A Shard Projection of the Sword Spirit's Tip?

In truth, there was one detail that even the sword spirit had misjudged. Lu Wuhen's Dengxian Sword did not actually contain an authentic shard of her true form. Rather, an illusory projection of her sword tip's shard had manifested within his innate spirit ruins! When his spirit ruins awakened, a Saint Grade Sword Ruins had appeared before him, yet intuition urged him to choose that shard instead. So he had chosen the crimson shard. Though no larger than a soybean, it had propelled his rise like a comet! Because of this, he named his blade Dengxian—Ascending to Immortality. He firmly believed he could shatter the firmament and attain immortality on the strength of this single shard alone. The sword spirit shared her suspicion with Li Guanqi. After pondering it at length, she doubted the other man could genuinely possess a physical fragment of her true form. Had it truly been a piece of her origin, she would have sensed it long ago. The sword spirit sighed and murmured softly, "It must be a projection of my shard, just like Nu Sha..." "Be careful. The tip of his sword... will be formidable!" *Boom! Boom!* The two stood facing each other. Neither moved to strike immediately, yet their momentum surged to a peak in an instant! A terrifying, crushing pressure comparable to a half-step Body Integration expert rolled off them; neither made any effort to conceal their cultivation. At the same time, Lu Kangnian spread his divine sense and asked in a low voice, "How are things on Li Congxin's end?" Qin Xian's hurried voice soon sounded in his ear. "Almost! He has already broken through to the late Void Refining Realm, though there's still some distance to the peak. He needs time!" Qin Xian had already grown numb from shock at the speed of the clone Li Congxin's breakthrough. He felt like a miner swinging a shovel until it practically smoked. Using his spiritual power, he hurled handful after handful of spirit stones into the spirit-gathering array. Around Li Congxin alone lay eighteen spirit-gathering array discs. The cultivation technique Li Congxin practiced refined spiritual energy so rapidly that more than ten cultivators had to stand beside him, feeding spirit stones without a second's pause. "Sect Master... our spirit stones here are running out..." Lu Kangnian said in a grave voice, "Open the domain barrier. Tang Ru is here, and Tang Wei too." Before Lu Kangnian could finish, Qin Xian's startled voice sounded again. "Uh... Sect Master, the avatars of Domain Lord Meng and Elder Gu have both arrived. It should be enough." Lu Kangnian breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze turning solemn as he looked toward the arena. Li Guanqi and Lu Wuhen felt a chill of killing intent radiating from each other. Regardless of what needed to be confirmed, neither intended to let the other leave alive! *Could it be... his Sword Ruins holds a shard as well?!* *Boom! Boom!* Two violent explosions erupted, and the ground beneath their feet instantly collapsed into craters more than a zhang wide. *Clang!* *Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!* *Boom! Crash! Clang! Thud! Ring!* Two afterimages collided and intertwined midair. Cold light flickered incessantly, the clash of steel ringing so rapidly that not a single pause could be heard! The hum of swords echoed across the sky as a tremendous shockwave swept the entire arena! Li Guanqi and Lu Wuhen were blasted backward by a hundred zhang. The moment they parted, the void at the center of the ring seemed to detonate, tearing open a hollow spanning a hundred zhang across! A pitch-black chasm gaped as if to devour everything in sight, unleashing wild, raging force across the field! Every powerhouse watching gasped in unison. Each strike of that unleashed power was enough to kill an ordinary cultivator in the middle Void Refining Realm! Had any cultivator of that caliber stepped into the explosion between the two, they would have been shredded into mist in an instant! Yet the two standing suspended midair did not have a single hair out of place. Each held his ground, staring across the gap with solemn eyes. Both looked grim, realizing they had underestimated the other's strength. Lu Wuhen sneered. "I didn't expect you to have broken through to the peak Void Refining Realm, just a single step from the Body Integration Realm." Li Guanqi showed no concern about having hidden his cultivation level, replying indifferently, "I didn't expect your physical strength to be so formidable either." Indeed, the other man's raw power was not a fraction weaker than his own! This was the first time Li Guanqi had faced an opponent capable of matching him evenly after pushing the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art to its limit. The man's power seemed linked to the beast spirit marks Lu Xiuzhong had used. Only, Lu Wuhen's marks were of a higher grade, far more powerful, and... Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed slightly. He suspected that Lu Wuhen bore the marks of more than a single ferocious beast! Lu Wuhen gave a faint smile. The methods of the Ancient Clans went far beyond what Li Guanqi could fathom. Beneath his wide sleeve, his left hand swiftly formed hand seals. The instant Li Guanqi sensed the fluctuation, he channeled his movement technique and teleported forward! Lifting his hand, he brought Red Lotus down in a vicious chop aimed straight for Lu Wuhen's left arm. Lu Wuhen's heart skipped a beat. He had not anticipated such terrifying speed! Relying solely on physical power and footwork, Li Guanqi moved almost as fast as a true teleportation. With no time to think, Lu Wuhen initiated a Cloud Sword maneuver, arching his back to slip beneath the blow. Deflecting Li Guanqi's descending blade, he thrust directly at Li Guanqi's wrist! Yet right then, a sharp gleam flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. The instant their blades met, his sword momentum altered completely. Rather than resisting the deflection, Li Guanqi allowed the momentum to wrap his blade around the attack. Turning his wrist, he redirected Lu Wuhen's own sword back toward Lu Wuhen's wrist! Lu Wuhen's heart lurched. Unloading immense strength, he forcibly knocked Li Guanqi back. However, the seal his left hand had been forming was thoroughly disrupted. Retreating rapidly, a bead of cold sweat broke out on Lu Wuhen's brow. That seamless transition of moves had been no spur-of-the-moment reaction! To his senses... it felt as though every thought in his mind had been seen through! Lu Wuhen snapped his gaze up toward Li Guanqi, only to find that the blind man's pure white eyes had somehow become unfathomably deep. He had never imagined a day when he would describe a blind man's eyes as profound. Yet now, he felt like prey awaiting the slaughter! And Li Guanqi was the hunter, brandishing a cleaver ready to take his head at any moment! The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curled slightly. It seemed Lu Wuhen had noticed. Li Guanqi murmured inwardly, *Lethality, Blade Break, Illusory Form!* Empowered by three consecutive abilities, he had already discerned Lu Wuhen's every intention before the strikes even formed. It was precisely because of Illusory Form that Lu Wuhen felt utterly exposed. Another reason was that Li Guanqi was waiting. He was waiting for Lu Wuhen to reveal his Sword Ruins ability. If it proved strong enough... He would not hesitate to use Plunder to make it his own! With his current strength and realm, he could easily absorb several more abilities! Channeling the Great Wilderness Roaming Dragon Scripture, he gave Lu Wuhen no room to catch his breath and surged forward once again!