Below the stairs of the third level, the environment was even darker, and the skylight on the deck could hardly let down any more light.
Torches and other lighting had long since been completely wiped out by Bai Yao, making the entrance to this third level look like the mouth of an abyss that chose people to devour.
“Lü Tianzhi, haven’t I already run out of ways to escape? Then what are you still hesitating for?”
Bai Yao’s voice, which sounded rotten to the point of oozing pus, came over, yet Lü Tianzhi remained unmoved.
He had already noticed something wrong.
Why, despite the cabin bottom being so dark, could Bai Yao still know her surroundings as well as if she were moving in broad daylight?
This absolutely could not be explained by having adapted to the dark in advance, or by having planned a counterattack from the very beginning.
“You little girl, you still had a trick hidden…”
Lü Tianzhi glanced at the [Moonlight Sword] in his hand.
Moonlight flowed over it, and the Soulfire of a High-Grade Spiritual Weapon surged without cease, completely covering his body to form an absolute defense.
Even siege crossbow cannons could not hurt him.
He did not believe this girl, who seemed to be a demon sect disciple and had exhausted all her tricks, could still pose any threat to him.
Lü Tianzhi hesitated no longer and continued down into the dim, lightless third-level cabin, sword in hand.
The instant he stepped into the dark third level, another thick ballista bolt shot toward him.
Yet under the radiance of the silver-white moon phantom of the [Moonlight Sword], it was as if an absolutely indestructible barrier existed within three steps of Lü Tianzhi.
It actually snapped the entire bolt and knocked it away!
“A High-Grade Spiritual Weapon really is extraordinary.”
Bai Yao’s final test was destined to be in vain.
But such a risky test was not without cost.
The metal arrowhead of the Heavy Crossbow collided with the silver-white moonlight, and the white light illuminated the entire third-level cabin in an instant.
Bai Yao, with no time to hide, was naturally exposed under the light with nothing to conceal.
Then, even though her position was exposed for only an instant, Lü Tianzhi’s Sword Intent had already locked onto Bai Yao.
A sword light from the [Moonlight Sword], wrapped in terrifying Sword Qi, instantly slashed toward her.
“Clang!“
A loud metallic collision rang out.
Without hesitation, Bai Yao gripped the Refined Iron Short Sword with both hands and wrapped a layer of [Jade Spider Silk] around the blade to strengthen it.
Even so, her defensive stance was nearly shattered completely in an instant.
The sword light struck her, and Bai Yao was sent flying backward, slamming hard into the cabin wall.
Fortunately, because the [Moonlight Sword] had to maintain his Martial Form’s moon phantom, the sword light that could not be unleashed at full power was ultimately fully deflected by Bai Yao.
The Sword Qi sliced across the soft armor she had taken from some unlucky Xuan Kingdom Royal Family disciple, but it failed to pierce through effectively.
It only made her spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Hmph, you actually took a sword strike I unleashed with my Hundred Refined Martial Form.”
“You can consider yourself lucky.”
“But can you still take my second sword?”
The strike failed to land, and the surroundings returned to complete darkness.
However, Lü Tianzhi’s Sword Intent, borrowing Heaven and Earth Momentum, had already locked firmly onto Bai Yao in the dark.
“Lü Tianzhi, I’m still alive!”
“Whether I can take your sword or not, we’ll only know after we finish fighting!”
Bai Yao rolled to her feet, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, and said loudly without flinching.
But what greeted her was a continuous barrage of savage sword lights.
Clearly, Lü Tianzhi had no intention of wasting words with her.
After locking onto Bai Yao, he directly swung his sword to pursue her on the ground.
As sword light after sword light was unleashed, the moonlight gradually dispersed the darkness.
Bai Yao was always able to know Lü Tianzhi’s intentions in advance and then perform extreme evasive maneuvers.
Only at this moment did Lü Tianzhi belatedly discover the secret of why Bai Yao could move so agilely in the dark environment.
“Spirit Silk?”
“You actually spread Spirit Silk all over the entire third level of the cabin bottom!”
Lü Tianzhi was shocked.
What shocked him was not Bai Yao’s elaborate setup, luring him into the trap, but that from the very beginning she had come to hunt him, a late-stage Grandmaster of the Hundred Refinements Realm, across two cultivation realms.
This bottom level had long been densely covered by Bai Yao with [Jade Spirit Silk].
He was like prey fallen into a spider’s hunting web.
No matter how strong the prey, there would always come a time when it was worn to death.
Every thread of [Jade Spider Silk] was closely linked to Bai Yao’s [Cang Jian Tian Di], allowing her to sense all subtle changes in her surroundings to the greatest extent.
Naturally, this included the circulation of True Qi throughout Lü Tianzhi’s body, as well as his subtle movement intentions.
“People who are arrogant usually don’t meet good ends.”
“Lü Tianzhi, if you want to maintain both the power of a High-Grade Spiritual Weapon and your own Martial Form at the same time, how many more Sword Qi strikes can your True Qi still allow you to unleash?”
As Bai Yao spoke, she took out a pill bottle in the darkness and gulped down Small Return Pills of the Xuan Yu Sect.
In contrast, whenever Lü Tianzhi showed even the slightest slackness, hidden mechanical crossbows or even large Crossbow bolts would come calling.
“Fine… fine, what a demon sect disciple.”
“Truly deep in scheming.”
“But I, Lü Tianzhi, am a direct descendant of the Lü Family of Xu Kingdom.”
“As a demon sect disciple, Your Excellency perhaps need not fight me to such a bitter end.”
“Perhaps it is not worth it.”
Lü Tianzhi’s tone changed, and his form of address for Bai Yao also became Your Excellency.
However, not to mention that he had already begun secretly mobilizing all his True Qi while speaking, the misunderstanding about her being a demon sect disciple also made Bai Yao sneer inwardly again and again.
“Heh heh, who told you I’m a demon sect disciple?”
“Of course, killing you, a direct-line genius of the Lü Family, is truly worth it!”
Bai Yao no longer concealed her usual manner of speaking.
She even reached a hand toward the Storage Pouch at her waist, gripping the hilt of [Sky Devourer] inside.
Lü Tianzhi had no mind to listen to what Bai Yao was saying, and Bai Yao was also rapidly thinking about the next decisive sword strike.
The two remained deadlocked for three breaths.
Just an instant before Lü Tianzhi finished gathering momentum, Bai Yao’s ring finger moved, and three crossbow bolts shot out from the darkness.
At the same time, three short swords hidden in the darkness attacked Lü Tianzhi with full force from three directions, following right behind the crossbow bolts.
Lü Tianzhi paid no attention to the three arrows at all.
He simply urged the silver moonlight covering his body to slice them to pieces, while using sound to determine whether anything else was hidden beneath the shadows of the three short swords.
However, those three swords were merely ordinary Hands-Free Swords and had no special measures attached.
“Bai Ling, since you’ve exhausted all your tricks, then take my killing move!”
“[No Moon]!”
Lü Tianzhi had already concluded that Bai Yao was out of options.
This move, [No Moon], would disperse his entire Hundred Refined Martial Form, and it was his strongest sword under full power.
He did not believe that with his cultivation two realms higher than hers and a High-Grade Spiritual Weapon, Bai Yao could have any way to take his strongest sword.
In the next instant, the moonlight around Lü Tianzhi suddenly vanished.
All the moonlight recondensed into lines and patterns that wrapped around the [Moonlight Sword], and his sword momentum soared to its peak in that instant!
A sword light as bright and white as frost swept past.
The three Hands-Free Swords instantly turned to dust, as if Bai Yao would be split in two the next moment.
But just then, a sword light as pitch-black as ink, almost impossible to dissolve, suddenly shot out from Bai Yao’s side!
The moonlight shattered in an instant, and the sword momentum collapsed in a breath…
To be precise, it did not shatter, nor did it collapse.
Rather, it was swallowed alive by that stroke of black.
Lü Tianzhi, utterly stunned, did not even know what had happened before Bai Yao’s sword light severed his entire right hand that held the sword.
“Aaaah!“
Blood splattered, and Lü Tianzhi’s wails echoed throughout the cabin bottom.
That was not because of the pain of the wound, but because of his unwillingness to accept a defeat already set in stone.
“Lü Tianzhi, you said…”
Bai Yao drew the sword with [Sky Devourer] for only an instant.
Then, in the next breath, she very cautiously and swiftly sheathed it back into her Storage Pouch.
She smugly caught the [Moonlight Sword] that flew into the air after leaving Lü Tianzhi’s hand, and casually swung it twice.
“You said that even if you gave me a High-Grade Spiritual Weapon, I still wouldn’t be able to beat you.”
“Here… now my sword is even higher-grade than your High-Grade Spiritual Weapon.”
“Would you say you’re definitely dead?”