"Break Demon, emerge!" Old Liu grinned, hurling the Seven Swords of Demon Breaking into the air. That longsword soared upwards, carving a beautiful arc above his head. "I'm genuinely curious to see which of these two, mine or the Netherworld Twin Saint Swords, is superior."

"Boom!" Ye Xiu flicked his hand, and a surge of black flame instantly filled his palm. A thrill coursed through him. When had his Purple Flame turned pure black? Had his cultivation in the Blood Artifact Realm unconsciously advanced during his duel with Han Xin in the Void?

"Congratulations, Master! You have reached the Intermediate stage of the Blood Artifact Realm!" At that moment, Su Su popped out with a cheerful grin, glancing dismissively at Old Liu's Demon Breaking Sword flying overhead. "Don't worry, Master. That Daoist's Saint Sword hasn't been infused with any Soul Force yet. Pure swordsmanship alone, yours will win!"

"Hmph!" As the seven shadow swords descended upon him, Ye Xiu unleashed a Black Flame Burst, shooting himself backward. The shadow swords plunged hard into the earth where he had stood, missing him entirely. Once he had rushed several zhang away and stabilized himself, he thrust out another burst of dark energy. In an instant, a black dragon snaked out from his arm to his palm, streaking directly toward the Demon Breaking Sword.

"Damn it, why did your Purple Flame change color!" Old Liu was aghast and frantically recalled the seven swords back towards himself. He leaped into the air and carved a circular seal pattern with his sword energy. The seven swords orbited around it, suddenly giving rise to a long dragon patterned with alternating black and white.

"Whoosh!" The two great dragons opened their massive jaws and charged at each other. Ye Xiu represented the purely black, the ultimate Yin and ultimate Evil, while Old Liu embodied the indistinguishable blend of black and white. Where the two dragons met, the incompatible elements boiled away, emitting a burst of mist. This mist, shaped like razor-sharp blades, scattered outwards, striking down the massive stones on the surrounding walls one by one, leaving the ground deeply shaken.

"Earth Spirit!" Huang Le'er, observing the battle from the sidelines, felt an imminent threat to her life at that moment. She summoned several small Earth Spirits in succession, but they were all shattered by the flying blade mist. With no other choice, she employed her ultimate defensive technique, wrapping herself entirely within a cocoon spun from thick earth.

Seeing his Black Flame met with resistance, Ye Xiu immediately leaped away, using the Black Flame to blast backward, preparing to close the distance with Old Liu. At that instant, he raised his right hand, and the Death Scythe’s purple light reappeared. Without hesitation, he brought it down, aiming directly for Old Liu: "The Black Flame alone is making your Saint Sword struggle. How about you sample my Saint Sword?"

Old Liu felt the pressure. He instantly recalled the Demon Breaking Sword and pulled out a black talisman. The talisman was edged in gold and covered in Sanskrit characters. After chanting an incantation, Old Liu flickered out of existence in a flash. "It seems I must use a high-grade talisman from the Qijing Dao. Watch out, Death God!"

"Clang!" A deafening noise made the surrounding walls crumble. In that very instant, Ye Xiu's scythe had cleaved down fiercely, but under the brutal swing of the scythe, Old Liu, his eyes bloodshot and teeth gritted, managed to intercept the attack with his small, thin-bladed knife. The two hung in the air, one above the other, locked in a deadlock.

"This speed and power?" Ye Xiu was deeply shocked and retreated a zhang. He was familiar with Old Liu’s Qijing Dao techniques; the black talisman could vastly amplify human limits, but the current Old Liu's strength and speed were elevated to a degree he found almost unbelievable.

"Firelight Beast!" Knowing Ye Xiu was astonished, Old Liu tossed the thin-bladed knife into the air while he himself vanished. The knife, bolstered by the Firelight Beast’s enhancement, instantly transformed into a rolling mass of strange fire that rushed toward Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu summoned the Black Flame to try and block the Firelight Beast’s approach, but since the beast was inherently fire-aligned, it felt no fear towards the flaming substance. It lunged downwards savagely, threatening to drive Ye Xiu to a dead end.

"Susu, is there any Mixed Energy left in the Jade Ring?" Ye Xiu’s own Soul Energy was singular. Seeing Old Liu unleash his ultimate skills, he had no choice but to rely on his Soul Stone.

At that moment, the Jade Ring pulsed softly, and streams of black and yellow Soul Energy flowed from Ye Xiu’s finger throughout his entire body. "The Strength Soul from the previous Earth Spirit and the nameless Speed Soul can still be borrowed slightly, but it won't last long!"

"Rumble..." As the Firelight Beast swept past, Ye Xiu executed a tumble and managed to dodge it easily. Unexpectedly, the Firelight Beast bounced back the moment it struck the wall behind him; its speed was already maximized.

"Death God, I'm here!" Suddenly, Old Liu let out a sinister laugh as he descended from above, his shadow clones wielding the Seven Swords of Demon Breaking accompanying the attack aimed at Ye Xiu.

In desperation, Ye Xiu reinforced the Death Scythe with the Strength Soul, producing another "Clang" as he blocked Old Liu's assault. The Netherworld Twin Saint Swords clashed, emitting a ring of blue wave energy at the point of contact. This wave was immensely destructive, virtually scouring away all the surrounding dust.

"It's not over yet!" Old Liu glanced triumphantly at the nearby Firelight Beast. It turned out Old Liu's attack was merely a feint; the Firelight Beast had already closed in on Ye Xiu's abdomen.

"Whoosh!" A sound like a swift breeze echoed as Ye Xiu propelled himself far away using the Speed Soul to amplify the movement of his scythe, causing the Firelight Beast to miss once more. He braced one foot against the wall and laughed, "It seems even the power of a high-grade black talisman only matches my current speed."

"Enough, this is boring!" Old Liu retracted his thin-bladed knife and dropped unhappily to the ground, throwing his hands up in resignation. "You have the assistance of a Soul Stone, using entirely borrowed power. What's the point of fighting like this?"

Ye Xiu sneered and landed as well, comforting Old Liu, "You only stand a chance of beating me when I have absolutely no Soul Energy left."

"Don't worry, Master. As long as there are different types of Soul Energy available, I can provide you with diverse strengths," Su Su chimed in, transforming into human shape and stepping out. She explained, "Now that you've reached the Intermediate Blood Artifact Realm, you inherently possess Soul Energy. For some unknown reason, during your time in the Void, you acquired a nameless Speed Soul, which is why your Soul Energy cultivation advanced."

"Was it Han Xin's?" Ye Xiu held out his hands. The memories of Han Xin and Ji Jiang were still vivid, but whenever he deliberately tried to recall the events in the Void, his mind drew a blank.

"Alright, now that you two are done fighting, I have to return and report," Huang Le'er emerged from her thick earth shell, sounding annoyed. "Even though I don't understand what happened in the Void, I will remember both of you, especially you, Death God Ye Xiu!"

Ye Xiu shrugged and headed toward the boundary entrance. The Soul Weapon Talisman had been taken by Hong Ling’s father, the Elder of the Bone Sect. Meanwhile, the secrets of the Death God lineage and the complex fate shared between him and Hong Ling constantly surfaced and troubled him. He vaguely recalled Han Xin instantly killing Longzi Chiwen with a single strike. As for Ji Jiang, and others like the Ten Thousand Demon Empress, and Empress Bu Xianwu, their images only swam fuzzily in his mind. The dragon bones atop this Seven Star Trapped Dragon Formation might be the evil dragon summoned by the Soul Weapon Talisman in the Void. All these threads pointed toward the unknown Ancient World.

"Don't forget me, Princess Le!" Old Liu scampered playfully behind Huang Le'er, rubbing his hands with a rather servile look. "When are you going to invite us up to Changbai Mountain for a visit? Let us witness the true Imperial Clan!"

Huang Le'er ignored him and walked away. With a wave of her hand, the sand and dust on the ground surged toward her body. A gust of fierce wind blew, and her silhouette dissipated along with the soil, vanishing without a trace.