The violet mist roiled around Meng Hao, and as he stared at the woman, his pupils turned violet. His wounds began to rapidly heal, and within the space of a few breaths he was completely back to normal, except for a slightly paler face.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up at the woman, his face grim.
“Such power…” he thought. “Such incredible power! That was far beyond Ji Hongdong; I think that blow just now could easily wipe out a normal early Core Formation stage Cultivator!” His eyes narrowed.
“Running away pretty quickly, I see,” she said coolly. “I see you killed that annoying Ji Hongdong who everybody hated. Well, I can kill you easily. Take out the Immortal treasure and give it to me. You can’t even use it anyway.” She was not proud and arrogant the way Ji Hongdong was, but rather aloof. Clearly, she was much more powerful than him as well.
She also seemed to possess an incredibly domineering air, even a bossiness.
She waited for the space of two breaths and then said, “You don’t agree? Fine, then you can just DIE!” She stepped forward at incredible speed, and was instantly directly in front of Meng Hao. She raised her right hand, and the fist descended toward him.
Meng Hao began an incantation with both hands. A five-fingered Blood Palm sprang up; beneath his feet, the glow of the Blood Death World appeared. Blood Clones popped out and seemed to merge with his body. As the fist neared, he struck out with his palm.
A shocking boom filled the air, and massive power shook the ground beneath the two of them, shattering what remained of any nearby walls. A vortex of nothingness appeared and began to suck everything in.
Meng Hao coughed up some blood as he tumbled backward. Violet Qi roiled throughout his body, and his pupils glowed with a blinding violet radiance. His wounds once again healed; however, his face was even paler than before.
This recovery had cost him some of his life force, and life force represented longevity. He retreated, a cold glow emanating from his eyes. He slapped his bag of holding to produce the blood-colored mask.
The young woman took two steps back, a fierce expression filling her eyes.
“You’re the first person in the early Core Formation stage that’s ever been able to make me fall back!” she said unyieldingly.
“I can make you bleed as well,” replied Meng Hao, his eyes filled with as much coldness as hers. He lifted his hand to place the mask on his face, and as he did, the young woman let out a cold snort. The killing intent in her eyes grew even stronger. Her body flickered as she shot toward Meng Hao, raising her fist into the air.
“FANG!” She called out only the one word, but the instant she did, the colour of her fist changed into green. Countless green lightning bolts surrounded it, and it emanated a shocking and terrifying Qi that caused Meng Hao’s scalp to go numb.
The speed with which the young woman approached caused Meng Hao’s heart to fill with an intense sense of crisis. He had not experienced such a feeling even when fighting against Ji Hongdong just now. In fact, it had been a very long time since he had experienced such a crushing pressure from anyone in the same generation as himself.
“DIE!” cried the young woman, her voice echoing out in all directions as she neared Meng Hao.
At this exact moment, Meng Hao’s right hand placed the mask onto his face. A Qi of blood and death immediately exploded out from him.
It was also at this exact same moment that the back of the hand he had used to place the mask on his face was suddenly facing the Fang girl. In addition, the green mark which had appeared on the back of his hand when he formed his Core had not disappeared. It suddenly… flickered slightly.
The green mark flashed like a magical symbol, and the young woman saw it. The instant she did, her eyes went wide, and filled with complete disbelief.
Her fist was almost upon Meng Hao. She suddenly let out an exasperated grunt. Risking a recoil of energy, she twisted her attack to the side, causing her fist to slam into the ground next to Meng Hao.