The snow fell even harder, layering Qing Chen in a thick blanket of white that was constantly blown away by the shockwaves of Li Shutong and Li Bingxi's battle.
He watched intently, his insides churning from the force of their blows, but he didn't utter a word, afraid of distracting his master.
Gradually, the wind and snow were drawn in by their energy, forming a huge vortex outside the battlefield.
But at some point, Qing Chen sensed something was wrong.
Li Shutong's movements were becoming slower, lacking the initial ferocity.
At the beginning of the fight, Qing Chen couldn't even see his master's Shadow, only catching a glimpse of a lingering afterimage when they exchanged blows with Li Bingxi.
Now, his master's figure was becoming increasingly clear.
His fighting style was also becoming more conservative.
In contrast, Li Bingxi seemed unconcerned about the damage to his clones, attacking without any defense, each strike delivered with full force.
Was his master exhausted?From the beginning of the battle, Li Shutong had only been doing one thing: protecting Qing Chen.
No matter how fierce Li Bingxi's attacks were, Li Shutong's protective barrier never retreated a single step.
Li Bingxi hadn't even touched a hair on Qing Chen's head.
In the midst of the blizzard, Li Shutong slowly said:
“The most intimidating aspect of Koshima's legacy is its sheer number. Look at Li Bingxi, splitting into twelve, his attacks as dense as a torrential rain. All twelve clones are the real body, but this Cultivation path is fundamentally flawed.”
“Beyond Demi-God, all those who transcend the mundane pursue the limits of the individual. What is the limit of the individual? It is to reach godhood with a mortal body!”
“Li Bingxi may split into twelve, but each is weakened. Each split weakens him further.”
“Perhaps you can't see the difference at your current level, but for a Demi-God opponent, a fraction of a difference means a difference in realm!”
“In the future, you can try, when you make contact with your enemy, to infuse Knight True Qi into their body at the point of contact to break through their defenses.”
“Watch closely!”
His words fell to the ground with the snow as Li Shutong moved to one of Li Bingxi's clones. The clone instinctively swung its palm downward.
But before the blow could land, Li Shutong's speed suddenly increased, becoming invisible once more.
When Li Shutong's foot slammed into the clone, Qing Chen distinctly felt the Knight True Qi surging through his master, gathering on his foot like a thunderbolt.
With a deafening roar, Li Bingxi's clone shattered, scattering like snowflakes in a radial explosion, blowing away the newly formed vortex.
Qing Chen watched in amazement. This level of combat was unprecedented in his life, each move seemed to harness the power of nature.
He wondered when he would reach such a level.
Even if someone told him that his master, Li Shutong, could destroy a main battle tank with one strike, he wouldn't doubt it.
And what Li Shutong was doing now was teaching him how to use Knight True Qi.
At this time, the remaining Li Bingxi clones each took a small step, and a new Li Bingxi clone appeared.
Li Bingxi sneered: “You still have time to teach your disciple? What difference does destroying one clone make? You still can't break this formation.”
Li Shutong smiled: “The more clones you create, the weaker you become. We both know this, no need for pretense.”
Li Bingxi sneered again: “How much better are you? You've already expended your energy fighting Shendai Qianchi's Shikigami, and now you're surrounded. I clearly remember hitting you three times.”
As he spoke, the four surrounding Shikigami stepped forward, seemingly ready to strike at any moment.
The overwhelming pressure, like heavy mountains pressing down from above, made Qing Chen's heart pound.
But at this moment, Qing Chen felt that his master's aura remained calm and unhurried.
Strange, did his master not intend to escape?
What was his master waiting for?!
Northern Snowfield.
A team of men in black was rapidly approaching the battlefield. Each carried a large katana strapped to their backs, clearly members of the Shendai Consortium, inheritors of the Ittō-ryū style.
They were the death squad from the Shendai ancestor's era, here to turn the tide.
The six B-Class death squad members moved with incredible speed, light as swallows flitting across the snow.
Atop a snowy mountain nearby, two young men in parkas and sunglasses had just reached the summit.
One had a rosy complexion, filled with joy, the other was pale, as if nothing in the world was worth rejoicing over.
Strangely, they both carried huge backpacks, taller than themselves.
The cheerful young man removed his sunglasses and exclaimed, “Wow, what heavy snow!”
The exclamation immediately caught the attention of the six death squad members.
The death squad members exchanged glances but ignored the two young men and continued southward.
The cheerful young man laughed, “What the heck, they ignored me. Hey, Boss, isn't this a coincidence? I'm here for a Qing Family mission, you're here for a Chen Family mission, and we've ended up together. Isn't this an epic Inner World crossover?!”
However, the pale young man next to him, wearing white headphones, seemed not to have heard him.
Or perhaps, even if he heard, he didn't intend to respond.
The excitable young man put on his sunglasses and looked at him: “Do I look cool with sunglasses? By the way, are you the older or younger brother now?”
He leaned closer to the other's headphones, and when he heard it was rock music, he scoffed, “The older brother, how boring.”
The pale young man silently pointed to the backpacks behind them, signaling them to open.
He himself opened his backpack and shook it upside down.
Instantly, countless folded paper swallows poured out of the backpack, but before they hit the ground, they came to life, each taking flight!
From his headphones, the heavy metal music was deafening, the frenzied screams contrasting sharply with the pale young man's calm demeanor.
“The fallen, the restless, the dead.”
“The addicted, the peaceful, the living.”
“For those to be judged.”
“For those to be redeemed.”
Hundreds of paper swallows pierced through the music from the headphones.
They soared through the snow.
The pale young man looked intently at the endless white world, guiding the swallows towards the other side.
The six Ittō-ryū warriors also noticed the swallows. Their faces changed.
“Fight to the death!” a warrior roared, drawing his katana from his back and charging towards the approaching swallows.
Atop the mountain, the pale young man sighed.
“The extinguished, the enraged, the buried.”
“The joyful, the nostalgic, the beautiful.”
“All die.”
In an instant, the black-clad warriors on the snowfield drew their swords!
The hundreds of white paper swallows easily evaded the blades, piercing through the warriors' chests like bullets.
The white swallows turned red.
The pale young man let the swallows chase down the warriors, and looked at the cheerful young man beside him: “Open it.”
“Woof woof,” the cheerful young man untied his backpack and emptied it.
The pale young man was about to take control, but his Face[-] changed.
The backpack didn't contain more swallows, but a whole bag of folded paper frogs!
The frogs also came to life, jumping out in all directions.
The pale young man, expressionless, finally took off his headphones, and heard the other person still singing, “Happy pond, planting dreams into an ocean, big eyes, big mouths, singing loud and clear.”
The two seemed to be in different worlds, enjoying different emotions.
The pale young man was silent for a long time: “Zard, you…”
Zard was somewhat aggrieved: “Boss, I've been folding these for days! You just told me, and I started folding them! But the thing is, I can only fold paper frogs! Look how fast they jump, they're really useful for finding people!”
As he spoke, the six Ittō-ryū warriors on the snowfield had already fallen dead, the blood-stained swallows lifeless.
Huan Yu took a deep breath and controlled the paper frogs, sending them in different directions, deep into the snowfield.
They were searching for an aging Yin-Yang Master in this vast snowfield.
Zard asked, “By the way, Boss, where are we going after this mission? Let's go to city 22, I heard their sukiyaki is the best.”
Huan Yu glanced at Zard, his eyes seeming to say: You just attacked Shendai people and want to go to one of Shendai’s headquarters to eat sukiyaki?
“Want to eat? My treat,” Zard said.
Huan Yu expressionlessly put on his headphones, blocking out all the noise.
After a long time, he whispered, “Found him.”
He turned and walked down the mountain.
Zard yelled from the mountain, “Wait, aren’t we just supposed to find him? There are still eight S-class Shikigami with him, Boss, we can't beat him!”
But Huan Yu, with his headphones on, didn't hear Zard.
As he descended the mountain, he took out a flare gun and shot it towards the sky.
The red light slowly rose into the sky and then slowly fell.
The direction it pointed to would be the final stage of today.
The protagonist of this stage wasn't just one person, but everyone on it.