The Dragon Rhinoceros Sword pierced the shield and then stopped, unable to completely destroy it. Su Li was blocked by this shield, and Ding Shijie took the opportunity to accelerate his descent, catching up to the Ice Sword. He reached out with his left hand, grabbed it, and then swung the sword to kill the Bloody Giant Earthworms below.
Seeing Su Li’s sudden massive increase in power, the only possibility was that advancing from Level 7 to Level 8 brought a significant boost in strength. Since that was the case, he wouldn’t linger in battle. Instead, he would first level up to Level 8 himself, gain that same massive boost, and then fight Su Li to the death.
From start to finish, it never occurred to him that Su Li had only been a Level 6 Spirit Source user before.
By the time Su Li chased down again, Ding Shijie had already killed several Bloody Giant Earthworms, absorbed their Spirit Source, and then activated his special ability, darting diagonally through the water to widen the distance between them.
Now the roles had reversed: Su Li was the pursuer, and Ding Shijie the evader.
Su Li chased and attacked multiple times, but Ding Shijie relied on his special ability to form a shield, using it to block Su Li’s strikes before fleeing far away to kill more Bloody Giant Earthworms. Soon, he had absorbed enough Spirit Source to successfully break through, reaching Level 8 and becoming an 8th-level Spirit Source user.
Upon becoming an 8th-level Spirit Source user, Ding Shijie stopped, a hint of surprise flickering across his face.
Although his power had increased, the boost was minimal—far from the qualitative leap he had imagined.
“It seems my earlier guess was right. Advancing from Level 7 to Level 8 only gives a small boost. So why did Su Li suddenly gain such a massive increase? That doesn’t make sense.”
Ding Shijie was baffled. As Su Li appeared before him again, the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in his hand swung repeatedly.
Su Li was in the second form of “Demon Muscle,” with speed and power continuously rising. Not just strength, but even speed began to surpass Ding Shijie.
Ding Shijie dared not parry with his sword, because Su Li’s strength was now too overwhelming for him to withstand.
He once again conjured an invisible shield to block Su Li’s attack.
This time, Su Li didn’t use the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword to stab the invisible shield. Instead, he clenched his left fist and punched directly at it.
The muscles on his body surface bulged as he burned stamina, his power growing stronger. With this punch, a tremendous force seemed to explode deep within the water. The invisible shield couldn’t withstand his attack and shattered completely.
Ding Shijie’s face changed drastically as Su Li’s Dragon Rhinoceros Sword came slashing down from above.
There was no time to dodge. Ding Shijie gripped the Ice Sword with both hands—his left hand holding it, his blood-red right hand grasping the other end—and crossed it to block.
The Dragon Rhinoceros Sword struck the Ice Sword head-on.
Though Su Li’s strength was terrifying, Ding Shijie held tight with both hands, managing not to have the Ice Sword knocked out of his grip this time. However, the immense force still drove him heavily downward into the water.
But unlike on solid ground, the force couldn’t be fully applied in water. As Ding Shijie sank, most of the power dissipated, and the remainder was barely bearable for his body.
He sank down, then quickly angled upward to surge forward.
Su Li followed closely, chasing him upstream. Ding Shijie kept creating invisible shields behind him to block Su Li’s attacks.
Su Li’s strength was now so great that Ding Shijie dared not confront him head-on.
Every punch Su Li threw shattered the invisible shield. Though it couldn’t directly hit Ding Shijie, the destruction of the shield shook him as its controller, churning his internal organs. Blood began to seep slowly from the corners of his mouth.
Su Li noticed this and understood that with sustained attacks, the vibrations to Ding Shijie’s organs would worsen, lowering his stamina and making him increasingly unable to hold out.
Still, Su Li held back about a third of his power in each strike, wary that Ding Shijie might go all out and suddenly unleash the Ice Sword’s sword technique.
One fled, one chased, as they rose upward. Along the way, Su Li shattered Ding Shijie’s shields three more times, causing blood to trickle not only from his mouth but also from his nostrils.
His mental state was clearly deteriorating.
Finally, Ding Shijie surfaced, thrusting his head out to exhale heavily.
Su Li followed, also surfacing to breathe.
Both had been pushing their breath-holding limits during the underwater fight.
Though Su Li’s maximum breath-holding time was eight minutes, in the midst of combat underwater, he couldn’t actually last that long.
Emerging, Su Li noticed the Jinhui Center building was now two to three hundred meters away. Their underwater struggle had drifted them that far from the original spot.
After catching his breath, Ding Shijie paddled through the water, fleeing into the distance.
Su Li activated “Spider Walk” along with the second form of “Demon Muscle,” moving faster than him. He caught up in an instant, thrusting the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword straight ahead.
Ding Shijie conjured a shield to block.
Su Li withdrew his sword and punched the shield with his left fist.
This time, Ding Shijie suddenly retracted the shield in advance, extending his right arm. His blood-red right fist met Su Li’s left fist head-on.
He was willing to take damage, hoping to use the high temperature of his blood-red right fist to melt Su Li’s left hand. If he could melt it, he would cripple half of Su Li’s combat ability.
This move was swift and clearly premeditated. Startled, Su Li instantly activated “Silver Armor Cover,” wrapping it around his left fist.
With a sizzling sound, his left fist slammed solidly into Ding Shijie’s blood-red right fist. The high temperature melted the “Silver Armor Cover” protecting his left fist, emitting thick smoke. Without it, his left fist would have been half-melted in an instant.
Barely saving his left fist with “Silver Armor Cover,” Su Li broke out in a cold sweat. His terrifying strength also gave Ding Shijie trouble. With a muffled grunt, Ding Shijie’s blood-red right fist couldn’t stay clenched; his five fingers splayed, and the knuckles twisted. In an instant, several finger bones broke.
This was only because his blood-red right arm was reinforced by Spirit Source technique power, making it nearly invulnerable to blades. Otherwise, with Su Li’s current strength in the “Demon Muscle” state—each punch exceeding five thousand jin—it would have instantly blown his right fist and arm apart, pulverizing the bones.
Ding Shijie’s right hand throbbed with pain, his face contorted. His left hand, holding the Ice Sword, stabbed forward almost simultaneously, and a burst of icy mist erupted from it.
Within the mist, the scales etched on the Ice Sword suddenly writhed. The sword seemed to come alive, transforming into a massive, semi-transparent ice python that lunged viciously at Su Li. Wherever it passed, the water froze, and Su Li, close by, felt as if his blood would freeze solid.
What kind of terrifying technique was this?
In that instant, he felt bone-chilling cold and the fear of death.
He realized at once: Ding Shijie had finally unleashed the sword technique within the Ice Sword.
Ding Shijie knew that dragging things out would only worsen his position. By sacrificing his right hand, he aimed not just to melt Su Li’s left fist but to seize this chance to activate the sword technique and kill Su Li in one blow.
This was the last chance, the only chance. Any further delay, and he would grow weaker, the situation more dire.
Su Li had held back about a third of his power in each attack, keeping part of his focus on guarding against Ding Shijie’s desperate final move with the Ice Sword’s technique. And now, Ding Shijie had finally unleashed it.
Despite being mentally prepared, Su Li still felt a chill in his heart, fear, and the shadow of death looming over him. He couldn’t even dodge.
In the water, even in the “Demon Muscle” state, he couldn’t evade in time. His only option was to simultaneously activate the sword technique of the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in his right hand.
“Dragon Rhinoceros Slash” was unleashed—technique against technique. The surrounding water churned with terrifying waves. With a thunderous roar, the Dragon Rhinoceros Slash struck the freezing water surface head-on, colliding with the semi-transparent ice python manifested by the Ice Sword.
Su Li felt as if a heavy blow had landed on his chest. His mind shook violently, and an invisible force pushed him back several meters across the water.
For a brief moment, the water split open, creating a vacuum fissure about one to two zhang long.
Ding Shijie stood within that fissure, letting out a loud roar. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose, and he tumbled backward heavily.
The Ice Sword technique he had unleashed was nearly as powerful as the Dragon Rhinoceros Slash, but the strength behind it was far inferior to Su Li’s in the second form of “Demon Muscle.”
Su Li’s full-powered strike, combined with the terrifying force of the “Dragon Rhinoceros Slash,” overwhelmingly cleaved through the semi-transparent ice python formed by the Ice Sword. The residual force struck Ding Shijie.
Though Ding Shijie hastily conjured a shield to protect his chest in the face of death, the immense power of the “Dragon Rhinoceros Slash” split the invisible shield in two and slashed across his torso.
A massive gash opened on Ding Shijie’s chest, blood and entrails gushing out.
Without the protection of the semi-transparent ice python and the invisible shield, the Dragon Rhinoceros Slash would have split his body in two or even blasted it into a bloody pulp.
Watching Ding Shijie, disemboweled with his organs floating in the water, clearly beyond saving, Su Li let out a quiet sigh and slowly lowered the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in his right hand.
The power of that strike had been earth-shattering, but the stamina it drained was unimaginable.
Ding Shijie floated in the water, his gaze already unfocused. His head above the surface, he exhaled and said with difficulty, “Did you just… reach Level 9?”
He couldn’t understand why Su Li’s power had surged so much after leveling up underwater. The only explanation he could think of was that Su Li had been Level 8 before and had just broken through to Level 9.