Ying Bu gave a silent, wry smile, then extended his left hand, beckoning Ye Xiu to proceed out of the camp and onto the mountain path.

Ye Xiu nodded and turned, walking ahead.

Ying Bu followed closely behind. There was little conversation between them; their only objective was the fated battle. If their previous duels still contained traces of the affection they held for Wan'er, this time it was purely for the sake of swordsmanship itself, where life and death hung on a single thought.

The wilderness grassland stretched endlessly, the wind playfully stirring only the twilight air.

"Please," Ying Bu was already impatient. The moment Qi Shuo was drawn, the surrounding weeds were shocked into flattening the ground.

Ye Xiu understood Ying Bu's swordsmanship. If in the past, wielding Tian Yi, he possessed an indescribable confidence, now, facing the Flash Evasion Sword Style with only the Demon Blade in hand, one could only wonder what kind of spectacle would unfold.

Though Ying Bu's strategies in arranging troops showed both courage and intellect, the swordsman's pride meant he held fewer reservations in a one-on-one duel. He had no interest in investigating any oddities in Ye Xiu’s blade work; at this moment, he was moving with effortless grace, raining down the light of Flash Evasion upon Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu was equally resolved to fight. Drawing his blade at high speed, he ushered in a wave of blade force, charging directly into the flickering danger opposite him. With a series of sharp clangs, the clash of steel and shimmer of swords shook the very air around them. Every sway of the grass seemed no longer subject to the wind’s decree; their exchange had reached a level capable of resisting natural forces. Sparks jumped wildly from the collision of weapons across the desolate expanse.

"I didn't expect you to handle that blade so skillfully," Ying Bu hadn't used his full strength, instead treating the exchange as a game, chatting as he sparred with Ye Xiu. "Bring out your best moves, don't hold back. I fear you might not have another chance later."

"Hoo..." Ye Xiu took a deep, forced breath. He couldn't tell if Ying Bu's sword speed had genuinely increased or if his own command over the Demon Blade was still insufficient. After every hard clash, he felt a slight numbness creep up his arm. Was Ying Bu intentionally luring him into stances that stressed the limits of human arm movement to counter the swordplay?

"Faster, faster..." Suddenly, Ying Bu roared, and the force behind his hand rotated rapidly in mid-air along with his voice. That sword, two swords, three swords—dozens of strikes descended like sudden, heavy rain on lotus leaves, forcing Ye Xiu to retreat repeatedly, unable to fend them all off.

"What's wrong? Is that all you've got!" Ying Bu was deeply dissatisfied with Ye Xiu's performance. As he spoke, his eyebrows fiercely furrowed, and a somber declaration followed from his lips: "Shan Jue • Chan Ming (Flash Evasion • Entangling Life)."

Ye Xiu recognized this as another strange sword move. He tried to shift back with single-foot steps to move out of Ying Bu's range, but whether due to the environment or some illusion, Ying Bu's Qi Shuo flashed past his right abdomen like a venomous snake, then coiled back to strike directly toward his center from the left. He intended to raise the Demon Blade horizontally to block the blow, but the moment Qi Shuo touched the Demon Blade, it contorted again in an unbelievable transformation, wrapping around the blade and lunging toward his chest. Slish... Ye Xiu couldn't dodge in time and took the sword directly to the chest. Though the force wasn't overwhelming, the blade, in that instant, seemed to writhe like a viper's mouth—lifting and striking, lifting and striking—leaving several bloody kisses in mere moments.

"How was that move?" Ying Bu swaggered back a good ten feet. Qi Shuo in his hand remained taut and potent, completely devoid of its recent strange transformations.

Ye Xiu was flung back as well. He touched the scattered wounds on his body, feeling a surge of annoyance. He wondered what other mysteries the Flash Evasion Sword Style held; Ying Bu's attacks were forever unpredictable.

Ye Xiu knew Ying Bu was one of the foremost masters on the Central Plains Continent, but his own experiences were not so easily bested. He softly closed his eyes, gripping the Demon Blade tightly, mentally reviewing the footwork and maneuvers from the Gui Jun Shu (Ghost Army Manual), before finally resting the blade horizontally across his chest.

Ying Bu watched with expectant eyes. He too wanted to know how much this fellow Ye Xiu had grown during his long absence. He was particularly curious about that strangely proportioned blade.

"Watch my Ghost Steps," Ye Xiu murmured with a smirk, and with the sound of his laugh, his entire form vanished from the wilderness.

This was the first time Ying Bu had seen such a technique. Naturally, a cold sweat broke out. Where did he go? Was he merely hiding, or relying on pure speed? The plain of the wilderness offered no obstacle; how could the dense thicket of grass conceal the presence of a living man? He constantly scanned left and right, searching for Ye Xiu's shadow, but despite his keen eyes and ears, he found no trace.

"Hmph!" A small grunt sounded in the air. Ye Xiu had subtly shifted to Ying Bu's back and brought the Demon Blade down in a straight vertical strike.

"Hah..." Ying Bu's reaction was incredibly fast. Before the grunt had even completely faded, he was already rotating in mid-air, raising Qi Shuo to intercept Ye Xiu's attack. Ye Xiu was startled, wondering why his high-speed movement hadn't unsettled Ying Bu. Fortunately, the Demon Blade’s length gave it an advantage; even though Ying Bu blocked it, he couldn't entirely neutralize the cleave, and a deep bloody gash was carved into his arm.

"This..." Ying Bu expressed a hint of awe. When he landed safely and looked back toward Ye Xiu's direction, he couldn't find him at all. He straightened up and gently cocked his ears, trying to discern Ye Xiu's whereabouts from sound alone. But was it truly that simple? Could the Ghost Steps from Ghost Tracers Isle truly be countered so easily?

"Here!" Ye Xiu reappeared at Ying Bu's flank, raising his blade. As he swept downward, a loud clang sounded—the Demon Blade was firmly locked in place by Qi Shuo. Sensing trouble, he instantly vanished again between two points.

At this moment, Ying Bu's reaction held more composure. He was still intently listening, a posture that seemed remarkably effective; he calmly deflected Ye Xiu's continuous sudden assaults.

"Hoo... hoo..." The price of high-speed movement was exhausting stamina. Without the support of Tian Yi, the Zi Yan Lian (Purple Smoke Chain) in Ye Xiu's hand had almost no residual spiritual energy. His speed could not reach its peak, yet the physical strain reached its maximum.

"Hahaha, is this your ultimate skill?" Ying Bu laughed loudly, establishing his stance firmly and drawing unfamiliar patterns in the air with Qi Shuo. "Shan Jue • Si Fang Dong (Flash Evasion • Four Directions Movement)."

"What!" Ye Xiu had been maintaining his movements, and he had clearly seen Ying Bu standing firmly in the grassland. But after a flash of white light, his vision was suddenly empty. Ying Bu had disappeared—how was this possible? What kind of technique was this?

"Heh heh." Although Ying Bu's figure was gone, his voice echoed, and strangely, it seemed to be right beside Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu continued to use his Ghost Steps, repeatedly stepping between two fixed points on the grass. However, when he returned from the end point to the starting point once more, a blinding sword aura awaited him. He gritted his teeth, spun around, and thrust the Demon Blade forward, narrowly escaping disaster.

"Your movement relies on two points; mine utilizes four. At the same speed, I find you more easily. How does that sound?" Ying Bu was close to success, but his tone revealed his confidence. "I advise you to abandon this style of attack; it's useless against me."

"Alas..." Ye Xiu sighed, shaking his head, and abruptly stopped moving. He stood silently with his head bowed, leaving behind a dejected silhouette on the grassland. It seemed he was even weaker now than before; the only thing that could decide the outcome was that one final move.

"Woo woo..." A gust of wind swept the flying grass opposite them, and Ying Bu's form settled like a phantom onto the field. Both having originated from Ghost Valley, the final arbiter of life and death at this crucial moment seemed destined to be determined by the elegance of that swordplay.

"Let me see how fast your blade truly is." Although Ying Bu held the clear advantage, he remained uncertain of Ye Xiu's current strength. Furthermore, he still held back one move—the simplest, most practical, and most elusive—the thrusting sword technique.

Ye Xiu subtly regulated his breathing after the earlier exertion. He had fully mastered the secrets of the Demon Blade. He slowly raised the blade and deliberately sheathed it at his waist. Indeed, the essence of the Demon Blade lay in the fatal strike; all victory or defeat rested in the instant the blade was drawn.

The wind from the natural world was gone—or rather, it hadn't vanished, but was completely overshadowed and absorbed by the killing intent radiating from both men. Serenity. In this moment, nothing else deserved to exist in the world but stillness.

"Shan Jue • Jian Xia Hun (Flash Evasion • Soul Beneath the Sword)," Ying Bu announced, and his entire body floated into the air. It appeared utterly plain and simple: a single man and a single sword advancing directly toward Ye Xiu.

"Gui • Wan Yin Ba Dao (Ghost • Myriad Hidden Draw)," Ye Xiu’s malevolent aura erupted, and instantly, the energy of the Gui Jun Shu materialized thousands of clones of himself, each one holding a Demon Blade and rushing toward Ying Bu in unison.

Ye Xiu's thousand blades against one sword—he believed he could succeed easily. Yet, the closer his forms got to Ying Bu, the more he sensed a sinister, spectral energy. Just as his clones were about to converge and surround Ying Bu, a cold light descended across the entire world. Ye Xiu's vision was immediately flooded with a tide of spectral armies—an aura like a great rainbow piercing the sun, the Milky Way plunging down from the Ninth Heaven. These were the vengeful spirits who had died under Ying Bu's sword on the battlefield. In an instant, the Ghost Hidden Clones and the Soul Beneath the Sword became entangled, sending soil and wild grass flying across the entire plain. Cries of battle mixed with mournful howls that shook the heavens. In that brief span, the wilderness was gouged three feet deep, robbed of peace.

"Ah..." Before Ye Xiu and Ying Bu's final moves could truly connect, it was evident that the prior celestial disturbances had not affected the two fighters in the slightest. In mid-air, Ye Xiu was prepared to draw his blade, while Ying Bu's sword remained rigidly forward.

A confrontation between cold light and savage spirit—would the culmination of their repeated duels end with this single blow? Ye Xiu gently touched his waist, and the Demon Blade was already leaving its sheath. A crescent-shaped arc of blade light shone brilliantly against the setting sun. Ying Bu's sword strike remained direct and swift, so fast it might be mistaken for a meteor streaking across the early evening. But how could an evening on the verge of dusk ever tolerate the glory of a falling star?