Brow-Height Staff, Victory!

The ferocious battle continued. Upon the broken bridge, the two were no longer fighting suspended in midair. Yuan Shuo had pushed the Five Animals Art to its utmost limit, and his breathing method matched it. With every breath he drew and expelled, plumes of white vapor rose around his body—the result of violent respiration passing through his internal organs, where extreme temperature differences caused moisture to vaporize. Yet to onlookers, it made him look like an immortal exhaling clouds and mist. Perhaps some ancient legends had been born this way. Standing high in the sky enveloped in what seemed like swirling clouds and mist—was that not the very picture of exhaling clouds? Sun Yifei, meanwhile, was like a god of fire. Flames did not scorch him, yet his long staff glowed bright crimson. Blow after blow, he forced Yuan Shuo—manifested as the Heart Fire Ape—to retreat step by step. He was simply too powerful! Though he had stepped into the supernatural, he still walked the martial path. He had been an expert of the martial Dao back then, and though he no longer wielded inner force today, his vast supernatural power still unleashed the terrifying might of the Brow-Height Staff. Who said supers could only rely on supernatural techniques? Sun Yifei had forged his own unique path among supers, treating supernatural power as inner force and executing the breathing technique of the Brow-Height Staff without suffering major backlash. *Boom!* With a single thrust of the staff, one side of the broken bridge completely collapsed. Treading empty air like a bird, Yuan Shuo pounced forward like a tiger. His fists morphed into claw-like talons as he snatched at the staff! *An eagle swooping upon a hare!* In that instant, he seemed to transform into an eagle, talons lunging toward Sun Yifei. Sparks flew as his claws scraped along the length of the staff. Sun Yifei flicked his weapon, a concussive force erupting with a rumble, and thrust forward... *Bang!* The staff seemed to pierce the heavens and the earth. Yuan Shuo pulled back swiftly, but the thrust still punched through his palm. The staff did not stop, slamming straight into the distant cliff face with a thunderous roar, gouging a massive cave into the rock. With a beckoning wave of Sun Yifei's hand, the staff flew back to him! The two fought with escalating ferocity! By now, Sun Yifei's fiery aura boiled. Several suns seemed to hover around his body. This was a true Three Sols powerhouse—blazing like the sun, incomparably mighty. Compared to him, the Three Sols experts of Silver Moon lagged far behind. In killing intent, combat instincts, experience, and methods, none could match this man. Fighting his way out of Silver Moon and carving his way back from the central region, Sun Yifei had spent decades locked in ceaseless slaughter. The blood-red sheen on his staff was not just firelight—it was the glow of shed blood! Midair, Yuan Shuo roared, and the Heart Fire Ape once again lashed out with its chains! The chains wrapped around the staff, metallic clatter ringing through the heavens and earth. The instant they bound the staff, Yuan Shuo let out a bellow. Below, Li Hao and the others hastily clapped their hands over their ears. In that fraction of a second, it felt as though a real tiger had strode out of the mountains—a roar magnified countless times beyond any ordinary beast, like the arrival of a great demon. "Roar!" The roar shook heaven and earth. Below, the weaker supernaturals erupted with mysterious energy, yet they still could not withstand the terrifying roar. Many had their eardrums ruptured instantly, blood trickling from their ears. They retreated again and again! The faces of numerous supers completely changed. Gripped by undisguised terror, they scattered backward. Those from small organizations fled swiftly, retreating over a thousand meters yet still feeling unsafe, falling back even further. Among the mid-sized organizations, only the Sword Gate remained. Hong Yitang signaled all his sect members to leave, but he stayed behind, his eyes fixed with feverish intensity on the two figures in the sky. The martial Dao! The path of martial masters, the Silver Moon martial world... After today's battle, he believed martial masters across the world would flock here in droves as pilgrims on a holy pilgrimage, continuing to pursue that ethereal future along the martial path. Because... there was a future to look forward to! Yuan Shuo had broken through the barrier of the Thousand-Battler realm. In this moment, even Hong Yitang's heart, dormant for so many years, blazed with passion. Martial masters! The martial Dao could reach the divine! Even if Yuan Shuo had not yet suppressed Sun Yifei, and might even be suppressed by him, Hong Yitang still could not contain the burning fervor within him. Old Demon Yuan had reappeared; the Silver Moon martial world had returned! "Roar!" Several consecutive roars shook the canyon until echoes rang relentlessly. Midair, Yuan Shuo strode through empty space, his Five Animals Art overwhelmingly powerful. It was no longer just the Ape Art; he now deployed the Tiger Combat Art, fighting like a vicious tiger. The Heart Fire Ape bore a tiger upon its back, exuding monstrous murderous intent. The fusion of Five Animals momentum! Besides the Heart Fire Ape, Yuan Shuo possessed other momentums. Now, those momentums swiftly converged and formed a fierce tiger. Ape and tiger stood side by side, their dual momentums colliding to unleash even greater power. "Ha!" With a thunderous bellow, Yuan Shuo drove both fists inward toward Sun Yifei's ears, aiming straight for his head. *Double Hammer!* With a deafening *bang*, Sun Yifei swept his staff across, shaking the Five Animals momentum with the blow! Yuan Shuo wavered midair. Sun Yifei swung his staff in a wild frenzy of strikes, leaving behind staff shadows that blasted craters with every hit, forcing Yuan Shuo back in defeat once more. The upper hand shifted back and forth between them, their combat strength evenly matched. Though Yuan Shuo's momentum was formidable, it struggled against the sheer depth of the other man's supernatural power. Now, the dynamic was almost the reverse of Li Hao's earlier duel. When Li Hao fought Sun Moxian, Li Hao possessed strong internal organs while Sun Moxian had the stronger momentum; yet momentum alone was useless when it failed to break Li Hao's organs, and Li Hao ultimately turned the tables and killed him. Similarly, Yuan Shuo's momentum was immensely potent, but his inner force could not match the depth of Sun Yifei's supernatural reserves. The dense fire energy severely blunted Yuan Shuo's attacks. Now, not only did Li Hao realize this, but the others did as well, their expressions turning peculiar. It was flipped! Before this, Li Hao had killed Sun Moxian. If things continued along this trajectory, Sun Yifei would turn the tables and kill Yuan Shuo. The fights of master and disciple had unfolded in completely opposite ways. *** Midair. Yuan Shuo's chains clattered violently, yet they could not shatter the opponent's staff. Yuan Shuo roared in fury, like a berserk ape. Sun Yifei fought with growing ferocity! His gaze was cold and sharp, bearing a flicker of delight, but far more killing intent. *To hear the Dao in the morning, one may die content in the evening.* Yet... that did not stop him from killing Yuan Shuo. Along the martial Dao, so long as there was a road ahead, that was enough. After another violent collision, Yuan Shuo clamped down on the staff, gouging deep claw marks into its surface. Yet Sun Yifei drove a fist straight into him. Sun Yifei retreated with staff in hand, while Yuan Shuo was sent hurtling backward, spraying blood into the air. Treading empty air to steady himself, Yuan Shuo looked somewhat pale, showing hints of exhaustion. Sun Yifei's face was flushed. He gave a cough. "Is this all you have?" Was this truly it? He bared his teeth in a grin. "Where is your second spirit? Of the five momentums of Spirit Nourishing, you have only nurtured one! Yuan Shuo, if you had nurtured five spirits, there would be no need for this duel today—I would surely die! But with only one spirit... it isn't enough to kill me!" Yuan Shuo panted heavily. He looked at Sun Yifei. Sun Yifei possessed a keen eye; after exchanging blows for so long, he had already discerned the truth. With five spirits nurtured, Yuan Shuo would inevitably sweep through the Three Sols realm without rival; in fact, he would not even need five—three spirits would likely be enough to sweep Three Sols. Yet he didn't have them! He had only nurtured one spirit. A brief burst of relentless assault was fine, and against an ordinary Three Sols expert it would suffice to beat them senseless in an instant. But his opponent was Sun Yifei—an indomitable martial master. As long as he weathered the opening storm, the counterattack would belong to Sun Yifei. Yuan Shuo smiled. "Arrogant, aren't you? Back then, the people who acted arrogant before me... hardly any of them lived to tell the tale!" With those words, he let out a savage roar, transforming into a ferocious tiger in an instant! At the same time, waves of yin energy emanated from the tiger's body. Swirling mist seemed to pool at its paws—water momentum. In the Five Animals Art, the tiger walked the path of yin; yin corresponded to water, and water governed the kidneys. Nourishing the second spirit! The kidneys belonged to water. His kidneys were not yet strong enough, having lacked sufficient nourishment. Forcibly nurturing a spirit like this might shatter his kidneys... but so what? Having fought to this point, who would admit defeat? He, Yuan Shuo, had rampaged across the world for a lifetime! The man before him was nothing more than someone he had once defeated! If one spirit was not enough to kill, what about two? In an instant, a tiger's roar shook heaven and earth. Water and fire intertwined within Yuan Shuo as ape and tiger seemed to merge, instantly transforming him into a beast with the head of a tiger and the body of an ape. He threw a punch, his fist turning into claws as it struck! With a wet tear, the strike struck with shocking speed. In a flash, the claw dragged Sun Yifei down, gripping his ankle and ripping away shreds of flesh and blood. Instead of being alarmed, Sun Yifei was overjoyed! The second spirit! He had seen the second spirit... If possible, he wished he could see the fifth spirit, but he knew that was impossible. This was Yuan Shuo's limit. If Yuan Shuo tried to bring forth a third spirit, he would probably die before the battle even finished. It was enough! "Well come!" Sun Yifei laughed aloud. The fire-element power around him erupted to the absolute peak, concentrated to the extreme. In that instant, Li Hao even sensed something unusual, and he looked toward Hao Lianchuan. Hao Lianchuan's face changed drastically. Inside his body, the fire phoenix seemed to sense something, darting frantically within him. Evidently, the fire phoenix had detected Sun Yifei's fire power and yearned to break free from his body to greet that surge of flame. Li Hao's expression turned grave. It had actually resonated with an Origin God Armament! And his teacher was in trouble. His water tiger was truly lacking; without sufficient water-element power, his kidneys hadn't received enough nourishment. If this dragged on into a prolonged battle, it would inflict severe damage on his teacher. Li Hao looked around, spotted several things, and immediately turned to Liu Long: "Boss, have the Night Watchers collect all the mysterious energy left behind by the fallen supers..." Liu Long froze for a moment. Soon, he understood. He moved away quickly, heading toward Hao Lianchuan. Moments later, Hao Lianchuan issued an order. While the battle above had not yet ended and the others were paralyzed with terror, the Night Watchers began extracting the mysterious energy of the fallen experts. Under normal circumstances, others might contest it. Yet today... no one dared move. With those two still battling above, no one dared stir—not even Red Moon. Hao Kong knew very well that Yuan Shuo might show some leniency toward the Night Watchers, but Sun Yifei would never show any mercy to Red Moon. At this juncture, the slightest misstep that disrupted their duel could turn both combatants against them, and Red Moon could not withstand the two of them joined together. In Hao Kong's estimation, only someone like Ziyue could intervene in a clash of that caliber. As for himself, he fell far short. Even if he joined forces with Feitian and Yama, they could probably only barely fend the two off. Only if one died and the other was severely wounded would it serve everyone's interests. As Li Hao watched them gather the supernatural energy, his eyes flickered with shifting thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Zhang Ting. A Night Watcher! A mid Three Sols expert. She held a weapon that might be a water-element Origin God Armament. He wasn't sure if it was... but he knew that even if his teacher won this duel, his kidneys might rupture. Among the collected mysterious energy, there was light energy, which might help repair them slightly, but it wouldn't be enough. If he added a water-element Origin God Armament... it should suffice! In this moment, Li Hao firmly believed his teacher would win. Win or lose... he hoped his teacher could recover quickly once the battle ended. Otherwise, his teacher would face immense trouble. *Forgive me... Director Hou said killing was fair game...* Li Hao, a mere Hundred-Breaker, was actually contemplating killing someone to seize their treasure—and his target was a mid Three Sols expert. If word got out, it would shock everyone to the core. Yet Li Hao genuinely harbored that intention. As for Zhang Ting being an undercover agent of the Night Watchers from the central region... so what? Just as the thought surfaced, Liu Long placed a hand on his shoulder. Liu Long seemed to have guessed something, or perhaps hadn't guessed entirely, but he sensed the murderous intent rising in Li Hao. "Hold your horses!" Liu Long said in a low voice, "Everyone is waiting right now, and you must wait too! The nail that sticks out gets hammered down... I doubt Old Yuan would want you taking risks at a time like this. Stay put and tend to your wounds!" Li Hao said nothing. Lowering his head, he suppressed the restlessness in his chest. The second spirit! Sun Yifei's strength exceeded all expectations. Li Hao had originally thought his teacher could win by cultivating the first spirit, yet even with the second spirit unleashed, he still couldn't overcome his opponent. *** In the open air. Yuan Shuo, with the head of a tiger and the body of an ape, launched another devastating assault—unstoppably fierce, a punch that could shatter the heavens. His strikes were peerless, his movements extraordinarily agile. Fist followed fist, completely overwhelming his opponent this time. Sun Yifei was beaten back step by step, coughing up blood continuously, yet he laughed uproariously, unable to stop! "Is that all?" "Yuan Shuo, it's not enough!" The second spirit was too flimsy! Even so, Sun Yifei's flesh was ripped open and his blood flew, yet he smiled with utter abandon. An instant later, he surged into a counterattack, gripping his staff and swinging with wild ferocity! *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Deafening impacts boomed without pause. In this moment, neither of them defended—there was only offense! All-out attack, and more attack! After what felt like ages, Yuan Shuo let out a thunderous bellow and punched forward. With an earth-shattering crash, the staff snapped! After Yuan Shuo hammered it with hundreds of relentless blows until his own fists were on the verge of shattering, this formidable Brow-Height Staff was finally smashed to pieces by his fist! *Spurt!* Sun Yifei's chest caved in, and he flew backward, spitting out fragments of shattered organs. The staff in his hands had been completely pulverized by Yuan Shuo. Yet he smiled. "How much strength... do you have left?" Yuan Shuo swayed on his feet. He did not answer, his expression filled with cold haughtiness. How much strength? Not much, but so what? "Sun Yifei... you... were always a loser beneath my hands!" Yuan Shuo stepped through the air again, walking toward him at an unhurried pace. Sun Yifei coughed blood, yet he kept laughing. "That year, when you struck me down... it was just like today. You broke my Brow-Height Staff, I fell gravely wounded to the ground, and you walked toward me step by step... I knew I was doomed, yet I refused to die by your hands... so I leaped off the Hengduan Sky Bridge!" "Yuan Shuo, today won't be like that!" A radiant smile spread across his face. "Not today! My disciple told me... even in desperation, there is a glimmer of hope! Don't give up, I haven't lost, I'm not dead yet!" In that instant, an extraordinarily powerful wave of fire energy surged from his body once again! All around, gasps broke out in waves. The mysterious source! Indeed. Just like back then when Yuan Shuo had unlocked his mysterious source, only to find that it absorbed and devoured inner force, leading him to abandon it and severing his hope of becoming a super. Sun Yifei, however, was already a super. The mysterious source was the wellspring of his power, the focal point where his supernatural energy gathered. Now, a Brow-Height Staff condensed in his hands once more—just like Sun Moxian had done, using his final strength to form a special staff, condensed directly from Sun Yifei's mysterious source. If this staff broke, his mysterious source would shatter, and death would be certain. This was his final frenzy! "I will not admit defeat... I lost once, but there won't be a second time!" Sun Yifei laughed heartily. "Yuan Shuo, even if you break my Brow-Height Staff again today, I still won't lose!" Because in that moment, he would already be dead. *Come break my Brow-Height Staff!* "Die!" With a furious roar, he drove the staff forward—a strike of boundless power. The gravely injured Brow-Height Staff King seemed to have found a second wind, unleashing unimaginably potent force as the Brow-Height Staff reappeared! He wanted to win! Even if only once, even if only for a single instant, he wanted to win just once! *** "Madness!" Hao Lianchuan murmured to himself. Truly insane. Sun Yifei, a late Three Sols expert, had condensed his mysterious source into a Brow-Height Staff. If it broke again, his source would shatter, guaranteeing his demise. He was truly wagering his life on this fight. Though it had always been a battle to the death... by doing this, even if Sun Yifei truly won, he would likely be crippled. Even if he wasn't, he would drop in rank. To a super, damage to the mysterious source was too devastating a loss. *Is this what it means to be a martial master?* He thought to himself. Yuan Shuo had asked him: *Are you a martial master?* Hao Lianchuan was not. And so Yuan Shuo had said: *You aren't a martial master, so you don't understand martial masters, and therefore... you aren't strong enough!* Martial masters had been in decline for twenty years. Yet today, of everyone present, who dared claim martial masters had declined? No one! Even Sun Yifei, a super, displayed the demeanor of a martial master at this moment. In this clash of martial masters, he could hardly be considered a pure super. Beside him, several other Solar Radiance experts wore solemn expressions. At this stage, it had already become mutually assured destruction. Yuan Shuo had clearly overdrawn himself, while Sun Yifei... was hardly any better off. At this rate, they would either perish together, or one would die while the other was left critically wounded. They had assumed that entering the ruins would be where danger lay. Yet before they even stepped inside, Bright Island was gone. Two top powerhouses who could rank among the top three in Silver Moon might both die or end up crippled. *** In the open air. The whistle of the staff drowned out the tiger's roars. Sun Yifei grew wilder and more demonic, swinging strike after strike as flames radiating from the staff illuminated the sky. "Admit defeat!" He roared, wanting only to win once! Why wouldn't Yuan Shuo concede? Even knowing it was a pipe dream, he still wanted to hear Yuan Shuo surrender. *Boom!* Yuan Shuo slammed into the cliff, gouging a massive crater. Sun Yifei swept his staff across, pulverizing countless boulders into dust as the two fought from the open air into the cliffside itself. An instant later, they soared up from the cliff face, and with a rumble, a section of the cliff below collapsed completely. The fight dragged on! The Heart Fire Ape and the fierce tiger burned ever brighter, as did the staff. Both had exhausted their reserves, fighting with increasing brutality. "Yuan Shuo!" At this moment, Sun Yifei panted, roaring, "Can't you break my Brow-Height Staff? I know you can! Come, break it! Otherwise... I'll beat you to death!" *Boom!* Another staff strike crashed down! *Pfft!* Yuan Shuo spat blood, sounding slightly weak and somewhat melancholic: "I wanted to save some strength... to go check out the ruins with the others... You just had to force me into a life-and-death struggle... What a bloody nuisance!" "Bastard!" Sun Yifei went wild, utterly incensed! He had only said it in passing; he hadn't expected Yuan Shuo to truly have another trump card up his sleeve. He lashed out with the staff, bearing an overwhelming wave of fire energy, tinged with unwillingness and madness: "Come! Even if I die in battle, I want to die at my peak! Not slowly wither away and be beaten to death like some street thug by your flailing fists!" Indeed, he was beginning to decline. And so was Yuan Shuo. Neither could sustain this state any longer; their peak had passed. Sun Yifei could accept dying at his zenith; he didn't want to end up like all those years ago—powerless in defeat, choosing to jump off the cliff. Yuan Shuo spat another mouthful of blood. He looked at Sun Yifei and smiled. Did he have another card to play? Of course he did! The Blood Saber Art! However, if he simply waited for the other man to weaken, he still stood a solid chance of beating him to death in his diminished state. Because he was a martial master, and a martial master's strength lay in the body! Whereas supers derived their strength from sheer power! Once too much mysterious energy dissipated, Sun Yifei would be unable to maintain his current might. Yuan Shuo's odds of victory were high—seventy-thirty in his favor! Yet when he heard Sun Yifei's roar, he laughed. "Sun Yifei... you... are truly stubborn!" Stubborn enough that I feel an urge... to grant you the highest courtesy. Even though the consequences would be severe. Yuan Shuo simply couldn't resist that urge. He glanced down and saw Li Hao. He offered an apologetic smile... *I wonder if that last bit of sword energy will be enough for me to absorb if I survive...* Regardless of whether it was enough, if he survived, that sword energy would probably be completely drained. In this moment, Yuan Shuo smiled. To hell with it! If his disciple ran out of sword energy, he could go find more and figure it out on his own... Right now, I just want... to be mad for once, to go crazy alongside this lunatic! He was so admirable, admirable to the point that I want to kill him and see him off. In that instant, the saber energy from the stone saber gripped in his hand was drawn out, merging into his body in a flash. He rarely absorbed saber energy like this. Yet having reached this point, how could he have the heart to deny Sun Yifei a glimpse of his peak state? As the saber energy was absorbed, the Heart Fire Ape vanished, and the tiger vanished. All five momentums disappeared! In an instant, his momentum fused into the stone saber; saber energy merged, and inner force merged... Opposite him, Sun Yifei made no move to stop him. He pushed himself frantically, detonating his fire energy until the staff in his hands dyed half the sky a deep red. He laughed with pure delight. Truly, wonderfully happy! *Yuan Shuo, you old demon, you really held something back.* *Did you think I couldn't take it?* *No, I can!* *You underestimated Sun Yifei!* *** Clouds churned in all directions. Below, expressions of utter disbelief appeared on every face. Their auras were still climbing. "Is this... truly still Three Sols?" Hao Lianchuan could scarcely believe it; neither could any of the other Three Sols experts. In this moment, they felt as though they were watching a battle beyond the Three Sols realm. The two of them could actually raise their power even further. They couldn't see through it, nor could they understand it. Did martial masters truly possess boundless potential? Li Hao, however, knew the reason: the Blood Saber Art. His teacher had used the Blood Saber Art again. Forcibly nurturing the second spirit hadn't been enough—he had actually unleashed the Blood Saber Art as well... Had his teacher lost his mind? There wasn't enough sword energy left! Unless... A realization struck him. In that instant, he grew quiet, watching the sky in silence. *** Above. Sun Yifei trembled with excitement—not out of fear, but anticipation. *Yuan Shuo, can you get even stronger?* "Sun Yifei... let me see you off!" At this moment, Yuan Shuo was ready. The stone saber in his hand expanded into a blood-colored blade, his voice carrying solemn weight: "Safe travels on the road to the Yellow Springs!" "Right back at you!" Sun Yifei laughed boisterously and drove his staff forward! This strike surpassed everything he had ever delivered. It seemed to shatter empty space, appearing agonizingly slow yet generating an immense, suffocating pressure that made the spectators below feel as if the breath was being crushed from their lungs. "Sever!" Yuan Shuo bellowed, cleaving downward as the blood-colored blade carved a blood shadow hundreds of meters long through the air! A single stroke! This strike, too, exceeded Yuan Shuo's limits. Blade met staff midair, yet the collision produced no sound at all—eerily silent, save for a blaze of blinding light. Suddenly, the staff split. It wasn't snapped at the waist; it was sliced clean down the middle into two halves. Under this single strike, the Brow-Height Staff that carried everything Sun Yifei possessed was halved down its length, while the razor-sharp saber qi continued forward, descending! A faint smile appeared in Sun Yifei's eyes as he watched the blade fall. At that very instant, as if seized by madness, he seemed to teleport—the moment the blade descended and a bloody furrow split open across his brow, he vanished. In the blink of an eye, he had materialized beside Yuan Shuo. By now, Yuan Shuo was spent. Yet Sun Yifei, through some incomprehensible method, appeared right before him. Sun Yifei smiled, the bloody cleft on his head widening. He reached out and struck Yuan Shuo's throat with a fist. A completely powerless punch! Yuan Shuo didn't even feel pain. Yuan Shuo looked at him, and Sun Yifei looked back at Yuan Shuo. After a long moment, he forced out a few ragged words: "I... won... Jump..." *Jump down!* *Back then, I lost, and I jumped!* *I won't kill you. I'm giving you a chance—jump!* His body began to split apart. He looked at Yuan Shuo, a hint of pleading in his eyes: *Jump!* *I beat you!* *Even though I'm dead, already dead, I truly beat you.* He wanted to see Old Demon Yuan defeated by his hands, driven to jump off the cliff! Yuan Shuo looked at him, suddenly smiled, let his strength fade completely, and instantly plunged downward. In that moment, Sun Yifei looked down. He saw it—he saw Yuan Shuo jump, saw him falling... "I won!" He smiled as his body fractured, pieces of flesh falling away. He had won... Even if that punch might not have killed Yuan Shuo, in Yuan Shuo's depleted state, he had possessed the certainty to crush his throat. Even if Yuan Shuo didn't die, he would have been grievously wounded. Yet... why bother? He saw Yuan Shuo crash heavily to the ground; he saw it all. He had seen the second spirit, seen the path forward for martial masters, seen the glory beyond Thousand-Battler, seen Yuan Shuo's strongest strike, seen Yuan Shuo in disarray... It was worth it! Even if he had forfeit his life here, it was worth it. Returning to Silver Moon this time was like fallen leaves returning to their roots. Having vanquished the inner demon that had haunted him for over twenty years, he suddenly felt at peace. *Moxian, you and I, master and disciple, have witnessed the rise of the martial Dao!* In this moment, Sun Yifei let out his final laugh: "The Brow-Height Staff claims victory!" *Boom!* The sky detonated as a sphere of flame illuminated the void. The Brow-Height Staff King had triumphed over the Five Animals Beast King! Shattered to dust! *** At this moment, silence descended—a dead, suffocating quiet. Below, Yuan Shuo lay where he had crashed heavily to the ground, an unknown number of bones broken. Yet he still looked up at the sky, gazing at the man who had blown himself to dust, and smiled. An old friend... gone. Another one lost. You won! The Brow-Height Staff won! Yuan Shuo smiled, beaming brightly. In the next instant, he disappeared. Vanished from where he lay. No one saw where he went. But at that very moment, a cry of terror rang out across the world as a blade materialized atop a cliff. The saber struck! Fast—inconceivably fast, vicious, and ruthless! This strike even surpassed what had come before. "Bastard!" A roar laced with sheer terror and fury echoed between heaven and earth—Red Moon! Among Red Moon's ranks, Hao Kong's face twisted in horror. He detonated his mysterious energy like a madman, but it was already too late. *Slash!* A head tumbled to the ground! It was too fast—so fast that even a Three Sols expert like him had no chance to escape. In an instant, his head was severed! In the distance, Li Hao remained expressionless. He had guessed as much. When his teacher used the Blood Saber Art and Li Hao realized his sword energy would be insufficient, he had already anticipated this. His teacher would kill! He would slaughter the people of Red Moon! What to do without sword energy? Red Shadow energy was also quite effective for replenishment. The people of Red Moon hadn't fled; failing to vanish from this place while his teacher still had fighting strength left and before the Blood Saber Art completely faded was simply asking to die! "Yuan Shuo!" In the distance, powerhouses shouted in fury from all directions! In an instant, members of Feitian, Yama, and even the supers of Sword Gate didn't flee, but immediately converged together. They were terrified! Anxious! Yuan Shuo was insane! Slaying Hao Kong with a single blow at this time—did he have no desire to keep living in Silver Moon? He was already locked in a blood feud with Red Moon, and now he brazenly killed Hao Kong in a public setting like this... Red Moon would retaliate without fail! Did Yuan Shuo care? Not in the slightest! After lopping off Hao Kong's head, the long blade ripped through the air. Head after head rolled, super after super cut down in an instant. Yuan Shuo sneered, "I yielded an inch to Sun Yifei... but what are you?" Looking down on the world, he swept his eyes across the surroundings and burst into laughter. "What bloody right do you have?" Who were they to matter? Did they even have the right to spectate his battle? As for Red Moon, so what if he slaughtered them? The Blood Saber Art took an immense toll; if he didn't kill a few, how could he replenish what was spent? With a wild laugh, the blood saber flared with blinding brilliance. In that instant, while the others saw nothing, Li Hao's eyes twitched—the stone saber was siphoning away countless Red Shadows in a flash. Evidently, through Hou Xiaochen, his teacher had learned certain methods to utilize the stone saber, directly absorbing the Red Shadows. Li Hao spotted a massive Red Shadow—it belonged to Hao Kong. Having wiped out every member of Red Moon present, Yuan Shuo let out a booming laugh, soared into the sky, and vanished from everyone's sight in an instant. Yuan Shuo's voice drifted into Li Hao's ears: "Can't hold on any longer, so I'm slipping away first... Whatever danger follows... let Hou Xiaochen deal with it!" By the time the words landed, he was long gone. Li Hao froze... He was gone just like that? "Right, erect a monument for Sun Yifei... Don't forget..." Yuan Shuo's final words floated back and quickly dissolved into nothingness. All around, everyone was trembling in fear, frozen in stunned silence. Only after it became clear Yuan Shuo would not return did faint breaths start to sound in the clearing. Every face was painted with a mix of awe and terror. Today's battle defied the imagination! The Brow-Height Staff King had fallen; the Five Animals Beast King had slaughtered every member sent by Red Moon's branch; Bright Island was utterly destroyed. Each event, one after another, would spread like wildfire, sending shockwaves in all directions. It would even shake the central region! Beyond Thousand-Battler, there was Spirit Nourishing!