Dual Cultivation System: My Cultivation Was Crippled, So I Rely on Intimacy to Level Up

Chapter 278: Annihilating Di An with a Flick of a Finger

Zhou Kai couldn’t be bothered to answer. With a flicker, he passed through the light barrier and appeared behind Shu Fan.

His left hand held a Talisman, which he pressed lightly onto Shu Fan’s back.

Shu Fan’s raging Mana instantly froze, his violent momentum screeching to a halt.

Zhou Kai’s hand shot out, clamping onto Shu Fan’s shoulder and dragging him back onto the deck of the treasure ship.

“Self-destructing your Golden Core won’t save the Shu family.”

Zhou Kai’s voice was flat. Shu Fan’s face, however, was a mask of shock. Bloodlust churned in his eyes as his mouth opened and closed silently, utterly suppressed by the Talisman, unable to form a single word.

“You… you’re not Shu Xingyao!” Shu Mingxuan was the first to react. “Where is he? Who in the world are you!”

Zhou Kai finally spared him a glance, his gaze as indifferent as a frozen lake.

“You. Pilot the treasure ship. Run.”

Before his words faded, his figure blurred into an afterimage. When he reappeared, he was high in the sky, facing the two cultivators from the Heavenly Spring Sect.

Zhang Qing’s pupils contracted, alarm bells screaming in his mind.

The man before him clearly radiated the aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet when Zhang Qing’s Divine Sense swept over him, it vanished as if swallowed by a bottomless abyss. An instinctual dread coiled in his gut.

He forcibly suppressed his unease and barked, “Who are you? The Heavenly Spring Sect is on official business. I advise you not to court disaster!”

Zhou Kai’s Divine Sense followed the fleeing treasure ship until it was nothing more than a black speck on the horizon. Only then did he lazily raise his gaze, a smirk playing on his lips.

“The Heavenly Spring Sect?” Zhou Kai’s tone was dismissive. “And what is that supposed to be? As for this matter… I’ve decided to see it through.”

“Courting death!” Zhang Qing was thoroughly enraged, the aura of a sixth-layer Golden Core cultivator erupting from him. He pointed at the distant ship and roared at Di An, “You, go intercept that ship! This one is mine to kill!”

Di An nodded. “Be careful, Senior Brother,” he said, before transforming into a streak of azure light and rocketing after the treasure ship.

Zhou Kai paid the departing Di An no mind, his entire focus locked onto Zhang Qing.

A first-layer Golden Core against a sixth-layer. He’d have to be careful.

Neither of them made the first move.

Zhang Qing was apprehensive, unable to gauge his opponent’s true strength, and thus dared not act rashly.

Zhou Kai, however, was simply waiting for a signal—the confirmation that his Cicada Robe Body had finished laying the Formation.

The air began to thrum with imperceptible fluctuations. The surrounding Spirit Qi grew thick and viscous, like honey.

Zhang Qing’s expression soured. He could feel the flow of Spirit Qi around him turning sluggish, as if he were moving through mud!

But it was too late.

An invisible curtain of light erupted from the void, shooting up from the earth to cage the entire area!

Within the array, clouds churned and stones levitated into the sky. An unseen killing intent, sharp as a thousand blades, filled the air. It had trapped not only him and Zhou Kai, but also Di An, who had not gotten far.

This was the Hidden Kill Heaven-Confusing Array. Refined and perfected through the combined efforts of Zhou Kai and Lin Zhiwei, its power had more than doubled—it was now potent enough to pose a lethal threat even to a mid-stage Golden Core expert.

“A Formation! Dammit!” Zhang Qing cried out in shock.

He couldn’t wait. He had to strike first and seize the advantage!

He snapped his hands into a seal. Twelve flying swords let out a piercing hum as their light swelled to several times their original size. They tore through the air, transforming into twelve streaks of rainbow light that shot toward Zhou Kai.

Even before the blades arrived, the sheer pressure of their sword Qi shredded Zhou Kai’s robes.

Zhang Qing spread his Divine Sense, trying to probe the array’s weaknesses, but was horrified to discover a second “Zhou Kai” at the far end of the Formation, silently lunging for Di An!

“An External Incarnation! Junior Brother, be careful!”

Zhang Qing’s heart hammered against his ribs, a cocktail of shock and fury flooding his veins. Without a second thought, he diverted half of his swords, sending them screaming back toward the figure behind Di An.

Zhou Kai sneered. His Mana was inferior to Zhang Qing’s; he had never intended to clash head-on.

He shot backward, his right hand already holding a cyan Talisman between two fingers.

“Wind!”

The Talisman burst into flame without a spark, crumbling to ash.

*WHOOSH—!*

A gale erupted within the Formation.

But this was no ordinary gale. Infused with the power of the earth drawn out by the array, it coalesced into a massive, ochre tornado of sand and stone that stretched from the ground to the sky. With a deafening grinding roar, it surged forward to meet the six remaining flying swords.

The sword light was ground down, layer by layer, as rock and grit flew everywhere. For a moment, the attack was completely stalled in mid-air.

Just as Zhou Kai’s main body engaged Zhang Qing, his perfect double—the Cicada Robe Body—materialized silently behind Di An.

Di An was gathering his power to shatter the Formation and resume his pursuit when a sudden chill prickled the back of his neck. An invisible, formless wave of terrifying power—one that could tear a soul asunder—lanced toward the space between his eyes.

In the split second before the Cicada Cry Piercing Brain could pierce his Consciousness Sea, the inner armor Di An wore activated on its own. A milky-white radiance flowed from his chest, forming a barrier that shielded his mind.

*Hum!*

The Cicada Cry Piercing Brain struck the protective barrier, stirring only a faint ripple before dissipating into nothing.

“Oh?” The first strike had failed, but Zhou Kai’s main body merely narrowed his eyes, a cold smile touching his lips. “A soul-protecting Dharma Treasure? Even better.”

The thought only intensified his killing intent. A treasure like that deserved a better owner.

The Cicada Robe Body didn’t hesitate. Its hands clapped together once, then flew apart.

*BZZZZZZZZ—*

A thick, black cloud of Split-Back Katydids poured from its sleeves.

The swarm did not attack randomly. Under the clone’s control, the insects rapidly condensed, forming a colossal black sword over a hundred feet long that swung down on Di An with furious intent.

Di An’s scalp went numb with sheer terror. Without a second thought, he poured his Mana frantically into his Glazed Treasure Pearl, conjuring a towering curtain of water to shield himself.

But the Split-Back Katydids, now formed into a battle array, were no longer mere Spirit Insects. They were a living extension of Zhou Kai’s will to kill.

*Sssshhh—!*

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

When the greatsword of insects met the water curtain, the wall of water churned violently, trying to repel the assault. But it was useless. Countless Split-Back Katydids slammed into it with suicidal fervor, tearing it to shreds. In the blink of an eye, the defense was breached.

“No!”

Raw horror filled Di An’s eyes. As his water curtain collapsed, he spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood without hesitation. The Glazed Treasure Pearl let out a mournful cry as its light flared, forming one last, solid barrier around him.

But it was a futile gesture, a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

The insect greatsword slammed into the pearl’s final shield. Cracks instantly spiderwebbed across its surface, and the Split-Back Katydids poured through the fissures like a tide of death.

“Ah—!”

A shrill scream, unlike any human sound, echoed from within the insect cloud, then was abruptly cut short.

His flesh was devoured, his Mana scattered, and his Golden Core was gnawed to dust.

Where he had been, only a skeleton, picked clean and stained with bloody residue, fell from the sky. With it tumbled a lightless suit of inner armor and a Storage Bag.

Across the battlefield, Zhang Qing’s flying swords finally tore through the last of the sandstorm. He turned just in time to see Di An’s skeleton plummeting from the sky. His eyes turned bloodshot, bulging from their sockets in pure, unadulterated rage.

“Junior Brother!”