I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

Perhaps that's why Shen Lian, who was controlling the silver giant, was also taken aback for a moment. And how could Gu Qi Ci, who was capable, intelligent, and loved by everyone, let go of this opportunity?

Chapter 173 The Plan

At this moment, she gripped the Emperor's Halberd tightly in her left hand, and as she channeled her spiritual energy, a powerful burst of the Five Elements erupted.

The sound of fire echoed, and a fire phoenix burst forth from the sky. After circling rapidly in the air, it surged into the Emperor's Halberd under Gu Qici's will, causing one-fifth of the halberd to turn red instantly.

As the water flowed forth, a giant water dragon emerged from nowhere. Like a gentle stream, it gave people a sense of tranquility. Then, along with the fire phoenix, it merged into the Emperor's Halberd, causing another fifth of the halberd to turn blue.

Soon after, with a rumble of earth, a brown earth tortoise appeared. With the growth of wood, a blue tiger emerged. With a burst of metal, a golden unicorn descended fiercely, followed closely by the phoenix and dragon in front, all surging into the Emperor's Halberd, causing three-fifths of the halberd to turn brown, blue, and gold.

In an instant, the Emperor's Halberd was covered in five colors. A powerful force, so strong that Gu Qici's arm trembled, swept around, seemingly shaking the heavens and earth and causing the space to explode. In the end, Gu Qici had to use both hands to grip the halberd handle to stabilize it. However, she knew that she could not maintain this stability for long. So, gritting her teeth, she raised the Emperor's Halberd without hesitation and swung it with this astonishing blow.

Another booming sound rang out, and a powerful aftershock swept around. Even Gu Qici herself was forced to retreat by the aftershock, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. It seemed that she had also suffered some injuries. After swinging the halberd, a five-colored halberd light burst out, causing the space to collapse wildly instead of just shattering. It seemed that anything in its path could be crushed.

All of this seems to have taken a long time, but in reality, from Shen Lian's moment of surprise to Gu Qici's swing of the Emperor's Halberd, only a moment had passed. This moment was crucial, both for Gu Qici and for Shen Lian and Shen Yuan.

Sensing the power of that halberd strike, Shen Lian and Shen Yuan were stunned once again. This caused Shen Lian to miss the best time to counterattack. But how could Shen Lian, a half-step Heavenly Monarch, be completely without a chance to retaliate? So in the next instant, he used his mind to make the silver giant curl up and cover its head with its hands, as if it had become a sphere.

Of course, this temporary reaction could not provide a perfect defense. The moment the five-colored halberd touched the silver giant, a loud and violent boom that shook the entire Emperor Demon Island resounded, completely destroying the silver giant's hands and causing it to let out a shrill scream, seemingly in extreme pain.

At the same time, the moment the silver giant was injured, Shen Lian, who was controlling the silver giant, also snapped his hands, causing an explosion. Bones and flesh flew everywhere, and bright red blood immediately splattered into the sky, causing cold sweat to appear on his face, as if he had suddenly become weak. This shows that the silver giant must have some kind of connection with Shen Lian.

But this was not the end; the aftershocks continued, some striking Gu Qici, and others striking Shen Yuan behind her.

"What?!" Shen Yuan was shocked and his eyes widened. He really was hit even while flying. However, because his attention had been diverted, he could not escape the attack of Gu Qici's crazy move and was quickly covered by the powerful aftershock.

The moon hung high in the sky. Although it was nearing dawn, the moon was still very bright. But the moment the silver giant was injured by Gu Qici, the moon seemed to undergo a strange change, as if it had become more real and more beautiful.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everything finally calmed down. Fortunately, all of this happened high in the sky, so only the space above suffered damage. The Imperial Demon Island and the central abyss below were not greatly damaged. If it had happened on the ground, countless people and things on Imperial Demon Island would probably have been affected.

Looking at Gu Qici again, she was kneeling on one knee, panting heavily. Her hair was disheveled, and her aura seemed to have changed. Presumably, the halberd strike had had a significant negative impact on her.

"I thought it wouldn't cause much harm to my body, but I didn't expect that this all-out attack would make my body so tired. It seems that I'm not very familiar with this evolved Five Elements power yet." Gu Qici thought to herself as she tried to calm herself down.

On the other hand, Shen Yuan's black robe was tattered and torn, and he looked extremely disheveled, with blood at the corner of his mouth, resembling a beggar. But more than a beggar, he felt extremely displeased. He had originally wanted to be an observer, but things had not gone as planned, and he was furious.

But compared to the previous two, the most pitiful one is Shen Lian. He is in real pain and distress. His hands are destroyed, his face is flushed, and he is panting so much that he seems unable to even stand. Although he is conscious and still has the strength to fight, he is truly seriously injured.

"Gu Qici!" At this moment, Shen Lian, who had finally calmed down, suddenly roared.

Whether on the battlefield or in previous battles with enemies, Shen Lian had never suffered such serious injuries before. This was almost the only time he had ever been injured like this. Although he was not the kind of person who was afraid of getting hurt, it was a deep humiliation for a Heavenly Lord to be injured to such an extent by an ordinary cultivator.

But if it were just humiliation, he wouldn't be so angry. It's just that Gu Qici interrupted his actions after he reached an agreement with Shen Yuan and even launched such a powerful attack on him. So how could he continue to endure it?

At this moment, disregarding the pain in his arm and the weakness of the silver giant, Shen Lian launched a counterattack without hesitation amidst his ferocity. With a roar, a surge of silver spiritual power emerged from his body, spreading in all directions like ocean waves, seemingly darkening the night that was about to dawn.

"Tsk tsk! As expected of the Demon Emperor Sect Master! Even after suffering such serious injuries, his strength is still so strong." Gu Qici subconsciously took two steps back. She knew very well that Shen Lian was already furious at the moment, and she also knew that after using such a powerful move, she was temporarily unable to fight against Shen Lian. So all she could do was defend.

In an instant, Gu Qici clasped her hands together, shouted loudly, and the power of the five elements was activated again. Five beams of light of different colors shot out directly from her body and transformed into five high walls about 100 meters high and about 20 meters wide in the blink of an eye!

These high walls are arranged in an extremely neat manner from front to back, and they also emit bursts of light of different colors. The gold wall is in front, followed by the green wall, then the blue wall, then the red wall, and finally the brown wall. Five walls, five lines of defense.

Seeing this, Shen Lian did not stand still. Although his hands had been destroyed by Gu Qici, his power still existed. Suddenly, the power of a half-step Heavenly Monarch swept out from his body and caused the sky to tremble violently!

Immediately afterwards, the silver giant, which had been standing weakly in mid-air, seemed to be stimulated by something and suddenly roared to the sky. At the same time, its hands, which had disappeared, were restored to their original state in an instant, as if nothing had happened.

"Kill her!" Seeing that the silver giant had regained her strength, Shen Lian stared at Gu Qici and roared.

Upon receiving the order, the silver giant's eyes lit up, as if a ray of silver light emanated from them. Then, its massive left hand clenched into a fist, and almost without hesitation, it delivered a powerful punch to the five walls surrounding Gu Qici.

This punch was incredibly powerful. The mere gust of wind it sent distorted the space it passed through, and even made the golden wall closest to it tremble precariously, as if it would explode without the punch even needing to get close.

However, this golden wall wasn't that weak. After all, it was conjured by Gu Qici using the power of gold, so it still had some strength. But even with the defensive power of this golden wall, it was still unable to stop the silver fist, because the power of Shen Lian's punch was indeed greater than Gu Qici's defense.

Therefore, the golden wall was completely blasted into dust the moment it touched the silver giant wall and disappeared into the sky. The fist did not stop and successively touched the green wall and the blue wall. Although the wall slightly weakened the speed of the fist, it was still not enough to block the punch.

Another rumble erupted, and the two walls immediately crumbled. Finally, the red and brown walls collapsed. Seeing that the first three walls were no match for the silver giant, Gu Qici gritted her teeth and temporarily reinforced the power of the last two walls.

Unfortunately, it still didn't work. With a deafening roar, the five walls were completely reduced to five-colored fragments, which floated in the sky and then disappeared without a trace.

Fortunately, the power of the punch finally weakened, allowing Gu Qici to escape. Before the punch even got close, Gu Qici decisively moved and disappeared. When she reappeared, she was already fifty meters above her original position. It seemed that the five walls of defense in front were just a decoy. Her real purpose was to recover some strength so that she could more easily avoid Shen Lian's attacks!

"This guy? Isn't he lazy?" Shen Yuan, who was watching the scene, hid to the side and muttered, "It's such a pity that Shen Lian had such a good plan."

Meanwhile, Shen Lian, who was still staring at Gu Qici, frowned deeply. He knew very well that if Gu Qici continued to run away, he, who was seriously injured, would not be able to attack her at all, and would even fall into Gu Qici's rhythm, allowing her to achieve her goal of delaying time.

More importantly, the plan to cooperate with Shen Yuan is no longer feasible due to his serious injury. Since Shen Yuan did not take advantage of his injury to kick him while he was down, it was already a great favor. As for resuming cooperation, even if Shen Yuan agreed, he probably wouldn't feel at ease. So no matter what, he must find a new way to truly defeat Gu Qici, or... kill Gu Qici.

"Gu Qici!" Shen Lian's eyes flickered, and he raised his head, suddenly saying to Gu Qici in the sky, "If you can withstand this move, I will withdraw. Continuing to fight will not do me any good."

"Huh?" Gu Qici was taken aback and had a question. Not only her, but Shen Yuan was also puzzled.

The power of a half-step Heavenly Monarch erupted once again.

This time, the silver giant, along with Shen Lian, emitted an extremely intense light, seemingly turning the night into day. But in the blink of an eye, the silver giant disintegrated, transforming into eighteen silver clones the same size as normal human bodies.

But this was not the end. In the next instant, the eighteen silver clones, with their eyes closed, put their hands together, assumed a horse stance, and immediately leaped up, landing on each other's shoulders, forming a 2-4-6-6 convex ladder shape, appearing in front of Gu Qici like a wall!

Her expression changed repeatedly, and at this moment, she was experiencing extremely strong emotional fluctuations.

In that instant, Gu Qici moved with lightning speed, immediately rushing towards the eighteen silver clones in front of her, as if preparing to attack again.

"We've been hit!" At this moment, the six silver clones at the bottom, under Shen Lian's control, suddenly opened their eyes.

In an instant, an even stronger silver light suddenly shone in their eyes. They stared at Gu Qici and shouted loudly without expression, "Heavens!"

At that moment, along with their voices, a strange "Heaven" character immediately appeared a thousand meters above Gu Qici. This Heaven character was silver and seemed to be some distance away from Gu Qici, but in the next instant, the Heaven character suddenly grew larger and pressed down directly towards Gu Qici's location, and its speed was getting faster and faster. If this continued, Gu Qici might not even reach the eighteen silver clones before he came into contact with the Heaven character!

"Hmph!" Gu Qici sneered. Although she felt a faint sense of danger atop the Heavenly Character, she was absolutely not going to let him give up so easily. In the blink of an eye, Gu Qici gripped the Emperor's Halberd tightly and said again, "Kill me? Do you think it's that easy?!"

At this moment, within Gu Qici's aura, there seemed to be a sense of peace, or perhaps, this aura was becoming Gu Qici's own. As soon as Gu Qici finished speaking, she stopped abruptly and reversed the halberd technique to the seventh cycle in one breath. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she slashed fiercely at the approaching character "天" (heaven).

In that instant, a massive halberd shadow, as if tearing through the heavens and earth, appeared spontaneously with Gu Qici's swing, and at that moment, it collided directly with the character "Tian" that seemed to cover the sky!

Instantly, the entire sky seemed unable to withstand such immense power, as if space itself shattered and swirled backward, like the painful roar of an ordinary person, leaving everyone astonished!

"Give it back!" Gu Qici's expression was slightly pale, but he didn't care. He shouted again, and in the confrontation, the halberd shadow grew even larger. However, with Gu Qici's will added, it showed signs of forcing the Heavenly Character back in a few breaths. This shocked Shen Lian again!

But this was not the end. In the second-to-last row, the six silver clones opened their cold eyes just as Gu Qici was about to resist the Heavenly Mantra. And they uttered the same word as the previous six silver clones: "Earth!"

As soon as this character appeared, another character appeared above the character for "heaven"—the character for "earth"!

However, this character is different from the character "天". Although it is also silver, the aura on it is much stronger than that of the "天" character mantra. In addition, its descent speed is also much faster. It seems to have arrived just before Gu Qici was about to completely destroy the "天" character mantra, and it pressed down and merged with the "天" character mantra in an instant!

Amidst the roar in the air, Gu Qici's expression turned bloodshot as she suddenly felt an immense force, as if the sky itself was pressing down on her, aiming to completely crush her without leaving any room for escape. However, Gu Qici was not without a countermeasure. Her gaze sharpened, and in an instant, she completed another full cycle of energy.

"Eighth cycle!" With a loud shout, enduring the waves of pain in his heart, Gu Qici once again swung the Emperor Halberd. But this time, no extra halberd shadow appeared. The previous halberd shadow was still the same halberd shadow, but its size suddenly increased several times, like a huge pillar in the world, supporting the true words "Heaven and Earth".

Perhaps that's why, when the halberd shadow disappeared, not only the surroundings, but even the sky seemed to darken, with countless dark clouds appearing as if to cover... the silver light in the sky!

Chapter 174 Brothers Killing Each Other

At the same time, after the word "earth" appeared, the other four silver clones above them were already preparing to unleash their true words again. However, Gu Qici was not the kind of person who would only take a beating. At this moment, before the four silver clones could even utter a sound, Gu Qici's expression hardened, and she moved, taking the lead and launching the first attack.

In the next instant, Gu Qici seemed to have gone all out, directly pushing her power to its limit. However, judging from her appearance, she didn't seem to care at all whether her body could withstand it: "Ninth cycle, spin for me."

Gu Qici was extremely frantic. As soon as she finished speaking, she spat out a mouthful of blood, and her face changed slightly. But she didn't care. At that moment, she immediately raised the Emperor Halberd and fiercely swung it down at the eighteen silver clones. At that moment, Shen Lian's face showed a look of disbelief.

The wind casts shadows, and space churns.

This halberd was different from all of Gu Qici's previous Zhou Tian uses. It had no imposing aura, no massive halberd shadow, and no power that could make people tremble. All it had was a black, very thin halberd light. Rather than a halberd, it was more like a beam of light that could bring others a sense of life-or-death crisis.

"No Moon." But Shen Lian's incantation technique was still very strong. Even though Gu Qici had the initiative, he still couldn't perfectly stop the incantations of the four silver clones. So in this critical situation, he controlled the remaining silver clones and still shouted out the remaining two incantations.

Suddenly, a silver character for "nothingness" and a silver character for "moon," along with the previous silver characters for "heaven" and "earth," rapidly converged together in the blink of an eye, forming the four characters "heaven, earth, no moon." They overlapped one another, instantly creating a silver wall that directly blocked the light.

With another loud boom, the sixteen silver clones that had maintained the moonless sky were suddenly forced to retreat in three breaths by the impact of the light, appearing to have been injured.

This also proves that even if they joined forces, they would not be a match for the power of the ninth cycle. Being able to maintain it for a few breaths was already the maximum limit.

However, Gu Qici is not having an easy time either. In the end, she is only using An Ran's power to use such an overloaded technique, which is bound to cause a backlash. Fortunately, she has a strong and special physique, so she only suffered some minor injuries.

Of course, this does not mean she is alright. As mentioned before, she cannot overuse this power, otherwise her estimated lifespan of three years will be reduced.

Gu Qici naturally knew about these things, but now she had no choice. If she didn't use all her strength, she wouldn't be able to break through the layers of blockade of these eighteen silver clones. But if there was a real opportunity, she would never let it go, for example—now.

Now that the formation of the eighteen silver clones has been disrupted, it is the perfect opportunity to attack.

Therefore, at this moment, Gu Qici stopped thinking and immediately suppressed her injuries. She moved suddenly, as if she was about to launch another attack.

Unfortunately, the two remaining silver clones standing in the air suddenly opened their eyes and launched an attack.

However, their attack was not a genuine statement. The silver clone on the left, with a cold glint in its eyes, silently pointed at Gu Qici's location.

With a roar, a silver light appeared, and in the blink of an eye, it rapidly coalesced, eventually forming a silver five-clawed dragon. This five-clawed dragon did not seem to be a mere illusion; it was like a real living creature, possessing earth magic and its own unique power.

Not only him, but also the silver clone beside him, with a single finger, a silver tiger with the same life force as the five-clawed silver dragon roared and appeared.

"Dragon Tiger Silver God!" Shen Lian shouted suddenly from below.

At this moment, with their voices, the dragon and tiger bared their teeth at Gu Qici, their ferocity evident. After a loud roar, they charged straight at her with a sense of destruction. Judging from their power and explosive force, they exuded a sense of annihilation.

"Hmph." This scene, imprinted in Gu Qici's eyes, made him sneer, so he simply stopped again, revealing his fighting spirit: "Old man. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve? Bring them on."

After speaking, Gu Qici's eyes flickered, and she suddenly took a step forward on the sea surface. The Emperor Halberd in her hand seemed to sense Gu Qici's fighting spirit and seemed to resonate slightly. The next moment, disregarding her injuries, Gu Qici immediately swung the Emperor Halberd.

With this swing, Gu Qici's face was no longer bloodshot. Although the backlash she suffered was great, the power she unleashed was unprecedented. In an instant, the sky suddenly became calm, and in this calm, nine upright halberd shadows appeared in front of Gu Qici.

Each of them looked exactly like the Emperor's Halberd. The aura they exuded was undoubtedly that of the Halberd-Shattering Technique. The power of the first to ninth cycles of the Heavenly Cycle was unleashed in half a breath. These nine halberd shadows, amidst the swift wind, slammed down on the dragon and tiger beasts, as if to... destroy them directly.

"dragon."

"Tiger."

At this moment, Shen Lian seemed to feel the power of Gu Qici's attack as well. In an instant, his expression changed slightly, and he shouted, causing the dragon beast to stop. The tiger beast then leaped up and stood on the top of the dragon beast's head. Its ferocity remained unchanged, but the two beasts' auras seemed to merge, as if they were using the same power to resist Gu Qici's attack.

Soon, the first of the nine halberd shadows suddenly came into contact with the dragon-tiger beast in this world. In an instant, this first halberd shadow collapsed under the tiger beast's ferocious claws...

However, the tiger suddenly shuddered in the next instant, and some blood trickled from its mouth, indicating that it was not entirely unharmed.

But what was most unexpected was that the moment the tiger beast was injured, the silver clone controlling it from behind shuddered inexplicably, and blood also spilled from the corner of its mouth.

"I see." This scene was naturally imprinted in Gu Qici's eyes. In the blink of an eye, she understood the subtle relationship between the dragon-tiger beast and the two silver clones.

Indeed, without further thought, the aura of peace within his body surged once more, and in that instant, he silently activated the second, third, and fourth halberd shadows, launching a simultaneous attack.

The whistling sound was deafening. Seeing the three halberd shadows approaching, the tiger beast seemed to unconsciously take a step back, while the dragon beast's eyes showed even more fear.

Despite this, they did not actually try to dodge. In the sudden combination, their bodies immediately flashed with light and instantly transformed into a silver barrier, completely enveloping the dragon and tiger beasts.

The barrier appeared just in time. As soon as it was set up, the three consecutive halberd shadows slammed into its surface. In an instant, the barrier flashed with silver light, which was very dazzling. There seemed to be some lightning and thunder running above it. However, the power of the three halberds was not ordinary. Even if the barrier could hinder it to some extent, it could not completely resist it.

So a few breaths later, with a loud bang, the silver light on the barrier suddenly dimmed. A breath later, a tiny crack appeared on the barrier, which greatly alarmed Shen Lian. But alarmed as he was, he could only control his silver clone to do his best to protect the dragon and tiger beasts, hoping that the power of the three halberds would dissipate before the barrier shattered.