First update. I’m unsure if I can manage much writing in the next few days, but I’ve pushed these two chapters out past midnight to put some pressure on myself. Regardless, it’s the last day of the month; I can’t just relax, haha. Besides these two chapters, I’ll post whatever else I manage to finish. As for the first of the month… more overtime, I suppose. g;

It wasn't entirely through Venerable Mei’s own power that the blade was destroyed; it took the combined Xuan Gong of Venerable Mei and Lei Wubei to shatter it completely!

Because when Venerable Mei’s group of three fingers struck, her left hand was rotating clockwise, while Lei Wubei countered by twisting counter-clockwise against her force. Right at the apex of their conflicting strengths—the instant the blade was subjected to maximum reversal stress—Venerable Mei’s finger, imbued with supreme Xuan Gong, landed its perfectly timed, heavy triple strike!

The power of a Venerable, the power of a Supreme—both acting on a single blade. What divine weapon could resist the dual pressure of these forces?

The answer was essentially none. At least, not Lei Wubei’s prized blade.

Three forces converged on a single point, and the precious blade instantly became scrap metal.

So, to be accurate, the Cold-Blooded Supreme’s blade was ruined by the combined effort of himself and Venerable Supreme Mei.

Venerable Mei clenched her left hand into a fist, and a thin crimson line of blood trickled down from her knuckles.

Even with her Xuan Beast physique, which was extraordinarily tough, it was still flesh and blood. In the struggle for the blade, she had held onto the edge continuously, resulting in some injury. But this minor wound was laughably insignificant compared to the price paid by Shi Changxiao and Lei Wubei… truly, utterly insignificant.

Because this strike cemented the final outcome of the battle.

While Lei Wubei stood momentarily stunned in disbelief, Venerable Mei abruptly threw herself onto the ground, precisely avoiding a desperate, retaliatory blow from Li Chuntian’s renewed attack. She then slid rapidly as if on a chute toward Lei Wubei, launching both feet to viciously kick his shinbones.

If that kick had landed true, Lei Wubei, the Cold-Blooded Supreme, might have earned a new title: the Crippled Supreme. It was enough force to completely shatter both his legs.

Lei Wubei gasped in alarm, lifting his right foot and spinning his body instantaneously, flashing three feet away. But he instantly regretted it.

Because behind him stood Shi Changxiao, whom he had just blocked from view.

Venerable Mei’s two kicks had driven Lei Wubei away, only to bring her face-to-face with Shi Changxiao. In a move reminiscent of a spiraling column twist, a rain of kicks enveloped Shi Changxiao.

Shi Changxiao was utterly shocked by this sudden onslaught. His view had been obstructed by Lei Wubei, and though he knew the situation was urgent, he hadn't realized Venerable Mei was already within striking distance. Lei Wubei’s evasion completely exposed him to Venerable Mei’s attack.

He scrambled frantically to parry, preparing to grit his teeth and meet her force head-on once more, when he saw that Venerable Mei had somehow already straightened up, bringing a palm strike down like a colossal mountain pressing from above. With no time to gather his internal energy or reinforce his defense, and with nowhere left to retreat, Shi Changxiao gritted his teeth and closed his eyes to meet the blow.

A loud explosion followed, punctuated by two heavy thuds. Shi Changxiao took a strike on each shoulder and rolled away like a discarded embroidered ball.

Venerable Mei then retreated like lightning, crossing a vast distance of eight zhang in a single flash, causing the attack descending from the sky by Ying Bokong to strike empty air. She herself was instantly before Li Juetian, exchanging three solid palm strikes with the almost wild-eyed Supreme Juetian once more.

Sealing off every conceivable avenue of escape for Li Juetian, she landed three unreserved strikes—this was practically bullying! Venerable Mei had sustained virtually no injury, while Li Juetian suffered severe internal and external wounds. The consequence of those three hard exchanges was predictable. Li Juetian’s body flew up like a fabric ball, vomiting blood like a continuously spouting fountain.

The fractured bones Li Juetian had forcibly sealed with Xuan Gong at that moment completely burst open, shattering entirely. His body looked like a human pincushion, fine blood arrows spraying out from every pore.

Venerable Mei raised her long sleeve, and a strip of black cloth whipped out like lightning, coiling around the heavily wounded body of Li Juetian and flinging him upward. The timing was perfect, aligning precisely with the third form of Ying Bokong’s Ghost Eagle Nine Strikes as he plummeted down through the void.

This move was Ying Bokong’s most powerful killing technique, the one he had most thoroughly mastered so far. Just as he prepared to secure his victory with this strike, his vision suddenly went black: Li Juetian, filled with grief and fury, was being delivered directly beneath him. Li Juetian opened his mouth, and a stream of blood shot directly toward Ying Bokong’s face.

Ying Bokong was greatly alarmed, hastily pulling back his move. He tilted his head to avoid the blood spray, catching Li Juetian’s body with both hands, while simultaneously flashing three zhang horizontally in the air to evade Venerable Mei’s follow-up attack.

Since Venerable Mei had thrown Li Juetian upward, she must have had an intention. Ying Bokong understood this perfectly and quickly dodged! But even though Ying Bokong’s reaction was fast, he was still a step too late.

A sharp, agonizing pain shot through his lower abdomen—Venerable Mei had followed through with three strikes. Two palms missed their mark, but the third struck a glancing blow. Ying Bokong let out a strange cry and flew off diagonally like a snapped kite. As he landed, a flush spread across his face, and despite his extreme effort to control it, he couldn't hold back. Waaaah—a mouthful of blood erupted, spraying all over the body of Li Juetian cradled in his arms.

This was the result achieved despite Ying Bokong’s superb lightness skill, which exceeded Venerable Mei’s estimation. However, having forcibly retracted his move to catch Li Juetian, Ying Bokong’s Xuan Qi had already suffered a backlash. Compounding this with his swift evasive maneuver, his protective aura had plummeted to a dangerously low level. Furthermore, Ying Bokong was never known for profound Xuan Gong mastery. Though he only took a grazing blow now, he was still seriously injured.

Venerable Mei, sensing her advantage in the grand battle, would never let such an opportunity pass! She vanished from her spot in a flash, reappearing directly in front of Lei Wubei, unleashing a furious, storm-like assault.

At this moment, Ying Bokong was flying askew, Li Juetian was doubly wounded, and Shi Changxiao was five zhang distant. For the next few crucial breaths, it was effectively a one-on-one duel against the Cold-Blooded Supreme, Lei Wubei!

And Lei Wubei had just sustained internal shock, and his beloved blade had been destroyed. He was at his absolute lowest point of morale. Seeing Venerable Mei advance on him for a solitary fight, his courage crumbled; he desperately defended himself, rapidly retreating.

Bang, bang, bang sounds echoed in succession. For some inexplicable reason, the ground suddenly erupted in a blinding cloud of dust, instantly reducing visibility to zero. Shi Changxiao, who had just rushed over to assist, could only see two extremely blurred figures in the dense fog. Both figures were clad in black, making it impossible to distinguish between Venerable Mei and Lei Wubei.

In that moment of hesitation—less than half a second—a sound of impact was heard, followed by Lei Wubei’s pained, muffled groan. A figure tumbled out, spinning, clad in tight black clothing—it was Lei Wubei!

Blood bubbled thickly from Lei Wubei’s mouth. His entire right arm was bent unnaturally backward at a right angle, indicating a severe fracture. This was only because Venerable Mei had shown restraint and not delivered a fatal blow; had she not held back, that section of his arm would either have been pulverized into dust or long since blown away.

By this point, the victor was clear, obvious to all.

The four Supremes besieging the Lord of Heavenly Punishment were utterly routed.

Venerable Mei’s victory was remarkably swift and clean. The four Supremes hadn't even managed to unleash their mutual annihilation ultimate moves before the result was decided!

In reality, if any one of those four had unleashed a life-risking ultimate skill, the tide of battle could have been instantly reversed. While it might not have defeated Venerable Mei, the outcome would certainly have been far better than what occurred.

This was because Venerable Mei’s Heaven and Earth Cage could, at most, be applied to a single person! If directed against a Supreme, it required even greater effort! Thus, the instant she activated the Heaven and Earth Cage, although her target was utterly immobilized, it was precisely her most vulnerable moment.

Therefore, Venerable Mei could not, and dared not, use the Heaven and Earth Cage.

But people value their lives. Moreover, this entire confrontation was a contest of supremacy, not a battle to the death. Defeat carried a manageable price; the only party facing a catastrophic consequence was Blood Soul Manor. It meant little to the other Supremes.

If Li Juetian himself was unwilling to perish with his foe, why would the other three Supremes be any different? Consequently, this result was hardly surprising.

Venerable Mei swept her long sleeve, which curled like flowing clouds, stirring up a fierce wind. The dust and debris in the arena were instantly swept away without a trace, revealing Venerable Mei’s tall figure. Clad in a voluminous black robe, she stood alone in the center of the clearing, the heavy fabric billowing in the wind as she gazed down disdainfully.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd sucked in a sharp breath and cried out in shock, “Look… look at the ground…”

Everyone quickly followed his gaze, and a collective gasp escaped their lips. The entire area where the battle had taken place was paved with the hardest granite. Within a radius of ten zhang, a layer of the ground, a full three chi deep, had been cleanly sheared away!

Removing such a layer wouldn't be difficult; any Supreme could manage it. But the issue was that no rock fragments were seen scattering, nor was there any corresponding sound of stone being crushed. So, where had this three-foot layer of granite gone?

Had it grown wings and flown away?

They were ignorant of the fact that although the five masters were not engaged in a genuine life-or-death struggle, all five had utilized their strongest powers. The four-directional surge of their supreme Xuan Gong had scraped away the earth layer by layer. As the fighting intensified, more and more stone was scraped away. And all of it had silently dissipated into mist…

This was the result of Venerable Mei’s utmost control. Otherwise, if the Xuan Gong power of the five masters had been allowed to develop unchecked, this small mountain would likely have been flattened today!

Lei Baoyu and Bu Kuang simultaneously sighed. They had foreseen such an outcome, but they hadn't anticipated it arriving so quickly!

Even Ying Bokong, Lei Wubei, and Shi Changxiao, who had just been in the thick of the fight, were stunned. Shi Changxiao and Lei Wubei stood motionless, their expressions shifting rapidly.

Ying Bokong placed Li Juetian gently on the ground, took a few steps forward, intending to speak, but ultimately said nothing. His face suddenly flushed crimson.

The combined assault of the Four Supremes had ended in such a crushing defeat.

How could these four Supremes, who usually considered themselves standing at the apex of the world, calmly accept such a result? This battle represented not only the absolute loss of the Continental Human Allied Forces but also a massive blow to the reputations of the Four Supremes themselves!