Therefore, Ling Zhenfei dared not confront it. Even though there was a powerful Northern Spiritual Energy suppressing him, Ling Zhenfei used the Spirit Qi Emperor Lang's suppression and then employed the Butterfly Through Flowers Step Technique to move his body a bit.
Bang!
This hammer slammed heavily onto the ground, creating a pit with a diameter of a full meter.
The hammer had just narrowly missed Ling Zhenfei's head, truly terrifying.
Ling Zhenfei was shocked; if he had faced it head-on, he would probably be in the same condition as the ground.
However, Ling Zhenfei countered with the Sky Piercing Finger, thrusting toward Shanlingzi.
The Sky Piercing Finger unleashed a powerful Northern Spiritual Energy, with great power.
But Shanlingzi lightly tugged on that Little Hammer, and it flew back toward him.
The Sky Piercing Finger directly hit the Little Hammer.
Bang!
The Sky Piercing Finger struck solidly, even changing the hammer's direction, but the energy on the Sky Piercing Finger was also exhausted.
The Little Hammer, once again, charged toward Ling Zhenfei with formidable power.
Ling Zhenfei used the Heaven-Splitting Ten Fists with his left hand and the Boundless Blade Technique with his right.
First, he used the Heaven-Splitting Ten Fists to deplete the Northern Spiritual Energy on the hammer, then the Boundless Blade Technique to block the Little Hammer's attack as much as possible.
The strike was wild, the formidable Spiritual Energy on the Heaven-Splitting Ten Fists didn't stop the Little Hammer's onslaught, merely slowing its advance slightly.
The Guardian Character Decision of the Boundless Blade Technique induced several gravitational vortices, using their pull to neutralize the hammer's fierce attack.
But the hammer's speed was too fast; the Boundless Blade Technique only partially neutralized the energy.
Clang!
The hammer collided again with the Tang Horizontal Saber.
Ling Zhenfei instantly felt the pressure, his whole body sent flying far away, and the sword in his hand flew off.
Ling Zhenfei was shocked, realizing he underestimated the hammer's power.
But at that moment, an even more shocking thing happened: the Little Hammer was flying towards Ling Zhenfei. Originally, Ling Zhenfei had been sent flying by the Spiritual Energy impact.
In mid-air, the hammer was charging at him, and as Ling Zhenfei hit the ground,
his mind slightly unconscious, but even before hitting the ground, he sensed the hammer coming at him.
With his mind clouded, the hammer was sure to hit him.
The previous hammer had left Ling Zhenfei in lingering fear — if struck, he'd be smashed to bits.
But just as he landed, there was a moment's delay even to use the Butterfly Through Flowers Step Technique.
By the time he reacted, he'd likely be flattened by the hammer.
Fortunately, Ling Zhenfei had thought of a life-saving technique before, having already released the power of his soul.
The purpose was naturally life preservation, a crucial moment to attack Shanlingzi, buying himself a sliver of time.
But now, attacking Shanlingzi wasn't going to help at all.
Hence, Ling Zhenfei thought of shape-shifting shadows.
It involved moving his body to the location where his soul currently was.
Ling Zhenfei had practiced this method, though it couldn't move over long distances.
Though never used in combat, there was no choice now but to prioritize survival first.
Ling Zhenfei used the shape-shifting shadows, and his body instantly moved several meters away.
But as soon as his body moved out,
Boom!
A powerful crashing sound echoed, so loud that Ling Zhenfei's ears felt the shock, and the ground seemed to tremor.
With his mind now clear, Ling Zhenfei saw a huge pit beside him, created by the Little Hammer.
Ling Zhenfei took a cold breath; had he not used shape-shifting shadows just then, he would have been crushed into paste.
A deep fear settled in Ling Zhenfei's heart; this battle was unwinnable, and he was nowhere near Shanlingzi's match.
Now, Shanlingzi's hammer came rushing again at Ling Zhenfei. This time, it came down from above, and Ling Zhenfei realized that this downward force was immense, practically unstoppable for him.
Ling Zhenfei employed the Butterfly Through Flowers Step Technique, using the Tang blade with Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades, striking at Shanlingzi.
This strike was to counteract the Spiritual Energy pressure on the hammer; afterward, another strike went toward Shanlingzi's position.
The hammer missed, but Shanlingzi shook the rope, making the hammer like a long snake lashing at Ling Zhenfei.
Ling Zhenfei's Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades struck the hammer directly with the third blade.
Boom!
Ling Zhenfei was sent flying by the hammer; the impact was a mix of collision force and backlash from the Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades' Northern Spiritual Energy.
In mid-air, Ling Zhenfei spat out blood before crashing to the ground.
Landing, Ling Zhenfei instantly employed shape-shifting shadows, knowing Shanlingzi wouldn't leave him time.
True enough, just as he moved with shape-shifting shadows, the position he had stood was struck by the hammer.
Ling Zhenfei felt his inner energy churn, unable to suppress his five viscera.
He couldn't withstand even a single attack from Shanlingzi; though he had expected it before the battle, he now felt a bit disheartened.
At that moment, Shanlingzi yelled angrily, "Let's see where you run now, boy."
With a swing of the rope, the white Little Hammer seemed to morph into tens of thousands of snakes; each snake was actually the Little Hammer, transformed due to the rope's motion like snakes flicking their tongues.
Ling Zhenfei was shocked, knowing he couldn't block this move; its range and power were immense, beyond his capability to withstand.
Ling Zhenfei decided to run, but against an opponent like Shanlingzi, even escaping would be a skill in itself.
Tens of thousands of snakes lunged at Ling Zhenfei.
Ling Zhenfei, in shock, realized that even using shape-shifting shadows, he couldn't escape the snakes' attack range.
Retreating, Ling Zhenfei wielded the Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades against the snakes.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth blades of Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades; the powerful Northern Spiritual Energy on the sixth blade destroyed only half of the snakes.
The remaining snakes lunged at Ling Zhenfei.
With a shout to the sky, Ling Zhenfei again used shape-shifting shadows to dodge to the side.
With the Heaven-Splitting Ten Blades having cut down half of the snakes, the use of shape-shifting shadows allowed him to evade the remaining snakes' attack.
Then, a screech sounded from the sky, and the Lightning Bird descended from above.
Actually, Ling Zhenfei had long noticed the Lightning Bird in the sky; finding a good escape opportunity was critical.
With no hope of winning under Shanlingzi's attack, if not now, then when?
The Lightning Bird swooped down fast, arriving beside Ling Zhenfei in an instant; Ling Zhenfei leaped onto its back.