Inside the sword formation—
The screams were fading.
Only the violent collision of sword qi and Light Spirit Power still roared through the air.
Then suddenly—
a hoarse voice saturated with killing intent pierced through the sword formation:
"Li Zhexian, you wretched brat!"
"You've slaughtered forty-two Spirit Masters of my Heaven Dou Branch Hall!"
"I'll feast on your flesh to ease my hatred!"
"Seventh Spirit Ability—Martial Soul True Body!"
BOOM!!!
The sword formation shuddered violently.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its bloody walls—
And in the next instant, it shattered apart.
The gathered sword qi and Spirit Power surged skyward as a pillar of light, painting the night sky red.
Amid the smoke and dust,
the shattered remains of Spirit Hall Spirit Masters—limbs, armor, and bone—were flung in every direction.
The onlookers recoiled in horror.
Shhhhhh!
Blades of pure light fell like a torrential storm, slicing through the clouds of dust.
A streak of azure sword qi rose in response, cleaving forward with peerless sharpness, crashing headlong into the rain of light blades.
BOOM—BOOM—!
The collision shattered into fragments of energy that scattered like sparks across the sky.
Salas shot upward into the air—
his crimson robes were in tatters, his body crisscrossed with wounds so deep that bone gleamed beneath the flesh.
Behind him floated a colossal scripture, radiating blinding brilliance.
"The sword formation is broken!"
His voice rasped, hoarse and hateful as a night owl's cry.
"Let's see what tricks you have left now!"
He swept his sleeve wide—
The scripture spun wildly, pages flipping faster and faster as surging Spirit Power flooded out like a breached dam.
Wummm—
The eight Spirit Rings beneath his feet flared with violent brilliance.
Salas raised both hands high.
His Spirit Abilities fell like a deluge, raining down upon the heart of the duststorm.
Clang—
Clang—
Six Qinglian Swords, carrying distinct sword intents, howled out of the dust and haze.
The six forms of the Qinglian Sword Song erupted in dazzling succession, their lights cascading like a waterfall as they collided with the storm of Spirit Abilities.
Across the ink-black night sky—
The crashing energy boomed like rolling thunder.
Radiant colors intertwined, painting an aurora made of killing intent.
And in that brief instant of blinding chaos—
Behind Salas—
A hair-thin trace of sword qi shimmered into being.
In the blink of an eye,
the bloodstained youth replaced the sword qi.
His eyes, dark and glacial, gleamed with killing intent—
his Qinglian Sword slashed directly for Salas's throat!
Salas twisted his head desperately—
Shhh—!
A few pale strands of hair floated away.
A thin red line appeared across his sagging neck.
A fraction deeper—and he'd have been beheaded on the spot!
"Monstrous brat…"
Salas broke into a cold sweat, terror flashing in his murky eyes.
Light Spirit Power spiraled around him in violent eddies, a barrier to keep that lethal sword qi at bay.
His wide sleeves swelled like tempered steel, swinging hard at Li Zhexian behind him.
But Li Zhexian's face remained calm, fearless—
He raised his sword and met the blow head-on.
Boom—
Boom—
From ground to sky they clashed,
explosions lighting the heavens.
Sword qi raged. Spirit Abilities roared.
Even the drifting clouds above Heaven Dou City were torn away.
Li Zhexian and Salas fought like two madmen.
Blood splattered like spilled ink,
raining down in thick crimson streams.
Both combatants were covered in wounds.
And then—
"Zhexian! What's that—behind him?!"
Feng Buyu suddenly pointed to the blood-drenched figure in the air, his voice trembling.
Everyone turned their gaze upward.
Their pupils shrank in shock.
They saw it—
Behind Li Zhexian,
the threads of bloodlight seeping from his wounds were gathering together,
coalescing in the air.
From that swirling scarlet mist emerged the faint outline of a ferocious beast,
its form vast and terrifying—
its jaws gripping a shining divine sword.
The phantom's body pulsed with murderous energy,
so oppressive it felt as if the world itself were suffocating.
Even the four distant figures—
Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, Feng Bailong, and Yu Yuanzhen—
standing atop Heaven Dou's tallest towers,
exchanged startled glances.
The white robes of Chen Xin fluttered—
though there was no wind.
"Such killing intent… and yet, faintly touched with auspicious aura?
What on earth is this Spirit Ability of Zhexian's?"
Feng Bailong's gaunt face, half-shrouded in black silk, showed a trace of worry.
"After Li Zhexian's Ten Thousand Forms Sword Dao reached the Fifth Realm,
the next step forward lies not in ferocity,
but in balance of sword intent—that is the true key to breaking through."
Yu Yuanzhen, though no swordsman himself,
could clearly see the depth of Li Zhexian's power.
A thread of thunder wrapped around his words as his voice drifted a hundred meters away toward Dugu Bo:
"Old Poison, Zhexian's progress is frightening."
"At this rate, you might not even be confident of defeating him much longer, eh?"
Dugu Bo's emerald eyes turned toward Yu Yuanzhen's direction.
Among all the Titled Douluo of the world, save those of Spirit Hall,
this old dragon loved nothing more than to tease him as "the weakest Titled Douluo alive."
"Old dragon, what's your current Spirit Power level?"
"Ninety-five. Enough to join the Heavenly Ridge Tournament."."
"Heh…" Dugu Bo sneered coldly.
Tiny green snakes slithered through his graying hair,
as though scratching an itch.
Ever since he began absorbing the inner core of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent,
his scalp had itched incessantly.
"Just you wait, Old Dragon…
If that Heaven's Ridge Tournament really begins,
I'll focus every single strike on you."
Far away, deep in the forest—
the handsome young man on the crystalline swing slowly chewed his food.
"That boy…"
"He truly never ceases to surprise me."
BOOM!!!
After one earth-shattering clash,
two figures plummeted from the sky like falling stars,
kicking up clouds of dust and debris.
"Cough… cough…"
A frail cough echoed.
Salas stumbled out from the smoke, clutching his chest.
Step—
Step—
Footsteps approached from the haze.
A shard of icy swordlight pierced through the dust—
the bloodstained figure of the white-robed youth slowly emerged.
Though his breathing was ragged,
his stance remained straight, unbroken.
Salas's lips dripped with blood as he rasped hoarsely:
"Your sword… carries endless killing intent,
your aura reeks of slaughter.
That is the mark of corruption!"
"Li Zhexian, even if I fall to you today—
you won't walk away unscathed!"
Zhexian's smile deepened, laced with scorn.
Salas wiped the blood from his mouth furiously.
That mocking smile on the young man's face cut deeper than any blade.
"You… what are you laughing at?!"
"I laugh at your withered blood,
I mock the dirt already creeping up your neck,
I scorn your devotion to that deranged Pontiff—
praying day and night beneath her idol,
yet feeding your saintly faith to the dogs."
"I have no need for the seniors hiding in the shadows to aid me."
"You say I can't kill you?"
ROAR!!!
Behind Li Zhexian—
The monstrous phantom beast with the sword in its jaws suddenly lifted a paw—
and slammed it down.
A storm of murderous aura swept out, clearing the smoke in a single breath.
"Fifth Spirit Ability—"
The platinum-white Spirit Ring beneath Li Zhexian's feet flared brightly.
"Yazi's Retribution!"
Spirit Ability Effect:
During battle, Li Zhexian can mark a single target with the "Yazi's Wrath".
While the mark endures, all damage dealt by that target to Li Zhexian will be recorded.
When Li Zhexian's sword strikes the marked foe,
the accumulated damage will detonate at once—
ignoring all defenses.
Under countless horrified gazes—
The sword-bearing Yazi roared into a beam of bloodlight,
tearing through space as it charged straight toward Salas.
"Shield of Light!" Salas's soul nearly fled his body.
He drained the last of his Spirit Power,
forming before him a massive radiant shield, several meters thick.
But—
The Yazi phantom passed through it as if it were nothing but mist.
Its enormous jaws snapped shut,
biting down on the terrified Salas.
The sword in its mouth blazed—
Triggering every Spirit Ability Salas had ever unleashed.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!!
A cataclysmic explosion.
Salas didn't even have time to scream.
His body disintegrated into a red mist under the surging wave of energy.
The shockwave rolled outward,
erasing even the blood-mist that remained.
Nothing left—
not even ash.