Chen Yang didn't blink. Every last drop of strength in his body was roused and poured into the Ancestral Sword in his hand.
Killing intent swept across the sky.
Even just breathing, one could clearly feel the razor-sharp edge in the air.
Gu Xing's expression shifted, the corner of his mouth trembling. When he met the terrifying look in Chen Yang's eyes, this Elder of Biluo Sword Valley, for a brief instant, actually felt a deep, bone-deep panic.
Crack.
Gu Xing's sword was still cracking, and looked like it was about to give way.
In front of a Spiritual Artifact, no matter how good a Treasure Weapon is, it's still a mortal weapon.
"Your Biluo Sword Valley, counts for fucking nothing! Hm?!"
Chen Yang spoke.
Chi.
The Ancestral Sword pressed against Gu Xing's sword, tiny sparks hissing from the point where they met.
"Youā¦"
Gu Xing flew into a rage and was just about to speak, when a deafening boom rang out. The sword in his hand finally couldn't hold and exploded to pieces.
"Break!!"
Chen Yang roared. He stamped both feet on the ground and his whole body shot forward.
Puchi.
The Ancestral Sword stabbed into Gu Xing's chest, its ghastly pale radiance flickering faintly.
Boom!
At the same time, Gu Xing's withered fist smashed into Chen Yang's chest. Accompanied by a dull thud that made everyone's heads buzz, Chen Yang flew backward like a kite with its string cut, hurtling away at high speed.
Huh?
Not just Gu Xingāeveryone around who witnessed this scene clearly felt that, facing this punch, Chen Yang seemed to be deliberately guiding that surging power into his own body.
"Wh-what is he doing?"
"He's insane! If I'm not wrong, this guy is trying to use an external force to smash through his bottleneck in cultivation."
"That's way too naive, isn't it? Doesn't he know he's playing with fire, dancing on the edge of a blade?"
"Hissā"
As hushed discussions buzzed, countless people sucked in a cold breath, their whole bodies crawling with dread.
Even Gu Xing felt a chill well up from the bottom of his heart.
For a moment, he actually regretted itāregretted making an enemy of this kind of man.
The key point isā¦
Gu Xing instinctively lowered his head. His left shoulder blade had been punched through, a bloody hole running clean through front and back.
Then a wave of weakness washed over him. He staggered several steps, almost collapsing headfirst to the ground.
On the other side.
Seven or eight meters away, Chen Yang landed and barely stayed upright, retreating step after step until the Ancestral Sword stabbed into the ground and finally slowed his backward momentum.
It was clearly visible: on his chest was a deep fist imprint, and his entire body was soaked in blood.
"Cough, cough."
Mouthful after mouthful of blood spurted from Chen Yang's lips, chilling to the extreme.
What left everyone dumbstruck was that Chen Yang actually stood up again, like a War God bathed in blood, towering between heaven and earth, shrouding everything beneath him, looking down upon all rivals.
Even stranger, on that deathly pale face utterly drained of blood, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Gu Xing's heart suddenly gave a violent jerk.
Could it beā¦he broke through?
The truth was, Chen Yang had indeed forced his way into Half-step Divine Conquest.
Onlyā¦
The price he paid was something ordinary people could never imagineāhis internal organs were all completely shattered, and that strand of power he had guided into his body had not yet been fully refined.
If he couldn't dissolve this violent power that belonged to Gu Xing, Chen Yang wouldn't live for long.
The Ancestral Sword gripped in the hand of the Dharma Golden Body kept dripping blood.
That was Gu Xing's blood, carried out when his chest was pierced through.
Gu Xing clutched his chest with one hand, his sinister eyes glued to Chen Yang. While feeling furious to the extreme, a cold dread spread in his heart.
Especially seeing the other man looking like he had just been hauled out of a pool of blood, yet still standing straight and tallāhe felt his heart inexplicably clench.
Only now did he realize he had underestimated this young man.
Whether it was his character, his mental fortitude, or how ruthless he could be to himselfāin all his long years, he had almost never heard of, let alone seen, anyone like this.
How could someone be this unyielding?
To borrow an enemy's violent power to help himself break through a realmāit was an eye-opening sight.
Why was he still standing?
He wasn't a plant or a stone. After suffering such massive damage, how could he possibly feel no pain?
The reason he still stood hereāeveryone on the field understood it clearly as a polished mirror in their hearts: he could not fall.
If he fell, what would happen to Yang Hu and Gu Zhiqing behind him? Looking even furtherāwhat would happen to Red Lotus Valley behind him?
Sure enough.
In the next second, Chen Yang moved again. Though his steps were a bit unsteady, they were incomparably firmācharging forward without hesitation.
Everyone stared, completely dumbfounded.
Especially Gu Zhiqing, who covered her mouth tightly, her chest heaving violently, tears glimmering in her eyes.
She wanted to shout, but suddenly realized her throat had tightened and not a sound could come out.
Boom!
When the distance had been closed to less than ten meters, Chen Yang stepped sideways in a stride. The Dharma Golden Body behind him suddenly blazed in full glory, but anyone could see this blood-colored golden body was already a dying flare of light before extinguishing.
After this strike, it would likely never form again.
In an instant, Chen Yang's figure flashed in front of Gu Xing. Without another word, his Longsword swept out in a horizontal arc, scything through with ultimate ferocity.
Its momentum was vast and heavy, rumbling like thunder.
At the same time, two old men rushed out, standing to Gu Xing's left and right, joining him to face the enemy.
"Die for me!"
Gu Xing roared, lifting his fist high and blasting it out across the void.
The other two launched their attacks as well.
In an instant, the entire area seemed to tremble.
A beam of light flashed into being.
Crack.
The two old men took the brunt of itāthe light pierced straight through their bodies.
Bang.
The entire arm Gu Xing had punched out shattered inch by inch, and then he was struck by the sweeping sword. Blood sprayed wildly as he flew sideways through the air, crashing heavily to the ground.
Chen Yang braced his sword on the ground, the Dharma Golden Body behind him completely dissipating into smoke.
This scene made countless onlookers' hearts pound wildly as they stood rooted in place, utterly stunned.
What kind of person was this? It was downright deranged!!
A protector of Biluo Sword Valley, a lofty figure, had actually been brutally crippled by him, brought to the edge of death.
Chen Yang slowly straightened his back, raised his sword to point at Gu Xing, and said, "Your Biluo Sword Valley, counts for fucking nothing!"
"Th-this is impossible."
Gu Xing's pupils bulged wide, his face filled with disbelief.
With talent and will like this, once he truly rose to power, who could stop his ascent? Wouldn't the rest of his peers be trampled underfoot, never able to lift their heads for the rest of their lives?
"Hm?!"
Chen Yang gripped the Ancestral Sword tightly. Its unending humming reverberated across the field, and in Gu Xing's ears it sounded like the death knell of a grim reaper.
Every pore on Gu Xing's body stood on end. Thisā¦
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, a beam of light as brilliant as a blazing sun shot over from the distance, like an arrow loosed from the string, wrapped in a sky-shaking sonic boom.
Puchi.
Before Chen Yang could react at all, the beam pierced straight through his abdomen.
Thud.
The beam slammed into a large tree, and in an instant a storm of splinters exploded into the air.
Immediately after.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, Chen Yang toppled straight over and crashed to the ground.
Gu Zhiqing: "ā¦"
Everyone: "ā¦"
"ā¦"