The Six Appearances Sword was named as such as this magic item could take six different forms for six different purposes. It was one of the more outstanding gestation-level magic treasures amongst its kind.
However, for this magic treasure to ascend into the metaplasia level, more effort was required to refine it compared to other ones.
The Six Appearances Sword contained six different treasures lights - black, white, yellow, green, red, and blue - and each color represented the six different forms.
The Soaring Dragon's Boat was green in color and roamed the skies fearlessly.
The Acalanatha Void Shield flashed blue and was exemplary in defense and in its protective powers.
The Sword of the Righteous Way radiated with white light and possessed the aura of supreme justice, and sought to cleanse the world of all evil as it slashed open the skies.
The red-colored Dayan Furnace could be used to make pills and medicine, and it could also be used to trap enemies within to assimilate them.
The Saint-Trapping Cursed Lock flashed with yellow lights and was used to arrest one's enemies and their mana and was used in taking live prisoners.
The last form of the Six Appearances Sword was a sharp and gloomy spike that radiated with black light and drifted between the skies. It phased between the virtual world and the real world, and was so obscure that it was almost undetectable by the naked eye. Its speed of oscillation was so fast that its exact location was hard to pinpoint as well.
This was the last form of the Six Appearances Sword - the Frightening Divine Spike!
There was a spell that shared a reputation with this entity, and came from the Great Void Sect's Soul Archives. It was named the "Exploration of the Great Void Thinking", and was one of the most powerful techniques of the Mantra of the Soul.
Mu Xuan's physical body and even her eyes became lackadaisical, and even her eyeballs appeared like they were frozen in time and her whole body became like a clay doll.
There was a nearly undetectable light shadow above her head that was so obscure that it was nearly undetectable - the astral projection of the soul.
Li Yuanfang's Soul-Imprinted Avatar crossed his legs as he sat in the middle of the mountain formation. His face was unchanging, but there was a tinge of surprise in his eyes as he never though Mu Xuan would dare to use the astral projection of the soul right before Yue Hongyan.
Spells of the soul were sinister and unpredictable with many different transformations. However, there were two publicly-recognized counters to this type: powerful lightning spells, and the blood essence of powerful physical cultivators at the same level of mastery that burned like a furnace.
People believed the saying that ghosts and whatnot did not dare to come close to energetic people. Even though this took things a little too far, it described several issues on a fundamental level.
Yue Hongyan was a focused physical cultivator, and even though she was injured and thus unable to reach the full potential of her powers, her blood essence was boiling and full of energy. Most souls and ghosts and whatnot would dissipate into nothingness when they came close.
Under the circumstance that her spells and mana were inferior to Yue Hongyan, Mu Xuan still dared to use the astral projection of the soul - it felt as if she was seeking her own demise.
This was naturally not because she was tired of being alive. The reason why Mu Xuan dared to make this move was because of her confidence in the Six Appearances Sword!
The battle between Mu Xuan and Yue Hongyan raged on, and multiple moves were exchanged in the next instant. Both cultivators' lives were on the line as the onlookers didn't dare to blink at all.
At this point, the other cultivators of the Great Void Sect rushed up to attack the cave entrance at the top of the mountain.
Their gazes followed Mu Xuan's movements as they yelled in unison. "Senior Mu has won! Our plan has succeeded!"
"That strike was the most perilous and the riskiest, but it was also the most important one. That strike wasn't able to do anything to her, so the situation is in her hands once more!"
Li Yuanfang continued to maintain the magic formation to hold them back but his brows started to crease as he raised his eyes towards the epic battle between Mu Xuan and Yue Hongyan in the void space above him.
Yue Hongyan knew right away that it was an astral projection of the soul as she watched Mu Xuan's movements.
She refused to believe that Mu Xuan, who was a disciple of the Great Void Sect, was unaware of the weaknesses of spells of the soul. Therefore, since she was still willing to use them, it meant she was probably relying on something else.
Yue Hongyan's blood boiled in her veins and her eyes sparkled as if they were burning with fire.
Her gaze appeared tangible, even, like a red-colored light pillar that swept across the void and scrutinized everything around her.
She suddenly saw Mu Xuan's soul injecting itself into the Frightening Divine Spike, which was still flickering with black light.
The circle of black light around the Frightening Divine Spike grew denser as Mu Xuan's cosmic form withdrew her physical body and gripped the Frightening Divine Spike with one hand - and thrusted it forward towards Yue Hongyan!
The black lights flashed once and disappeared into nothingness in the next moment.
It was difficult to be seen with the naked eye, but the light that sparkled in Yue Hongyan's eyes enabled her to faintly see and she realized that the Frightening Divine Spike was coming straight for her.
Whether it was the Frightening Divine Spike spell that was recorded in the "Exploration of the Great Void Thinking", or the Frightening Divine Spike itself that was transformed by the Six Appearances Sword, it was targeted at cutting through the opponent's soul.
When Mu Xuan's soul integrated into the Frightening Divine Spike, she received its protection and was entirely unafraid of Yue Hongyan's energetic blood essence.
This situation was similar to a human inside a ship - he or she would not need to fear the water and the waves all around.
Mu Xuan used the spell of the soul to direct the Frightening Divine Spike as both forces combined together to become a much more powerful one.
At this point, it was Yue Hongyan who was in the dire situation. When the radiant and energetic blood essence of physical cultivators were unable to counter spells of the soul, they would be in a precarious situation when faced with this type of spell.
Physical cultivators with pure physical strength without the corresponding willpower and resilience meant they would never become great.
Yue Hongyan's soul wasn't weak, but this strength wasn't reflected on her soul. She had trouble defending herself when faced with the forward thrust of the Frightening Divine Spike.
In normal days, physical cultivators were the natural counter to soul cultivators. However, when this natural counter ceased to exist, the table would be turned around completely as physical cultivators found it extremely challenging to defend against the assaults of soul spells.
Yue Hongyan's red brows flew up as her eyes widened. If she had the Seven Merciless Stars Armor, she wouldn't have been afraid of this soul strike as the Seven Merciless Stars Armor combined both offense and defense, and both aspects were not only relevant for material things.
If she could only obstruct Mu Xuan's strike for a tiny moment, she had the confidence of shattering her opponent's cosmic form.
However, both the Seven Merciless Stars Armor or the Royal Extermination Pole-Ax were considered brutal and aggressive magic items and would subconsciously influence the user's mentality. They would fill his or her head with destructive and murderous thoughts, and this would cause the user to become frustrated and even hysterical.
In normal times, Yue Hongyan could resist this negative influence even when she channeled both magic items at the same time. However, her condition wasn't perfect right now, and she knew she could only use one magic item at any one time to achieve maximum flexibility and freedom.
Based on her personality, she would never choose the defensive Seven Merciless Stars Armor and would rather take the Royal Extermination Pole-Ax, which was a weapon of pure offense.
She still had time if she wanted to swap out the Royal Extermination Pole-Ax for her Seven Merciless Stars Armor. However, Yue Hongyan decided against it and howled into the air - gusts of wind that didn't look like wind surrounded her body as red-colored energy that flashed with terrifying lights enveloped her entire body.
It was the Avici Infernal Gale of the Four Grand Primordial Winds.
The Avici Infernal Gale was designed to target the opponent's soul, and could be said to counter spells of the soul in some sense. However, it was not the same as the energy in one's blood as the Avici Infernal Gale had an existence in between the virtual and the real world and didn't have an absolute material form.
Mu Xuan's strike didn't slow down at all. She was acutely aware that Yue Hongyan of the Celestial Sect of Wonders possessed the Avici Infernal Gale, but she was confident in the power of her own spell combined with the Frightening Divine Spike.
Even though the Avici Infernal Gale was fearsome, the Frightening Divine Spike's power was focused onto a single point and was as pure as it could be. Before she took a hit from the Avici Infernal Gale, Mu Xuan had the confidence of piercing through Yue Hongyan's soul and severely injuring her.
Yue Hongyan's face was as calm as ever as her body became obscured within the flickering gusts of the Avici Infernal Gale.
Initially, Mu Xuan didn't take special notice of what happened but her face subsequently turned pale as she suddenly realized that Yue Hongyan seemed to become a single entity with the Avici Infernal Gale and couldn't possibly be differentiated.
This meant that her Frightening Divine Spike no longer had a locked-in target, and was unable to go straight for Yue Hongyan's soul.
"The Avici Infernal Gale eroded the soul, and erodes even the physical body - how is she hiding?" Mu Xuan's typically plain eyes were filled with astonishment. "She's a physical cultivator and this means that her physical body is relatively powerful - how can she hide herself inside the Avici Infernal Gale?"
"Stay calm! This must be one of her spells of the soul!" A frail old voice came out from the Frightening Divine Spike while black light rolled around as it entangled itself with the Avici Infernal Gale that was still flashing red.
In the next moment, the layers of red light and light mist dissipated and revealed Yue Hongyan's figure along with the Royal Extermination Pole-Ax. The red-haired girl was as composed as she was when the battle began.
The Frightening Divine Spike grunted once and said, "Seems like not only are you adept with the Martial Way, you're equally skilled with spells of the soul!"
Yue Hongyan muttered in response, "This is called the Avici March, and it's also a physical technique."
Both Mu Xuan and the Frightening Divine Spike were struck dumb as they watched the red lights flashing all over Yue Hongyan's body. It felt as if her entire being comprised of only the Avici Infernal Gale, and her body was integrated into the sea of Avici Infernal Gale around her - she stepped forward as if she were breaking through the waves and crashed down towards Mu Xuan and the Frightening Divine Spike.
The green-black Royal Extermination Pole-Ax in her hands radiated with red light as the Avici Infernal Gale supported its strike. Between the swings of this terrifying weapon, ghostly wails could be heard and everything formed a petrifying picture that froze even the bravest of hearts.
The Royal Extermination Pole-Ax slashed onto Mu Xuan's Frightening Divine Spike directly and both parties clashed violently in the void. The Frightening Divine Spike was already injured, and shuddered once before it released another muffled grunt.
Mu Xuan's cosmic form was directing the Frightening Divine Spike, but she was met with the powerful and forceful resistance of the Avici Infernal Gale and was ultimately unable to harm Yue Hongyan's soul.
Despite her usual composure, there was a feeling of hopelessness that came from deep within Mu Xuan's heart as she felt like this opponent before her was unbeatable no matter what she did.
Yue Hongyan's great pole-ax swung back and forth and forced Mu Xuan backward.
The rolling red light mist covered the entire summit of Mount Baiyun, and gradually consumed Mu Xuan's cosmic form. Under the continuous assault of the Avici Infernal Gale, specks of cracks started to web out all over.
It was as if a clay doll was being battered repeatedly under a rainstorm, and was slowly fading way as it eroded under the all the decay.
Yue Hongyan's assault stance became stronger and stronger as her movements grew ever so smooth. The Royal Extermination Pole-Ax swept away the Frightening Divine Spike with a single swipe and she turned the weapon back around as the other end of the weapon struck Mu Xuan's cosmic form acorss the waist!
Mu Xuan casted the Dimensionless Transformation once again, but the Avici Infernal Gale around Yue Hongyan's body flared up and blocked off this entire region. When Mu Xuan's cosmic form returned to the real world, Yue Hongyan's second strike had already arrived - she flipped the weapon around and this swipe directly separated Mu Xuan's cosmic form into half!
Mu Xuan's cosmic form slowly crumbled and gradually returned to Mu Xuan's original physical form. She could only watch as her cosmic form was laid to ruin, and then she stared at Yue Hongyan in silence.
The Frightening Divine Spike in her hands raged with black light and channeled a last-ditch attempt as it thrusted itself against Yue Hongyan for one final strike.
Yue Hongyan raised her eyebrows as the pole-ax in her hands switched directions once again. Between the rotations of the weapon, the butt of the pole-ax blocked the Frightening Divine Spike and she let go of her weapon. She clenched her fists and channeled the power of the ferocious Avici Infernal Gale before she struck down on the Frightening Divine Spike with immense force!