Zhan Wuji was like a blood-maddened lion, biting hard on Xiao Chen's aura and tearing through the perilous depths of the Cloud Dream Marsh at full speed.
The dense miasma, the lurking venomous creatures, the natural illusion arrays—all were torn apart and pierced through like paper before his berserk slaughter intent.
His eyes were fixed solely on the flickering green figure ahead that kept drawing him deeper. All reason and caution had been consumed by his boiling killing intent.
"Xiao Chen! You can't escape!"
"Today, this place becomes your grave!"
Zhan Wuji's roar echoed over the swamp, shaking the mud into bubbling and the ancient trees into swaying.
Xiao Chen said nothing. His figure moved like a phantom, exploiting the complex terrain of the Cloud Dream Marsh to the utmost.
He would plunge into a bottomless bog, then burst out from another body of water a moment later.
He would sweep past poisonous man-eating flower patches, forcing Zhan Wuji to swing his spear to clear the way.
He would duck into ancient caves riddled with natural restrictions, compelling Zhan Wuji to expend energy breaking through them.
Both men moved at extreme speed. The chase and flight turned the Cloud Dream Marsh upside down.
Along the way, countless slumbering dire beasts were startled awake, but sensing the terrifying auras emanating from the two, they could only cower at a distance, not daring to approach.
Finally, after a chase lasting a full day and night, the view ahead suddenly opened up!
A massive cliff face abruptly appeared deep within the marsh.
Below the cliff lay a bottomless abyss churning with dark green toxic miasma, emitting a heart-palpitating wail.
The cliff walls were sheer as if sliced by a blade, covered in slick moss and jagged, sinister rocks.
This place seemed like the end of the Cloud Dream Marsh, filled with an aura of despair and deathly stillness.
Xiao Chen's figure came to a halt at the edge of the cliff. He slowly turned around to face the pursuing Zhan Wuji.
His green robes were stained with mud and blood, his breathing slightly rapid, but his eyes were as resolute and cold as the cliff itself.
Zhan Wuji stopped a hundred zhang away from Xiao Chen, his Heaven-Splitting Spear angled toward the ground.
Blood-fiend aura wreathed his body like a physical substance, making him look like a demon god returned from hell.
He wore a cat-playing-with-mouse cruel smile, along with a trace of satisfaction at finally catching his prey.
"Running? Why did you stop running?" Zhan Wuji licked his dry, cracked lips, bloodthirsty light blazing in his eyes.
"Realized there's nowhere left to run? Ready to settle things here?"
Xiao Chen looked at him calmly. The longsword in his hand let out a clear dragon's cry, and violet lightning began to dance and gather along the blade.
He didn't answer Zhan Wuji's mockery. His actions spoke for him.
"Good!" Zhan Wuji laughed wildly.
"Then let me see if you've made any progress over the years. Kill!"
The final word "Kill" left his lips, and Zhan Wuji's figure vanished from where he stood!
The next instant, he was above Xiao Chen.
His Heaven-Splitting Spear transformed into a blood-colored lightning bolt that tore through heaven and earth, carrying the terrifying might to shatter mountains and rivers, stabbing directly at Xiao Chen's crown!
The spear hadn't arrived yet, but its condensed slaughter will pressed down like a mountain, attempting to freeze Xiao Chen's soul!
"Nine Heavens Thunder, Break!"
Xiao Chen did not retreat. Instead, he charged forward, stomping down hard. The rocks at the cliff's edge shattered inch by inch!
His longsword surged upward, drawing down the thunder of the Nine Heavens!
In an instant, a bolt of violet lightning thick as a child's arm descended from the sky, coiling around the sword's edge and crashing head-on against that blood-colored spear aura!
"BOOM—!!!"
It was as if the thunder of the Nine Heavens had exploded!
Red and violet light intertwined frantically and annihilated each other, erupting in an earth-shattering energy shockwave!
The entire cliff shook violently, countless fragments tumbling down into the abyss.
From a single exchange, both men were greatly jolted, drifting back dozens of zhang before steadying themselves.
Deep gouges were left in the rocks beneath their feet.
"Interesting!" A flash of surprise crossed Zhan Wuji's eyes, immediately replaced by even fiercer battle intent.
"Again!"
His spear technique shifted. No longer pursuing a single killing blow, he unleashed a sky full of blood-colored spear shadows, raining down upon Xiao Chen like a violent storm!
Each spear strike carried the power to tear through the void. The shadows layered upon each other, as if a thousand Zhan Wujis were attacking simultaneously!
Xiao Chen's expression grew grave as he pushed the Nine Heavens Thunder Sword Art to its absolute limit.
His figure flashed at extreme speed through the rain of spear shadows, his longsword thrusting, slashing, flicking, and parrying—each stroke precisely meeting a spear shadow, producing deafening clashes of metal!
Lightning and blood-fiend aura collided and exploded incessantly, illuminating the sky above the cliff in alternating light and shadow like the apocalypse.
Their fighting styles were strikingly similar—heavy on offense, light on defense, using attack as defense!
Zhan Wuji's Slaughter War Dao was all about unstoppable forward momentum, crushing all defenses with absolute power and killing intent.
His spear technique was domineering beyond compare, leaving almost no retreat. Every strike pursued maximum destructive force!
And Xiao Chen's Nine Heavens Thunder Sword Art was equally the most yang, most rigid, most overbearing technique!
The power of thunder inherently represented heavenly punishment, governing destruction. His sword will was equally unyielding, meeting force with thunderous might!
This was a clash with no flourishes—a final collision of power against power, will against will!
"CLANG!"
"BOOM!"
"CRACK!"
The sounds of spear meeting sword, energy exploding, and rocks shattering filled the air without end.
They fought from the cliff edge into the sky, then from the sky back to the clifftop. Everywhere they passed was utter devastation.
Zhan Wuji's spear aura carved deep trenches into the ground, while Xiao Chen's sword qi sheared and shattered the hard rock flat!
Zhan Wuji fought ever more wildly. The blood-fiend aura on his Heaven-Splitting Spear grew thicker and thicker, as if it would coalesce into a sea of blood and devour Xiao Chen.
His attacks grew increasingly fierce, his spear technique ever more cunning and ruthless, trying to find a crack in Xiao Chen's defense.
Xiao Chen, however, stood like a reef in a raging storm. No matter how the towering waves crashed, he remained unyielding!
His thunder sword intent grew ever more condensed. Between the flashes of his sword light, faint silhouettes of thunder dragons appeared, roaring as they tore into the blood-colored spear aura!
Blood had begun to seep from the corners of his mouth. His tiger's mouth had cracked open, and the arm holding the sword trembled slightly.
But his eyes grew brighter and brighter, his battle intent ever more blazing!
A full day and night!
On this desolate cliff, the two fought ceaselessly for an entire day and night!
Dawn light once again dispersed some of the miasma, and faint radiance fell upon the cliff, illuminating this battlefield that looked as if it had been ravaged by a giant beast.
Now, the two stood facing each other, barely ten zhang apart.
Zhan Wuji's blood-colored battle robe was tattered beyond recognition, revealing the bronze skin beneath, covered in fine sword wounds and scorched lightning marks.
His hair hung loose, blood stained his lips, and his breathing was as heavy as a bull's.
The blood-light on his Heaven-Splitting Spear had dimmed considerably, but the mad battle intent in his eyes hadn't diminished at all. Instead, it burned like flame!
Xiao Chen's condition was equally dire. His green robes had nearly become rags, and multiple spear-gash wounds marked his body, some deep enough to expose bone.
The worst was on his left shoulder—nearly pierced through, blood dyeing half his body.
His face was pale as paper. The hand gripping his sword trembled even more violently, and the lightning surrounding him flickered unsteadily, clearly showing his immense exhaustion.
Both men were at the end of their strength!
"Cough, cough..." Zhan Wuji spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, grinning savagely at Xiao Chen.
"Satisfying! Truly satisfying!"
"Xiao Chen, you can fight better than I imagined. To battle me to this extent, you can be proud."
"But this ends here. The next spear takes your life!"
Xiao Chen leaned on his sword, barely supporting his body. Hearing this, he slowly raised his head.
On his pale face, an almost mad smile appeared, his voice hoarse but unwavering:
"Zhan Wuji... you are indeed strong... but killing me... won't be that easy!"
"The next strike... I will fell you!"
In both their eyes, a final, jade-and-stone-shattering resolve blazed forth simultaneously!
Zhan Wuji gripped his spear with both hands, frantically channeling all his remaining spiritual power into the Heaven-Splitting Spear.
The shaft emitted an overburdened hum as the blood-fiend aura boiled once more, coalescing into a sinister blood-colored demonic dragon phantom!
Xiao Chen drew a deep breath, forcibly squeezing his nearly depleted dantian of thunder essence, pouring it all into his longsword!
Along the blade, the lightning surged, transforming into a vivid, skyward-roaring violet thunder dragon!
"Blood Dragon Shatters the Heavens!"
"Thunder Dragon Roars Across the World!"
Both men roared their final cries simultaneously. Turning themselves into streaks of light, carrying their all-consuming strikes of gathered power and will, they launched their final charge at each other!
The blood-colored demonic dragon and the violet thunder dragon, atop this cliff deep within the Cloud Dream Marsh, collided like two falling stars!
"BOOM—!!!!!"
An explosion a hundred times more terrifying than anything before erupted violently!
Blinding light devoured everything as a massive shockwave expanded outward like a tsunami.
The entire cliff... began to completely collapse!
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