Seizing the Sword!

Cang Lu snorted coldly and kicked the base of his ancient zither, flipping the upright instrument horizontally in an instant. Bowing his head, he slowly closed his eyes. His hands brushed across the strings as vast primal energy surged into them. The strings instantly turned a pale gold. Cang Lu's aura erupted, and the crushing pressure of the Void Refining Realm bore down upon Li Guanqi like a massive mountain. Li Guanqi's speed was visibly slowed by a full twenty percent. Jiuxiao shattered the oppressive force with a head-on charge, snapping open its cavernous maw as lightning coalesced within. Malevolence flared in the dragon's frosty eyes, and it exhaled a blazing pillar of thunder directly at Cang Lu! Boom, boom, boom! The terrifying pillar of thunder tore through the sky, sweeping across heaven and earth with a dense aura of destruction. Cang Lu's pupils constricted violently. He crushed a primitive jade ring on his index finger! In an instant, layer upon layer of ornate golden shields materialized around him! Boom! Jiuxiao's thunder breath poured wildly against the shields. Crack! Shock flashed in Cang Lu's eyes as he stared at the cracking jade ring. His left hand violently tore through the void, and his figure shifted a hundred zhang away in an instant. Deprived of its target, the thunder breath blasted onward. With a deafening boom, a gaping hole two hundred zhang across was blasted through the void. Watching Jiuxiao pursue Cang Lu, Li Guanqi bore the brutal pressure without a change in expression. Lightning flashed underfoot, and in a split second, he vanished from where he stood. Catching this from the corner of his eye, Cang Lu curled his lip in a sneer. "Teleporting before me? What... are you thinking?!" Boom! Terrifying spatial power furiously squeezed the void, yet Cang Lu detected no trace of Li Guanqi within space. Thud! The void behind Cang Lu abruptly detonated! Clothes torn to reveal ghastly scars, Li Guanqi was already slowly raising the Red Lotus sword! Back where Li Guanqi had stood just moments before, the sky abruptly collapsed into a pitch-black abyss dozens of zhang across. The entire sky there had shattered under the raw force of his takeoff. Only now did Cang Lu realize that Li Guanqi hadn't used spatial power to teleport through the void at all. Instead, through pure physical might and movement technique, he had achieved a speed indistinguishable from teleportation! Gripping one side of the zither with one hand, Cang Lu whipped it behind him in a savage backhand swing! At the same time, the jade ring on his finger flared with its final brilliance, conjuring a heavy golden shield behind him. Li Guanqi's fingers creaked as he clenched the hilt. His arm bulged instantly, veins throbbing against swelling muscle, and he brought Red Lotus slashing down! "Demon Shadow Slash: Dark Night!" Boom! At that moment, Li Guanqi's killing intent erupted, pushing his power to the absolute limit. Heaven and earth plunged into darkness. Clang! A corner was cleaved clean off the ancient zither by Red Lotus. Immediately following, Li Guanqi's foot drove brutally into Cang Lu's shoulder with a sickening crunch of shattering bone. Cang Lu plummeted from the sky like a cannonball, slamming into the earth with a thunderous crash! The ground quaked, piercing the ridges in his path and gouging a crater a hundred zhang across into the terrain. Amid billowing clouds of dust, Li Guanqi gave Cang Lu not a single moment to catch his breath, rocketing downward like an artillery shell. Flames spiraled around Red Lotus's blade as the power of the heavenly flame, the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame, surged into the sword. Whoosh! A fierce gust swept by, scattering the dust to reveal Cang Lu standing blood-soaked at the bottom of the pit. The golden zither strings were already snapped. Jiuxiao's massive form abruptly manifested inside the crater, its colossal tail whipping viciously at Cang Lu! The wind wailed shrilly, the sheer force of the tail strike tearing rifts in space wherever it passed. With all six fingers, Cang Lu snatched the broken strings, stringing them back in a flash, and swept both hands frantically across them! In an instant, more than a dozen sonic blades laced with an ear-piercing sound wave flew at the incoming dragon tail. Boom, boom, boom! Violent explosions resounded, and a roar of pain burst from Jiuxiao's throat. A dark figure shot out of the crater, leaving several deep gashes across Jiuxiao's tail. Scales shattered and flesh splattered! Enraged, Jiuxiao whipped around and swiped a dragon claw violently at Cang Lu. Its speed was blistering, closing the distance in the blink of an eye! The overwhelming power warped the surrounding space so violently that Cang Lu had no way to teleport even if he wanted to. Left with no choice, Cang Lu held the ancient zither horizontally before him and flicked his fingers repeatedly. Sonic blades burst forth, but the dragon claw crushed them into dust without losing an ounce of momentum! Screeech! Sparks flew as the hardened zither was gouged with deep furrows, and the immense impact flung Cang Lu several hundred zhang back. Cang Lu's face turned pale as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His right shoulder had been shattered by Li Guanqi's kick. The zither slamming into his chest had fractured several ribs, and the broken bones pierced his lungs, leaving him gasping in agonizing pain. Suddenly! A chill ran down Cang Lu's spine—Li Guanqi had already arrived at his flank! Cang Lu's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He had drastically underestimated Li Guanqi's combat strength. Such power far exceeded his expectations! Cold glints flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. Seizing the moment Cang Lu spat blood, lightning danced beneath his feet. The sword in his hand traced a profoundly mystical arc and slashed savagely toward Cang Lu! "Heaven Breaker Sword Art: Immortal Slayer!" Boom! A terrifying sword beam a full hundred zhang wide erupted! Li Guanqi was barely three feet from Cang Lu. At such close range, if this strike landed, Cang Lu would be dead beyond a doubt! Dazzling lightning intertwined with terrifying fiery might, bursting forth in an apocalyptic roar. Cang Lu forcibly tore space and teleported hundreds of zhang backward, but the sword beam was simply too fast. Even after five consecutive teleports, Cang Lu failed to escape the sword beam's reach. The ancient zither in his hands blazed with blinding brilliance. Cang Lu hoisted the zither upright and clamped his right fingers onto the strings. He drew all five strings hard against his chest, like pulling the bowstring of a massive bow. Cang Lu's eyes gleamed wildly as violent primal energy surged into the zither. "Five Demon Sound Slaughter!" Veins bulged on Cang Lu's neck, and the taut strings severed the fingers of his right hand! The five strings snapped violently! Boom, boom, boom! Five successive terrifying sonic blades, each a hundred zhang across, erupted in an instant. Simultaneously, a bizarre, pitch-black array disk appeared in Cang Lu's hand. A sinister power transformed into pitch-black threads, concealed within the sonic blades, and shot straight toward Li Guanqi! Lightning surged around Li Guanqi as he prepared to pursue Cang Lu. Suddenly! Deafening explosions blasted beside his ears, and terrifying sound waves washed over all directions! Li Guanqi's eardrums ruptured instantly. Blood poured from his seven apertures, sending his consciousness into a daze. Just then, myriad pitch-black threads coiled abruptly around Red Lotus! An irresistible force wrenched the sword, tearing Red Lotus straight from his grasp! A sharp jolt of alarm seized Li Guanqi's heart! "Not good!" Through the ringing in his ears, Cang Lu's voice cackled, "Hahahaha! Just wait, Li Guanqi, I have quite a gift in store for you!!"