Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

Lu Yun’s robes hung in tatters. Clearly, he hadn’t fully blocked the last attack. He hadn’t expected some nobody to unleash the Heaven-Opening Tier so easily.

He glanced at his sword, now chipped and notched, then looked at Cao Yan’s ferocious-looking fist gauntlets, his expression unreadable.

Lu Yun stood proudly, and a spirit light imprint surfaced on his forehead. As it burned away and dissipated, his aura surged.

Li Guanqi frowned. It seemed this was one of the ancient clans’ hidden trump cards. Even if Lu Yun could manage only a partial soul release of his sword spirit void artifact, his strength was not to be underestimated.

Boom!

Peak Sword Courage Realm sword intent rose from the ground.

Lu Yun’s torn robes whipped around him as he stared at Cao Yan, his fighting spirit blazing. “So your name is Cao Yan? I’ll remember it.”

Cao Yan sneered. “Don’t worry, I’ll carve your name into your tombstone!”

Boom!

The battle platform trembled as Lu Yun flickered into place behind Cao Yan, eyes sharp. Cao Yan sensed the attack coming, but the demonic qi raging through him left him no time to react. He could only raise his gauntlets and block.

Thud!

This time, Cao Yan was the one slammed down onto the platform. Li Guanqi abruptly stepped forward.

Midair, Lu Yun repeatedly swung his longsword down at the platform. Violent, chaotic sword qi poured down like a storm.

The platform’s bluestone tiles shattered, and dust billowed. Sword light poured down like a golden river.

Everyone’s nerves drew tight. Even Li Guanqi clenched his fists, staring unblinkingly at the battlefield.

Lu Wuhen’s expression never changed, as though it had all gone exactly as he expected.

“He’s won,” he said softly.

Lu Yun was attacking with nearly all his might. What he unleashed was not ordinary sword qi, but the relentless eruption of an entire sword technique.

Lu Kangnian’s eyes were bloodshot, yet he continued striking the war drums again and again. The thunderous beat nearly overturned the heavens, like a colossal bell ringing in everyone’s ears. He was silent, yet his hands never hesitated.

Li Guanqi felt the same. He didn’t believe Cao Yan would go down just because of the demonic qi raging inside him.

“Third Brother!”

Boom!

A mysterious pressure erupted.

The thick dust swirled, and soon, the chaotic, metallic clash of weapons became audible to all.

A figure slowly emerged from the deep crater, covered in blood and wreathed in blue flames. His eyes were bloodshot, and both his fists moved like an unbreakable wall.

Facing the overwhelming onslaught of sword light, Cao Yan swung his fists with everything he had. Gradually, everyone realized that countless fist shadows were forcing the cascading river of sword light upward.

The Heaven-Opening Tier Blood Oath Fist Gauntlets blazed with radiant light. Cao Yan’s burning battle intent resonated with the spirit void artifact.

The weaker the will, the weaker the artifact’s response. The stronger and more unyielding the will, the more power it could unleash. In the right hands, it could reach heights beyond imagination.

The gauntlets looked like two blazing blue suns. Punch by punch, the violent sword light shattered.

Chaotic sword qi slashed across the platform, carving deep trenches into the ground.

Cao Yan’s hair was a mess, his face covered in blood, his whole body riddled with sword qi wounds. But even so, he strode into the sky step by step, walking through the void. His fists blurred into countless afterimages, and his gaze never wavered.

Cao Yan threw his head back and laughed at the sky. He drove both fists forward and roared, “I, Cao Yan, was born into misery and endured hardship all my life! If Boss hadn’t sacrificed himself to save me back then, my soul would’ve long since returned to heaven and earth! Today, I, Cao Yan, will use these iron fists to shatter the prison of my past life and stand proudly above the nine heavens!”

Thud! Crack!

Lu Kangnian’s drum mallet shattered in his hands. He flung it aside, clenched both fists, and beat the war drums like a madman. “Hahahaha! Good! Kid, don’t be afraid to lose! The Daxia Sword Sect can afford to lose! Hahaha! Kill them all!”

Boom boom boom boom! Clack! Boom boom!

Lu Kangnian laughed wildly, utterly unrestrained, almost frenzied. Li Guanqi could swear he had never seen Lu Kangnian act like that before.

Watching Lu Kangnian beat the drums with both fists in pure exhilaration, Li Guanqi felt dazed for a moment. If not for the Daxia Sword Sect, if he were not its sect master… Perhaps the Six Territories would have had one more free-spirited wandering sword immortal.

Lu Yun panicked. He hadn’t expected Cao Yan’s willpower to be so terrifyingly strong.

Cao Yan had already taken over ten direct sword strikes, so why was he still swinging his fists and refusing to fall?

Panic flashed through Lu Yun’s eyes as he desperately unleashed wave after wave of sword qi. He roared, his voice echoing across the sky, “Die! Die! Die! Die! Just die! Why won’t you admit defeat? Why are you still fighting like this?”

Everyone could see that Cao Yan was covered in sword wounds. His flayed flesh was torn open, the gashes so deep that the bone showed. Any ordinary person would have already passed out.

But Cao Yan faced the sword light head-on like a warrior swimming against the current. Even as his fists weakened, he forced them forward all the same. Every punch still carried devastating force. Each burst of flames seemed to set the heavens ablaze.

Cao Yan didn’t respond. He only grinned foolishly, just like he did when Ye Feng called him “Big Head.”

As the distance between the two closed further and further, everyone’s hearts rose to their throats.

Cao Yan retracted his fists, allowing the sword light to pass him by, tearing into him and spraying blood mist as it carved away his flesh.

He drew a heavy breath. “Blood Oath Lone Sun… Ten Thousand Mountains!”

Cao Yan erupted with an aura as vast and heavy as a mountain. At last, he revealed his fist intent. It was the heart of one who strives to grow stronger. That was why he feared no one. Even knowing he was outmatched, he still dared to throw his fist forward.

Boom!

A crushing pressure slammed into Lu Yun’s chest, stealing his breath. The void within a hundred zhang of Cao Yan seemed to freeze solid.

Heaven-shaking fist intent erupted, manifesting as a blue fist shadow more than a hundred zhang wide. It hurtled straight toward Lu Yun.

This punch carried everything Cao Yan had. Either Lu Yun died, or he did. But just as Cao Yan’s momentum was about to peak, he grimaced. He coughed up a large mouthful of black blood, and his aura abruptly faltered.

By this point, Lu Yun was also exhausted, his vital force nearly depleted. The moment he sensed the opening, killing intent flashed in his eyes.

With Cao Yan charging straight at him, there was no dodging that punch, no retreating from it.

“I cannot lose! I cannot! Reverse Heaven Slaughtering Slash!” Lu Yun shouted.

He bit down, crushing the explosive spirit pill hidden in his teeth. Forcing out every last bit of power he could muster, he gripped his sword with both hands for an all-out strike.

Boom! Crack crack crack crack!

His sword began to shatter. The relentless clashes against Cao Yan’s fist gauntlets had already pushed it past its limit. As Lu Yun unleashed his final strike, the blade came apart piece by piece, leaving only a jagged stub at the hilt.

Boom!

Cao Yan gritted his teeth and threw his punch forward, but at the critical moment, the demonic qi raging inside him disrupted his mountain-like fist intent.

Sensing the opening, Lu Yun twisted his sword light. A violent explosion erupted, shaking the entire battle platform. The barrier rippled like water under the shockwaves.

The chaotic storm of energy obscured everyone’s vision, yet Li Guanqi spotted a figure staggering into the distance.

“Third Brother…”

Cao Yan’s eyes were unfocused, his vision blurred. He’d lost so much blood that his face was as pale as paper. Dark purple blood seeped from his wounds, threaded with strange black filaments that writhed unnaturally.

But Cao Yan noticed none of it. Only one thought remained. I must win!

Lu Yun lay sprawled on the ground, half his body crippled and his consciousness fading.

Then a cold, hard fist slammed into his face.

Bang!

The entire left side of Lu Yun’s body had been reduced to pulp. His left eye had burst. Through his blurred vision, he saw a man looming over him like a demon.

Hair disheveled, Cao Yan straddled Lu Yun and rained punches down on him like a madman. Lu Yun instinctively gripped his broken sword and thrust it into Cao Yan’s waist.

Thud!

Bang!

The pain cleared their minds for an instant, and they realized that neither had fallen yet.

Cao Yan, still on top of Lu Yun, unleashed a storm of fists, smashing Lu Yun into a pulp in two blows. But Lu Yun, in turn, drove more than ten savage stabs of the broken sword into Cao Yan.

Lu Yun kneed him off and staggered upright, only to be grabbed by the hair and battered with punch after punch.

The two no longer resembled elite cultivators at all. They looked like two street thugs locked in a brutal, chaotic brawl.

Cao Yan swung his fists mechanically, his eyes bloodshot and glazed.

Lu Yun was no better. He spat out blood and broken teeth as Cao Yan tore away his scalp. He kept stabbing Cao Yan with the broken sword, bones cracking with every thrust.

All of Cao Yan’s left ribs had been shattered.

The two of them dragged themselves forward. Every step left a pool of blood behind. Both remained standing through sheer force of will.

Thud! Thud!

They both dropped to their knees, yet neither loosened their grip on the other.

At last, the blood spilling from Cao Yan’s mouth turned completely black. He could no longer lift a hand.

With the last of his consciousness, Lu Yun raised his broken sword, preparing to stab Cao Yan’s ear.

Li Guanqi closed his eyes in pain and roared, “Enough! We… concede defeat!”