Duel Across Time and Space

Ahead of Yi Yun, Shentu Nantian was slowly walking towards him, his expression carrying a sinister feeling that Yi Yun was familiar with.

Step by step, the air was thick with murderous intent and oppressive atmosphere.

Yi Yun held his breath, gripping the Crimson Blood Red Lotus Saber tightly in his hand.

"Haha! You still want to struggle?" Shentu Nantian drew a sword, its blade pointing directly at Yi Yun's eyes. "Yi Yun, I've been waiting for this opportunity all along. Today, I've finally got it. I will cripple your martial arts, imprison you, and torture you with the cruelest methods in the world!"

"Um?"

Yi Yun raised an eyebrow. His senses were very sharp. He discovered that although Shentu Nantian's words and demeanor were exactly the same as those in his memory, he was missing one thing: the strength that the real Shentu Nantian possessed.

Although the "Shentu Nantian" before him exuded a powerful killing intent and aura, Yi Yun could barely estimate that his strength was actually much weaker than the Shentu Nantian he remembered.

Is this an illusion?

The thought flashed through Yi Yun's mind. He activated his Energy Vision and then discovered that what was in front of him was not a real person at all, but a light and shadow composed entirely of energy.

"So, this is the test of the second trial."

The only explanation for the absence of any memory of Shentu Nantian in the Empress Secret Realm is that the Empress Secret Realm conjured up a phantom of Shentu Nantian based on Yi Yun's memories.

What appears in this secret realm is the inner demons of the trial participants!

Shentu Nantian wasn't exactly Yi Yun's inner demon, but Yi Yun had to admit that everything Shentu Nantian had done to Jiang Xiaorou and to him in the Tai'a Divine Kingdom had made him hate Shentu Nantian to the bone. At that time, he had already vowed to kill Shentu Nantian.

Shentu Nantian's constant threats to Yi Yun —imprisoning and torturing Yi Yun's useless cultivation—were also a rather terrifying thing.

In the Energy Vision, Shentu Nantian's light and shadow had no weaknesses. Yi Yun could no longer take shortcuts. This was a head-on confrontation.

Yi Yun wondered if the mysteries of the Empress Secret Realm might reveal a portion of Shentu Nantian's true strength. If so, Yi Yun wanted to see what Shentu Nantian was capable of.

At this moment, Shentu Nantian's projection revealed a cruel smile, and then he disappeared.

His speed was incredibly fast, and he thrust his sword towards Yi Yun's dantian!

Shentu Nantian contained a terrifying power. If it were to strike Yi Yun, his dantian would shatter, and his cultivation would be destroyed in one blow.

Crisis!

Yi Yun didn't know what would happen to him in reality if his cultivation was destroyed in this illusion. He dared not take the risk. He would treat this battle in the illusion as a real duel with Shentu Nantian. However, the opponent's strength far exceeded his own, which meant that Yi Yun could not hold back at all.

"Boom!"

Behind Yi Yun, the Radiant Sun True Qi erupted, condensing into the phantom of Tanggu Fusang Tree. Yi Yun held the Crimson Blood Red Lotus Saber, pouring all of the Radiant Sun True Qi into it!

Having drunk countless amounts of blood, the Crimson Blood Red Lotus Saber naturally exudes a strong aura of blood. Blood is inherently a highly yang substance, and this aura of blood, combined with the Pure Yang Energy, complements each other perfectly.

With a single slash, crimson waves surged forth, and in this vast, gray, isolated space, a blood-red sun rose out of thin air!

"Sizzle!"

Shentu Nantian's Sword Light was torn apart, and the crimson blade light emitted by Yi Yun continued its momentum, directly piercing into Shentu Nantian's body.

The Thirty-two Sword Dao Characters: Slaughter as the Heart!

After such a long period of training, Yi Yun's understanding in the Blade Tomb has long been integrated and perfectly merged with his martial arts.

Moreover, the Slaughter as the Heart unleashed by the Crimson Blood Red Lotus Saber, coupled with the Crimson Blood Red Lotus Saber's murderous aura, amplifies the power of this move.

The blade's light flashed wildly, slicing Shentu Nantian's body. No blood flowed from his wounds, but countless points of vital energy burst forth.

Shentu Nantian's body flew backward for dozens of feet, but even though his body was pierced by the blade's light, he seemed to be unharmed.

"Vortex--"

All around Shentu Nantian, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi converged towards Shentu Nantian and flowed into Shentu Nantian body.

Under the repair of these energies, Shentu Nantian's wounds healed completely in no time. He looked at Yi Yun, a sinister smile creeping onto his lips.

"Yi Yun, your attack is too weak, you are destined to die!"

Shentu Nantian, carrying his sword, walked step by step toward Yi Yun. His demeanor and words gave Yi Yun the illusion that the person in front of him was indeed Shentu Nantian.

Yi Yun took a deep breath, lightly touched his Space Ring with one hand, and a cyan Longsword appeared in his hand. This was... Yi Yun Shentu Nantian's sword!

Upon seeing the sword, Shentu Nantian's expression changed, and his killing intent intensified!

That's my sword!

Shentu Nantian said in a deep voice, as if he had been stimulated.

Seeing Shentu Nantian's expression, Yi Yun secretly clicked his tongue in amazement; everything in this illusion was too real.

While Yi Yun was engaged in a life-or-death struggle with Shentu Nantian in the illusion, Shentu Nantian was also undergoing his own trial within another portal of light.

The same isolated space, the same boundless gray earth.

However, the test was a completely different story.

Standing before Shentu Nantian was a young man dressed in blue, holding a blue Longsword, with a mocking smile on his lips.

The boy was none other than Yi Yun.

Yi Yun is Shentu Nantian's nightmare!

That's my sword!

Shentu Nantian's Shentu Nantian were bloodshot. Even though he knew it was just a test from an illusion, he still couldn't control his anger when he saw Yi Yun attacking him with the sword that originally belonged to him.

"So what if it's your sword? Now it's mine." Yi Yun's lips curled into a wicked smile. He reached out and lightly flicked the blade, producing a clear "hum" sound, like the roar of Dragon Roar.

"Not bad, I will use your sword to pierce your heart. However... killing you like this is too easy for you. Before that, I will slowly torture you, just like that time in the Lin family prison after the Medicine Trial Assembly. But back then, I still needed to use you, this piece of trash, to exchange for information about the Empress Secret Realm, so I only gave you a beating and fed you some Seven Fiends Heavenly Yin Pill. I was too lenient..."

"Next time, I will sever all your meridians and experiment on you with the Lingchi Devouring Heart."

"A piece of trash like you dares to kill my sister and use her to refine pills? My sister is the Young Master of the Desolate Clan's royal family. You should take a good look at yourself; you're utterly laughable!"

"You still want to marry Lin Xin Tong? Lin Xin Tong is Heavenly Proud Daughter, a future peerless empress. As for you, you're a stray dog who was crippled by me and picked up by the Shentu Family like trash. Do you deserve it? A toad trying to eat swan meat! Lin Xin Tong will be mine sooner or later, and her Pure Yin Body's primordial Yin will also belong to me, hahahaha!"

Yi Yun laughed wildly, his face full of mockery. He looked at Shentu Nantian with the eyes of someone looking at a defeated opponent, and this look stung Shentu Nantian. How could someone of his high status be so humiliated by a country bumpkin from the Eastern Barbarians region?

Shentu Nantian's facial muscles twitched, and the veins on his forehead bulged one by one. Even though everything Yi Yun said was actually Shentu Nantian's own imagination, Shentu Nantian was completely trapped in the illusion and could not extricate himself.

The illusion of this Empress Secret Realm is filled with eeriness from afar. If one loses their composure even slightly, they will forget that it is an illusion and mistake it for reality, thus being controlled by their inner demons.

"Go to hell!"

Shentu Nantian's eyes were bloodshot. He shouted loudly, and behind him, endless auspicious seven-colored light condensed.

These seven-colored lights coalesced into a series of wondrous phenomena, revealing a land of fragrant grasses, with spiritual trees growing on the grass and a spiritual Spirit Spring beside the trees.

Beside this spring, there was a figure dressed in a blue robe, who looked like a scholar.

This is the Dharma Aspect Totem of Shentu Nantian, named the Outworldly Immortal Land!

At the Lin family's Savage Heaven Technique Tea Party, when Shentu Nantian was performing the ancient Savage Heaven Technique, he summoned his own Dharma Aspect Totem in the final and most crucial step.

At that time, the scholar in the green robe, holding a folding fan, was reciting poems and painting in the fairyland, looking like a young and accomplished scholar with a wealth of knowledge.

But this time, it was completely different. The scholar's face was full of gloom and ferocity, and his whole body was shrouded in black mist, making him completely out of place with the surrounding immortal land!

This is no scholar; he looks more like a Body Snatching a scholar's body!

Yi Yun is Shentu Nantian's inner demon. His experiences in the Lin family prison were an absolute disgrace to Shentu Nantian's life!

Faced with the illusion created by Yi Yun, Shentu Nantian found it difficult to maintain his composure, to the point that even his Dharma Aspect Totem changed appearance! (To be continued~^~)