The raw power of this True Essence Qi might injure an ordinary person, but it could barely scratch Ye Jingyu now; at most, it would only tear his outer garments...

The Thunder Light Fist continued to blast forward, striking the second, then the third, and the fourth Sword Blossom...

It wasn't until it hit the seventh Sword Blossom that the dazzling thunderous light slowly dissipated. By then, the remaining two Sword Blossoms had fully bloomed, unleashing countless streaks of sword energy that shot out from them.

Ye Jingyu’s expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected Yuan Xiang's Heaven Shattering Sword to have reached such a profound level—even his Thunder Light Fist couldn't completely shatter it.

He held his hands up in front of him, and a massive surge of True Essence Qi erupted from within, forming a pale blue energy shield around his body. Murmuring an incantation, a swirling azure Wind Evasion technique manifested before him.

The fierce sword energy instantly shredded the azure Wind Shield and continued its assault toward Ye Jingyu. When it slammed into the energy shield formed by the True Essence Qi, the sword qi, having already had some of its power negated by the wind shield, could only manage to score deep fissures across the shield. Even when the occasional streak of sword energy managed to penetrate the shield, it couldn't harm a single strand of Ye Jingyu’s hair.

All of this transpired in the blink of an eye. To integrate a Spirit Technique and Martial Art so seamlessly in such a short span demonstrated that Ye Jingyu’s cultivation had truly reached an astonishing zenith.

Yuan Xiang’s face was a mask of utter shock. To deploy the Wind Shield instantaneously and use True Essence Qi to block his sword energy was one thing, but Ye Jingyu’s self-created Thunder Light Fist had perfectly merged Soul Arts and martial prowess. Such innate talent was beyond the scope of mere genius.

His Heaven Shattering Sword had reached mastery; even striking barehanded, he had managed to destroy seven of the Sword Blossoms. This level of power was sufficient to look down upon the entire Grandmaster realm.

This man absolutely could not be left alive. If given more time to fully fuse Soul Arts and martial skills, who in this world could possibly stand against him?

Yuan Xiang’s gaze turned unnervingly cold, colder than ice itself...

He gripped the ancient longsword tighter. The primitive blade began to hum, and a brilliant sword gleam slowly ignited along its length.

Brighter and brighter it became, searing to the eye, as he slowly raised the sword...

A massive blade-light formed atop the sword, illuminating the entire night sky. Two years prior, that sword light had stretched only seven or eight zhang long; now, it spanned a full fifteen or sixteen zhang—more than doubled. Yet, the power increase was far more than double, manifesting as a terrifying, unimaginable pressure, as if the entire world was about to be ripped apart by this single strike.

Ye Jingyu, having just weathered the sword energy of the Heaven Shattering Sword, saw the enormous blade-light cleave toward him, and his expression involuntarily changed.

While he had progressed, it seemed others had as well.

At this moment, Qin Lie and Liu Qiuxue had also evaded the Spirit Technique Ye Jingyu had deployed. They, too, had noticed Ye Jingyu's fusion of Soul Arts and martial skills, and shock tightened their hearts; they knew, unequivocally, that his life must be forfeit today.

Seeing Yuan Xiang commit to the attack, the pair stopped holding back. They charged forward simultaneously, assaulting Ye Jingyu from three separate directions.

Qin Lie’s True Essence Qi surged madly to his right fist, which he threw out in a deceptively simple strike. A colossal burst of punching force ripped through the air, seemingly capable of smashing the heavens—it was the Bai family’s ultimate skill, Sky-Shattering Blow.

Meanwhile, Liu Qiuxue merely flicked her sleeve, extending a single finger to flick gently. A beam of white light shot out, heading straight for Ye Jingyu—it was the Hundred Flowers Gate’s secret technique, Soft Finger Flick.

Facing the full-force assault of three Grandmasters at once, Ye Jingyu was undeniably the foremost talent among his generation. Under such circumstances, even Huangfu Yun, or perhaps Bai Jingfei two years ago, could not possibly withstand it; even if they survived, they would be gravely wounded.

Yet, Ye Jingyu showed no trace of fear on his face, nor did the Ice Nether spirit manifest. He still needed to scout the surroundings for that Spirit Manifestation realm Soul Master—that was the greatest threat.

Furthermore, Ye Jingyu had long declared that to kill him, one would need the presence of five peak Grandmasters; relying on these three was simply impossible.

In this instant, facing simultaneous attacks from three directions, he had no room to retreat. Even if he chose to defend, resisting the full power of three Grandmasters was a near impossibility.

He did not retreat, nor did he defend. Instead, he chose to attack...

Some unknown master must have once said that the best defense in this world is offense. Ye Jingyu was now executing that maxim perfectly.

Facing the heaven-shaking sword light, the overwhelmingly fierce punch, and the razor-sharp finger wind, he drew his blade—that pitch-black weapon, the Heavenly Venerate Saber.

The True Essence Qi within him churned wildly. Gripping the Heavenly Venerate Saber with both hands, Ye Jingyu strode resolutely toward Yuan Xiang, seemingly ignoring the attacks from Qin Lie and Liu Qiuxue.

“Thunder God’s Sky Rend!” Ye Jingyu called out softly. As the words left his mouth, he raised the saber with both hands, and a streak of saber energy shot straight into the firmament. Immediately following, a fierce bolt of lightning descended from the sky, thick as a waterspout, visible even in Caiyun Town over ten kilometers away.

It was a blue streak of electricity, resembling an electric dragon, plunging from the heavens and wrapping tightly around the Heavenly Venerate Saber. Instantly, everyone felt a sensation: this was no longer a simple flash of lightning, but a saber—a blade of light stretching directly to the heavens...

With a whoosh, Ye Jingyu, wielding the saber in both hands, brought it down fiercely. The electric-light saber reaching the firmament descended with blinding speed. It was no longer just a few meters, nor a few zhang, nor even hundreds of zhang long; a saber aura spanning fully a thousand zhang formed. However, as the Heavenly Venerate Saber was brought down, the aura rapidly contracted, while the light of the blade grew ever brighter and the cutting edge sharper.

Thunder God’s Sky Rend was the art of harnessing lightning to cleave the heavens. Ye Jingyu had summoned a bolt of heavenly lightning and directed it fiercely at Yuan Xiang.

When the lightning-laden saber aura collided with the dazzling sword light, the saber aura had already shrunk to only a few dozen zhang long. At that moment, the crowd heard a thunderous boom. The terrifying sword light instantly shattered. The powerful sword energy formed from True Essence Qi was utterly incapable of resisting this heavenly might.

The massive recoil forced Yuan Xiang to stagger backward repeatedly, spitting a mouthful of blood—he had clearly suffered a backlash.

A saber aura spanning several dozen zhang continued its descent, seemingly about to slice him in half...

But at this most critical juncture, Ye Jingyu abruptly shifted his angle, steering the Heavenly Venerate Saber horizontally, sweeping toward Qin Lie and Liu Qiuxue...

Faced with that dazzling saber light, the complexions of Qin Lie and Liu Qiuxue turned utterly ashen. They had never expected Ye Jingyu to suddenly change his target at this moment, nor for the change to be so incredibly fast. Such skill was something even they could not achieve...