With Jing Lie pulling out his final trump card, Qiao Xiaoxian was finally trapped.
Although she was merely contained and her life wasn’t yet in danger, Jing Lie breathed a massive sigh of relief.
Fighting in the Shenzhou Cup felt like leading a raid against a world boss.
‘At least we finally cornered this monster…’ At that moment, he finally understood the true meaning of a “Hexagonal Warrior.”
Strength, speed, spells, calculation, reflexes, experience—every single attribute was maxed out!
In her presence, he even began to doubt his status as a Dao Seat. Since when did a dignified Dao Seat of the Tribulation Immortal Hall feel so powerless against a complete nobody?
Fortunately, while this sudden ringer for the Bagpipe Squad was difficult to handle, the rest of the team members were weak.
“What are you thinking about?”
Jiang Ke’er’s sword slashed through Jing Lie’s carotid artery. Jing Lie retreated violently while clutching his neck, staring in horror at Jiang Ke’er, who was right in front of him.
‘This girl… how did she suddenly become so fast?’
“I was holding back,” Jiang Ke’er explained, as if reading his mind.
One had to realize that the moment her seal was released, her theoretical top speed increased nearly a hundredfold! Even in her normal state, she could reach speeds far exceeding her previous “Fox Demon Time.”
However, doubling her speed came with a catch—high velocity created immense air resistance.
Every bit of added speed increased the difficulty geometrically, requiring a massive consumption of Spiritual Power to compensate.
With her current strength, she couldn’t perfectly execute her maximum speed; doing so would not only drain her Spiritual Power but also cause severe physical damage.
Consequently, the speed she usually employed was less than a tenth of her limit.
Furthermore, the powerful inertia brought by ultra-high speeds made it difficult to control her body.
Otherwise, that previous strike should have allowed for an immediate follow-up to slice through Jing Lie’s windpipe.
Jing Lie was now one hundred percent certain that Jiang Ke’er was the most absurdly fast cultivator he had ever encountered.
Her speed could completely crush any cultivator in the Six Harmonies Stage, and she was likely faster than most in the Qiyao Realm.
Using his teammates as cover, Jing Lie immediately took healing medicine to staunch the wound on his neck and tried to put some distance between them… but a sudden scream from afar made his face turn pale.
Gan Ruanruan had been working hard to lower her presence, hiding on the flanks and waiting for an opportunity.
Although the members of the Wasteland War Team had been keeping an eye on her, their forced repositioning and excessive focus on Jiang Ke’er and Qiao Xiaoxian gave her the opening she needed.
With one thrust of her dagger, she took off a head.
The overwhelming firepower instantly weakened, allowing Jiang Ke’er to easily close in on Jing Lie once again.
For a five-man Magic Cultivator lineup, the meaningless fall of the first teammate without taking down an opponent was like the first falling domino.
The sudden drop in firepower would trigger a terrifying chain reaction!
Once they failed to achieve firepower suppression—falling below the threshold required to instantly kill an opponent—the five-man formation would turn into a flock of lambs.
Every member would be no different from a sheep running aimlessly in a pen, waiting to be slaughtered.
The Wasteland War Team clearly understood this.
However, even with only three members remaining, they did not panic. They had no intention of giving up.
Seeing Jiang Ke’er approaching rapidly, a look of panic appeared on Jing Lie’s face. Yet, the moment Jiang Ke’er swung her sword, his expression shifted instantly into a triumphant smirk!
His body underwent a lightning-fast transformation, his skin becoming harder than steel! His speed and strength surged, and taking advantage of Jiang Ke’er’s proximity, his fists suddenly swelled to ten times their original size! He slammed his fists down toward her head like a pair of giant hammers.
Jiang Ke’er hadn’t anticipated this move.
It was too late to run. She could only cross her swords, attempting to deflect and slash against the heavy blow simultaneously!
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing made Jiang Ke’er’s eardrums ache. She was pressed into a half-kneeling position by the terrifying force, her heart filled with shock.
‘Is this the true strength of a Dao Seat?’
“Actually, I’m a Strength System Cultivator,” Jing Lie said, grinning through gritted teeth as he continued to exert crushing pressure.
“The Team Coach made me temporarily switch to being a Magic Cultivator… magic is just my side gig.”
Jiang Ke’er felt like her arms were about to break.
Her entire skeleton groaned under the pressure, and her right knee cracked the solid floor of the arena.
However, she smiled too.
“Actually… I’m a chef. Being a cultivator… is also my side gig!”
While using people as ingredients was inhumane, to man-eating beasts, humans were just another type of food… and as long as it was an ingredient, it could be chopped!
She didn’t know how Jing Lie made his hands so hard, but her study of Culinary Arts and the Path of Technique constantly told her that no structure in this world was absolutely perfect.
As long as you found the weakness, you could cut through!
Her cultivation base was still lacking, so she couldn’t yet achieve her lifelong dream of “finding the weakness of a safe,” but Jing Lie’s hammer-fists were still based on flesh and blood.
In this brief clash… she had found it!
Enduring the intense pain, Jiang Ke’er shifted her knees and stopped resisting the force head-on.
She adjusted her twin swords to a slant, letting Jing Lie’s fists slide down the blades toward her shoulder.
“Now!”
The angled swords forced the fists to slide down quickly, allowing Jiang Ke’er to adjust her own angle.
The palm lines were the weakness!
The tightly clenched fists made the palm lines deeper, and Jiang Ke’er suddenly thrust her sword along those lines, stabbing straight into the meridians of his palm!
A sharp pain shot through her shoulder as the hammer-fist grazed her, but it didn’t cause serious damage.
Jing Lie, on the other hand, instantly lost strength in his hands as a massive gash opened across half his palm.
He knew he didn’t have time to worry about these wounds. He had to take advantage of the remaining hardness in his hands to deliver a horizontal sweep at Jiang Ke’er!
Jiang Ke’er was already crouched low; she used the opportunity to spring upward, dodging the sweep while slashing her sword toward Jing Lie’s head!
Jing Lie caught a glimpse of his teammates out of the corner of his eye, only to see them pinned down by Gan Ruanruan, Jie Shui, and A Miao.
They were struggling just to stay alive. He needed support—even a single Spiritual Power bullet to stagger Jiang Ke’er would do—but there was none.
In desperation, he had to recall the Grade 8 Artifact robe that was trapping Qiao Xiaoxian to block the fatal strike.
He knew this was just delaying the inevitable. Once Qiao Xiaoxian was released, the already crumbling balance of power would shatter completely. The Wasteland War Team could not escape defeat.
Yet, he still didn’t give up.
His body merged with the robe, and the terrifying aura of a Grade 8 Artifact emanated from him.
The surging power gorged his meridians. Jing Lie’s face contorted in pain, his body turning a bruised purple, but he persisted in fully integrating with the artifact.
Then, a smile appeared on his face.
“You guys are truly impressive.”
His smile was pure.
“I might really lose, but regardless of the outcome, thank you.”
Jing Lie bowed.
Jiang Ke’er stopped Qiao Xiaoxian and took a step forward alone to face this powerful Dao Seat who had fought until now, holding back both her and Qiao Xiaoxian single-handedly.
Even though the opponent’s aura was now more terrifying than ever.
“You won’t go to Hell,” Jiang Ke’er said solemnly. This was likely the greatest promise she could make him.
Jing Lie shook his head with a smile, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
“Come at me together,” Jing Lie said.
“No,” Jiang Ke’er brandished her sword. “A fair fight!”
Jing Lie didn’t stand on ceremony. “One move to decide life or death?”
“One move to decide life or death!”