's neck, an extremely strange sensation hit him.

Following that, a barely perceptible "sense of deviation" came from his wrist, as if an invisible force in the dark had gently nudged it.

This caused him to miss, even though he was clearly aiming for the center of Zhuge Mingyi's neck and his power trajectory hadn't changed. He had somehow deviated from the "initial angle" when he struck.

It was precisely this hair's breadth of difference that caused his certain-hit claw strike to ultimately just graze the side of Zhuge Mingyi's neck, leaving only a few shallow red marks on the skin without even breaking it.

"Oh?" Lu Ming's brow furrowed slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He withdrew his hand and examined his palm with great interest.

The feeling was very peculiar. Lu Ming was certain that it wasn't that the opponent had dodged or blocked it, but that his own attack had naturally gone wide!

This was an incredible thing!

It was like an arrow being shot; there was no problem with the drawing of the bow or the moment it left the string, yet just as it was about to hit, the anchor point was quietly changed, causing it to miss the target.

"Interesting."

Lu Ming didn't feel the slightest bit of anger because his strike missed; instead, he felt a bit excited.

This kind of method was more novel than any enemy he had encountered before.

And the more this was the case, the greater Zhuge Mingyi's value to him became!

"As expected, the biggest surprise is still you!"

With a thought, Lu Ming decided to test where the opponent's limit was.

He wasn't afraid of things getting out of hand; given Zhuge Mingyi's current state, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Besides, he still had a trump card specifically designed to counter fancy tricks.

"Mysterious Yin Soul Slaying Slash!"

With a plan in mind, Lu Ming pressed his index and middle fingers together, holding them vertically before his chest, and lowed a chant of obscure syllables.

In an instant, a bone-chilling Evil Qi that pierced straight through the Divine Soul began to permeate around him!

Strands of pure Mysterious Yin Qi fused with his powerful Divine Soul strength, condensing at his fingertips into a strange blade-light about a foot long that existed between illusion and reality!

This blade-light was formless and immaterial, yet it emitted a sharpness that made the Soul tremble!

It locked onto Zhuge Mingyi's Divine Soul, ignoring physical defense. The moment it was slashed out, it crossed space, striking straight for the opponent's Sea of Consciousness between his eyebrows!

Zhuge Mingyi's face turned pale; he could clearly feel that icy killing intent aimed directly at his Divine Soul.

This kind of secret technique that specialized in attacking the Divine Soul ignored physical defense and was the hardest to guard against!

He didn't dare to be careless. His hand Seals changed again, his ten fingers dancing like butterflies through flowers. More silver-white threads spread from his fingertips, weaving an ethereal set of strings in front of him.

"The past is set, the bygone is gone!"

He pointed at the incoming transparent blade-light from a distance once more, and the silver light at his fingertips flourished.

A bizarre thing happened!

The Mysterious Yin Soul Slaying Slash, which was originally a "certain-hit strike," arrived at the moment just before it would have slashed into Zhuge Mingyi's brow.

Its attack trajectory shifted again in mid-air in an extremely abrupt and illogical manner, slashing heavily into a jagged rock several people tall behind him!

It gave the impression that the blade-light was actively avoiding Zhuge Mingyi, or rather, the "cause" of the selected target had been forcibly changed, making the "effect" of the attack hitting Zhuge Mingyi impossible to establish, thus causing the attack to miss!

"Holy crap, you can even play like that?" Lu Ming's eyes widened.

Damn it, you're just cheating, aren't you! What's the difference between this method and using a cheat code!

But although he was complaining, Lu Ming's gaze became increasingly fervent, like he had discovered a favorite toy he wanted to claim for himself.

"Is this the Art of Karma? It really does have some tricks to it!"

Assessment complete: it is destined for me!

He stopped testing and decided to increase the intensity to see how far the opponent could go.

"Three Yin Nether Fire, rise!"

Lu Ming opened his mouth and spat out a cluster of exotic fire about the size of a fist with a deep purple core.

The exotic fire flowed with ink-like shadows. Even though it was burning, it emitted a bone-chilling coldness, and the surrounding light was silently swallowed by it.

The moment it appeared, the surrounding air temperature plummeted, and a thin layer of white frost even condensed on the ground of the stone forest.

This was precisely the Three Yin Nether Fire, which had successfully promoted to the Third Rank and even jumped straight to High Grade Third Rank after fusing with the Origin of the Nether Profound Yin Fire!