The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 420: Still Powerful

"You—what was that?!" Adel exclaimed in shock.

What he sensed was a split second of sharp wind infused with sword intent. The force of the wind alone was enough to sever his forehead if it had passed his head. His eyes trembled as he stared at Elena’s power and technique. How was she able to send a strike strong enough to kill him without even circulating any energy?

He had already thrown a special poison powder called "Mortal’s Experience," which was designed to halt all energy circulation in a cultivator’s body for a certain period, depending on how much they inhaled. Mortal’s Experience was sometimes used by assassins to render their victims helpless before killing them, depending on the circumstances.

The powder’s effectiveness is determined by its composition and the target’s cultivation level. To make it effective against a king-stage cultivator, the attacker must prepare Mortal’s Experience with a precise mixture of ingredients potent enough for that level. If a dose meant for a duke-stage cultivator were used on a king-stage, it would have little to no effect.

This powder is heavily regulated and can only be obtained or possessed by physicians for medical purposes. Anyone found in possession of it without authorization faces severe punishment. However, since Adel was using it, he must have received permission from the second prince.

And Elena knew this.

"Father, be careful! They have Mortal’s Experience powder!" Elena shouted at a normal volume. She couldn’t amplify her voice with energy since it was blocked, but she believed her father would hear her.

True to her thoughts, Baron Rosalind heard her and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Duke Schmidt. He then turned to his men and sent them a warning about the powder through voice transmission. Fortunately, their opponents had yet to use it against them—or at least, not yet. Or perhaps Adel was the only one in possession of the powder, meant specifically for her.

After warning her father, Elena suddenly raised her sword, blocking Adel’s attack as their blades clashed once again. Her hands trembled under the force of his strike, and she was pushed back several meters.

Adel was truly shocked—she could still defend herself, and even without energy circulation, she still possessed overwhelming raw strength!

"How—"

"You’re shocked by this? Then you will never defeat me in your lifetime." Elena’s words cut off Adel’s as she struggled to hold her ground, refusing to be pushed back any further.

Adel gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand how she was able to withstand his strength without energy circulation—unless her raw physical strength could match his strength at this time, which was truly incredible.

Elena simply smiled at his expression. He had no idea that she, or the Rosalind main family as a whole, cultivated a technique that allowed their bodies to be as strong as those of pure body cultivators. Their cultivation technique was a divine-grade inheritance, passed down through generations.

The cultivation technique originated from their ancestor, serving as proof that their lineage was anything but ordinary. Although they could no longer fully comprehend the divine-grade technique, even grasping half of it or simply following its energy circulation granted the Rosalind family a significant boost in both raw strength and energy.

This was why the battle prowess of Rosalind family cultivators could never be underestimated.

Elena didn’t need to explain any of this to Adel. Instead, she swiftly used her trick—she slid to the side, causing Adel’s sword to slip past hers, then immediately delivered a kick to his abdomen.

Adel tried to block, but her foot was faster, striking directly against his armor. His body was sent flying, but he managed to stabilize himself before hitting the ground. He looked at Elena with an irritated expression. freёweɓnovel.com

Even after using underhanded tactics, she still had a stronger physique! That incredible strength compensated for her lack of energy circulation, allowing her to match his attacks up to this point. He truly wondered what kind of cultivation technique she had practiced to achieve such a powerful body—even her raw sword swings could generate slashes of wind infused with sword intent strong enough to kill him.

Steeling himself, Adel took a stance and raised his longsword in front of him. The surrounding wind gathered around the blade, forming a raging tornado that spiraled into the sky. Then, with a fierce downward slash, he unleashed his attack toward Elena.

Tempest Wrath.

The tornado, filled with destructive power capable of endangering even a low emperor-stage cultivator, hurtled toward Elena. Though her expression was solemn, there was no panic in her eyes. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled as she took a stance with her sword. Fixing her gaze on the massive tornado approaching her, she let out a sharp cry and swung her blade in a powerful slashing motion.

"HAA!"

Her sword strike unleashed a sharp gust of wind infused with her sword intent, cleaving the tornado right down the middle and shattering Adel’s technique. The raging winds dissipated almost instantly, and the surroundings returned to normal.

Adel was once again shocked by Elena’s power and couldn’t help but feel envious of her strength. Although his cultivation technique also trained his body like a body cultivator’s, it still didn’t grant the kind of overwhelming physical strength that Elena possessed.

While Adel was filled with envy, Elena herself was not in good condition. Her breathing was unsteady, sweat dripped from her beautiful face, and signs of exhaustion had already begun to show. The last exchange had drained a significant amount of her stamina. Pain and soreness spread through her arm muscles, forcing her to stab her sword into the ground for support so she wouldn’t collapse.

She gritted her teeth at her own weakness. Although the Rising Petal of Heavenly Garden Scripture cultivation technique granted her incredible physical strength, it still had its limitations—and those limitations lay within her own body.

If she relied solely on raw muscle strength to unleash powerful sword attacks, she would inevitably drain her stamina and overstrain her muscles.

Right now, after executing a slash strong enough to cut the tornado in half using only her raw power, she had nearly exhausted her stamina and pushed her muscles to their limit. Pain spread through her arms, making every movement agonizing.

She felt weak, on the verge of fainting, but she forced herself to stay conscious. She tried to steady her breathing, but her lungs refused to cooperate, demanding oxygen as quickly as possible.

Seeing Elena in her most vulnerable state, Adel decided to end it. Without hesitation, he dashed toward her to deliver the final blow.

Elena, completely exhausted, tried to lift her sword, but her hands refused to obey—her weapon felt unbearably heavy. She still had one defensive talisman and one escape talisman left, so she didn’t feel truly threatened even in her current state, but there was a bitter taste in her heart.

"It looks like this is my limit," she thought.

She reached for the escape talisman or rather, the return talisman that would teleport her to a designated location inside the city. She had prepared it earlier with her father before setting out for Caritas. Her fingers grasped the talisman, tucked beneath the plate armor on her arm where she had stored it.

Adel, seeing Elena reach for another talisman, immediately prepared to unleash his technique to stop her from activating it.

"No, you don’t—"

Just as he was about to strike, he suddenly sensed a massive surge of energy and an overwhelming presence of sword will behind him. His body froze, and he instinctively turned to see what had happened. In fact, it wasn’t just him, the entire battlefield, including those on the city walls, turned their attention in the same direction.

What they saw left them utterly shocked.

A colossal sword slash, radiating immense energy and sword will, was hurtling toward the flying fortress from its right side. The sheer force of the attack tore through the ground, annihilating many troops from the second prince’s faction, most of whom were positioned in the rear lines. Even the cannons stationed on the ground were destroyed in an instant.

The flying fortress, having just finished recharging its lightning cannon, prepared to fire—but before it could, the sword slash finally struck.

In an instant, the fortress was cleaved in two as the slash passed through it. The energy dissipated shortly after, as if it had expended all its power.

With its structure severed right down the middle, the fortress began to plummet from the sky. The two halves, like a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean, tumbled downward in ruin.

The lightning cannon, already in its final phase of charging, finally fired—but because the flying fortress had lost altitude and its front half was tilting toward the sky, the beam shot upward instead of striking the city barrier.

A massive pillar of purple-white lightning streaked into the heavens, visible from hundreds of kilometers away.

Meanwhile, the second prince’s troops had fallen into complete chaos, shaken by the sudden attack from behind. Baron Rosalind, Duke Schmidt, and the others had already halted their battle, their eyes fixed on the unfolding scene in utter shock.

What the hell just happened?!

They finally spotted two floating figures a few kilometers behind the second prince’s faction troops. No one knew when they had arrived, but they were certain these figures hadn’t been there earlier—at least, not before the battle began!