This Is Impossible...

Watching the teetering Dao platform, the spectating cultivators all rose to their feet involuntarily. They had clashed for barely dozens of breaths, yet the crowd watched with greater tension than during any previous battle. The fight between the two was simply too ferocious; every single breath was a psychological duel. The slightest error would end in death and the destruction of one's cultivation. Moreover, neither had intended to waste time feeling out the other from the start. Both were going all out. Nangong Xuandu's brow furrowed slightly. Hanging the wine gourd back at his waist, his hands rapidly wove incantation seals. Buzz—! A surging spatial ripple swept outward, teleporting everyone two thousand zhang away. Immediately after, the formation barrier expanded within a breath to encompass three thousand zhang. The Dao platform within widened at blinding speed as well, swelling in the blink of an eye into an immense expanse three thousand zhang across! As the smoke and dust from the explosion gradually cleared, two figures stood suspended in the air some thirty-odd zhang apart. Lu Wuhen's posture was slightly stooped. A ghastly, hideous wound stretched across his waist, having come within a hair's breadth of cleaving him in two. Li Guanqi was just as severely injured; the defenses of his Floating Cloud Dharma Robe had proven utterly useless. A long gash tore across his chest, so deep that bone showed through. Ghastly white bone lay exposed, having nearly sheared clean through Li Guanqi's ribs. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. That sword strike just now... He clearly hadn't been hit! Yet merely from the tip sweeping past, his lightning armor had been sliced apart and his chest ripped open. Had his reflexes not been quick enough to retreat over ten zhang, Lu Wuhen's strike would likely have cut him in half! "Sister Sword Spirit, can you sense it?" The sword spirit's expression was grim as her solemn voice sounded in his mind. "I sense it! It's not a shard of my true body." "It's somewhat different from Nu Sha and the others. That fellow... has a projection of my true body within his Sword Ruins." "In other words... of the projection of my true body within your Sword Ruins, a portion of the missing sword tip is inside this guy's body!!" As she spoke, not only did Li Guanqi's brows knit tightly, but even the sword spirit's own voice was fraught with bewilderment. Li Guanqi could not see the sword spirit's expression, but had he been able to, he would have been profoundly shocked. Her face was grim beyond precedent. Even back when she had unleashed killing intent on Li Guanqi and drawn forth Su Xuan's saber ray, she had never looked so solemn. No matter how she pondered it, she simply could not fathom why Lu Wuhen would possess a projection of her within his body! What was more, her projection had even become Lu Wuhen's ruins artifact! "The sword tip... wasn't it supposed to have perished there long ago...?" "Did the vast, desolate river of time truly carry 'me' to this Human Spirit Realm?" "No... impossible... this is absolutely impossible!!" "Lu Wuhen... Lu Wuhen..." Lu Wuhen sealed his wound and looked up at Li Guanqi, his eyes ablaze with manic excitement. Only, there were still things he had yet to confirm. "You truly are strong. You're the first person to force me to draw Dengxian in such a short time." "Far stronger than the trash from the other clans." At that moment, the sword spirit's voice sounded slowly. Her left hand had been constantly calculating and divining, yet the more she deduced, the darker her expression became. Not because of what she saw, but because she could see nothing at all! It was as if all of this were mere coincidence... And precisely because of that, the sword spirit deemed the matter all the more grave. In her eyes, there was no such thing as coincidence in a matter like this! All coincidences existed beneath the weave of karma! And behind karma... there might lurk an invisible guiding hand. The sword spirit gritted her teeth and said in a heavy voice, "Against him, I cannot take action!" Li Guanqi's gaze sharpened, though he kept his composure on the surface as he thought, *Why can't you act?* *If that fellow truly possesses a projection of your true body, with your power, couldn't you just plunder it?* The sword spirit shook her head, her voice chilling. "I can't... I must conceal my aura right now. No matter what, I cannot make a move!" "Lu Wuhen might be a hook!" She then shared all her deductions and conjectures with Li Guanqi. Hearing them, Li Guanqi sucked in a cold breath. His voice gradually grew calm as he murmured softly, "Understood. Leave the rest... to me." Li Guanqi's gaze narrowed, his heart sinking slightly. He had not expected that, now that they had confirmed Lu Wuhen's internal ruins artifact, the sword spirit would instead be unable to act. Originally, he had planned for the sword spirit to plunder Lu Wuhen's Sword Ruins ability the moment he unleashed Apocalypse, thereby ruining his Sword Ruins. "Phew..." With a wave of his hand, Li Guanqi donned the lightning armor once more. The watching spectators suddenly noticed the atmosphere in the arena turning chillingly somber. Freezing killing intent clashed between the two. Lu Wuhen licked his lips, his deep gaze fixed intently on Li Guanqi. Suddenly, he spoke. "If I'm not mistaken... you plundered and devoured Sun Tianqi's Sword Ruins ability, didn't you?" Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, his eyebrow twitching slightly. Though the reaction vanished in an instant, Lu Wuhen still caught it. The corner of Lu Wuhen's mouth curled upward as he murmured with supreme confidence, "Just as I thought... Illusory Form!" "I've coveted that ability for quite a while myself. What a pity I never found the chance." Lu Wuhen closed his mouth, sending a voice transmission directly to Li Guanqi's ear: "You truly are like me! You plunder... while I devour!" "Hahahahaha! Three abilities... Li Guanqi, your ruins artifact must be nothing more than a tiny little shard, right?" Looking at the smug, self-assured Lu Wuhen, Li Guanqi was momentarily at a loss for words, even somewhat exasperated. If Lu Wuhen knew that his Sword Ruins held the projection of the sword spirit's true body, he would probably cough up blood and die of sheer fury. Still, judging from the situation, Lu Wuhen—armed with the sword spirit's tip as his ruins artifact—was truly not to be underestimated... Neither uttered another word; the urge to kill each other had reached its absolute peak! Lu Wuhen gripped his sword in one hand and muttered softly, "Apocalypse: Dengxian!!" Buzz—! A profound ripple radiated from the center of Lu Wuhen's forehead, followed by the sword in his hand slowly elongating by an inch. At the tip of the blade, an extraordinary, dazzling crimson glow shone brilliantly! The instant he saw that pinpoint of crimson light, an inexplicable throb stirred in Li Guanqi's heart. He could clearly sense that the aura emanating from that sword was incomparably familiar! The reason Lu Wuhen had harbored doubts was precisely because Red Lotus was merely a vessel sword, unlike Lu Wuhen who had fused his ruins artifact directly into his blade! Red Lotus would have loved to, but unfortunately, it could not withstand even a ten-millionth of the sword spirit's power. "Phew..." Boom! Two deafening blasts rang out as their figures turned into streaks of afterimages, colliding in an instant. Lu Wuhen no longer concealed his power, and his terrifying sword intent, which had already touched the threshold of the Sword Soul Realm, erupted with a roar! At this moment, Li Guanqi clearly sensed that Lu Wuhen's entire demeanor had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. Lu Wuhen now was like a blade so sharp it could pierce and tear through everything!