Chapter Seventy: A Thought! The Final Glimmer of Hope

"Am I going to die?" The thought suddenly flashed through Zhou Yi’s mind, but to his surprise, he found himself far calmer than he’d ever imagined, almost disturbingly so. Mo Hu’s attack had come so suddenly—so unexpectedly and with such overwhelming force—that even if Zhou Yi exhausted every trick up his sleeve, there was no way he could block it. In this situation, death seemed almost inevitable, a natural end to things.

"Is this really the end?" In that instant, time appeared to halt. Zhou Yi questioned himself in his heart, as though he truly was about to die, for he had no means to withstand Mo Hu's strike.

The wooden sword turned to light, motes of which reached his body. Zhou Yi could already see the disordered and mysterious patterns etched into the sword, each one radiating a power that made his heart pound with terror.

"This must be it for me!" Such thoughts flickered through his mind. At this moment between life and death, he could not help but find his own calmness absurdly ironic.

His thoughts flashed one after the other, his gaze drifting aimlessly around. He could not find a solution—so what good would panic do?

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Zhou Yi let out a soft exclamation, a pondering light glinting in his eyes. It seemed he had glimpsed a way out of his predicament.

His eyes swept over his body, cloaked in flames streaked with black.

"Fire," Zhou Yi muttered inwardly, staring at the scarlet flames. Then his gaze shifted to the blackness within the fire. Ignoring the pain, he drew a thread of his will toward it. In the instant it was nearly destroyed by the black wind, a message surged through his mind: "Black wind!"

Zhou Yi’s expression grew grave as he stared at these two forces. Inspiration sparked in his mind: to defeat Mo Hu was utterly beyond him. Though he had managed to withstand the flames and black wind, that didn’t mean he possessed their corresponding strength; he had merely relied on cleverness to barely hold on.

In terms of raw strength, Zhou Yi was far weaker than the flames or the black wind, to say nothing of the even more terrifying wooden sword.

If measured by tiers, Zhou Yi’s power could be considered the pinnacle of the Mortal-Transcendent realm, while the flames and black wind had both surpassed that level, though they had not yet reached the False Core stage.

Combined, the black wind and flames amplified each other’s strength fivefold, but even so, their overall power was still just above the Transcendent peak without a qualitative breakthrough to the False Core.

"But even if they haven’t reached False Core, they’re not far off," Zhou Yi’s eyes lit up, his thoughts growing ever clearer, his plan taking shape in his heart.

"So, in terms of levels, though there’s still a gap, it’s not yet so wide as to be hopeless!"

Relying solely on his own strength, Zhou Yi knew he couldn’t withstand this blow. But if he could harness the flames and the black wind, adding his own power as well—perhaps there was still a chance!

As the idea took hold, Zhou Yi’s body trembled. There was no more time to test its feasibility; it was his only option—he had to act.

Boom!

A thunderous shockwave erupted around him. At its center, Zhou Yi’s body shuddered violently. The flames and black wind, entwined together, were blasted apart by his sudden movement, scattering away from his body by an inch before being yanked back by an invisible force, threatening to envelop him once more.

"Ah!" In that instant, Zhou Yi’s eyes sharpened. With a sudden shout, he clenched his palm—a long blade appeared in his hand. He swung it before him, slicing through the flames.

Whoosh!

The blade, forged of condensed inner energy, was the perfect fuel for fire. The moment it touched the flames, they surged upward, wild fire wreathing the entire blade.

Boom!

The blade swept through the black wind. The flames, now blazing fiercely, ignited even further, drawing the black wind into their inferno, both elements now spiraling around the blade.

The sword was one and a half meters long—a classic greatsword. Its blade was wrapped in roaring fire, with a black streak embedded along the center, hinting at deep, restrained power.

"The blade is king of all weapons—the mark of a ruler is domination!" Ignoring the searing pain that racked his body, Zhou Yi’s eyes grew ever more resolute. His suffering only steeled his will. When a person devotes themselves wholly to one thing, all other pain becomes a source of strength.

"A sovereign strikes mountains asunder with a single slash, cleaves seas with a single swing, and conquers the world with a single stroke!" Word by word, these phrases resonated within Zhou Yi’s heart. With their emergence, his aura soared to new heights.

"Blade, interrogate the world!"

With that final thought, Zhou Yi’s aura reached its peak. His left hand gripped his right, both hands clutching the blade’s hilt. He let the flames surge down his arms, enveloping them instantly.

Boom!

The crimson blade blazed higher, and as Zhou Yi’s arms descended, the sword fell like Mount Tai itself, crashing down to meet the approaching wooden sword head-on.

The two weapons collided, unleashing waves of force. Zhou Yi was powerless to resist—he was hurled away in an instant. The wooden sword’s momentum faltered briefly, pausing in midair as it dissipated the force of Zhou Yi’s strike, then once more hurtled toward his tumbling body.

It worked!

Spinning helplessly through the air, his body as fragile as a paper figure, instantly flung aside, Zhou Yi nevertheless wore a broad smile. Not a hint of discouragement marred his face—only delight. "It really worked. My idea was right!"

The power of Mo Hu’s wooden sword had already reached the False Core level. Whether it was Zhou Yi, the flames, or the black wind, even combined, they were still far from that realm.

From the start, Zhou Yi had never naively believed he could block the wooden sword’s strike. His greatest hope was simply to survive it—so long as he lived, there was still hope!

And now, the result was heartening. Though the wooden sword’s attack had tossed him like a rag doll, helpless and airborne, he had suffered no serious harm.

That alone was the greatest surprise.

He was alive! Unharmed! Merely knocked away!

It was almost too good to be true.

In midair, Zhou Yi relaxed, inhaling deeply and then exhaling slowly.

His long breath drew an invisible arc through the sky.

"Since I’m not dead, then next—it’s your turn to die!" With that one breath, his mood stabilized. In a flash, Zhou Yi glanced at the pursuing wooden sword, his gaze piercing through it to Mo Hu behind. A smile appeared on his face, half-shrouded by flame.

"If I can survive this, and with my golden finger, I refuse to believe I can’t defeat you!" Zhou Yi’s gaze hardened with ruthless resolve. With a thought, his attribute panel appeared silently. He skipped over the front numbers with practiced ease, heading straight for the key figures.

After such a prolonged battle and the recent surge of action, the energy value on his panel was now increasing at a tremendous rate—every second bringing a significant boost.