Nan Qiu roared incessantly. He was truly furious; he never expected to be so thoroughly suppressed by a junior. What a colossal humiliation! Colossal! Humiliation! Utter! Humiliation! Nan Qiu felt an intense rage building, on the verge of unleashing his final trump card. Once this ultimate technique was deployed, his power would surge—approaching a level close to that of the Half-Step Longevity Realm.

The gap between the Tenth Level of Body Tempering and the Longevity Realm was immense; breaking through that barrier was exceptionally difficult. If it were easy, cultivators wouldn't be fighting tooth and nail inside the Longevity Cave every thirty years. It was unknown when this phenomenon began, but suddenly, a cultivator broke through the Tenth Level of Body Tempering, reaching what was normally the Longevity Realm.

However, this cultivator discovered that after this breakthrough, he was neither in the Longevity Realm, nor was he merely stronger than the Tenth Level of Body Tempering; subsequently, this new state was termed the Half-Step Longevity Realm. Half-Step Longevity—half of the Longevity stage.

Of course, this Half-Step Longevity state was experienced by some cultivators and completely bypassed by others; it depended entirely on the individual. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that the Half-Step Longevity Realm was far superior to the Tenth Level of Body Tempering.

As Nan Qiu summoned his ultimate move, his strength drew genuinely close to the Half-Step Longevity level. A torrent of lava suddenly erupted from the volcano, surging directly toward Nan Qiu. Nan Qiu laughed heartily: "Let me show you my ultimate spell, Lava Apocalypse!" With a sharp cry, countless rolling magma stones bombarded the volcano's peak!

This spell was no ordinary technique.

Lu Yuan had witnessed others using spells before, but generally, they were not exceptionally powerful ones. By the standard categorization of spells, Nan Qiu’s technique should be classified as a First-Tier spell. The classification of spells was as follows: Third-Tier, Second-Tier, First-Tier, Top-Tier, and finally, Taboo-Tier spells. Legend held that once a Taboo-Tier spell was unleashed, it was possible for a hundred miles in every direction to become utter ruin. In terms of sheer area of attack, spells were undoubtedly superior to swordsmanship; however, swordsmanship offered greater agility and superior destructive power concentrated on a single point or line.

Nan Qiu’s Lava Apocalypse was a First-Tier spell! In truth, at his current level, casting a First-Tier spell should have been highly unlikely, but within the specific environment of the volcano, by harnessing the existing magma, he could unleash this First-Tier spell, Lava Apocalypse.

Once cast, the power of Nan Qiu’s Lava Apocalypse was astonishingly extreme. The mountaintop was instantly engulfed in searing flames, torrential flows, molten rock, and jagged stones. Here, the violent elemental energies of Heaven and Earth—Fiery Essence, Water Essence, Earth Essence, and various other terrifying energies—converged, weaving together to form this horrifying spell, Lava Apocalypse. Fang Qingzheng lay on the ground, caught within it, feeling as though he could no longer see the sky, entirely blocked by the molten slurry and crimson flames everywhere.

Boom! At some indeterminate moment, a massive, glowing red boulder slammed into the ground. Although Fang Qingzheng possessed protective magic power, the impact of the crimson rock striking less than ten feet away still shook his entire body, nearly throwing him into the air. Simultaneously, an intense searing heat radiated from the giant stone, nearly burning him alive. Fang Qingzheng was certain that if he were a mortal, this single impact would have set him alight. How terrifying was Lava Apocalypse!

Fang Qingzheng was deeply shaken. He had never realized Nan Qiu was this powerful. Although they were fellow disciples of the North Peak, he had only ever heard tales of the ruthless, vicious Nan Qiu; they had never truly sparred. Now, he understood that Nan Qiu was even stronger than the rumors suggested.

Nan Qiu laughed maniacally: "Lu Yuan, junior brat, I will utterly destroy you! I will torture you for days, make you regret ever setting foot in this world!" Nan Qiu, who enjoyed tormenting others, already possessed a somewhat twisted psyche; being beaten down by Lu Yuan earlier had caused his deranged nature to erupt.

Nan Qiu roared again. Several pillars of fire shot toward Lu Yuan, blazing into the sky. Lu Yuan countered with a backhand strike, manifesting his Water Sword Intent. Lu Yuan’s Water Sword Intent had reached a state of transcendence; employing it now, supplemented by his Rain Sword Intent, felt like summoning the might of a vast, surging river in a single movement, dissolving those fiery magma pillars into nothingness.

Nan Qiu bellowed: "Then break this move as well!" Lava Apocalypse was not merely fire. Nan Qiu now exerted his full strength; colossal pillars of flame lunged at Lu Yuan, while searingly hot magma rushed toward him, accompanied by countless massive stones colliding in his direction. Lava Apocalypse finally revealed its true majesty!

Lu Yuan dared not be careless now; he countered by drawing his sword. Nourishing My Sword was drawn out rapidly. He had previously broken through Second-Tier and Third-Tier spells; this time, he would attempt to shatter a legendary First-Tier spell.

The spell Lava Apocalypse should be a combination of violently surging Water Essence, Fiery Essence, and Earth Essence, fused together with extreme ferocity, centered around the fire element. To break it, the sword strike needed to be fast—fortunately, he had mastered the Speed Sword Intent. Lu Yuan sent out one sword strike, then another, and then a third. In truth, to outside observers, Lu Yuan appeared to have executed only three strikes. But Lu Yuan knew he had unleashed thirty strikes. Within that single instant, these thirty strikes had employed the Water Sword Intent to suppress the Fire Essence, the Earth Sword Intent to suppress the Water Essence, and the Wood Sword Intent to suppress the Earth Essence.

"I said, I will break you." These more than thirty consecutive strikes from Lu Yuan completely neutralized the offensive power of the Lava Apocalypse spell. In fact, even for Lu Yuan, shattering this move was dangerous. It required mastery of the Water, Earth, and Wood Sword Intents, extremely rapid execution, proficiency in the Speed Sword Intent, and sharp insight—only then could one perfectly dissipate the opponent's Lava Apocalypse. And Lu Yuan possessed all of these capabilities. If this had occurred a year prior, facing Nan Qiu’s technique, he would have been defeated swiftly. But after a year of cultivation under Patriarch Yan, he was vastly different; thus, he managed to shatter this attack head-on.

"Impossible, how could I lose?" Nan Qiu muttered distractedly. He could not accept this defeat. This move was his final trump card; he never imagined that even deploying his ultimate technique, enhanced by the volcano’s terrain advantage, he would still lose. This was simply inconceivable. Fang Qingzheng was also astonished; he hadn't anticipated Lu Yuan overpowering Nan Qiu. This... A year ago, Lu Yuan would likely have fallen within thirty moves against an average Ninth-Level Body Tempering cultivator. Yet, only one year had passed, and he possessed this kind of strength. It was truly unimaginable.

While they stood in disbelief, Lu Yuan thrust his sword forward. This strike was impossibly fast, instantly piercing Nan Qiu’s throat. Even the ability to regenerate severed limbs and shattered bones would be useless against a piercing injury to the throat, especially since Lu Yuan simultaneously infused a significant amount of magical power into his body, ravaging it internally.

Indeed, Lu Yuan was reluctant to kill and rarely took lives. But that did not mean Lu Yuan was incapable of killing. This Nan Qiu was the foremost master under Sima Changbai, and he had intended to torture and kill Lu Yuan on sight. It would have been absurd not to kill him now. As disciples of the Righteous Sects, they rarely killed, but when pushed to this extreme, they had no choice but to act.

As for Fang Qingzheng standing nearby, Lu Yuan felt no worry. Fang Qingzheng had witnessed the entire event. If this incident was reported to the North Peak of Mount Hua, Lu Yuan would certainly be absolved; after all, Nan Qiu struck first. Of course, using this matter to prove Sima Changbai’s guilt was unrealistic; Sima Changbai could easily distance himself from it entirely. In fact, even if Yuan Yuan Master wanted to move against someone in Sima Changbai’s position, it would be difficult. After all, taking action against someone with significant merit who had not committed a clear, undeniable crime would chill the hearts of the rest of the sect. In major righteous sects, actions were governed by evidence.

Lu Yuan’s swift, decisive action brought surprise to Nan Qiu’s face, though he seemed unconcerned. For him, the victor lives and the vanquished dies was the natural order. Moreover, his intent to kill Lu Yuan was a grave crime; if he had succeeded, destroying the evidence and blaming it on demonic cultivators would have been beneficial. Now that he had failed, death was inevitable. Nan Qiu knew that Senior Brother Yuan Yuan had long wanted him gone but lacked concrete proof. Now that evidence had presented itself, he had no path to survival; dying here or dying on the North Peak made no difference.

Fang Qingzheng was also taken aback, finding it strange that Lu Yuan, usually so lethargic, could be so clean and decisive when fighting. However, if this matter were reported, the North Peak leadership would certainly support Lu Yuan in secret, perhaps offering a perfunctory public reprimand and a trivial fine of ten spirit stones for a year—a paltry punishment that Lu Yuan would barely notice.

This Nan Qiu, at the Tenth Level of Body Tempering, was the strongest cultivator Lu Yuan had ever slain. Lu Yuan glanced back at Nourishing My Sword; this righteous sword would not bear the slightest trace of blood. The gore automatically slid away from the blade, allowing it to return to its sheath without needing to be wiped.

Now, it was time to collect the spoils. Nan Qiu, naturally, possessed spatial artifacts. Lu Yuan searched for a while and found a ring on his hand. Probing it with his divine sense, he discovered it was no smaller than his own Minor Sumeru Pouch—quite convenient. Next came the loot inside.

The first item was the Fire Sparrow Sword; this was Nan Qiu’s flying sword, not kept within the ring, but already in Lu Yuan’s hand. The quality of this flying sword was quite good. Flying swords were categorized as: Flying Sword, Spirit Sword, Immortal Sword.

Within the category of Flying Swords, there were better and worse qualities. Although there was no fixed, standardized grading system, the difference in quality was visible. Lu Yuan’s Nourishing My Sword, for example, was clearly a superior-grade flying sword. This Fire Sparrow Sword was also quite respectable. Its hilt featured a wild design, the sword body was inscribed with the ancient seal characters for “Fire Sparrow,” and its entire surface was a bright crimson, feeling slightly warm to the touch. The sword was three feet, four inches long, weighing approximately twenty-five catties.