A sliver of cold starlight appeared in the Monkey Bone Mask's eyes.
The instant it manifested, its extreme sharpness had already pierced through the air.
Meeting sharpness with sharpness, its force was enough to bore through metal and crack stone, arriving in the blink of an eye.
The Monkey Bone Mask let out a strange cry. The Bone Monkey dharma image flashed and vanished. His entire body twisted mid-flight, shooting skyward, shifting through nine different positions in rapid succession before finally waiting for the cold star's momentum to wane.
His hands shook, and two daggers leaped out, crossing before his body.
Clang!
He stumbled back seven full steps before finally steadying himself. And only then did he clearly see what that cold star before him truly was...
It was a flying sword, hovering in midair!
Its tip pointed straight at the Monkey Bone Mask.
Under the awestruck gazes of the people of Green Goat Town, Xiang Qian lazily stepped forward, his cultivation in the Soaring Dragon realm no longer concealed.
With a mere flick of his two fingers, the flying sword flickered and flashed, unleashing an ear-splitting shriek, hurtling toward the Monkey's face once more at a terrifying speed.
"Rabbit, help me!"
The Monkey Bone Mask called for backup without a shred of hesitation. At the same time, he activated the White Bone dharma image, his body twisting deftly through the air, leaving behind layer upon layer of afterimages.
The Twelve Divine Aspects of the White Bone Dao each had their own strengths. For the Monkey, his dharma image excelled in speed—nimble and endlessly adaptable—earning him the title "Divine Speed"!
Even the flying sword seemed no match for its agility.
For a moment, two pursuit battles raged simultaneously. The Dragon chased Jiang Wang, while Xiang Qian's sword chased the Monkey.
Over on the other side, the Rabbit Bone Mask had already leaped high into the air, bringing a high kick crashing down—her aim was to break the stalemate!
From the fierce howl of the wind alone, the devastating power of this strike was plain.
But before her eyes blurred, and suddenly two disheveled figures stood before her, fingers pointed at the flying sword.
It was Zhu Biqiong's illusion magic, activated at just the right moment.
"Hah!"
The Rabbit cried out sharply, her body wrapped in jade-green light, and with her peak Soaring Dragon realm cultivation, she shattered the illusory veil like it was nothing.
Zhu Biqiong coughed blood and retreated.
But that brief delay was enough. Xiang Qian hooked his index finger.
The cold glow stabbed toward the Monkey, then flashed—already closing in on the Rabbit's back!
The Rabbit Bone Mask had no choice but to spin around, lashing out with a reverse whip kick to block the sword's momentum.
"You dare turn your back on me?!"
The Monkey's shout had not yet faded when his crossed daggers were already slashing toward Xiang Qian's throat. Before the blades arrived, two lines of razor-sharp force had already been flicked out ahead of them.
Xiang Qian had to dodge and retreat, simultaneously flicking his wrist to redirect the sword, abandoning the Rabbit to guard his own front.
Clang clang clang clang!
Daggers and flying sword clashed in rapid succession.
Meanwhile, the Rabbit Bone Mask shot upward in the air, jade-green light coiling around her body, driving her knee toward Zhu Biqiong!
She had resolved to kill this troublesome one first, then turn back to fight alongside the Monkey.
Zhu Biqiong layered illusion after illusion, but not a single one could slow the Rabbit in the slightest.
The gap in their strength was too vast. She simply could not fool the Rabbit's eyes. Her illusions were shattered one after another, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
The Rabbit's knee was closing in—but then she froze mid-air, reaching back to catch a trembling long blade.
She turned to look and found herself staring into the eyes of Dugu Xiao.
Looking at those eyes... shifting from determination to panic.
The blade had been thrown by Dugu Xiao to save Zhu Biqiong. She had been training in martial arts for some time now—her strength and aim were both sufficient. What was rare was the precision of her timing.
But against someone of the Rabbit's caliber, it was simply too insignificant.
Yet at that moment, another voice rang out—resolute and brave.
"Brothers of Green Goat Town! Our homes are behind us—can we afford to retreat?!"
It was... Hu Shuanzi.
This ordinary, stocky man, as a man, raised his blade.
He was the first to charge at a transcendent cultivator.
"Fight them!"
he shouted.
He couldn't muster any grand speech, could only howl with raw, rough defiance.
But he was brave. He was resolute. He did not flinch.
Whish!
A long blade.
The blade Dugu Xiao had thrown to save Zhu Biqiong was flung back by the Rabbit with a hundred times the force and speed.
It punched straight through Hu Shuanzi's body, carrying him flying all the way back into the Green Goat Town behind everyone, burying itself deep into a wall, trembling without cease!
Hu Shuanzi turned his head with great effort. He did not look at the empty hole in his chest. Instead, he looked toward Xiao Xiao.
He collapsed with a thunderous crash.
This desperate, all-out charge ended just like that—easily, effortlessly.
For the Rabbit, it was no more complex than crushing an ant.
Behind her, the Green Goat Town martial artists who had already begun to surge forward froze in their tracks.
Every last bit of fury seemed to be doused along with the flame of their courage, extinguished without effort.
Under such an overwhelming gap in power, what hope did their charge have? How could it end any better than Hu Shuanzi's?
Dugu Xiao stood frozen, as though she had lost the ability to speak.
She didn't seem to know how to move either.
She could only stare, blank and silent.
But who among them would care—these ordinary, powerless, helpless people! Who would care about their feelings?
"I told you so, didn't I?"
It was Xiang Qian's voice.
He laughed softly as he spoke.
Hummm. Hummm. Hummm.
A low, urgent humming sound.
It rose from all around Green Goat Town—dense, rapid, and unrelenting.
There were cold sparks.
Countless points of cold light converged on Xiang Qian from every direction, from countless hidden corners.
Only when those sparks drew near could one see clearly—they were the spectral afterimages of flying swords.
This was the sword formation Xiang Qian had laid at Jiang Wang's request.
All the phantom swords projected forward, merging into the single real floating sword before him.
It vanished in a flash!
The entire sequence felt like a hallucination—as though nothing had happened at all.
Only Xiang Qian remained, and his sword.
He still looked the same—that disheveled man, unshaven, with a pair of dead-fish eyes that seemed not to care about anything.
But his sword was something else entirely.
There was no need to describe its edge. It was sharpness itself.
But the moment the formation vanished, Xiang Qian curled his index finger and flicked.
The flying sword erupted with a violent, savage shriek and shot forward, tearing through every chaotic current of air.
Space, essence yuan, the power of Dao arts—none could stand in its way.
The Monkey Bone Mask twisted through the air at his absolute peak speed, unleashing the ultimate limits of his movement technique. He truly displayed the speed of "Divine Speed."
But in the very next instant, he crashed to the ground like a broken ragdoll.
His entire Heaven-reaching Palace had collapsed. His body leaked essence yuan like a sieve.
Even in death, his eyes remained wide open—unwilling, disbelieving!
The Rabbit Bone Mask said nothing, immediately retreating toward the Dragon Bone Mask's position.
Xiang Qian did not bother giving chase. Instead, he walked toward Hu Shuanzi's corpse.
He couldn't say he felt any particular bond with Hu Shuanzi, nor did he grieve for the man.
But in Hu Shuanzi, he had truly seen that powerless version of himself.
"I told you so, didn't I?"
Xiang Qian asked again.
He looked down at Hu Shuanzi's body and said: "See? No matter how hard you try, it's useless."
He half-knelt down, intending to close Hu Shuanzi's eyes—surely he should have died with them open.
But when he looked down, he froze.
Hu Shuanzi was certainly dead.
Useless. Powerless. His death had seemed almost entirely without value.
But the expression on his face, in his final moments, was one of deep satisfaction.