That cold voice rang out again. This time, though, it no longer held the absolute chill and indifference of before. A trace of displeasure and surprise grated through it like metal scraping against metal.
"To break my Ninefold Cycle Chains—your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations!"
Fang Chen lightly brushed at dust that did not exist on his blue robe, as though flicking a speck from the fabric.
He raised his head and met the dark gold eye deep in the sky once more.
"You've tested me twice. Isn't it my turn now?"
Fang Chen's voice remained calm, but beneath that calm lay the faint tremor of a blade about to leave its sheath.
Deep in the sky, the dark gold eye suddenly flared.
The flare heralded a deeper, more dangerous change. The dark gold light in its iris contracted rapidly toward the pupil, like mercury compressed to its limit. In the next instant, it burst outward into an even more terrifying projection of will.
"I admit you have some ability! But you trespassed into my domain and made an enemy of me under my laws. No matter what you're capable of, you cannot change the final outcome!"
The voice grew colder and grander than ever, as though all heaven and earth resonated with its every word. "Behold my true Cycle Force!"
Deep within the rift in the sky, a mass of darkness larger than any before began to gather. It was like a mountain suspended among the clouds, with a solidity almost tangible.
Within the darkness, the outline of a saber slowly emerged.
It was an enormous dark red battle saber.
Its blade stretched a thousand zhang long and a hundred zhang wide, like a dark red mountain compressed countless times, then drawn out and shaped into a weapon.