Boss Battle

Anxiety flared within Xu Yuan. The prototype posturer and the chaos-loving enchantress had completely different temperaments, but both tended toward extremes. The slightest friction in conversation could easily trigger a fight to the death. Surrounded by formidable foes, Xu Yuan had no time to bring Feng Jiuxuan up to speed on everything. Yet to his surprise, Feng Jiuxuan remained entirely calm, completely unaffected by Tianye's provocation. The moment he descended, Feng Jiuxuan had sensed something off about this Saintess. Her cultivation remained at the peak of the Origin Realm, yet she exuded an aura dangerous enough to set even his instincts on edge. The instant she opened her mouth, his vast experience allowed him to piece together cause and effect. The Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had been replaced. She was not the Tianyan he had met before. "A Soul Lodging Technique?" The moment Feng Jiuxuan's voice reached him, Xu Yuan—having already chosen his words carefully—hastily gave his uncle a concise explanation: "Uncle, she isn't an enemy for now, it's just—" Before he could finish, Feng Jiuxuan and Tianye vanished simultaneously. At the same time, a terrifying tempest abruptly erupted from below, surging straight into the sky! The White Emperor had made his move. Giving them no chance to exchange intelligence, brute force coalesced into a near-solid phantom of a colossal dragon that roared as it hurtled toward Xu Yuan. In a fight of this caliber, Xu Yuan stood no chance of reacting in time. He could only rely on the black Source Qi cloaking his body, ready to trigger the Void-Treading Slash the instant it reacted to the incoming qi dynamic. Yet before the strike could reach him, the man in immaculate white stood before him. A white sword beam lit up the sky, cleaving the draconic beam of light from head to tail in an instant. Though severed in two, the light beam did not dissipate. It continued rocketing upward, leaving two spreading cobweb patterns across the city's warding canopy amid a deafening, ear-splitting boom. As the sword strike ended, wild gales billowed Feng Jiuxuan's white robes. He cast a peculiar, puzzled glance at the golden-eyed maiden who had appeared before Changtian almost simultaneously with him. *Didn't you just say you were neutral?* Tianye ignored him, letting out a chuckle. "I'm not at full strength, but for Great Yan's Sword Saint to be faster than me, you do have some skill. Consider it an overreaction on my part." As the words reached his ears, Feng Jiuxuan chose to ignore her mockery, instantly grasping the true meaning of her claim of neutrality. *She's only protecting Changtian's life?* Yet the Saints present were all at the absolute pinnacle of worldly shrewdness. Four others within Zhenxi Manor realized this as well. The hunched elder's voice transmission from atop the wall instantly resonated in the ears of the other five Saints: "It seems Her Eminence the Saintess won't act... so long as no one attacks Xu Changtian." "..." Hearing this, the half-dead Mu Xingyi breathed a sigh of relief. His concern for Xu Yuan's safety was likely no less than Feng Jiuxuan's. It wasn't that he genuinely wanted Xu Yuan to live; rather, in a battle between Saints, a mere stray graze would obliterate Xu Yuan, leaving nothing behind. If that happened, how could Nuonuo restore herself? Unfortunately, the elder's next sentence made Mu Xingyi's heart sink. "Still, I think it might be worth a try. You all witnessed our Great Yan Sword Saint's prowess that night. Besieging him directly carries too much risk. Wouldn't it be better to focus our attacks on Xu Changtian to tie his hands?" At these words, Tianyuan glanced expressionlessly at the smiling elder. Qin Ke was directing those words at her. Though he claimed it was merely to deal with Feng Jiuxuan, "Tianyan" had already declared her stance. Attacking Xu Changtian was equivalent to executing "Tianyan," the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. After a moment of silence, Tianyuan's cool voice responded calmly, "Proceed according to the original plan. The White Emperor and I will pin down the Sword Saint. Qin Ke, make haste to dismantle the city's defensive formations step by step." The White Emperor, meanwhile, completely ignored the hunched elder's words. He stared thoughtfully at the slash mark across the scales of his palm. The wound was shallow, cutting mere fractions of a millimeter into his scales without drawing blood, but in that probe just now, he had come out slightly behind. The Sword Saint's strike had pierced through the phantom dragon, forcing him to manifest his scales for defense. In the next instant, he moved again. His impassive, slitted draconic pupils locked onto the figure in white, arriving before him in a flash. This time, he did not attack Xu Changtian. He chose to confront Great Yan's Sword Saint head-on! This abrupt turn of events left the hunched elder on the wall flabbergasted. His gaze froze for a moment before his lips curved into an ambiguous smile. *The Lord of Guyuan certainly has quite the pride...* If that was the case, it would save them plenty of trouble. The White Emperor struck with blinding speed, and Feng Jiuxuan moved just as swiftly. In the blink of an eye, he flicked his sword upward. A cold glint branched into countless sword trajectories, sealing off every path of the White Emperor's approach. Sword light and draconic silhouettes bloomed across the sky. In an instant, the battle reached a fever pitch. Back in *Cangyuan*, Xu Yuan had often fantasized about chaotic brawls between bosses of vastly different styles. But now that it was actually unfolding before his eyes, he was left entirely dumbfounded. Just like that night in Di'an, he couldn't see a thing. Aside from blinding visual clutter filling his vision, there was nothing. Yet this visual clutter wasn't mere special effects. Stray sword beams and dragon shadows leveled over a dozen city blocks of Zhenxi Prefectural City in an instant. Countless insect swarms and aristocratic household soldiers were silently annihilated within them, and even the defensive canopy above the city cracked under the vibrations. Just then, Tianye drifted slowly to his side and remarked with a light laugh, "Without outside interference, it'll probably take them several days to settle this." "Huh?" Xu Yuan snapped out of his daze. Tianye explained with a smile, "The White Emperor deliberately dragged your uncle into close combat. Unless the advantaged party changes tactics, the disadvantaged one will never find an opening to pull away without taking a severe blow, let alone have time to unleash high-powered spells or sword techniques. So under normal circumstances, they would grind each other down until one of them dies." Looking at the two figures who had already traded blows hundreds of yards away, Tianye added with a faint smile, "Right now, your uncle seems to hold the upper hand. Too bad his slashes can't deal any real damage to the Lord of Guyuan. And since no one can tell whether the Pavilion Master and that old man will intervene, Feng Jiuxuan will probably change his stance soon..." Within a mere dozen breaths, the human robe on the White Emperor was torn to shreds, revealing the muscular physique beneath, clad in dragon scales. Countless sword marks were etched across his skin, oozing faint threads of golden dragon blood. Before him, Feng Jiuxuan's white robes remained pristine and untainted by dust. As the gale howled, his sword flowed like a violent tempest and an endless tide. Yet as time passed, Feng Jiuxuan's sharp instincts caught a subtle anomaly. Though the sword marks on the White Emperor's scales grew ever more numerous, the cuts he left seemed to be growing shallower. The change was miniscule. Without his hollowed-out realm of the sword, even a Saint's perception would hardly have noticed it. *Are my strikes weakening?* *Or are the White Emperor's scales growing tougher?* *No.* *Is this the White Emperor's draconic innate talent?* Feng Jiuxuan had no idea what kind of technique it was, but he knew with absolute certainty that he could not let the fight continue this way. The instant he noticed the clue, Feng Jiuxuan shifted his stance. A horizontal sword parry deflected the staggering force of the opponent's punch, using the resulting turbulence to conceal his left hand forming a sword seal. Saint origin surged, and a Dharma sword materialized behind Feng Jiuxuan in an instant. Formless, colorless, and soundless, the sword cut through the void and lunged straight toward the White Emperor's chest. The White Emperor seemed completely oblivious, pressing forward with his fist. Only a fraction of an instant before contact did he abruptly shift, seizing the invisible Dharma sword with his bare hand and exerting crushing force, seemingly intending to shatter it. *Squelch!* Yet the expected shattering did not occur. The razor-sharp edge instantly tore through the dragon scales on his palm, sending blood spurting as all five fingers were nearly severed. At that price, however, the White Emperor bought himself the chance to wind up a punch. The pinnacle of brute force belonging to the Lord of Guyuan erupted violently! Feng Jiuxuan's brows knit tight. He brought his nameless ancient sword across his chest to block, but the moment it met the gale of the scaled fist, his tranquil pupils contracted. *Heavy...* This blow was too heavy—heavy to the point that he couldn't withstand it! Right at that moment, however— *Awoooo—* A sudden wolf's howl rang out, and an unimaginably terrifying sphere of light burst into the peripheral vision of both Feng Jiuxuan and the White Emperor. It was an orb condensed from pure saint origin, hurtling toward them at a speed practically invisible to the naked eye. Its target was aimed squarely at the White Emperor!