As the primordial spirit of the black-robed cultivator was slain by Joe Di, the white-robed cultivator let out a desperate howl, "He killed Felix Feng with a blade array! He's injured too—don't let him escape..."
Even without the black-robed cultivator's shout, the other three had already unleashed their treasures in a frenzy, blasting them toward Joe Di.
Several Dao Pills automatically fell into Joe Di's mouth. This time, he grabbed more than a dozen Array Banners and tossed them out. The Deathtrap Divine Array was fully activated, and at the same time, Joe Di summoned his Voidmount.
In the instant the Deathtrap Divine Array trapped the three opponents, the Voidmount transformed into a massive peak and smashed down onto the fat cultivator's giant hammer. Joe Di knew his array could only hold the three for a brief moment—he had to take out another one while he could. This time, his target was the white-robed cultivator.
Boom! Crack! Joe Di's Slaughter Divine Array collided with the enemy's treasures, divine energy exploding in the void as the Slaughter Divine Array began to collapse. At the same time, Joe Di's Voidmount crashed into the fat cultivator's giant hammer.
If, at the very start, these opponents hadn't taken Joe Di seriously, now they saw him as their equal—perhaps even stronger than any of them in a one-on-one fight.
Joe Di's Azure Veil Blade locked onto the white-robed cultivator a second time, unleashing his blade technique: the Rending Blade.
A cold gleam flashed at the white-robed cultivator's lips as his twin cymbals transformed into two streaks of light, slashing toward Joe Di. The twin lights locked onto Joe Di's chest, forming a cross-shaped attack.
At that moment, Joe Di's blade curtain tore forward. Madness flickered in the white-robed cultivator's eyes. Ever since Joe Di killed Felix Feng, he knew Joe Di was anything but ordinary.
Since Joe Di wasn't a typical cultivator, the white-robed cultivator was willing to risk injury to make sure Joe Di was just as badly wounded. With his physical strength, he could withstand a direct hit from Joe Di and suffer only serious injury. Joe Di, being a young powerhouse, surely wouldn't have a strong body. If struck by his twin cymbal technique, Cosmic Cross, at best Joe Di would be left with only his primordial spirit.
With only a primordial spirit left, what right did Joe Di have to survive in the Grandway Abyss? Besides, the white-robed cultivator had already witnessed Joe Di's blade technique—impressive, yes, but no matter how strong it was, even if he took a hit, his physical body wouldn't collapse.
So when he saw Joe Di's blade curtain lock onto him, he didn't dodge or evade, choosing instead to go head-to-head, trading injury for injury, life for life.
In his plan, as long as Joe Di tried to stop his twin cymbals, the blade momentum trapping him would collapse. At that moment, teaming up with the other two would guarantee a fatal blow to Joe Di. After all, Joe Di's Slaughter Divine Array only worked for a brief time. If Joe Di gave up a direct confrontation, he'd also give up the fleeting advantage his array created. Once the Slaughter Divine Array lost its effect, the three could join forces against Joe Di, and no matter how capable he was, he'd be doomed.
If Joe Di really dared to go head-to-head, he’d be courting death.
To the white-robed cultivator, unless Joe Di was a fool, he would abandon this life-for-life strategy at this moment.
Trading life for life? When Joe Di saw the white-robed cultivator daring not to dodge his Azure Veil Blade technique, he was overjoyed. Someone willing to go head-to-head—that was just his style.
Earlier, after locking down the black-robed cultivator with his Creation Brush, Joe Di exchanged wounds for his enemy’s life in the shortest time. The Creation Brush was summoned only briefly, and with the help of the Slaughter Divine Array and blade array, Joe Di believed that even if the other three knew he possessed a treasure capable of creating a world, they wouldn’t necessarily realize it was the Creation Brush.
Originally, Joe Di planned to use the Creation Brush again to write the word 'Death' and finish off the white-robed cultivator. As long as his Lawbreaker Slash shattered the opponent’s divine law, his 'Death' character would suppress the white-robed cultivator.
But now the opponent was asking for death, daring to go head-to-head. Joe Di wasn’t about to show mercy. He didn’t summon the Creation Brush at all. As the Azure Veil Blade swept down, its momentum instantly transformed into the Fleeting Rift Slash.
Crack! The divine law shattered. The white-robed cultivator’s eyes bulged with rage—he realized he’d been tricked. Joe Di’s strike wasn’t meant to kill him, but was a Lawbreaker Slash, tearing apart the divine law of his twin cymbals. With his cymbal technique broken, even if the twin cymbals struck Joe Di, they couldn’t be fatal.
"He has a rending technique..." The white-robed cultivator never finished his sentence, as Joe Di's Fleeting Rift Slash cut through all space and time, landing right between his brows.
The white-robed cultivator stared in terror as the blade curtain split his brow, his heart wracked with endless regret. In truth, the moment his divine law was torn apart, he still had a slim chance to escape. But before he could flee, Joe Di unleashed a time law technique. If he had been just a little faster—just a little...
Spurt! Spurt! Two bursts of blood exploded. Even though Joe Di had shattered the law of the Cosmic Cross technique, his chest was still torn open by the twin cymbals, the wounds reaching deep into his breastbone.
Compared to Joe Di’s injuries, the white-robed cultivator’s eyes were filled with utter despair—his brow had been split open by Joe Di’s Azure Veil Blade, and his primordial spirit was trapped by Joe Di’s Slaughter Divine Array, unable to escape.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Violent explosions ripped through the Slaughter Divine Array as the Voidmount and the giant hammer collided, unleashing even more furious divine energy from within the array.
A dull ache surged through him—Joe Di spat out another mouthful of blood. Before he could catch his breath, his Voidmount finally blocked the fat cultivator’s giant hammer, but then a terrible, tearing pain shot through his back.
Next, his bones and organs began to shatter—his very meridians started to break apart.
Joe Di knew that while he’d ambushed the white-robed cultivator, someone else had ambushed him. The culprit was the same one who’d shot at him before—the handsomest, and also the most sinister, of them all.
Joe Di was certain the opponent hadn’t used full strength with the first shot. Because of that, he hadn’t taken it as seriously as he should have.
Judging by the strength of that first shot, it would have done little more than break his protective array and leave his flesh wounded. But now, this second shot was lethal. If not for the Cosmic Essence, Joe Di would have fled as far as possible—otherwise, he would have surely died.
The reason Joe Di hadn’t used the Cosmic Essence earlier was because he expected even stronger opponents to appear. But now, he couldn’t hold out any longer. As he swallowed a drop of Cosmic Essence and his wounds healed rapidly, Joe Di stowed away his Azure Veil Blade and stood atop the white-robed cultivator’s corpse, staring coldly at the handsome man before him—and the long spear that had wounded him twice.
"You... you actually killed Howard Yu and Felix Feng one after another..." The fat cultivator, who had seemed indifferent before, now stared at Joe Di as if he’d seen a ghost.
To kill both Howard Yu and Felix Feng while beset by four attackers—what did that mean? Even with the help of the hidden Slaughter Divine Array, Joe Di was terrifying.
Joe Di glanced coolly at the fat cultivator. "If you had any sense, you wouldn’t sell your life for others, only to end up counting their money afterward."
Stunned by Joe Di’s words, the fat cultivator was momentarily speechless.
After saying this, Joe Di couldn’t be bothered with the fat cultivator. He kept his gaze fixed on the spear-wielding man. "You’re the most cunning person I’ve met. You could have crippled me with your first shot, but you held back at this critical moment. If you hadn’t wanted to use me to kill the black-robed guy you hated, or if you hadn’t calculated that your second shot would finish me, things would be different now."
The handsome cultivator twitched his spear and replied just as coolly, "You’re impressive too. That last shot of mine should have finished you. I think it wasn’t just the Cosmic Essence that saved you—your physical body has surpassed the Sacred Physique. Otherwise, you’d be dead. Until now, no one I’ve targeted has survived. So I’m sure: besides the Cosmic Essence saving you, your body has definitely surpassed the Sacred Physique. You’re the second cultivator I’ve seen do that. You’re strong."