Chapter 2423: Chapter 2487: Strike While You’re Down
While you’re down, I’m going to take your life; that’s Li Yifei’s objective. Since I’ve already plotted against Xuanwu Tangtortoise and shattered one of his arms, I should make the most of it and strike again while he hasn’t yet reacted.
Xuanwu Tangtortoise is still in pain and shock, unable to believe what’s happening. Suddenly, a face and a fist appear before him, and Xuanwu Tangtortoise tries to retreat and avoid it, but it’s too late. Li Yifei channels another stream of Innate Vital Energy—no, not just a stream, but a tenth of his total. Such a massive amount of Innate Vital Energy is a significant investment from Li Yifei.
Phoenix instinctively senses something’s wrong and warns, "Retreat quickly." At the same time, she fully activates her Flame Sword to block the attack, but no matter how fast it is, there’s still a distance to cover. Meanwhile, Li Yifei’s fist—no, it should be called a hammer or a boulder containing the weight of a thousand pounds—crashes heavily into Xuanwu Tangtortoise’s chest.
Even though one hand protects his chest, his other good hand provides no resistance.
Innate Vital Energy has always been Li Yifei’s ace in the hole, his trump card in getting through countless dangers. This time, facing danger again, with limited True Qi left, Li Yifei can’t afford to waste time on these two, so he devised this plan, and fortunately, he bet right.
The punch strikes Xuanwu Tangtortoise’s chest. Upon contact, he feels an overwhelming pressure, a force so powerful he can’t breathe or avoid it, much stronger than a captain’s attack—no, stronger than a captain.
But how could Golden Eagle possibly be so strong? Could he be even more powerful than the captain? Has he been hiding his strength all this time, only now revealing his true power? Xuanwu Tangtortoise can’t escape, and his mind becomes muddled. Li Yifei’s punch hits his chest, the immense power instantly breaking his hand bones, shattering his ribcage and chest cavity, and then his internal organs.
Remember, this isn’t just a tenth of the Innate Vital Energy. Combined with the previous punch, Li Yifei used up two-tenths of his Innate Vital Energy, already limited in stock, now even less.
"Damn!" Xuanwu Tangtortoise utters a word as his body is sent flying backward, his chest cavity collapsing, his arm hanging limp, his eyeballs bulging. After saying the word, he can’t utter another as his shattered organs pour from his esophagus, with no place else to go but to backflow through the esophagus, or rather, spray out.
Li Yifei pays no attention to Xuanwu’s condition but immediately turns back, the Mohist War Blade extending three feet of blade energy, meeting the already approaching Flame Sword. A sizzling sound is heard as they dissolve.
The Saintess makes her move too, with two summoned beasts encircling Phoenix. One emits a holy, the other a filthy aura, rushing towards Phoenix. Despite the fire phoenix’s protection, she’s still struggling. But she knows the key lies with Li Yifei. She doesn’t have time to care for Xuanwu Tangtortoise. Especially seeing his current state, Phoenix realizes she must look after herself first, or else... she’s in danger too.
Yes, she’s worried about her safety because Li Yifei’s two punches were terrifying, capable of tearing everything apart. Phoenix knows today they failed; against such a Li Yifei, there’s no chance of winning. The intelligence was still wrong. Besides using that oddly-shaped blade, his cultivation was higher, which is why he could shatter Tangtortoise’s Xuanwu protection with one punch and bring Xuanwu to the brink of death with the next.
What seemed like an easy hunt today, with two Divine Beasts making the move, now ends with one bleeding on the ground, and the other feeling uncertain, losing all fighting spirit, even wanting to retreat. It’s not that she’s unprincipled; it’s just... with her own safety at stake, Phoenix can’t ignore these concerns.
Li Yifei senses the Flame Sword changing, already guessing Phoenix’s shift in emotions, thinking that his plan succeeded. Taking one out unexpectedly leaves the other unwilling to fight, given their relationships aren’t that close; otherwise, it would only anger Phoenix. Li Yifei spins back, charging in again with clenched fists.
Seeing Li Yifei clenching his fists, Phoenix feels a chill in her heart. She taps her toes on the ground and quickly leaps out of the summoned beasts’ encirclement. The Flame Sword simultaneously flies back to her, only to be intercepted halfway by a jet-black blade that slices through it.
With a thud, the fire phoenix on the Flame Sword is extinguished again, and that’s not all—during Phoenix’s moment of weakened control, Li Yifei rushes forward, grabs the Flame Sword’s hilt, and drives it into the ground as the Mohist War Blade slams down.
Li Yifei performs what looks like splitting firewood—no, it should be sinking a nail. He forcefully pounds the Flame Sword’s hilt into the ground with the Mohist War Blade, and after just a few strikes, both the blade and the hilt are embedded in the dirt.
Phoenix’s face changes drastically and she shouts, "You dare!"
"Heh, I dare do anything!" Li Yifei steps on the hilt. He can feel the Flame Sword struggling, as if it too is a treasured sword with feelings, protesting against being pounded into the earth, but pinned under Li Yifei’s foot, it can’t fly out. Meanwhile, the flames on the Flame Sword extinguish as it presses into the soil.
If Li Yifei had said this before the fight, Phoenix’s reaction would be completely different. Now, however, her heart is conflicted. Over there, Xuanwu Tangtortoise is still spewing fresh blood, looking miserable, likely doomed. This is the result...
"Return my sword, and I won’t hunt you down this time!" Phoenix said coldly.
Li Yifei flicked his wrist, spinning the Mohist War Blade into a flourish, and said mockingly, "You won’t kill me this time? Are you out of your mind? I think you should be praying that I don’t come to kill you!"
Phoenix’s face stiffened, her body trembling with anger. After a few seconds, she pointed at Li Yifei and said, "Stop bullying people like this, do you really think I can’t do anything to you?"
"The sword is right at your feet, if you’ve got the guts, come and take it. If you can’t, then get on your knees and beg for mercy!"
I have a way, but compared to a sword and a life, I would certainly choose the latter. Worried Phoenix thought to herself. She definitely wanted her weapon back, given its significance and how well it matched her fiery nature, it was almost like it was made for her. But now...
Phoenix’s eyes shifted as she said, "Golden Eagle, about today’s events... I was only obeying the captain’s orders. If you return the sword to me, I guarantee..."
"Stop!" Li Yifei interrupted, raising his hand to stop Phoenix from continuing, looking somewhat impatient. "Are you saying the person who tried to kill me just now wasn’t you?"
"It... it was me."
"Then what are you talking about? The Four Great Beasts are supposed to be highly skilled, tasked with encircling the two of us..." As he said this, Li Yifei scratched his ear, then continued, "Why does it suddenly feel like it’s someone else."
"You!" Phoenix, normally proud, today suffered a severe setback. Initially wanting to de-escalate the situation, she found his words so infuriating, her expression changed dramatically. The flaming Phoenix appeared on her face again, laced with fury as she spoke, "Golden Eagle, stop bullying me, or today, even if I have to risk my life, I’ll make sure you go down too.".
"Don’t joke around, if you dared to do that, you would have done it earlier, not waited until now." Li Yifei sneered, completely unbelieving.
Regardless of whether Phoenix would continue to attack, Li Yifei didn’t care. If she ran away, he might not chase her. But if she dared to continue attacking, he wouldn’t be polite either. He was fearless, having already employed his Innate Vital Energy against a formidable opponent; it wasn’t worth saving if he couldn’t use it now. Of course, if he ran out of energy, he’d lose a critical life-saving technique, a trump card, then he’d regret it deeply.
Phoenix flared up with fiery rage, reaching her peak as she cursed, "You dare!" With these words, Phoenix charged towards Li Yifei, the Saintess immediately commanded the two summons to block, but Li Yifei raised his hand and said, "Put away those two things, I can handle her."
The summons themselves drained the Saintess’s energy, the longer they persisted, the more significant the drain. Now that only Phoenix remained, such meaningless consumption could stop. After Li Yifei spoke, he remained motionless, standing with the Mohist War Blade in place, the Flame Sword still underfoot. Why would he move? Of course, he stayed put, waiting for Phoenix to arrive, having already decided to use his Innate Vital Energy. No reason to hold back against her.
Li Yifei stood motionless, seemingly unreactive, which rather unsettled the determined charging Phoenix. Could he have been faking it before, and his true strength surpassed theirs?
No matter, the Flame Sword was still under his foot; got to give it a try. Phoenix launched a fiery punch at Li Yifei, who met it briskly with the Mohist War Blade. She had no weapon, but he did, so why not use it? Not using it would be foolish, so what met Phoenix was a heavy slash, forcing her to retreat.
After each attempt, Phoenix found her own momentum waning. Seeing Li Yifei calm and composed, unlike before, doubts arose, and the fiery phoenix on her face fluctuated, mirroring her emotions.
"Continue." Li Yifei said casually, while behind him the Saintess retracted the two summons, easing her burden.
Phoenix snorted angrily, her expression grim as she asked, "You really won’t give me back my sword?"
"Don’t joke with me!" Li Yifei grinned, squinting at her, and said, "Do you think this is child’s play? Even that unfortunate soul over there is dying, and isn’t like you begging for mercy. Haha, either kneel and beg for mercy, or keep going. You were pretty cocky when you first arrived, and now you’re turning cowardly?"
