: Heaven and Earth Combined Strike

Zhu Xuanji's eyes shimmered with divine light.

The entire battlefield lay within his sight, and for now, everything was unfolding according to his plan.

"Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts are renowned experts, but from another perspective, their fame is also their weakness."

"The greater the reputation, the more intelligence tends to leak."

"Just one skirmish to inflict pain and humiliation on Liangzhu Kingdom, and given its massive scale, they will surely find a way to counter the Twin Ghosts."

For instance, Lieyang Zhenren was urgently dispatched by the royal family of Liangzhu Kingdom. And the bronze sundial held by the old man was a national treasure stored in the treasury. Once deployed, it immediately shattered the Profound Yin Frozen Realm.

This was the depth of a cultivation kingdom—formidable and unfathomable!

The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts were simultaneously targeted by four or five Nascent Soul cultivators, suffering heavy suppression.

In an instant, Ning Zhuo and the Three Generals Camp were out of danger, becoming mere spectators.

The three generals, Ning Zhuo, and Sun Lingtong inside the mechanical dragon were all panting heavily, their hearts still racing.

The previous battle had been truly perilous!

Not long after the fight began, Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Ning lost the initiative, barely managing to hold their ground, passively reacting to moves without gaining even a sliver of control.

Had this continued, Ning Zhuo would have had no choice but to let the soldiers of the Three Generals Camp be slaughtered while he and Sun Lingtong escaped alone on the mechanical dragon.

Of course, they would have taken Liu, Guan, and Zhang along.

But such an outcome was clearly not what Ning Zhuo desired.

He had invested heavily and consistently in the Three Generals Camp.

Although he recouped some losses earlier, abandoning the camp now would still mean a significant overall loss.

Beyond the calculations of profit, emotionally, Ning Zhuo was unwilling to part with it.

On one hand, he had developed a rapport with Liu, Guan, and Zhang, forging a deepening camaraderie in battle. Ning Zhuo admired Liu Er's aspirations and genuinely wished to see him move closer to achieving them.

Tianshuang soared high in the sky, his figure like a rainbow, twisting wildly as he dodged the围攻 of the Nascent Soul cultivators.

His throat moved as he spat out a pale bone sphere.

The sphere morphed mid-air into a ghost gate.

The next moment, the gate swung open, releasing a flood of icy spirits and skeletal demons.

The horde of ghosts swept across the battlefield.

Several Nascent Soul cultivators snorted in unison, each employing their techniques to swiftly annihilate countless ghosts.

"Tianshuang, today marks your death anniversary for next year!" a cultivator in blue robes and wide sleeves shouted lightly, launching a flying sword.

The Big Dipper Evil-Slaying Sword!

The sword drew upon the North Star's light, forming a thread that pierced through Tianshuang's brow, delivering a fatal blow.

"Excellent! Well done, Lord of the Big Dipper Sword, and what a fine Big Dipper Evil-Slaying Sword!" the other Nascent Soul cultivators praised upon seeing this.

But the next moment, Tianshuang moved again.

"Not dead yet?" Everyone was stunned.

The Lord of the Big Dipper Sword frowned, looking at Tianshuang in disbelief. "Impossible!"

He was certain he had pierced Tianshuang's vital point at the brow.

Crack, crack.

Starting from the ghost cultivator Tianshuang's brow, numerous cracks rapidly spread across his face. The cracks multiplied, covering his entire body in a short time.

Thin shards of ice peeled away from Tianshuang's body, leaking the life aura of someone else.

"Wait, you're not the Heaven Ghost?!"

Everyone was shocked because they all sensed that the aura leaking from "Tianshuang" was different from his own—it was actually the Earth Ghost's aura.

Crack, crack...

The crisp sounds continued incessantly as more and more ice shards fell away, revealing the form inside.

Indeed, behind "Tianshuang's" mask was the face of the Earth Ghost, shrunk to half its size!

"This is... the Ghost Face Technique?!" Lieyang Zhenren's pupils contracted as he recognized the truth.

Thus, many turned their gazes to the battlefield below.

There, the besieged "Dihui" sneered coldly. "Earth Ghost, you useless fool, you went and broke my ghost face first."

"Look at how I use your ghost face—even better than you do!"

"Tianshuang" snorted. "Save your taunts until you've broken free from your own围攻."

"Dihui" laughed heartily. "That's easy! Watch closely and learn!"

He immediately struck, but this time not with earth-element spells or ghostly techniques, but with ice-element attacks!

The cultivators围攻 him were originally tailored to counter the "Earth Ghost." Now that "Earth Ghost" had turned out to be the Heaven Ghost, their advantageous position was instantly overturned.

Similarly, the "Heaven Ghost's" battle situation also reversed, catching Lieyang Zhenren, Shanyuezi, and others off guard.

Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Ning watched intently, fully absorbed.

"So the Earth Ghost is the Heaven Ghost, and the Heaven Ghost is the Earth Ghost!"

"The Ghost Face Technique... it's said this ghost cultivation method allows one to borrow the power of a great ghost to form a ghost mask. Wearing it enables one to impersonate the borrowed ghost for a period."

"The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts cultivated the Ghost Face Technique to borrow each other's power. They've practiced it extensively, to the point where the ghost mask almost covers their entire bodies, nearing the level of a divine ability! Truly formidable!!"

Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Ning were broad-minded individuals; even facing mortal enemies didn't stop them from objectively acknowledging and openly praising their skills.

The situation in Liangzhu Kingdom took a sharp turn for the worse!

They were indeed caught off guard by this change.

Many of their methods were highly specific, but the sudden swap of identities between the Twin Ghosts rendered many of their plans ineffective.

Not only that, but they were now being countered in turn.

Ning Zhuo had already realized in the previous battle that the Twin Ghosts had completely different temperaments, leading to distinct combat styles.

Now, with their true identities exposed, the Twin Ghosts revealed their real personalities, causing an abrupt shift in their fighting styles.

The cultivators of Liangzhu Kingdom needed time to adapt.

The Heaven Ghost on the ground froze the forest, single-handedly压制 four Nascent Soul-level opponents, firmly holding the upper hand.

The Earth Ghost in the sky was deadlocked with his enemies.

The Earth Ghost immediately earned the Heaven Ghost's mockery.

"All of you, get lost!" The Earth Ghost, enraged and humiliated, channeled the biggest nuisance—the Buddhist thoughts—into the Heaven Ghost mask.

Then, he reached out, grabbed his own face, and pulled hard.

He successfully peeled off the Heaven Ghost mask.

The mask was shattered, but once separated, it took form on its own, like a分身 of the Heaven Ghost.

However, this分身 was not menacing at all; instead, it wore an expression of repentance and compassion.

"Buddha above, I am a sinner."

"My sins are grave!"

The Earth Ghost was now fully visible to everyone. He shook his head, flexed his limbs, took a deep breath, and sighed, "Ah, that feels much better."

"You all had fun attacking me earlier."

"I hope you can keep that up!"

The Earth Ghost let out a sinister laugh.

Free from interference, he launched a full-force assault, immediately unleashing a terrifying offensive.

The several Nascent Soul cultivators in the sky were quickly forced into a disadvantage, growing more disheveled and finding themselves in increasingly difficult straits.

The aftermath of the battle affected the Three Generals Camp on the ground.

Ning Zhuo had already landed in the camp but hadn't yet recalled his mechanical army.

The residual waves from a Nascent Soul-level life-and-death struggle were not to be underestimated.

Just as they were about to defend against the shockwaves, the Heaven Ghost mask intercepted them in advance.

"Do not doubt," the Heaven Ghost mask said with a solemn expression, smiling宽容ly at the Three Generals Camp.

"This is my debt to you."

"Moreover, protecting the weak and saving all beings is the very meaning of Buddhism."

These words left the entire Three Generals Camp utterly bewildered.

"So that's it!" Ning Zhuo's eyes flashed with insight, and he immediately explained to the three generals.

"I used a method to channel a large amount of Buddhist thoughts into the Heaven Ghost—no, the Earth Ghost's—upper dantian sea of consciousness."

"When the Earth Ghost peeled off the Heaven Ghost mask, he transferred all the Buddhist thoughts into the mask."

"We suffered under the Earth Ghost's persecution, so the Heaven Ghost mask feels repentant, filled with compassionate Buddhist thoughts, and thus came to help us!"

After Ning Zhuo's explanation, the three generals understood the situation.

They were amazed by Ning Zhuo's ability to reach the Earth Ghost's sea of consciousness, relieved to have gained a powerful ally, and, of course, still cautious and wary.

"The battle has taken another turn; we should try to retreat further for now," Liu Er issued the order.

The Three Generals Camp dared not change formation rashly, slowly moving toward the edge of the battlefield in an iron barrel formation.

However, the scope of Nascent Soul-level combat was quite extensive.

The camp had to cover a long distance before they would be truly safe.

During this retreat, the Heaven Ghost mask indeed gave its all, even at the cost of its own damage, to assist the Three Generals Camp, blocking multiple attacks for them.

Both the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts and the many Nascent Soul cultivators of Liangzhu Kingdom saw this but had no energy to intervene.

"No, Ning Zhuo cannot leave!"

"If we, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts, fail to capture a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator on this mission, what face do we have to return to our sect?!"

Watching Ning Zhuo about to escape, the Twin Ghosts grew anxious.

They shouted in unison, "Seeking death!"

"Since you insist on being stubborn, then all of you shall die!"

The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts raised their arms and cried out together: "Heaven rises, Earth falls—Heaven and Earth Combined Strike!"

Before the words faded, the Earth Ghost dove from high altitude, while the Heaven Ghost ascended from the ground, both flying rapidly toward each other.

The Earth Ghost, heavy as a meteor, plunged downward, stirring up billowing ash. The ash grew into a massive, rolling dark cloud, with flickering crimson flames within, making the Earth Ghost appear like a descending deity, his aura terrifying.

The Heaven Ghost, clad in white, shot upward like a spear piercing the sky. He trailed a long stream of icy, azure cold air, like a giant cloak billowing behind him, scattering frost flowers everywhere, the chill permeating heaven and earth.

The sky churned as if ink had been splashed, descending ominously, while the ground glowed with an eerie indigo light.

Boom—!

The two passed each other mid-air, erupting with a thunderous roar.

Twin divine abilities merged, forming—the Heaven and Earth Combined Strike!

(End of )