The final confrontation between Li Wuchen and the four remaining Infernal Dukes transcended conventional warfare to become something approaching a force of nature unleashed upon the physical world. The demons' desperate summoning ritual had created a tear in reality itself, through which malevolent energies poured that threatened to corrupt everything within miles of Azure Sky Pavilion.
But the Supreme Demon Blade's response was equally overwhelming in its scope and implications.
"Maximum output authorized," Wuji announced, his mental voice now carrying harmonics that seemed to resonate through the fundamental structure of existence itself. "Full second stage manifestation commencing."
What emerged from Wuchen's position was no longer recognizable as conventional sword qi. Instead, silver light erupted in patterns that suggested entire galaxies being born and dying in compressed moments, each point of radiance possessing the tracking intelligence and penetrating power of the individual projectiles but coordinated into formations that approached artistic perfection in their deadly beauty.
The four Infernal Dukes, caught in the middle of their summoning ritual, suddenly found themselves facing an assault that exceeded their worst nightmares. The tracking sword qi didn't simply pursue them—it anticipated their movements, predicted their defenses, and adapted its approach to counter strategies they hadn't even implemented yet.
"Impossible!" screamed the lead demon, its voice distorting as the summoning energies warred with the Supreme Demon Blade's overwhelming presence. "No mortal weapon should possess such—"
The protest ended abruptly as three sword qi projectiles struck simultaneously from angles that defied geometry, their impact creating explosions of silver fire that consumed both the demon's physical form and the corrupt spiritual energy that sustained its existence in the mortal realm.
"Three remaining," Wuji observed with clinical precision. "But their summoning has reached critical threshold. We have perhaps thirty seconds before something manifests that will require third stage capabilities to address."
Wuchen could see the truth of that assessment in the growing tear in reality above the battlefield. Something vast and malevolent was pushing through from the demonic realm, its presence creating distortions that made the very air seem to scream in protest. If the summoning completed successfully, Azure Sky Pavilion would face an entity whose power dwarfed everything they had encountered so far.
"Then we end this now," he declared, raising the longsword and channeling every reserve of power he possessed into a single, decisive attack.
What followed was the most beautiful and terrifying display of martial power that anyone present had ever witnessed. The tracking sword qi that had been flowing in dozens of individual streams suddenly converged into a single point of light that contained the combined force of everything Wuchen could channel. For a moment, it hung motionless above the battlefield like a miniature star, gathering power and intention into configurations that transcended physical law.
Then it moved.
The consolidated sword qi didn't travel through normal space—it simply appeared wherever it needed to be, striking all three remaining Infernal Dukes simultaneously despite the impossible distances and angles involved. The impact shattered not just their physical forms but the summoning ritual itself, causing the tear in reality to collapse with a sound like the universe itself sighing in relief.
The explosion of released energies lit up the afternoon sky like a second sun, visible from hundreds of miles away and creating spiritual shockwaves that would be detected by every major sect in the region. When the radiance finally faded, the battlefield had been transformed into something approaching a natural amphitheater, with fused glass where sand had been and crystallized stone where the demons' corruption had touched the earth.
Of the two hundred plus entities that had attacked Azure Sky Pavilion, nothing remained but scattered traces of ash that were already being dispersed by the mountain winds.
"Total victory achieved," Wuji confirmed, though his mental voice carried exhaustion that matched Wuchen's own depleted condition. "All hostile forces eliminated, summoning prevented, immediate threat neutralized."
Wuchen staggered as the adrenaline of battle faded and the true cost of the second stage awakening became apparent. His spiritual reserves were completely depleted, his consciousness felt stretched thin from managing dozens of simultaneous attacks, and fundamental changes in his nature made it difficult to relate to the purely human concerns that had motivated him just hours earlier.
But as he looked around at the faces of Azure Sky Pavilion's defenders—people who had trusted him with their lives and been rewarded with survival against impossible odds—he felt a profound satisfaction that transcended personal cost.
"Is it over?" Grand Elder Tianqi asked, approaching with careful steps that spoke to the overwhelming spiritual pressure still radiating from Wuchen's position.
"This attack is over," Wuchen replied, allowing the longsword to return to its dormant dagger form as the immediate crisis passed. "But this was only the beginning. News of what happened here will spread throughout both the mortal and demonic realms. We've announced our presence to forces that have been sleeping for centuries."
"And how do we prepare for what comes next?"
"By accepting that the world has fundamentally changed," Wuji observed. "The Supreme Demon Blade is no longer a myth or legend—it's an active force that will attract both allies and enemies in equal measure."
"We prepare by understanding that Azure Sky Pavilion is no longer just an alchemical sect," Wuchen said aloud, his words carrying the weight of prophecy. "You've become the first stronghold of a new age, where power operates according to principles that transcend conventional cultivation."
As the sun began to set over the mountains, painting the crystallized battlefield in shades of gold and crimson, the defenders of Azure Sky Pavilion gathered to assess both their victory and its implications. They had survived their first encounter with the forces that would reshape the martial world, but survival was only the beginning of trials that would test not just their strength, but their understanding of what strength could become.
Supreme Demon Blade Status Update
Stage 2 Awakening Complete!
Synchronization: 23.7%
Form: Adaptive Longsword
New Ability: Tracking Sword Qi [MASTERED]
Experience: 2,850/5,000 XP
Risk Level: Low → Medium
Alert: Regional Attention Acquired
The legend of Li Wuchen was no longer confined to Azure Sky Pavilion. Word of the Supreme Demon Blade's return would spread like wildfire through the martial world, bringing both opportunity and danger in measures that would test everything they thought they understood about power, responsibility, and the price of protecting what truly mattered.