He drew the long sword at his waist in a slow, unhurried motion.
The moment steel cleared the scabbard, the sky shifted colors as though dawn and dusk collided.
The weapon was entirely silver-white, its blade slim, its edge as thin as a cicada’s wing. Golden runes, intricate and unfathomable, crawled along the metal, each rune giving off a chilling sword intent.
“This sword is called the Dragonslayer Sword,” Lucian said. “My Master granted me this high-grade immortal weapon.”
His fingertips brushed the blade. “Since receiving it, I’ve never used it in the lower realm. Dying beneath it today is your good fortune.”
Jared felt the terrible sword intent rolling off the Dragonslayer Sword, his eyes narrowing with a hint of gravity. The blade is extraordinary, no doubt about it… Its rank seems already close to the very best among immortal weapons.
Lucian’s sword intent, pure and condensed to the extreme, outstripped any sword cultivator from level thirteen. Such skill truly befitted a prodigy of the Fourteenth Firmament. Yet Jared’s lips curved in a faint, almost bored smile, as if to say, “so what.”
He tightened his grip on his own Dragonslayer Sword, chaotic force roaring through his veins.
“Dragonslayer Sword? Decent name,” Jared remarked. “But my blade is also called Dragonslayer. Let’s see which of us lives up to the name.”
“As you wish.” Lucian stepped forward and vanished, the ground where he had stood left trembling.
The next instant he reappeared before Jared, the Dragonslayer Sword lunging straight for the space between Jared’s brows. Fast, blindingly fast. It was speed that seemed to leave distance itself behind.
The thrust slipped past the bounds of space, almost like teleportation. Still, Jared answered even quicker. The Chaos Sword Domain burst outward; once inside its gray tide, the Dragonslayer Sword’s advance slowed abruptly.
Clang!
Steel met steel as Jared’s Dragonslayer Sword crashed against Lucian’s. Sparks sprayed in a wild arc. The surrounding space cracked like thin glass. Both men sprang backward and came to rest a hundred yards apart. The first exchange ended in an even draw.
“Good!” Lucian’s eyes flashed with sharp light. “Anyone who can take seventy percent of my strength in one stroke deserves to stand as my opponent.”
Jared shook the tingling out of his arms and laughed. “Seventy percent? Be careful! I only used fifty!”
“Still mouthing off…” Lucian gave a cold snort and attacked again. This time he held nothing back.
“Nine Heavens Sword Codex, First Form! Skycleaver!”
His Dragonslayer Sword exploded with piercing silver light; a hundred-yard sword beam ripped through the clouds and slashed toward Jared. The strike carried pure sword-path law, strong enough to kill a High Immortal Realm Level Eight expert.
Jared’s face tightened as he swung his Dragonslayer Sword.
“Chaos! Open Heaven!”
A hushed gray sword-light streaked outward and met a blinding ribbon of silver halfway between the two duelists. The gray beam and the silver beam slammed together point-first. A deafening detonation shook the very air.
A violent shockwave rolled in every direction, toppling ridges and ripping deep chasms across the ground below. Nearby mountains crumbled for miles around! Above, the protective array around Godsbane Hall shuddered so hard its light lattice rippled and nearly split apart. The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army and the hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army lurched like wheat in a gale, armor clattering while ranks bent and staggered.
When the drifting dust finally thinned, the two figures still hovered opposite each other, blades leveled and eyes locked. Their second exchange ended once more in a draw, neither side claiming even a finger’s width of advantage. Yet the set of Lucian’s jaw darkened, a shadow pooling beneath his calm exterior. He had relied on the Nine Heavens Sword Codex, yet the effort had failed to press Jared back an inch. The strange, consuming chaotic force truly defied every familiar rule he knew.
“Senior Disciple, allow me to aid you!” Seeing the stalemate, Lyria lifted her hand, ready to join the fray.
“No need!” Lucian raised a palm for silence. “I alone am enough.”
He stared at Jared, battle fire rising behind his steady eyes. “You merit my full strength.”
The instant the words left him, the sigil at his brow blazed like a newborn star. A crushing aura erupted from his core, and his cultivation vaulted in a heartbeat to High Immortal Realm Level Eight.
“Divine King Bloodline! Awaken!”
Power surged through him threefold; silver radiance wrapped his frame until he resembled a war idol cast of starlight.
“Now, do you still imagine you can win?” His voice rang with frozen certainty.
Jared felt that swelling force and allowed a fleeting flicker of surprise to cross his gaze. Divine King Bloodline—an inheritance worthy of its legend. The art even granted a temporary leap of an entire realm. Yet he dismissed the thought with a quiet breath.
“High Immortal Realm Level Eight, is it?” A grin curved across Jared’s lips. “Perfect! I’ve wondered how high my limit now reaches.”
He closed his eyes, letting the Chaos Genesis Seed inside him whirl like a storming nebula.
“Chaos Trueform! Manifest!”
Thunderous force exploded outward in reply. Jared’s aura skyrocketed as well, flooding every pore with raw, ancient power. Gray sigils crawled across his skin, his irises turned to swirling chaos, and his hair lifted, each strand lit by dim gray fire.
Chaos Trueform revealed itself, a secret art drawn from the Chaos Grand Path. Though its window was brief, the technique multiplied his battle strength several times over.
“Now the terms are even…” Jared opened his eyes, chaotic hues churning within their depths.
Meanwhile, Lucian’s pupils constricted, his breathing catching for half a pulse. He sensed that Jared’s pressure no longer fell short of his own.
“Good! That makes this worth the effort!”
Lucian loosed a long howl. “Nine Heavens Sword Codex! Heavenfall Blade!”
The Dragonslayer Sword erupted, weaving nine silver arcs that laced together overhead into a vast mesh aimed straight down at Jared. That ultimate stroke embodied the Codex’s pinnacle truth, lethal enough to erase a High Immortal Realm Level Eight foe.
Jared inhaled slowly and raised the Dragonslayer Sword above his crown.
“Chaos Grand Path! Slash!” he roared.
The blade fell in a single, decisive arc. No ornate sword beam appeared, no overwhelming aura. Only a plain band of gray light slid forward. Yet wherever that light passed, space shattered inch by inch and even time seemed to freeze.
Nine streaks of blinding silver dove at the gray beam and collided. There was no sound, no explosion. The silver beams melted like ice touching flame, gone in a heartbeat. The gray light lost none of its force and slashed straight at Lucian.
