Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!"

Li Qing, who was no longer recognizable as a human being, kept repeating the same two words. His eerie and terrifying eyes were as ferocious as a demon, and his hands, covered by strange spiritual energy, became like the claws of a devil.

What made him so angry was simple: just a moment ago, Lu Yunshi had cut off his chance to break the formation.

Those two spiritual herbs successfully repaired the formation.

Only Zhang Tieshan, who had fought fiercely with him back then, knew that the blood-red sphere was actually the real Li Qing, and that his flesh and blood, and his soul, were all inside the blood-red sphere.

The formation draws energy from Li Qing's flesh and blood to sustain itself. When Li Qing's flesh and blood energy drops to a certain level, the formation weakens. In this state, Li Qing uses the alien energy to protect himself and remain indestructible. At the same time, he coordinates with the alien energy from the outside world to attack the formation from both sides.

The Blood-Activating Vine's function is to increase flesh and strengthen blood, which seems to be helping Li Qing. However, due to the special nature of the formation, Li Qing, whose flesh and blood have been strengthened, will cause the weakened formation to regain its energy and suppress Li Qing even more fiercely.

As for the Spirit-Suppressing Flower, it was used to calm Li Qing's soul within the blood sphere, preventing him from utilizing the suddenly enhanced power of his flesh and blood, serving as a layer of insurance.

In the battle with Li Qing, Lu Yunxi severely injured him once, and Lu Yunshi did the same to him just now. Although Li Qing recovered from both injuries, it undoubtedly consumed a lot of the alien spiritual energy in the blood orb.

The reduction in the amount of supernatural energy allowed Lu Yunshi to easily throw the spiritual medicine onto the blood orb despite the obstruction of the supernatural energy.

Of course, these were not Lu Yunshi's main objectives this time. His goal was to kill Li Qing; otherwise, he and Lu Yunxi would still be trapped in the Iron Mountain Sect.

“Kid, with the effects of the formation and the Spirit-Suppressing Flower, his strength will definitely be greatly reduced, and he will be unable to heal himself again using the strange spiritual energy of his original body. The clone he has condensed now possesses a lot of the power of his original body. Only by killing him will we have a greater chance of success.” Zhang Tieshan took a deep breath and said to Lu Yunshi with a somewhat melancholy tone.

"Will he revert to his original form and become a coward?" Lu Yunshi asked himself, while gripping his sword tightly.

“No, I know him. Even if he becomes a spirit, he is still Li Qing. There are many things that Li Qing can do, and he can do too. There are things that Li Qing can't do, and he can't do either,” Zhang Tieshan sighed and continued.

"Furthermore, this clone of his possesses a degree of independence. Although affected, it won't be completely suppressed. What can he do with the clone outside? If he goes back, he won't be able to come out again. My only worry now is..."

"What is it?" Lu Yunshi asked.

"It's you. You just used up too much spiritual energy. I temporarily absorbed some for you, so you can't recover so quickly now. In other words, he has become weaker, but so have you."

"Ha! I thought it was something simple, that as long as he gets weaker, it will be fine. It seems that this battle has already been decided."

Lu Yunshi smiled disdainfully, ending his casual conversation with Zhang Tieshan. He looked at the menacing Li Qing, raised his sword and pointed it at him, his eyes full of mockery.

"Hey! Come on, round three, let me see your third form? I don't know when I'll be able to reach such a strong state again, so you'd better let me have some fun."

Having said that, Lu Yunshi moved gracefully, using his intention as a sword and his heart as a hand. With his mind and intention in harmony, one sword shadow after another came, looking like a net of swords flying out towards him.

At this moment, Li Qing suddenly looked up, his eyes, which were many times larger than before, looked very strange. Then, his blood-red eyes flashed, and his strange spiritual energy erupted. Suddenly, his body turned crimson, and his face twisted again. He threw a punch like a ferocious beast.

Li Qing's strength was terrifying, far surpassing Lu Yunshi's. His punch was no weaker than before, and perhaps even stronger.

"Is this what you mean by getting weaker?" Lu Yunshi suddenly stopped and turned his sword, which pierced Li Qing like a scorpion's tail, striking the other's arm.

However, with a clang, Li Qing's arm, which was completely covered by the strange spiritual energy, was as hard as steel and could not be pierced. The violent recoil caused the two of them to retreat together.

“He’s going all out, unleashing all his power to kill you. He’s even stronger than before, but this won’t last long. His fighting style is irrational. You just need to hold him off,” Zhang Tieshan sighed. He was witnessing his disciple’s demise once again.

"Hold them back? I told you, but I don't know when I'll have that kind of power again. I need to fight to my heart's content."

Lu Yunshi smiled, met Li Qingxie's evil gaze, and stepped forward at the same time.

With a thought, the spiritual energy within his body surged into all parts of his body once again, quickly spreading to the edge of the longsword. However, compared to before, Lu Yunshi was now much more restrained in his consumption of spiritual energy.

He did not use the Imperial Ice Sword Technique again, but relied solely on swordsmanship to fight back.

His sword shadows were like the wind, initially calm, but then suddenly became wild and uncontrollable, and then like lightning, fast and fierce. By the time one saw it, it was too late to react.

Then, like water, it swallowed up all of Li Qing's frenzied attacks, taking them into itself, leaving only ripples. But when it relaxed, it transformed into a vast ocean, responding to everything with the power of a roar.

Finally, Lu Yunshi stomped his foot on the ground. Amid Li Qing's roar, his figure seemed to transform into a sharp sword, appearing and disappearing in the dark night, elusive and difficult to observe.

Lu Yunshi now seemed not to be wielding a sword, but rather to have merged himself into the sword and harmonized the sword with nature, unleashing a terrifying offensive. Li Qing's full-force burst could only barely resist it.

"Ah!!!" Li Qing roared, quickly dodging Lu Yunshi's relentless attacks, but he saw Lu Yunshi's sword almost graze his head. Before he could react, Lu Yunshi kicked him again, hitting him squarely in the chest. He was blasted away, causing the unmelted frost on the ground to burst up.

The next second, Li Qing looked up, his body bursting with scorching light. The strange spiritual energy rapidly intertwined and transformed into lightning bolts that crackled in the air. If anyone else were still here, they would surely be terrified.

Li Qing leaped forward, grasped the lightning bolt, and then swiftly descended, slashing down at Lu Yunshi. The power of this attack was terrifying, and its destructive force probably even surpassed the Emperor Ice Sword Technique that Lu Yunshi had used earlier.

Lu Yunshi looked up, his eyes showing no fear. He swung the longsword with even more cracks, and spiritual energy rose, bursting out of his body and then quickly merging into the sword, leaving him completely naked.

"Be careful!" Seeing Lu Yunshi's seemingly nonchalant attitude, Zhang Tieshan couldn't help but warn him.