The purple heavenly saber descended.
It slashed at the barrier of Saintly Star's life lantern. Saintly Star's heavenly saber also slashed out and collided with Xu Qing's heavenly saber, both collapsing immediately after.
Saintly Star was sent back due to the force of the collision.
However, Xu Qing's attack wasn't over. Everything before was a cover-up. It was all for the sake of the Diamond Sect's ancestor's all-out attack.
Bolts of lightning erupted from Xu Qing's collapsed heavenly saber.
The lightning was controlled and molded in the shape of a spiral which caused the speed of the black iron stick to increase again.
The Diamond Sect's ancestor clearly knew the importance of his mission, especially when he saw the shadow playing such an important role. He was already extremely nervous.
He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to complete the mission, so he went crazy. He spared no expense and exploded all the lightning runes on the iron stick for even more speed and power. Like a ray of true heavenly lightning, the iron stick collided with the defense of Saintly Star's life lantern just as he retreated.
The life lantern's defense was indeed astonishing. It didn't collapse even from the violent collision. However, the extreme speed and rotational force of the black iron stick pierced a small hole in it.
At the next instant, the black iron stick was swept back by the backlash from the barrier and became extremely dim. One could vaguely hear the Diamond Sect's ancestor letting out a mournful cry. Clearly, the backlash this time had injured even his spirit body.
As for the small hole, it quickly returned to normal.
"If you can't destroy my life lantern's protective barrier, everything you do is useless."
The corners of Saintly Star's mouth curled into a cold smile but he continued to be forced back. Xu Qing's attacks were like a storm, coming wave after wave at an extremely fast speed.
First, it was the mosasaur, then the magic ship's self-destruction, and the heavenly saber. Although they couldn't break the life lantern's defense, their power was extraordinary.
Because of the existence of the protective barrier, the attacks could not reach him at all. Just like how his attacks earlier couldn't reach Xu Qing and could only shatter his barrier.
Overall, Saintly Star was slightly stronger. The divine arts he grasped were clearly more. As he retreated, Saintly Star's eyes gleamed. He could see Xu Qing's weakness.
"Your spells are too few and you lack divine arts that can display great power!" Saintly Star's gaze was like lightning. Ever since the battle began, Xu Qing had been on par with him. At this moment, he finally saw Xu Qing's weakness.
Hearing Saintly Star's words, Xu Qing's gaze turned even colder.
Saintly Star let out a long laugh and performed a series of hand seals with both hands. He was going to exploit Xu Qing's weakness. Just as he was about to use his divine art, his expression suddenly darkened.
The life lantern barrier outside his body actually dimmed a little at this moment. Ripples appeared on it, especially at where the black iron stick had pierced earlier. Saintly Star felt a sense of corrosion spreading there.
This reminded Saintly Star of the poison he had sensed on the battlefield between Xu Qing and Sima Ling in the Seven Blood Eyes.
"It's difficult for a minor art of poison to reach the Great Dao!"
Saintly Star let out a cold snort. He had a special physique and didn't care about ordinary poisons. He casually waved his hand and his life lantern flickered, emitting a brilliant light that dispelled the corrosion on the protective barrier instantly as though it was purified.
After doing this, he was about to attack when his expression changed drastically.
An intense piercing pain spread throughout his body. His skin instantly turned greenish-black and dense anomalous substances spread in his body, causing his life fires to sway.
"What!!"
Saintly Star's breathing was hurried and his mind shook. He could sense that he was poisoned. This poison was too violent and sudden, causing his vision to blur. At this moment, a sense of danger filled his entire body.
This poison was none other than the little black bugs.
In reality, the little black bugs had been clinging tightly to the barrier of the Saintly Star's life lantern. However, they couldn't penetrate the barrier and were waiting for an opportunity.
The hole created by the Diamond Sect's ancestor gave them this opportunity. The moment that hole appeared earlier, a large number of little black bugs had entered through it.
Saintly Star was right in that Xu Qing indeed lacked powerful divine arts but it was also wrong. Although Xu Qing didn't have many powerful divine arts, he had poison!
The instant the little black bugs' poison erupted, the killing intent in Xu Qing's eyes intensified and he rushed toward Saintly Star.
He had been waiting for this opportunity since the start of the battle. Now that he saw that Saintly Star had been poisoned, he instantly got close and punched out.
The Golden Crow appeared behind him and the black canopy above his head shone. Coupled with Xu Qing's five fire combat strength, this punch carried great lethality.
Under the effects of the poison, Saintly Star couldn't dodge at all. Even though he retreated rapidly, Xu Qing still caught up and punched his protective barrier.
A heaven-shattering sound rang out as Saintly Star's entire body trembled violently. His body rolled back like a kite with a broken string. Xu Qing caught up and punched again.
Saintly Star's breathing was hurried and his eyes were bloodshot. While resisting Xu Qing with his barrier, he quickly circulated his emperor-level cultivation art, causing Miemeng to emit a sharp sound and rush into his body to remove the poison.
At the same time, the rainbow canopy above his head emitted a resplendent light, wanting to force out the poison in his body. However, with a wave of Xu Qing's hand, the large black umbrella directly enveloped the top of Saintly Star's head and ruthlessly suppressed the rainbow canopy.
Booming sounds rang out as Saintly Star spat out blood. At that moment, he was enveloped with danger both inside and outside his body. An unprecedented feeling of life and death appeared in his mind.
Saintly Star was forced back again and again. Xu Qing continued to use everything he had. Punch after punch, heavenly saber slashed down one after another, the Golden Crow inhaled with all its might, and the Diamond Sect's ancestor continued to risk his life to pierce Saintly Star.
The shadow also seized this opportunity. When Saintly Star focused on removing the poison, it spread toward the second magic aperture.
It was a full-scale attack!
Saintly Star kept retreating while coughing blood. Every mouthful of blood contained poison that corroded the ground when they landed on it.
The life lantern barrier outside his body shone intensely. In the end, Xu Qing grabbed it with both hands and smashed it ruthlessly.
BOOM! The protective barrier of Saintly Star's life lantern finally couldn't resist and dissipated. The poison in the surroundings gushed in even more wildly. Saintly Star's expression was filled with anger but he didn't continue fighting. Instead, he quickly fled.
"What poison is this!!" Saintly Star roared in his mind. He originally had six fires strength and could have easily suppressed Xu Qing. It was all because of that black shadow that his combat strength decreased. Now, the other party's poison was also extremely terrifying.
This made him want to go crazy. He was in an extremely sorry state with his messy hair and the golden robe that looked much dimmer.
If any disciple of the Seven Sects Alliance was here and saw this scene, they would be shell-shocked. This was because they had never seen Saintly Star like this.
Saintly Star felt aggrieved and extremely angry. However, when he saw Xu Qing rushing over again with monstrous killing intent, his breathing became hurried and he sped up his escape. At the same time, he took out a jade slip and quickly transmitted his voice, summoning the three Dao Protectors he had arranged to go out and search for what he needed to return immediately.
However, his Dao Protectors had been out for a long time and didn't expect him to encounter any danger here. Hence, even if they received the message now, it would still take time for them to rush back.
What Saintly Star lacked now was time. The poison in his body was still erupting and his combat strength was rapidly falling. Xu Qing was pursuing him madly and the Golden Crow was also rushing forward, wanting to refine Saintly Star.
Miemeng appeared and resisted Xu Qing's punch with all its might. With the help of Miemeng, Saintly Star barely resisted Xu Qing's attack but he was still injured. Xu Qing's expression was sinister as his head slammed forward fiercely, directly colliding with Saintly Star's face.
Saintly Star let out a miserable cry. His face was covered in blood and madness appeared in his eyes. He wanted to struggle and retreat, but the black fiendish fire on Xu Qing's body erupted and formed a large mouth that enveloped Saintly Star.
Xu Qing wanted to refine Saintly Star's soul and use it as the fuel to open his magic apertures.
The madness in Saintly Star's eyes intensified. He let out a mournful cry and his golden Daoist robe suddenly swelled and exploded.
This Daoist robe was also a treasure. When it exploded, it formed a violent force. Saintly Star borrowed this force to retreat. After this time period, his life lantern finally suppressed the poison in his body.
This caused the swaying of his life fires to calm down a little. However, he knew that he couldn't hold on for too long as Xu Qing continued to chase after him with killing intent. Hence, he didn't hesitate. The instant his injuries calmed down, he let out a low shout and took out an item from his storage ring.
This was a broken piece of wood. It should be part of a wooden object.
After he took it out, a terrifying energy fluctuation instantly erupted from the wood. The strength of this energy caused Xu Qing's expression to change. He felt that the life fires in his body were about to be extinguished and his magic apertures were shaking. Even his soul showed signs of leaving his body.
In fact, even the sky and earth was affected. All the vegetation in the surroundings instantly withered.
Countless vitality gathered crazily from the surroundings, causing the wood to transform into a pitch-black wooden door with countless fingernail scratches on it in the blink of an eye.
A strange and sinister feeling spread out as this door appeared. The nail marks on the black wooden door were especially shocking. One could even see brown blood among them.
Moreover, these scratches were of different depths and seemed to have been left for different amounts of time. The feeling they gave off was as though countless people had once used all their strength to tear at this door.
Terror spread uncontrollably.
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed as he immediately made a retreat.
The madness in Saintly Star's eyes deepened. He rose into the air behind the door and pointed at Xu Qing.
"Open!"
The black wooden door creaked and slowly opened toward Xu Qing.
