“Boom!”

With a thunderous noise, the wind barrier from Xu Taiping’s Cang Luan Ring was directly cleaved open by the slash.

He could sense an indescribable aura of destruction within the golden-armored deity’s blade, which was precisely what shattered the wind barrier of the Cang Luan Ring.

“Whoosh!”

In the instant Xu Taiping’s wind barrier fractured, Lu Chen merged into the sword light again, thrusting his sword towards Xu Taiping.

At the same time, the golden-armored deity raised its blade once more.

Both attacks were timed to perfection.

“Snap!”

Faced with this situation, Xu Taiping snapped his fingers again, unleashing the Cang Luan Ring’s Two-Finger Mountain Shatter.

After another thunderous “boom,” both the golden-armored deity and Lu Chen, clad in Porcupine Armor, were forced to retreat repeatedly by the violent wind.

The spines on Lu Chen’s Porcupine Armor even fell off in droves under the impact.

Even the golden-armored deity dimmed significantly under the might of the Cang Luan Ring’s two fingers.

Having bought some time with the Two-Finger technique, Xu Taiping swiftly formed hand seals and cast a cloning spell.

With a “boom,” an identical figure appeared beside him, the only difference being that one of them did not hold a blade.

“Whoosh!”

The two figures of Xu Taiping immediately split apart.

“Such a simple cloning technique might deceive others, but not this young master!”

Lu Chen snorted coldly and once again formed hand seals, directing the golden-armored deity to attack the Xu Taiping holding the blade.

Though both figures looked identical, only the one with the blade had fluctuations of spiritual energy.

He was a cultivator of the Gazing Abyss Realm, with a divine sense far stronger than that of ordinary cultivators!

“Boom!”

Just then, the golden-armored deity’s blade slashed towards the Xu Taiping with the sword.

“Bang!”

The Xu Taiping with the sword drew his blade to block, but it shattered upon contact, and he was sent flying backward by the immense force of the deity’s saber.

Seeing this, Lu Chen’s lips curled into a smile, and he no longer paid attention to Xu Taiping’s other clone. He lifted his sword and, together with the golden-armored deity, launched a combined attack on Xu Taiping.

In his view, the Xu Taiping with the blade was the real body, and the other was just a decoy not worth his concern.

“Bang!”

With Lu Chen’s sword thrusting out, the Xu Taiping with the blade was forced to retreat again, right into the range of the golden-armored deity’s saber.

“Boom!”

Without any hesitation, Lu Chen controlled the golden-armored deity to chop down at Xu Taiping with all its might.

At the same time, he circulated all the True Qi within his body, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Xu Taiping.

“Bang!”

As he had planned, the golden-armored deity’s slash knocked Xu Taiping to the ground, rolling to his feet.

“Clang!”

Without any hesitation, Lu Chen’s well-prepared sword thrust fiercely towards Xu Taiping in front of him.

“Bang!”

The sword’s power was immense, piercing a huge hole through Xu Taiping’s chest.

But in the next moment, Lu Chen’s face suddenly froze.

He realized that although Xu Taiping’s chest was pierced, not a single drop of blood flowed out.

Then, the body before him “boom” turned into a burst of energy and dissipated.

“This is the clone!”

In an instant, Lu Chen felt a chill run down his spine, and as he turned his head to look at Xu Taiping’s other clone, it had already vanished from his sight.

“I’m right here.”

As he was still in shock, a very cold voice sounded behind him.

Turning around, he saw another Xu Taiping standing behind him, raising his hand with three fingers up, watching him with an indifferent expression.

“Deity, protect me!”

Instinctively sensing the breath of death, Lu Chen quickly formed hand seals while shouting loudly.

But before the deity could react, Xu Taiping suddenly swung his palm down.

“Swish!”

Within the sharp sound of cutting air, a thin, blue-glowing wind blade swept across the courtyard towards Lu Chen and the deity.

This was the Cang Luan Ring’s third technique, Three-Finger Sea Split.

“Boom!”

With the sound of an explosion, the spines on Lu Chen’s Porcupine Armor shattered, and he himself was gravely injured, vomiting blood profusely, while the deity summoned by the Talisman Scroll shattered under this slash.

Not only them, but even the large elm tree and the tall courtyard wall behind them were completely split by the wind blade, eventually collapsing with a “boom.”

“Release… Release!”

At this moment, the severely bleeding Lu Chen suddenly struggled to form a seal with his hands, and his aura surged dramatically. At the same time, the previously damaged Porcupine Armor began to repair itself, and the porcupine spines started to grow wildly.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Chen was protected by the spines, resembling a giant hedgehog ball from afar.

Xu Taiping, who was familiar with the Porcupine Armor, knew that this was one of its divine abilities.

After being nourished with the cultivator’s own blood essence, the Porcupine Armor could integrate with the cultivator, sharing both glory and damage.

Though it lacked offensive power, it possessed formidable defensive capabilities.

“This armor of mine, even if you burn it with True Fire, it would take a good half an incense stick’s time!”

At this moment, Lu Chen, like a hedgehog in its shell, sneered at Xu Taiping.

“Indeed, it is one of the best armors of the Qingxuan Sect.”

Xu Taiping nodded.

Then, he sheathed his blade and took out a strip of cloth woven from Blood Demon Spider silk, wrapping it around his fists, layer upon layer.

“You plan to smash my Porcupine Armor with your fists? Come on, give it your best shot!”

Lu Chen taunted with a laugh upon seeing this.

If Xu Taiping had a True Fire Talisman, Lu Chen might have been worried, but now that he had chosen to use his fists, he had nothing to fear.

“Huff…”

After binding his fists, Xu Taiping exhaled softly and then stepped forward to face Lu Chen.

He did possess the Red Crow Golden Flame, but he had promised Fairy Lingyue that he would not use it unless it was time to burn the Burning Seed or in a life-threatening situation.

Of course, the ultimate reason was that Xu Taiping felt Lu Chen was not worthy.

“How could I let you die so easily?”

As he thought this, he took a fierce step forward.

“Boom!”

Even without throwing a punch, the momentum of his fists, driven by his intent, grew increasingly fierce with his step, bearing down on Lu Chen’s chest with a pressure akin to that of a high-level cultivator, relentlessly striking him.

“How… How is this possible?”

Lu Chen, who had been confident just moments ago, suddenly looked panicked.

But before he could react, Xu Taiping’s fists, wrapped in red cloth, “boom” smashed down on Lu Chen, clad in Porcupine Armor.