Chapter 2420: Chapter 2484: Power of the Ancestral Witch
Swish, the Phoenix waved her hand, and a flash of silver light shot towards the Tang Turtle. The latter immediately closed his mouth but did not dodge. Instead, he raised his hand, and it seemed as if an energy shield appeared in front of him. That silver light shot to less than twenty centimeters from him and suddenly stopped, revealing its true form — a steel needle about four to five centimeters long.
Are they fighting among themselves? Of course not, these two were merely acting. Just now, the Phoenix’s move, Li Yifei thought to himself, if he encountered it, he would either block it with the Mohist War Blade or have to dodge. There was no way he could block it with his hand without dodging, not even with True Qi Armor. That steel needle seemed ordinary, but its penetrating power was extremely strong, probably too much for the True Qi Armor to block. Once it got close, it would inevitably pierce through the body.
And that Xuanwu Tangtortoise did not use True Qi to block that steel needle; it seemed more like... an intent force? Li Yifei couldn’t figure out what kind of power the opposing side was using and how it differed from the witch doctors he had encountered in Africa before.
Intent force? Special function? Or some other ability? Regardless of what it was, the method of utilizing it shouldn’t be much different from that of True Qi.
The Saintess frowned, looked at Xuanwu Tangtortoise, and said, "Are you a Descendant of the Ancestral Witch?"
"Ancestral Witch? Sort of, but that’s your term. To be precise, I am the Ancestral Witch, and the Ancestral Witch is me, and I have no disciples; there’s only one person each generation, so there’s no such thing as a successor!" Xuanwu Tangtortoise snapped his fingers as he spoke.
Li Yifei said, "Reincarnation?"
Xuanwu Tangtortoise clapped his hands and said, "Correct, reincarnation. Of course, I don’t think of it this way, after all, I am me, not anyone else."
His words were mysterious, but Li Yifei did not believe them. The Saintess frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed lightly and said, "Just a local witch doctor from Africa, no matter how mysterious, it’s useless."
"Is that so? Saintess from the Holy War Organization, I have heard of you for a long time. I know you are as beautiful as an angel and that your strength is great. I admire you a lot, but I am not happy with you slandering me like this."
"Let’s stick to the previous plan. Honey, you deal with the Phoenix, and I’ll take care of this pretentious Xuanwu!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yifei glanced at the Saintess, as if asking whether this arrangement was fine. The Saintess nodded and arrogantly said, "We can see who takes care of their opponent first."
This statement was very disdainful and full of provocation, which made Xuanwu put away his smile, rolled his eyes, and said, "Phoenix, let’s see who defeats their opponent first. Whoever gets back to the island first gets moved up one rank!"
Phoenix nodded, shook her hand, and a row of steel needles suddenly appeared in front of her. These steel needles looked like they were controlled by an invisible line, but in reality, there was nothing. There were no needle holes on the needles, and there were about a hundred steel needles. Each steel needle suddenly moved, seemingly without pattern, but there were signs to look for. They spun in front of her in a whirl, and the steel needles spun faster and faster. Li Yifei squinted his eyes, lifted his blade, and approached the Phoenix. Every step seemed casual but was actually full of caution. The Phoenix’s weapon was peculiar; just now, that single steel needle had revealed some clues, so Li Yifei had to be careful.
Since these two were above the Twelve Holy Beasts, their cultivation must be stronger than the former; otherwise, they wouldn’t have ranked among the Four Sacred Beasts.
On the other side, the Saintess also took action. This battle was exceptionally important, one could even say crucial. She couldn’t afford to be careless. If Li Yifei’s cultivation was perhaps comparable to the Phoenix, or maybe slightly higher due to his Innate Vital Energy and weapon, then she would be somewhat weaker than Xuanwu, so she had to be more cautious! However, she wasn’t completely without confidence. As the Holy War Organization’s Saintess, she excelled at dealing with various teachings, unlike Li Yifei, who was more of a frontal combatant. The title of Xuanwu seemed to imply a strong defense, so even for Li Yifei, wielding the Mohist War Blade might not make it easy to deal with. The Saintess, however, had many moves that conventional defense might not counter.
Overall, when dueling with Li Yifei, the Saintess felt concerned all the time. Even if she constantly reminded herself to give it her all, she still couldn’t fight at her full potential. Some of her techniques had little effect on Li Yifei, but when facing the so-called Descendant of the Ancestral Witch, things were different.
Ancestral Witches are also Witch Doctors. They wouldn’t consider their own practices as evil magic, but within the Holy War Organization where the Saintess belonged, it was considered a form of evil magic, which she was perfectly positioned to counteract.
The Saintess flew gracefully toward the sea of flowers, her fingers quickly forming seals as she chanted. Her staff soon appeared in her hand, and not far away, Xuanwu Tangtortoise’s eyes shrank as he said, "You actually have that staff."
The Saintess said nothing, only smiled faintly. Several enhancing spells were cast on herself, and a beam of Holy Light struck towards Xuanwu Tangtortoise. He still raised one hand, allowing the Holy Light to wash over him. Three seconds later, the Holy Light dissipated, and Xuanwu Tangtortoise clicked his tongue, saying, "Little Saintess, if this is all you have, then you will surely lose today."
Judging by his demeanor, it seemed that the Holy Light had barely been enough to cause a tickle. The Saintess could sense the vast witchcraft that surged forth when he raised his hand, aware of the gap between them, so she took things more seriously and decided to directly use her powerful moves rather than continue to test him.
Li Yifei wasn’t having an easy time either. He was ten meters away from the Phoenix, surrounded by hundreds of steel needles. As these needles spun, they even whistled, and the simultaneous whistling of over a hundred steel needles created a very noisy sound.
The steel needles were too fast—so fast that Li Yifei’s eyesight could not clearly track the trajectory of most of them. In other words, he couldn’t catch the traces of those needles, making them difficult to defend against. He quietly summoned two layers of True Qi Armor, stacked them together, circulating his True Qi throughout his body, raising it all in one breath, preparing for the opponent’s sudden attack.
"This knife is not ordinary!" The Phoenix suddenly spoke coldly, "I like it. I want this trophy."
Li Yifei chuckled and said, "What do you have to offer?"
"Do you think you can beat me?" the Phoenix asked coldly.
"If all you have are these lousy steel needles, then you probably won’t win."
"Hahaha, alright, try the power of these steel needles first, arrogant boy. Not even the cowardly Xuanwu dares to face my one hundred and eight Heavenly Mysterious Iron Needles." The Phoenix finally ceased probing and, after speaking, formed a hand seal to control the steel needles.
Heavenly Mysterious Iron Needles, huh? They sound prestigious, but unfortunately, I can’t use them. After all, only the undefeated masters use needles.
Woosh woosh woosh, several sounds of breaking through the air came, and Li Yifei squinted his eyes, capturing the trajectory of those six needles. The distance between them was short enough, and Li Yifei instantly swung the Mohist War Blade several times, knife energy crisscrossing, blocking the six steel needles. However, unexpectedly, those six steel needles passed through the knife energy and continued shooting toward Li Yifei.
Sh*t, Li Yifei’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly realized that knife energy was illusory, whereas steel needles were solid; they were likely unstoppable, especially considering the small area of the steel needles. Seeing the needles about to reach his body, Li Yifei knew he couldn’t take them head-on. Yet he remained calm, twisting his wrist, flicking the Mohist War Blade upwards. A flash of black light chased down several steel needles, slicing through them with a few clanging sounds, and the steel needles fell to the ground.
The edge of the Mohist War Blade seemed dull, but Li Yifei knew that the sword’s power didn’t lie in the visible blade but in the material of the entire knife. A knife with thickness but infinitely sharpness; if its hardness wasn’t matched, it was likely to be cut.
However, this time... the Mohist War Blade slashed at several Heavenly Mysterious Iron Needles but didn’t cut them, even though Li Yifei swung as fast as possible.
Yet if it couldn’t cut, then so be it; it might not necessarily be the needles’ problem. After all, these objects were flying in mid-air at high speed. Li Yifei managing to strike them with the blade was not easy, and he had no time to think as sixteen steel needles shot forward.
These sixteen needles didn’t cluster together but spread out—some close to the ground, some about a person’s height, some over a meter high—seemingly aimed to hit every part of Li Yifei’s body.
The blade spun, Li Yifei merging with the knife, like a giant longsword. As the blade pointed forward, the sixteen steel needles were already close. This move was one Li Yifei had recently mastered, called Spinning Knife.
Maybe its utility against a single opponent was minor, but if faced with a swarm like bees, it would have great effect. Using it now against the Phoenix’s Flying Needle technique was most fitting.
As for the effectiveness, one would know upon use. With clinking sounds, Li Yifei had already dashed to the Phoenix’s front, unwilling to be constantly worn down by her steel needles, so Li Yifei used the Spinning Knife directly to charge at the Phoenix.
The Phoenix, of course, didn’t think steel needles could easily take down Li Yifei, but his easy breaking of her steel needles was surprising. Seeing Li Yifei knocking away those sixteen steel needles, the Phoenix opened her hands, sending dozens of remaining steel needles toward Li Yifei. The one hundred and eight Heavenly Mysterious Iron Needles were the maximum number she could control, but there was a hidden aspect: she could make the steel needles float but couldn’t control all of them simultaneously for an attack. Even if she could shoot them, she couldn’t control precision and force.
Simply put, Phoenix excelled at controlling one steel needle, but one certainly wouldn’t trouble Li Yifei, easily breaking through it. With her current level of mastery, it was just beginner level; only through constant practice could she progress further. Only when she could simultaneously control one hundred and eight steel needles individually would she consider it mastery. This control meant managing each needle’s trajectory separately, rather than firing them like a unified swarm as she did.
Though both appeared the same, their power differed. Having just used the Spinning Knife, Li Yifei didn’t intend to use it again but instead exhibited his bodily techniques, accelerating to his maximum speed.
