The sword in Yuliana’s hand flashed. A pure vein of green lightning drove straight for Atorn’s heart. Atorn had not expected the sudden shift from defense to lethal assault. Panic flared in his eyes. He tried to slip aside.
However, Yuliana was too fast. A heartbeat later, the sword was thrusting toward his heart.
Splurt! Yuliana’s sword stabbed into Atorn’s shoulder. Blood flowing out. With a ragged cry, Atorn staggered back, forcing space between them while his wounded arm hung useless at his side.
“How dare you wound me?!” rasped, clutching the bleeding shoulder. Murderous intent filled his eyes.
Yuliana withdrew the sword with icy calm.
“You brought this on yourself,” answered.
“I will kill you for that!” Atorn roared. He lunged once more. This time, his fury fed the darkness inside him. Black demonic aura surged like a breaking tide, seeking to swallow Yuliana whole. She did not retreat. Her sword danced faster still, weaving arcs of green light that met the demonic aura head-on.
Green sword light clashed with the demonic aura, carving a razor-sharp boundary through the battleground. They traded strike for strike until the earth around them was a cratered ruin strewn with broken stone.
“They’ve crossed a hundred exchanges already!” someone breathed, awestruck.
No spectator dared blink. Even the act of breathing seemed a risk.
A duel between cultivators at the Earthly Immortal Realm Level Nine carried the weight of life and death.
Atorn’s aura faltered, rhythm ragged. Blood still seeped from the wound in his shoulder. The protracted fight had drained the demonic aura that cloaked him.
Yuliana fared little better. Her lips were pale, breath thin and quick. Carving through that endless darkness had consumed vast stores of spiritual energy.
This will kill us both. I need to make it quick! Yuliana slammed sword into the ruined ground, hands flashing through a final, intricate seal.
“Azure Sword Technique! Final Form!” voice rang, fierce and clear. The air convulsed. Every mote of free spiritual energy within the battlefield raced toward call, coalescing before into an array of countless green blades that hovered, trembling, hungry for release.
Dozens of green blades spiraled around Yuliana in widening orbits, each one blurred by speed, each exhaling a pressure so sharp it made the air crackle.
Atorn’s heart Iurched.
“No!” gasped. He could sense the immense power from the green blades. He quickly performed a seal. “Demonic Protection!”
Demonic aura formed into a huge demon illusory shadow before him. The demonic soul bared its mouth and let out a deafening roar.
“Attack!” Yuliana spoke the single word like a verdict. Her orbiting green blades streaked forward, meant to erase whatever stood beneath it.
Steel met shadow with a roar that drowned thought. The illusory shadow trembled under the attack from the green blades. Fractures webbed across the illusory shadow until. with a cracking sound, it collapsed into black dust.
The remaining green blades kept coming. Atorn swung his spear frantically, sparks strobing, but the tide was too thick. A fistful of blades punched through his guard, sank into flesh, and the spear slipped as blood sprayed scarlet arcs across the ground.
Reeling, Atorn stared at Yuliana, eyes blazing with defiance that was already fading to despair.
“I… I have lost,” whispered. Strength fled, crumpled, knees first, then face-first into the dust. Yuliana lowered sword and drew a long, heavy breath. Her gaze on Atorn’s fallen form held not even a shadow of mercy. In this duel, one rule existed, win or die.
Halfway up the mountain, the watching cultivators erupted. Rocks echoed with their jubilation.
“We won! She did it!”
“Yuliana is unstoppable!”
Aurelius allowed himself a smile. “She carried every ounce of our hope and did not falter…” His voice trembled with relieved pride.
Across the field, Soul Devourer’s expression curdled to storm-cloud black. Murderous intent flashed behind his eyes, yet had promised that if his man lost, would withdraw. He wrestled his fury into silence.
