Chapter 744: Counterattack

　　As Chu Liuyue held her breath and gathered her thoughts, her internal force quickly gathered at her right hand.

　　A small point of starlight suddenly lit up on her fingertip before splitting into two. One of them floated over to her next finger.

　　That wasn’t all to it though. In just the blink of an eye, three fingers on her right hand were lit up, and it showed no signs of stopping. The fourth point of starlight flickered into appearance, its glow a little weaker than the other three.

　　When the force in the surroundings started to gather around Chu Liuyue, she lightly waved her other hand in the air to get rid of that nasty force.

　　Although Shangguan Wan didn’t mind it and seemed more than happy to absorb the force in their surroundings, Chu Liuyue minded it. She found it too dirty and disgusting to be used, so she channeled her own force instead.

　　The water droplet started spinning really quickly. As the five lines rippled, rich force came pouring out of Chu Liuyue nonstop.

　　Shangguan Wan’s expression changed when she saw how Chu Liuyue blocked the surrounding force while her aura became stronger. How did she do that? Does she still have some other tricks up her sleeve?

　　That split second of distraction, however, caused a disturbance in the force Shangguan Wan was trying to gather. She quickly focused and only managed to stabilize it with much effort.

　　When the dark-green palm print finally returned to normal, she closed her eyes in relief. Indignation filled her on the inside though.

　　Although she had mastered the second stage of the Lingxiao Palm, most of it was pure regurgitation. She didn’t fully comprehend the technique, so she had to strictly follow the steps Shangguan Yue had taught her whenever she used it. Any mistake made would result in a backlash of her force.

　　While she was proud of herself for being able to reach the second stage, she would inevitably think of Shangguan Yue whenever she used the technique and felt restricted by her inability to control it freely. This was why she wouldn’t use the technique under normal circumstances.

　　But now, it was the best option to end things quickly.

　　Glowing lines slowly surfaced on the palm print, which looked like palm lines from afar. The finer these so-called palm lines were, the more power they contained.

　　As one’s understanding of the technique differed from cultivator to cultivator, the lines they produced were different as well. However, Shangguan Wan’s palm lines were extremely similar to Shangguan Yue’s as she had learned the technique from the latter—her palm lines were much thicker and simpler though.

　　When Shangguan Wan drew the final palm line, the fifth point of starlight quietly appeared on Chu Liuyue’s finger.

　　Chu Liuyue looked up, her gaze lingering on the palm print in front of Shangguan Wan as an indiscernible smile crept up her face. She’s made no progress in the cultivation of the Lingxiao Palm even after so long. Then again, her Yuan meridian is damaged. She can’t even be compared to an average cultivator, so how can she continue cultivating the Lingxiao Palm? It must be tough for her spending days and nights to commit the steps to memory.

　　Chu Liuyue lifted her right hand, where five points of starlight twinkled at her fingertips. Having long memorized the Ultimate Jingshen technique by heart, she could even recite it off pat. Thus, she naturally comprehended and mastered the Ultimate Jingshen technique when she broke through to become a fifth-stage warrior.

　　With an abundant supply of force within her body, she finally managed to light up all five points of starlight.

　　“A fifth-stage warrior like you dreams of dueling with me?” Shangguan Wan sniggered. The technique I’m using is part of the Tianling Dynasty’s martial art skill that has been passed down for thousands of years. It can’t be compared to the one she’s using.

　　But Chu Liuyue appeared deaf to her words. With a light forward push of her palm, a brilliant and intimidating silver palm print appeared floating in the air, and the space around them started crumbling quietly to reveal a black circle.

　　That’s an Earth-grade warrior technique she’s using! The appalling sight made Shangguan Wan frown. She then cursed herself for making a fuss over nothing. Even if it’s an Earth-grade warrior technique, Chu Liuyue—a fifth-stage warrior—isn’t my match!

　　With this thought in mind, she pushed her palm print out. “Lingxiao Palm!”

　　As the dark-green palm print silently flew forward, Chu Liuyue’s silver palm print followed suit. The latter had chosen to face Shangguan Wan head-on.

　　“You think too highly of yourself!” Shangguan Wan scoffed.

　　The two palm prints flew toward each other, but before they could even come into contact, they began killing each other with their force.

　　The space around them instantly crumbled, and a crack line formed on the stone platform below to reveal a dark-green glimmer.

　　Shangguan Wan didn’t notice this, but Chu Liuyue did. The latter’s gaze immediately shot toward the crack.

　　Although Chu Liuyue couldn’t tell what the problem was, her intuition told her that something didn’t seem right about it. An uneasy feeling thus arose within her.

　　All of a sudden, a surge of force came from the front.

　　Chu Liuyue quickly tore her gaze away from the crack to look in front.

　　After a fierce and intense fight, the Jingshen Palm was forced to retreat, and its force was slowly getting absorbed by Shangguan Wan’s Lingxiao Palm.

　　Although Shangguan Wan had exhausted a lot of force, the force the Lingxiao Palm contained was still very abundant due to her having a higher cultivation level than Chu Liuyue.

　　At a glance, the Lingxiao Palm seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

　　With all her strength, Shangguan Wan shouted, “Go!”

　　The Lingxiao Palm was closing in fast, and it looked like it was planning to swallow the Jingshen Palm completely.

　　Right at that moment, the Jingshen Palm exploded into countless points of falling starlight.

　　Thinking that she had won the fight, Shangguan Wan’s eyes curved into crescents. But just as she did so, she saw the falling points of starlight exploding in a blinding display.

　　It was so bright that the entire place was fully illuminated as if it was daytime.

　　An ear-piercing sizzling sound was produced when the light enveloped the Lingxiao Palm, and it sounded like something was burning. The Lingxiao Palm then began shrinking, and a foul smell soon spread everywhere.

　　Shangguan Wan could hardly believe what she was seeing. How is this possible? Chu Liuyue is only a fifth-stage warrior, so how come the technique she executed has such terrifying force?

　　Just then, Chu Liuyue moved to put her hands in front of her in a strange pose.

　　Shangguan Wan found it a little familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen it before.

　　Chu Liuyue then lifted a hand to make a light stroke in the air, and starlight instantly filled the air to form a pattern.

　　Shangguan Wan stared closely at it out of worry that she might miss something. Chu Liuyue’s movements were very slow, so she had a clear look at them, and a mental image of the pattern unconsciously formed in her mind. But slowly, she realized that something was wrong—the pattern Chu Liuyue was drawing was slowly overlapping with the pattern of the second-stage Lingxiao Palm.