Lie Feng said calmly, "Don't tell me you still have another trump card."
Finding himself utterly without retreat, Yuan Hong instead regained his composure.
There was only one choice left before him now.
"That depends on whether you actually have the ability," Yuan Hong replied.
The two clashed once more.
Yuan Hong knew that if he wanted to live, he had to kill Lie Feng.
This time, he fought with absolutely everything he had.
Unfortunately, he was simply no match for Lie Feng.
After only a brief exchange, the fierce fighting spirit he had mustered was already shaken.
First of all, Yuan Hong possessed a Fire Spirit Root and could only use fire-based techniques. Worse still, he no longer held any advantage in cultivation.
Lie Feng, on the other hand, could wield techniques of all five elements.
Every one of Yuan Hong's attacks was countered by Lie Feng with water-aspected techniques. That meant the only attacks that could still pose a threat were pure spiritual-force strikes without any elemental enhancement.
In other words, Yuan Hong was now forced to fight like a mere martial artist—he had no other options.
Lie Feng raised his hand and brought it down in a heavy chop. The sheer force of the blow sent Yuan Hong crashing down from the air.
Although Yuan Hong blocked it with both arms, he knew he couldn't withstand many more strikes like that. If this continued, his arms would be crippled.
Fully aware of his dire situation, Yuan Hong finally resolved himself. He pulled a small bottle from his robes and immediately swallowed the pill inside.
In an instant, the spiritual energy within his body surged dramatically.
Waves of scorching heat mixed with barely restrained spiritual power spread outward from him.
The pill he had just taken was the Frenzy Pill that Xiao Ji had prepared for him.
Its effect forcibly boosted the user by one minor realm for the duration of one hour. Once the effects wore off, the user would be unable to circulate spiritual energy for three full days.
It was a double-edged blade—if he failed to kill his opponent within that limited time, death was assured.
Unless absolutely desperate, Yuan Hong had never wanted to resort to this.
But to break the current deadlock, he had no choice but to gamble everything.
Seeing Yuan Hong's cultivation skyrocket, Lie Feng's expression remained unchanged. He said indifferently,
"So this is your trump card?"
Yuan Hong did not respond. He carefully regulated the surging power within his body, then exhaled a blast of searing hot air.
At this moment, his spiritual energy felt more abundant than ever before, and a smug smile crept onto his face.
He looked at Lie Feng with satisfaction.
"You really are impressive—forcing me to this extent."
Lie Feng replied, "Forcefully increasing your cultivation with pills has side effects. That state of yours won't last long."
"That's right. An hour at most."
"Then you'd better hurry."
"No need."
"Oh?"
"After killing you, I'll send your fellow conspirators to keep you company."
"You won't be able to."
"Why not?"
"Because you'll die here."
Yuan Hong burst into laughter, mocking Lie Feng's apparent confidence.
But Lie Feng's tone remained flat, his eyes flashing with killing intent as he said,
"If you had focused solely on running away, you might have lived a little longer. But the moment you chose to face me in a fight to the death, you forfeited any chance of survival."
Yuan Hong merely sneered. In the next instant, his expression changed sharply as he hurled a massive fireball straight at Lie Feng.
Lie Feng once again raised an ice wall to defend himself, but this time he could clearly feel that Yuan Hong's attack was far more violent. The ice wall failed to block it completely.
Although the fireball was greatly diminished after the collision, it still melted a massive hole through the ice and continued toward him.
Lie Feng dodged with ease—yet Yuan Hong had already appeared behind him and lashed out with a backhand punch.
Lie Feng reacted in time to block with his forearm, but the force sent him flying onto a nearby rooftop. His feet slid several meters across the eaves, smashing roof tiles as he skidded to a halt.
There was no time to dwell on that.
Riding the momentum, Yuan Hong continued his pursuit and struck again.
Having reached peak sixth realm, Yuan Hong's strength had increased by at least fifty percent. With Lie Feng's current condition, frontal confrontation was no longer advisable.
Rather than defending blindly, Lie Feng waited patiently—seeking an opening within Yuan Hong's relentless assault.
At that moment, Lie Feng circulated his spiritual power and unleashed a palm strike infused with the force of the Five Elements.
But Yuan Hong had anticipated this. Just as in their first encounter, he met the blow head-on with seventy percent of his strength.
As expected, the outcome mirrored their previous clash—they were evenly matched.
This further boosted Yuan Hong's confidence. The gap in raw power had opened again, and with a little more effort, he believed he could defeat Lie Feng once more.
He pressed forward.
To his surprise, Lie Feng closed his eyes.
Yuan Hong didn't understand—was he giving up?
Impossible.
Lie Feng was not the kind of person to surrender before the final moment. Yuan Hong knew that better than anyone, having experienced it firsthand before.
Confusion flickered in his mind—but it didn't matter.
As long as he killed this man, everything would be over.
Suddenly, Lie Feng snapped his eyes open.
His left hand shot out, catching Yuan Hong's incoming punch. At the same time, behind Lie Feng appeared two circular symbols—one black, one white—like ink paintings. They rotated once around an unseen axis before vanishing.
Yuan Hong was shocked to discover that the arm being held could no longer channel spiritual power. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not break free.
Lie Feng yanked with his left hand and thrust forward with his right.
With a deafening crack, Yuan Hong's nose shattered. Blood erupted from his nostrils, splattering across half his face and instantly making it difficult for him to breathe.
That punch alone should have sent him flying dozens of meters away—but his arm was locked firmly in Lie Feng's grip, forcing him to remain rooted in place.
Before he could even attempt to defend, Lie Feng's second punch slammed into his face.
The impact was even more devastating. Yuan Hong's features were completely distorted, his vision spinning, his limbs no longer responding to his commands.
Already on the brink of death, Yuan Hong was given no mercy.
Lie Feng's third strike carried the power of the Five Elements. With a single blow, Yuan Hong's head exploded.
All that remained in Lie Feng's grasp was a blood-soaked, headless corpse.
He released his grip, letting the body fall from the sky.
At that moment, Ji Wushi and Zheng Jian appeared nearby, both staring in shock at Lie Feng as he descended slowly.
They had arrived earlier but stayed back, worried their presence might interfere with the battle. It was clear they had witnessed everything.
Zheng Jian said incredulously,
"Yuan Hong… is really dead just like that?"
"Dead beyond any doubt," Lie Feng replied. "If you don't believe me, go inspect the body."
"That won't be necessary. By the way—what was that thing that appeared behind you just now?"
Lie Feng stared at him briefly, then answered,
"Nothing. Just a peculiarity of my cultivation technique."
Seeing Lie Feng avoid the question, Zheng Jian refrained from pressing further.
But Ji Wushi spoke up, revealing what Lie Feng had meant to keep hidden.
"You were using Yin–Yang Power just now, weren't you?"
Lie Feng's expression changed.
"How do you know?"
Ji Wushi quickly explained,
"Relax. Everyone has their secrets. If you don't want it known, I understand.
I only recognized it because I once read an ancient text—a rather miscellaneous one—that recorded various topics on cultivation. It mentioned a form of law-based power known as Yin–Yang Force, though it didn't clearly describe its applications."
Only then did Lie Feng relax.
"I see. So that's it. How did things go on your end?"
Zheng Jian replied,
"We didn't wipe them all out, but we took care of most of them. Quite a few cultivators surrendered."
Ji Wushi then asked,
"What do you plan to do next?"
Lie Feng let out a soft sigh.
"I want to find my master's and junior brother's remains… and give them a proper burial."
"In that case," Ji Wushi said, "we'll send people to help search tomorrow. For tonight, you should rest."
Lie Feng thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. Tomorrow, then."
He turned to leave, but Ji Wushi hurriedly called out,
"Hey—where are you going? The City Lord's estate is that way."
Lie Feng looked at him, then laughed out loud.
"I wondered back then—why you wouldn't let me just burn the City Lord's estate to the ground. Turns out you planned to occupy it afterward."
Ji Wushi laughed.
"We've been living in the mountains for months. Can't we enjoy ourselves a little?
And besides, if you had burned down the estate, the city formation controls would've been destroyed—and then we couldn't have trapped Yuan Hong inside the city as planned."
Lie Feng regarded him with newfound appreciation.
"You really are something. Alright—then I'll take you up on it."
"Good. We'll lead the way. Once we get there, take any upper room you like and get some rest."
Thus, the three of them walked away together.
Yet beneath Ji Wushi's calm expression, other calculations were already turning in his mind.