Pushed to the Brink!

Cold sweat dripped down Lin Wujiu's forehead. Only now did he truly feel just how terrifying Li Guanqi was. Every single time he struck with his sword, from whatever angle, his opponent seemed to foresee it beforehand! This feeling of being unable to put his full power into a blow left him thoroughly stifled. Every time his sword was only halfway out, Li Guanqi would force it right back. Li Guanqi's sharp rebuke rang in his ears. "Feel it with your heart! How do you still have time to be distracted?" Before the words had faded, two flashes of sword light crossed in an instant. Two bloody gashes appeared across Lin Wujiu's chest. Spurred by the sting of pain, Lin Wujiu finally came to his senses, lingering fear gripping his heart. Yet immediately afterward, he began to feel the shifts in Li Guanqi's sword momentum, the angles of his strikes, and how he adjusted his own positioning. Lin Wujiu was shocked to discover... From the moment the spar began, Li Guanqi had led him by the nose. Even the distance between them had been calculated down to the inch! Cold sweat broke out across his back, but in that very instant, a flash of sword light grazed the tip of his nose. Immediately followed by a horizontal slash! *Slash!* The blade carved a bloody slit across the bridge of Lin Wujiu's nose. Li Guanqi's deep voice slowly sounded. "Get distracted again, and I won't hold back." Lin Wujiu's mind tightened, and he focused entirely on their spar. Yet no matter what he did, he felt like a beast trapped in a spiderweb; the harder he struggled, the more an inexplicable sense of powerlessness washed over him. The immense pressure assailing him from all directions strained his nerves to their absolute limit. *Boom!* Blasting Li Guanqi back with a sword strike, Lin Wujiu finally caught a breath. Directing his senses inward, he discovered to his dismay that he had already expended nearly sixty percent of his immortal primal energy! Yet Li Guanqi still looked as calm and unruffled as a breeze! *What terrifying reserves of immortal primal energy!* *Phoo...* Taking a deep breath, Lin Wujiu resolved to stake everything on a final gamble. Neither his sword attainment nor his reserves of immortal primal energy could match his opponent's. Under such circumstances, his only choice was to break through with sheer force! Moreover... A seed of fear had already sprouted in the depths of his heart. He feared that if this continued, his Dao heart would fracture, leaving him forever unable to face formidable foes! The five ancient rings on his right hand blazed with radiant light, and Lin Wujiu's aura began to skyrocket frantically. Li Guanqi dispersed his spiritual sword, gripped Red Lotus tightly in his hand, and narrowed his eyes. *I still need to suppress him a little more...* With that thought, Li Guanqi erupted with heaven-shaking sword intent! This sword intent pierced straight through the dharma artifact and coiled above the Lin residence. In an instant, all of Qinzhou City noticed a myriad-zhang expanse of thunderclouds gathering above the Lin Manor! Thunderclouds churned, lightning cracked and thunder roared, while gale-force winds howled! Lin Jinting shot to his feet in his study! "This is... peak Po realm sword intent!" "Good lad, to think he hid it so deeply!" At that thought, the man set down his brush and vanished from the study in a blur. With a wave of his hand, he cast a myriad-zhang barrier across the firmament, concealing the aura from the outside world. Inside the dharma artifact. Lin Wujiu's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His jade crown burst apart, his long hair whipped wildly in the wind, and his robes clung tightly to his body, snapping loudly. At this moment, Lin Wujiu felt like a lone skiff upon a sea tossed by a thunderstorm! Monstrous waves surged skyward, crashing around him with explosive roars; it seemed he might capsize at any second. His face was pale, his eyes filled with dread. He had never imagined the gulf between his and Li Guanqi's swordsmanship was this vast. Yet precisely because of this, the stubborn pride deep within Lin Wujiu erupted completely, forcing him to unleash the full might of his strongest sword intent! Behind Li Guanqi, a zhang-tall crimson ethereal phantom gradually took shape! The towering phantom looked down on Lin Wujiu. The pressure mounted abruptly. Lin Wujiu's knees slowly buckled, his eyes bloodshot and his teeth clenched tight. Veins bulged on his forehead as low growls escaped his throat. *Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!* Raging sword intent swirled around his body, crisscrossing through the air. In an instant, both of their ears filled with the dense, rapid clatter of clashing steel. Yet Li Guanqi was still not satisfied. At that moment, he actually donned the ghost mask and gripped Xue Ming, striking terror into the soul! Behind him, thunder and flames surged like towering tidal waves. Blood seeped from the corner of Lin Wujiu's mouth. Between Li Guanqi's appearance and his aura, he exuded an ominous, wicked malice from head to toe, like an evil ghost from hell. Yet the instant fear took root, he bit his tongue, forcibly driving it out! "I... Lin Wujiu, fear no one in this life!" With a low roar, the magical robe on Lin Wujiu ripped apart, his skin slashed with bloody gashes by the sword qi. Yet channeling strength through his entire body, he slowly raised a foot. Braving the terrifying pressure erupting from Li Guanqi, he took a fierce step forward! And with that single step... *Boom!* Another sword intent soared into the sky, smashing right through the ceiling of the cultivation chamber. The surging sword intent stirred the wind and clouds, carving out its own territory amid the churning sea of clouds. Standing in midair, Lin Jinting parted his lips slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief. Because he could distinctly sense that this surge of Po realm sword intent belonged to Lin Wujiu! Lin Wujiu was completely immersed in his own sword Dao. The immortal primal energy within him circulated, and the Nine Cauldrons Sun-Piercing Sword Art began operating of its own accord. Nine golden suns the size of water buckets hovered above his shoulders. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, three ribbons of celestial resonance manifesting over his shoulders and drifting with the wind. Facing Lin Wujiu's surging momentum, he showed no trace of fear beneath the ghost mask. Whether because the pressure from Li Guanqi was too intense or not, the ancient rings on Lin Wujiu's right hand began to shatter one after another. In the blink of an eye, only a single cracked ancient ring remained! Sensing that Lin Wujiu's aura was pressing right up against the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm, Lin Jinting's expression changed drastically! Yet before he could call out to stop it, another aura comparable to a Heavenly Immortal erupted with a roar! As the pair's power pierced the clouds and leaked past the barrier, cold sweat beaded at Lin Jinting's temples. "What on earth are these two little bastards trying to do?!" Suppressing his aura to the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm, Li Guanqi lashed out with sword strike after sword strike against the charging Lin Wujiu! *Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!* Sword light descended like a torrential downpour from the dome of heaven, blurring with blinding speed. In Li Guanqi's hand, Xue Ming revealed its Soul Release form, sword brilliance pulsing from the blade. Seven furious slashes burst forth in rapid succession, yet Li Guanqi met them head-on and withstood every blow! The webs between both men's thumbs and forefingers tore open, dripping with fresh blood. Yet caught in the throes of battle, neither noticed in the slightest. The eighth sword! Li Guanqi's expression hardened. The fanged mouth of his ghost mask parted slightly, lightning flickering within as his blood-red eyes blazed. "Purgatory Asura: Ghost Wrath!" *Boom!* With a slight shift of his footing, a red-haired fierce ghost manifested behind Li Guanqi! The two figures flashed past each other. In an instant, a large chunk of flesh was torn from Lin Wujiu's shoulder. Meanwhile, a sword strike landed across Li Guanqi's chest! Both halted their momentum in unison and spun around abruptly. The ninth sword! Scorching Sun Incinerates the Heavens! The dazzling sword light illuminated the entire void of the dharma artifact as bright as day. Lin Wujiu's aura reached its pinnacle at that very moment. This strike... could slay a Heavenly Immortal! Seeing this, Li Guanqi dared not underestimate it either, exhaling a breath of turbid air. His chest heaving, his voice rasped like the murmur of a vengeful ghost: "Purgatory Asura: Nether Prison!"