The Verdant Sword Sage’s expression finally turned serious. The Li Yun standing before him now felt completely different from the young man who had challenged him two months earlier.
His body carried terrifying mass, his flesh radiated monstrous vitality, and the Golden Ancient Dragon Bloodline gave off an ancient, suppressive pressure that Dragon Blood Transformation amplified even further. Yet all of this was only the foundation for what Li Yun meant to do.
The Profound Origin Sword left its sheath with a clang, and the first Sword Intent descended at once. Crimson sword light erupted around Li Yun as Slaughter Sword Intent took hold, and under its cold killing will, the surrounding mountains seemed to turn into an ancient battlefield.
Then pale light emerged as Immortal Sword Intent wrapped around the crimson pressure. Slaughter gave Li Yun’s sword the will to kill, while Immortal Sword Intent gave that killing edge persistence, keeping it from weakening or being snuffed out easily.
Finally, black patterns began spreading across the Profound Origin Sword as Destruction Sword Intent took shape, and the air around the blade started to crack.
For this attack, Li Yun did something he had never tried in exactly this way before. He compressed all three Sword Intents into a single sword technique.
The Verdant Sword Sage noticed the change immediately. "This..."
The crimson Slaughter Sword Intent sank into the heart of the Profound Origin Sword, the pale Immortal Sword Intent wrapped around its edge, and the black Destruction Sword Intent drove into its center and began to destabilize the surrounding space.
The three powers had very different natures, but Li Yun forced them into one structure. Slaughter supplied the killing force, Immortality kept that force from fading, and Destruction attacked the structure of whatever stood in the sword’s path.
The point was not simply to make Horizon Sword Light stronger.
Li Yun had built this combination specifically for the Temporal Domain. His last attempt had taught him exactly why speed alone failed. No matter how quickly his sword reached the Verdant Sword Sage, its movement would be suppressed the instant it entered the Temporal Domain.
So his new strategy had two stages. Gale Flash would carry him to the edge of the Temporal Domain before the Verdant Sword Sage could properly react. Horizon Sword Light would then strike the weakest point that appeared at the instant the Temporal Domain formed.
Destruction Sword Intent would attack the Domain itself, while Slaughter and Immortal Sword Intent kept the sword moving long enough to pierce through. Speed would create the opportunity, the three Sword Intents would open the path, and Horizon Sword Light would deliver the killing blow.
Li Yun lowered his body. Wind gathered around his feet, with lightning flickering inside it.
The Verdant Sword Sage sensed the danger at once. Li Yun’s physical strength was already astonishing, and the three fused Sword Intents were even more alarming. Most of all, however, the guardian focused on Li Yun’s stance, because it told him that Li Yun was about to move.
Li Yun’s golden dragon eyes locked onto him.
"Be careful, Senior."
Lightning exploded with a boom, and the wind screamed.
"Gale Flash!"
Li Yun vanished. He did not blur, and he left no visible trail. His body simply disappeared, and the ground where he had stood exploded only after he was already gone.
The Verdant Sword Sage’s pupils shrank. He was fast, far too fast. The fusion of Xiantian Stage Wind Intent and Lightning Intent gave Gale Flash terrifying instant acceleration, and Li Yun’s current physical state magnified that speed even more.
Dragon Blood Transformation strengthened his flesh and explosiveness, the Golden Ancient Dragon Bloodline provided enormous physical power, and the ten-millionfold weight hidden in his body turned every burst of movement into something far more violent. Even the Verdant Sword Sage nearly lost track of him, and for the first time, the guardian’s relaxed expression disappeared completely.
"Temporal Domain!"
Invisible ripples spread out around him with a boom, and the flow of the surrounding world changed at once. Everything that entered the Domain slowed down. Dust hanging in the air nearly stopped, the wind crawled forward, falling leaves seemed frozen in place, and even flashes of lightning lost their speed.
The Verdant Sword Sage had reacted exactly as Li Yun expected. The moment Gale Flash threatened to close the distance before he could attack, he had activated the Temporal Domain, and that instant was the opening Li Yun had been waiting for.
A thin line of sword light appeared, like the first ray of sunlight crossing the horizon at dawn. It was Horizon Sword Light.
The Verdant Sword Sage’s eyes widened. He could see the sword light, yet its path was impossible to predict accurately. Horizon Sword Light did not follow a fixed, predetermined path. It responded to the battlefield.
The moment the Temporal Domain formed, countless temporal ripples spread outward and overlapped. For the briefest instant, before those ripples fully settled, a tiny weakness appeared between them, and Li Yun’s sword found it naturally.
The sword entered the Temporal Domain, and the slowing force wrapped around it at once, dragging down its speed. Li Yun had expected that.
Crimson power erupted first as Slaughter Sword Intent tore into the suppressing force directly in front of the blade. The pale Immortal Sword Intent kept the edge intact and stopped its momentum from fading completely under the temporal suppression.
Then Destruction Sword Intent attacked the Domain itself. The black power did not try to outrun time. Instead, it attacked the unstable structure of the newly formed temporal ripples.
With a crack, a tiny fissure appeared, and the Verdant Sword Sage’s expression changed drastically.
"Impossible!"
That tiny crack was all Li Yun needed. Gale Flash carried him straight toward it, with his entire physical power concentrated behind the sword. His Golden Ancient Dragon Bloodline, his Dragon Blood Transformation, his ten-millionfold body weight, the wind and lightning, and his three Sword Intents all converged on the opening in the Temporal Domain.
Li Yun appeared directly in front of the Verdant Sword Sage, and the final burst of Gale Flash ended at the exact instant Horizon Sword Light reached its target. His sword moved without any exaggerated swing, in nothing more than a flash.
A thin streak of sword light whistled across the mountain range, and for one instant everything fell silent.
Then Li Yun appeared dozens of feet behind the Verdant Sword Sage, with the Profound Origin Sword still extended. Golden scales still covered his body, wind and lightning flickered faintly around his feet, and the three Sword Intents remained compressed around the blade.
Behind him, the Verdant Sword Sage stood motionless. A thin sword line had appeared across his chest, and his expression went blank. Then the power inside the wound erupted with a boom, and crimson, pale, and black sword force burst out all at once.
The Verdant Sword Sage was driven backward. He took one step, then another, then a third, and he kept retreating until he had taken ten steps before he finally steadied himself.
Silence settled over the third floor. Li Yun slowly turned around, breathing noticeably harder, because the attack had used up an enormous amount of power. Gale Flash demanded extreme physical explosiveness, and Horizon Sword Light required absolute concentration.
Dragon Blood Transformation and the Golden Ancient Dragon Bloodline had pushed his body to its limit, and the ten-millionfold weight of the World Bearing Devil Suppressing Physique had added even more strain. On top of all that, he had compressed three powerful Sword Intents into the same attack. It was without question the strongest single-target sword strike he had ever unleashed.

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