Under the moonlight and the dark sky, shadow-based skills had the advantage ground.

Xie Tian’s movement became rigid. He couldn’t move his body or his flame saber.

“Die!”

Cao Mao aimed at Xie Tian’s neck. He swung Killer Queen down.

“SCRAM!”

Xie Tian released his fire aura shockwave and summoned his incomplete avatar, a fire dragon.

BOOM

The shockwave negated the shadow bind. The sudden burst of energy sent Cao Mao flying backward. The latter flew twenty meters before he could get back on his feet.

But Xie Tian had finished casting follow up skills. Ten dragon fireballs chased after him.

It was too late to dodge!

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

Ten consecutive explosives detonated as they hit a target.

Xie Tian panted and drew more spirit pills from his spatial rings to replenish his energy. He gulped all the pills down his throat while the fire on his body healed his wounds.

Suddenly, before Xie Tian, a thousand ice lances appeared out of nowhere. They rained down from the sky and come for him.

In a panic, Xie Tian circulated his essence into his feet, using Fire Dance Steps, a footwork technique, to get away from the AOE attack.

Meanwhile, the black smoke around Cao Mao slowly dispersed as the wind blew them away.

Cao Mao was unharmed under the ice barrier dome. Behind him, White Album was floating. She was the one who cast a barrier dome on Cao Mao, protecting her master, while casting the rain of ice lances.

“Get rid of him.”

‘On it, master!’

The spirit of Xu Xiuying’s clone, White Album, rushed toward Xie Tian as she created two ice swords in her hands.

As White Album flew toward the protagonist, she sent fifteen ice bullets, ten ice boulders, and five ice spikes toward him. While she was firing random ranged-attacks, she chased after him with two ice swords.

Sensing the oncoming attacks, Xie Tian dodged the ranged skills and ran away at a full speed. The incomplete dragon avatar behind his back glanced at White Album for a moment before it merged with the heaven-grade saber.

The saber treasure transformed into a flame elemental spirit. It turned around and fired the only strand of fire element Qi it had stored, creating a flame tornado toward White Album.

‘Fuck!’

As White Album could only use Cao Mao’s energy, she didn’t have ice element Qi or water element Qi to counter the fire element attack. The spirit flew back into Cao Mao’s side to escape from the tornado’s range.

Still, the ice-based attacks of White Album showed some results. One of the ice bullets went through Xie Tian’s left shoulder. An ice lance from the sky pinned his left foot while an ice spike punctured his right leg from the ground.

But in turn, the flame tornado chased after Cao Mao and White Album. The manifested flame humanoid spirit also flew into the tornado, increasing its firepower.

Looking at the tornado of death, Cao Mao desummoned White Album, “Come inside me.”

‘I don’t have a dick. How can I cum inside you?’

“There’s no time for a joke. If you want to live, get back.”

White Album returned to Cao Mao’s body. The latter’s feet kicked the ground and left the place with an after image.

Haunting Ghost Footwork

Within a second, Cao Mao ran a hundred meters away from the tornado.

The flame tornado devoured everything it had traversed while chasing after Cao Mao. As it moved, its size got smaller as the tornado consumed a lot of energy to maintain.

Cao Mao sneered as he deemed the tornado as a wasteful skill. Since it was not a threat, he took a sharp turn and charged at Xie Tian.

Meanwhile, Xie Tian managed to pull himself out of the ice spike and the ice lance. The fire on his body was also doused by the ice attacks, so he couldn’t heal himself with the Supreme Dragon Recovery anymore. He drew out more healing pills from his spatial rings and ate them.

As Xie Tian had eaten too many healing pills today, the pill effect decreased by 50%. His injuries took longer to heal.

The wound hadn’t closed yet, but Cao Mao was flashing and teleporting with short steps. The latter was rushing at him from the front.

Xie Tian gritted his teeth and waved his hand, sending 10 dragon fireballs randomly toward Cao Mao’s direction.

As the fireballs were flying toward Cao Mao’s face, the latter also groaned and used more of his abilities.

Telekinesis +20

Fire Manipulation +20

Cao Mao tried to steal the fireballs, but his cultivation base was weaker than Xie Tian. He could only alter their flying course.

The dragon fireball changed its trajectory. Cao Mao tilted his head to the right side while the fireball passed by, missing Cao Mao’s left ear by a hairbreadth.

Still, several fireballs landed on the ground, causing explosions and eruptions.

Because of the obstacles, Cao Mao’s speed decreased. The Haunting Ghost Footwork was canceled.

As soon as Cao Mao hesitated, the flame tornado got closer to him. Even if the size reduced from a 200 meters tall tornado to 190 meters, it could still kill him instantly.

Instead of attacking Xie Tian, Cao Mao got stuck in a pincer attack. Without a choice, he ran away from both of them.

However, Cao Mao wouldn’t let Xie Tian be too comfortable. He let KQ floating around himself like a funnel of Gundam. Then, he summoned a white fireball with his left hand while his right hand created a black fireball.

Dual Flame, Chapter 4

Both hands of Cao Mao revealed a trace of burning scars as Cao Mao couldn’t completely master the chapter yet. His resistance against Yang and Yin flame wasn’t perfect.

Cao Mao launched the Yin and Yang fireballs toward Xie Tian.

Xie Tian could see the danger of these fireballs. He leaped away from the dual-flame trajectory, but he wasn’t fast enough. The fireballs got in front of him within a blink of an eye.

“AHHH!!”

Xie Tian screamed, increasing his pseudo barrier’s power output to the max.

Cao Mao sneered, believing that he had just checkmated Xie Tian. He waved his arms and clapped his hands once, forming hand incantation and controlling the dual-flame to merge.

Dual Flame, Chapter 5

BOOM

The grand detonation of the Yin Flame and Yang Flame created a wide flame shockwave. It devoured the tornado and Cao Mao.

The tornado and the flame spirit disappeared.

Cao Mao had already braced for impact. White Album already reappeared and helped her master creating another layer of ice barrier. Cao Mao also had another pseudo barrier as another layer to soften the impact.

White Album was unharmed, but Cao Mao suffered a minor burn. They were neglectable, but he still coughed blood.

As for the victim, the explosion crushed Xie Tian’s right arm, which he had used to protect himself. He was also sent flying backward.

After the explosion subsided, Cao Mao and While Album could see the aftermath. They found Xie Tian laying on his back 500 meters away, and the flame tornado was gone.

Sensing the demise of the protagonist, Cao Mao and White Album pursued.

“HAHAHA! XIE TIAN, IT’S OVER!”

As White Album could fly, she went ahead first. Cao Mao followed her from behind.

All of a sudden, Cao Mao’s right eyebrow twitched.

While White Album was flying parallel to the plane, the flame sword of Xie Tian dug itself out from the ground and shuttled itself upward.

The spirit of the flame sword had canceled the tornado and hid in the ground when the dual flame explosion occurred. Now, it unleashed the remaining energy of fire element and ambushed White Album from below.

The sword punctured through her abdomen!

Then, the fire energy in the sword created another explosion, causing more damage to her hallowed body!

Normally, all physical attacks wouldn’t be effective against a spiritual being like White Album. However, with element energy, it could potentially destroy any ghost or a spirit.

White Album’s stomach had a hole in it. She froze in mid-air, looking at the damage in disbelief.

‘Had master had a strand of ice element to use, I would have crushed you fuck with a snap of fingers!’

Angry and frustrated, White Album lamented before she disappeared into Cao Mao’s body to recuperate. She was no longer in a condition to fight.

Another dragon fireball manifested before Cao Mao’s abdomen as well. It simply appeared before him and exploded.

BOOM

The fire damage broke his ribcages, ruptured his kidneys, damaged his liver, and gave him a second-degree burn. Cao Mao was blown backward, but he managed to land on his feet.

Because of the sudden damage, Cao Mao’s knelt on the ground. His trembling hands summoned a high-grade healing pill, which he had bought from one of Ju Garden’s alchemists during the peaceful month, into his mouth.

His skin regenerated itself like magic, but the internal organs took time to recover. Cao Mao could only kneel and stared at Xie Tian with frustration while he was regaining his stamina.

Meanwhile, the living flame saber returned to its master’s side. It floated next to Xie Tian and waited for his commands.

Unfortunately, the master was not in the condition to wield the saber. He had wounds all over his body. His crushed right arm was dangling and bleeding.

Xie Tian summoned another healing pill from his spatial rings. This time, it was a golden pill, a supreme-grade healing pill that he had looted from a dead cultivator.

That was the last healing pill in his possession. Unlike Cao Mao, who was rich enough to start a small sect, Xie Tian was poor. Most of his items were stolen by Jiang Lan. Even after he had obtained some fortune from Xiong Zhenzhen and Zhu Huifeng, he didn’t have many pills and resources to use in fights.

In novels, most protagonist’s income came from scavenging, looting, pillaging, or robbing the villain mobs or antagonists. But because of Cao Mao’s interference and sabotage, Xie Tian’s income and cultivation resources diminished.

First, Xie Tian failed to develop a rivalry with Wei Feng and grow in the Mountain Goose Sect. The potential resources that Xie Tian could have acquired from Wei Feng were intervened by Cao Mao.

Secondly, the sparring match between Cao Mao and Xie Tian in the assessment trial triggered the movements of the villains. Xie Tian became the center of attention among all powerhouse clans before he could farm low-level mobs to increase his strength.

Next, Xie Tian failed to become Jia Shan’s pupil. His knowledge in swordsmanship was mediocre without the elder’s help.

Lastly, Xie Tian picked the wrong choice by not following the heroine to her new sect because of his grudge against Cao Mao. He missed another fortuitous opportunity.

Without realizing it, Cao Mao had done a number on Xie Tian’s plot armors and storylines, greatly weakening the protagonist.

Now, killing Cao Mao and looting all of his resources was the only salvation for Xie Tian. In turn, this was the most vulnerable time of his life.

After swallowing the last healing pill, Xie Tian’s right arm recovered in a flash. His internal injuries were gone, but superficial wounds on his body remained.

The protagonist grabbed his heaven-grade saber and got back to his feet. As if he had never been injured, he strolled toward Cao Mao, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Meanwhile, Cao Mao didn’t know that Xie Tian ran out of healing pills. He stared at the protagonist in shock, astonishment, and frustration. He grabbed Killer Queen’s handle, getting ready for another round.

It was like fighting an immortal cockroach. No matter how many times Xie Tian was beaten, he always got back on his feet. Whatever Cao Mao had used, Xie Tian always had a way to counter it.

Anger swelled in Cao Mao’s heart. Venting his frustration, he consulted the system.

‘Damn system! Why is it so hard to kill an MC!?’