Chapter 653 - 178: A Head-on Clash, I am Invincible Below the Fifth Realm

Chapter 653: Chapter 178: A Head-on Clash, I am Invincible Below the Fifth Realm

But she only struck air.

With a slight shift of his feet, Chu Fan had already appeared silently to her left.

Just as she spun around to strike, her momentum spent, Chu Fan’s hand shot out like a claw, fast as lightning, reaching straight for the mask on her face!

Twelve True Forms Fist.

Dragon-shaped Claw!

The wind from the claw was as fierce as a Dragon’s Roar, the air at his fingertips sharp as a blade. It compressed the atmosphere, twisting it with a shriek and tearing through the void with a piercing whistle!

The woman’s blood ran cold, and every hair on her body stood on end!

The terrifying, immense force emanating from his fingertips gave her the horrifying sensation that her very bones were about to shatter—it was a tyrannical pressure capable of crushing Refined Gold!

On the razor’s edge between life and death, she bit down hard on the tip of her tongue. A spray of crimson essence blood shot out as she flicked a finger, and a Talisman hidden within her body spontaneously ignited!

BANG!

A muffled sound erupted.

Chu Fan felt his hand suddenly go light; the sensation was completely wrong.

He looked closely. In his grasp, the object that had shattered was a piece of charred black wood covered in twisted runes!

Wood splinters mixed with the Talisman’s ashes drifted down, leaving behind a faint spatial fluctuation.

’A Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell ploy?’

Expressionless, Chu Fan’s gaze shifted slightly, landing fifty zhang to his right. The air there twisted and rippled as the masked woman’s somewhat disheveled figure materialized.

Her face was even paler than before, and her aura was unstable.

Clearly, this life-saving Secret Technique came at a considerable cost.

The look she gave Chu Fan was now filled with sheer terror and apprehension.

Chu Fan landed lightly on a piece of rubble. He slowly curled his fingers, and his knuckles let out a series of crisp cracks that sounded especially jarring in the silent ruins.

After taking one sword strike head-on and exchanging a single blow, he already had a clear assessment of his own power.

The defensive power of the third layer of his Vajra Undying Body was enough to ignore the vast majority of attacks from cultivators at the peak of the Bright Heart Realm.

Furthermore, the eerie combination of his terrifying physical strength and Shadow Step gave him an overwhelming advantage against Bright Heart Realm cultivators in close combat. In a direct confrontation, he was fully confident he could bludgeon her to death within ten moves.

But...

Chu Fan’s eyes were as cold as ice.

’Anyone who could cultivate to the peak of the Bright Heart Realm is inevitably a battle-hardened veteran with a deep foundation. They would never be short on life-saving Secret Techniques and trump-card Magical Treasures.’

’The Thunder Sword Skill and Substitute Secret Technique she just displayed were already impressive.’

’And her speed is greater than mine. If she’s determined to find a chance to escape, it won’t be easy for me to stop her.’

’Shadow Step only has a range of fifteen zhang.’

’If she uses her Light Body Skill at full power, she’s slightly faster than me. I might not be able to catch her right away.’

While he was lost in thought...

The woman had already managed to stabilize her aura.

Her left fingers flew like butterflies darting through flowers, forming a series of hand seals as she chanted an incantation. The Primordial Qi around her body surged.

VMM! VMM! VMM!

Three diamond-shaped shields, pitch-black with blood-red patterns etched along their edges, suddenly materialized. They took up a triangular formation and began to rotate around her.

The shields’ surfaces flickered with an ethereal glow, and a heavy defensive aura washed over him. These were Magical Treasures, at least on par with High-Grade Profound Weapons.

At the same time, the unremarkable, dark silver bracelet on her left wrist erupted with a brilliant radiance!

The bracelet instantly disintegrated, transforming into hundreds of dark silver fragments, each the size of a fingernail and as thin as a cicada’s wing.

The fragments seemed to possess a life of their own. They flew rapidly around her, weaving a hazy, silver halo before pausing in unison and swarming to her body!

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Amidst a dense series of metallic clicks, a sleek, form-fitting suit of dark silver Battle Armor instantly took shape, tightly encasing all her vital points.

The Battle Armor’s joints were flexible, while vital areas like the chest and back were visibly reinforced. Its surface shimmered with a mercury-like luster, and intricate runes flickered in and out of view—it clearly possessed formidable defenses against both physical attacks and Magic Techniques.

This woman clearly viewed Chu Fan as one of the most formidable opponents she had ever faced, not even hesitating to bring out her trump-card Protective Magical Treasure!

Chu Fan began to walk, unhurriedly, toward the fully armored woman.

His feet crunched on the rubble, the sound steady and oppressive as he closed the distance between them one step at a time.

’An image from the battle at the Burial Demon Marsh flashed through my mind. Back then, I used the inescapable Soul Split Trait of my Moon Eclipse Arrow to severely injure the Blood Shadow Sect Leader twice.’

’And this woman was there. She must be wary of my archery.’

’Without my arrows, just relying on my fists and Shadow Step... trying to kill a peak Bright Heart Realm expert who’s already thinking of retreating and has all her defenses up won’t be easy.’

Chu Fan’s gaze swept over the Black Shields rotating around the woman, glanced past the silver Battle Armor she wore, and finally settled on the pair of wary and calculating eyes behind her mask.

The Black Shields around the masked woman began to spin faster, and the light flowing over her silver Battle Armor flickered.

She gripped her longsword, crackling with lightning, and locked her Divine Sense firmly onto Chu Fan. The chill in her heart intensified.

The pressure emanating from his calm gaze was somehow even more intense than when he had taken her killing blow head-on!

The masked woman took a deep breath. The lightning on her longsword flared as she pointed it toward the sky!

"Thunder Punishment, Heaven and Earth Net!"

With her sharp cry, thunderclouds instantly blanketed the entire Wind-Rising Valley!

Bolts of lightning rained down, a terrifying display of power!

Chu Fan, however, paid it no mind and charged straight toward the woman.

’Her full-power sword strike couldn’t even harm me. Even if she can channel the Power of Heaven and Earth, this lightning is too dispersed. How could it possibly break my defenses?’

After taking a few lightning bolts head-on, faint blue smoke curled up from Chu Fan’s head.

In a flash, the distance between them shrank to just over ten zhang!

BOOM!

Chu Fan’s figure abruptly blurred, leaving a Residual Image behind as his True Body shot toward the woman’s left side like a cannonball.

’What kind of monster is he... so fast!’

Horrified, the woman reacted on pure instinct. She threw one of the Black Shields in front of her while retreating explosively, her longsword carving a vicious arc of lightning to cut off Chu Fan’s advance!