On Evan Chu's Frostbane Sword, both fire and water elements appeared at once, crackling loudly in the air. The old woman stared in shock—she'd never seen anything so bizarre before.
Someone could actually fuse two completely different elemental attributes together? That was unheard of since ancient times. The old woman grew even more curious about Evan's identity and origins.
Evan had considered using the sixth form of the Demon-Breaking Fist, but he hesitated. He'd have to get in close to hurt her, and with the old woman's strength, even if he landed a blow, he'd definitely get hit back—and hard.
Once he was ready, Evan's figure flashed and he charged straight at the old woman, the Frostbane Sword in his hand unleashing the ninth form of the Windchaser Sword Art—Wrathful Wind Annihilation Slash.
The old woman didn't dare underestimate Evan's attack. Anyone who could fuse two elements like that had to be terrifying. She instantly summoned a pitch-black staff and swung it hard. Countless staff shadows filled the air in front of Evan.
A crushing sense of power descended. Evan felt like he could barely breathe—this was the strength of a true powerhouse. Even a casual strike could shake heaven and earth.
Soon, Evan's Frostbane Sword collided with the staff shadows. His raging sword-qi, laced with ice-and-fire particles, slammed into the energy hidden in the staff. This was the most powerful clash Evan had ever experienced.
Space itself began to twist, and a huge swath of forest was pulverized by the impact. The ground sank deeply—this was truly a world-shattering blow.
The sheer force of the attack whipped up a violent storm, trapping both combatants inside. Normally, the recoil would have blasted them dozens of meters away, but the storm held them in place.
Evan and the old woman were swept up together by the storm, the twisted space around them closing in. Their clash had torn open the fabric of space—they could tumble into a spatial tunnel at any moment.
If that really happened, it would be terrifying—no one knew where they'd end up. The dangers inside a spatial tunnel were even worse: spatial storms could instantly shred even Ninth-Layer Divine Martial cultivators to pieces.
Evan didn't really understand the specifics—he was just shocked that their clash could twist space like this. The old woman, though, was truly scared and shouted urgently:
"Kid, let's both strike together and blast our way out of this storm! If we get sucked into the spatial tunnel, we're both dead!" Her voice was full of panic.
Evan glanced at her, half believing, half doubting. But his body kept spinning uncontrollably in the storm—he couldn't help it.
Seeing Evan stay silent, the old woman grew even more furious. "Fine, if you want to die, I'll just kill you first!"
As soon as she finished, red light flared around her and her staff once again filled the air with countless shadows. Even though it was hard to control her body in the storm, the staff shadows, powered by the raging wind, surged toward Evan.
"What, you think I'm some pushover?" Evan cursed inwardly, furious. Instantly, he unleashed another Wrathful Wind Annihilation Slash, packed with ice and fire. Another massive energy clash erupted in the storm, which was now tinged blue-green.
Maybe by pure luck, their attacks blasted two holes in the raging storm. The recoil flung both of them out through the gaps, sending them hurtling toward the ground.
Boom! Boom! Two deafening crashes rang out, and the ground split open with two bottomless craters.
Both Evan and the old woman landed in the craters. Agonizing pain shot through Evan—he realized he was badly injured, maybe with several broken bones.
Even with his freakish defense and the boost from Earthshift, Evan was still hurt—so the old woman definitely wasn't doing much better. Slowly, he climbed out of the crater.
Just as Evan flew out of his crater, a deafening, raspy roar erupted from the other one. A massive red python, several meters thick with a head ten meters wide, poked out from the pit.
Evan was stunned at the sight—the old woman was actually a python! But she had a single horn on her head, which meant she was probably a flood-dragon-type monster beast. Showing her true form now meant she was truly enraged.
The giant python was just as shocked to see Evan still standing. "Kid, I can't believe you're alive! That's a surprise, but you won't be so lucky this time!"
With that, her whole body shot out of the pit. Evan retreated fast. He saw her body was over a hundred meters long, with half of it rearing straight up into the air.
Damn! The monster beasts in the Azure Tide Ruins really are something else. Who knew they could be this huge? I need to be extra careful, Evan thought to himself.
The python's tail lashed out, snapping countless trees in half and sending them flying at Evan with thunderous force. She was so fast, Evan barely dodged in time, soaring into the sky at the last second.
"Linfeng, you can't beat a monster this size head-on in the air. You're no match for her up there. Now that she's revealed her true form, she's at least Ninth-Layer Divine Martial—she could kill you in an instant," the Sword Spirit warned.
The commotion on Evan's side was loud enough for Macy and Claire to hear every bit of it. Still, neither woman worried about Evan—his defense was something they'd seen with their own eyes. Even if he couldn't win, escaping wouldn't be a problem. What mattered now was how to finish off that annoying python.
The Goldscale Coat on Claire made the middle-aged man feel helpless—his attacks couldn't hurt her at all. He tried to kill the other woman, but Claire kept him tied up. For now, neither side could gain the upper hand.
Macy and Claire fought while retreating, flying toward the direction Goldwing and the others had escaped. The distance between them and Evan grew wider by the second.
Just then, Evan remembered the Sword Spirit's advice and felt a surge of hope. He quickly dropped from the sky into the ground, dove into the crater, and merged his body into the earth, moving slowly underground.
"You can't run, kid! Hiding in the crater won't save you!" The python slithered toward the pit, leaving a trail of blood behind. Deep gashes on her back kept pouring fresh blood...