When the smoke cleared, the white-robed cultivator lay broken in a deep pit, meridians severed, flesh mangled, dead beyond doubt.
Dozens of yards away, the red-robed man leaned weakly against a boulder, a fist-sized hole gaping in his chest. His face was pale, his breath faint.
With trembling hands, he pulled out a Consolidating Essence Pill, swallowed it, and sat cross-legged to heal.
The battle had been brutal. For a cultivator at the Eighth Level to slay one at the Ninth was nearly impossible. Without his heaven-defying secret technique, he would have been the one lying dead.
Rin Tianhai concealed himself in the adjacent valley, suppressing all of his presence as he witnessed the entire battle between two cultivators above the seventh level of Qi Cultivation. He was utterly shocked.
Fortunately, he had discovered them in time and halted his movements. If he had flown headlong into their clash, he would have been the first to perish.
Beyond the shock, unease gnawed at him. Had they already noticed his presence? Otherwise, why would their fight shift in his direction? With his meager fifth-level Qi Cultivation, he feared the red-robed man might silence him afterward to keep the secret of the Cave Mansion.
He dared not leave rashly, as moving could easily expose him. Yet staying put was just as dangerous. The dilemma left him torn, should he hope to remain unnoticed, or strike first before being struck down?
At that moment, time seemed to crawl unbearably slow. He had to quickly decide.
Rin Tianhai gritted his teeth, better to strike wrongly than die silently. Just as he prepared to act, the red-robed man suddenly turned his head towards him and bellowed:
"Boy, can't hold out any longer, can you? Then go to hell!"
The man easily blocked Rin Tianhai's attack with his hammer, revealing that he had known of his presence all along. Though his spiritual power was greatly depleted, he unleashed his strongest strike, determined to kill Rin Tianhai in a single blow.
Executing the Secret Art of the Dominating Body Technique, the red-robed cultivator charged forward at incredible speed, twin hammers raised high.
Seeing this, Rin Tianhai instantly released a First-Order Superior Defence Talisman and an Attack Talisman.
Having witnessed the red-robed man's devastating strike earlier, one that had slain the white-robed cultivator, he dared not take the risk of facing it unprepared.
The Attack Talisman transformed into a golden Spirit Sword emanating powerful sword qi, equal to the full-force strike of an eighth-level cultivator. It shot toward the red-robed man.
The Defence Talisman turned into a massive shield, spiritual power of the earth elements flowing across its surface. The shield, several zhang wide, positioned itself in front of Rin Tianhai.
At the same time, he started to circulate his cultivation technique at full power, hands forming seals to unleash his strongest skill—the Huoyuan Slash. He poured all his remaining spiritual power into it.
A giant fiery-red sword materialized, its flames blazing fiercely, sword qi roaring several times stronger than when he had used it at the fourth level of Qi Practice. This time, Rin Tianhai struck with nothing held back.
The red-robed man, now a hundred zhang away, roared back, his twin hammers creating a massive twin hammer phantom that hurtled toward Rin Tianhai.
In an instant, the golden Spirit Sword from the talisman met the hammer phantom.
With a deafening bang, the Spirit Sword shattered into fragments of light. The hammer phantom stops for merely a split second before continuing forward, its force weakened yet not dispersed.
It slammed against the giant shield..
Meanwhile Tianhai bellowed "Slash!".
The shield only endured for a breath before cracking apart, shattering into fragments of earthen light. The impact sent Rin Tianhai flying several zhang.
At that moment, the giant fiery-red sword from the Huoyuan Slash descended upon the hammer phantom.
The hammer phantom lasted less than half a breath before disintegrating into scattered motes of spiritual light.
With nothing left to stop it, the blazing giant sword cleaved forward, straight at the red-robed man.
The man's eyes widened with disbelief. He had never imagined this youth could overcome his attack.
He had no strength left to resist. Fear consumed him as he realized he could not escape.
With a thunderous crash, the fiery sword engulfed him, hurling his body dozens of zhang backward. He smashed through several trees before finally crashing to the ground.
His body was charred black, flesh blurred with blood. He lay motionless. Dead.
Rin Tianhai, too, was thrown aside by the shockwave. His qi and blood churned violently, his meridians in disorder, his body covered in over ten ghastly wounds.
If not for the talismans absorbing much of the destructive force, he would likely have perished.
Now, his spiritual power was in chaos. If he hadn't succeeded in killing the red-robed cultivator, he would surely be the one lying dead instead.
At this moment, even if a first-level Qi Refining cultivator appeared, a single Fireball Technique could easily take his life.
Struggling, he sat upright and swallowed a Consolidating Essence Pill, forcing himself into meditation.
After a quarter of an hour, his spiritual power stabilized somewhat, and his wounds began to ease.
Knowing it was too dangerous to linger, he burned the red-robed man's corpse with a Fireball, collected both cultivators' storage bags and spiritual artifacts, and erased any traces of the battle.
Summoning his Green Bamboo Sword, he soared into the skies, heading back toward Lubeck Town.
By dusk, Rin Tianhai appeared outside the pavilion in the plaza. His body is outwardly clean though inward heavy with hidden injuries. He instructed Rin Jian and Rin Xuelian:
"Do not disturb my cultivation unless it is important."
Without pause, he entered the pavilion, walked straight into the secret chamber, and sat on the stone bed. Crossing his legs, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate, focusing entirely on healing his wounds.