Li Guanqi bent down and sheathed his sword. Blood dripped from his arm onto the blade, falling to the ground with a steady patter.`

The once-sharp blade was now covered in countless nicks and chips. A fine ancient treasure-tier longsword, ruined in fifteen minutes of combat.

The ground was devastated, a landscape of scorched black craters where lightning still flickered. Sword scars and bottomless ravines stretched across the valley floor.

Li Guanqi bore over twenty sword wounds, his body drenched in blood, a picture of utter misery. “You’re strong, but... the Daxia Sword Sect is not yours for the taking. If anyone dares to lay a hand on it... I’ll cut it off!”

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s vital force roared as his Illusory Refinement Sutra activated, surging through him. His weakened aura erupted once more.

Sun Tianqi’s eyes widened. He was in no better shape, his body a tapestry of dense, scorched sword marks from head to toe, interspersed with several deep wounds. His right ear was gone, and a bowl-sized hole gaped at his shoulder, where Li Guanqi had run him through. Sun Tianqi’s face twisted, fierce and haggard. He was rapidly depleting his strength to maintain his ancient runes, and the talisman on his chest was almost gone.

He didn’t understand why Li Guanqi would choose this moment to settle the fight. If he’d just delayed another half hour, Sun Tianqi would have been spent.

Sun Tianqi’s expression was incredibly complex. He gazed at Li Guanqi with newfound respect, but when he saw the crazed fighting spirit in Li Guanqi’s eyes, some understanding clicked into place. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his resolve, so ironclad until now, wavered for an instant.

What he saw in Li Guanqi’s eyes was pure fighting spirit. Li Guanqi only wanted to defeat him at his strongest.

Sun Tianqi sheathed his sword and stood on the distant earth, chest rising and falling as he took a deep breath. Though he was cold and proud by nature, right now all he wanted was to fight with abandon.

His eyes snapped open. Wild violet-gold lightning surged around him. He gripped his sword in a reverse hold and cupped his fist in salute.

“I am sword cultivator Sun Tianqi! Sword name, Illusory Form!”

Li Guanqi froze. Sun Tianqi seemed to have shed his every shackle, facing him purely as a fellow sword cultivator.

But Li Guanqi understood that if Sun Tianqi won, he would lead the Sun clan to seize the Daxia Sword Sect without hesitation. And deep in Sun Tianqi’s eyes, he saw a trace of venomous hatred, buried but unmistakable.

Li Guanqi had seen that look too many times, yet his blade had never hesitated. Their philosophies and positions differed, but right now, Li Guanqi wanted nothing more than to fight with abandon.

He smiled slightly and stuck the serrated longsword into the ground. The sword coffin materialized behind him. With a wave of his hand, it swung open.

Screech!

A clear sword cry pierced the air.

Sun Tianqi’s eyes widened. A crimson flash shot into Li Guanqi’s palm—the Red Lotus Sword, already burning with a bloodthirsty glow. It trembled in his grip. The lotus petals on the hilt hadn’t fully recovered, though the cracks were already fading.

The moment Li Guanqi closed his hand around that sword, Sun Tianqi’s heart seized. Li Guanqi’s entire bearing had transformed, exuding a sword intent so sharp it seemed ready to tear everything apart. It made Sun Tianqi’s heart tremble.

Sun Tianqi’s throat bobbed. Through clenched teeth, he released his full aura.

Boom!

Boundless violet-gold thunder spread through the void. Sun Tianqi’s sword traced mysterious arcs as he settled into a starting stance, the blade held behind his back.

Li Guanqi frowned slightly. He’d never seen such a restrained opening position.

Sun Tianqi’s hair stood on end. The earth beneath his feet collapsed with a boom.

Sword light extended over ten zhang from his sword. He moved so fast he was virtually invisible, launching over a hundred zhang into the air. The ground where he’d stood crumbled, shattered rock and dirt erupting skyward.

“Great Yan, Thunder Wrath! Die!”

Dark clouds rolled in across a thousand zhang, nearly scraping the mountain peaks surrounding the valley. Terrifying violet-gold thunder rained down on the valley floor.

Rumble!

Among the countless thunderbolts, a single ray of lightning-wreathed sword light plunged from above.

The terrifying pressure made Li Guanqi gasp for air, his heart seized by an unseen force.

After that strike, Sun Tianqi fell to one knee, his face white as a sheet. The spirit light from the ancient runes on his arms dimmed, and the runes faded. The talisman at his chest burned away. As the medicinal power within him receded, his aura plummeted, nearly dropping below the late Illusory Refinement Realm.

The earth beneath Li Guanqi crumbled. His feet dug into the ground. His long hair danced wildly, the hem of his robes snapping in the gale.

Li Guanqi looked down at the Red Lotus Sword and murmured, “Soul Dissolution, World Annihilation.”

He raised the blade. Terrifying sword light poured from it, the escaping aura alone tearing the sky open.

Boom!

A violet-black sword light split the earth and shot upward.

Under the surge of sword intent, his brilliant sword light flashed past, almost too fast to see.

Boom!

A terrifying explosion ripped through the air.

Still half-kneeling, Sun Tianqi watched with an ‌ashen face as the violet-black sword light cleaved through his own strike like an executioner’s blade. He kneeled on the ground, his eyes numb as he murmured, “I’ve lost...”

Whoosh!

Devastating sword qi ravaged the void, raining down on earth in a cascade of booming impacts. The entire valley shook violently.

In the dust and smoke, Li Guanqi swung his sword. The swirling dust overhead was ripped apart like fabric.

As he emerged from the dust, he walked step by step toward Sun Tianqi. He looked down at the spent man, swallowed the blood rising in his throat, and pressed the Red Lotus Sword to Sun Tianqi’s neck.

“Any last words?”

Sun Tianqi kneeled with his head bowed. His disheveled hair hid his features.

“Nothing...” His voice was barely audible. “I have nothing to say...”

Suddenly, a young man’s shout reached Li Guanqi's ears.

“Elder Brother! No! Li Guanqi! I’m begging you, don’t kill him!”

But Sun Tianqi flung his arms wide. His Illusory Form Sword slid back into its sheath and came to rest horizontally before him.

Seeing Sun Zhen racing toward them, Sun Tianqi roared in furious humiliation. "Useless Trash! Don't save me."

He turned his head to Li Guanqi, eyes blazing with crazed, venomous hatred. “Kill me!”