Destructive power swept in all directions as though heaven and earth had erupted into chaos. The terrifying aftershocks of finger force and blade qi scattered everywhere, placing the many masters watching from the mountain in grave danger. One after another, they used every skill at their disposal to evade and defend.
In that brief instant of stunned silence, Xiang Yang and Gu Shentong let out piercing howls at the same time, turning into two afterimages that collided once more. Amid the entwining finger and blade strikes, faint silver radiance formed a thin thread that danced and coiled, followed by a savage, tyrannical blade dragon that opened its jaws to devour.
At last, the finger force and the lingering blade qi around Xiang Yang dispersed, leaving behind mountainsides pitted and scarred as if meteors had fallen from the sky. Xiang Yang and Gu Shentong crossed paths once more before landing several yards apart.
The brocade robe on Gu Shentong's body had shattered into strips, leaving him ragged and utterly bedraggled. Even his tall, lean, upright frame had begun to stoop.
Yet the aura emanating from him only grew more vigorous, as if it had no end. On the surface, he did not appear to have fallen into a disadvantage.
Xiang Yang held Que Xie in hand, its tip angled toward the black earth below, which looked as though it had been plowed. A snow-white blade radiance hissed as it flickered from the tip, gradually shrinking and fading into silence. Only a silvery liquid slowly trickled down from the needle-like gleam at its point.
The scattered spectators had no time to compose their disheveled appearances. They held their breaths and stared wide-eyed at the two men. Who had won?
"I never thought it would come to this. Gu Shentong dies here today."