Li Xun edged back a little, letting the rock’s shadow cover most of his face. He knew damn well it wouldn’t fool those sharp eyes, but it still made him feel a bit better.
Co to think of it, even though he'd just crossed swords with Yun Xing not long ago, Li Xun hadn’t paid much attention to the man’s appearance at the ti. Most of his focus had been on Ming Ji.
Now that he studied him more carefully, he saw just how hard and rugged Yun Xing looked, both in build and features. Thick slabs of muscle strained against his outer robe, yet his gaze was calm and level, like still water. This was no brute who relied on raw strength alone.
eting those eyes, pressed for ti, Li Xun couldn’t read where Yun Xing’s thoughts were headed. He had no way of knowing whether there were still hidden moves waiting. All he could do was quietly gather his strength, ready to strike without holding back the instant he spotted an opening.
And yet, with Yun Xing simply standing there, he carried himself with a quiet, steady aura, like a mountain at rest. Li Xun’s opinion of him instantly rose another notch.
Thinking back to the showdown at the Gathering Stars Platform, he realized he'd probably benefited from this man being thrown off by concern. Otherwise, he might not have been able to seize the initiative so smoothly.
Maybe sensing Li Xun’s covert scrutiny, Yun Xing turned his gaze over as well. Their eyes t. Li Xun hadn’t had ti to react, but Yun Xing let out a quiet sigh.
He shifted his eyes to Bisu’s face. “Senior Brother,” he said softly, “put the sword down. No matter your reasons, helping outsiders sneak into the Star River is no different from betraying the sect. If you stop now, before it turns into a real disaster, I’m willing to speak on your behalf before the sect master.”
By now, so color had returned to Bisu’s face. His features twitched at the words, but he still said nothing.
Yun Xing did not press him further. He turned back to Li Xun.
“And as for you... Spirit Bamboo is one of the most promising figures of the younger generation in this world. Why resort to such demonic thods? If you still care about the sect’s reputation, you’d be better off ending your own life here and now. In consideration of the lengths you went to in order to save your elder, I will keep that matter to myself.”
The words “demonic thods” hit like a punch to the gut; Li Xun’s heart slamd against his ribs. And right beside him, Bisu couldn’t help but whip his head around, eyes wide with shock and suspicion.
Li Xun never saw it coming. Yun Xing just straight-up blurted out that deeply buried secret. It threw his mind into chaos, and he did not spare Bisu either.
No one here was a fool. One look at the way Bisu’s eyes kept darting around told Li Xun everything. If he did not act now, things would spiral completely out of control. In a heartbeat, he cast off all hesitation and shouted, “I’ll answer to Sect Master Gu. Do it!”
The na “Sect Master Gu” hit just as hard as any ntion of “demonic thods.”
Yun Xing’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Bisu’s body jolted. His face twisted with anger and panic, most of it directed squarely at Li Xun.
Li Xun did not care what he was thinking. As he shouted, he was already leaping into the air above the river. He tore off the Jade Bixie he wore, and though he still looked human, the surging blood qi in his body boiled over, impossible to conceal any longer.
Yun Xing did not even glance at him. He stared straight at Bisu, eyes wide, and demanded, “Senior Brother Bi, what is going on here?”
The air temperature around him shot up several levels. It was as if invisible flas had burst to life, licking at his skin and flesh.
If it were just heat, that would have been bad enough. But this constantly rising temperature tugged at the flow of his true breath in a twisted, almost unnatural way, forcing it into resonance. His qi and blood fell into chaos, and he had to focus every bit of willpower on keeping them under control. For the mont, he could barely spare attention for anything else.
Bisu’s face had gone iron-gray with rage. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his sword from its sheath over his shoulder and brought it up in front of his chest, the blade tilted just enough for its gleaming surface to catch his reflection... a twisted, livid face that looked pale and ghastly, like so vengeful ghost straight out of hell.
Li Xun did not transform into his Blood-Shadow Demon Body. Fighting in a human body still suited his habits better. Even so, his speed had already reached seventy or eighty percent of what it would be in that form. Seizing the brief mont while Yun Xing worked to steady his qi and blood, Li Xun moved silently and slamd in.
Only close-quarters combat could effectively limit Yun Xing’s use of the Star River Forbidden Techniques. And only that offered a chance to end the fight as fast as possible.
He understood it, and Yun Xing understood it too.
After that brief exchange, Yun Xing had grown wary of Li Xun’s speed and had no intention of letting him get close.
The instant he saw Li Xun rushing in, Yun Xing growled. With a sharp clang, he drew the Greedy Wolf Immortal Sword halfway from its sheath. Whatever technique he triggered, the exposed blade erupted in blinding light. Sword qi exploding outward like the sun at its zenith, sweeping across everything in every direction, not a single gap or blind spot left.
Li Xun let out a stifled grunt, feeling like thousands of needles were stabbing every inch of his skin. Hell, he couldn’t even force his eyelids open. And the closer he lunged forward, the sharper and more vicious the pain got.
How could Li Xun not see it now? Yun Xing had clearly planned all of this in advance, already worked out exactly how to deal with him. Compared to the earlier mont when he had been caught off guard, this was a completely different situation.
Unable to press forward, Li Xun checked his movent and sprang back into the air. Yun Xing seized the opening and struck, the clang of his sword crashing in Li Xun’s ears like a thunderclap.
The air grew suddenly heavy, as if its weight had multiplied a hundredfold. It did not quite pin Li Xun in place, but it slowed him just enough. From below, the fierce sword qi ca ripping up, ready to tear him apart.
Putting aside those couple of quick exchanges on the Gathering Stars Platform, this was supposed to be Li Xun’s first real head-on fight since breaking through to the True Person stage. And yet... who the hell would’ve thought that he’d end up on the back foot right from the start.
And worse, he had this nagging feeling that sothing was off with how he was circulating his qi. Like there were kinks in the flow. He had all this raw, surging true breath packed inside him, but it kept catching, sticking in places, never moving smooth and free the way it should.
By now, Li Xun finally understood where the gap between himself and Yun Xing lay. And with the edge of that sword qi already upon him, he had no choice. He exhaled sharply and shouted, releasing his true breath in a single, all-out burst. The airflow detonated outward with a thunderous bang, forcibly tearing open the crushing pressure around him as he surged forward to et the incoming blade light.
Li Xun drew in a deep breath and extended his fingers. His fingertips turned blood-red, and a dim, crimson glow spread out from them.
This move fell under the Blood God Calamity Finger, but when used for long-range attacks, it went by another na: Blood Calamity, Eroding Primordial Spirit Radiance.
The Blood Calamity Eroding Primordial Spirit Radiance was originally ant to use the caster’s own essence blood to summon vicious souls and ferocious spirits from all directions, forming a true-breath beam designed specifically to erode an opponent’s vital essence and qi. It was terrifyingly powerful. But Li Xun had only recently begun cultivating the Blood God Child, and he had not yet gathered or refined any such vicious spirits. As a result, this technique could only unleash forty to fifty percent of its true power.
Even so, when the blood-red light flashed, the onrushing sword qi was erased soundlessly. And it vanished completely.
Li Xun’s heart sank. A heavy dread slamd into his chest. Sothing was very fucking wrong.
Standing in midair, he seed to have nothing to brace himself on, yet he was always in constant exchange with the primordial qi of the world around him. At the very mont the sword qi was wiped away, he had clearly felt sothing in the void click into motion, triggered by the Eroding Primordial Spirit Radiance. The surrounding qi was swallowed up as if by an invisible, gaping maw, draining away at terrifying speed.
In the space of a single breath, Li Xun felt as though he had fallen into a void of absolute nothingness. His whole body turned light and powerless, unable to muster any strength at all. Every connection he had with the heaven and earth around him was severed.
No matter how different cultivation paths might be, once a cultivator truly cos into their own, reaching a realm akin to the Transformation of Infant stage, they all share one thing. They maintain a constant exchange with external primordial qi. Over years and decades, this back-and-forth becos second nature, forming a stable, automatic equilibrium with the heavens and earth around them.
Now, with that external energy completely drained away, the balance between inside and outside collapsed. Li Xun nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. If his ridians hadn't already dissolved and vanished, that shock alone might have left him seriously injured.
That feeling of being sucked into a vacuum only lasted a split second. It looked like this move took a huge toll on Yun Xing too.
But just as everything settled back to normal, the backlash from that internal-external imbalance hit him like clockwork. Li Xun couldn't hold it in anymore; he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
In Yun Xing’s hands, the Greedy Wolf Immortal Sword let out a sharp, buzzing tremor. Seizing the mont while Li Xun was spitting blood, sword qi tore through the air, crashing in like a sudden storm, fierce and unrelenting, and stealing the initiative in a single strike.
Li Xun was still reeling and couldn't catch his breath; he could only barely hold on. But no sooner had he fended off one wave than he realized things were sliding back into the shit again.
The sword techniques of the Xingji Sword Sect were never known for sheer power. Their core principle was “drawing the stars into the sword, turning the sword into the heavens,” a system built on simulating the shifting of the celestial bodies and aligning with the Dao of Heaven.
Li Xun failed to interrupt the changes in the sword technique in ti, allowing it to unfold to its fullest. That alone was bad enough. Worse still, he was standing within the Star River itself. Stirred by Yun Xing’s sword montum, the vast stellar power surged and ebbed with each rise and fall of the blade. After several exchanges, it ford a massive vortex, locking Li Xun tightly at its center.
With timing, terrain, and morale all shot to hell like that, if he could still turn this around in no ti, that'd be so supernatural bullshit.
In Li Xun’s perception, Yun Xing seed to have dissolved into the sky-filling sword qi. His vibrant life force rged seamlessly with the blade aura, which in turn blended perfectly with the surrounding stellar power. There was no telling where he ended and the sword qi began. Li Xun couldn’t lock onto him at all.
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