The strike that could extinguish all life only managed to leave a shallow gash on Ye Jingyu's body. Yet, having caught his breath, Ye Jingyu immediately unleashed a punch—a full-powered blow that slammed heavily into Liu Qiuxue's shoulder.

The force, amounting to several million jin, crashed into Liu Qiuxue’s shoulder. Even though she had reached the Grandmaster level, even though the true essence within her body instantly condensed at the impact point, that immense power still shattered her shoulder. Splatters of blood erupted, and fragments of flesh flew outwards.

There was a sharp crack—the sound of bone fracturing.

A scream tore from Liu Qiuxue’s throat. Just as Ye Jingyu was about to follow up with another strike, a colossal beam of sword light materialized overhead.

It was a person, yet that person had transformed into a sword—a massive sword, a colossal Heaven Sword...

Tian Jian Jue! This was the lost supreme technique of the Heaven Sword Sect, a secret held by Bing Ming, now in Ye Jingyu's possession. Yuan Xiang did not possess this manual; he had only witnessed Xue Hengzhi executing a single move once.

To grasp it after merely observing it once—it had to be said that Yuan Xiang had improved significantly over these past two years.

The gigantic longsword was four times the size of the one Xue Hengzhi had wielded when using this technique. The sword light spanned at least a hundred zhang, its brilliant radiance illuminating the entire night sky, making it seem as though this world held only this one sword, a Heaven Sword descending from above.

Under this single slash, forget a person; even a mountain would likely be cleaved into fragments.

Liu Qiuxue was hurled backward. Even if Ye Jingyu hadn't struck her, she would have been forced into rapid retreat. Facing that massive descending sword light, no one dared claim they could escape unscathed.

Gazing at the sword light streaking down from the heavens, Ye Jingyu made no move to evade. On his face, the expression of supreme confidence remained fixed.

“Man and sword as one? Is this the highest realm of Tian Jian Jue? No wonder the Heaven Sword Sect only managed to become a second-rate faction!” Facing the whistling sword light, Ye Jingyu still had the leisure to utter this remark.

The moment he finished speaking, his entire being underwent a transformation. A sharp blade energy tore through the air, and in an instant, he became a blade himself—a peerless treasured saber planted firmly on the earth, yet straining to pierce the firmament.

“Master once told me that the highest attainment for a saber practitioner is not the unity of blade and sword, but rather that all things under heaven are blades. Though I have not yet reached that stage, shattering your ‘Man-Sword Unity’ move is effortless, because I stand higher than you, farther than you…” A cool, detached voice emanated from Ye Jingyu’s lips. The saber he had transformed into grew increasingly condensed. Though only tens of zhang tall, it radiated a terrifying, unconquerable might.

The white sword light and the black tip of the saber made contact, and the dazzling sword light shattered entirely, breaking apart at a visible speed.

Black fissures appeared across the light. The hundred-zhang-long sword beam continued its descent, but the saber light that Ye Jingyu manifested stood unyielding, meeting the sword’s impact head-on.

“Chi, chi, chi…” The white sword light and the pitch-black saber energy clashed ceaselessly, seemingly tearing the very void apart with deafening roars. The sword light fractured continuously, yet it plunged downward with unflinching determination.

It was so brave, so fearless.

Gradually, the sword light was reduced to less than fifty zhang. The saber light also began to show cracks, slowly starting to splinter.

“Kacha, kacha, kacha…” Like the sound of shattering glass, or perhaps the sound of space itself breaking, both the white sword light and the black saber light were breaking apart, yet the radiance they emitted grew ever stronger.

Between heaven and earth, it seemed only this black and white, this saber and this sword, remained.

“Sou…” At that precise moment, a figure darted out of the darkness. In his hand, he gripped a spear—a completely black longspear, its tip adorned with a plume of red silk that looked exquisitely delicate, yet the cold glint of the spearhead was utterly chilling.

This spear thrust towards Ye Jingyu, who stood motionless on the ground, at maximum velocity. Ye Jingyu, locked in confrontation with Yuan Xiang, could not possibly defend against it.

“Finally out!” Facing the rapidly approaching spear, Ye Jingyu showed no trace of fear. Instead, a massive, ink-black seal materialized in the night sky, slamming fiercely toward the black shadow wielding the spear.

The spear, aimed at Ye Jingyu, violently changed direction the instant the Zhen Tian Yin appeared, arcing upward toward the sky, for it sensed an overwhelmingly potent pressure.

Though Ye Jingyu had not broken through the Soul Immortal realm, his current soul power was several times what it had been two years prior. While he could not unleash the full might of the Zhen Tian Yin, deploying half its power was more than sufficient.

The onlookers watched the black seal in the sky—the size of a small mountain, encircled by arcs of lightning—descend with the crushing force of a peak falling from the heavens.

“Dang lang…” With a clang, the shadow’s spear directly struck the Zhen Tian Yin. However, before it could shift the seal even slightly, the pitch-black longspear shattered completely. The massive Zhen Tian Yin continued its descent, while the shadow flashed sideways at full speed.

It was fortunate that the spear strike bought him a sliver of time, allowing him to evade as the Zhen Tian Yin descended. Still, his shoulder was brushed by the seal—just a light touch—and his shoulder bone instantly pulverized. A surge of intense electricity wrapped around his body. Yet, this person was, after all, a Grandmaster; the true essence within him erupted, overwhelming the rampant current.

But cold sweat beaded heavily on his forehead.

At this juncture, the saber light manifested by Ye Jingyu and the sword light manifested by Yuan Xiang completely disintegrated. Countless streaks of sword energy and saber energy intermingled, devastating everything in their vicinity. At this point, no one dared approach the two combatants.

The surrounding trees were mercilessly shredded, solid bedrock thoroughly destroyed, and even the ground was scored with alternating lines of sword and saber marks.

When the fierce saber energy and sword energy vanished, a massive crater lay in their place. The only difference was that, at the center of this pit, a pillar of earth less than a meter in diameter still stood erect. Ye Jingyu was standing straight upon this earth pillar. His garments were torn to shreds, making him look like a beggar, and his body was covered in sword wounds. Bright red blood flowed from these gashes, yet a faint smile still lingered on his lips.

It was a smile of utter confidence and… sinister allure.

(Sometimes I wonder, if other authors update with five or six thousand characters daily, and then suddenly post eight or nine thousand characters on certain days, readers feel delighted. But when I post eight or nine thousand characters daily, and occasionally just over six thousand, people become resentful? I am human, not a god; I have moments of fatigue too!)

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