1812 Instinct

It was clear to Zhou Linfan that the Dragon Emperor had run out of Immortal Qi completely, while he could still use two more attacks.

There was a chance that the emperor was acting as though he was out of Immortal Qi to lure Zhou Linfan in, but that would be an incredibly stupid thing to do given that he would have to risk his life by not using his Immortal Qi at this point.

The crystal spike streaked through the air, making a beeline for the Emperor and the massive shield he had created.

As the crystal spike flew, Zhou Linfan could see something happening to the spike. It was as though the spike was moving away from where it was meant to attack.

A simple thought from Zhou Linfan was enough to redirect the attack, but that was something that came to Zhou Linfan as an instinct. An Immortal attack was truly too strong to control halfway through.

Still, instinct and Intent were enough for the crystal spike to land on the Dragon Emperor and break through the barrier he had formed using many techniques.

It easily broke through it like a rock to a glass window and struck the Dragon Emperor on the other side.

The Dragon Emperor had done something at the last moment, or maybe he had done something from the very start to lead to that moment. Whatever he had done, the attack from Zhou Linfan had been diverted ever so slightly.

Instead of hitting him in the head, chest, or Dantian, the spike hit the Dragon Emperor to the side on his right arm.

The arm and part of the Dragon Emperor's chest had exploded, enough to gravely wound him, but not enough to die.

The Dragon Emperor's eyes widened in pain and shock and he quickly looked toward the Zhou Linfan. Without hesitation, he pulled out a pill from his Storage ring on his left hand.

The pill looked simple with no pill veins and just a cloudy blue color to it. It also didn't have strong Harmony to it from what he remembered hearing.

But that mattered little to the Dragon Emperor as he quickly ate the pill and dove down to grab his spear as it fell.

Zhou Linfan saw the Dragon Emperor eat the pill and knew he couldn't let the man heal. He had to kill him before he could find any help.

He thought of attacking another crystal spike but now knew that it wasn't reliable. He had to kill him with a more reliable attack.

Dao of Crystal filled and surrounded Zhou Linfan's sword as he poured all of his remaining Immortal Qi into this one attack. There was little remaining anyway, and as such this would be his last Immortal attack.

He didn't have to glance around to see if anyone else would interfere in this attack, as he knew everyone else was busy with their own fights, and his friends had worked hard to keep this space free from any interference.

With that thought, he rushed toward the Dragon Emperor who had only just managed to grab onto his spear.

His eyes turned toward Zhou Linfan, the look of pain and fear still clear in his bright blue irises.

Zhou Linfan experienced the moment slower than it happened. He saw the face of the man he was to kill with his sword. He saw his emotions. He saw how he could rid the world of this man with but a single attack.

He swung the sword down and saw the Emperor quickly try to point the spear toward him even though he was already there.

Zhou Linfan saw lightning start to crackle from the shaft of the spear where the Dragon Emperor had grabbed onto it, but he need not fear it. After all, his Saint Qi defense was much stronger than the Emperor's Saint Qi attack.

He saw the lightning move forward toward the tip of the spear from where it would attack and by that point, his sword was already closing in on the Emperor's neck.

Even as it closed in, Zhou Linfan felt something wrong. Something deep in him told him that if he didn't defend himself, he was going to die.

The thought itself formed after his instinct had forced Zhou Linfan to drive the sword toward the spear that burst out with lightning.

The two attacks clashed in close combat and the resulting explosion of energy sent Zhou Linfan flying through the sky, unable to stop himself.

He crashed through 5 buildings before coming to a stop on a barrier around the 6th building. He hadn't even realized that he was knocked downward at all.

Zhou Linfan's body ached all over and he opened his eyes to see that he had been wounded so badly that his clothes were soaked with blood within moments.

He reached into his storage bag and pulled out a 9-veiled healing pill to quickly eat it. As his body was healed by the pill, he felt a sense of fatigue come over him.

It took him a moment to realize that it was not fatigue that he was feeling, but just the feeling of becoming weaker due to no longer being in the Array. His aura was weaker than before.

He joined back into the array and was notified instinctively that he needed to move up from the ground to get to a better position so he could find more flexibility with the array.

'What happened?' Zhou Linfan thought as he flew upward and immediately sensed the Dragon Emperor flying downward with his head held up high with a look of superiority and a perfectly healed right hand.

The right side of his robe was empty, but through it revealed a mighty arm that held onto the spear.

But none of that shocked Zhou Linfan as much as it did the man's aura. There was a subtle power in the man's aura that Zhou Linfan could not ignore.

In fact, the Dragon Emperor was doing nothing to hide that at all. It could be said that he was even showing it off.

Zhou Linfan couldn't help but shrink back in fear. He looked at the man with a look of sheer shock as he understood what he was sensing.

Immortal Qi.

A massive amount of Immortal Qi.

"You… you were hiding it," Zhou Linfan spoke out immediately, only to realize that was wrong. The amount he felt was too much to be something that the Emperor hid.

It was almost as though the Emperor had instead regained Immortal Qi that he had lost. But how was it possible?

"No," Zhou Linfan corrected himself. "You replenished your Immortal Qi. How… how is that possible?"

There was simply no way for a Saint to replenish his Immortal. After all, one had to cultivate for a significant time to convert Saint Qi to Immortal Qi. There should be no way for a person to just gain back Immortal Qi at all.

"The answer is as simple as the question itself, Chef Zhou," the Emperor said. "There is no reason to overthink these things."

"How did I replenish Immortal Qi? Well, that is of course because I ate an Immortal Qi replenishment pill. Simple, wouldn't you say?"