Ly Vinh lowered the heavy saber in his hand. His gaze left Hao Nhien and shifted toward the distant high point where five small flames had just flashed one after another among the dark mass of Dragonmist Thorn.
He frowned.
“A signal?”
His voice was not loud, but the rising pressure around him immediately changed. The heavy saber remained in his hand, Fire spiritual power still coiling around the blade, yet his gaze had clearly become more cautious.
There was no way he could know what those five flashes meant.
Hao Nhien did.
Kim Linh was watching the far end of the rear route, the side connected to the path leading out from the Fire Qilin Tribe. Five signals meant five people were advancing from that direction, and within the area she could observe, there was no sign of another group following behind them.
Hao Nhien did not turn to look at Lanh Hoa. His gaze remained fixed on Ly Vinh, but his grip on the Fire Spirit Sword tightened slightly. The old splits between his fingers began to bleed again, making the hilt slick beneath his palm.
Lanh Hoa understood the situation as well. He shifted half a step forward, placing himself slightly ahead of Hao Nhien. It was only a small movement, but his intention was obvious.
If someone had to take the first blow, he would be the one standing in front.
Hao Nhien did not stop him.
Before them stood one late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and one at the mid stage. Behind them, five more people were approaching. The bottleneck Hao Nhien had chosen to divide the enemy's forces was gradually becoming a trap closing around them from both ends.
If the two groups were allowed to regroup, they would have almost no chance left.
Ly Vinh had also made his decision. He looked toward the gray-robed man beside him and said,
“Finish this quickly, kill them, then withdraw.”
The gray-robed man nodded slightly. The thin currents of wind around his longsword immediately grew denser.
Ly Vinh turned his attention back to Hao Nhien. The probing look in his eyes was gone. He did not need to understand what the signal meant. It was enough to know that the longer this dragged on, the more dangerous the situation could become.
Fire spiritual power erupted from his body.
The wave of heat sent his black cloak snapping backward. The heavy saber in his hand gradually changed from dark gray to deep red, like a piece of metal freshly pulled from a furnace.
A moment later, Ly Vinh charged down.
His large frame left the rocky outcrop, carrying the full weight of his body and the force of late Foundation Establishment straight toward Hao Nhien. The heavy saber descended from above, drawing a dark-red arc of fire through the night.
One glance was enough for Hao Nhien to know that he could not block it.
Ly Vinh already surpassed him by far in cultivation, and now he was also borrowing the force of his fall from above. If Hao Nhien tried to meet the strike head-on, even if the Fire Spirit Sword survived, his arms might not.
Hao Nhien shoved Lanh Hoa hard at the shoulder.
“Back!”
Lanh Hoa immediately used the force to launch himself aside.
At almost the same instant, Spirit Wings opened behind Hao Nhien. Wind wrapped around his body and pulled him diagonally backward by more than a zhang. Tieu Dao Sword also left his side, skimming along the cliff before circling behind Ly Vinh.
The silver blade aimed directly at the gap between his neck and shoulder.
Ly Vinh was still in midair, his saber strike already more than halfway down, yet his reaction remained extremely fast. He tilted his body with the force of the descending saber, narrowly avoiding the flying sword without having to stop his attack.
The heavy saber crashed into the spot Hao Nhien had just left.
A deep explosion rang through the ravine.
Sand and broken stone burst outward as the rock beneath the sand was torn into a long trench.
Hao Nhien had not even regained his footing when a red streak swept out from the cloud of dust.
The moment Ly Vinh landed, he turned. The downward chop flowed directly into a broad horizontal sweep, Fire spiritual power carrying dust and sand across the open space before him.
Hao Nhien planted a foot against the cliff to his left. Spirit Wings beat hard, tilting his body in midair.
The saber wind passed just beneath his abdomen.
The hem of his robe tore apart, leaving a thin line of blood across his skin. The wound was shallow, but the heat clinging to the saber force immediately sent a burning pain through the surrounding flesh.
Hao Nhien did not look down. His fingers moved slightly.
Tieu Dao Sword changed direction at once, rising from below, circling past Ly Vinh's right shoulder, and stabbing diagonally toward his neck.
Ly Vinh did not turn around.
The heavy saber swept upward behind him.
“Clang!”
Tieu Dao Sword was knocked aside, but instead of retreating far, it immediately curved toward the left, forcing Ly Vinh to turn his saber and meet it again. Hao Nhien used that opportunity to glide toward the right and widen the distance between them.
After only a few exchanges of pursuit, Hao Nhien had already confirmed the gap between them. Ly Vinh surpassed him in spiritual power, physical strength, and explosive force, while the heavy saber in his hand was especially suited for direct confrontation.
At his current Foundation Establishment layer two, Hao Nhien had no intention of using the Fire Spirit Sword to clash head-on with him. One mistake that forced him to receive a full saber strike would be enough to cripple his arms from the impact even if his weapon remained intact.
So the Fire Spirit Sword stayed mostly in front of him as a safeguard for situations he could not avoid, while the true rhythm of the battle depended on Spirit Wings and Tieu Dao Sword.
Whenever Ly Vinh chopped down, Hao Nhien moved out of the path before the blade could reach him. When the saber shifted into a horizontal pursuit, he borrowed the compressed air from the strike together with the lift of Spirit Wings to change direction faster, refusing to let Ly Vinh drag him into a direct exchange.
Tieu Dao Sword continued appearing from the most troublesome angles. Sometimes it pressured the wrist holding the saber, sometimes it skimmed low toward the knee, and at other times it curved upward toward the eyes or throat. None of these attacks were enough on their own to threaten the life of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but Ly Vinh could not simply ignore them. If he focused entirely on Hao Nhien and reacted even half a beat too slowly, the flying sword could still pierce an unprotected point.
In this way, Hao Nhien kept evading while drawing Ly Vinh away from his original line. The heavy saber repeatedly struck empty ground, sending fragments of rock flying and tearing through the Dragonmist Thorn bushes along the path.
One thorn-covered trunk was cut apart by the blade. Dark green sap sprayed outward, and the Fire spiritual power clinging to the saber quickly heated it into a cloud of pungent smoke.
Hao Nhien had just passed along the edge of the smoke when Ly Vinh followed him through. The instant he entered it, his breathing faltered slightly.
It was only a very brief pause, but Hao Nhien noticed.
Dragonmist Thorn sap was poisonous. For a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, that amount of smoke was nowhere near enough to cause serious harm, but while continuously circulating spiritual power at high intensity, inhaling the heated fumes clearly made it harder to maintain the same steady breathing as before.
Hao Nhien immediately remembered it.
From that point on, he no longer searched only for open space whenever he dodged. He began deliberately drawing Ly Vinh through areas where Dragonmist Thorn grew more densely.
Another saber descended.
Two more trunks broke apart.
Poisonous smoke rose again.
Ly Vinh frowned and swept his left hand outward, using spiritual power to scatter the smoke. But that movement alone slowed his pursuit slightly.
Hao Nhien still did not counterattack.
It was not enough yet.
Ly Vinh realized that he was deliberately prolonging the fight, and the coldness in his expression deepened.
“How long do you plan to keep running?”
Hao Nhien did not answer.
His silence only made Ly Vinh's gaze colder.
Fire spiritual power around the heavy saber suddenly condensed into a blazing red glow. When he slashed, the saber light stretched along the ravine, its shape twisting like a fire dragon charging forward.
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Heat flooded the space, burning away the thin mist drifting through the forest.
The attack covered almost the entire open area ahead.
Hao Nhien could no longer simply dodge sideways.
Spirit Wings beat hard. Wind coiled around his legs and carried him diagonally up the cliff. The instant his foot touched a protruding stone, his body shot toward the opposite side.
The blazing saber light passed beneath him.
Even so, the edge of the Fire energy swept across his left arm.
His sleeve immediately scorched black. The skin underneath reddened, leaving a long burn.
Hao Nhien gritted his teeth but did not stop.
As soon as the saber light obscured the line of sight between them, Tieu Dao Sword skimmed along the edge of the flames and shot straight toward Ly Vinh's chest.
Ly Vinh's attack had been too large. The heavy saber had just completed its motion and had not yet fully returned.
By the time he noticed the silver light, Tieu Dao Sword was only a few feet from his chest.
Ly Vinh's pupils contracted.
He yanked the heavy saber back.
“Clang!”
He still managed to block it.
But half a beat too late.
The tip of Tieu Dao Sword scraped across his chest, tearing open his black cloak and leaving a line of blood. Beneath the ripped fabric, a piece of glossy black inner armor was exposed, having absorbed most of the force.
Hao Nhien immediately recalled Tieu Dao Sword.
His gaze darkened.
The opponent's defenses were stronger than he had expected.
But Ly Vinh was not entirely unaffected either. Repeated bursts of spiritual power, chasing Spirit Wings, guarding against Tieu Dao Sword, and passing through poisonous smoke several times had all made his breathing less even than before.
Hao Nhien only needed to keep dragging things out.
The problem was that time was working against him as well.
At the far end of the rear route, those five people were still drawing closer.
More than ten zhang away, Lanh Hoa and the gray-robed man were already locked in battle.
The ancient sword in Lanh Hoa's hand glowed red beneath his Fire spiritual power. His swordsmanship did not rely on many variations, but every strike was heavy and direct, forcing his opponent to change position.
The gray-robed man fought in the opposite manner.
Wind coiled around his ankles, making his steps extremely light. His longsword never remained in direct confrontation for long. Whenever Lanh Hoa's ancient sword came down, he immediately slipped aside, then used his speed to turn that evasion into three or four rapid thrusts toward the wrist, shoulder, ribs, or knee.
A streak of sword qi cut across Lanh Hoa's left shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
He did not retreat.
The ancient sword immediately swept back, forcing the gray-robed man to abandon the favorable angle of attack.
Another thrust came toward Lanh Hoa's right side. He turned just enough to let the blade tear through the outer flesh rather than penetrate deeply. At the same time, his elbow drove forward as Fire spiritual power erupted at close range.
The gray-robed man immediately withdrew his sword. Several strands of hair across his forehead were scorched by the heat.
Both men separated.
Neither held an absolute advantage.
The gray-robed man was faster, but he did not dare remain too close to Lanh Hoa. If that ancient sword landed even once, the entire battle could change immediately.
Lanh Hoa was stronger in a direct exchange, but his old wounds had already split open several times, allowing blood to continuously soak through his robes.
The gray-robed man rushed in again.
The wind around his longsword split into several sharp currents, combining with the sword point to pressure Lanh Hoa from multiple angles.
Lanh Hoa could not avoid them all.
Nor did he intend to.
The ancient sword rose horizontally.
A rapid series of metallic collisions rang out.
Two streaks of sword qi slipped through his defense, cutting into his arm and calf.
Lanh Hoa's expression did not change. The instant the final sword strike ended, he stepped directly into the opening his opponent had left behind and thrust the ancient sword forward.
The gray-robed man twisted away. The red-hot sword tip skimmed across his chest, tearing his robe and leaving a long burn behind. He immediately retreated three steps.
Lanh Hoa did not pursue. He held the sword in front of him, his breathing heavier than before but his gaze still cold and steady.
Hao Nhien was still moving, though his changes in direction had become slower than at the beginning.
Several streaks of saber force had passed close enough to leave shallow wounds across his arms, shoulder, and ribs. Spirit Wings also began to waver after each forced change in direction, while the continuous control of Tieu Dao Sword made his spiritual awareness increasingly heavy.
Across from him, Ly Vinh's saber rhythm was no longer as seamless as before.
He was still much stronger. The difference in cultivation had not changed. If Hao Nhien misjudged even once, a direct saber strike could still kill him. But Hao Nhien did not need to erase that difference.
He only needed to reduce it enough to create an opportunity.
The heavy saber descended again.
Hao Nhien leaned aside.
The blade struck the rocky ground.
When Ly Vinh pulled it back, his wrist was slightly slower than before.
Hao Nhien saw it.
Ly Vinh continued pressing forward. A saber sweep tore through Hao Nhien's shoulder, ripping his robe and leaving a long line of blood.
He maintained his retreat and continued drawing Ly Vinh past broken Dragonmist Thorn.
Poisonous smoke rose again.
Ly Vinh had also begun to understand that Hao Nhien was deliberately prolonging the battle.
His following attacks no longer aimed only to land a hit. He began controlling the angles, step by step forcing Hao Nhien away from the wider open space and toward a narrower section of the ravine where the cliff walls pushed closer together.
The less room there was, the harder it became for Spirit Wings to show its advantage.
Hao Nhien could still accelerate in short bursts, but the space available to change direction had been greatly reduced. Tieu Dao Sword could no longer circle behind Ly Vinh as easily either, because once Ly Vinh occupied the center of the narrow passage, the reach of his heavy saber could nearly control every route forward and backward.
Hao Nhien glanced at the terrain and immediately understood.
Ly Vinh was forcing him into a place where he could no longer keep running.
At the same time, Hao Nhien noticed another change.
Ly Vinh's breathing had grown heavier, his chest rising and falling more visibly beneath his cloak, while his complexion was no longer completely normal. After such a long pursuit, repeated bursts of spiritual power, and multiple passes through the poisonous smoke from Dragonmist Thorn sap, the effects were finally beginning to accumulate.
Hao Nhien did not know how much his opponent had weakened.
But he knew he was running out of room to dodge.
Ly Vinh advanced again.
The heavy saber came down, leaving no opening wide enough for Hao Nhien to slip through on either side. One side was blocked by the cliff, the other sealed by the descending saber, and only a few steps of retreat remained behind him.
Hao Nhien stopped dodging.
Not because he believed he could clash head-on with a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but because there was no better choice left.
Spirit Wings immediately narrowed, and the wind around him was pressed downward to stabilize his center of gravity. Spiritual power surged through his meridians into both arms as he raised Fire Spirit Sword at a slight angle, not to overpower the heavy saber directly, but to redirect part of the force to the side.
The heavy saber descended.
Fire Spirit Sword rose.
“Boom!”
The two weapons collided in the ravine.
Hao Nhien's entire body shook.
The ground beneath his feet sank. His knees bent deeply as the overwhelming force from the heavy saber traveled down Fire Spirit Sword and into his wrists and shoulders, tearing open the old wounds between his fingers.
He was almost forced to his knees.
But in the instant the two blades ground against one another, Hao Nhien heard a faint and unusual sound.
“Crack.”
It had not come from Fire Spirit Sword.
His gaze dropped immediately.
Near the spine of Ly Vinh's heavy saber, a thin fracture had just appeared.
It was tiny.
If the distance between them had not been less than an arm's length, Hao Nhien might never have noticed it.
He immediately understood one thing.
That saber could be broken.
He did not know whether the fracture had existed before or had only appeared after the clash with Fire Spirit Sword.
It no longer mattered.
From the moment he saw it, the way he fought this battle changed.
Ly Vinh noticed it as well and yanked the heavy saber back.
But Tieu Dao Sword was already coming from behind, its silver edge aimed straight at his temple.
Ly Vinh was forced to tilt his head aside.
That single beat was enough for Hao Nhien to step forward.
Fire Spirit Sword came down a second time.
Ly Vinh had no other choice. He raised the heavy saber to block.
“Clang!”
This time, the sound was different.
A sharp shattering noise followed the impact of metal.
The fracture across the heavy saber spread instantly. More than half of the blade shattered, sending red-hot pieces of steel flying through the night.
Ly Vinh staggered backward. One fragment scraped across his cheek, leaving a long bloody cut.
Fire Spirit Sword continued downward, opening a deep wound across his right shoulder. The lingering heat on the blade immediately scorched the edges of the wound.
Ly Vinh roared.
Hao Nhien gave him no time to recover.
Tieu Dao Sword immediately changed direction.
But Ly Vinh was still a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Even after losing his main weapon and suffering a deep wound to his right shoulder, his reactions remained far faster than those of an ordinary cultivator.
He shifted what remained of the saber into his left hand and stepped forward hard.
There was no complicated technique.
The broken saber hilt swept sideways with the full strength of his body and late-stage Foundation Establishment spiritual power behind it.
Hao Nhien had just completed two full-force sword strikes, and both arms were still numb.
He only had time to raise Fire Spirit Sword in front of his chest.
“Boom!”
The broken saber slammed into the sword.
The overwhelming force passed through Fire Spirit Sword and crashed directly into Hao Nhien's chest and arms.
He heard his joints produce a dry cracking sound.
Spirit Wings spread at the moment of impact.
Instead of forcing himself to remain in place, Hao Nhien allowed his body to move with the force while using the wind to alter his trajectory.
He was still sent flying more than three zhang.
His shoulder slammed into the cliff before he managed to twist downward.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Fire Spirit Sword nearly flew from his hand.
After forcibly dispersing part of the impact, Spirit Wings behind him had visibly faded.
Had he reacted even half a beat slower, the broken saber might have struck his chest directly.
Hao Nhien might not have remained standing.
Ly Vinh could not immediately pursue either.
The destruction of his weapon had shaken his spiritual awareness, while the deep wound on his right shoulder further disrupted his balance. His last counterattack had forced nearly all of his weight onto the left side, leaving his posture slightly tilted as he recovered.
It lasted only an instant.
But Hao Nhien had spent the entire battle waiting for instants like this.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Spirit Sword trembled faintly.
The strain on his already-consumed spiritual awareness sent pain shooting into his temples, but Hao Nhien still poured Divine Soul power into one brief interference.
He needed only one beat.
Ly Vinh had just forced himself upright when an invisible disturbance suddenly cut across his awareness.
His body did not lose control completely, but his movements slowed for an instant. The effect of the Spirit Sword was clearly weaker against him than it had been against a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
But Hao Nhien needed no more than that.
Tieu Dao Sword turned into a silver streak behind Ly Vinh and shot straight toward the back of his neck.
Ly Vinh had already seen Hao Nhien control the flying sword.
The instant the Divine Soul interference faded, battle instinct made every muscle across his neck and shoulders tense. He tried to tilt his head while twisting what little of his body he could still control.
Slowly.
But not completely frozen.
Tieu Dao Sword closed in, the distance vanishing rapidly.
Ly Vinh had done everything he could to move aside, yet he was still half a beat too slow. At this distance, Hao Nhien was certain Tieu Dao Sword would pierce straight through the back of his neck.
At that exact moment, a sharp metallic sound rang out.
Another streak of silver tore through the darkness.
Faster than Tieu Dao Sword.
Heavier.
The silver sword struck Tieu Dao Sword from the side at the final instant.
“Clang!”
The two swords collided.
Silver sparks scattered through the air.
Tieu Dao Sword was immediately knocked aside, spinning several times before burying itself deep in the nearby cliff.
The newly arrived sword was also thrown upward by the collision, but it did not fall. It stopped in midair with its tip angled slightly downward, the spiritual power around its blade cold and steady.
The flash of surprise across Ly Vinh's face made Hao Nhien immediately realize that the person who had just acted was also outside his expectations.
Hao Nhien planted Fire Spirit Sword against the ground to keep himself upright. His Sea of Consciousness throbbed after the forced use of the Spirit Sword, causing his vision to sway for a moment.
Lanh Hoa and his opponent stopped as well, both turning toward the same direction.
Footsteps began to carry from the far end of the rear route. They were neither fast nor disorderly. If anything, they sounded almost unhurried, yet every step was steadily shortening the distance.
The silver flying sword remained suspended in the middle of the ravine, its point angled slightly downward.
Behind it, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.