Suddenly!
Zhou Shiyu clamped his teeth down and bit off his own tongue!
Lu Xingyuan's pupils contracted sharply. In that momentary hesitation, Zhou Shiyu seized the opportunity and severed his hand with a single sword strike!
A manic grin stretched across Zhou Shiyu's mangled, gruesome face, as though mocking Lu Xingyuan's shaken resolve.
Yet only Zhou Shiyu knew that he, too, feared death. He, too, dreaded losing.
That was why he had bitten through his tongue—to ensure he could never utter the words "I yield"!
Though soaked in blood and covered in wounds, Zhou Shiyu's eyes remained unyielding, forged with the resilience of steel.
As his injuries worsened by the moment, he knew full well he was nearing his absolute limit.
At this point, his only sliver of survival lay in fighting to the bitter end.
Gripping his staff, Lu Xingyuan was just as grievously wounded.
His attacks came swift and relentless as a raging storm, but Zhou Shiyu managed to evade every fatal strike at the critical juncture.
Lu Xingyuan's staff technique moved like a phantom, elusive and unpredictable, yet Zhou Shiyu relentlessly found openings to launch swift counters.
Back and forth they clashed, neither giving an inch, every strike imbued with absolute conviction and the determination to win.
The two planted their feet and traded furious blows without moving an inch!
Their feet dug deep into the earth; neither took even half a step back.
"Ah!"
"Die!"
Their battle had dragged on for so long that both were completely exhausted, yet neither would concede.
They knew this was a fight to the death; only by defeating the other could they walk away alive.
It was a clash that moved all who watched.
After who knew how long, the speed at which both men swung their weapons slowed, turning agonizingly sluggish.
*Clang!*
The staff slipped from Lu Xingyuan's fingers and clattered onto the ground.
Zhou Shiyu was beaten beyond recognition, his skull caved in with a deep depression, and only one of his swollen eyes could barely crack open.
His lower jaw shattered to pulp, Zhou Shiyu smiled.
He raised his greatsword, and just as Lu Wuhen shouted a surrender, he brought it crashing down!
*Slash!*
Lu Xingyuan's body was cleaved in two. In his final moments, he looked at Zhou Shiyu with admiration in his eyes, his voice faint and trembling.
"You... are... ruthless..."
*Thud!*
The severed corpse fell to the ground. Lu Wuhen's face turned utterly dark, and Lu Hengtian could barely suppress his surging murderous intent!
Nangong Xuandu simply cast a glance into the distance, and a hundred-zhang azure sword ray descended from the heavens!
*Boom!*
The Lu clan's cloud boat blew apart into pieces!
Glancing at the disheveled, battered members of the Lu clan, Nangong Xuandu said coldly, "Third match: Great Xia Sword Sect's victory!"
Only then did Zhou Shiyu finally allow himself to close his heavy, leaden eyes.
Li Guanqi stepped forward, catching Zhou Shiyu before he could collapse.
Zhou Shiyu struggled to lift his head toward him, mouthing unintelligible words with his mangled jaw...
Holding him close, Li Guanqi gently patted his back and whispered, "Thank you."
*Boom!*
Countless auras erupted into the sky as cultivators across the Six Domains threw their arms up and cheered, finally releasing the suffocating tension that had gripped them.
The Ancient Clan cultivators, who had heaped boundless mockery upon them earlier, fell completely silent.
"You bastards! Bark! Keep barking! What happened to your voices?!"
"Go on, keep talking, you dogs! Struck dumb now, are you?!"
"So much for the invincible Ancient Clan—turns out you can bleed like the rest of us!"
The spectators on the viewing stands had finally found an outlet for their pent-up fury.
A torrent of scathing insults echoed through the air, even harsher than what the Ancient Clan had hurled before.
Even several sect masters and clan patriarchs joined in the shouting.
Perhaps it was because the suppression had lasted far too long, or perhaps this third match had been simply too pivotal.
None of the cultivators cared about decorum anymore, spewing every vile insult they could conjure.
To the Ancient Clan cultivators, this display seemed almost ridiculous—the Six Domains had merely won a single match and regained a sliver of momentum.
They couldn't fathom why the crowd had become so unhinged.
Yet only the Six Domains cultivators truly understood how biting their own words were.
The Ancient Clan members looked utterly wretched, their expressions as foul as if they had been forced to swallow filth.
Even so, neither side dared make a move; Nangong Xuandu's strength far exceeded their wildest imaginations.
Many of the Lu clan were injured, and the Lu clan ancestor stared grimly at the shattered wreckage of their cloud boat behind him.
Yet he dared not utter a single complaint against the green-robed swordsman with the blade slung across his back.
Nangong Xuandu glanced up at the sky and announced abruptly, "A half-shichen recess before the remaining two matches."
Lu Wuhen's eyes narrowed as he looked at Nangong Xuandu, his voice quiet. "Aren't you being a bit partial? Between the previous two matches, the break was at most a single incense stick's time."
The man did not turn around. He merely cut his eyes sideways at Lu Wuhen, his piercing gaze seeming to skewer straight through the young man's heart!
Lu Wuhen turned ghastly pale. The world before his eyes spun, plunging him into a horrific vision of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
*Pfft!*
He spat out a mouthful of blood as Nangong Xuandu's chilling voice rang in his ears.
"Remember this: I owe you no explanation for anything I do."
"You have no right to question me, you little bastard."
Doubled over as blood poured from his lips, Lu Wuhen saw a pair of boots come into view.
Bowing low, his eyes quivering in terror, Lu Wuhen stammered, "This... this junior understands."
Behind him, Lu Hengtian stood rigid as stone, unable to move a single step.
Nine wisps of azure sword Qi hovered quietly behind Nangong Xuandu. Cold sweat trickled down the old man's temples.
He was certain that if he dared twitch a muscle, the man would cut him down without a second thought!
Even within the Mahayana Realm, the difference between cultivators was like clouds and mud.
To call the gulf between him and Nangong Xuandu an insurmountable chasm would be an understatement.
Even the old crone of the Zhu clan wouldn't dare claim she could hold out against Nangong Xuandu for the span of an incense stick.
The man slowly turned away. Glancing toward Li Guanqi, who was flying off through the air, he paused for a brief moment before vanishing on the spot.
When he reappeared, he had completely bypassed the boundary array of the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven, arriving directly beside the medicinal pool!
Pengluo was actually the first to sense him. Overcome by a chill that shot straight to the crown of his head, Pengluo leaped up and clung tightly to Li Guanqi's head, shrieking, "Someone's here! Someone came in!"
Li Guanqi turned to find Nangong Xuandu leaning against the stone wall, arms folded over his chest, watching him.
Having just settled the critically wounded Zhou Shiyu, Li Guanqi bowed respectfully. "Junior Li Guanqi greets Senior Nangong."
The man shrugged and raised a hand to lift him upright.
Unfastening the celadon wine gourd from his waist, he tossed it into the air, and a thick, honey-like ambrosia slowly poured out, draining into the medicinal pool.
Pengluo's eyes went wide at the sight of the liquid. Even without being told, Li Guanqi knew it was an extraordinary treasure.
The moment the spiritual nectar blended into the pool, Cao Yan, Xiao Chen, and Zhou Shiyu shuddered in unison.
Soon, three small vortexes formed within the expansive pool as the three men began drawing in the medicinal essence.
"Half a shichen is the most I can buy you," Nangong Xuandu said softly.
"Besides... had I not come, that little fellow would likely have spent the rest of his life crippled."
He was referring to Zhou Shiyu. The duel between him and Lu Xingyuan had been unimaginably gruesome—a sheer contest of willpower fought to the bitter end...
Chapter 799