Godslayer: Aizen Template, I will stand in the heavens!

Zhao Kongcheng said that no one would die today, but his heart sank.

My slash just now seemed to have caused a half-meter-long wound to the Ghost-Faced King, but the wound was not deep at all, and it was not even a superficial injury to it!

On the contrary, Li Lian's slash inflicted more damage on the Ghost Face King, almost crippling its left leg.

For the Demon King, injuries that affect his combat power would be prioritized for healing. However, the fact that the Demon King prefers to fight in a prone position rather than repair his knife wounds suggests only two possibilities:

First, the Ghost-Faced King is currently severely injured and has no extra energy to repair his injuries.

Second, Li Lian's sword from the Forbidden Ruins has a special effect: it can prevent the Ghost-Faced King from recovering.

If it's the first reason, their chances of survival will increase dramatically; if it's the second reason, the masked man's next attack will definitely be aimed at Li Lian.

While Zhao Kongcheng was brainstorming, Li Lian was secretly groaning in his heart.

Those who know their own limitations know that the strike they just delivered to the Oni-Faced King was already his strongest attack besides [Hakuda: Ichikotsu]. They had desperately poured spiritual energy into their Zanpakuto to increase the destructive power of that strike.

According to Li Lian's idea, this strike should be able to cut off the Ghost Face King's left foot directly, or at the very least ignite flames at the ankle, forcing it to expend a lot of energy to extinguish the flames on its body.

However, looking at Ghost Face King's left leg, which dared not touch the ground, Li Lian felt that the effect was not bad. After all, Ghost Face King was a mysterious being who had reached the Chuan Realm, and was extremely skilled in physical combat. It was already quite good that his strike could injure him.

I'll try to cut its right foot later! If that doesn't work... then I'll just have to let it taste the punch I've been practicing all day!

The Ghost-Faced King lay on the ground, its eyes darting back and forth between Li Lian and Zhao Kongcheng, finally fixing its gaze firmly on Li Lian. In its perception, Li Lian posed a far greater threat than Zhao Kongcheng.

So the Ghost-Faced King's sharp forelimbs tore through the road surface, preparing to use its fastest speed this time to kill Li Lian directly!

This is exactly what Zhao Kongcheng had guessed!

"Li Lian, stand behind me!"

Zhao Kongcheng held his sword with both hands, firmly protecting Li Lian behind him. As a senior member of the Night Watch, he had the duty and the right to stand in front of his junior and protect him.

The masked man's massive body hurtled toward Zhao Kongcheng at lightning speed. Its pale, grotesque face twisted even more, a long, red tongue flicked backward, and a sinister grin hung at the corner of its mouth, as if Zhao Kongcheng had become its prey!

clang!

Zhao Kongcheng's straight sword clashed with the Ghost-Faced King's claws, producing a metallic clang and sparks!

Then Zhao Kongcheng was sent flying by the Ghost-Faced King's monstrous strength, and with a move that sent him crashing backwards onto the puddle-filled ground, he landed heavily on the sand.

This is the difference between mythical creatures that have reached the River Realm, possessing forbidden realms and terrifying physical attributes, and ordinary people who have no forbidden realms and rely solely on their physical strength and skills to fight.

The difference between the two is like heaven and earth!

"Mythical creatures are so great, huh? This is just too damn bullying!"

Just as Zhao Kongcheng was knocked away by Ghost Face King, Li Lian used [Instant Step] again and simultaneously activated [White Strike: One Bone]!

He chose the perfect moment when the Ghost King's old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated. His left hand, which was not holding a knife, struck out like lightning, and landed a heavy punch right in the center of the Ghost King's pale ghost face!

It was also thanks to the Ghost King switching to fighting on the ground that Li Lian's punch could have hit its face, given its nearly 3-meter height!

boom--!

The explosive spiritual energy contained in Li Lian's fist not only repelled the Ghost-Faced King but also sent Li Lian himself staggering backward.

"Da da da da..."

Li Lian stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance. An unnatural blush flashed across his face as he gasped for breath, feeling the rain was unusually cold today.

Logically, he shouldn't be in such a sorry state, but for Li Lian, who was just at the Pool Realm, using [Instant Step] continuously was already a huge drain on his energy. The opportunity was too good just now, and in order to pursue greater destructive power, he used all his spiritual energy on [White Strike: One Bone] without leaving any for himself.

"Ahhhh——!"

Ghost Face King, whose nose was punched by Li Lian, let out a miserable scream. His nose was completely broken by the punch, two of his front teeth were knocked out, and he almost bit off his own tongue.

The impact of the spiritual energy on his head caused him to feel dizzy for a moment. He staggered back a few steps, struggling to stand up, but finally fell to the ground.

However, Ghost King got up as soon as it fell because the fall had landed on the foot that Li Lian had cut, and the intense pain made Ghost King wake up instantly!

"Hoohoho!!!"

Ghost Face King roared at Li Lian, and then, with Ghost Face King as the center, a huge and ferocious ghost face gradually emerged on the ground!

Zhao Kongcheng, who had just gotten up, saw the ghost face unfold and his expression immediately changed!

"Li Lian! Watch out! It's the Forbidden Ruins No. 176, the [Ghost Face Land]!"

Holy crap! I didn't manage my health properly and punched the boss straight into the second phase!

【Ghost Face Appears】Within the forbidden area, it can deceive the perception of all creatures whose realm is less than or equal to its own, and reverse the concept of space.

In the original story of Godslayer, Old Zhao broke through this forbidden zone by relying on rainwater falling from the sky and his years of combat experience!

Li Lian lacked Zhao Kongcheng's combat experience, but he possessed the Zanpakuto!

Yes, when Li Lian was covered by the [Ghost Face Earth], it was like being thrown into a washing machine and tumbled around. Everything in front of him was like a kaleidoscope spinning non-stop, and just looking at it made him want to vomit.

Experiencing it firsthand is completely different from reading about it in a novel. It seems I'll need to do some anti-vertigo training in the future. There must be quite a few of these kinds of forbidden places that disrupt the human senses, and I need to adapt to them purposefully.

Recalling the knife scars all over Ghost King's body, Li Lian couldn't help but wonder how Chen Muye managed to do it when his senses were disrupted.

So this pervert was right next to me?! I wonder how many levels I need to reach to become a captain...

The most urgent thing now is to try to get used to this feeling. After the Ghost-Faced King opens the forbidden area, he will definitely launch an attack. He just drew too much aggro, so he will definitely be coming for him. Taking a deep breath, Li Lian closed his eyes.

But when Li Lian closed his eyes, it was as if all his senses were shut down at once. He seemed to have entered the state he was in when he practiced his sword that day. The whole world was blank, with only him and the Zanpakuto in his hand.

There was also a small, constantly moving ball of fire.

Fire? Where did the fire come from?

That's right! It was the fire left on Oni-King's ankle by his Zanpakuto! Even though it wasn't ignited, his Zanpakuto had indeed left its mark on Oni-King's ankle!

Li Lian sensed the flame rapidly approaching him. After calculating the size of the Oni-Faced King, Li Lian gritted his teeth, channeled the spiritual power he had just recovered into his Zanpakuto, and relied on his willpower to swiftly unleash three slashes at the incoming flame!

boom! boom! boom!

The Zanpakuto clashed with the Oni-Masked King's claws three times in succession. Li Lian managed to protect himself, but due to the vast difference in strength, he was sent flying backward by a single claw strike, just like Zhao Kongcheng had been before! He landed right next to Zhao Kongcheng.

"Li Lian! Is that you?"

When Zhao Kongcheng was covered by [Ghost Face Earth Observation], he was preparing to launch a counterattack when attacked by Ghost Face King. However, he did not expect that Ghost Face King would ignore him and go straight for Li Lian.

Li Lian not only dealt with the effects of the forbidden ruins and protected himself, but although he didn't know how he did it, he felt it was too shameful that he failed to protect his junior in time!

Hearing heavy breathing, Zhao Kongcheng knew that Li Lian was definitely not in good condition. He himself was very experienced in combat and had just suffered a lot after taking a single blow from Ghost Face King. It was a big question whether Li Lian could even stand up now.

Li Lian felt a little dizzy and lay on his back on the ground, feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit, but he still managed to say in a weak voice:

"Old Zhao, watch out! Ghost Face King is coming, he's to your left front!"

"I know!"