Wu Tie swung his long spear in an arc, blocking Guo Quenu's Strange Soldier's Edge.
With a light touch, the standard-issue long spear made of iron was effortlessly severed. Wu Tie held the two halves of the spear handle in his hands, and a bone-chilling coldness surged up the metal shaft, coating his arms in a thin layer of ice crystals.
The Strange Soldier's Edge nearly reached Wu Tie's waist, but Lao Tie rushed forward, opening his mouth wide and biting fiercely towards Guo Quenu's head.
Guo Quenu sneered, disregarding Lao Tie's attack and continuing her strike.
Wu Tie stepped back, his entire body enveloped in an invisible force field. He exerted all his strength to activate the force field, transforming into a shadow as he dodged to the side.
The Strange Soldier's Edge grazed Wu Tie's side, easily cutting open a one-inch-long slit in his tight-fitting armor. The tip lightly touched Wu Tie's skin, sending a bone-chilling coldness through his body, causing his limbs to stiffen instantly.
Wrapped in an invisible force field, Wu Tie was flung dozens of meters away before crashing onto the ground.
Lao Tie bit Guo Quenu's head forcefully, and sparks flew as his teeth collided with her Mysterious Ice battle helmet enveloping her body. A large piece of frost spread from his teeth to her head, turning Lao Tie's body a faint blue.
Clearly, Lao Tie's movements had become sluggish.
Guo Quenu stood still, laughing coldly. With a flip of her hands, she thrust the Strange Soldier's Edge upwards, ruthlessly stabbing into Lao Tie's abdomen.
A wave of molten light erupted from Lao Tie's body, and he groaned as sparks and electric arcs sprayed several feet away. His body trembled violently, and the Strange Soldier's Edge made piercing friction sounds as it pierced through his body from his back.
"Damn thing, too fragile." Lao Tie muttered to himself, "He actually used such a desperate move...burning all the essence inside his body...this body, too fragile..."
"This isn't your original body, is it?" Guo Quenu's eyes shone with blue light. She raised her head to look at Lao Tie and said softly, "No wonder you were classified as a Blood-Scarlet Three Star...your actual strength is only at the level of a Black Nine Star."
Lao Tie lowered his head, glaring at Guo Quenu fiercely. "If I still had my peak strength and my original body intact...a little brat like you could be slapped to death countless times..."
Guo Quenu smiled. With both hands tightly gripping the Strange Soldier's Edge, she fiercely swung it.
Amidst the piercing sound of cutting, Lao Tie's body was slowly torn apart by the Strange Soldier's Edge. The wound on his abdomen lengthened bit by bit, and the wound on his back continuously spewed out sparks, with countless metal fragments crumbling.
"Damn thing, so harmful..." Lao Tie looked at Guo Quenu and muttered, "Not only did you make me go hungry, but you also made me feel so empty...but, you underestimate me too much."
Guo Quenu remained silent, continuing to swing the Strange Soldier's Edge, intending to completely tear Lao Tie's body in half.
Lao Tie grinned abruptly, and his entire body emitted a dazzling light. The intense light enveloped his body, as if this body from the Howling Celestial Dog was burning fiercely.
In the next moment, all the light and heat converged in an instant.
His body became transparent, and through his body, one could see nine fist-sized flames burning fiercely within him. Within each flame, countless intricate lines and runes flickered and danced.
The nine flames suddenly merged into one, and an immeasurable white light gushed out from within Lao Tie's body, turning the surrounding emptiness into a bleak white.
The white light swiftly flew into Lao Tie's head, and sharp horns protruded from his skull while his head underwent subtle changes. Numerous twisted blood-colored patterns appeared on his face.
His body continued to burn, disintegrate, crack, and burn, while light and heat continued to flow into his head.
In just a single breath, Lao Tie's body completely vanished, leaving no trace.
Lao Tie's head floated in the air, and he stared fixedly at Guo Quenu, then suddenly opened his mouth.
A cluster of intense electric light surrounded by white flames spewed out from Lao Tie's mouth, producing a loud and resounding roar that shook the surrounding thick layers of rock, while an overwhelming heat swept across, causing the two feet thick Profound Ice on the ground to rapidly evaporate and vaporize.
Guo Quenu emitted a roar of shock and anger.
A bluish cold mist sprayed from her body, thick as a fist, writhing and rotating like a mad snake towards the Strange Soldier's Edge in her hand.
The fiery flames enveloped in lightning fiercely struck Guo Quenu's chest as she swung the Strange Soldier's Edge fiercely.
Amidst the grating friction sound, the Strange Soldier's Edge pierced through Lao Tie's neck, passing through his mouth and entering the interior of his head.
Sparks and electric arcs sprayed out of Lao Tie's seven apertures, and thick, substance-like blood-red rays flowed out from his seven apertures. The blood light in Lao Tie's pupils suddenly dimmed, and the Strange Soldier's Edge, which was spewing out cold mist, laboriously pierced through his head, with less than half an inch of its edge protruding from his crown.
Guo Quenu's chest armor was destroyed, and the Profound Ice armor was vaporized.
The flames instantly melted Guo Quenu's chest, leaving a half-hectare diameter hole in her chest. Her armor exploded into countless ice crystals rolling and bouncing around. Her sweet and charming face distorted as she tightly gripped the Strange Soldier's Edge, forcefully piercing it into her lower abdomen.
The Strange Soldier's Edge disintegrated inside Guo Quenu's body, and wisps of viscous bluish ice crystals rapidly flowed into her body. Her chest wound was covered by a layer of blue light waves, and a large amount of translucent blue flesh rapidly regenerated, quickly healing the massive wound.
"You...can't kill me..." Guo Quenu's deep blue eyes gleamed brightly. She smiled at Lao Tie, her voice low and calm. "I am the chosen one...the one upon whom the Heavenly God's gaze rests." She slowly extended her hands towards Lao Tie's head and lightly squeezed it. "Acting on the heavens' will, eliminating all ancient demons...this is the supreme authority bestowed upon me by the sky..."
Lao Tie's seven apertures emitted sparks and electric light, and his gaze scattered as he stared at Guo Quenu. He coldly sneered, "Fool...you fool... I roughly understand...the situation..."
"Hey, really old...this world...changes too quickly...the Heavenly God's gaze? The supreme authority bestowed by the sky?"
"I've seen fools before, but never one as foolish as you...from what you've said, there are quite a few people like you, right?"
"Purifiers? Heh heh...you should use some of your old Lao Tie's bathwater to wash your brains...properly wash them..."
Guo Quenu's hands spewed out large amounts of bluish cold flames. The terrifyingly cold flames burned Lao Tie's head, creating fine cracks on his cheeks.
Wu Tie struggled to climb up from the ground, a cold aura raging inside his body. However, a large amount of heat was released from his bones, gradually dispelling the immobilizing coldness.
A golden light with mighty and unyielding righteousness surged down from his eyebrow, resembling a magnificent river cleansing his entire body.
The righteous aura collided with the cold air within Wu Tie's body, gradually crushing and dissolving it.
Staggering, Wu Tie walked towards Guo Quenu and Lao Tie step by step. He flicked his right arm, and the White Tiger Split's spearhead shot out from his bracer. The over two-foot-long spearhead trembled slightly, emitting a faint sound of tearing through the air.
Raising his right hand high, Wu Tie aimed the spearhead directly at Guo Quenu. He gradually increased his pace and rushed towards her with large strides.
"Guo Quenu, release Lao Tie!" Shouting loudly from a distance, Wu Tie's invisible force field lifted dozens of large stones around him, sending them flying with sharp sonic booms towards Guo Quenu.
Bluish frost abruptly covered Guo Quenu's skin surface, and she turned her head to give Wu Tie a grinning smile.
Her once sweet and lovely appearance had now turned into a skeletal figure, and her smile appeared particularly grim.
Dozens of large stones descended, striking heavily on Guo Quenu's head and face.
In the dull impact, the stones shattered, and the thick ice covering Guo Quenu's face showed no traces of damage.
Wu Tie had already rushed over, wielding the White Tiger Split. He fiercely thrust towards Guo Quenu's heart, and she sneered mockingly. Her body swayed, about to evade with Lao Tie.
Lao Tie suddenly opened his mouth, and both rows of his large teeth flew out like dozens of flying knives, accompanied by dazzling electric light, whistling as they penetrated Guo Quenu's body.
Guo Quenu never expected Lao Tie had this trick up his sleeve.
Her body was pierced by solid, electrically radiant metal teeth; the thick Profound Ice shattered, and two bunches of frigid flames violently crushed Lao Tie's cheeks, rushing into the depths of his head.
With a "thud," the lower half of Lao Tie's head exploded, and countless white metal fragments splattered all over the ground.
Lao Tie's voice came from his shattered upper half skull, "Little fella, take me... and run, the faster and farther, the better... I've messed up... some things must be quickly explained to you!"
Wu Tie roared as the White Tiger Split swept horizontally, slicing Guo Quenu, with her body turned into a sieve, into several segments.
Guo Quenu let out a sharp scream, and large amounts of cold air spewed out from the wounds all over her body. The White Tiger Split cut through the Profound Ice on her body, dividing her into several sections with a single strike.
Wu Tie, filled with determination, swung the White Tiger Split seven or eight times, brutally cutting Guo Quenu into several pieces.
He then scooped up the battered Lao Tie, tears flowing down his face, enveloping themselves around his invisible force field, leaping and sprinting across the stone beam, the open passage, and the stone fortress filled with corpses and bloodstains, rushing into the subsequent passageway.
A gust of wind accompanied his body, leaving behind strands of afterimages. Wu Tie exerted all his strength to sprint through the passageway.
As he ran, he shouted loudly to Lao Tie, "You can't die... Lao Tie... you said you were so formidable! What... what..."
Tears continued to flow, dripping onto Lao Tie's smooth skull.
Lao Tie's eyes occasionally flickered with blood-red light, and in the core of his pupils, a faint yet clear aura spread out from time to time.
Guo Quenu's attacks had seriously injured him.
Hearing Wu Tie's wailing, Lao Tie slowly spoke, "Can't this old man brag a bit? Although, this old man was indeed remarkable in the past..."
"But...this old man is only left with a head, and this damn thing of a body is unreliable...what can this old man do?"
"In the past, I suffered quite a few injuries... Although this head looks intact... it's actually full of hidden injuries..."
"Little fella, if it weren't for this mess, this old man could have accompanied you for quite a long time..."
"But now, it seems I don't have much time left..."
"Hey, life is just a series of misfortunes, even farting can backfire..."
"And Guo Quenu... hey, Purifiers... we are their targets?"
"Be careful from now on... even if our enemies don't look that formidable, you must be careful... what Guo Quenu used just now wasn't her own power..."
"Truly, times have changed... this old man is left behind..."
Lao Tie grumbled incessantly, gradually recounting the lessons and experiences from his brief battle with Guo Quenu to Wu Tie.
Wu Tie cried silently, tears streaming down his face and continuously dripping onto Lao Tie's bald head.
At this moment, Wu Tie seemed to have returned to that day, back to the day of the massacre at the Wu family.
Dim light filled the passageway, and Wu Tie's heart was pitch black. He felt as if he were running through boundless darkness, surrounded by chilling coldness, enemies lurking everywhere, and terrifying demons and monsters.
Alone and helpless... not knowing where the path ahead led.
At the end of the stone beam, Guo Quenu, cut into several sections, slowly opened her eyes. She struggled with what remained of her upper body and, tilting her head, looked at a spot a few meters away, where a trace of blood was wrapped in a piece of Profound Ice.
Just now, her Strange Soldier's Edge had injured Wu Tie, leaving a small wound on his waist. This spot of blood was the result of a drop falling from the tip of the Strange Soldier's Edge, frozen into a blood bead by the intense cold.
"I won't let you escape. Once I catch your scent, you can't escape... anything related to people and things from that era must be eliminated... completely eliminated..."
Guo Quenu took a deep breath, biting her tongue and spewing a jet of blood onto the piece of Profound Ice. The Profound Ice cracked, and the tiny blood droplet was enveloped by the blood on her tongue, instantly exploding into a mist of blood.
Within the blood mist, Wu Tie's face was clear, and a faint but distinct aura spread out from it.
"Go...go find the immortals of the Church of Longevity..."
Guo Quenu laughed, her smile exceptionally radiant. "Let the Church of Longevity find you first...then, completely purge you."
(End of the chapter)