Both of them plummeted together, like two comets chasing one another, hurtling down towards the ground at breakneck speed!
However, the situation for Tianmu was far from optimistic. Xingchen's fierce downward sword strike was clearly faster than Tianmu's descent. If struck, it was powerful enough to pierce Tianmu right through!
Well done, Tianmu! Even trapped in a desperate situation, he remained calm and collected! Gritting his teeth against the turbulent battle energy threatening to explode inside him, he suddenly swept out with an axe strike!
Yet, despite losing his balance, he impossibly managed to intercept the lightning-fast thrust of Xingchen's sword!
With a resounding clang! Tianmu, having blocked the strike, instantly accelerated his fall, slamming violently towards the earth!
But the astonishing rebound force simultaneously sent Xingchen flying upwards again!
All of this occurred in the span of a mere instant! If not for the Heavenly Demon Eye that Tianmu possessed, he would never have been able to see through the profound mystery and subtlety of the sword technique.
Yet, the more this happened, the more alarmed Tianmu became!
He recalled a previous confrontation with Xingchen. While Xingchen had been strong then, he was nowhere near this difficult to handle. His own vaunted reaction speed and agility were proving useless against this bizarre swordsmanship!
He even appeared somewhat flustered!
Could it be that this young man’s reaction speed and agility could actually keep pace with his Heavenly Demon Eye!
This realization nearly stunned Tianmu speechless!
However, his excellent psychological fortitude allowed Tianmu to forcefully suppress the unease in his heart. This was impossible. At this human age, it was impossible to grasp the Heavenly Demon Eye, which could see through everything. Even he himself, only by relying on the Demon Dragon Sect Master's supreme magical power to break through the gate of life and death and accumulate sufficient energy, could never have comprehended the Heavenly Demon Eye!
This was not something achievable by mere talent and effort. And in the human world, clearly no one possessed the same power as the Demon Dragon Sect Master!
Therefore, he absolutely could not have mastered the Heavenly Demon Eye!
As long as he could calm his mind, he would surely find the right opportunity!
Tianmu made up his mind, his spirit settling!
Meanwhile, Xingchen, having been knocked airborne by Tianmu's axe, once again unfurled the dazzling Wings of the Celestial Phoenix, forcibly arresting his upward momentum and tracing an uncanny C-shaped arc!
The azure Dragon Shadow Longsword nearly simultaneously erupted with an eerie, blood-red glow! His body inverted—head down, feet up—he swooped down like a hawk diving upon its prey!
The astonishing speed literally ripped the air apart, producing sharp, muffled howls, while his originally brown silhouette blazed with brilliant light, like a consuming flame!
Even more astonishingly, the strange astral phenomenon from before reappeared! The gloomy great hall was once again shrouded in falling starlight, yet this time it differed entirely from before! The starlight raining down seemed to follow a bizarre, spiral trajectory, spiraling downward! The expansive starlight transformed into an immeasurably vast vortex of light—yes, a rotating stellar nebula vortex.
Everyone felt an immensely heavy gravitational pull; the entire world was being dragged, squeezed, and then seemingly torn to shreds by the sudden, colossal vortex!
“What sword technique is this!”
“Ah…”
Everyone was stunned into silence by this heaven-shattering sword art!
“Nine Heavens Star River!”
“The second move, Chaotic Stones Nebula.”
Feng Xiao and You Quan were both first-rate masters; naturally, they could discern the terrifying nature of this sword technique!
Although they had never witnessed it, Feng Xiao, You Quan, and the others had heard of the legendary power of Xingchen’s aerial swordsmanship.
It was known that Bingchi had been severely wounded by this very technique!
Seeing it firsthand now, the onlookers truly grasped the power encapsulated in the legendary Nine Heavens Star River! No one dared doubt the terrifying might contained within this strike! Merely from the apocalyptic aura, they could clearly sense that the power of this strike surpassed that of the previous one!
Roar! Amidst a deep, muffled roar!
Tianmu’s body, which had been plummeting like a meteor, slammed his feet down at the very instant of ground contact! He halted abruptly and firmly!
However, the ground cracked open into a horrifying, gaping pit due to the violent impact! The surface displayed strange, radiating ripples, resembling erupting waves! Dust flew high, and shattered stones shot out!
It was evident just how astounding the sheer impact force of this collision was!
And within that obscuring cloud of dust and smoke, the blood-red giant axe in Tianmu's hand swept out a strip of scarlet light with astonishing speed! It resembled a colossal blood-colored dragon churning up waves, instantly enveloping and protecting his body!
This move was precisely the ultimate defensive technique within the Blood Axe Battle Style: ‘Tossing Rivers and Overturning Seas’!
Had he not been forced into this desperate situation, Tianmu would never have employed this supreme defensive move so lightly!
The blood dragon danced and coiled, yet Tianmu’s grim eyes were fixed solely upon the vortex of starlight descending from above! If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Tianmu simply wouldn't have believed that such miraculous swordsmanship could exist in this world!
After all, Tianmu was the foremost master of the Beastman race; both his battle energy cultivation and battle technique proficiency were peerless. His signature skill, the Blood Axe Battle Style, was a monstrous technique perfected in battlefield slaughter and duels between experts!
Yet, his disadvantage was his complete ignorance of Xingchen’s sword style! It could be said that Xingchen at this moment was entirely different from any opponent Tianmu had previously faced!
In terms of speed, strength, movement technique, and battle skills, Xingchen represented the pinnacle. Especially this bizarre sword style, which far exceeded Tianmu’s comprehension—it was hard to imagine a human being able to fly freely in the air like a bird. This left Tianmu, despite possessing cultivation far superior to his opponent, utterly unable to retaliate!
Admittedly, Tianmu’s speed and strength far surpassed anything Xingchen could contend with, but in terms of sword technique finesse, Xingchen’s Nine Heavens Star River held the upper hand!
From the outset, Xingchen, supported by Feng Xiao's coordination, had seized the initiative through rational tactics, capitalizing on the high-ground advantage over the grounded Tianmu! He then launched the Nine Heavens Star River!
Even if Tianmu’s speed were faster, he could not escape the lock of Xingchen’s sword intent and killing aura. And Xingchen, occupying the high ground, merely needed to unleash his full power to attack without any other concerns!
Although Tianmu possessed vastly superior speed and strength, the difference in vertical positioning prevented him from employing them effectively. Not only that, but he also had to defend fully against Xingchen’s relentless assault. Tactically, Xingchen held complete command of the situation.
Tianmu could only react with passive evasion and defense!
This turn of events was indeed somewhat unexpected!
However, Tianmu retained enough confidence to defeat his current opponent. He was certain that once Xingchen descended to the ground, he could slay him instantly with his Blood Axe Battle Style!
Humans, after all, are not birds; they cannot remain airborne indefinitely. This was Tianmu’s anchor and his confidence! What he needed now was to defend with all his might and seek an opening!
‘Tossing Rivers and Overturning Seas’ clashed head-on with ‘Chaotic Stones Nebula’—the two ultimate techniques finally met with unstoppable force!
Boom! Thundering crashes!
Another deafening roar shook the area, making the spectators' eardrums throb to the point of near vomiting! The immense blood-colored dragon, teeth bared and claws extended, instantly plunged into the swirling sea of stars! It flipped wildly up and down, darted left and right—truly like a dragon returning to the sea, tossing rivers and overturning seas, stirring up fierce storms! It exploded with ferocious power, incredibly swift!
Every single spiraling star-ray was violently knocked away by the ferocious body of the blood-colored dragon! They scattered outwards like heavy bombshells, crashing into all corners of the great hall!
Rumble! In the blink of an eye, the vast hall was peppered with countless startlingly deep pits!
Worse, one of the deflected star-rays whistled directly toward Feng Xiao, You Quan, and Dalong!
“Hurry and dodge!” Faced with the terrifying momentum of the star-rays, Feng Xiao and the others, caught completely off guard, their faces changed drastically as they scrambled away!
Almost the moment they moved clear, the ground where they stood was instantly blasted open with several deep craters, spewing shattered rock and wisps of smoke!
“My God, such terrifying battle energy impact.” Even the profoundly cultivated Dalong couldn't help but gasp sharply, before staring intently at the two figures battling in the distance!
The descending storm of star-rays was shattered and exploded by the impact of the ‘Tossing Rivers and Overturning Seas’ blood dragon! But Tianmu dared not relax in the slightest! Almost the instant the star-rays were fully repelled, eight strange streams of light materialized out of thin air! They appeared like eight vicious sharks lurking within turbulent waves, baring their ferocious fangs!
As expected, the final killing blows were these elusive little entities. Tianmu’s blood-colored dragon maintained its speed undiminished, weaving up and down, blocking left and right, defending with impenetrable solidity!
It instantly struck the eight sudden Dragon Shadows!
Clang! Roar! A thunderous explosion echoed through the underground palace once more! The elusive Dragon Shadows were swept far away again by the swipes of Tianmu’s giant axe!
However, between the repeated bombardment of the star-rays and the successive impacts from the Dragon Shadows, Tianmu was severely strained. While breaking through the ‘Chaotic Stones Nebula’ and the surprise assault of the Dragon Shadows looked simple and easy, in that brief moment, Tianmu was relying purely on his robust battle energy cultivation to sustain himself in one continuous effort!
For any other person, even one who could withstand the spiraling star-rays, escaping the follow-up would have been impossible.
But before Tianmu could seize the opportunity to counterattack, the hazy afterimage high above had already arrived overhead, and the azure sword light flashed again!
It was that incredibly fast, supremely powerful strike! This imposing blow originated from the very center of the vortex!
“Hmph!” Having resolved to defend staunchly, Tianmu remained unruffled! His Heavenly Demon Eye locked firmly onto the imposing sword strike! He dropped his stance, centered his weight, and then abruptly rotated! The Blood Axe executed a ‘Horizontal Brace’ maneuver, raised high above his head!
Clang! Boom! A sharp crack sounded as the massive battle axe functioned like a great shield, solidly blocking the direct downward strike! Even with preparation, Tianmu was forced back several paces by the impact! The turbulent battle energy within him churned violently in his core!
It showed just how astonishing the impact of this single strike was! But before Tianmu could stabilize his stance to counterattack, Xingchen, whose attack had been thwarted, shot back—whoosh—and instantly returned to the high ground!
Damn it! Tianmu was so angry he almost cursed out loud. Was this fellow a bird?