“What poison is this!?” said Shangguan Xiu, his expression shocked as he retreated. A feeling of weakness spread through him like floodwaters. Knowing he had little time to think, he slapped his bag of holding and produced a medicinal pill, which he swallowed.
Meng Hao had planned things well to make a move in a moment just such as this. Even his three mouthfuls of blood had been coughed up intentionally, all to make Shangguan Xiu think that he had the upper hand. As soon as his opponent retreated and pulled out a medicinal pill, Meng Hao charged forward. He smacked his bag of holding, and the black net shot forth, threatening to envelop Shangguan Xiu.
It takes longer to describe what was happening than the actual time it took to happen. Shangguan Xiu’s expression flickered as he downed the medicinal pill. His fingers began to flicker in an incantation, even as the net began to cover him. Meng Hao moved forward without pause. The black, wooden bow appeared in his hand, and he pulled back on the bowstring, then sent an arrow screaming toward Shangguan Xiu.
Shangguan Xiu moved backward at high speed. A medicinal pill, a black net, an arrow and an incantation. He didn’t have time for all, he would have to pick two.
A booming sound rang out. Shangguan Xiu downed the pill, but abandoned his incantation. He managed to evade the black net, but couldn’t avoid the arrow. It shot into his right shoulder, emerging from the other side in a shower of blackened blood.
Intense pain flashed through him, but Shangguan Xiu let out a low snort. Meng Hao didn’t pause for even a moment. A second arrow whistled forth, followed by a third and a fourth. Meng Hao moved forward relentlessly. Every step he took, he shot an arrow; seven steps, seven arrows.
The seven arrows shot forward, screaming through the air with shocking killing intent!
Shangguan Xiu continued to retreat, struggling to control the spread of the black strands throughout his body. And yet, he also had to dodge the incoming arrows. But being at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, he could only do so much. He might be at the absolute peak of the ninth level of Qi Condensation, a hair away from the Foundation Establishment stage, but he was still not at the Foundation Establishment stage.
No, he was still far from Foundation Establishment stage. Just like Meng Hao, he was still in the Qi Condensation stage. The difference in the level of power between the two was like the difference between the sky and the ground.
He couldn’t do everything perfectly at the same time. A booming sound reverberated through the air as the seven arrows pierced his right arm, completely destroying it. This was the only thing he could do to defend against the arrows. He paid the price of a right arm in order to be able to focus on bringing the poison in his body under control temporarily.
Even as he did so, an eighth arrow shot toward him from Meng Hao, then a ninth. He raised his head to the sky and howled.
From the day he began to walk the path of Cultivation until today, he had never been in such a dangerous, tight situation. He had lost an arm! The price he had paid, the pain he felt, drove his desire to kill Meng Hao to a new, intense height.
His eyes were bloodshot; the poison was under control, but could not easily be expelled. In fact, as of now, he could tell that it would be impossible to expel the poison while he was in the Qi Condensation stage. Only if he reached Foundation Establishment could he do so.
“Milky Way Sea!” he shouted, his hair flying about him crazily. He bit the tip of his tongue and spit out a glob of blood. A violet pearl flew out from within the blood, within which could be seen what appeared to be a seething mass of wind. As soon as it appeared, a fierce gale arose, sending Meng Hao’s latest three arrows into a spin. Then, they simply collapsed into pieces.